The skies were a crisp burnt vermillion as streaks of lightning filled the air. Of course, this was usually the case in the realm of Quartzaria, a beautiful idyllic crystallic kingdom that had once seen better days. For now, their people were still at war with opposing forces, but despite it all, it seemed arrangements were on for a wedding.

Outside of the massive green emerald palace stood a trio of guards, who gave each other concerned looks.

"This seems ..." one of them stuttered

"...like a very rash idea?" the other added, as if to finish the firsts' sentence

"The Lord has made up his mind..." the third guard shrugged, resigned to the current course of events despite voicing disagreement.

The awkward stillness was broken up momentarily by the sound of a young woman crying from up in the palace.

"Is that...?"

As the guards scrambled to see what was the matter, the young woman, who shook her head upon seeing her reflection looked beyond confused and frightened, looking out the window to see the sprawling landscapes and crystallic structures in the distance. She could also see swirling gray clouds signaling an impending storm.

More importantly though, she had no idea why she was there or furthermore what she was doing there. There came a knock on the door to further startle the woman who briefly glanced at her own reflection as she swiveled her head to focus on the door. In those brief moments, the image of Leah Henderson appeared in the mirror.

"Miss, Miss, are you okay?" the guard on the other side of the door asked

"I ... I ..." the woman stammered

"Something's not right ... open the door!"

With that, the guard threw open the door and one of them looked annoyed at the others

"Oh great, it's happened again..." he sighed.

-----

A few weeks earlier, Lexi and her parents were walking through a used car dealership in East Minitropolis as a fast talking salesman showed them the inventory, Lexi looking all kinds of worried, yet slightly excited as she considered what her ride could be. After all, she couldn't rely on others for transportation forever, even as she did plan to spend her next semester at Miniborough University living on campus.

With summer just dawning, it was an exciting time indeed for the fledgling superheroine who desperately yearned for an average life again. Of course, due to some tumultuous recent events, things were anything but normal. As if needing a further reminder, one of the employees at the Mini Motor Mart came bolting out from their office upon seeing Lexi and her family browsing for cars.

"Oh my gosh, it IS you!" the guy said, trying to hide his noticeable shell shock upon seeing the brunette clad in a yellow tank top and jeans. She'd give her parents an awkward look as if she expected them to save her from this situation but they seemed less than thrilled with the situation as a whole.

It had been this way for a good couple weeks now, following her life saving mission on campus to thwart Roxie and her bombing attempt.

"H-Hi..." Lexi stuttered a bit, addressing the young man dressed in a navy blue suit jacket and slicked back hair. His name tag read "Zack"

"S-Sorry, you probably get this all the time..." Zack said, a bit out of breath as if the mere sprint out of the office had worn down his endurance to get to Lexi, "You're the ShrinkGirl"

Lexi let out an exhale and gave an awkward wave as if offering a meet and greet at a convention. Her parents rolled her eyes, while Lexi's mom in particular seemed deeply bothered, opting to walk away for a moment.

Of course, this wasn't the first time Lexi's second life had come to light.

The first time took place the night of the bombing. Lexi had just gotten home and was cuddling with her cat Tiny for the night. It seemed she had maybe secured a much needed moment of peace. That peace was short lived however when her concerned parents crowded the threshold to her room.

Tiny the cat, sensing something was amiss sprang up suddenly from Lexi's lap and scampered hurriedly down the hallway. Lexi watched as her parents walked slowly and methodically into the room, her mom taking a seat in the corner while her dad remained standing to her right.

"Is ... everything okay?" Lexi asked, already feeling the sinking in her heart

"Lexi ... we need to talk..."

Lexi took a deep breath and just waited for the subject of conversation to steer towards what she feared most.

"Lex, you know we love you..." Lexi's dad said sympathetically, taking a seat on Lexi's bed, "And ... you can tell us anything"

Lexi simply nodded, not sure where this was going but many possibilities raced in her mind.

"I ... I know..." Lexi stammered, noticing her mom in the corner, her gaze aimed downward at her daughters purse which laid on the ground by her feet. Unbeknownst to the young Alexis Cole who was focusing on her dad though, her mom was focusing on something else -- a shiny purple and gold medallion that peeked through the slight crevice where Lexi's purse remained unzipped.

Lexi's mom let out a long pensive sigh, before reaching into Lexi's purse and exposing the purple and gold medallion

"Then perhaps you'd like to explain this..." Lexi's mom sighed, wanting to cut to the chase rather than draw out the increasingly tense confrontation. Lexi simply let out a gulp.

"We saw the news, Lexi..." Lexi's dad mentioned, "You were all over it ... and ... I mean, it's cool that you saved those people but ..."

"Cool?" Lexi's mom interjected, suddenly sounding very huffy as her voice escalated and she carelessly dropped the medallion back into her daughter's purse, "there is nothing COOL about this ... Lexi, you could've been seriously hurt ... and what is this SHRINKGIRL thing...??"

Lexi's heart was racing, her face turning red as she felt an uncomfortable heat overcome her body. She simply shook her head, sweat beginning to bead up on her forehead as she wished to be anywhere but there. She finally could bear no more, as a single tear streamed down her cheek.

"I .. I'm sorry..." Lexi whimpered, "I'm in over my head and ... I don't know what I was thinking..."

Upon seeing her daughter cry, even Lexi's mother had to soften her tone, coming over towards the bed and joining her husband in embracing their daughter in a family hug. This had been a difficult time for sure, and while it seemed like things may be coming to a conclusion, the real trouble was just beginning.

While Dr. Maxmillian, aka Mad Max was likely still at large, Lexi at least took solace in the fact that she had her other biggest rival, Roxie, locked up during their last encounter. It was a hard fought battle but if she could take the psychotic criminal off the streets, it was at least somewhat of a victory.

Unfortunately, that too, wasn't meant to be.

The same night that Lexi stopped the bombing (save for the Krazy Kookie getting blown to smithereens) was also the night Roxie pulled off yet another daring and reckless escape, killing a police officer in the process as a malicious grin crossed her face, watching as the police cruiser caught fire while smashed against a tree trunk.

"Poor bastard..." Roxie smirked, watching the police cruiser finally detonate as she walked away victorious, a single handcuff around her wrist while the other dangled like some kind of charm bracelet. "All in all, not my best work ... but that's okay ... time to call the boss man"

Roxie would shrug non-chalantly after having committed yet another homicide to escape, propping her cell phone up around her shoulder and after a long delay hearing a click. The line was fairly silent until a deep voice came over it. She had decided to go above Byron Biggs in this case. She wanted the head honcho himself. As usual, she wasn't quite sure who he was or what it was he did. Normally this wouldn't bother her so much but she felt inquisitive on this night.

"...Roxie? I told you not to call this number..." the gentleman on the other end said, a strange sound of interference clouding the phone call as static obscured his voice further.

"Yeah ... look boss man, I'll keep this quick ... I'm gonna need double my usual rate and maybe some super strong painkillers to get me by for a few days... I'd say all in all it's the least you could do" Roxie shrugged, pacing about the wreckage and kicking some stones in the process.

Again, the line remained silent, although Roxie could hear strange noises in the background. Then again this guy was always a bit strange and that was putting it mildly.

"N-Now ... is not a good time..." the mysterious gentleman responded as Roxie could hear sounds of struggle and some kind of electrical interference, "...I told you to run any kind of financial requests through Biggs anyway"

"Whatevs" Roxie sighed, "good luck with your science project or whatever"

If only it were that simple

----

As Lexi peeked in the window of one of the cars, her eyes lit up to see the well decorated dashboard and a steering wheel cover with patterns resembling melted smiley faces. She'd grin in a goofy manner, temporarily allowing her inner child to come out as she looked at the car as if spotting a beloved stuffed animal or piece of candy.

The feeling didn't last long however as she was hit with the harsh reality that she was very much strapped for cash, a problem only excacerbated by the long term layoff from the Krazy Kookie while reconstruction efforts were made ... if the place was even to open up at all. Something about all of that never sat well with Alexis Cole either. Roxie clearly had the hit on the Krazy Kookie as a result of her alliance with the mysterio0us new cookie place, Kekse opening up just around the same time as the bombing. That wasn't a coincidence and Lexi vowed to someday get to the bottom of it.

For now though, her main priority was trying to get wheels.

"So uh ..." Lexi said sheepishly to the over enthused car dealership employee named Zack, "is there any kind of uh ... superhero discount?"

Lexi's parents gave her a bit of an indifferent and annoyed look, to which the hapless Lexi simply shrugged with a nervous giggle, "...it was worth a shot"


----

"So, still no wheels?" Leah asked, shuffling through her closet while talking to her best friend on the phone

"Sadly no ..." Lexi sighed, sitting on her bed as she peered around the room, occasionally distracted by the sight of her adorable cat, Tiny walking by and doing his thing. She'd tsk a few times to try to get his attention but he seemed more enthralled with a balled up piece of paper on the ground. "I was really hoping this summer I'd be able to go on some road trips or something"

"Well, I'm not doing much" Leah suggested, "and my ride is always available for some action ... maybe not getaway hero action but ... vacation action anyway"

"Heh yeah ..." Lexi nodded, "Probably going to have to take a break from the hero thing anyway ... between almost getting busted by the cops and my parents now knowing..."

"Yeah I still don't get that..." Leah sighed, raising an eyebrow as she gazed at a sundress of hers, "...why are the police after you at all? You saved like hundreds of people and besides that, you've done more for crime in this city than they ever have"

"Heh, well I appreciate the vote of confidence but they don't seem to see it that way" Lexi chuckled "...I guess I can understand it ... don't want someone else encroaching on your territory and all ... still, it's a good thing Sonia is on my side, for the most part"

Leah was quiet for a bit, still attentive to Lexi but laying out some clothes for the week. Finally, she'd speak again

"And how about that therapist you're seeing?" Leah asked, "is that helping?"

"K-Kinda..." Lexi sighed, "this has been ... very weird to say the least ... I never meant to worry anyone or hurt anybody, yknow?"

"I know Lex..." Leah sighed, checking herself out in the mirror while laying one of her dresses over herself, she'd let out a tsk.

"What? What'd I say?" Lexi asked, concerned about her friend's sudden disdain

"Oh, it's not you ... I just need a wardrobe refresh ..." Leah sighed, "Hey, you have some time? Maybe we could hit the mall"

Lexi sighed, just leaning forward on her bed, the phone awkwardly perched on her shoulder as she thought it over, "yeah ... yeah you know what? that does sound like a good idea ... let's do it"

"Think we should invite Josh?" Leah asked, laying the latest dress on her bed with a growing pile that she intended to either donate or throw away

"Hmmm, we could try, but I think he said he was busy with something ... knowing him, it could be any number of things" Lexi replied.

----

Meanwhile, in a garage not so far away sparks were flying as a cell phone rattled futilely on a table far away from the aforementioned Joshua James who was hard at work on something resembling a small drone. He tilted his head as he admired his work, completely missing the phone call from Lexi. He'd look just under one of the propeller blades of his drone as he readjusted his face mask, having finished welding the machine back together.

"Not bad, but could use some work..." Josh said to himself, in deep thought as he worked on his latest technological masterpiece. He was attempting to build a drone that could rival that of Enormo Enterprises. He figured it could maybe give Lexi an eye in the sky and heads up to any trouble on the horizon. The problem is most of the test flights had been less than successful. Perhaps that was about to change.

"Alright..." the eager young aspiring scientist Josh exclaimed, standing up again and stepping back from the drone as it sat on the table. "Here goes everything"

With that, Josh pressed a button on a remote he had built himself and watched in confidence as the drone started to rise from the makeshift pedestal he had built for it. It rose up and up, wobbling just a bit before starting to hover around the garage, gently steering as per his commands. He was just about to land it and start working on the next components when he noticed a small spark emitting from the undercarriage.

"Oh shoot, not again..." Josh sighed, having a hand on a nearby fire extinguisher just in case. Luckily, that wasn't necessary as he'd land the drone slowly and awkwardly back in its original spot. He was about to come closer to inspect any potential damage when a loud popping sound startled him.

"Shit..." he sighed, "I'm going to need more parts ... wonder where I could go for some parts ... or maybe more..."

The year was 1992 ... and it was the night of a social mixer at Southern Cal institute. It wasn't exactly the most happening social event as it was mainly for the science and business majors. Still, the gymnasium was fairly packed as a group of promising 20 somethings would walk about mingling, discussing their plans for the future and reminiscing about the times they had had during their time studying various up and coming sciences.

One of those people was a bit of a recluse, an odd case who went simply by Dr. Max, even though he wasn't officially a doctor at this point. In fact, his major was something of a mystery, having taken all manners of chemistry, engineering and particle physics. Still, the spry young scientist, who's hair hadn't gone totally gray yet (save for a patch in the back) drew some attention from his classmates, as well as some ire from those more skeptical of his ideas.

He would be sitting at a round table with a single half finished glass of fruit punch, sitting alongside one of his few friends, another scientist who was a bit more social named Trevor Hoffnung. Trevor saw something in Max, despite the fact that his ideas seemed all over the place. The ambition itself was infectious though and he hoped that in time Max could settle on some course of study and stick with it.

As it was though, the young Maximillian was boasting of something new he was working on and he had a prototype to show off as always. His friend, Trevor tried to remain supportive as he joined Max and a group of fellow science and engineering majors to watch Max unveil what appeared to be a small silver plastic toy, akin to something you'd get in a happy meal.

"Nice trick, Max" a snarky young scientist retorted, adjusting his glasses as he had a better look, "gonna market that to McDonalds?"

Trevor sighed, always feeling like he had to defend his misunderstood colleague. But this time Max seemed a bit snarkier than usual. He gently slammed the table and the small critter moved on its own a bit.

"Hmmm, did you use a small motor to achieve the movement effect?" one of the curious science majors asked

"Nein ... as usual you are thinking too simply" Max sighed, as the creature moved on its own again, eventually running out of steam and returning to a stationary position. "It's made of nanites ..."

"Nanites are a total gimmick..." another scientist chimed in, "You've been watching way too many science fiction movies"

"Say what you will ... but I'm already working on a deal to start my own company with Eddie ..." Max touted, "and we're going to produce all kinds of tech that can grow and shrink at will..."

"I'm sorry ... Eddie... Eddie Enormo...whatever?" one of them chuckled, "There's no way he'd back this ... this ... whatever this is ..."

As the group joined in mocking the increasingly irked Maximillian, another colleague walked by. He had light brown hair and stood at about 6'2. Not much was known about him but he was one of the few for whom Max had true respect. In fact he considered this man to be something of a genius, even if he would never admit it out loud.

The man's name was Giovanni Guillardo and he had already been offered a position as a student professor in quantum physics upon completing his bachelors. He also was conducting a number of studies on interdimensional matter and chaos theory. As much as people gave Max weird looks sometimes however, many considered Giovanni to be something of a nut case, despite his excellent grades.

Giovanni would pause and take a rare interest in the science discussion, pulling up a chair and inserting himself right into it, peering in at Max's creation with curiosity.

"Shrinking and growing technology, hmm?" Giovanni asked

"That is right! See, it's all based on molecular transfusion" Max explained

"I see... although there's only so far that can go ... in this dimension anyway" Giovanni retorted, drawing groans from almost everyone at the table, including the usually mild mannered Trevor Hoffnung.

"Oh god, not the multiverse thing again..."

"Not multiverse..." Giovanni restated, "it's like a ... web of possibilities ... other dimensions, similar to ours but different ... at this very moment there could be this same exact conversation occuring but maybe ..."

"Maybe you're actually not a loser in it!" someone chimed in, drawing snickers from the other mean spirited scientists

"Say what you want" Giovanni shrugged, seemingly unfazed by the relentless insults, "I'm building a particle collider that's almost finished... I plan to demo it later this summer at the university before the fall semester ... you're all welcome to come see it"

"As much as I'd love to see the chance to see you blow up half the science complex, I think I'll pass..." one of the scientists quipped, slowly shuffling away from the group upon seeing a colleague they recognized.

Max simply looked down at his creation, a very rough prototype at what would later be called a Maximite. He shook his head in disdain.

"Hey ... I think it's a cool idea" Trevor shrugged, "and you were serious about Eddie, right?"

"Hmm?" Max asked, seemingly distracted for a moment, before nodding, "Yes, yes of course! We're going to start the biggest company this side of the west coast! Mumford Mechanations ..."

"You don't think maybe Edward Enormoligatti will want his name on the company?" Trevor teased

"Eh, we'll work out the details..." Max shrugged.

As socially awkward as his entrance had been, Giovanni then made just as abrupt of a departure, drawing a bit of an eye roll from the future Dr. Trevor Hoffnung.

"That guy's a bit out there, huh?" Trevor suggested

"Eh, I wouldn't say so..." Max said, seemingly in a state of admiration as he watched Giovanni head off, "reach for the skies, yknow?"

Trevor shrugged. Ambition was one of the founding principles of new discoveries and eventually new inventions.

Unfortunately for Giovanni though, the mean spirited scientists joking prophecy would later come to pass, as that summer would see Giovanni's lone test into creating an interdimensional gate end in tragedy ... while nobody else was hurt, the science lab was engulfed in a fireball for a brief moment and nothing in the vicinity survived the blast, meaning the scientist with so much ambition and ideas was a mere memory... vaporized by the technology that he thought would show him a whole new world of possibilities.

Or at least ... that's how it was reported at the time ...

-----

In another time, perhaps more familiar to present day, and in another place, unfamiliar to most any mere mortal, a battle raged on as a strong figure in black armor, adorned with green and red shoulder pads fought off a horde of encroaching creatures who appeared to be made entirely of crystal. While he dodged and weaved to avoid their attacks, he also kept tabs on his duo of warriors who were also dealing with similar threats.

To his immediate left was the enchantress known as Emerald, clad in heavy green and gold armor and able to produce strong forcefields with a wave of her hands. Her lustrous golden locks flowed in the breeze giving her a very aesthetically pleasing feminine appearance as she dominated her foes. She had fought under the royal guard of Duke Vektor for quite some time after all and this was nothing new to her, but the impending threat had taken over more and more of the kingdom of late. While she battled off the growing army, she looked to Vektor with a glare.

"I warned you, Sire ..." Emerald cried out during the volley of attacks she defended, "I warned you that we needed more numbers ... more warriors ..."

"I've brought your sister along, haven't I?" Vektor, the heavily armored warrior and Duke proclaimed, gesturing to a less than agile and prepared warrior in her own right.

"She's not ready, Lord Vektor..." Emerald protested, letting her guard down just long enough to incure a sharp incision from an extended gem laden limb as the creatures continued to multiply in number. "Ugh! Son of a ..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." the third warrior, the sister of Emerald muttered, although to nobody in particular. She seemed out of sorts as the invasion continued but she was doing everything she could to fight off the foes with her meddle and her trusty glowing sword. The radiant blade, glowing a similar blue to her short hair was said to possess mystical powers that only a few could handle. Since birth, Sapphire had been one of those who could handle and yield the blade without incurring harm to herself, but she lacked the confidence and conviction of a true warrior to unleash its full power. In other words, she was clumsy, but meant well.

This clearly wasn't meant to be her day on the battlefield, but time was running out and training was not an option. It was all hands on deck for the dwindling court of Duke Vektor and the Kingdom of Quartzaria ... it was a dimension that knew mostly peace, save for a few cataclysmic events in the past that would normally wipe out other civilizations.

But the Quartzarians were a strong race. Even when obliterated, their bodies would turn to pure gemstones and over time they would reforge, although perhaps in a different form than they originally were. It was hard to say how many generations had evolved and revitalized in this way. But that was the past and if Vektor wanted to save the future of his kingdom, he would need to heed the advice of his longtime companion Emerald and find a new kind of hero. He would need to find somebody cunning, somebody with their own set of powers and somebody who was capable of perhaps doing the impossible and saving their realm from what seemed to be another apocylyptic event.

Where could such a being be found though? And what was her name?

"Lexi, you coming?" Leah teased, from another place far far away as she waited outside Lexi's house patiently with her Toyota for a random outing to the Mini Mall.

"I'm coming, I'm coming..." Lexi sighed, schlupping herself out the door wearing a light purple tank top and jeans, her purse bobbing a bit more up and down due to the heavy boulder in it that was her SG medallion. The medallion itself, while functional in a battle context was fairly impractical to carry around but the young Alexis Cole found it necessary just in case the need should arise.

"Any word from Josh?" Leah asked, the radio at a dull hum as Lexi entered the car

"He never picked up the phone" Lexi shrugged, sliding out her own phone from the depths of her purse to confirm, "he must be working on something..."

"Just hope he doesn't blow up the neighborhood..." Leah joked, flipping through the channels as the two ladies were off on a shopping spree. Well, Leah was anyway. Lexi was desperately trying to save money while also looking for a new job, whether it be something temporary or more long term while the Krazy Kookie got repaired ... if that was even the plan. Unfortunately the Kekse stand that opened across the street was humming along just fine, especially with the void created due to the utter obliteration of their only competition. Who knew college based cookie stands could be so cutthroat in their competitve ways?

As Leah continued on her drive to the mall, the duo would pass a building which was ravaged by a mysterious explosion not too long ago. It wasn't from a bomb and something about it looked ... unnatural. Some of the bricks were almost melted and beams of steel would contorted at weird angles, almost as if the building were part of a surrealist painting. It was only missing the dripping clocks. As the girls drove by, Lexi would again pause to look, noticing a few parked police cruisers and police tape roping off the area.

"Lex..." Leah warned, "...let it go"

"Huh? What?" a flustered Lexi responded

"Everytime we go by that place, you do that thing where you like gawk at it..." Leah sighed, "not EVERY situation is one you need to get involved in, yknow? Besides, I need you here ... with me ... it's summer time, we're gonna do it up, right?"

Lexi paused but eventually smiled, turning away from the situation and facing her best friend instead

"Yeah, for sure" Lexi replied enthusiastically.

At the site of the mysterious happenstance, things were a bit less jovial. As a crew in hazmat suits carefully inspected the fallout from whateve occurred at the mysterious building, the police observed from a safe distance. Inside one of the MIni Troop cruisers dwelled Sonia Sanders and her partner, Alexandra.

"I just don't get it..." Sonia sighed

"It's a weird one for sure ..." Alexandra replied in agreement, "no signs of arson or a break in ... it's like the building imploded on itself or something ... there are traces of some kind of radiation but even our experts say they can't identify what it is ..."

"Well, not only that but I did some research as to who owned this property..." Sonia said

"And?"

"That's just it..." Sonia nodded, taking a collection of records out of the glove box to show her partner, "It's either been unowned or changed hands a number of times in the past several years ... the last owner was a Giovanni Guillardo..."

"Now why does that name sound familiar?" Alexandra asked

"I looked it up and he was a scientist who died in a tragic accident in California back in the 1990s ..." Sonia explained

"Could it be someone else with the same name?" Alexandra asked

"Possible but fairly unlikely... I mean, how many Giovanni Guillardos could there be??"

"Hypothetically infinite possibilities..." the mysterious older scientist uttered that fateful night as electricity crackled from his finely crafted machinery. It had been years, seemed like decades that he had worked on this collider, even since things went so awry during his first attempt. But he knew better now, and he knew that the results could be worth it. He could finally prove his theories, he could explore the unknown, see what else was out there.

But like any chaotic system, which is what he dealt in, there were sure to be variables he didn't expect.

At that very moment in the embattled kindgom of Quartzaria, Vektor and his two cohorts, Emerald and Sapphire continued their battle against the advancing forces of darkness.

"To your left!" Vektor shouted, firing an energy beam that just missed Sapphire but instead disintegrated the advancing monster. He'd sign in relief but his relief would be short lived as a small tremor shook them both.

Emerald's eyes widened, as she watched a crack in the very fabric of space open up behind her leader, Vektor.

"Ummmm... that doesn't look normal..." an anxious Sapphire observed, pointing to the continuing rip in the space-time continuum, as the atmosphere itself seemed to fracture like so much glass. As she cautiously advanced away from it, Emerald seemed fascinated by it. She peered through it to see what appeared to be another world on the other side.

"Emerald!" Vektor warned, briefly held captive by one of the black crystallic creatures before breaking free of its grip, "be careful! we don't know what that is"

"Precisely..." Emerald sneered, her eyes glowing red for a moment. Vektor's own eyes went pale with shock. Oh no.

"You're ..." Vektor stammered, but it was too late.

In a moment Emerald grabbed onto Vektor and wrestled him towards the portal.

"Ummm... what's going on?" Sapphire stammered

"Th-This isn't ... Emerald..." Vektor grunted, trying to push back against the imposter but to no avail. Emerald gave a great thrust and chuckled as Vektor flew through the portal, before turning her attention to Sapphire who lay on one knee in pure shock. She'd draw her sword but Emerald would simply shrug, slowly shapeshifting before Sapphire's eyes.

The scene would continue to play out, its results unbeknownst to the now banished Vektor who found himself in the lab of Dr. Giovanni, electricty continuing to surge as the portal grew more and more unstable.

Giovanni, panicking, attempted to power down the machine but it seemed to have a mind of its own now, as the portal fluctuated greatly, a few of the black crystallic beasts also finding their way in, along with a few jagged bird like creatures, also made of some kind of onyx like gemstone.

As the doctor tried desperately to reason his way out of the situation, his phone rang. He slipped his hand on the speaker phone button to bring up Roxie's voice as she asked him for more money. Again, one could say this wasn't exactly a good time.

"Who the hell are you?" the confused black armored gentleman with a V across his chest asked, pointing at the doctor with great disdain. He was about to confront him further when he found himself again attacked from behind by one of the black crystal monsters. He grunted and threw the assailant aside, making a charge for the frightened doctor. "Tell me who you are!"

Vektor was infuriated, even moreso when he noticed the portal behind him closing. He was now trapped in this strange dimension and he couldn't let the doctor, the only person who seemed to know how this all worked, get away. Dr. Giovanni made a break for the door but Vektor cut him off with a red energy blast that seemed to meld the door shut, contorting its metal handle into a pretzel.

"L-Look ... I don't know who you are or what you want..." Giovanni cried out, "but clearly there's been a mistake ... let me reactivate the machine and I can ..."

To Giovanni's horror, that wouldn't be possible as he watched the myriad of interdimensional creatures wrecking his life's work, banging relentlessly on the metal tubing that comprised the delicate system of particle colliders. The machine was all but unsalvageable now and Vektor looked concerned, not just for his own fate but that of the doctor, who would soon be under attack from the creatures.

"Get back!!" Vektor grunted, taking a blast in the chest for the doctor. He seemed relatively unfazed despite how strong the blast was. Vektor glanced back at the doctor, a bit concerned.

"Do you have anybody ...?" Vektor asked, "...who can get you the parts you need ... to repair that portal machine?"

"I ... I might be able to ..." Giovanni asked, "but I doubt they'd listen to me at this point"

"Make them listen..." Vektor sneered, fighting off an advancing horde of creatures.

Just in case that plan didn't work, Vektor had a plan B. He briefly scanned the doctor in his own mind, his eyes flashing red as a lined laser passed through them as if scanning an item at a grocery store. A laser grid surrounded Dr. Giovanni and a hologram seemed to funnel into Vektors chest plate. Giovanni, unharmed but confused simply watched on in utter bewilderment.

"Look out!" Giovanni cried as Vektor was overwhelmed by a swarm of horrific looking crystal eagles who blasted past him and furthermore melted a hole in the door. Giovanni, overcome by anxiety found himself making a break for it as Vektor was left to fend for himself.

And that would be the night all the chaos began ...

------

As Leah was checking out a store for all the latest fashions, although she seemed less than impressed by the selection, Lexi was at one of those silly mall kiosks that sold flashing glasses and other gimmicky plastic paraphanalia.

"Hmmm..." Lexi murmured to herself as if in deep thought, trying on a necklace that would flash when you hit a button on the back. "How much for this one?"

The tired looking woman manning the stand would turn over one of the necklaces on the counter and shrug, "9.95..."

Lexi wouldn't answer but would simply gingerly slip the necklace back into the container she got it out of, instead looking at more of the knick knacks, seeing a Spider-Man bouncy ball, the kind thats clear on the outside and has the black and white eyes of Spidey in the middle with the red and black webbing pattern to represent his face. She could see on the price tag that it was only $2.95. This gave her greater reason to consider it as a displeased looking Leah Henderson came out one of the stores, simply called "Fashion".

"Name of the store is misleading in my opinion..." Leah sighed, not even holding a single bag as she watched Lexi looking at what was basically a kids stand full of glowing stuff and bouncing balls "...uh whatcha doing?"

What Lexi was doing had been in many ways self explanatory as she was poking some kind of rubber penguine on the beak and watching in glee as it bobbed up and down ... or at least she had been doing that until noticing her 21 year old friend observing her childish behavior

"Oh I was just uh ..." Lexi chuckled, doing an about face, "shopping for a uh ... gift for Josh"

"Oh right, his birthday's coming up" Leah nodded, before giving Lexi a confused look, "wait ... you're not thinking of getting him something from ... here? No offense"

"None taken" the disengaged girl at the kiosk shrugged, flipping pages in a magazine.

"W-Well I don't know..." Lexi whimpered, "m-maybe..."

Leah gently touched the hand of Lexi's which held the ball causing her to deposit it back in the plastic container and she'd kindly escort her best friend away from the kiosk

"Look, ... strange thing is I actually COULD see Josh liking that ball ... a lot actually..." Leah stuttered, finding herself seemingly overcome with conflicted emotions over what she was about to say, "...like I could see him naming it and throwing it all over campus but ... no ... look, Josh is your friend, he's a good friend... you gotta get him more than a rinky dink bouncy ball..."

"He IS a good friend" Lexi replied sincerely, looking away a bit as she thought of him a bit more fondly, "He's really helped me out of some tough scrapes and sometimes, like the other day, he'll really make me laugh without even meaning to ... I was over his house and he was trying to make pizza bagels and the microwave spinny thing got stuck and ..."

Leah smirked a bit, content to just listen to Lexi's rambling story involving the microwave, pizza bagels and the exterminator. Yeah, there was an exterminator in there somewhere. You just had to be there, I guess.

"Heh, sure he's not maybe more than a friend...?" Leah teased

"Huh? No, no, of course" Lexi scoffed, as if the idea were so unthinkable.

Josh and Lexi had been friends since pretty much day one at college though. It was true they had some things in common, although while Lexi would be a bit of a closet comic book fan, with a deep love of Sonic the hedgehog but other than that, not much gaming, Josh was deeply involved in Dungeons and Dragons and had a nearly encyolopedia like knowledge of vintage comic books through the current day, especially ones involving his favorite iconic web head, Spider-Man. They had some things in common, but not everything and she still to this day wondered how he pulled off some of the unusual feats he was able to with such ease while struggling with such simple things as getting pizza bagels out of a microwave. Still, she often wondered where she'd be without her trusty friend Josh.

----

As for Josh's whereabouts, he had finally trekked into the local computer shop, Aztek Parts and More to look into some parts ... well, maybe more than that. He needed a new propeller for his drone and maybe some extra sheet metal to build a stronger outer casing. As he perused the store before approaching the man at the front counter, a kindly old gentleman who he sweared looked familiar, he found himself marveled by what he saw. The store had a pretty impressive selection for what seemed like a fairly common type of operation.

"Can I help you, young man?" Mr. Trevor Hilfmann, owner of the store asked the awestruck Joshua James as he carefully set his drone on the counter, "Oh ... been working on drones, I see"

The topic of drones was something that had a deep history with Trevor Hilfmann, formerly (or maybe always) known as Trevor Hoffnung. While he found the feat of them impressive, he worried of their implications in terms of privacy. Some drones these days were small enough to basically work as mobile security cameras, spying on people with fairly easy to attain GPS technology -- and of course that was to say nothing of the applications of drones in a war time situation.

That was something he was all too familiar with having spent some time in the weaponry division at Enormo Enterprises, a branch of the company very few in the public eye knew about.

"Enormo Enterprises!" Josh said all of a sudden, eliciting even more of a traumatic flashback in the mind of the computer technician behind the counter.

"Huh?" Trevor asked, quite alarmed, while not letting it show

"I can't quite remmeber your name ..." Josh confessed, "but I remember you from the tour of Enormo Enterprises that my class went on..."

"Oh uh ... um...." Trevor stuttered, suddenly remembering the young man as well. He had been a very curious young science student and the kind who seemed to have a conspiracy theory for nearly everything. He didn't want to admit then or now just how true a lot of Josh's theories were. In fact ... he remembered even moreso the young man being a direct target of Dr. Max's drones. He'd raise an eyebrow and clear his throat a bit, wanting to dispose of the current conversation as quickly as possible. "I ... I'm afraid you're mistaken... I go by Mr. Hilfmann and I'm a computer scientist only ... I may have stopped by the Enormo facility as a guest a couple times but I never..."

"No no it was definitely you" Josh nodded, "I asked you where they keep the electric eels and you made some joke that this wasn't the Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie..."

"HUh ... yeah ... I ... I don't know where you got such an ... over active imagination..." Trevor sighed, trying again to deflect, and he would do so by trying to turn his attention to the young man's homemade creation, the fairly impressive drone with a rusty but valiant attempt at a purple paint job. In fact if he looked closely, he could see the letters S and G on one of the tips of the rudders. "S-Say is that ..."

Now it was Josh who seemed a bit precarious, watching as the Doctor inspected his drone. "Hmm?"

"Oh ... oh nothing ... you're uh probably looking for drone parts, right?" Trevor chuckled, "funny enough that IS something we have here outside of computer parts, it's a bit of a niche thing but I have some ... some things I can probably let you take a look at"

"Oh sure, that would be great ..." Josh said, nodding, although wondering why the older gentleman had spent so much inspecting the homemade drone. It was almost like he knew more than he let on. Then again, Josh suspected that about pretty much everyone. It was probably just his imagination. Probably.

-----

"I still say Josh wanted to ask you to the Valentine's Day dance!" Leah commented, the girls mall trip now at a different point as the couple sat down to eat. Lexi wasn't quite sure though why Leah had jumped back to the subject of their friend Josh.

"Leah that was like 4 months ago" Lexi shrugged

"I know but like ... he had some girl he wanted to ask out, I know he did, but he'd never say who" Leah sighed between bites of her burger, seemingly frustrated that she hadn't officially cracked the case.

"He was probably just shy about it" Lexi shrugged, "him and I don't really talk about that stuff"

"Well yeah he doesn't talk about it with YOU...." Leah replied, "because YOU'RE the one he likes, what's he going to be like ... hey Lexi, I really like Lexi?"

"Are you like ... in a bet or something?" Lexi joked, "it seems like you WANT him and I to get together"

"Nah nah ... I mean I think it's kinda cute when you get all geeky with him but ... yeah I don't know" Leah shrugged, "I kinda see you ending up with Mara ... maybe Chrissy"

"Definitely not Chrissy..." Lexi groaned

"Oh, you not into her anymore?" Leah asked

"Well, I can't even really say, I mean we've barely talked since everything happened with the bombing and even before that, we hadn't been super close..." Lexi sighed, "I like her a ton but ... yeah ... I think I really scared her off... she hasn't answered any of my calls since it happened ... last time she saw me I was fighting off a maniac and trying to get a bomb off her ..."

"At least you were trying to get the bomb OFF..." Leah sighed, "I doubt she's mad at you or anything"

"No, I know she's not" Lexi admitted, "I just ... I don't know ... just too much on my mind right now ... what were we talking about again?"

"Well this all started, funny enough, because you were going to get Josh a Spider-Man bouncy ball" Leah giggled, the sentence even sounding funny as it trickled out of her mouth.

"I was not going to get him the ... okay yeah I was totally going to get him the bouncy ball..." Lexi conceded, "it's not that I don't WANT to get him something better, it's just ... until I get another job or heck, any kind of plan, I need to conserve what little money I have ... Josh will understand, he already made it sound like he didn't want anything anyway"

Leah just let out an exascerbated sigh, "look if this is about money... I can lend you some..."

"No no" Lexi replied sternly, "you know what money does to any friendship ... and ... no. I appreciate the offer but ... no thank you ... besides, you can't be doing too great on spending money either, didn't your dad say you had to get a job this summer or he'd 'cut you out'?"

"That's a LITTLE dramatic way of saying it..." Leah replied, "but ... yeah, and it's no big deal, I actually may be getting a job up at Sally's in the next couple weeks"

"Sally's, the cute little fashion boutique?" Lexi asked, to which Leah nodded, "that's awesome hon! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well it's not like official yet but ... it's possible ... turns out Debra from home ec class is Sally's daughter and ..." Leah started but the end of her sentence would soon become vaporized by an overeager Alexis Cole

"Sally? Like THE Sally?" Lexi giggled

"You ... are surprised that there's a 'Sally' running 'Sally's'?" Leah chuckled a bit, resuming eating for just a moment before her eyes shifted to a TV screen on the column behind Lexi. The french fry she had started to eat trickled out of her mouth as an uneasy gaze filled her eyes. Lexi was all too quick to notice which is what Leah Henderson feared most. "Oh Lexi, no need to look ... it's always just ..."

It was too late

Lexi found herself quickly fixated on the flashing news bulletin that read "MANHUNT CONTINUES FOR ROXANNE WRIGHT ... MOTORCYCLE SPOTTED DOWNTOWN...."

As the news caster spoke on the muted mall TV, little bits of closed captioning filled in what she was saying and Lexi studied the words, mumbling them to herself attentively. If only she could put as much vigor into her actual studies.

"Lexi ..." Leah whined, "C'mon ... let it go... please... I beg of you ..."

"You know I can't, Leah..." Lexi sighed, her voice suddenly downtrodden and a lot less jovial, "I let her get away ... again ... and worse, she killed someone... it's my fault"

"Not everything is your fault, Lex, for real" Leah frowned, also seeming a bit angry. It seemed like she could rarely get any relaxing time with her best friend without some kind of superhero drama or general depression coming on. She struggled to relate to the severe degree of Lexi's guilt but this wasn't the girl she knew, at least not since she donned the purple and gold and became ShrinkGirl.

"I know ... I just ..." Lexi sighed, her voice trailing off as she recalled again that horrible night where her friends were almost killed and her job was blown up by Roxie and Sugar Rush. She was able to save them with some quick thinking but not everybody was so safe, as the officer who took Roxie into custody ended up dead behind the wheel and the reckless criminal, even with an injured arm was somehow able to escape.

Since then Lexi had vowed to do everything in her power to bring Roxie to justice if another opportunity arose but for the most part, it hadn't. The usually vivid and obvious supervillainess had gone completely quiet since the incident. Lexi wasn't naive to the fact that she was likely pulling heists under the radar but she knew it was only a matter of time before she slipped up and got herself exposed. Now might have been her chance. At the same time ... was it really the right time for this? The young woman's heart was again torn and seeing Leah's disappointment only furthered her emotional struggle.

Leah finally stopped, finishing her meal and not really looking happy or sad, just concerned and a little guilty herself.

"I'm sorry Lex" Leah nodded, "I don't know what it's like to be in your shoes and I ... I shouldn't just assume it's so easy to forget about things like that ..."

"No, you're right..." Lexi nodded, trying to return that trademark smile to her face, "I should be focusing on you, and us, and our time together"

"And Josh" Leah smirked

"And Josh ... wait, why did you say it like that?" Lexi smugly smirked, "you cheeky bitch ... there is NOTHING going on between us"

"Oh....." Leah giggled, "I never said there was, but now you got me wondering..."

Lexi shook her head and was about to return to her sitting position, facing away from the TV when she read something in the closed captioning. It not only detailed an ongoing chase between the police and Roxie but it mentioned her whereabouts as "east Minitropolis" which wasn't too far from the mall.

"Lexi ..." Leah sighed, an uncomfortable grimace crossing her face, "you're not thinking about going after her, are you? I mean, it's not like we even know where she is..."

Lexi shrugged and looked a bit like a little kid who got caught doing something they weren't suppose to as she took out a small police scanner from her purse and tuned it to a clear frequency. The speed at which she did this startled Leah, just a little.

"You happen to carry a portable police scanner?" Leah asked

"Josh is right..." Lexi answered, very matter of factly, "it really is the best way to go ... signal is a bit weaker but you get a decent range and you're always ready to go in case there's trouble"

"He really is your Andrew, huh?" Leah smirked

"Andrew?" Lexi asked, tilting her head curiously

"You know, the old guy from Batman?" Leah struggled, "always helping him out and stuff?"

"You mean ALFRED?" Lexi giggled as she simultaneously listened to the scanner for any hints of trouble or clues.

"What did I say?" Leah asked

"You said Andrew" Lexi replied

"Who's Andrew?" Leah asked

"I don't know, I think Andrew was that guy you liked in 3rd period math for like 5 minutes" Lexi shrugged, finally able to hear what she was waiting for.

"Yeah we have Roxie's motorcycle, it's an exact match on the plates..." the police officer said through fuzzy static

"She has a license plate on her motorcycle?" Leah asked, "isn't that kind of ...?"

"Stupid?" Lexi nodded in agreement, "extremely ... she literally doesn't care if the police find her ... I think she finds it to be some kind of game..."

"To be fair, you are using a tracker right now to find her" Leah shrugged, although her curiosity had overcome her for the time being. It was kind of exciting being part of the action, even as a minor participant.

"We got her doing 90 going up East Boulevard heading up towards State Street"

"That's only like 5 minutes from here" Lexi stuttered, looking over at Leah a bit nervously, "...of course... we could just forget the whole thing"

Leah let out a long drawn out sigh as she had already committed to discarding her remaining food and hoisting her purse onto her shoulder, goading her best friend into joining her.

"C'mon..." Leah sighed, "let's go get your bad guy..."

"REALLY?!" Lexi giggled, as if she were a kid about to get ice cream

"Yeah...." Leah rolled her eyes as the two made their way for the mall exit with some haste. At least Leah thought she had Lexi alongside her but a quick look away would reveal otherwise. Lexi had stopped yet again at the toy stand. "...Lexi...."

"How much again for the Spidey ball??" Lexi asked the less than engaged saleswoman at the stand. The girl peered over her magazine for barely a second, finding Lexi's curiosity and spunk cute for the most part and simply handed it to her.

"You sure?" Lexi asked

"Yeah, knock yourself out, kiddo" the girl chuckled, to which Lexi instantly hugged her

"Thank you!!" Lexi said in a really cute tone, running off and showing Leah her "prize"

Even the unengaged saleswoman who hadn't had the best of days found herself smiling warmly. It was hard not to when Lexi was at her absolute cutest.

"You happy now?" Leah chuckled as her best friend broke into a slow jog to catch up

"I will be ..." Lexi smirked, "there's just one thing I have to say to make this mission official..."

"Oh no..." Leah sighed, already knowing what was coming, "Lexi, can we please not ..."

"To the LEAH-MOBILE!"

An extremely curious and eager Joshua James would watch in awe as Trevor Hilfmann very carefully installed a very small but powerful motor in the center of his drone as well as tuned up the propellers. For somebody who had seemed skeptical at first, Trevor struck up an odd friendship, maybe even apprenticeship with the young lad who took the same level of interest in technology and science as he had. Still, Trevor was worried of a couple things but he wouldn't let that taint what was otherwise a wholesome moment.

"So, first thing..." Josh nodded as he watched the diligent former doctor work, "you have CLEARLY done this before ... I mean, you disassembled the main frame without even going through the exhaust..."

"I've worked on a drone or two..." the humble Mr. Hilfmann confessed, still tilting his head to read the graffiti on the side of the drones wing better. "How about you? What made you get into drone flying, if you don't mind my asking"

"Oh. Well ... huh, I don't know actually..." Josh answered, in a sort of earnest and socially awkward way, despite his sincerity. Although he was trying to hide the true nature of his drone, the truth is he often enjoyed diving into different kinds of tech and sciences without really having a reason.

"Might it have something to do with this ... SG logo on the side?" Trevor asked, suddenly seeming a bit more serious.

"SG?" Josh asked, getting a bit hot under the collar as he felt like he was close to being found out. "That uh ... must be the brand name"

"I don't think so" Trevor shook his head, "...please tell me you're not a fan of that 'ShrinkGirl' character on TV..."

"Oh her?" Josh scoffed, doing his best to lie. He was a notorious awful liar despite his brief experience in espionage and the like. "I mean, she's alright I guess ... never really uh ... thought about it ... actually now that you mention it, I'm not even sure who that is... you said ... SkunkGirl?"

"ShrinkGirl..." Trevor said sternly, "I assume you've seen the news?"

"Oh I ... I watch once in a while..." Josh stammered, "nothing really too interesting, y'know?"

Trevor shook his head. Having worked for a serial liar a number of years himself, he was very good at spotting ulterior motives. Granted, he didn't know the whole story but he suspected this Josh character knew more than he let on. Still, he had to admit, for such a young man with limited experience, he was doing fairly well as an inventor and technician. Perhaps there was hope for a future generation of scientists after all.

"Anyway ..." Trevor sighed, trying to break the high tensity silence, "These modifications should help your drone fly a bit more efficiently and the new propellers I installed should help with the turn radius ... you're lucky I had some compatible parts on hand"

"Heh ... yeah ... thanks again" Josh nodded, "So ... what do I owe you?"

Trevor paused for a moment and shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Josh asked

"Just ... do me a favor and be honest with me..." Trevor said, as he handed the drone back to Josh, "...if you knew who she was ... would you tell me?"

Without needing to explain further, Josh knew exactly what Mr. Hilfmann meant by that statement. He wasn't quite sure how to answer so he simply stood in stunned silence. Did Trevor know? Dare he reveal more? He decided to just nod.

"Oh um... w-well yeah..." Josh replied, feeling worse for lying after all the doctor had done to help him, "I'd ... uh ... I'd say if I knew ... but I don't ... I uh ..."

As if saved by the bell, a loud roaring rang out from outside. It was enough of a ruckus to startle the few customers gathered in the storefront as well as Trevor and Josh. The sound was emitted from a very poorly maintained motorcycle as it rocketed down the city streets and to add to the audio chaos was the loud rachet of police sirens as they pulsated closely behind.

"Geez... some crazy people out there, huh?" Josh sighed, drawing a reluctant nod from Trevor. As he addressed the young man, he had his hand tucked into his jacket pocket, with his cell phone at the ready. He had a feeling he may need to place a call to a certain female youngster he knew.

---

A little closer to the action, the Leah-Mobile ... otherwise known as a Toyota Corolla careened down the road at a blistering pace of ... 37 miles an hour?

"Leah lovely...?" Lexi sighed, leaning her head on the dashboard a bit, "I hate to be a bother but do you think you could go like ... the speed limit?"

"I'm trying, Lex..." Leah replied, her hands tensing up around the steering wheel as they were caught in a slew of slow moving traffic, "Guy in front of us is a student driver ... is that a Garfield doll suctioned cupped to the back window? That's so cute ... y'know you always see those in movies but you never see them around anymore..."

"Leah..." Lexi grumbled

"Okay okay Ms. Grumpy..." Leah sighed, "I'll get you to your damn caper on time, don't worry..."

Lexi had to smirk a little, as Leah would try to take a short cut by heading down a side street away from the traffic.

Lexi's plan from there though was a bit murky to say the least. It's not like she could just jump out of the car and catch up to Roxie who was likely a few city blocks away at this point, and Leah's Toyota wasn't exactly equipped to just cut through a high speed police chase. This was probably the kind of stuff her parents warned her vehemently to stay out of.

"Y'know what Leah?" Lexi sighed, a bit exhausted as the traffic became congested again, cars pulling to the side all at once to let a caravan of police cars through. "...maybe you were right ... maybe you were all right ... I shouldn't be pursuing this, I should just let the police handle it..."

Leah was about to reach over and give Lexi a short hug before she noticed something herself, seeing the purple blaze flash by as Roxie's motorcycle was cutting through a side alley and going off road in an effort to dodge the police cars.

"I ... think I know where she's going ..." Leah said, raising an eyebrow

"Roxie?" Lexi asked. Leah simply nodded, suddenly performing a quick reverse and a K-turn which set off some horns from the cars around her while she pulled off an illegal U-turn in slow moving traffic.

"Sorry!" Leah said with a hint of guilt as she changed course and hit the gas with a bit more fervor.

"Leah ..." Lexi said with a hint of astoundment and wonder in her voice, "I had no idea you ... oh hold on, I got a call... it's from ... Josh?"

"Awwww, your boyfriend wants to check up on ya" Leah teased

Lexi scoffed at the comment and simply picked it up as the high speed chase continued around her.

"Josh?"

"Lexi ... I think I see your car... well, Leah's car..." Josh said in a sort of business like but hurried tone, wasting no time in testing out his new and improved SG-Drone, although Lexi didn't know that so his comment came completely out of left field, "is she still okay with you calling it the Leah mobile?"

"Josh, I don't think she was EVER okay with that..." Lexi replied, rolling her eyes as she looked around curiously, "And what do you mean you see the car?"

"I'm testing out the new drone ... just fixed it up, thing can go crazy fast now!" Josh said, as excited as a kid on Christmas receiving a Nintendo64 for the first time

"Josh I appreciate the enthusiasm but now's really not a ..."

"No, I mean I see everything, like I have a wide view of the city ... you're chasing down Roxie, right?" Josh asked, a slight whooshing sound from above soon confirming the presence of Josh's drone, painted in sleek purple with swatches of silver where the new components were installed. It made its way down into traffic, weaving a precarious path between cars before pulling up along Leah's Toyota.

"Huh, impressive" Lexi said simply, trying not to distract Leah too much as she was the driver and took a sharp turn to keep up with Roxie. "But maybe this isn't the best time to give it a test run..."


"I don't know..." Josh said, again sounding eager as he paced the city streets nearby Aztek Parts and More, watching the ensuing action through a video feed on his phone that was beamed from the drone. "Looks like you could use a quick way to catch up to her and well ... I know you have some experience piloting drones in your shrunk form..."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that sounds?" Lexi asked, before letting out an abrupt eep, as Leah's car came to a quick stop behind a minivan that just slammed on the brakes, being re-routed due to police blocking off the road.

"Son of a bitch..." Leah cussed, something you'd never hear Robin or even Nightwing doing.

Lexi gave Leah a bit of a sheepish grin, "You did the best you could hon..."

As Leah looked over to see Lexi's consolation grin, she also noticed the drone hovering just behind her as the passenger side window was now opened. She also watched in concern as Lexi fished through her bag for the SG medallion and began hastily clipping it onto her belt to make the "hero buckle". That and the addition of her gold wrist gauntlets told her everything she needed to know.

"Lexi, please don't tell me you're planning what I think you are ..." Leah groaned. Lexi simnply shrugged but then gave her a goofy nod.

"Please be safe" is all Leah could say before watching Lexi unbuckle her seatbelt, dive sideways out of the window and shrink instantaneously to her usually tiny height, small enough to hitch a ride with the drone as a bug sized passenger, although it wasn't exactly a smooth landing.

As the drone carefully raised its altitude, Leah could only offer a wave and try her best to clumsily get out of traffic, hoping Lexi would be okay. Lexi would find herself slipping a bit as she tried to maintain traction on something that was a bit slick aside from a few rugged pieces of metal she could kind of hold onto.

"You didn't think to put a seat on this thing?!" Lexi squeaked, her voice even harder to hear through her cell phone as the wind blasted through it. Still, Josh heard enough to produce a slight chuckle on his end.

"It's a prototype, but eventually, yeah" Josh nodded, now trying to get into a serious mindset and pilot the drone as carefully as he could towards the speedy Roxie on her motorcycle.

It was around that point as Lexi was using almost all her strength to stay aboard the rocky drone's rudder that she noticed another call coming in via her cell phone from Trevor. She'd sigh and hit "ignore" on the call for now, needing to focus. To that end, she would also end the call with Josh abruptly by putting the phone into her pocket in order to have both hands free. Josh would see her do this on the drones built in camera, although her current angle was such that Josh got an awkward view of the back of Lexi's thigh and some of her ass.

"Hmm..." Josh would simply remark, trying not to get distracted as a sudden drift to the right would shake Lexi enough so that she wasn't blocking the camera but was also semi-firmly planted on the surface of the drone as it closed the distance significantly on Roxie.

So significantly in fact, that the tiny Lexi could make out Roxie's booming taunt as it rang out ahead of her, a single gun pointing in the general vicinity of the ShrinkCopter (patent pending)

"Don't you know this is a no-fly zone?" Roxie sneered, taking a shot at the drone.

Josh was thankfully very skilled at flying drones, especially ones with super enhanced jet-like engines, and he was able to barrel roll away from the blast although in doing so, he inadvertently threw his tiny passenger from the drone's surface and sent her tumbling down towards concrete -- or at least that's what would've happened if Lexi didn't think fast and lunge forward, growing back and grabbing hold of Roxie's shoulder, causing her to swerve a bit.

"Oh!! And she sticks the landing!" Josh exclaimed, although nobody knew what he was talking about at the time, since he was the only one who could see the video feed of Lexi latching onto Roxie.

"Careful, Shrinks!" Roxie groaned, throwing a punch while her motorcycle continued to give way due to her diverted attention. "That's my bad shoulder ... not that YOU care..."

"I hear they have pretty good doctors in jail!" Lexi quipped, dodging another of Roxie's reckless punches with a quick shrink and regrowth maneuever.

"Buzz off!" Roxie sneered, seeming genuinely angry this time, "don't you have a girl scout meeting to crash or something?"

"Awww, and I went to all this trouble just to see you..." Lexi teased, "I see how it is"

Roxie glared at her snarky foe with disdain as the cops were also not too far behind. From above, Josh's drone caught sight of what was happening and he was also the first to see a strange red rip in time and space forming in front of Roxie's motorcycle as Roxie was slowly losing control of the bike due to her battle with Lexi.

"Uh... Lexi?" Josh whimpered, although he quickly realized the fighting superheroine couldn't hear him since she was no longer on the phone.

"What the fuck?" Roxie exclaimed, suddenly more focused on the blood red vortex that awaited the duo than fighting off the over eager ShrinkGirl. Within seconds, the motorcycle, Lexi and Roxie were absorbed into the circular all consuming portal before it vanished without a trace. The police all came to an abrupt halt, obviously confused.

Josh flew his drone out of the conflict before it could be spotted, just hoping his friend was okay, whereever she was.

In another remote location resembling a complicated laboratory, Roxie's purple bike came sliding through, sparks screeching on the tiled floor of the lab as Roxie would gracefully backflip off the bike as best she could, watching it careen into a lab bench.

"Someone's paying for that ..." Roxie groaned, taking note of the damage her bike had taken. She turned around to see Lexi was nowhere to be found, "At least I lost the ShrinkBitch..."

No such luck.

Lexi had shrunk as a means of gaining a tactical advantage and she did just that when she grew back and delivered a swift uppercut to Roxie's chin, sending her down to the floor across from her fallen motorcycle.

"That's for endangering Chrissy!" Lexi sneered, suddenly feeling very violent as she charged at the fallen Roxie. "This is for blowing up my job!"

With that Lexi would try to throw another punch. Roxie threw her arms up in futility to block it and just sputtered a bit, more concerned with their current surroundings than the suddenly overly aggressive ShrinkGirl barrage of punches.

"Hey hey hey!" Roxie grunted, throwing Lexi off of her, "You wanna calm your tits for 2 seconds?! You didn't just notice we flew through some kind of vortex thingy?! Where even ARE we?"

"I figured you knew..." Lexi shrugged, still feeling pent up anger as she stared at the blonde haired woman who had taken so much from her already. "Wasn't this your doing?"

"I'm good but I ain't that good..." Roxie shrugged, "although Dr. G did want me to get him the last of the components for his portal thingy ... but seems like ha already found what he needed on his own"

"I'm sorry ... who what?" Lexi asked in curiosity

"Oh right, you don't know..." Roxie shrugged, matter of factly as she paced around ShrinkGirl, still keeping an eye on their surroundings in case anything else suspicious turned up, "lemme tell you from the beginning, it goes like this ... none ya!"

"Oh very mature" Lexi sighed, rolling her eyes, "so you're telling me we were both teleported here and we don't know by who?"

"I think I know..." Roxie shrugged, "although this isn't the doctor's usual MO ... then again, I suspect he's been missing for a while anyhow ... would be nice to find him..."

"Huh, actually a bit surprised..." Lexi smirked, "you actually caring about someone's well being..."

"It ain't like that, Shrinks..." Roxie shrugged, cocking her .45 as she kept it close to her waist, "He owes me a shit ton of money..."

"Now THAT sounds more like you..." Lexi sighed

"Yeah, what of it?" Roxie shrugged, casually pointing the gun at Lexi but strangely even the usually skittish Alexis Cole didn't feel the need to dodge or even move. At this point, Roxie seemed to draw a gun on someone as if it were a bodily function. It was threatening for sure, but given all their battles to this point, Roxie seemed to be more bark than bite in certain situations. "I gotta say ... when you were like ... wailing on me just now? Kinda turned me on, not gonna lie"

"Uhhh gross?" Lexi scoffed, while also wondering why that would be the case.

All of a sudden, the room grew brighter, as several channels of flourescent lights flickered on. The two girls then heard footsteps approaching.

"I swear, if that's some kind of monster, I'm feeding you to him first" Roxie sneered

"Thanks Rox" Lexi quipped, "means a lot"

"Don't mention it" the non-chalant Roxie said, as the footsteps continued to grow in volume, finally revealing the identity of the man in question, Dr. Giovanni.... or so it appeared.

Lexi tilted her head, and observed the man who was dressed as one would expect, in a white lab coat, black undershirt and matching white pants. She didn't exactly have the best history with generic mad scientist types so she was understandably skeptical and on her toes.

"Lemme guess ... Dr. G?" Lexi sighed

"Dr. Giovanni Guillardo..." the man said in a low tone

Lexi looked at Roxie confused

Roxie shrugged and said "Now you see why I just call him Dr. G?"

"Quite frankly, Roxanne..." Dr. Giovanni said, stepping closer to the two girls, "I'm disappointed ... I thought you were better than this..."

Roxie raised an eyebrow. Nobody called her Roxanne ... not even her dad.

"Eh, I have a history of disappointing people, don't know what to tell you..." Roxie shrugged, suddenly enamored with the barrel of her own gun as she toyed with it a bit, disinterested in the moment all of a sudden.

"Unfortunately, while I appreciate your services, you are no longer needed" Dr. Giovanni said, "I have acquired the parts I need to perfect the portal inducer and ..."

"Yeah yeah yeah .... your fancy machine works ..." Roxie shrugged, "I noticed when you poofed us both here ... but why'd you bring HER?"

"I'm sorry I can't control who gets teleported when I form a random portal..." the disgruntled Dr. Giovanni sighed. Again, Roxie seemed perplexed. This wasn't usual behavior for the eccentric scientist. "Point is, I have what I need ... you are free to go..."

"Free to go?" Roxie asked, now focusing on pointing her gun at Giovanni rather than just look at it, "Okay cut the shit"

"Excuse me?" Giovanni asked

"You ain't the Doc..." Roxie said, "Either that or he's a schizo, I don't know ... but I've noticed the way you've been talking to me lately and especially now? You ain't Giovanni ... I don't know what happened to the real Doctor, but chances are he was killed or eaten or something when his lab exploded..."

"...Lab exploded..." Lexi thought to herself, hearing Roxie's words, and remembering the destroyed looking lab building she had seen many times before.

"So yeah, I've been onto you the whole time" Roxie said, confronting the possible impostor, "But I kept going along because well ... I like money and I figured maybe if I got you what you wanted there was something in it for me ... like more money or some kind of portal gun... like in that video game..."

"You mean ... Portal?" Lexi asked, all snarky like.

"Butt out, Shrinks" Roxie sighed

"Enough!" Dr. Giovanni proclaimed, his eyes suddenly glowing an eerie shade of red, although to be fair, whenever anybody's eyes glow, its usually not a good sign.

"You uh ... wearing some kind of special contacts or something?" Roxie asked, a bit flabbergasted herself, "you don't look so hot"

"This is no time for jokes!" Giovanni sighed, going over to a control panel and flipping a switch, "The test run on the portal inducer worked and that's all I needed ... you are both free to go but for now, time is of the essence..."

"Yeah, I don't understand a word of what you said" Roxie shrugged, cocking her gun for dramatic effect and pointing it right at the doctor's head, "but here's something I do understand"

"ROXIE, NO!!" Lexi yelped, this time taking Roxie's threat seriously and for good reason as she watched futitely, beholding the horrific sight of the villainess pulling the trigger and exploding the doctors head in a burst of blood. "...I think I'm going to be sick..."

"Oh grow up..." Roxie shrugged, "haven't you ever seen the Rambo movies?"

As Roxie cocked her gun again, proud of her latest kill, Lexi was focused on something a bit more forboding... some kind of fiery looking bird creature was rising out from behind a lab bench, and it wasn't alone.

"Get down!" Lexi yelped, pushing Roxie out of the way and crashing onto her right arm to avoid a divedomb move from the mystical looking phoenix like creature.

"Ack! For fucks sake!" Roxie snapped, "you love hitting me in my bad arm!"

Lexi then looked over to see that Dr. Giovanni ... his beheaded corpse anyway ... was no longer there. But how?

"Uh..." Roxie stammered, also noticing the Doctor's remains were gone. "Did you like ... shrink him or something?"

"Yeah Roxie, I shrank a headless corpse..." Lexi rolled her eyes

"Makes about as much sense as anything ..." Roxie shrugged, taking a shot at the fiery bird as if playing a game of duck hunt. The shot was a direct hit but generally ineffective.

Lexi raised her wrist gauntlets in an attempt to defend herself when another of the fiery bird creatures made a move at her. She gulped, hoping the defense would be successful but in the blink of an eye, the bird creature was disintegrated ... stabbed clean through by some kind of red glowing blade.

It was then, Lexi laid eyes on Vektor ... the imposing, 6'4 armor clad warrior in black and red with a jagged upside down V on his chest. He shook his head and turned his attention to the slider on the control panel again.

"I tried to warn you, Roxanne..." Vektor said, operating the portal machine with haste as more crystallic creatures began to take form, this time a more humanoid looking creation hobbling their way. It was slow but much like the interdimensional bird, immune to Roxie's bullets. "Don't mess with things you don't understand ... I'm going to return to my home world and hopefully take these horrific things with me ... so don't get in my way"

"H-Hold on..." Roxie stammered, "You were the one impersonating the doctor?"

"I thought that was fairly obvious by now..." Lexi shrugged, part joking but also fearful of the approaching crystal creature, although it seemed like it would take a good 5 minutes for the lumbering hulk to even reach them at the slow pace it was walking.

"I do not wish to be part of your couples quarrels..." Vektor sighed, typing in some coordinates and firing up the portal inducer, a machine made of thick steel that formed an arch and would slowly generate a bright blue light which became another portal.

"Couple?" Roxie gasped, "We're not a ..."

"Yeah no...." Lexi chuckled, "We are not..."

"...never gonna happen" Roxie chuckled

"Get down!" Vektor warned, firing an energy blast to vaporize the oncoming crystal hulk. Lexi gasped, wondering who or what exactly she was dealing with.

"L-Look..." Lexi stammered, "whoever you are ... maybe we can help you..."

"Yeah sure, Lex... let's help the weird interdimensional monster to kill us..." Roxie said as she rolled her eyes

"He just saved both our lives" Lexi scoffed, "And he's powerful enough to kill us both if he wanted to, yet he hasn't... so ... I don't know..."

"I appreciate the offer, fair maiden..." Vektor said, while Lexi herself wondered who still used terminlogy akin to "fair maiden" "but this is my fight..."

As Lexi watched on in confusion, she noticed that another couple of fiery beasts were headed Vektor's way and he was too busy putting the finishing button presses on his control panel to notice. Lexi leapt forward, shrinking to a smaller size to try to fight off the bird long enough to give Vektor the time he needed. Vektor, upon witnessing this, gasped, quickly generating a red blade from his own wrist gauntlet and slashing through the bird, catching the tiny Lexi in his hand.

"Y-You ... how did you do that?" Vektor asked, intrigued by what he was seeing as the portal was finally fully functioning, crackling and popping as it represented a gateway back to Vektor's homeworld of Quartzaria.

Seemingly too enamored with the tiny woman in his hand, he was also missing the fact that another crystal hulk was approaching. Roxie grabbed the creature and despite her weakened state, shoved it back towards Vektor -- in the process knocking him and the tiny Lexi into the portal.

Lexi would scream but the scream would be cut off into silence as the electricity sparked and crackled even brighter, the crystal hulk creature swinging recklessly as it charged towards Roxie, and struck the control panel, turning off the portal. Roxie raised an eyebrow, heading back towards her motorcycle and standing it back up as the creature slowly made its way towards her.

"Well ..." Roxie shrugged, getting on the bike and hoping like hell it would start. To her pleasant surprise, it did and she was able to speed out of the makeshift lab, glancing back only briefly at the closed portal. "It was nice knowing you, Shrinks..."

Byron Biggs never really did have time for much. Such was the life of a crime lord... and yet, like many crime lords throughout cinematic or even just regular history, Byron had a heart ... and perhaps a misplaced moral compass but he still operated within his own version of morality. In that version, there were admittedly very few things he held sacred, very few lines he wouldn't cross and very few people for whom he'd think twice about snuffing out. But he did have a few things which he held near and dear even after so many years of doing the wrong thing.

That's why for the first time in a long time Byron found himself absolutely enraged while on the phone with Roxie Wright -- not enraged like "why did you do that stupid thing?" but rather real rage, the kind that overtakes someone when something precious to them is very realistically threatened, challenged and nearly lost due to the recklessness of another. Of course being in the line of "work" he was in (as far as his family knew, he was an accountant who got "transferred" to different branches a lot) -- he expected a number of risks and reckless endeavors, but the rules were clear, what few of them there were. Family was off limits.

It was the night of the bombing on the Miniborough Campus and it seemed everybody had their part to play. Rachel Rutschmann served as a pawn, a chess piece in Roxie's sadistic game to blow heads off. She would use the young blonde's loss and devastation to fuel her revenge against Lexi and all those that did her wrong. Alexis Cole did exactly as Roxie expected, trying to be the big brave hero but really all she truly succeeded in doing was throwing herself into a PR nightmare, with her secret identity all but compromised. Sure she stopped one bomb, but Roxie was in it for the long game. She was also able to please her unnamed client for whom Byron got a shit ton of money from by bombing the Krazy Kookie restaurant. She assumed Byron would be pleased with this news. He was not.

"I TOLD you to blow up the cookie joint and that was it!" Byron muttered, keeping the phone close to his vest where he kept most things.

"And I thought you'd be happy about me going for the extra credit..." Roxie shrugged, a flaming wreck of a police car behind her. "Besides, I ran it by the guy upstairs first..."

At this news, Byron seemed further confused

"Okay, first of all..." Byron snarled, "you are never to talk to him without my permission..."

While Byron went on this inflammatory rant, Roxie paid about as much attention as one would expect, making a mocking set of lips with her free hand, even as her shoulder ached something fierce from having taken a bullet.

"Secondly..." the upset crime lord continued, "Dr. Giovanni would never authorize such a reckless action ... you're suppose to keep us OUT of these kind of situations..."

"I'm not suppose to do anything..." Roxie shrugged, "We're the CHAOS Crew ... we cause CHAOS ... there literally can't be rules for CHAOS..."

"Well there was one ... and you broke it..." Byron growled, "as far as I'm concerned, you're off the crew! Effective immediately!"

Roxie rolled her eyes, never quite grasping the over-zealous emotions of others at times.

The fact is, Roxie HAD consulted the "big boss" after not even bothering with Biggs. She knew for whatever reason, hitting a college was generally off limits for the tight lipped mafiaso. Even getting him to agree to bomb the Krazy Kookie was surprising since it was on a college campus, but he seemed to have his reasons for letting that go through. The second request was more at the behest of a little friend Roxie made. A friend named Rachel Rutschmann... well, that and she also liked to up the stakes whenever possible.

Having been an admirer of Rachel's newfound violent ambition, she decided to call a more direct line, one that she rarely bothered with. Dr. Giovanni. He was the one who secretly funded the Chaos Crews misdeeds, in exchange for a cut of the profit himself. It was kind of a weird "pay for crime with ill gotten money to make MORE ill gotten money" scheme. The thing never did make a lick of sense to anyone but nobody questioned it and heck, very few even knew Dr. Giovanni was the unofficial leader of the crew, never seen or heard from except on rare occasions.

While Roxie could give two fucks about breaking Mr. Biggs precious "rules" ... the main reason she wanted to talk to the Doctor is to give herself some deniability in just this very case, plus she wanted to hit him up for more money. He seemed to be more loaded than the lot of them, after all.

Upon calling the unubiquitous doctor, Roxie would prepare her best "elevator pitch" for the bombing/double bombing. It was all in a days work for the villainess, after all. At the end of the day, it always came down to a "what's in it for me?" mentality with the Chaos Crew. It was one of the few things Roxie didn't mind about the pseudo job.

"Heya Dr. G..." Roxie said non-chalantly while ruffling the stringent fur of her German shepherd, Woof. "What's shaking?"

The line was fuzzy and a bit silent for a while. Roxie tapped her impatient fingers on an ashtray after petting her dog and waiting a while longer. She decided to keep talking regardless.

"Okay so ... here's the sitch ... thinking about bombing Miniborough University..." Roxie said, as if this were as simple as grabbing a pizza, "Just didn't want to ... yknow, surprise anyone ... you know how touchy Mr. Biggs can get, especially if he hasn't had his nap yet!"

More silence.

"So whattaya say Dr. G? Just need about another 50k for the bomb and of course the usual fee for pulling it off ... with any luck, we'll make our money back in damages, sounds like a sweet deal, huh?" Roxie giggled, her face being assaulted by the merciless tongue of Woof, who she calmed down with some chin scratches while listening for any kind of response, finally hearing some stirring on the other line.

"Sure, fine whatever!" the under durress doctor responded on the other end. Roxie found herself a bit floored that it was so easy but she also giggled a bit.

"You mean it? Alright great!" Roxie chuckled, not even taking a second moment to think about her actions or how sincere the doctors approval was. In reality, Giovanni had little clue to what he was saying yes to, a product of him being hard at work on his portal inducer. Each further test on the machine produced more and more encouraging results, but also showed signs of instability.


"You're through, you hear me? Done! Finished! You'll never work in this town again!!" Bryon continued, raining insults down on his young fiery vixenlike crime boss as if he were a cartoon character.

"Yeah yeah ... talk to you later Biggs" Roxie shrugged, paying him no mind. Even if he was serious, it's not like being a wanton criminal came with health insurance and a W-2. As it was, she already did whatever the fuck she wanted whenever she wanted and the bombing had been a bit of a mixed bag but nothing that was going to get her too too upset.

Until the news of Giovanni's accident, at least.... but that was to be determined later.

In that present moment, the anxiety ridden Byron paced about his living room until the police sirens surrounded the location. Normally he would want no part of the MIni Troop, but they had brought something, or rather someone who was of utmost importance to him. His young daughter.

As he watched the police escort his distraught daughter from the police cruiser (after all, wouldn't you be distraught if you just had a bomb tied to you?) he could only think one thing in his mind, "ugh ... we're going to have to move again..."

Speaking of making moves, it didn't get much further than where Lexi had "moved" -- for in the present day and time she found herself in a much different type of place, the events that led her there turning into a literal and metaphoric blur. She remembered fighting off some crazy looking creatures after trying to catch Roxie and flying through some kind of portal.

The portal had led the two dueling ladies into a highly advanced lab thought to be owned by Dr. Giovanni but instead, a mysterious black armored figure named Vektor turned out to be behind the whole thing, using Roxie to gather parts for some kind of portal inducer that was able to zap him back to his home world.

That would've been confusing enough, but where Lexi found herself now was anywhere but home.

The tiny woman took a single step forward, hearing an odd crumpling noise under her feet, she'd peer through the gold bars of her new home and realize she found herself trapped inside a bird cage, but not just any bird cage, this was like the rolls royce of bird cages. It had solid gold bars, very comfortable padding (despite it being paper) and even more impressive was the giant room she found herself in.

The room was absolutely breathtaking, pristinely kept and she could see a shimmering sea of onyx before her eyes in the form of luxurious black marble tiled floors with lavender painted walls. Sure, the lavender wouldn't have been Lexi's first choice but it almost didn't matter as the rooms most impressive feature was the toweringly tall skyscraper like windows that allowed one to see outside, viewing what appeared to be a magnificent citadel in the distance and the kind of breath taking vista you'd only see in a Thor movie, aside from the fact that this particular dimension seemed to have a rose gold sky at almost all times. Of course Lexi wasn't quite aware yet that she was in another dimension, but she definitely knew something was amiss.

So many questions raced through tiny Lexi's mind as she sat in the bird cage. For one, why was she IN a bird cage? Did that mean a bird was present? She saw no evidence of any kind of pets, and better yet, no sign of bird droppings to be seen either. Secondly, and maybe most importantly, would she be able to get home? Everything happened in such a flash. She had no way to contact any of her friends, although her cell phone remained tucked in her pocket. She kind of doubted her cell service allowed for interdimensional calls. It was still possible though that Lexi was simply teleported to somewhere else in the world? Maybe Europe or something? Somewhere known for their luxurious palaces and ... orange skies? Okay yeah, that was less likely. The answers to many of these quandries likely resided with Vektor, the black armored warrior Lexi caught a brief glimpse of before taking an involuntary dive through the portal.

As Lexi shrank herself just a bit more to slip through the bars, she peeked down, growing back a bit and noticing that below her was simply an empty dresser. No moat full of piranhas. No forcefield and nobody guarding the room whatsoever. If she were supposed to be a prisoner here, it hardly felt that way but then ... why the cage?

Perhaps she could attain more information by listening closer to the distant voices from down a hallway.

Lexi grew herself back further, finally growing all the way and hopping off the dresser, traipsing carefully along the marble floors. The heck was this place? It was truly amazing but also more than a bit intimidating. In addition to the wealth of gold trim present on the walls lay large bits of silver, in the form of weapons that hung on the walls like hunters trophies. Lexi simply tried her best to keep her thoughts to herself as she made her way towards the door, creaking it open a bit to gaze down a long extended hallway, resembling the bedroom, except this area had plush red carpets in place of black marble floors. Suppose even the wealthiest in the Quartzaria kingdom couldn't afford ALL marble floors...

"And you're sure you're okay, sire?" a worried guard asked, looking over Vektors armor once more.

The disgruntled warrior seemed less concerned with that as he wanted only to talk to a woman wearing shiny bright red and gold armor with blonde hair, she had her weapon of choice, a staff with 3 protruding fork like prongs leaning on the lavish table.

"And the girl in there..." the woman continued on, finishing the conversation that had begun before Lexi began snooping on the chatter, "you sure she can be trusted?"

"I'm ... honestly not sure what to make of her..." Vektor sighed, stuttering a bit, "The way she fought was admittedly impressive and ... well, she had a magic power of sorts"

"Yeah, I noticed ... the shrinking..." the young woman, who's name was Ruby replied, in a bit of a monotone voice, "think she's part fairy or something?"

"I doubt it" Vektor said, "she showed no other signs of fairy ability ... but still... she was SIMPLY remarkable..."

"All due respect, Vektor..." Ruby said, "She's an outlander, from another dimension ... a dimension that from what you've recounted is full of weaker beings called 'humans'"

"Hey, let's not act like we're so far off from them..." Vektor shrugged, defending Lexi a bit, "it wasn't that long ago we had more human DNA in our makeup..."

"Eons ago, Lord Vektor..." Ruby said, seeming uninterested in anything the young Alexis Cole could potentially contribute, "it's possible there are still others like us out there and maybe you got lucky enough to find one but so what?"

"So what is that she could be one of the reinforcements that we need, Ruby ..." Vektor sighed before giving the woman a skeptical look, "assuming you ARE Ruby..."

"Oy..." Ruby groaned, standing up to her full height at the table and gently setting her weapon down again "Look, I understand your newfound paranoia..."

"Paranoia... Paranoia?!" Vektor snapped, seeming to be struck by a sensitive topic, "Do you not understand the kind of plague Paradox has put on this kingdom..."

"Well let's not act like ..."

"Paradox...?" Lexi asked, interuppting the two as she shyly walked in. The guards who were surveying Vektor's condition would find themselves focused on the brunette in the tank top for a moment but Vektor seemed more than willing to let her continue. After all, if he had really wished to detain her, he would've done better than an unguarded bird cage, which was simply a measure to allow her to recover safely from her interdimensional voyage.

Ruby raised an eyebrow to see the woman, now her full height of 5'4 which paled compared to Ruby's nearly 6 foot stature. "Welcome to the waking realm, sleepyhead"

"Th-Thanks... I think" Lexi sighed, looking around for a seat as her head still ached, "you uh ... mind if I take a seat?"

"Not at all!" Vektor proclaimed, snapping his fingers so that a guard would grab her a chair, the kind of regal chair with lion claw like arms one would expect from such a well decorated palace. Ruby stared back at him with a sort of disgusted look, as if she felt her Lord was going a bit overboard to accomodate the frankly average guest.

"Oh um... thank you..." the humble Lexi sighed, sitting in the chair but never seeming quite comfortable despite the plush velvet she found herself sitting upon. It was almost more of a mini throne than a chair, but then again, she wasn't singled out in that regard. It seemed the large and far stretching tabernacle of a table was just designed that way with many such empty chairs dotting its perimeter. "S-So ... uh ... where is everyone?"

"Everyone..." Vektor sighed, "is gone ... or almost anyway ... tough times have befallen my kingdom you see"

"Your .... kingdom..." Lexi nodded, acting as if she understood exactly what was going on when in reality just the opposite was true. "S-Sorry, been a little while since I tumbled through a portal at light speed and woke up in a bird cage"

"I told you she wouldn't like the bird cage..." Ruby shrugged

"My apologies, fair lady" Vektor apologized, again seeming overly cordial to the new female stranger in his realm, "I must confess, I was as confused as you were following the battle on the other side ... when I saw you in my hand, still tiny and unconscious, I feared the worse but I wanted you to get your rest..."

"Honestly..." Lexi shrugged, "Not the worst nap I've ever had ..."

At this comment, Ruby noticed Vektor do something he very rarely did, especially lately. She saw a smile cross his face, and a sincere one at that as he held back a slight chuckle. It was perhaps the closest thing to a positive emotion he had shown since the outbreak of the battle against Paradox.

"I like your spirit, fair maiden..." Vektor commented

"Pl-Please..." Lexi sighed, "You can call me Lexi..."

"Right." Vektor stated, as if he already knew, "Alexis Cole, correct? My apologies ... some facts on you were still rattling in my mind while I had the doctor's form..."

"Y-Yeah ..." Lexi stuttered, starting to remember more of the encounter before her unplanned vacation to Quartzaria, "m-maybe you could tell me more about that ... like ... how you were able to ... be someone else?"

"Well ... that is a long story..." Vektor confessed. Lexi glanced briefly over at the other woman to see she had sort of an eye rolling look on her face. There was clearly more going on that met the eye and that was saying a lot with the wealth of new information, sights and sounds being thrust at the naive Alexis Cole nearly every second since she had been teleported to the mystical kingdom. "My name is Vektor, by the way"

"Vector?" Lexi asked

"N-No..." Vektor tsked, "Um... Vektor ... you know what, it's not important..."

"...everybody struggles with the name..." Ruby sighed, shrugging as if this were also a common occurence.

Lexi remained confused all the same. She swore to herself that she said the name right. Lexi found herself slumping down in the luxurious velvet throne, shimmying her shoulders a bit to get as comfortable as possible, but while her physical being felt okay, all things considered, her mind was spinning.

"I understand if this is a lot ... do you need anything? Tea perhaps?" Vektor asked

"I don't think ... wait, you guys have tea here?" Lexi asked, a bit stunned at such an ordinary suggestion amidst the unusual new world she found herself in.

"But of course, what'll you have?" Vektor said, in a sort of commanding voice despite his attempt at hospitality. Again, Ruby seemed a bit miffed by Vektor's behavior, something Lexi casually observed as she sat in the fancy chair and thought for a moment.

"Uh... do you have lemon ginger maybe?" she asked, referring to her favorite kind of tea.

"So it shall be!" Vektor said proudly, materializing a cup of tea in the blink of an eye and setting it down on the table, which Lexi awkwardly shuffled closer towards to get a slow, careful tip, nodding a bit as she smacked her lips.

"Mmmm... it's good!" Lexi smiled, almost forgetting for a moment how the cup of tea came to be, "w-wait ... did you just like make this with your mind or something?"

"Something like that" Vektor chuckled, "we all have the capabilities of great powers here in Quartzaria..."

"Quartzaria?" Lexi asked

"Apologies, fair maiden..." Vektor replied, seeming very ardent to stick to his medieval terminology "Quartzaria is the realm you find yourself in now ... it's the only realm I've ever known..."

"That's not completely true ..." a sharp tongued Ruby interjected, seemingly only half listening to the conversation as she had retracted her larger weapon into a small dagger which she now skillfully balanced on a single fingertip, a feat that defied most real world physics.

"Okay so yes I've done some dimension hopping in the past, we all have ..." Vektor responded in an annoyed tone, "Ruby here likes to correct me a lot..."

"Only when you deserve it..." Ruby replied in a dry tone, now balancing the dagger horizontally between a fingertip on each hand, the small blade suspended by a magnetic field of sorts. Lexi was momentarily entranced by the trick. This was certainly a lot to take in, even for the girl that had acquired shrinking powers, not even a year ago.

"ANYWAY ... Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire are among my best warriors..." Vektor said, before recieving another gruff "ahem" from the despondent Ruby. "Oh what now?"

"Well ... we don't know where Emerald is ... and Sapphire?" Ruby asked, losing her focus for just a moment and in the process, the small dagger which clattered to the table as the result of her telekinesis losing effectiveness, "I mean ... she's here ... well she WAS here..."

"Was?" Lexi asked, leaning forward with concern while smacking her lips over another sip of the strangely calming tea. Then again, tea did always calm the young ladies nerves.

"Sapphire was ... kidnapped unfortunately..." Vektor reported, standing up and pacing around the table with a determined look in his coal black eyes, "During our battle with the Crystallics..."

"Crystallics?" Lexi stuttered, feeling like she was in a very advanced math class she had no business being in. Every new term seemed to further dumbfound her.

"You uh ... like to talk a lot, huh?" a snarky Ruby asked with a shrug. She wasn't really angry at Lexi, but rather her statement was that of a blatant observation.

"S-Sorry, I'll ... I'll let you finish..." Lexi replied shyly, taking another sip of her tea and keeping her head down a bit

"Come now, we must be nicer to our guest..." Vektor sighed with frustration, giving a direct glare across the table towards Ruby who collected her dagger once more and holstered it to her waist, clicking it in place on a sort of metallic belt on which she held a few other weapons.

"Yeah sure, whatever ... welcome to the wonderful castle, M'lady..." Ruby said in a clearly sarcastic tone. It was nice to know certain traits, such as sarcasm were not just universal but multi-dimensional. "Please do try the veal..."

Vektor gave an annoyed grunt but would go on to recount the passing events that led the group to where they were now.

"It was the battle before I got warped away ... " Vektor explained, "Emerald, Sapphire and I were fighting off a mounting invasion of Crystallics, or large crystal beasts who were attacking our castle.... little did I know... not everyone was on my side in the fight... the Emerald I was fighting with was a fake..."

"I'm sorry ..." Lexi stuttered, setting down her teacup, "When you say Emerald, you mean like a person and not a literal gem, right?"

"That's correct" Vektor nodded, "you ... have a stone called that in your world?"

"Um... not important ... continue" Lexi blushed a bit

"Well ... Emerald ... another fine warrior turned out to not be herself ... she was possessed, or rather HE was... with a paradox crystal..." Vektor continued, and already sensing Lexi's inquisitive retort, he proceeded to explain further, "A paradox crystal has been Paradox's main weapon against our kingdom since he began waging war ... with one of these crystals somebody can not only assume someone elses appearance but can even assimilate select parts of their memories, thoughts and desires ... it's almost like they BECOME that person, if only temporarily ... their effects are mainly erratic and random, but from what we've seen with our time with the crystals, people are only able to transform into those they've either met before or think deeply about"

"Oh..." Lexi nodded, understanding the premise if still a bit confused. "So ... wait, were you ... using that when you were the Doctor? Back in my world?"

"A necessary evil, I'm afraid..." Vektor nodded, "after the fake Emerald cast me into the portal that opened, I ended up in your world and came across that Doctor Giovanni ... interesting fellow that one ... seemed to have a memory or two of YOU actually ... which is how I knew some things about you"

"Him?" Lexi asked, raising an eyebrow, "I hadn't met him until just recently .... and that wasn't even him, it was you in disguise..."

"Anyways..." Vektor stammered, trying his best to explain the increasingly convoluted circumstances, "While I was cast away from this world, the Crystallics were able to kidnap Sapphire and we don't know her exact whereabouts but we highly suspect she's been taken to the Paradox Palace up on Paradox Peak..."

"For what it's worth..." Ruby chimed in, "I'm 99% sure it isn't called that ... it's just a castle up in the mountains, but Vektor likes to give things more ... gravitas ... by giving them edgy sounding names"

"Paradox himself announced it as such!" Vektor argued back "...anyway... that's where things stand now ... I desperately needed a way to get back to my homeworld to join this fight again... it seems the rest of my brigade has done a fine enough job but you understand why things have been in such shambles"

Lexi gave him a confused look. Not because she didn't understand but again ... this was a lot.

"Basically, the paradox crystals have run amuck..." Ruby explained as she donned a momentarily serious tone, "We're not sure how he did it, but Paradox found a way to expose a large number of the public to the crystals power and it's having adverse effects ..."

"Those not familiar or skilled enough with the crystals powers..." Vektor explained, "Can be susceptible to changing identities at random ... imagine the fear involved in that ... and the distrust in others when you don't even know if the person you're talking to is really who you think they are..."

"Yeah, hence why THIS one here has tried to fight me 10 times before realizing I'm the real Ruby..." Ruby shrugged

"I suspect you are real..." Vektor corrected, "You have yet to prove it officially..."

"How CAN I prove it?" Ruby rolled her eyes, "Take a DNA test or something?"

"Anyway..." Vektor shrugged, "we are getting off topic ... what's important now is ..."

Before Vektor could finish his sentence there was a mighty crash, emanating from the castle doors being thrust open. On the other side was a woman with blonde hair and light gray eyes. Lexi didn't quite all the logic here but because she was wearing mostly green and gold armor, she surmised that the woman's name was likely Emerald.

However, while Lexi was ready to offer the newcomer a friendly hello in her best Minnesota like mannerism, Ruby suddenly vaulted herself on top of the table, drawing her dagger with a dramatic "sching!" like sound effect. Vektor similarly took a defensive stance.

"Ummmm... is this how people say hello in your world?" Lexi asked nervously

"Emerald...?" Vektor said in a sort of authoritative manner "You've ... gotten my message I trust..."

"Something like that ..." Emerald grunted, seeming none too threatened despite having weapons drawn on her by both Ruby and Vektor, who generated a plasma like red blade from his wrist. "You guys can put the weapons away, yknow... I've had enough trouble just getting here as it is ..."

"And what's that mean?" Vektor asked

"Your messenger?" Emerald said, looking genuinely sad now, "he died ..."

"Jared..." Vektor sighed, shaking his head, while Lexi wondered how someone had a name as "normal" sounding as Jared in a realm like this, "that is most unfortunate news..."

"Yeah ... and that kind of told me all I needed to know ... when I see one of your messengers with a green crystal edged blade through him, I know something's up, so I made my way to the castle as fast as I could but as you'd imagine... well, traffic was terrible..."

"Did you not take the cruiser?" Vektor asked

"A bit too risky..." Emerald said, shaking her head, approaching the group a bit more pensively as she noticed the newcomer Lexi sitting in a chair as if she were part of the team, "...I'm sorry, who's this? Lemme guess, Amethyst?"

"Amethyst?" Lexi asked, before realizing she was wearing purple, "Oh ... oh no, I don't do the whole ... gemstone naming thing ... I'm Lexi"

"Lexi..." Emerald muttered to herself, although still loud enough for all to hear, "...such an odd name"

"Alright, well this is all very entertaining..." the despondent warrior Ruby said "but are we going to mount an attack or what?"

"An attack?" Lexi asked, part curious and more than a little nervous

"Yes, we must strike the citadel at once and put an end to Paradox and his reign of terror!" Vektor proudly announced, setting a leg up on a chair as he struck a dramatic medieval like pose ... all he was missing was his sword pointed towards the heavens with light gleaming off of it.

"What about Pandora?" Emerald asked a bit pensively, "she's still in play, right?"

"Pandora?" Lexi asked, seemindly learning a new name or fact every other second

"Pandora is Paradox' sister" Vektor explained, "and a very powerful sorceress..."

"She has this ... cube like thing she can trap you in..." Emerald said, as if she had been a victim of such a thing in the past, "and it's like you're in this pocket dimension that you can't be let out of ..."

"So it's ... Pandora's box?" Lexi asked, hoping somebody would get the reference. Sadly, nobody did.

"I ... guess you could say that" Emerald shrugged with a similar stoicism as Ruby. It seemed humor and levity was something not in high supply in the realm of Quartzaria

"Fair maiden..." Vektor said, letting out a great sigh, "I realize you are far from home and this is a lot to ask but..."

"I'll help you" Lexi nodded, not even needing to hear the rest of the query.

"Oh? Well marvelous then" Vektor nodded

"So ... we're just recruiting ANYBODY to fight with us now, huh?" Ruby shrugged, her hand leaning on the side of her face

"She's a warrior in her own right, Ruby" Vektor proclaimed, "and she'll do fine ... although she will need some additonal firepower ... and maybe some wheels..."

"Wheels?" Lexi thought to herself, trying to hide a juvenile smirk that crossed her face.

May as well make the most of the situation, after all...

At the Cole residence back in Miniborough, MN, a couple of worried parents felt concern about the whereabouts of their daughter who hadn't returned home in over a day now. There was a message on the machine, and it was from the psychiatrist known as Dr. Sheila Hillenbrandt.

"Hello, Lexi, this is Dr. Hillenbrandt ... I notice you missed your appointment today ... I tried your cell phone as well but got no answer, just wanted to make sure everything's okay ... give me a call back when you can, please ... thank you."

Lexi's mom furrowed her brow and sighed

"Most kids just go out and party..." Lexi's mom lamented, "our kid becomes a superhero..."

"We don't know that that's what she's doing..." Lexi's dad sighed, also in the same boat as far as marveling at the incredulousness of the situation as of late. "Maybe she slept over Leah's?"

"We tried calling her and no answer ..." Lexi's worried mother replied

"Wait..." Lexi's dad paused, hearing a very faint chatter from just outside the door. "Do you hear that?"

On the other side of the front door were two bickering friends named Leah Henderson and Joshua James.

"I don't see how you're going to explain this..." Leah scoffed, shaking her head in dismay. Even she wasn't sure what occurred despite being a spectator in it. Both Leah and Josh had tried to call Lexi and got no response. It was like she vanished off the grid entirely.

"Look, we'll find her ... and in the meantime, we'll just say ..." Josh began, but Leah gave him a nervous look and pointed behind him to indicate that Lexi's dad was already wise to them and standing in the doorway that was now open. Josh turned and gave a nervous wave.

"You'll just say what?" an unusually miffed Lexi's father asked

"Oh... well uh ... no big deal..." Leah gulped nervously

"We'll be the judge of that..." Lexi's mom added, encroaching on the doorway as well, "where in the world is our daughter?"

"Okay ... well... that is ... that is a valid question..." Josh stammered

"Extremely valid. So valid" Leah nodded in stark agreement

"You're stalling..." Lexi's dad sighed

"Well ... in order to figure out where Lexi is ... we have to figure out where she's not..." Josh said. It seemed like a smart idea before he said it, but after having said it, he felt a little foolish.

"Please get to the point..." Lexi's mom groaned in dismay, "do we need to call the police or not? Yes or no?"

"I... I'm not sure the police are really going to be able to help here..." Leah said nervously

"See, there was kind of this ... portal thing...?" Josh stammered, trying his best to explain what he saw through the drone cam footage, "and ... well ... Lexi went through it and ... uh ... we don't know where she is..."

"A ... portal thing..." Lexi's mom sighed, rubbing her forehead as her mind raced with horrible thoughts of where her daughter could be. "So ... you're saying our daughter is lost somewhere in the COSMOS and could be ANYWHERE?"

"Well... when you say it like that ..." Josh gulped

"Don't worry, hon..." Lexi's dad sighed, "she's tougher than we realize ... whereever she is, I'm sure she'll be able to figure it out..."

"You think so?" Lexi's mom shrieked, getting more and more upset by the moment, "she's totally lost out there! She could be miles and miles from home! She's probably scared out of her mind right now!!"

----

"This ... is so cool!" an enthusiastic Lexi squealed, laying her eyes upon a row of sleek looking cars ... or cruisers as they were known in the Quartzaria realm.

"You've um... never seen a cruiser before, huh?" Ruby shrugged, noticing Lexi's excited expression as if she were a kid at a candy store as she looked left and right across the nearly identical row of vehicles which varied in color, although the colors were all quite vibrant, ranging from a lime green, to a deep orange, but most striking of all was the final car in the row, a compact sporty car that featured shiny purple chrome.

Lexi would carefully approach the beautiful vehicle as it stood in the line. Something about it spoke to her.... the shiny rims, the beautiful striking purple color, the way the variable light reflected off its titanium alloys, but even upon a closer inspection of the inside, she'd notice levers and features that no car in her world ever had... the shift stick in particular seemed to have extra settings on it. She'd lean against the glass of the passenger window, almost fogging it up with how much she was internally hyperventilating and turn to Vektor who had suddenly poofed to right behind her.

"Oh!" Lexi yelped, feeling as nervous and awkward as a young woman in a lame romantic comedy to see him standing there so suddenly, "Um... I ... uh .. I'll take this one ... I guess..."

Lexi gulped, trying to play off how excited she was. She realized the car was merely a rental and it was for a very serious purpose (a life threatening one, as Ruby and Emerald had been so quick to point out, a number of times) but ... dang if she hadn't been craving an opportunity to drive again. It had been quite a while ... she had her license but hadn't driven much in the past year or so ... a fact that she wasn't very open about sharing to her suddenly in need warrior friends from the other dimension she found herself.

"If this is the chariot the fair maiden wants... then it is what she shall have!!" Vektor decreed, stomping his foot as if making some great command, even though it was only the 3 ladies and himself in the room to hear it as his deep voice echoed around the large garage like chamber. A platform slid under the car, taking it away from Lexi and the others as sounds of mechanical adjustments could be heard.

"The car!" Lexi yelped, "I mean ... uh ... wh-where did it go, Vector?"

Ruby and Emerald rolled their collective eyes. She still couldn't quite get Vektor's name right.

"Worry not, ShrinkGirl, is it?" Vektor asked, referring to her superheroine name now. Lexi simply nodded as Vektor's bulky onyx boots hit the metallic surface, a small clacking with each step resonating outwardly, "It is simply being adjusted to your likeness and your abilities..."

"Wh-What, like customized?" Lexi asked, confused, "but I didn't even tell you what I wanted..."

"Worry not, Lady Lexington..." Vektor continued, "it will be magically modified in ways you never dreamed possible... and you will be well equipped for the battle!"

"And here I couldn't even get extra cup holders in mine..." Ruby muttered under her breath, playfully elbowing her colleague Emerald who just scoffed. It was rare to see the women show any sort of emotion outside of anger or some form of despondence so Lexi actually giggled at the quip, even as it was at her expense.

"W-Wait...." Lexi stuttered, seemingly being led away from the ladies anyway by the authoritative Vektor, "did you just call me ... Lady Lexington?"

The nickname, while more serious for the people in this kingdom, she suspected, actually traced back to Lexi's childhood but even Vektor couldn't have known that. It was a playful nickname Leah gave her years ago when they used to play their various fantasies about knights and fairies. Still, was weird hearing the name spoken in a more serious context. Then again, weird was just the tip fo the iceberg for Alexis Cole these days.

"Lexi..." Vektor said, as a steel door slammed between them and the other two warriors who just shrugged at this fact. "My apologies if I've throw all this at you ... if this battle is too much, I'd be happy to ..."

"What?" Lexi smirked, "keep me in the bird cage until the heat dies down?"

"N-No ... I wasn't going to..."

"I'm kidding..." Lexi shrugged, drawing a brief, in not forced smile by the stoic knight himself, Vektor. "I ... I want to help .. I'll admit, I'm not sure if I CAN help ... but I've dealt with some things"

"Really now?" Vektor nodded, "I know very little of you, but I don't doubt you either ... however I am curious ... what brought you to this life of ... superheroing, you would call it?"

"Ummm... heh..." Lexi shrugged, sitting down on a nearby bench and peering around the surroundings she found herself in. Whereas the last room was much bigger and filled with various vehicles ranging from sporty cars to smaller motorbikes and even some large supercomputers, this room was a lot smaller, functioning more like a walk in closet, but with a series of buttons on the walls resembling Star Trek-esque control panels. One thing was for sure about this new dimension. Lexi knew nothing about it. It was both medieval and technological and yet seemed to have a strange reliance on gem stones, as symbolized by the girls' names, the red gem encrested in Vektor's armor and just the general architecture resembling massive pieces of jewelry come to life. "Well ... I uh ... don't exactly have as noble a cause as yourself... Ve...Vector"

"You're getting closer on the name" Vektor nodded, "But that's non-sense Ms. Alexis ... we all have our causes, we all have our purposes, I do not look down on a single one ... although if it is personal, I certainly won't ..."

"Well well no ... it's not personal ... not anymore anyway..." Lexi sighed with a half chuckle, "It kind of started as a ... science thing of sorts, anyways, it's not important how it started, I have these ... these weird powers..."

"I wouldn't say so" Vektor interjected, "here in Quartzaria, your powers are impressive but not unprecedented ... anyways, proceed..."

"Um... yeah..." Lexi shrugged, still concentrating on where she was, what has happening and why she was in this strange smaller room with the male knight, "Well ... long story short, I uh ... started to use my powers for good... yknow... at least I thought it was good ... saving people, stopping crimes... but like any superhero ... well I don't know if you have superheroes here, but in our world, superheroes aren't supposed to be known ... or rather, they wear masks..."

"That is most peculiar..." Vektor commented, "Here, we adore our heroes... we make statues to them! We tell their stories!"

"Heh yeah ... well in MY world... they usually get arrested or threatened..." Lexi shrugged, "it's a ... whole ordeal"

"It sounds simply dreadful" Vektor nodded, sitting down on the bench next to Lexi, something which caused the young woman pause.

"Uh... wh-whatcha doing Vector?"

"S-Sorry!" Vektor stopped abruptly, "I was simply offering comfort but .. you're right ... now is not the time... we have great business to attend to ... the trip to the citadel will be a most dangerous one ... even with our enhanced vehicles.... but if we stay together as a team, we should be able to make it ... all of us..."

Lexi nodded after thinking about it. She didn't want to add more doubts to the prospective mission by letting anybody know she was scared so she simply gave Vektor as strong of a smile as she could muster and a little thumbs up to add to the optimism.

"Of course ...!" Lexi nodded, also gesturing to the belt she wore, "and this uh ... this belt ... this EMBLEM... is uh ... supposedly magic proof, or at least safe from dark magic ... I got it... from a Fairy colony..."

"Ah, so maybe you ARE part fairy after all!" Vektor nodded, "no shame in it, of course ... I have a cousin twice removed who's half fairy on his mothers side... turned out totally normal ... although ocasionally fires off sparkles for no particular reason..."


"No! No... not fairy..." Lexi chuckled nervously, "not that there's anything wrong with that but no, I'm just an average ... normal ... human person thing..."

"Oh I'd say you're far more than that, Alexis" Vektor said in a sincere tone that somehow made Lexi even more uncomfortable.

"So uh ,... these things we're fighting?" Lexi asked, trying to hastily change the topic. Vektor appeared a bit disappointed by her hastiness but he obliged nonetheless, "what can you tell me about them?"

"Some of them are simply savage..." Vektor nodded, typing in something on a control pad that popped out from underneath him. Whatever he was doing appeared routine to him, but to Lexi, she was understandably confused, looking around for a robot arm or something to pop up at any moment, "some of them ... well, some of them have sentience ... they are actual residents of ours in another form..."

"Oh" Lexi nodded, noting that some machinery was moving around her but none of it was close enough to concern her ... just yet anyway. "You mentioned something about that ... the paradox crystal or something?"

"Crystals... plural" Vektor sighed, "And as long as they're out there, we're all at risk ..."

"Even you?" Lexi asked curiously

"Thankfully I was able to fit my armor with this impedence gem..." Vektor replied, tapping the red gem on his chest, "as long as I have this I'm immune to such things ... I equipped all my warriors with the same power but the gems were destroyed in battle and rendered useless ... although just to make things more confusing, even those shapeshifted into others can have the APPEARANCE of having their red gems secured on them"

"So ... I could be talking to a fake Vektor right now?" Lexi asked

"Hypothetically, I suppose" Vektor sighed, "but you'll just have to take my word for it..."

"Trust the weird knight who's been hitting on me from another dimension and given me only vague hints of what's going on? What could possibly go wrong?" Lexi thought, feeling extremely grateful right now that Vektor didn't seem to have mind reading powers.

Lexi glanced down to now notice a couple of small helicopter like devices shooting infra-red rays at her body

"Ummmm, should I be worried?" Lexi chuckled nervously, noticing the sensation didn't hurt but it was still odd nonetheless.

"Oh not at all, Ms. Alexis" Vektor replied, looking at a display on his video monitor that showed Lexi's body generating as a wireframe, with heartrate, biometric information and more. Lexi glanced over his shoulder to get a better look, chuckling nervously.

"That uh ... that thing tells you everything about me, huh?" Lexi chuckled, "just so you know, I'm probably heavier than I really am ... because of uh ... the metal belt ... that scale is inaccurate, probably..."

"Fear not, fair maiden..." Vektor replied, with a bit of a chuckle that he attempted futilely to stifle, typing in some parameters, Lexi would watch as a sort of set of armor digitized itself onto her skin.

"Uh..." Lexi stuttered a bit, more intrigued than anything while also wondering what was going on.

"Worry not, Ms. ShrinkGirl" Vektor said confidently, hitting a button to initalize the sequence, affixing a sort of more medieval version of Lexi's ShrinkGirl suit. The new outfit was more like a set of purple and gold armor that crisscrossed her torso with an intricate woven pattern. The back of the outfit had a "vertebrae" of gems along her back, to act as protection but also featured one of the red shiny gems that adorned Vektor for protection against the paradox crystal curse.

Lexi turned and noticed a mirror that had lowered itself as if to show her the transformation as she watched her clothes digitizing and changing into a new look. While her belt remained the same, instead of her usual skirt, she now had a more metallic styled one, with longer pieces that extended down her thighs. This wasn't something she was used to at all, but somehow the metal felt sturdy yet lightweight, not impeding her movement too much as she flexed her arms a bit to get used to it.

"Okay ... um... wh-what is this?" Lexi chuckled a bit, admiring herself in the mirror. She looked like some kind of futuristic knight from a hyper energetic anime. She wasn't hating it.

"Worry not, Alexis..." Vektor confirmed, affixing a small arm cannon onto one of Lexi's gauntlets, which had also changed into a more sophisticated version of her usual output. "I'm simply optimizing you with a Quartzarian battlesuit that will mold to your unique abilities.... and worry not, this suit will modify its size along with you ... you're welcome to test it out if you'd like"

"Um... no? No, that's alright..." Lexi chuckled, turning to the side to get a look at herself, wondering how jealous the guys from Dungeons and Dragons would be if they could see her now. "This is ... this is kinda ... badass..."

"Badass?" Vektor queried, "is this a ... positive term in your homeworld?"

"For sure" Lexi chuckled, letting herself get absorbed in the moment for the time being. Between the super enhanced suit, the upgrades and the sleek purple car ... er cruiser, Lexi felt like she was in some kind of fantasy video game, except this was real. She was still anxious but she couldn't help but feel a bit excited about the opportunity.

As she got swept up in the grandiose scale of it all though, she missed the look on Vektor's face as she departed the changing chamber. It was one of satisfaction ... but perhaps something more...

A bored redhaired elf by the name of Mara sat in her apartment and tapped the newspaper that lay on her desk. She peered about the room and let her thoughts wander, thinking about cookies and what the room would look like if she moved everything over to the left.

"Nah, that's silly..." the emerald eyed Mara thought to herself, barely even paying attention to the black and white grayish rag in front of her. She finally let out a sigh, after spending a whole 5 minutes of perusing the want ads.

"Welp, I think someone's earned themselves a break!" Mara said proudly to nobody in particular, sliding the paper out of the way.

Of course, poor Mara was in the same boat as Lexi and Chrissy, displaced from her job due to ... explosive circumstances. She had furiously been looking for a new job... or maybe just was bored and drawing penises on the phone numbers. She was about to approach her refridgerator to grab a snack when she heard a rapping on the window. It started kind of quiet and then grew unnaturally loud.

"Holy shit, the hell is in the water around here?" Mara scoffed, seeing what appeared to be a fireball outside of her window.

Upon closer inspection she saw it was actually ... a bird? Or a firebird rather? A phoenix?

Most would run at the sight of such a creature, but Mara wasn't like most. Plus she liked shiny things. She'd open the window cautiously as the inferno covered avarian hovered just outside her window, seemingly taken aback by Mara's welcoming gesture.

"Come on, little guy..." Mara cooed, as if trying to summon a pigeon, "well... I guess you're not so little but ... nonetheless... mi casa... si casa... su casa? I don't know, I failed Spanish ... just get in here, would you? You'll catch a cold! Hah! A cold... like you ever could... cause... cause you're on fire... so like ... yeah, I thought it was funny..."

The phoenix looking creature simply held its pattern as it eyed Mara, its wings flapping lightly in the night breeze, small sparks coming off them. Finally the bird like creature approached, and Mara backed away to let it in.

Mara shrugged and let the creature into her apartment, closing the window slightly after.

"So uh ... you from around here?" Mara asked curiously as the bird landed on her desk, its talons grazing the newspaper which then caught ablaze and dissolved into so much ash. The bird let out a low whimper as if to express regret, Mara shrugged, "you're good ... I wasn't using that anyway"

------

Elsehwere, a very confounded but slightly impressed Leah Henderson found herself in the Josh-cave ... otherwise known as his parent's basement. She looked around at a corkboard with a series of sticky notes and a complicated network of rubber bands and pushpins pointing to certain areas of interest on a map of Minitropolis with pictures of Lexi, a blurry picture of Roxie from a newspaper article and a few random Polaroids.

"When did you have time to do this again?" Leah stammered, looking around as Josh went over the facts they had gathered to this point.

"Not important..." Josh sighed, tapping on the board with an extendable pointer. "Now let's go over the drone footage again ... we see Lexi go over Roxie right about these coordinates before her signal goes cold ... her cell phone vanishes off the grid about 20 minutes later but not before she's teleported to ... THIS location..."

Josh then points to another circled area that's somewhere off the map of the city, approximately placed in the outskirts of the city bordering Fenster Forest.

"Seriously, how did you even...?" Leah started

"Leah..." Josh sighed

"Righto, sorry..." Leah sighed, feeling like she just got scolded for talking in class, "...also how did you get the drone fixed so fast? I thought you were having problems getting it to stay airborne but thing looked pretty kickass when you were helping Lexi chase Roxie down"

"Heh, thanks" Josh commented, "but it was a joint effort..."

"What do you mean? You have a Robin in this bat-cave or something?" Leah smirked

"Not quite ... more like an Alfred..." Josh replied

"That's ... the butler, right?" Leah asked

"Sort of ... look that's not important ..." Josh sighed, "This guy from Aztek parts and more helped me out ... thing is, I think he might have been onto me and knowing ShrinkGirl..."

Leah paused for a moment remembering something Lexi had told her in their day to day conversations since Trevor had started the small start up computer shop.

"Wait ... was it like a tallish gray haired gentleman?" Leah asked

"Yeah..." Josh nodded, "but I'm pretty sure he's a spy ... he looked like one of the scientists we toured the Enormo Enterprise lab with ... he's probably trying to track Lexi or something but thankfully I didn't give him any info or ..."

"Ha... Josh..." Leah scoffed, realizing who her paranoid but sometimes misguided friend had talked to, "that's Trevor..."

"Ohhhhh..." Josh nodded, before setting down his pointer for a moment, "...I'm sorry, who?"

"Hope' Leah explained, "remember when Lexi told you she had help from the inside that was supplying her with unused Enormo tech? Well that was him ... he started a computer shop shortly after leaving the company"

"So I was right, he WAS Enormo!" Josh exclaimed

"Was being the key word ... he's a nice guy ... helped Lexi and I escape the night we fought Max" Leah added

"Didn't ... Lexi do most of the fighting?" Josh remarked

Leah just crossed her arms and shrugged, "I'd like to think I helped..."

----

In the far off realm of Quartzaria meanwhile, the battle preparations were more or less complete. Vektor was outfitting his own vehicle, a large bulky onyx and gold metallic ATV with chrome rims, outfitted with assault rifles and homing missiles. Meanwhile, a skeptical Emerald and Ruby watched from a distance as Lexi paced around, awaiting to see her vehicle of choice after the modifications were made.

"So ..." Ruby asked in a subtly quiet tone, peering over at her ally, Emerald, "what do you think about Vektor and this ... new girl?"

"Whattaya mean?" Emerald asked

"Oh please, we haven't seen the Lord so invested in a female since ... well ... y'know..." Ruby said, trying to keep her voice down. Vektor was busy at work but had a keen sense of awareness and was ultra paranoid of late as it was.

Emerald nodded slowly, again trying not to arouse attention.

"He does seem rather ... smitten with her..." Emerald acknowledged, "you think it's some kind of ... other dimension thing? Is that his type or something??"

"Not sure he has a type..." Ruby shrugged, brandishing her blade to give off the appearance that she was also preparing for battle, "I would just ... keep an eye on him and that Lexi girl ... we have enough issues as it is ..."

"Hey...." Emerald paused, looking concerned about something else for the moment, "...you think Sapphire's okay?"

"I hope so..." Ruby sighed, "she's pretty tough ... even if she doesn't know it yet..."

"I'm sure Vektor blames himself for what happened but ... we'll make it right..." Emerald said, with a hint of confidence, "we'll get our kingdom back in the process ..."

"Yeah..." Ruby sighed, seeming not too pleased with her colleagues recent statement. "...our kingdom..."

Lexi meanwhile felt a feeling of pensiveness as well ... so much had hit her so fast. Here she found herself in this illuminated purple and gold chamber with sterling marble tiled floors and technology unlike anything she'd ever seen outside of a Star Wars movie. She'd normally be thrilled and even excited at such an opportunity but her mind was plagued with thoughts about her friends, especially Leah, and her family, her already very concerned parents. Sure, a lot of kids take impromptu summer vacations but never to other dimensions entirely ... Would she ever see them again?

Sensing her unease, Vektor slid his way over to the perturbed Lexi, remarkably stealthy for somebody wearing so much armor and walking on tiled floors. He noticed Lexi staring blankly at a cell phone, something he was somewhat familiar with having spent some time in the "regular human realm" as he was calling it.

"That's a ... communication device, yes?" Vektor nodded, putting an arm around Lexi to console her. The arm, while meant to be an emotionally and symbolically warm gesture of comfort felt a bit chilling instead to the armor clad young Lexi who squirmed a bit to the side, not meaning to offend him but just not expecting it entirely. He simply let out a short ahem and continued to speak, "A cell phone, right?"

"Y-Yes..." Lexi nodded. She didn't mean to seem afraid or trepidatious towards the nobleman but there was something about his approach, and for that matter the general demeanor of everybody in this new dimension that didn't have her feeling her warm and fuzzy self. She usually loved to make new friends, especially in a situation where she was the "unknown" -- she wanted to somehow "disarm" the others who seemed less accepting of her but at the same time, she wasn't sure how much she could trust any of them either, especially with knowledge of appearance altering crystals that could have her facing alien duplicates of who already appeared alien to her.

"It's ... decent..." Vektor surmised, referring to the cell phone, while he raised his wrist to demonstrate something, "not as advanced as this of course..."

A moment would go by with very little sound save for a low hum. A moment later, Emerald's annoyed face would appear projected on Vektor's shiny gauntlet covered wrist as a hologram of her face, a bit flickery but more than capable of getting the job done.

"Yes Vektor?" Emerald asked, "also, aren't you like 20 feet from me?"

Vektor would peer over to see his jade dressed cohort was correct. Emerald sat not even across the large scale room, adjusting her right anklet while simultaneous fighting with her holographic wrist comm. She looked up at him annoyed, both in physical form and in her hologram representation.

"Apologies Emerald..." Vektor sighed, a slight chuckle in his voice "I was simply demonstrating to Alexis the communications technology we possess..."

"Excellent..." Emerald groaned, not really focused on such things as she bent out of the frame to finish suiting up for battle, "maybe after the fight you can take her to an electronics emporium..."

Lexi simply tried to hold back a chuckle. It was one of the few that she had felt since coming to Quartzaria ... a rare moment of playful prodding between the two interdimensional beings that reminded her of something similar that would take place with Leah, Josh, Chris or just about anyone really. It was a strangely relatable moment, even as it was fleeting.

Lexi nodded, keeping her eyes fixated on the cell phone which still held some power, in fact its battery had barely taken a hit despite how long she had spent away from a charger.

"I just ... I hope I can talk to my friends again..." Lexi sighed, particularly worried about Leah. She had no knowledge of her best friends whereabouts after the Roxie situation. She assumed she got out of traffic safely but what if the police had found her and tried to detain her or worse? What if Roxie found her way back and tried something rash?

"I'm sure you will..." Vektor said reassuringly, while patting Lexi on the shoulder, still not quite learning his lesson from his last attempt at physical comforting methodology. "In the meantime, perhaps we can improve your cellular device ... fix it's parameters so you can contact them in the future?"

"You ... you can do that?" Lexi asked, half astounded but then based on what she had seen to this point, it actually wasn't the most implausible scenario.

"We can certainly try ..." Vektor nodded, "...after the fight. I apologize but I need you to be as focused as possible on what's going to happen ... my guards, Ruby, Emerald and I will all be there to guide you but this is an unfamiliar land for you ... we may have safe passage up to the mountains but we may not ... we need to be prepared for all possibilities and..."

"Hey, I got it" Lexi said with a confident nod, showing her focus by sliding the cell phone onto a glass table nearby. "I am going phoneless... which ... isn't really all that significant I realize when the phone is already rendered useless ... although say ... do you have any idea why my phone is like ... not losing charge?"

"Hmmm..." Vektor asked aloud to himself while staring at the cell phone on the table. It seemed to be attracting very small particle like sparks to it. "It could be the atmosphere here ..."

"Really?" Lexi asked

"Yes." Vektor answered with confidence, "our atmosphere here, especially in contrast to your native dimension ... no offense, seems to be empowered with a certain extra spark, an energy ... it courses through the land, it allows us to power technology and constantly invent new things ..."

"So ... your air is made of electricity or something?" Lexi asked, not completely understanding the concept, although her and electrical energy didn't have the best history of late.

"I'm not sure it's quite as simple as that ... but your phone isn't used to being in such an environment, it's almost like being surrounded by a power generator at all time... that could be a possible explanation for why it's not losing juice"

Lexi nodded, looking over at the phone and noticing it tick up from 67 to 68% power despite its idle state. She simply turned away, deciding instead to heed the advice of the others and focus on what's to come.

"So ... Vector..." Lexi sighed, noticing already she messed up, "Sorry ... Vektor... what are we looking at here? You said your guards are coming with us? How many guards do you have?"

"Sadly a little less than a dozen..." Vektor lamented, "our numbers have been hit very hard... while we do have additional troops in reserve, they've been badly injured or worse, quantum corrupted..."

"Quantum what what?" Lexi stuttered

"It's a ... oh dear..." Vektor sighed, "I shouldn't have said anything but ... it's a state of temporary mental paralysis ... a sort of ... doubting of ones self ... when you're exposed to paradox power, such as that from the crystal, you may over time believe that you ARE the person you shapeshift into ... it can become so strong that even after being seperated from the crystal you still have such delusions and it can take weeks or even longer to recover from it ..."

Lexi looked concerned, and understandably so. These were soldiers and people who were expecting to deal with this strange brand of magic. Lexi had no experience with anything of the sort, only some mild size changing and what she had seen from her chance encounter with fairies a while back. Granted, Lexi had seen more paranormal things in the past year than 99% of humankind sees in their entire lifetime, but for this dimension, she was pretty inexperienced and maybe even a liability, at least in her mind.

"If ... you didn't think I was ready for this..." Lexi stuttered, "you would say so, right?"

"Of course..." Vektor said staunchly. She strangely believed him on that. He seemed a bit daring in some regards but not the type that would risk a persons life, be it one he knew or a "dimensional newcomer" "Had you opted to stay in the birdcage and remain smol, simply kicking about, then I would have respected that and left you be but you showed an interest, you engaged and you didn't back down even from a new unusual situation..."

"Yeah..." Lexi shrugged, "I... tend to do that"

"It's no normal feat" Vektor added, "most people would shrink in fear ... um... sorry, no wordplay was intended... but yeah ... I would've understood if you wanted to hide away or retreat until we could safely return you home..."

"And you can ... return me home?" Lexi asked hopefully

"With certainty..." Vektor said, "Having been on both sides of the portal walls now, I am more than familiar with how it was formed initially both here and there, and having been in the head of the Doctor for some time, his knowledge combined with my own makes me more confident than ever that I could have a working dimensional machine of a similar caliber ready in no time at all ... once we've returned our dear Sapphire home safely of course..."

"And ... the doctor... Giovanni I think his name was?" Lexi asked, "how much DO you know about him? I'm just curious..."

"Well..." Vektor begun, before being distracted by Ruby who impatiently tapped her metal covered foot against the floor, waiting to board her own vehicle, a sort of elaborate red and white wheel shaped hovercraft with a sharp end on the front, armed with similar weaponry as the others vehicles.

"We going today or what?" Ruby sneered, "or shall we give Paradox and all them more time to mobilize their troops?"

"Right. Right. Sorry" Vektor sighed, putting his hand on Lexi again and sort of forcefully ushering her towards a waiting garage port. "I apologize Lady Lexington but we'll have to continue this conversation at a later time, when it's safer to do so ... in the meantime, I must finish preparing for the trip and my two mechanics will take over from here showing you the features of your vehicular cruiser ... er ... car, I believe you call it"

With that, the garage door would slowly open and Lexi was momentarily stunned in a good way to see her beautiful purple vehicle on display for her, it was almost like it was spinning in front of her like some kind of crazy fantasy. Oh wait, it actually WAS spinning as it was on a steel rotating platform with bright purple neon underlights on it.

"I told you to cut that out!" a brutish looking man in silver and gold armor decreed to his colleague who reluctantly hit a button, causing the hydraulics to let out a long sustained hiss as the car ceased its rotation.

"Sorry, this is like my favorite part, sir..." the younger man who only had about half his armor on sighed. Lexi could see his face and he looked like a well meaning young man with scruffy blonde hair who shrugged, trying to appease the newcomer with a quick quip, "I mean, you gotta have a little fun, right?"

Lexi simply smiled and nodded

The older man shook his head and let out an exhale.

"Okay ... so ... Lord Vektor wanted us to perform the following modifications on the Q-Z-RTek287 -- Stratacruze Pontathalon..." the older gentlemen said showing her a long list of notes that she probably wouldn't have followed if it were written in plain English -- cars were never her thing. This list seemed to go on for miles though, including parts and modifications she had never even heard of. "Pretty standard stuff, although he had us install a variable molecular-auto transmission"

"Oh.... oh yeah!" Lexi nodded, trying to appear more mature and understanding in this moment as she faked some confidence in reading over the confusing paperwork.

"You have no idea what that is, do you?" the frank and curt older man said. Lexi perused the paperwork further to see the heading read "Thunder Cloud -- Master Mechanic"

"Your name is ... Thunder ... Cloud?" Lexi asked with a confused look

"Yeah and that's my son, Bolt..." Thunder shrugged, "Bolt Lightning... what's your point?"

"You guys all have funny names, huh?" Lexi murmured before keeping her head down and resuming her reading.

"Anyways ... the variable molecular-auto-transmission is what allows the vehicle to drastically alter its molecular structure during times of durress or when enough pressure is applied to the catalytic..."

"It shrinks and grows with you, Ms. Newcomer dimension girl..." Bolt said with an awkward chuckle, spinning in his hand what appeared to be a wrench but with 4 ends instead of two. Thunder just rolled his eyes and exhaled, looking back at his hapless son with a sneer.

"...and this is who I leave the family business to... great..." Thunder sighed, "anyways ... here's your key"

"Oh, it has a key..." Lexi said, drawing yet another raised eyebrow from the elder mechanic who looked perplexed and more concerned than ever to be relinquishing the shiny chrome with purple accent key. "Oh no! I mean, yes of course it has a key! I just ... yknow, everything else in this world is so ... topsy turvy I thought maybe you had .. gotten further than ... keys ... never mind, I'll uh ... I'll have the key, please"

The key was dropped into Lexi's hand and as her heart raced with joy, she also tried to keep her mission and focus in mind as she clicked a button that opened the door, but not before the car itself emitted a stylish and high pitched beep of the horn. Lexi squealed at this and the sound was undeniably cute and charming.

"Heh, I like her..." Bolt said to his dad as he simply watched Lexi settle into the comfortable leather seat of the ride. It was certainly more pleasant than the junk cars her parents and her had test drove over the past couple weeks prior. "It's nice when you see somebody really APPRECIATE what we do, yknow?"

"Yeah whatever..." Thunder sighed, just throwing the metal clipboard with paperwork over on a desk, "be sure to file that later, okay? And clean up all this crap you got on the floor! I'm tired of stepping on lugnuts!"

"Yes, sir ... s-sorry sir..." Bolt sighed, his jovial moment lasting very briefly before he resumed sweeping the floor of the auto garage, presumably preparing for the next cruiser or vehicle to be worked on. Lexi shot him a smile as she revved the car and slowly drove it out of the next garage door that would open in front of her letting in the sunlight, or at least some version of it.

Vektor wasn't kidding about the Quartzaria Kingdom having its own atmosphere ... it was even more than that. It had its own sky... dazzled with a deep purple and gold, the air seemingly made of falling stars with glints of white almost constantly in the air like an array of the most beautiful fireflies you've ever seen.

At least visibility wasn't going to be a problem. Heck, Lexi couldn't even tell if it was day or night time with a bright white orb floating in the sky above them, unclear if that was their sun or moon. She could swear the sky was more orange-ish when she arrived, signifying maybe THAT was the day time ... or maybe THIS was?

The crackling sounds of other engines revving alongside her as she cautiously drove the car into the lavender sky snapped her out of the euphoria as she peered over to see Ruby on her right, in a "Tron-like" wheel shaped hovercraft and Emerald on her left, driving a fairly flat (seriously, how did she fit in there) sort of futuristic looking jade colored cruiser with very trim features, that still featured weapons on the undercarriage.

"H-Hey Vektor... do I have uh ... guns too?" Lexi asked worriedly. She was a decent driver despite not having driven a lot in the last couple years but she wasn't exactly Spyhunter when it came to operating gun turrets. Heck, she hadn't even fired a regular old gun before.

Vektor was too far ahead in his own black and gold chariot/motorbike looking contraption to hear her. She sighed, before looking down and seeing icons on a GPS sized screen on the dashboard. Each icon showed the face of someone else in her guild, including the two extra guards who joined them by vehicle, named Cloak and Dagger.

The others were airborn, fairly high above, serpentining the skies and leaving behind gold streaks of lightning to literally blaze a trail.

Lexi peered up a bit concerned at that and almost reading her mind, Vektor's image appeared on her car's dashboard screen.

"Lexi!" Vektor announced, only audible to Lexi herself at this moment, "Follow the trail my aerial fleet is leaving, should you get seperated from the pack, it will give you a guideline of where to go ... it's a fairly straight shot through the city to get to the mountainside but it won't be easy, especially for someone who isn't familiar with the roads here ... no offense..."

"I sense a ... girls can't drive comment coming..." Lexi rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat unamused. To this effect, Ruby and Emerald both patched themselves into the video call, appearing as icons alongside their master, Lord Vektor.

"Newbie's about to school you, Vektor..." Emerald smirked

"I don't know ... no offense to new girl but ... these roads have a habit of eating rookies alive ... sometimes literally..." Ruby warned

"Enough banter from the batallion!" Vektor interuppted, squeezing Ruby and Emerald's images off the grid in favor of his own which he then replaced with a large GPS map of the city they were about to be traveling through.

"we're going to be taking a couple different routes to hopefully divert any enemy traffic or resistence that may see us coming..." Vektor instructed. "You'll stay with me on the west route ... Emerald and Ruby will run interference on the east route ... Cloak and Dagger have the straight central route through town ... they all lead to the mountainside but hopefully we're all able to make it there successfully ... as a team..."

"Hopefully?" Lexi raised an eyebrow, not loving the sound of that. Yet the moment of the engines revving, her teammates on either side of her and the seemingly infinite highway of purple that stretched out in front of her definitely had her juices going.

"You can do this, Lady Lexington..." Vektor reassured, before finally blipping off the screen.

"Yeah..." Lexi muttered to herself, "I can do this ... I can kick some ass!!"

After a long pause, Ruby's voice came through her car speakers, even as her image didn't.

"You uh ... realize you left us all on speakerphone?" Ruby sneered

"Embarassing..." Emerald sang teasingly. Lexi just grunted and hit the big red X to take them all off comm for now.

With a grip of the steering wheel and a look of steely determination, Lexi set her eyes on the vast unknown in front of her.

Now it was time to battle. Now ... it was time to drive.

Far off in another vista within the Quartzaria realm dwelled the one known as Paradox, his eyes heavy as he watched a wall of monitors for the whereabouts of the resistance. He sighed greatly, looking down and shaking his head. How did things get to this point?

Paradox, the warrior of all things unexplainable was about 6'4 with black and green armor, electricity crackling from his very being as if the armor failed to contain his energy. While he surveyed the various roadways of Quartzaria by way of several floating orbs he had deployed, he was unaware of the approaching woman who walked into the room to join him.

"Dear brother..." she sighed, her name being Pandora. "Haven't you spent enough time obsessing over this?"

"Pandora..." Paradox groaned, "you know what this fight means ... or could mean..."

Pandora shook her head and tsked. Pandora was something of a mystery herself, her dress appearing to be a green and pink mosaic of shards of light, resembling stained glass. She was a great sorceress most known for her box of illusions that could contain beings more powerful than her in a nearly inescapable labyrinth. She had vibrant pink hair and green flashing eyes that lit up or dimmed based on her emotions.

"I just think this feud has gone on long enough ..." Pandora sighed, "just let Vektor have what's his and take what's yours..."

"Easy for you to say ..." Paradox scoffed, "It's been made more than aware to me what your true feelings of him are..."

Pandora let out an annoyed groan

"Brother, you know my loyalty lies solely with you ..." Pandora sighed

"Then you shall continue guarding the prisoner..." Paradox instructed, to which his disgruntled sister fell on a knee and nodded to show compliance, "...and if the resistance comes here for a fight ... you will be among the first to counter their attack"

"Yes, brother..." Pandora answered, her own eyes now growing heavy. There had to be a better way ...

-----

Back in Miniborough, a concerned Trevor Hilfmann stood behind the counter, trying to maintain his composure while worrying dearly about his friend and young charge, Alexis Cole who he hadn't heard from since the day the young man with the drone came in. While he didn't suspect him for the cause, in fact he did remember the boy from his tour of Enormo Enterprises, as well as Dr. Max's attempt to send drones after him, he was still a bit concerned that Lexi's secret identity seemed to be losing its secrecy by the second. Then again, that's bound to happen when one publicly foils a bomb attack with a crowd who's savvy with cell phone cameras.

Speak of the devil ...

Josh and Leah walked into Aztek Parts and More, Josh with his drone under his arm and Leah with a small purse hoisted on her shoulder looking concerned.

"H-Hi" Trevor nodded, recognizing Leah and knowing that she knew of Lexi's secret. "You're ... Leah, right? Lexi's best friend?"

"Yeah! You remembered!" Leah chuckled, "and you're Trevor Hopeman or ... something... sorry, I'm bad with names..."

"Close enough" Trevor shrugged with a bit of a smile himself, "I've been concerned about ... Lexi ... for ... reasons..."

Trevor appeared to be skeptical again of the mysterious Joshua James with whom he had conversed earlier. He didn't want to reveal too much. Thankfully Leah Henderson was there to clear up any doubts.

"Okay so ... I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding..." Leah said with a nervous grin, "Josh here knows that Lexi is ShrinkGirl but he's also one of our best friends"

"Really?" Josh asked, cutting in, "you ... you consider me a best friend?"

Leah shrugged and gave Josh a playful smile, "well yeah... I mean... you've always had Lexi's back and .. I think you're pretty cool ... y'know outside of the whole dungeons and dragons thing..."

Trevor rolled his eyes a bit but did let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay so then ... my worries were misplaced... my apologies, young man..." Trevor sighed, "just ... with everything that's happened ... and so fast..."

"No no, I totally get it" Josh said with a bit of a thumbs up, "kudos to you for wanting to cross all your t's and dot all your i's ... paranoia is the way to go, I always say"

Leah and Trevor both paused and simply let the awkward line sink in.

"Not your best moral..." Leah commented

"Regardless... how can I help you two?" Trevor asked, noticing a few more people milling into the store. He turned to a young employee of his and asked them to watch the counter. "Here, why don't we discuss this in private then?"

Leah and Josh nodded, walking around the counter and following Trevor to the workshop, a place that Josh had seen briefly while his drone was being repaired but it was all forms of new to Leah who looked around at the combination of computer parts, drawers of tranistors but most poignant of all had to be the "ShrinkGirl" related section with small metallic devices made of nanites and other things that resembled the nightmarish Enormo Enterprises technology, albeit with a more pleasant twist on it.

"So ... this is like ... Lexi's bat cave?" Leah commented, as always trying to lighten the mood

"Something like that ..." Trevor replied

"You're really on a Batman kick, huh?" Josh replied

Leah ignored the comment and continued

"So ... we have a bit of a problem ..." Leah sighed

"If you would allow us to show you the drone footage I captured of Lexi chasing Roxie, maybe I ..." Josh started

"Roxie...." Trevor sighed, "why does Lexi keep mixing herself up with that dangerous woman?"

"I think she's ... trying to ..." Leah stuttered, trying to understand it all herself.

"I know what she's trying to do..." Trevor lamented, hunching over his workbench and trying to contain his emotions, "...I get that she's a good person, I do. Probably has the truest purest heart of almost anyone I've known but ... I mean, she's going to put herself in danger, she's going to put those closest to her in danger and ... there's only so much I can do to help..."

Leah and Josh both exhcnaged concerned glances as the former Doctor continued to speak.

"Tell me..." Trevor added, "is Lexi still having the ... well, problems?"

"Problems?" Leah asked

"Yeah ... you know is she still having those..." Trevor started

"...Cramps?" Josh asked naively. Leah gave him an annoyed look

"No...." trevor said, a bit perplexed that the two of them didn't know what he meant, "Lexi has been experiencing some fairly significant aftershocks from what happened to her at the Enormo facility ... I ... I figured she told you"

Leah looked gravely concerned as expected

"N-No ... she didn't say anything about that ... is she alright?" Leah asked

"She seems to be doing better yeah ... I've been doing my best to inject her with counteractive nanites to balance out her polarity ..." Trevor explained, "whatever happened to her threw off her molecular balance ... she's stable for now ... but she has these moments where she seems disoriented ... lost even, like the electricity in her body and mind is overloading her... I just ... worry what could happen if it's unchecked..."

Again Leah and Josh looked concerned

"So yeah ... if she stays missing for too long, I can't give her the dosages she needs to hopefully balance her out..." the conrerned Trevor Hoffnung said, "...hopefully the problem is subsiding but ... who knows for sure?"

"Lexi has her secrets ... that's for sure..." Leah sighed, a bit upset that her best friend never confided this with her.

Josh, noticing Leah's worries and sadness decided to hastily change the subject.

"S-So ... shall we review the drone footage?" Josh asked

"Of course..." Trevor nodded, "hopefully it'll illuminate what's happened to our dear Alexis..."

"I should warn you..." Josh said, "it's some pretty weird stuff..."

"I'll be the judge of that..." Trevor commented, "I've seen some pretty weird stuff myself ... I DID work with Mad Max, after all..."

----

Speaking of weird stuff, it was the start of summer for siblings Spark, Lark and Mark at the Fenster Forest, otherwise known as the "Fairy Forest" for its legendary, but likely mythical fairy colony that existed in the shadows of a great lake at its very center. That on its own wasn't weird, but Spark seemed a bit recluse of late and it wasn't helping matters that the siblings, as well as the colony at large had felt a radical shockwave of sorts recently that was affecting them all in similar but different ways.

Spark in particular had a pounding headache since the incident, which may have led to her not being as social, although both Lark and Mark noticed her sneaking off more often to see somebody, who they suspected was one of the humans they had met not too long ago. Except it wasn't the elf, Mara. Nobody had seen her since the fairy festival ... it wasn't Lexi or her friend Leah although they had stopped by a couple times to say hello. That really only left one other possibility.

"I... I've gotta go ..." a monotone Spark said upon floating out the threshold of the familys stump shaped house

"To see your boyfriend?" Lark teased, but Spark didn't answer and simply levitated off the ground, a trail of glitter following in her wake until she vanished from view. Mark gave his sister an annoyed look

"You know ... this is probably why our family never engages in any meaningful communication..." Mark suggested, just shaking his head as he himself retreated to his quarters, leaving Lark alone and confounded for the moment.

"Oh sure, make ME the jerk here..." she said to nobody in particular, before huffing and stomping off.

Spark, meanwhile whizzed her way through the trees, closing her eyes and letting out a long exhale. It was the kind of sound most would make when they were feeling pent up stress but for Spark, she felt peace. She only seemed to feel such a feeling when she got out of the constant surroundings of the colony, something she usually hated doing but lately, good long flights away from home eased her frazzled nerves, especially since whatever happened.

There seemed to be some kind of potent energy present in Fesnteria at almost all times... she couldn't believe most of the others couldn't feel it but to her it was like being exposed to an allergen or just feeling zapped of energy all the time. Now some days were better than others and the phenomenon had only started about a week ago, but everyone in the colony did agree a dimensional disturbance of some kind was likely the cause.

While Spark took a moment to land, her tired wings showing their fatigue, she just looked down at the ground, for her a large rock and let out a sigh. Finally, she saw the shadow she had grown accustomed to,. Not her own, but rather that of a large young human male ... although all human males, or all humans for that matter were bigger than the diminuitive Spark.

"You okay?" the young man asked.

"I'm fine, Chris..." Spark sighed, pacing around and grabbing hold of a towering dandelion as if it were a lamp pole and she were about to twirl on it like in a 1950's musical. Unlike in a musical though, she lacked the needed grace and instead flopped onto the grass, letting out a yelp and a squeak.

Chris, always one to help, if not a bit snarky himself, scooped up the fallen lady and chuckled, brushing her off lightly as she laid in his palm.

"Careful there ..." Chris said, with an uncontainable grin, "That was rather cute though"

"Oh shush..." Spark smirked, again feeling like herself again, but only when she was around this human in particular ... this Chris ... the elemental wizard. They had been spending perhaps the most time together since things went down with Lexi and her cohorts in the Forest earlier in the winter time.

"So what's been going on, lil miss?" Chris asked, a bit concerned about his friend and not because of the recent tumble, "you've seemed a bit quiet, especially the last week or so ..."

"It's just ... thing..." Spark exclaimed, grunting a bit as the mild headache hit her again. It came in waves, and this one seemed particularly strong. So much so that she paused her standing motion and instead went into a full on kneel in Chris' hand, just rubbing her head. Spark could sense the concern dripping off her larger friend and shook her head before he could speak, "Chris, I'm fine ... it's just ... a dimensional rift was opened..."

"Dimensional rift, huh?" Chris nodded

"Can I just say, and I'm being serious..." Spark nodded, a smile finally rearriving on her face once the headache left her a bit more free to stand and talk, "...that when I proposed to you the dimensional rift theory you didn't just laugh me off the face of the earth"

"Well gosh Spark, that wouldn't be very nice" Chris shrugged, "and also, I kinda felt it too ... I mean I didn't get any of the after effects you're having or you mentioned others having but ... I sensed something too and it was around the same time ... and I mean .. magic's real ... YOU'RE real, my friend Lexi is real..."

"Lexi..." Spark paused, "have you spoken to her ... since the incident?"

Chris had to ponder this for a moment but a doubful look crossed his brown eyes after several moments

"You know... I haven't ..." Chris frowned, "heck, I'm not even sure she likes me all that much"

"Why would you say that?" Spark asked, "I've only seen her the few times but ... she seems super nice"

"Super nice, yea but that's just it" Chris shrugged, "She's one of those people who likes everyone so you don't know if she actually likes ANYONE..."

"That seemed like a needless bit of overanalyization..." the quick to point out Spark mentioned

"Overthinking..." Chris said, "it's just one of the many uncalled for services I offer... and mandatorily I may add"

"Heh ... well ... maybe call her ... doesn't have to be right now but... now you got me thinking... hope she's okay" Spark squeaked and sat back down on Chris' hand, enjoying the feeling of having somebody hold her for once rather than needing to fly everywhere.

"You sure? I could call her now if you wanted..." Chris shrugged

"You can... if you want" Spark shrugged, "but ..."

Chris looked down at her, his phone had slid into his other hand but upon hearing his fairy friend's comment he paused and slid the phone back into his pocket. "Yes?"

"It's just ..." Spark sighed, overplaying the melodramatic angle just a bit, "...my wings are soooo sore..."

"Oh no..." Chris smirked, "...not again, c'mon..."

"Pleeeeease..." Spark grinned, then turning her face into a pout with a rather bloated upper lip.

"Okay okay ... geez..." Chris sighed, gently rubbing behind her wings to soothe her. She let out a soft but peaceful squeak as a few sparkles surrounded the affected area, "are all you fairies so needy?"

"That's ... that's a stereotype..." Spark sighed in pleasure, tuning out the world for a moment, "but I'll ... worry about that later ... you just keep rubbing..."

"Aye aye Queen Sparkster..." Chris smirked with a dopey grin, continuing to massage his tiny friends backside and relieve some of the fatigue she had been through.

Although Chris was similarly enjoying the moment for what it was, it didn't go unnoticed to him that a strange lantern of sorts was emmitting a distinct fiery glow from a distance. He decided to let it go for now but perhaps if there were still time, and the light didn't vanish, he would go investigate after his time with Spark. As for now, he had a mission to embark on.

----

Lexi was determined as she began ramping up the speed on the Stratocruze ... uh ... purple car. She glared out of her window with just one thought on her mind as she entered the dazzling city.

"I have a mission to embark on."

The city streets in Crystacyon were unlike anything she had ever seen. Certain things and landmarks such as large spires that served as street lamps or borders on the sides of the roads that reminded her of curbs made the driving somewhat familiar to her but after that, most comparisons were invalid. While the traffic was surprisingly light, what stood out to her right away is that instead of lanes, the roads seemed to weave up and down like ribbons, sometimes even twisting over and under one another like strands of DNA.

Naturally, Vektor and his crew navigated these streets with ease as they had probably driven on them all their life. It wasn't dangerous per se, but nothing that Lexi had ever expected to see, let alone drive on. It almost felt like she was inside some kind of surrealist painting. A sort of optical illusion where your eye doesn't know where to go next. All she knew for sure was, if she kept hitting the gas and staying straight, she'd likely be okay as there seemed to be very few turns in this road. In fact it was more or less a straight shot to their final destination, a deep glowing mountainside that seemed to be many miles away and yet much like everything else in this realm, the velocity at which it approached also made very little logical sense.

As Lexi pondered this, still somewhat mesmerized by the fact that she was actually driving a car that was "hers" (even if only temporarily) a red speeder pulled alongside her and Ruby's face appeared, grinning over at Lexi

"You doing okay in there, newbie?" Ruby asked, her eyes darting from the spiraling road in front of her, back to Lexi in her purple car alongside her.

"Y-Yeah ... I just ... wow... this town is .. something..." Lexi stuttered

"I... suppose you could say that..." Ruby replied with a shrug, her voice soon droned out by the shouts of various crowds below and technically on the same level as them.

Quartzaria seemed to exist on multiple planes of existence. One that you could see through the transparent road, which is where some people dwelled but also some that were off on the sidewalk as you'd see in a more traditional city layout. Still some were up in golden clouds although they were less common and harder to notice, especially while driving.

The crowds people below had signs. Some of them said "DOWN WITH VEKTOR!" while others said "STOP THE DOX!"

"What... what's going on...?" Lexi asked.

As if sensing her concern yet again, Lexi's dashboard comm activated and Vektor appeared on screen briefly.

"Ignore the propaganda if you can!" Vektor warned, "it's everywhere and an unfortunate side effect of what's happened to your kingdom... people are torn apart, not sure who to trust and Paradox has built a strong following, convincing some to join his side ... we need to take the Kingdom back but it will not be a quick fix ... it could take many months or years..."

As Vektor laid out the terms of months and years, Lexi couldn't help but get a bit worried. Just how long WOULD she be stuck in this new realm? Pretty cars were nice, but she missed her family and friends desperately.

Rather than dwelling on that, the determined young woman simply stared ahead at the golden laden path that laid in front of her. She kept her foot on the gas but not with so much pressure that she shot off like a rocket but rather enough to keep up with her colleagues and get used to the cars surprisingly intuitive handling.

As she whizzed down the city streets, she noticed what appeared to be the equivalent of a gas station with a price of $4.42 posted. While not completely sure if currencies translated even closely to the same, she shrugged and thought to herself "huh. gas prices are a problem here as well..."

The purple armor clad heroine wasn't able to enjoy the leisurely drive for too long though as she soon would be interuppted by a slight loud beeping sound that would grow louder and faster as she drove further into the horizon.

"Lexi!" Ruby warned, only her voice emitting from the car speakers, "watch your left side??"

"My ... left?" Lexi eeped, looking up and quickly spotting the formation of a thunder cloud, a single cloud that was maybe a few feet in width producing a quick burst of lightning. She yanked the steering wheel right, lurching her car along with it and missing the surprise crack of thunder.

"Th-Thanks..." Lexi sighed, heart beat beginning to race as the car did, sensing this wouldn't be the only source of trouble.

"Unfortunately..." Vektor chimed in, "This won't be the only source of trouble ... we've got bogeys, up in the air!"

Lexi wasn't 100% educated on all the terminology this strange realm used but she was more than familiar enough with the term "bogey" to know it spelled bad news, and her fears were confirmed as she looked upwards to see a trio of green creatures in the sky forming a small cluster. They were bird like in nature but had green lightning crackling with their wings as they swung them, spreading that electricity onto the road which seemed to absorb it like a mobius strip.

Sensing that Lexi seemed a bit out of her element here, Emerald took it upon herself to accelerate past her, the woman's large tank like vehicle pulling up alongside her, the blonde haired female inside shaking her head with a tsk, throwing up a plasma shield to deflect the blasts of the three crystal birds above.

"Wh-What?" Lexi blushed, almost smiling with a cheeky look on her face, "I'm new at this"

"Just giving you a hard time..." Emerald shrugged, driving forward a bit more to reveal the crystal birds had been all but vaporized by a well timed and aimed array of machine gun fire, but they had more enemies approaching. Some of the climbed right up onto the road from beneath and they were the hulking green crystal beasts that Lexi had briefly seen before in her world, except there were five of them and above them rose more airborne avarians with lightning sparked wings. She had a feeling she had only seen the tip of the ice berg here.

"RUBY! EMERALD!" Vektor instructed, his voice being heard through the entire squadrons car. Lexi watched on meanwhile to see Vektor jump off of his chariot like ATV to evade an attack only to backflip in the air long enough to slam his red laser blade through one of the bird creatures and land back on the ATV smoothly, leaving the bird in shambles as a pile of green crystals which slowly reabsorbed into the road. Lexi raised an eyebrow, even as she had to admit the display was impressive, "Flank Lexi! Make sure the crystal beasts don't hurt her and Lexi ... remember your car can shrink..."

Lexi nodded, understanding the sentence but in her moment of high speed panic not quite knowing how to internalize the concept. As she looked about the array of buttons her mind just continued to race while the encroaching crystal foes got bigger and bigger in her window, and not because she was shrinking but rather due to the closing of distance that was taking place at an alarming speed.

The car can shrink ... the car can shrink ...

Well ... Lexi thought, noticing the crystal being not too far from her was in the mood to fight.

"If I can shrink, so too can the car!" Lexi repeated aloud, a statement that resonated with obvious undertones and yet sparked a great significant energy to form within her. Perhaps empowered by the world's atmosphere itself or her own inner gumption, Lexi engaged a lever on her shift stick that slid it to "SHRINK" rather than DRIVE and eeped as a whirlwind of purple lightning whisked her and the car down to a toy size, with which she was able to masterfully weave under the foot of the large and confused crystal beast.

Once she clear, she shifted the stick the other way and let out a loud yelp as she was briefly thrust back into her seat, full size and for now, clear of the wall of defense the beasts had been offering to impede her. From behind she could see an array of small explosions level the beasts, and one of them was actually plowed straight through by Emerald's war chariot.

"W-Wait..." Lexi stuttered, noticing that it seemed fairly effortless for Emerald to drive through the 6 foot plus tall lurching beast, "how durable ARE those things if you can just ... drive right through them? Could I have done that?"

"Oh heavens no..." a slightly amused Emerald responded on comm, "I mean, you maybe could have but there wouldn't be much of that cruiser left if you had ..."

"Battling Crystal Beasts is not an exact science, unfortunately..." Vektor added, "it's about knowing their weaknesses, their structural integrity and ..."

"BAM!! YEAH! TAKE THAT!!" Ruby yelped, her voice nearly deafening all as its distorted properties resonated through the built in comm, her victory shouts loud and not clear as she obliterated another small fleet with some powerful gun fire.

"Or... you could try that approach" Vektor chuckled

"You still never answered me if this car has..." Lexi started but then yelped as a green crystal bird now lay smushed against her windshield, splatting up there much like a pigeon might on a busy rush hour day in the city, but unlike a pigeon, Lexi wasn't sure how to proceed here. Chuckling nervously, she merely flipped the switch for the windshield wipers and watched as the large bird was swept away like a large chunk of snow, chuckling a bit to herself even though the circumstances remained dire.

Lexi sped up to keep with the pace of the others as the platoon of cruisers dominated the road.

Vektor pulled up alongside Lexi and peeked inside her car, a slight smirk crossing his face to see how well she was doing, considering it was all uncharted territory for her.

"Lady Lexington" Vektor asked, peeking over into the car, "how's the cruiser handling?"

"It's great!" Lexi grinned, momentarily losing her focus, as was Vektor.

Thankfully, they were both able to regain their concentration long enough to swerve out of the way as a large crystal encrusted chain came busting through the road from below, causing a large fissure to spread across the crystalline surface of the road.

"Shit." Ruby muttered, trying to swerve her vehicle to avoid falling through.

Lexi checked her rearview mirror as her and Vektor took the lead but was aghast to see Ruby's wheel shaped hovercraft getting stuck in the spreading fissure as the chain now began to wrap around her and the vehicle like a living tentacle.

"Vector!" Lexi eeped, looking back, "it's got Ruby!"

"Emerald can handle it" Vektor noted, ignoring the fact that Lexi again got his name wrong.

Lexi just frowned as she watched Vektor continue jetting ahead, firing off a healthy round of machine gun ammo to clear the path ahead where more crystal beasts were spawning. Lexi began to slow down, even as it left her more suceptible to any enemies that may find their way onto the road.

Meanwhile, Emerald watched her sister getting wrapped up by the chain and peered down to see where the cursed bind was coming from, seeing it originated from a lady dressed in a green and pink mosaic colored dress with electricty crackling off her body as she floated onto the scene.

"Pandora..." Emerald muttered, shaking her head as she sped up to try to save Ruby who was currently in the process of having her sturdy cruiser compacted in under the brute strength of Pandora's constrictive chain as she added another one for good measure.

The menacing woman now yanked on the cruiser as if towing a car in mid-air, her strength simply astouning as she was able to hoist Ruby out of the jagged hole in the road and pull her and her cruiser up into the air.

Ruby, trying to think quick, glanced down at her wrist but noticed she had no gemstones to help her out. Emerald on the other hand, had another idea.

Lexi on the other hand was slowing down to try to keep up with the two ladies and the new villainess who took to the scene.

"Ruby!" Lexi shouted out, trying to get her attention. Ruby wasn't ignoring Lexi but she was trying to somehow escape the vehicle despite the fact that more chains blocked her escape. Within a matter of seconds, she was soon too far off the ground to be reached by either Lexi or Emerald.

Emerald shook her head, pressing on her wrist. Lexi glanced over at Emeralds large green tank-like vehicle and saw a bright flashing emitting from it. Rather than gawk and find out what it was, she sped up to stay out of the way and for good reason as she watched Emerald vault herself out of the vehicle now standing atop it and about 10 feet tall and still growing.

"Oh great ... more size powers..." Lexi sighed, letting out a yelp as a crystal warrior blocked her path yet again. She tactfully shrank and unshrank her car to get around it, shaking her head a bit.

"That's... gonna take some getting used to..." the dazed Lexi sighed, keeping an eye on the action unfolding behind her as Emerald had grown into a behemoth of 25 feet tall and gently jumped off of the road, her feet landing on the surface below them as she seeming to be jogging to keep up with Pandora and her captive.

"C'mhere little lady!" Emerald growled, grabbing at Pandora and squeezing her out of the air like a doll.

"Hmmmph, cheater!" Pandora sneered, electrifying her very body so that Emerald couldn't hold onto her for long, her hand burning from the momentarily paralyzing shock.

With Pandora now occupied fighting her giantess foe, Ruby's cruiser was about to make a forced crash landing onto the road below, or so it would've, had a giant phoenix not now scooped it up in its talons.

"To the castle with her!" Pandora commanded the phoenix, breaking free of Emerald's large grip and floating off in a trail of lightning. Emerald growled, able to keep up but even at her giant size, she wasn't sure how to catch Pandora without incurring more damage and she didn't want to accidentally hurt Ruby who was currently trapped in the talons of the large firebird.

Lexi drove up alongside the giant Emerald, looking up at Ruby as her ascent took her higher and higher up. She stopped her car and got out, standing on the edge of the road, about level with Emerald's forehead.

"Emerald!" Lexi shouted, "I need you to do me a favor ... and throw me...!"

"What?" Emerald gasped, her large blue eyes staring down the daring little heroine on the highway. "Are you sure?"

"You got this" Lexi nodded supportively with a thumbs up, "but we don't have much time ... throw me up towards Ruby's car ... cruiser thingy ... I can get her out and then you can catch us... please..."

"If you're sure...." Emerald nodded, holding out her hand at a close distance for Lexi to hop on.

The determined and steely blonde woman narrowed her eyes, concentrating hard on her target before heaving Lexi as hard and high as she could, watching with bated breath as Lexi flew through the air like a courageous purple comet, although it appeared as if her trajectory would land her just short of being able to clutch onto the underside of Ruby's cruiser. Emerald tried her best to catch up in case she needed to make an emergency catch but Lexi had something up her sleeve, or rather, in her belt.

Sensing that she wasn't going to quite make it, Lexi dislodged the G on her SG belt and employed the grappling hook to snag the underside of Ruby's crumbling vehicle which thankfully was still sturdy enough to hold her weight as she swung around like Spider-Man to break in through the expoded side. She noticed Ruby was in pretty bad shape, her body trembling as a small fire began forming on the dashboard.

"Ruby!" Lexi exclaimed, the car seeming to crunch in around them as the merciless phoenix tightened its grip. Pandora was seemingly nowhere to be found at this point, perhaps taking solace in her perceived victory but Lexi wasn't about to give her the pleasure. She gently wrapped her arm around Ruby's waist and tried to hoist her up.

Emerald just shook her head in wonderment, getting ready to do her part when a small squad of crystal warriors leapt off the highway trying to attach themselves to her. Emerald grunted and eviscerated them handily, resulting in a cascading shower of crystal fragments while she dashed to the rescue.

"Ruby, just hold on, okay?" Lexi instructed, prompting a nod from the weakened crimson clad warrior. Lexi took a deep breath surveying the situation. Down below was the highway zipping by and Emerald was closing in on them. Thankfully her hand was a pretty large target so Lexi was fairly confident she could make it. She just had to be careful as she held onto Ruby tight and took the leap, diving out and feeling weightless for a moment as her grappling hook disengaged in the nick of time, Ruby's cruiser being reduced to scrap as the phoenix let out a forlorn caw, continuing to fly off towards the castle now empty handed.

Lexi yelped as she landed in Emerald's giant hand, holding Ruby close to her.

"Ruby, you okay?" Emerald asked

Far ahead, Vektor was watching the scene unfold and couldn't help but feel impressed watching Lexi's heroics, the way she dove so fearlessly into action and saved one of his finest warriors. He would make sure Paradox and her sister Pandora paid for what they were doing to his kingdom and his trust guild. But for now, he just kept his razor sharp focus on the road ahead, noticing the enemies seemed to be subsiding.

Ruby nodded, as Emerald set the two down on the highway by Lexi's Stratacruze. Lexi helped her into the passenger seat, noticing the enemies were retreating, including all the crazy looking birds, crystal beasts and Pandora herself who hadn't been seen in quite some time as it was.

"How much further to the castle?" Lexi asked the giant blonde in front of her

"Not much further ... " Emerald nodded, climbing back onto the highway as the growth effects were beginning to wear off and she'd soon shrink back to her regular size, back on the road and looking a little exhausted, "I'll ... I'll be okay ... just go on without me..."


"You sure?" Lexi asked

"Yeah ... you did great by the way, lil purple" Emerald quipped

"Heh, you weren't too bad yourself big green..." Lexi smirked before noting something, "you know... you never told me you had growth powers..."

"You never asked" Emerald replied, matter of factly, "but we'll talk about that later ... there seems to be a peace at the moment ... so let's take advantage of it and get to the mystic forest just before Paradox Peak"

"I feel like I'm in some kind of weird JRPG..." Lexi would mutter quietly, to which Ruby would raise an eyebrow, "...never mind, let's head out"

With that Lexi would hit the gas and speed off into the mystical unknown while Emerald boarded her tank again and followed closely behind.

A while down the road, the green crystal bird that struck Lexi's windshield like a bug was stirring on the stellar pavement. It lurched and slowly shook itself off, beginning to undergo a profound transformation, purple sparks surrounding its form as it became that of a human woman. But not just any woman. It looked to be an exact replica of Alexis Cole.

"The things I do for this job ..." the fake Lexi sighed, before vanishing without a trace.

The gang arrived, no worse for wear, in the expansively dense mystical forest having completed their treacherous trek through the antagonizing city streets. Though serene, Lexi knew they couldn't relax just yet as she stepped out of her new sleek purple car that had bailed her out of some tough spots already with its ability to not only go super fast but also shrink super fast, much like herself.

As Lexi caught her breath, she couldn't help but look back at Ruby as Emerald came around from the back seat of the car.

"Is she ... going to be okay?" Lexi asked Emerald, referring to the clearly fatigued Ruby who was breathing heavily while remaining in Lexi's car.

Not too far from there, Vektor had just sped onto the grassy field coming careening down a dirt path that ran adjacent to the outskirts of the forest. Emerald looked none too pleased as she aggressively approached the hulking knight-like figure himself.

"Vektor what the hell?" Emerald snapped, causing the leader of the pack to raise an eyebrow at his irrate cohort in the green and gold armor. "You almost got us both killed out there ... where WERE you?"

"My apologies, Emerald, I was trying to lead the way to ..."

"Don't give me that apologies crap!" Emerald snapped, "you were trying to save yourself, like always..."

Lexi frowned at this infighting but also looked over at Ruby who slowly stirred and began to get herself out of the car. Her first step out was a rough one, as she fell on a knee, her armor stained by the messy grass and mud that awaited her upon getting out. She quickly recovered but something was defintely off.

The dazed and confused Ruby watched onwardly as Emerald and Vektor quibbled over the recent events. Normally Ruby, being the more fiery one of the group would have something to say here but she acted uncharacteristically quiet as she simply allowed Lexi to help her get standing upright and once she was stable she waved Lexi off with a friendly nod.

"All I know is ..." Emerald continued her tirade against Lord Vektor, "is that we needed your help ... we almost lost Ruby back there to Pandora ... don't you care?!"

"Of course I care!" Vektor snapped back, jumping off his large black and gold motorchariot and stepping up closer to Emerald in intimidation. Emerald would not be backed down, "But I also knew Lady Lexington had it ... I saw you and her working together heroically to save Ruby and look, she's fine! Ruby, how are you doing? Did they hurt you??"

"I'm fine Lord Vektor..." Ruby groaned, rubbing her head. Again, this seemed like out of place behavior for Ruby, even given what little Lexi knew about the woman to this point.

Lexi then looked back at her car, parked awkwardly at an angle in the middle of the woods

"So uh ... not to make this about me ..." Lexi chuckled nervously, "but while we're uh ... sneaking up to the mountains or the castle or whatever ... where do I leave my car? Can't exactly leave it here and can't really drive it through the thickets..."

"You don't know?" Vektor asked with a hint of confusion in his own voice

"Just shrink it" Emerald shrugged, again matter of factly. It was then Lexi began to realize that normal logic was not exactly followed in the realm of Quartzaria. Things such as shrinking cars, or growing warriors for that matter were fairly commonplace.

"Oh ... uh... right ..." Lexi nodded "and ... how do I do that... without getting in the car myself?"

"Check the controller..." Emerald advised, referring to the key fob itself. Lexi looked down and saw a button that said "SHRINK" just below the icon for a locked door.

"Now how did I miss that?" a disgruntled Lexi muttered to herself, hitting the button and watching in glee as the car shrunk to the size of a hot wheel. She'd grab the car, and wondering where to put it would notice that her armor, particular that which protected her upper arm opened a small slot to put the car in. "...you guys really thought of everything, huh?"

"Is everybody okay?" Vektor asked, also addressing a couple of his guards who had survived the harrowing trip as well

"Oh sure, now you care..." Emerald scoffed, still seeming pissed.

"Hey hey cmon..." Lexi frowned, "we need to stick together ... now how much further to this Paradox place?"

"I like your spirit, Lady Lexington" Vektor said enthusiastically, producing another eye roll from Emerald who went to check on Ruby again. "It shouldn't be too long, but we will have to take the journey on foot to avoid detection ... we should be to the castles outskirts within the hour ... just be careful .. this forest is ... well, probably not what you're used to in your home world"

"Oh I'm definitely learning there's a lot to this qorld I don't understand..." Lexi sighed uneasily, looking up at the twinkling purple skies

"You sure you're okay?" Emerald asked the hobbled Ruby who gave a beleaguered nod.

"Yeah, just a couple scratches..." Ruby shrugged

"I'm confused though ..." Emerald asked her scarlet colleague, "why didn't you activate one of your power stones?"

"I just ... I panicked, I guess..." Ruby sighed, shaking her head in dismay.

Lexi would fall back as the group continued their trek through the strange forest, full of twisted trees and vines that seemed to weave in and out of the grass like some kind of living vegetation.

"So uh ... you never did explain to me how you did that growing thing?" Lexi asked

"Oh, well..." Emerald shrugged, as if it was merely commonplace, she'd proceed to show Lexi her wrist which had a bright yellow, red and gold gem on it, "We're all equipped with sort of power stones that enable different abilities, if only temporary ... I've chosen to equip a speed stone, shrink stone and growth stone..."

"Oh, so you can shrink too?" Lexi blushed, suddenly feeling less special for the moment

"Technically but it's all dependent on the stones ... and it's only temporary as you saw before ... as it is, my growth stone is more or less spent, I may be able to activate it one more time before it burns out ..." Emerald explained

"That's still pretty impressive ... and you've got that uh ... anti-paradox gem thingy too, right?" Lexi stammered, eliciting a bit of a chuckle from Emerald

"Heh yeah ..., right here on the back of my neck..." Emerald nodded, pointing to it briefly, "you have one too, I believe"

"Yeah Vektor fit my suit up with one, which again, this armor thing is more than i'm used to ..." Lexi replied shyly

"Hey, you finally got his name right" Emerald said

"...you guys have really weird accents, you know that, right?" Lexi quipped

----

Elsewhere, an elder doctor, a young upstart scientist in his own right and a perplexed young lady named Leah Henderson were viewing something weird of their own. It was drone footage that showed the daring ShrinkGirl fighting off well known criminal Roxie Wright on her motorcycle while also facing a barrage of pursuing police cars. Strangely, that wasn't the weird part.

That part would occur a few minutes into the surprisingly clear footage as the trio observed for about the 10th time the vortex that opened and sucked the two ladies off the map, or so it appeared. Dr. Trevor Hoffnung would insist that Joshua James pause the video right around the point of the portal's inception.

"That ... that looks strangely familiar..." Dr. Trevor confessed

"You've seen that kind of thing before?" Leah asked

"Not in a long long time" Trevor sighed, "an old colleague of mine ... very old ... named Dr. Giovanni..."

"Oh the multi dimensional guy!" Josh nodded in agreement, a bit upset at himself for not considering the bizarre professor before.

"Am I trapped in a comic book or something? What the heck is going on?" a flabbergasted Leah chimed in

"You ... know of Dr. Giovanni's work?" Trevor asked Josh, seeming equally confused

"I do my research" Josh said proudly, "Dr. Giovanni Guillardo was known for his radical ideas about a multiverse of dimensions ... except he believed there seemingly endless parallel dimensions, all representing different versions of humankind as if each of our steps taken spawned a mirror dimension of the converse"

"In English?" Leah complained

"It's kind of like a web ... or a butterfly effect type of thing ..." Josh explained, "so, say you decided to go to the mall today ... somewhere there's another dimension where Leah decided NOT to go to the mall, and this one thing could alter an entire life ... not just yours, but those around you"

"That seems unnecessarily deep and overthought" Leah shrugged. If she hadn't gone to the mall she wouldn't have ... well, gotten her best friend sucked into a portal. Okay, so maybe it was somewhat valid.

"Well, the scientific community at large agreed with Ms. Leah..." Trevor sighed, lamenting the fate of his old colleague, "Dr. Giovanni was truly a cutting edge genius but many saw him as an outcast..."

Josh simply tsked and shook his head, "I totally get it..."

"Oh shush, you do not!" Leah snapped

"That's just what they say to try to keep you down..." Josh sighed, shaking his head in dismay. Leah rolled her eyes

"But ... Dr. Giovanni, could also be very persuasive..." Dr. Trevor said, "he was able to somehow convince the University in SoCal to provide funding for some kind of portal inducer to test his findings... I think they were also assuming the machine wouldn't work or at least not work as well as it did ..."

"Wh-What happened?" Leah asked

"He died" Josh said, ruining the ending of the story

"It's ... actually not 100% known what happened ..." Trevor corrected, "although yes ... it was an easy assumption to make that the young Dr. Giovanni died that day ... I just remember Max was devastated..."

"Mad Max?" Leah scoffed, "Since when does he care about ... well, anything?"

"Believe it or not, he was Giovanni's biggest fan ... besides maybe Giovanni himself ..." Trevor confided, "Dr. Giovanni Guillardo may have been the only person for whom Max believed his genius rivaled his own ..."

"Now THAT's a minor miracle..." Leah scoffed, "not the other dimensions thing ... the fact that Max may have actually had a friend"

At this, Trevor frowned.

"You know ... Dr. Mumford wasn't ALWAYS ... well ... the way he is ..." Trevor sighed, "I did work alongside him for almost half my life, don't forget..."

Leah lowered her head, suddenly ashamed, "R-Right ... sorry..."

"I understand..." Trevor sighed, "I know Max was heavily rooting for Giovanni's experiment to produce amazing results and the thing is, we'll never know if it did"

"What do you mean?" Leah asked

"Well, as is usually the case when something seemingly unexplainable happens, a number of theories tend to come out" Trevor explained, "heck, I'm sure our resident science whiz Josh over here can fill us in on that"

"You think I know about the various theories about Dr. Giovanni and his interdimensional travels?" Josh asked with a guilty expression on his face.

"That's a yes..." Leah giggled

"Well, he's not far off" Trevor said, "There were many theories that while the portal machine he attempted to build imploded during its activation, the doctor himself actually survived, but nobody knows where he went ... I always thought such a thing was crazy but seeing that portal in your footage, not to mention that weird lab that also imploded not too long ago ..."

"Weird lab?" Leah pondered, before remembering that building that Lexi was always obsessed with, "You mean?"

"Yeah..." Trevor nodded, "I found that weird right off the bat but ... you'll excuse me if I haven't been bombarded as it is with weird happenings..."

Leah and Josh nodded

"So... w-what's our next move?" Leah asked, sounding worried, "I got Lexi into this mess and ... I just want to make sure she's okay..."

"We can try to go back to the area where that portal formed, if you remember where it is..." Trevor suggested, "it's a bit of a long shot but we can possibly trace where the portal led to if enough energy is still present in the area ... maybe then we can see where Lexi may have shot off to..."

"We're going to find her..." Josh said reassuringly, patting Leah on the shoulder.

Leah simply sighed in regret.

-----

It was yet another tranquil and serene night on the lake just outside Fenster Forest. By this point, Spark's siblings had just grown used to her taking off every few days or so, likely to hang out with her human friend Chris. They didn't "love" it but it was better than her sticking around being bummed out about everything that had happened with Esmerelda earlier in the year though, even if it was becoming increasingly difficult to cover for her.

The duo currently enjoyed some time on the moonsoaked lake, Chris simply knelt over while Spark took a gander at herself in the rippling reflection produced by the ambient light. She tsked and looked up at her giant friend, a single hand on her hip as the reflection wavered to and fro with the motion of the gentle breeze.

"And you're sure I don't look a little ... well heavy in this hip area?" Spark asked, self conscious as if she were Tinkerbell observing herself through a funhouse mirror.

Chris let out a bit of a long sigh. It wasn't anger or even annoyance towards the little woman, but rather the fact that he once again saw a silhoutte across the lake and a little burst of fire. This had to have been the third or fourth time recently he saw such a thing.

"Chris, are you listening?" Spark pouted, acting uncharacteristically insecure.

"Huh? Yeah sorry ... no hon, you look fine" Chris muttered, and he was sincere about it despite his split attention span. Spark also observed across the way seeing the dim glow that had caught the human boy's attention a few times before.

"Y'know Chris... we could go check it out?" Spark shrugged, "I mean, the first time you shrugged it off as nothing ... the second time you said you had homework to do even though it's the middle of summer and you said before that human school was out of session..."

"Well, to be fair..." Chris chuckled, "We don't really refer it to as 'human school' ... we just call it school"

"You know what I mean" Spark chuckled, rolling her crimson eyes, "I could go for a bit of a flight, you wanna go check it out?"

"I mean ... it's probably nothing but ... s-sure..." Chris shrugged, standing up slow and waiting for Spark to meet him up at eye level as she hovered up. He always found that so cute ... the fact that the tiny lady could technically match him in height even if it was just her levitation allowing her to do so.

And yet as sure as both Chris and Spark were sure it was "nothing", the sneaky pair found themselves traipsing lightly through the woods, Spark hovering so that she was almost always concealed by fauna and Chris doing his best to tip toe despite his sneakers seeming to snap every twig and crunch every acorn along their way.

"Could you not stomp along, you big clod?" Spark squeaked in a whisper

"I'm sorry I can't be super graceful like you, Ms. Walks on air..." Chris sighed

"I don't walk on air, I fly, big difference and you don't hear my wings flapping in the breeze" Spark commented, as both were momentarily unaware that the source of both the figure and the glowing lantern were closing in on them fast.

"Actually... I do hear it..." Chris nodded, taking a moment to observe a subtle but noticeable change in volume, "it's like a light ... fwooshing sound..."

Spark simply pointed behind Chris as he knelt behind a bush. He turned and yelped, falling on his back before realizing that he remembered the woman who shot him a confused glance back.

"Mara?"

"You guys uh... following me?" Mara asked, perplexed as her new phoenix friend had made its home on her shoulder and was lightly flapping its flame covered wings, producing the fwoosh sound.

"What? No ... it was her idea!" Chris stammered, pointing to Spark, who simply crossed her arms while floating there

"Sure, blame the fairy ... why not?" Spark said, unamused.

Mara just rolled her eyes, offering to help Chris up while the phoenix remained perched calmly on her shoulder. Spark simply floating up towards the red creature, and not Mara in this case but rather the 2 foot high bird or so and peered at it curiously.

"Is that a ... phoenix?" Spark asked curiously, reaching her hand out to touch it

"Spark, don't touch that thing, it's literally made of fire" Chris sighed, standing up again and giving Mara a grateful nod, "come to think of it, how is it on your shoulder and not burning you?"

"Y'know I wondered that myself..." Mara grinned before offering a contented shrug, "but eh, she'd never hurt me"

"She??" Chris asked

"Well okay I guess I technically don't KNOW but I named her Penelope" Mara said proudly

"You named ... the phoenix" Chris said in a deadpan voice while Spark continued to hover around the mystical creature in sheer awe.

"Yeah, this thing ... this thing ain't from around here" Spark chuckled, noticing the creature sticking its neck out a bit, Spark shrugged and scratched it under the chin like a real bird.

"As usual I'm the only one left to find this whole thing unusual..." Chris sighed

----

"And none of you find this unusual?!" Lexi shrieked, dodging the sharp pointed ends of what appeared to be jagged bird feathers as the group was again under attack but this time from a swarm of crystaline birds, resembling the phoenixes but with an electrical field around them. They darted around the group with great speed and their weapon of choice, a seemingly endless barrage of razor tipped feathers made them a pain to get rid of as they constantly flanked the group, changing positions anytime Vektor, Lexi, Ruby or Emerald tried to make an advance.

"Eh, not the worst we've faced..." Emerald sighed, strafing left and right to dodge the shots. She'd have to throw up a quick holographic shield from her wrist to block a particularly fast attack. She'd simply shake her head, perhaps finding herself more outmatched than she let on.

"You think he knows we're coming?" Ruby asked, referring to Paradox

"It's hard to say" Vektor said, finally finding the nerve to draw his red laser sword and cast it through one of the creatures, leaving himself open to an attack from another who flurried behind him, peppering him with violent laser fire which seemed to only strike his impervious armor whilst not leaving much of an impact, "it's not like these forests aren't dangerous under normal circumstances..."

"I'm still not sure how you guys live here..." Lexi sighed, feeling a fine tug on her ankle. At first, it was a light tug but as she tried to walk away she felt almost her whole leg getting pulled back by the astonishingly strong root. Emerald took note and carefully sliced the root off to free Lexi who sighed and said "thank you"

"It's not always easy" Emerald admitted

Lexi nodded and while the others continued the fight, Lexi couldn't help but be lured away by a near silent voice. She even had to stop and double take, confused that the others weren't hearing it either. As she dodged some oncoming laser fire from one of the strange birds who seemed more sentient than they initally let on, she diverted her focus again to the sound of the voice and more importantly, it's source, a dimly glowing green firefly looking creature that twinkled past her eye, clear as day to her, but again, nobody else seemed to notice, perhaps too wrapped up in their battle.

"Help me, Miss..." the tiny voice rang in her head. Lexi looked at the others in confusion. Did anybody hear that?

Lexi suddenly felt very disoriented, partly because the idea of a tiny being (or whatever it was) being in pain deeply bothered her but she also felt out of place in the whole scenario. Being surrounded by what appeared to be this tranquil yet ravaged forest with its crystalline flowers and the vibrant but chaotic sky just was starting to become too much for the proverbial fish out of water.

In some way, she related more to the twinkling creature which fluttered a close distance from her, diving between some trees.

Ruby lightly nudged Lexi aside so that she could get a better shot at one of the bird enemies, thinking nothing of taking a shot dead center and vaporizing it into so much fairy dust.

"Sorry" Ruby said, somewhat stoically, apologizing for the bump to her ally. Lexi simply nodded and began to show herself away from the action, if only briefly. She wasn't sure what it was about the voice or the presence of the small Tinkerbell like sparkle but she needed to investigate it, plus it didn't seem to take her too far from the others so she'd still be there to lend back up.

"W-Wait...." Lexi stammered, persuing the twinkling green glow. Something in her mind was telling her to stop the pursuit and yet something in her heart told her she needed to continue.

Lexi shook her head, pressing on and finally deciding to shrink herself to appear less threatning to the small firefly like creature as it slowed its escape and instead focused on Lexi.

"Miss?" the creature said, it's voice eerie but strangely comforting as it floated nearer to the small Lexi as if to tell her some kind of secret.

In retrospect, the helpful but naive Lexi should have listened to her mind and not her heart.

Lexi's eyes widened as it all happened so fast.

The innocent twinkle, the woman's fluttery voice crying out for help. It was ... all a trap?

"So you're Vektor's new champion?" she smirked, taking the form of an equally sized human woman. Well, human may have been putting it a bit loosely.

The strange newcomer stood at a similar height to Lexi (although the shrinking superheroine soon suspected this wasn't her native size), her pink eyes piercing through Lexi's stunned face as she licked her lips slowly, those lips coated with a strange lustrous lipstick that would be unusual enough on its own if not for the mesmerizing patterns on her dress which were almost purposely hypnotic.

Lexi recognized this strange being as Pandora from the highway encounter but now that she was up close and personal she felt even more terrified, but it was too late to react properly.

Pandora slammed on the forest floor with her bright orange high heel shoe. It was the kind of step that naturally shouldn't have altered the environment much at all but this was no ordinary being in no ordinary world. Lexi quickly found the world around her folding up as if it were suddenly two dimensional ... it felt as if she were being trapped in some kind of pop up book or a cube ... or a ... box.

With a wicked cackle and a flash, Lexi was whisked away by the mistress of manipulation herself.

Not too far off in the battlefield now laiden with slain enemies, Vektor let out an exhausted exhale. He turned around and almost instantly felt a sense of panic and dread upon seeing only Ruby, Emerald and a couple of his hired guards.

"Where is she?" Vektor asked in an assertive tone addressing Emerald in particular

"Who?" Emerald asked

"Who? The warrior from another world! Where is Lexi? Where is ShrinkGirl?" Vektor asked, an unusual degree of concern overcoming his usual straightfroward facade of a face.

"Oh now you care about saving one of your own..." Emerald scoffed, "you had no problem leaving Ruby to die!"

Ruby was surprisingly quiet during this exchange, perhaps still a bit fatigued by her own harrowing experience of dealing with Pandora. Vektor remained irate, demanding the safe return of Lexi.

"We can argue about this later!" Vektor sneered, turning to address the other two, "WHERE IS SHE?! We need to protect her!"

"I thought you said she super strong or whatever..." Ruby finally chimed in, "now she needs to be protected like some kind of flower? Which is it?"

Vektor stammered, his logic seemingly broken for a moment. Breaking the momentary silence came a familiar female voice.

The purple and gold clad superheroine came stepping out from behind a bush.

"Sorry, everyone" Lexi nodded, a sheepish grin on her face, "I got ... sidetracked ... some more of those bird things attacked me ... sorry if I worried anyone"

"Lexington!" Vektor proclaimed, as if celebrating a great victory. He threw his arms around her in celebration as Lexi remained unusually stiff in the embrace. Vektor was too elated to notice the odd behavior though. He'd release the hug after a slightly awkwardly long time, provoking rolled eyes from both Emerald and Ruby.

It is unfortunate that Vektor seemed a bit too lovesick to be his usual observant self or he may have noticed Lexi's eyes looking a bit off ... almost as if ... she weren't quite herself at that moment...

Lexi's vision was slow to come back at first, but it was far from the first time she'd felt such disorienting sensations, especially in recent months. In fact disorientation almost felt normal to her, but this was even something further than that. As Lexi's vision slowly returned to her light scorched eyes she'd see blurry triplicates of the floor ... wait, the floor?

Lexi's eyes went from a dull flicker to a sudden state of awareness as she realized she was somehow suspended from the ceiling... or maybe ... she WAS on the floor? The space she found herself in defied all logic, constructed of 4 walls that seemed to show no evident signs of a door or escape hatch. Furthermore the floors ... er ... ceilings? were decorated with maybe the most obnoxious craquelure mosaic pattern with jagged specks of green pink and white spread almost everywhere.

Lexi finally found herself in a state of more heightened awareness the longer she dwelled in the bizarre space.

"Um... hello?" her voice eeked out, not sure what she exactly hoped to accomplish or who she was addressing. The last thing she remembered was being in the mystic forest with her newfound troop of interdimensional warriors following her joyride on the highway made of plasma energy after narrowly escaping attacks from electrical flying bird creatures and one psycho sorceress all led by a seemingly well meaning but bit eccentric onyx clad man named Vector ... or was it Vektor?

Yeah the whole thing didn't make a lick of sense... but neither did what happened next.

Lexi's center of gravity changed on a dime as the surface she was clinging to, whether ceiling or floor seemed to be rotating. While she clung to it for a time, she found herself sliding off, landing a bit roughly on her knee, which thankfully was still protected by the advanced armor she was outfitted with. had she been in her normal attire from her home dimension (which usually exposed parts of her bare legs) she may have suffered a more substantial hit on her knees from hitting what felt like a sturdy piece of plywood.

In fact a quick examination of this areas floor revealed many different textures as she brought herself to walk around and explore it a bit more. Some steps felt more chunky, as if she were stepping on drywall or walking through a construction site littered with sawdust. Other steps still felt like she was stepping on pure steel or bulletproof glass, despite the fact that the floor appeared the same regardless of the perceived texture under her feet.

She also noticed an astonishing lack of sound. If she stomped her foot hard, there would arrive a slight clatter with a minor reverberation as one might expect but just normal footsteps seemed to produce no audible sound at all. It was about as inconsistent as anything else she had seen to this point.

"Hello...?" Lexi repeated again, feeling as though she were being watched despite seemingly in solitude, "Um... if anybody's in here ... I'm just wondering uh ... what time is breakfast? and how do I call for room service and ... oh yeah ... WHERE THE FUCK AM I?!"

While Lexi's words sounded almost as if she were speaking into an aquarium, her last outburst of profanity had the most "normal" sound to it as it echoed around her, finally prompting a response from an outside source, a deep and imposing female cackle that echoed all around her.

Lexi was already miffed, confused and well, quite frankly angry. Being mocked was not putting her in the best of moods so as she sought to find the source of the voice she looked around for any signs of life, seing only the mosaic tiled floors and a solid green wall in front of her.

Taking the time to notice that her armor hadn't been altered at all, she surmised she could at least strike the wall with her metal plated fist, if only to test its fortitude. Upon doing so, she'd watch in surprised as it shattered easily as if made of styrofoam. Even this prompted a laugh from the female voice though, as if this was all part of the plan.

"Hello?!" Lexi yelled again but this time she lacked the confusion in her voice. This time she had conviction, "Come out here, you coward!"

Again, her words would be met with decisive mockery and derision, although more than mere laughter this time.

Lexi watched on with astonishment as a pair of female eyes appeared on an adjacent wall to her left, the eyes appeared oblong in nature, almost to an exageratted degree, like it was more of a painting of a woman than an actual woman. Still, the voice sounded pretty damn real.

"Enjoying your time in the labyrinth, little one?" the voice asked

"Who the fuck are you?" Lexi snapped

"Oh you'll get to know me quite well, little one..." the figure on the outside gloated, speaking to Lexi although on the outside she was leaning over a green cube that was lodged in what looked like a large power source. From the outside the green cube just looked like a fancy light box, but the inside was of course much more intricate. "...in fact you'll be staying here for quite a long long time..."

"Whoever the hell you are ..." Lexi said, her voice fluctuating in volume as a result of the bizarre acoustics of her trapping, "I WILL find you and I will get out of here!"

"Oh that's darling!" the cackling mistress prattled on, able to hear Lexi crystal clear despite her size difference and the dimensional wall that seperated them. "Another challenger thinks they can escape Pandora's Inescapable Labyrinthian Cube!"

Lexi mouthed the words she just heard in confusion before raising an eyebrow,

"Wait, so you're ... Pandora?" Lexi asked, "...why not just call this ... Pandora's Box?"

"Pandora's ... BOX?" the wicked woman retorted, as if deeply offended, "what the hell kind of name is that? No! It's my Inescapable Labyrinthian Cube and all you need to know is in the title ... nobody has EVER escaped!"

"Well I'm not just anyone..." Lexi sneered, as if hoping to pose a threat somehow to the mystical and unseen Pandora as she loomed from the outside of Lexi's prison, "I'm ..."

"Yes yes I know..." Pandora sighed, rolling her eyes as she peered in on the box as if inspecting a music box, "you're Vektor's new champion, although I can't for the life of me imagine why ... you look like a little girl ... and I'm not saying that because of your relative size... you look young... out of place, unprepared and well... your current predicament kind of proves that..."

"We'll see about that!" Lexi snapped back

"Oh no need to get ... shaken up about it" Pandora teased, turning the cube roughly on it's side. It was a simply jerking motion to the right but to Lexi it felt like a violent shaking as if she WERE in a box and being shaken like a package for which the postal service had no regard.

Lexi would hit the wall hard and let out a groan, this particular wall deciding to be made of a super strong polymer of some sort as even her armor could only protect her so much from the slamming sensation. She fell on her side as Pandora continued to laugh.

"You can keep going as long as you'd like, little one" Pandora teased, tilting the box again and hearing a squeaky little scream as she delighted in the miniscule heroine's plight, "You may last longer than the others ... you may not..."

"The ... others?" Lexi asked with a skeptical tone in her voice.

"Yeah you know... the others" Pandora shrugged, snapping her fingers. Suddenly the bones of the fallen rained down around Lexi, momentarily littering the chamber with the remains of what could only be assumed to be "the others". Lexi let out a scream so shrill it even managed to pierce the sound proofing of the cube which only caused Pandora to laugh even louder.

"Okay okay ... so this isn't good..." Lexi thought to herself. All of her superhero quips and brave words weren't going to shrowd the fact that she was scared as all hell. Trapped and alone in this ... box (she refused to call it the other thing) and at the mercy of the maniacal Pandora.

Her only hope other than somehow escaping herself was that Vektor and the others would eventually find her ... heck, knowing Vektor he was probably so enraged that she was missing he would break down a million castle walls or something of the like to get to her. At least that's how Lexi imagined it.

----

Back in the Mystic Forest though, as Vektor and his cavalcade of Quartzarian warriors took their battle closer to the Citadel, that wasn't quite the case. In fact Vektor was quite content, and impressed even, at how well young Alexis Cole was holding up against the onslaught of enemies that approached as they were getting closer to the mountainside.

It was almost as if Lexi was learning the skills of Quartzarian combat in record time for somebody who wasn't native to such a thing. It was almost as if .. that wasn't the real Alexis Cole.

As Lexi shattered the head of another foe with skilled precision and a powerful grunt, Vektor joined her in slaying another foe, using his swift wrist dagger to take down another of the hulking crystal beasts. Emerald looked on ... seeing it but not quite believing it.

Emerald gazed over at Ruby with a quizzical look

"You ... don't find this at all unusual?" Emerald asked, throwing up her shield hastily to break the attack of an incoming foe.

"I... don't really HAVE a usual..." Ruby confessed, caught between a couple of enemies who were pressing her towards a corner of rocks. She thought quick on her feet and fired a plasma blast from a cannon affixed to her wrist before striking another at the legs to cut off its attack, and its legs.

"I mean the new girl ... Lexi..." Emerald said, once the coast was clear, "...she's suddenly an expert fighter? and she's barely said anything in a while..."

"Yeah ... well, she's usually quite the chatterbox, I suppose..." Ruby shrugged, again brandishing her blade but this time on a nearby tree which emitted sparks as she did so, "but whatever... we're winning the fight, right?"

"I ... suppose..." Emerald sighed, watching as her cohorts simply advanced through with little concern. "...it just seems too easy"

----

Lexi on the other hand was not finding anything too easy. In addition to the confines of the Pandora's Box being confusing for a number of reasons it was now introducing traps as panels below the precarious superheroine would drop at nearly each step to reveal either spikes or some kind of holographic vine that would whip at her boot and try to drag her down.

Lexi glanced up at the ceiling to notice there were no such traps, aside from the putrid wallpaper. She raised an eyebrow as she wondered why this place would be so well equipped to dispose of prisoners except for the ceiling. Then again ... what was the ceiling and what was the floor in a cube that seemed to constantly rotate?

Using that as her premise, Lexi took a shot in the dark running for a wall to attempt to wall kick off of it.

At least, that was the anxious Lexi's original plan, but in front of her stood a couple of menacing and pulsating holographic tentacle looking monsters that extended from the floor tiles ready to snap her up as if she were a bird flying into a gator's mouth.

They may have ensnared their prey successfully but Lexi was no average prey.

Lexi took a deep breath and as if by instinct she shrank between the two tentacles as they swiped for her in opposing directions. Maintaining her speed, Lexi unshrank herself in time to leap up onto a raised platform that protruded from the ever changing floor of the landscape and kicked off the wall like Mario noticing gravity didn't exactly work the same in this zone.

She was able to jump much much higher than anticipated and actually wasn't sure if she could stop her wayward ascent in time to prevent a collision course with the ceiling. She put her hands up in a futile defense, anticipating a hard meeting with a faceful of ceiling.

To her surprise, while she did strike the ceiling, her body just lay there as if she had landed on the floor instead, her entire view being flipped. She did take note though that now all the traps were above her. The ceiling had just become the floor and vice versa. Feeling as though she found some kind of loophole, she continued onward and prepared to strike the next wall in front of her without the threat of spikes, tentacles or whatever other non-sense the sinister Pandora had in store.

Lexi thrusted her steel plated fist hard but found nothing but resistance, and a loud clang as she struck the impenetrable surface, prompting another loud chuckle from the giant sorceress on the other side.

"Come now...." Pandora chuckled, looming menacingly over the box, Lexi able to preview the sight only briefly as the walls seemed to thin out for a moment, "did you really think it would be that easy?"

As Lexi gave the giant sorceress an angry sneer of a look, she noticed Pandora looking away although she couldn't tell why.

On the outside, the voice of her brother Paradox had interuppted the interaction.

"Pandora..." Paradox said in a stern tone, "you've already captured this one ... we have bigger fish to fry..."

"Interesting choice of words..." Pandora chuckled, flipping the cube on its side again and laughing cruelly at Lexi's fate as she heard the squeaking sound. "...but it's not like we didn't know Vektor and his gang would be heading here soon..."

Lexi wasn't able to hear this next part as she was ensnared in the cube which only seemed to let in sound when Pandora allowed it.

Outside the Cube, Pandora reluctantly stood up, heeding the words of her brother.

"Very well ... I'll prepare the troops ..." Pandora sighed, shaking her head and muttering something to the effect of "...I never get to have any fun"

---

"So you're telling me you recognize this strange creature?" Chris asked as Spark flew close up to the imposing firebird creature, seemingly unfazed by its massive size compared to the diminuitive young fairy lady herself, she almost looked as though she was greeting a mere house bird.

"Well yeah" Spark said with a giggle, gesturing to Mara herself, "this is Mara!"

Mara herself giggled, "you have to admit that was funny"

"...hilarious..." Chris sighed

"Oh calm down ..." Spark chuckled, "I've ... seen this kind of creature in history books, just never seen one in person before..."

"So uh ..." Mara stuttered, addressing the small red haired fairy, "Do you know anything else about these phoenix thingies, like ... what they eat or ... anything like that?"

Spark shrugged, "I suppose not, but you knew what you were getting into becoming a prospective pet owner"

"Please tell me that thing's not your pet..." Chris said, keeping a safe distance from Mara, Spark and the pyrohappy Penelope the Phoenix.

"Of course not..." Mara frowned, again scratching the seemingly delighted phoenix under the chin "Penelope's my friend!"

"Okay, that's pretty cute" Spark chimed in

"It's ... yeah ... it's strangely wholesome" Chris admitted

A few more moments of silent went by when the gang heard footsteps approaching ... low and distant at first but slowly getting closer.

"Were you ... expecting company?" Spark asked Chris who shook his head, she then looked at Mara who also shook her head no.

The gang suddenly turned defensively, not sure what to expect.

Standing in their view and getting closer still were a few more humans. A taller one named Trevor Hilfmann, a shorter male named Joshua James and the brunette woman Spark recognized as Leah Henderson, best friend of Alexis Cole.

"So uh ... nice night for a stroll in the woods, huh?" Leah said in an awkward tone trying to break the silence upon seeing the gathered party there unexpectedly, particularly the large firebird perched on Mara's shoulder. "Doesn't that ... hurt you?"

"We've already addressed that ..." an exhausted Chris exhaled.

----

"GAHH!!" Lexi grunted, slamming with all her might into the forgiving green wall.

At this point there were no physical obstacles to impede her save the wall itself but that proved to be more than a formidable foe as even her armor enhanced self was struggling to even make a dent.

The exhausted Lexi took a moment to lean back and think things through. She was basically in an environment that defied all logic and reality, and one that was controlled by a sadistic sorceress. Pandora was basically in control of how easy or difficult this plight would be and it wasn't exactly in the pink haired villainess' best interest to make it easy on Lexi.

Little did Lexi know however that on the outside, Pandora was no longer there to monitor the status of the inescapable labyrinthian cube. She was off with her brother to mobilize an offensive effort against Vektor and the approaching battle brigade.

That wouldn't make Lexi's quest too much easier but at least without Pandora actively there to add obstacles, tilt the box or provide added mockery she could focus on escaping on her own terms. But how? It was called inescapable for a reason...

Lexi turned to her immediate right to notice she was no longer walking on the floor, nor the ceiling, she was somehow glued to the side wall, seeing what appeared to be a fall that plunged to the right as if on an airplane that was going down but somehow gravity wasn't taking its effect. Lexi walked gingerly, her boots feeling as though magnetic to the surface but weary of the fact that the sensation could give out at any time. She looked down the drop to perceive it went on "forever"

Lexi squinted, watching the green wall furthest to her get further and further away.

"...it has to be an illusion..." Lexi pondered to herself watching the world around her stretch on and on as if in some kind of abstract painting. Maybe that was it ... was any of this technically "real"? Lexi knew despite how things appeared that she was basically in a box ... no bigger than a small UPS package. It may have APPEARED that it spanned on for miles but the fact was it didn't. Would that mere fact be enough to somehow push her through?

She was about to find out ...

Trying to produce some propulsion in her feet, Lexi would lunge forward ... er sideways, but to no avail.

Lexi narrowed her brow and take a deep breath

"This isn't real..." she thought to herself, trying to jump again, her feet seemingly glued to the floor but she was starting to feel a bit less resistance. She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath.

"It's impossible to walk on walls..." Lexi thought to herself, "this isn't real ... this isn't possible..."

Lexi took one more attempt at a leap and this time she did a backflip, landing on the floor standing rightside up (or what she assumed to be anyhow)

"You see that, Pandora?!" Lexi screamed with a bit of triumph in her voice, while not realizing that Pandora was no longer watching her exploits. Still, she had to press on.

The cautious Lexi took another step forward, hearing a click as if she stepped on a particularly special floor tile. It must've been the wrong one because she yelped and jumped back as two swirling pillars of fire leapt out in front of her, swirling back and forth like video game obstacles.

Lext looked to the left and right of the swirling fire, trying to cook up a strategy as quickly as she could before she saw the flames burn out for just a moment before firing off again. That may have been her opening if she could time it right. She took another step forward but she waited too long and the firewall greeted her yet again with a burst of heat that caused her to look away a bit frightened.

"I'm not going to get through this by standing around..." Lexi said to herself, watching as the flames went down and out again. She dashed as fast as she could, narrowly missing another incinerating blast as it emanated from the colorful floors before her. She let out several weak exhales as she caught her breath, having narrowly escaped death.

Whether it was illusion or not, the fire sure looked and felt real from the heat it radiated. It was very hard to tell what was real and what wasn't in this containment chamber and things went from bad to worse as Lexi looked down and noticed there was suddenly no floor under her feet.

"Are you kidding ... meeeeeeeeee?!" Lexi screamed, plunging what felt like miles in terms of time elapsed. She fell for what felt like minutes at a time, although she never felt in danger, she simply felt weightless and an incredible sense of vertigo but she sensed this too was some kind of illusion or mental trick. After all the cube itself wasn't bigger than a full sized disco ball, so the furthest she could fall was maybe a few feet. Even at her current size that fall wouldn't take long.

As if Lexi's logic was prevailing over the entropy of the cube, she found herself thudding down on a dark floor, letting out a pained groan as her body hitting the floor made a loud echoing thud, the result of her titanium alloy enforced armor. It's a good thing she was equipped as such because she would likely be as good as gone in her usual outfit.

Lexi stood up cautiously, noticing this quadrant was distinctly different from the last. It was still unusual but for a different reason. It was almost entirely lacking in light or color, instead being drowned in grays and sepia tones. Suddenly a blinding spotlight illuminated Lexi herself, and she shielded herself with her wrist, although it was hardly a help as the metal simply reflected the light even moreso into her sensitive eyes. She stumbled and her back collided with something hard, a pane of glass. She turned around to investigate and saw it was more than that ... not just glass but rather a mirror.

In the mirror stared back a reflection of the woman herself. She tilted her head but then shrugged, turning to notice the walls suddenly were lined with mirrors, all lined up in panels. As she made her way down the hallway to explore, she was fatally unaware of the mirror she had just deserted as the woman in the reflection was still facing forward despite the fact that Lexi was now turned away.

Lexi stared at the next mirror, noticing the reflection of herself was making a different expression than she was. This "Lexi" was grinning at her.

"Hi!" Lexi heard a voice say, turning around to notice that the mirror adjacent to her featured an animated reflection of herself speaking to her in her own voice. "I'm Lexi!"

"No, I'M Lexi!" another reflection chimed in, making an angry face.

Lexi looked around in utter confusion and then screamed to see that the original mirror was now devoid of a reflection, as if the reflection itself had personified and escaped the mere mirror. Lexi's fears were soon confirmed as she clocked in the head by the cruel Lexi clone who cackled.

Lexi lay in the ground in pain, on her side as she watched another set of purple boots hit the ground in front of her, then another, then another. The Lexis in the mirrors were all stepping outside of the boundaries of the mirror frame itself imposing towards her.

It was like something out of a horror movie as most of them didn't talk but rather had sinister grins on their faces.

Lexi shook her head, in disbelief that the challenge in front of her was literally her own reflection.

"Alright ..." Lexi sighed, "time to show these clowns why the original is the best1"

With a bit of a cocky sigh, Lexi charged towards "herself" and performed a skilled backflip to dodge the swift punch of her opponent, jumping over her and pushing against her back to meet the next Lexi with her pair of metal boots to the groin.

Although the Lexi fascimilies didn't seem to be in pain, Lexi's attacks were successful in repelling them as they would any other human.

"You want me? Come get me!" Lexi screamed, suddenly filled with rage as a trio of Lexi clones gave her their own cocky look, shaking their head and laying down their own challenge to fight.

Lexi soon found herself quickly forced to the ground as one of them swept her down with a quick sweeping kick. Lexi would slide out of the way just as another Lexi slammed her hand down on the floor hard. Unfortunately for THAT Lexi, she'd find her hand in literal shards, shaking her arm as pieces came off in tiny triangles resembling polygons.

Lexi raised an eyebrow at this sight.

Before she could further analyze the situation she was grabbed around the waist by a smirking mirror Lexi.

"Uhhh you mind?" Lexi smirked, elbowing her doppleganger and shrinking below her once she was free of her clutches, "don't go touching me like that, even if you ARE me!"

While shrunk, she noticed the other lumbering Lexis charging at her, including the one that was now missing a hand. She'd grow back and strike one of them with a swift upper cut that literally broke her "Glass jaw", sending pieces of her face fracturing into the infinite distance.

As Lexi prepared to deliver another blow she felt a familiar but uncomfortable sensation culminating in her balled up fist. It was that of electricity, similar to what she had felt back in her world, but then she was reminded of what Vektor had informed her back at the palace as 2 angry mirror Lexis closed in on her.

The atmosphere in Quartzaria was pulsating with constant electrical currents....

Lexi would let out a yell, striking one Lexi so hard that she literally burst into fragments that scattered like sparkling pieces of glass. She'd swing at another one but miss, getting tackled by one of the mirror Lexi's, then another and another. They seemed to be multiplying at an alarming rate and Lexi soon found herself at the bottom of a dog pile of her own reflections as they came pouring out of the mirror frames as if coming out of a clown car.

Lexi let out a painful groan as the combined weight was beginning to press against her armor and she'd feel it creak and whimper under the intense force as some of the Lexis punched and scratched at the armor and others still just pushed on her harder and harder, seeming to bend the very floor on which they all were pushed against.

Lexi felt it again but this time much stronger. The electricity coursing through her fists now felt as though it was coursing through her entire body. She let out a scream as the feeling was both painful and empowering at once. She felt momentarily invincible despite the paralyzing charge of electricity surging through her.

She found herself defying her own expectations and shattering the opposing nightmarish reflections simply by standing up, her body now a living battery as she sparked and crackled, eviscerating anything that got in her way, including herself.

A grin of satisfaction crossed her face as the electrical field died down for the moment but she found herself successful in vaporizing the onslaught of Lexis as the mirror room went momentarily dark.


"Fuck this place" Lexi muttered, again feeling the sparking as if originating within her heart and spreading throughout, she took a deep breath and felt herself growing and growing. She wasn't going to be stopped. Not this time.

On the outside, the power conduit containing the cube was sparking and overheating, as a warning message showed up on a panel just below the cube. Fortunately for Lexi, nobody was there to see this and so she continued her rage filled attempts to escape, simply by willing it and changing her size to match.

"COME OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME PANDORA!!" Lexi screamed, growing bigger and bigger until she found herself tearing through layers of the menacing cube, finally facing an adverse shock that brought her down a bit. She was struck with an array of green lightning that stunted her growth but also Lexi was somehow winning.

The power conduit containing the cube was near close to bursting before an exclamation point popped up on the screen.

Below it read a message stating :

"SEVERE POWER OVERLOAD. EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN INITIATED. PURGING ALL PRISONERS"

Lexi screamed as she felt the strangest sensation yet, her body literally transformed into electrical energy as she felt herself getting sucked downwards like a lightning bolt. The box would sputter and twist wildly as it sparked, finally turning a dim green once Lexi had been disposed of it.

Lexi herself meanwhile found herself evacuated into a chaotic network of tubes and pipes, as if she were traveling through a wire like a spark of electrical energy. Of course, all networks of wires had to have an end or an outlet at some point.

After what felt like a split second despite actually being a longer time, Lexi found herself regenerated in what appeared to be a dungeon, her breathing and heart rate clocking in well over their normal rate. She looked around to see that was in some kind of prison but this wasn't the cube anymore. This felt real. About as real as anything she had encountered in this dimension so far.

She looked down at her hands to notice they were no longer sparking but she also felt reinvigorated, as if her previous injuries hadn't happened. Whatever electrical power she had harnessed was likely possible due to the electrical atmosphere but also enhanced by the fact that her own body had a weird polarity imbalance caused by her exposure to the Enormo Enterprises Delta project.

Despite having shrunk in the past, meeting fairies, battling robotic mini lady supervillains and going up against crazy scientists, Lexi had never experienced anything quite as surreal as what had just happened to her.

The good news for her was she had apparently escaped (albeit on a technicality) and was now normal size again. The bad news is she still didn't know quite where she was but had a pretty safe bet that she was somewhere in Paradox's castle. She let out an exhausted sigh before noticing she wasn't alone. Somebody was watching her recovery with a stunned expression on her face.

The woman staring at her was a similar height to Lexi, wearing what appeared to be a white tank top covered in some areas with blue plated armor on her shoulders. Her eyes were a similar shade of blue, a rather striking azure color to match her short blue hair which hung down around her forlorn face. She was actually rather pretty but the look on her face and her body language suggested that she had been through a lot.

Lexi came up to the cell a bit closer and watched as the female backed away with some apprehension.

"N-No don't worry..." Lexi said reassuringly, "I'm on your side..."

The woman stared back, raising an eyebrow, not quite believing her but also not distrusting her.

"Let me guess..." Lexi said with a bit of a smirk, "you must be Sapphire..."

Lexi stared back, her breathing slow for once in a very long time as she could finally recover from the torment she was just put through by the sadistic woman, Pandora. She could certainly see where the expression "Pandora's Box" originated from, even if nobody else here seemed to appreciate the namesake.

The weary warrior Lexi could hear very little save for the smallest drops of water as they pinged off the concrete surfaces and the slight shuffling of feet, mainly from Sapphire as she scooted back further despite Lexi's friendly greeting.

"Am I really that scary?" Lexi thought with a frown, before deciding that yes, maybe with the armor she WAS kind of intimidating. Then again, this Sapphire girl hailed from the place the armor was made in. This whole dimension seemed to be part medieval wonderland, part futuristic city but mostly just a chaotic dystopia.

"You ... you ..." Sapphire muttered, pointing to Lexi and her dimly lit silhoutte just feet in front of her eyes. She had been the first human Sapphire had seen in some time since being captured. The only other ones to check in on her (a term she used lightly since this wasn't exactly Motel 6) had been a few fearsome crystal warriors or Paradox himself. "Wh-Who are you?"

Sapphire herself tired of this feud between the two most powerful beings in the land. She hated how it was tearing her homeworld apart and just wanted it to end. Despite all that desire inside of her and the fact that she had in her possession (usually, it had since been confiscated) one of the most powerful weapons known in the cosmos, the radiant blade, she was a reluctant fighter, only choosing to do so if she absolutely had to.

Lexi could tell almost immediately the way that the young woman carried herself was different from the others and pretty much a stark contrast to anyone else. While she wore armor, hers was a bit more incomplete, only covering her shoulders and one arm, whereas the rest of her clothing looked fairly "regular" compared to the other denizens of this land. She also had by far the most expression on her face, even if it were of a downtrodden nature. Lexi could feel and understand her pain. She missed her family and friends, it came through almost instantly, as did the trepidation the blue haired woman looked at her with. She wasn't like the steadfast Emerald or the stoic and sassy Ruby, and even less like the aggressive, overly confident and at times bullheaded Vektor. These traits in conjunction with the rather foreign nature of everybody else Lexi had met there to this point (except for maybe the chipper young male mechanic) had Lexi cracking a genuine smile for the first time in a while.

"My name is Lexi .... um, I know this is going to sound crazy but I'm from um... another dimension?" Lexi said with a bit of a sheepish shrug as if to say 'ta-da' -- although her travel to this land had been less than voluntary. Sapphire nodded in an analytical way, not displaying any form of surprise but more just taking it all in.

"Oh, okay..." Sapphire said, a somewhat unexpected response given her anxiety just a moment before. Now she seemed more interested in looking Lexi's costume up and down, noticing that despite her being an interdimensional being, she seemed to be dressed very similar to most Quartzarians at the moment

"Okay?" Lexi chuckled, "no ... uh ... no wondering how that happened or being in total disbelief?"

"Well I mean..." Sapphire explained, not sounding sad but not sounding happy either, she was just kind of analyzing the situation to this point, "I remember this portal thing swallowing Vektor when those creatures attacked the palace ... I remember Emerald being a fake because of a paradox crystal and well ... things haven't exactly been normal for me for a long long time"

"Tell me about it" Lexi shrugged, kicking a rock as if to try to be friendly and break the ice.

"W-Well I suppose I could tell you about it..." Sapphire said, following a lengthy pause "but it may take a while and we don't really have much time for such a story... and ..."

"Hon hon hon..." Lexi smirked, almost trying not to laugh but not in a mean spirited way. She found the antics of the young warrior cute, and she couldn't deny the blue hair gave her a nice "Sonic the hedgehog" vibe. "It's just an expression ... I mean, I'd be HAPPY to learn more about you but it's just my way of saying that ... well, I can relate ... maybe not EXACTLY but it's been a weird last while for me as well..."

"Oh. Oh..." Sapphire nodded, seeming a bit embarassed that she had misunderstood. Sapphire then scooted closer to the bars that kept her imprisoned within Paradox' lower dungeon.

Surprisingly for all the technology and magic that Lexi had encountered in this strange world so far, the prisons were fairly similar to what most would consider a prison, except the bars were a thicker gold instead of silver and the shape of the cells resembled cathedral windows with the dramatic and pronounced curviture of the their shapes. Honestly, Lexi wondered why one would use so much expense on something that was just going to be used to hold prisoners anyway but that was the least of her worries as she thought about everything else still in play.

Last she knew, Vektor and the others were still heading her way, towards the keep of the dreadful Paradox and his overpowered sister Pandora. On the bright side, Lexi had found the kidnapped Sapphire but she wasn't quite sure what to do next ... how to set her free or even if she did, where to go.

On top of all that, the young and sometimes snarky heroine hadn't even gotten the proper chance to brag about the fact that she herself, the one and only Alexis Cole had been the first ever to escape the so called inescapable Pandora's Box. Okay, so maybe she kinda cheated but the whole thing was kind of rigged anyway.

"Sooo ... Miss..." Sapphire asked in curiosity, "if your name is Lexi ... why does your belt say SG?"

"Oh!" Lexi smirked, her hands briefly tracing the edges of the belt, framing it a bit as if to show it off like a Power Ranger. Heck, she kind of felt like a Power Ranger in her purple suit which also held a mini car in it. Wait ... the car... dare she grow it back and just trash the castle? Nah seemed too extreme. Oh right. She still never answered Sapphire's question. "My name is Lexi but ... I'm also a uh ... superhero... named ShrinkGirl"

"Superhero?" Sapphire asked, "so like ... a knight or wizard or something?"

"Heh not exactly ..." Lexi said with a nervous giggle, "although such things seem a lot more common in your world ... I'm just ... well, I'm not really sure what I am ... I'm kinda just a girl who can shrink .. although from what I understand, people in your world can do that too..."

"Heh, yeah..." Sapphire replied a bit nervously, suddenly clutching her wrist defensively. Through the fingertips that shielded the armored wrist Lexi could make out a similar type of build out that Ruby and Emerald had, except Sapphire's had nothing in it. No glowing gems, but instead the slots for where they would go.

"Wait... you can ... do that too, right?" Lexi asked with a nod

"I could ... maybe..." Sapphire sighed nervously, "It's not really something I ever wanted to do ... I just ... don't know what it could do to my body, yknow??"

"What do you mean?" Lexi asked

"I don't know ..." Sapphire sighed, nervous that she might have been sounding too whiny to the friendly brunette Lexi but instead Lexi would just stand and listen with a smile, "...using stones and gems to alter ones being, even temporarily, it just seems dangerous you know ... like ... plus being small...? Kinda scares me"

Lexi frowned a bit, not at the last part so much as Sapphire's point about changing oneself through various means like that. Lexi had no reassurance that her own shrinking wouldn't have repurcussions up the road. She had already experienced some of those horrific electrical disturbances in the past and even while in Quartzaria. Her condition was likely chronic and permanent though. At least the Quartzarians just used their tech and magic as temporary boosts of energy.

"Anyway, I'm just ... I'm rambling..." Sapphire shrugged, trying to force a smile, "I'm glad somebody came here to save me ... but where are the others?"

"They should uh ... hopefully be on their way" Lexi replied although truthfully, she had no way to know. "For now we need to find a way to get you out of there"

"It sucks..." the suddenly pouty Sapphire responded, pacing a bit in her cell, "if I had the radiant sword I could..."

"The ... what?" Lexi asked

"The radiant sword..." Sapphire sighed, "it's this really powerful plasma sword I've had since I was a kid ... admittedly it's almost TOO powerful, it scares me a little but ... I guess everything seems to .. scare me..."

Lexi would frown, pressing her hand to the cell bars, "Hey hey, don't be so hard on yourself Sapphire ... you're stronger than most, I promise you"

"You really mean that?" Sapphire asked, with half a smile

"Uh yeah!" Lexi smirked, "you got that cool armor stuff going on, heck, you probably can move faster than the others since you didn't overdo it with 100 pounds of armor and a million magic effects and that sword of yours sounds totally badass!"

"...badass..." Sapphire muttered, "...what does that mean? Is it a good thing?"

"Heh, it's very good" Lexi grinned, "but tell me, where's that sword now?"

"Paradox has it..." Sapphire sighed, looking down at the floor, expressing disappointment, "I didn't really have much of a choice but to give it up when he had me surrounded ... still, I wish I hadn't been so weak ... maybe I could've done something with the sword, made sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands..."

"Hey hey ..." Lexi cut her off, again offering some friendly words, "Are you ALWAYS so hard on yourself? C'mon ... I'm not from around here but these are some tough customers and like I said you're doing great ... yes I know you're in a jail cell but we'll get you out, we'll get you your sword thingy and you'll help me save the day"

"Save ... the day?" Sapphire asked, a bit confused and worried about the idea, "I mean... I'll help but I'm not really a hero like you or Vektor or ..."

"Why?" Lexi shrugged, "because you don't wear flashy armor? Because you don't have a belt with your superhero name on it? You're a hero ... a lot of people are heroes on the inside ..."

"You mean like ... they ate a hero?" Sapphire asked, confused. To be fair, this wasn't exclusive to Sapphire. This entire dimension tended to struggle with taking certain phrases too literally.

"Heh no hon, I just mean ... never mind .. look Sapphire you're stronger than you think ..." Lexi sighed, putting her hand through the cell as much as she could reach it in through the bars, almost touching the young woman as sparks emitted from her purple armor covered hands.

"Wh-What are you doing, Lexi?" Sapphire asked, understandably worried this time.

"Okay so ..." Lexi sighed, looking a bit nervous herself "I know we just met, but ... do you trust me?"

Sapphire pondered this for a decent amount of time before finally sighing and nodding

"I do." Sapphire said, "I don't know if it's because I'm in a desperate situation and need help or just ... I want to believe that you're as good as you say you are but ... I also see kindness in you, I can't ... I can't explain it..."

This sentence alone made Lexi smile but she kept her steely resolve as she continued to beckon Sapphire closer.

"I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" Lexi said, "but you're going to have to ... well... you're going to have to ... shrink"

At this Sapphire stumbled back, her trust suddenly shaken a bit at the very notion of it.

"Sh-Shrink?!" Sapphire gulped

"Look, I understand ... it's scary, trust me I know ..." Lexi sighed, "I've done it a bunch but I still get scared sometimes but I'll protect you, I promise and it won't even be for long, I just need to shrink you and get you out of the cell, then we can grow you back, okay?"

Sapphire took a deep breath, finding herself left with very few options. She didn't want to stay in the cell any longer but the prospect of being small, even temporarily really terrified her. Still, it's not like she had NEVER done it. Her sisters had liked to prank her as a kid by slipping her a shrink stone unknowingly. Of course that was just a prank... this was a bit more serious.

"Okay..." Sapphire said, her anxiety quite apparent as she stepped closer so that Lexi could use her electrical field triggered shrinking powers on her, "...do what you need to do"

"It'll be quick I promise" Lexi nodded, reaching forward and watching as a swarm of protons zapped from finger to finger like small lightning rods, leaping off of her person and onto Sapphire, slowly bringing her down to a much smaller height. Lexi would back up a bit, feeling a little awkward herself. Normally she'd only use her shrinking powers on foes, or maybe friends like Leah who wanted to do it for fun. She felt kinda bad watching Sapphire shrink, watching the young woman's face grow from worried to downright terrified as she watched the purple warrior grow and grow in height compared to her now shrunken body.

"Okay..." Sapphire let out a low whisper, now small enough to simply walk between the bars if she so wished.

"You're going to be okay..." Lexi repeated, her hand, normally soft and warm a bit more cold and metallic now as she had it encased in the armored glove. She used that palm to sweep up the tiny Sapphire as if catching a shrimp in a fishermen's net, lifting her small friend up and giving her a friendly smile. "I gotcha, okay? Now let's get you out of here..."

Lexi would take but a few steps forward before hearing a loud SCHWING!! sound

She turned cautiously, keeping the small Sapphire cupped in her hands as she inspected the source of the sound, an adjacent jail cell.

"Put my sister down..." the woman sneered from the other side of the bars.

Even from behind bars she looked positively menacing as her long dagger protruded out from the bars. Lexi leaned in and expressed a bit of shock when she realized who she was being threatened by.

"...RUBY?!"

----

Back on the streets of Minitropolis, chaos reigned ... at times literally.

Even with the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Giovanni and the seeming silence from Byron Biggs who was normally more of an upfront and aggressive leader figure, the Chaos Crew had taken it upon themselves to spread their unique brand of widespread crime throughout the city. The Mini Troop were doing their best as usual to hold them back but it seemed to have gotten much much worse in the wake of Lexi's disappearance.

To that end, a determined Trevor, Leah and Josh were on the case as they were in Trevor's car to investigate the area of Lexi's disappearance, right around the street that the cop chase ended abruptly due to the energy portal that was produced there.

"This is a nice car you have here, Mr. Trevor sir..." Josh said, impressed to be in the scientists car, a silver Toyota Avalon. "...does this have heated seats?"

"Focus, Josh..." a momentarily chuckling Leah piped in, sitting in the back and pointing out that they were close, "it was right around here ... are you picking up any readings?"

"Leah ..." Josh smirked, "all due respect but I'm the right hand man here ... I'll ask the doctor the pertinent questions ... now ... are you picking up any readings?"

Leah slouched in her seat and just rolled her eyes, checking her phone again with a frown. She knew it was a long shot but she kept hoping to see a message or something from Lexi. Any attempt to call her was met with further hopelessness. "Please be okay..." Leah worried in her mind thinking about her best friend. She knew Lexi could hold her own against anything. She was strong-willed, super positive, charming, smart and resourceful. But would that be enough to get her out of a strange dimension? Heck, knowing Lexi she could make friends anywhere ... the people in that other dimension likely loved her.

-----

"Put her down now before I cut you in half, don't think I can't ..." Ruby sneered, pointing the blade at Lexi and although she was still set behind the gold bars and her dagger just barely reached between them, Lexi still felt fear, not being fully aware of Ruby's full powers.

More than fear though, Lexi felt confusion.

She held out Sapphire now in her open palm to show Ruby that her sister was safe, albeit smaller.

"I can grow her back right now..." Lexi nodded reassuringly, "in fact I will, if that's what you want ... I'm on your side ... but ... you already know that..."

"I don't know anything, Lexi..." Ruby snapped, "I don't HAVE sides, I don't know allies ... I just fight ... that's all I've ever done ... I fight for my family ... and for all the crap I've given Saph in the past I know she's probably the most pure of heart person I ever met ... so if you lay a finger on a hair of her head..."

Sapphire smiled briefly at this comment even if she just wanted the fighting to end

"Pl-Please..." the now tiny Sapphire chimed in, although a bit hard to hear in the large room, "Just ... just don't fight each other, please"

"I have no intention of fighting her, Sapphire" Lexi nodded

"You wouldn't last more than a second anyway..." Ruby said with a sneer but a slightly concealed grin as well. She then tilted her dagger down for a moment, disarmed for the time being, "...although I am a bit impressed you found your way in here... where are the others though?"

"Oh... well um ... of course I did..." Lexi chuckled nervously, trying to make it appear easy and not let it be known that she got kidnapped and narrowly escaped the ridiculous Pandora's Box. "and well, the others are on the way ... including ... wait ... you..."

Ruby looked back in shock "What do you mean, me?"

"Ruby..." Lexi asked, "...you got attacked by Pandora, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember ..." Ruby nodded, quickly deducing in her own mind what happened but not sure how to broach the topic with Lexi or her easily rattled sister, Sapphire "Those damned crystal birds got the jump on me ... Pandora was able to teleport me here pretty quick while you were all busy fighting off the crystal beasts ... pretty slick move of Emerald though to use her growth stone like that ... I would've used mine but ... don't have one on me..."

"Wait wait wait ... so it was never YOU in the hovercraft?" Lexi asked, still confused as she kept her hand out gingerly, keeping her tiny friend Sapphire safe within her palm, "then ... who did we save?"

Ruby let out an exhale. Lexi already knew the answer

"Pandora's a pro, what can I say?" Ruby groaned, crossing her arms, "she was able to poof me out of there pretty quick once she had me secured... my guess is she only kept up the charade with the birds to try to capture Emerald as well or maybe she was just toying with all of you ... but whoever you THINK is Ruby right now ... clearly isn't ..."

Sapphire tilted her head, looking up at Lexi and nodding

"She's telling the truth" Sapphire said hesitantly

"You sure?" Lexi asked. After all, she had no way of knowing if THIS Ruby was a fake or some sort of trap concocted by Pandora or Paradox. But then again, what purpose would a fake Ruby serve since Pandora, being the cocky bitch she was definitely thought there was no way Lexi would escape her stupid box thingy, let alone find her way down towards the prison.

"I'm not always the most observant..." Sapphire sighed, hanging her head as she paced around in Lexi's palm. Ruby shot her shrunken sister a bit of a saddened look as the usually confident and razor focused young woman seemed a bit more pensive and regretful in this moment, "...but I know my own sister when I see one ..."

Lexi nodded, and although she wasn't super familiar with how all this shape shifting worked, she could understand knowing somebody as well as the two ladies knew each other.

"So wait..." Lexi asked, "you said you didn't have a growth stone on you? Do you have any other kind of power stone that can help you out"

Ruby shook her head and sighed, showing her own wrist which was missing power stones but her wrist gauntlet appeared to have been mangled as if damaged in an intense struggle, "those asshats took any power stones I had ... surprised they didn't take my paradox inhibiter but they probably didn't know where to look..."

Ruby was of course referring to the crystal that could keep her body and mind protected from the effects of the paradox crystal. It, much like Lexi's was installed in a small compartment of her armor just behind her neck. But it alone didn't possess any useful power that could've helped the trio out.

"Okay well ..." Lexi sighed, "I COULD shrink you? To get you out of there? Unless you can think of another way to break these bars?"

"No chance..." Ruby sighed, "the only weapon strong enough to do that kind of damage is ... well, yours..."

Ruby looked towards the tiny Sapphire who perked up upon hearing it

"...look sis..." Ruby sighed, "I know Emerald and I have given you a hard time since ... well, forever... and we should've stood up for you more often whenever Vektor would put you down ..."

"I thought Vektor considered me ... part of his ... team?" Sapphire whimpered, trying to correct the crimson clad woman

"Uh... he was kinda just ... blowing smoke, sweetie" Ruby said, part exhausted but also saddened by that fact as well, "he needed you ... his forces have either deserted him or been killed by Paradox's forces... you were one of the last people he could trust, plus he values your weapon, the radiant sword too much ... he kinda just ... said what you wanted to hear... but I'm telling you the truth, maybe too late, when I say that ... we really do love you a bunch sis... Emerald and I..."

Lexi, not wanting to kill this moment but also trying to stay focused, found herself gently closing her fingers around Sapphire in some kind of instinctual emotional reaction to hearing the exchange of such heartfelt feelings between the two sisters. She wasn't sure what kind of upbringing or past the two had but it seemed these were words that needed to be said.

"Well..." Lexi exhaled with a nervous smile, shattering the silence within the dark and echoing chamber, "as much of a nice reunion as this has been ... can I give you a shrinking special escape?"

Ruby shrugged but then nodded, stepping closer to the cell

"I keep forgetting you don't need a power stone to initiate a size change..." Ruby said with a bit of an envious smirk

"Well, I mean I can shrink but I technically can't grow .. at least not beyond normal height" Lexi confessed, keeping Sapphire safe in her hand before reaching out with her other to try to shrink Ruby now.

"You sure about that?" Ruby asked, "Have you ever tried it?"

"I... I guess not ..." Lexi sighed, trying to remain focused on her mission of shrinking the red haired woman, "n-now hold still... I can't promise this won't feel a little ... weird"

Ruby shrugged as the shrinking slowly took hold, a cascading wall of sparkles emitting from Lexi's hand to initiate it and finally Ruby would end up as tiny as her blue haired sibling, walking out from between the large gold grates that had kept her captive. Somehow despite being just a few inches tall, the mini Ruby still looked powerful and mighty, her armor making tiny clanks as she walked along.

"So uh ... you gonna grow us back now or just sneak us out as action figures?" Ruby quipped up at the mega sized ShrinkGirl who shook her head and gave them both a snarky look.

"Alright, alright, hold on..." Lexi sighed, tapping Ruby very gently and watching as she began to regain her form and size before doing the same to Sapphire, setting her down and restoring her to normal size.

So there they stood, the purple armored Lexi, the blue haired half armored anxious but helpful warrior Sapphire and the red and gold Ruby who just looked like she was ready to bash the skulls in of anyone who got in her way.

"I just want this shit to be over with ..." Ruby said out loud, drawing a confused and concerned look from Lexi

"I ... I could understand why but ... what do you mean?" Lexi asked

"This whole bullshit never would've even started if Vektor hadn't ... ugh..." Ruby sighed

"Hadn't what?" Lexi asked

As the ladies spoke, Sapphire seemed focused on something else. Sapphire seemingly had the ability to pick up on little things like sounds in the distance or even small details most wouldn't notice. While she was still listening to Lexi's and Ruby's conversation she could also hear footsteps from a higher level of the castle that were causing small reverberations in her mind as if to signal their impending arrival.

"You guys..." Sapphire said, a bit worried, "we may not have much time before more of those monsters are upon us..."

Lexi nodded and began to head towards a large and ascending staircase with Sapphire to her left and Ruby to her right. As Ruby seemed eager to take the first steps up, Lexi was also eager to find out more about what was happening. Lexi put her hand gently on Ruby's armor plated shoulder, causing the woman to turn back and look in surprise.

"Ruby..." Lexi said, a bit of a burning curiosity in her voice, "what were you going to say ... about Vektor?"

Ruby sighed, "Guess there's no point in you not knowing ... you know Pandora?"

"All too well..." Lexi sighed. Ruby leaned in and whispered something in the purple armored ShrinkGirls ear. As she did so, Lexi's eyes opened wide, backing away as if having just heard the juiciest bit of gossip.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Lexi scoffed

----

Back at Trevor's makeshift lab in the back of Aztek Parts and More, Josh found himself fascinated with a series of waveforms on the scientists computer monitor ; the result of a reading he had taken while they had checked out the site of Lexi's disappearance, the portal which had opened up on that fateful street in the city.

"Are you sure?" Josh asked, confirming the doctors theory upon showing him the readings

"This is ... remarkable" Trevor said, "not only is this further proof of Dr. Giovanni's work .. but proof of ... possibly something else which Dr. Max was looking into at one point of his career but this is where things get REALLY crazy ... I wouldn't be surprised if neither of you believed me"

"Try us" Josh said, eager to hear the doctors theory. Leah was also intrigued, although maybe not as much as Josh.

"There are traces of an energy type here that Max was looking into a long while back ... may still be .. it's ... and I have no other way to describe this ... fairy energy" Trevor said, realizing how ridiculous that sounded

"I'm sorry, could you say that again?" Josh said, "not that I don't believe you ... just ... a scientist talking about fairies reminds me of Dr. Crocker from Fairly Odd Parents ... you think you could say it in a bit of an angry voice?"

Trevor and Leah both rolled their eyes.

"I can't explain exactly what I mean by that but ... some of this energy is nothing that originates from earth ... and while Maximillian wasn't as invested in other dimensions as Giovanni, I know he had been making some progress on trying to discover some kind of ... dimensions of ... fairies?" Trevor said, words coming out of his mouth sounding stranger and stranger by the second to him "He really bought into the legends about Fenster Forest in particular ..."

"Uh... about that..." Leah chuckled nervously

"Hmm?" Trevor raised an eyebrow

"Oh yeah, she's met fairies..." Josh nodded enthusiastically

Trevor nodded, remembering that Lexi had mentioned a type of magic energy shield around her SG medallion. He had kind of written it off as her being excited or figured the belt had some scientific properties but fairies? And in the Minitropolis area? What else was real of Giovanni and Maximillian's past research?

"Okay so yes ..." Leah sighed, "I may have ... well, Lexi and I ... we may have met fairies... and maybe even a whole ... colony of them... but as awesome as that was, how does it tie into this?"

"It may ... it may not..." Trevor shook his head and sighed

Suddenly something clicked in Leah's head as she thought about the other events that had surrounded that night.

"Wait! Max's new Enormo location... the Enormo East?" Leah asked

"Yeah..." Trevor sighed, shaking his head, "It's built there for a very intentional purpose... I remember when he first pitched it to the city council... he actually got very little resistance about it only because almost nobody cared or wanted to build on that land... the city board figured anything was more profitable than building nothing on it so they granted Max his request to build that lab there..."

"But really it's where he plans to do his evil fairy experiments..." Josh said in a mocking menacing voice

"You really gotta knock off the Saturday morning cartoons..." Leah sighed, her hand reaching into her purse for a moment as it grazed something familiar, she let out an exhale and took something out while Trevor continued to work on some formulas on his computer.

"What's this?" Josh asked, confused as he saw a red Spider-Man themed ball in Leah's hand

"This uh ... this is from Lex" Leah said, trying to lighten the mood for the time being, "She um... bought it for you for your birthday which ... is today ... so uh ... Happy Birthday ... heh, I realize it's not much ... I think she was probably planning to buy you the matching t-shirt or ... or something"

"Hah, it's awesome, thanks!" Josh smiled, looking at the cool Spidey ball that reminded him of something one would win from a vending machine in the 1990s.

Leah sighed, only thinking about how many birthdays she would give up just to see Lexi okay again.

----

As Vektor and his troops drew closer to the foot of the small mountain that acted as a sort of pedestal for the large ever-reaching black and green palace, who's spires shot up into the sky, Vektor would momentarily excuse himself from the crowd, activating his holo-comm to talk to a guard back at the palace.

This guard's name was Smoke, a rather slender young man who resembled a ninja both in the way he dressed and the way he often behaved, able to be stealthy and resourceful. Although what he was embarking on at the moment was more of a tech based endeavor and not one he truly agreed with.

"So ..." Vektor said, his tone a bit low as he spoke with Smoke, "is it done?"

"I think so..." Smoke said, looking down at a cell phone on a work bench, "but is this ... really ... ethical?"

"This is not the time to consider ethics..." Vektor shrugged, thankfully still out of earshot from the others "...besides I made a promise to the young lady to make the modifications... she'll be quite pleased to see soon enough that her phone can call through to other dimensions!"

"...that's... not what I meant, Lord Vektor" Smoke said with a tinge of regret in his voice, "I meant more .. the other thing..."

"Again, we ... had to take a look at ... certain ... information..." Vektor said, "...in order to make the phone compatible...'

"With all due respect ... I'm not sure I entirely believe that ..." the abrasive young man known as Smoke replied but the conversation wouldn't advance much further as Vektor thrust his wrist down and turned off the holo comm, being approached by Emerald as the batallion would cautiously make their way towards the palace.

"Sir?" Emerald asked, "we're within super close range of Paradox's Citadel and there's maybe 2 guards max guarding the front atria ... on top of that, he seems to have dropped the holo-wall that usually protects the front courtyard... this feels like a trap"

"You may be right..." Vektor said with steely resolve, undrawing his sword as she looked around at his remaining batallion and admired their courage and fight to have made it this far, "we've gotten too far to back off now ... if Paradox wants a fight he'll get one!"

Vektor, who was usually very quick to charge into battle without saying another word couldn't help but take note of Emerald's worried and skeptical look.

"Something is causing you pause, Lady Emerald" Vektor said, not so much in a caring way but more of an observational one.

"Well ... c'mon Vektor..." Emerald sighed, "I've tried to turn a blind eye to ... certain things but ... I mean ... we know what's really going on here..."

Vektor said nothing for a few moments before continuing to walk alongside Emerald to catch up with the rest of his troops.

"Aren't you going to say anything, Lord Vektor?" Emerald asked, sounding a bit miffed now.

"...everybody makes mistakes" Vektor muttered and wouldn't say another word until they got closer to the palace.

At the mystical forest known as Fenster, a curious Spark continued to inspect the flaming bird atop Mara's shoulder while the others ; Chris, Josh, Leah and Trevor Hilfmann continued to catch up on what had happened to this point.

"Interesting..." Chris commented, as Trevor recapped the events that led them there.

Upon tracing the energy signature present in the portal to the local Fenster Forest, it was only a matter of time before Trevor and his two young charges would eventually find their way deep into fairy territory. The next question was, what link did the Fairy Colony of Fensteria have with the mysterious new dimension Lexi found herself in, if anything?

Leah sighed and glanced over at Spark as she hovered about, "It's uh ... nice to see you again little friend... just wish it was under better circumstances..."

Spark nodded, taking her eyes off the mesmerizing phoenix as its feathers crackled and sparked with each slight flutter. The phoenix almost seemed momentarily dissappointed that it was no longer the center of attention.

"Wait..." Leah said, suddenly realizing something, "Chris, how long you been coming out here? Are you and Spark ... uh...?"

"Huh?" Chris scoffed a bit, face turning bright red, "What? No ... we uh just ... ran into each other..."

"Totally!" Spark giggled nervously, turning away a bit to hide her own crimson blush, not that it would be as noticeable on her with how much red she already wore, "We just ... were catching up, I ... I ... yknow, am just doing my thing... and uh ... fairy stuff, yknow?"

"Uh-huh..." Leah said with a smug smirk, "I know for a fact you don't exactly love leaving the colony and yet here you are ..."

"Can we stay on topic, please?" Spark huffed a bit, "Lexi is missing and she's probably one of the sweetest humans I've ever met ... we need to figure out what happened to her ... I may have a few ideas..."

"What do you mean?" Leah asked

"Well ... for the past couple weeks I've felt these odd disturbances... it's gotten a bit better but it started about 2 weeks ago ... like some kind of ominous sense in my body, I can't explain it ... it's like a dimensional rift was briefly opened..." Spark explained, shaking her head as she tried to move past the memories of the horrific experiences.

"...a couple weeks ago..." Leah murmured, "that's when Lexi got sucked into the portal... there's gotta be a connection"

"Absolutely..." Spark nodded, looking over at Mara and Penelope once more, "Quarz... something..."

"Uh ... gesundheit?" a confused Josh chimed in

"No... I ... can't remember the name of the dimension, but that firebird looks like a mythical creature from..." Spark started before Penelope simply huffed

"Heh yeah ... she doesn't like being called mythical..." Mara chuckled nervously, "it's a bit of a sore subject..."

After a brief moment where the rest of the group rolled their eyes at Mara, Trevor leaned in and further inspected the starnge firebird, finding the whole thing very intriguing as someone who usually believed strongly in science and logic. This was all something out of a fairy tale.

"Anyway..." Leah sighed with a frown, "you said this thing is from some other dimension?"

"That much I'm sure of ..." Spark nodded, "I just ... can't remember the specifics... let's just say other dimensions and stuff from grade school kind of went over my head ..."

"Cuz you're small, right?" Chris chuckled with a snort. Well, he thought it was funny.

"what? No... wait what?" Spark rolled her eyes, not even completely getting the joke, "Why would it ... my teachers were also ... fairy sized... anyways ... yeah no, I'm sorry ... I do want to help you find Lexi but I'm not the most well informed on other dimensions ... however ... I know somebody who might be..."

---

Back at Paradox Peak, a pair of battles were unfolding, one inside and one outside the Citadel. By contrast Paradox's stronghold of a castle had a few things in common with Vektor's but they were more technology related, namely the fact that both castles had a surplus of it, at least for the young Alexis Cole from Miniborough.

That's about where the similarities ended, with dark colors and deep greens being the order of the day, likely dictated by the narcissistic Pandora. Whoever came up with the color choices, Lexi felt as though in a sinister video game as she watched a few lumbering shadowy figures making their way down the spiraling stairs as Ruby, Sapphire and herself were trying to make their way back upstairs.

"Saph!" Ruby asked, trying to keep her sister as calm as possible despite the coming storm, "do you have any idea where they're keeping your sword?"

"I ... I don't think so?" Sapphire replied, shaking her head wearily, "I just remember one of those demonic horse looking things taking me back here ... I had a brief encounter with Paradox and he snatched the sword from me before I could do anything ... it all happened so fast ..."

As Sapphire recounted the horrible ordeal, Lexi dodged a heavy punch from an advancing foe, looking over at Ruby and Sapphire for answers

"So .. what is the significance of this sword, anyhow?" Lexi said, shrinking to evade another punch before growing back, hesitantly throwing a punch of her and connecting the lower jaw of the jagged crystal knight. Sometimes Lexi herself forgot how sturdy the armor she wore was ... it was akin to having hands made of steel so while her human instincts could tell her to hold off on punching something as solid as what appeared to be green diamond, her strength was actually supplanted sufficiently to deal with such things thanks to the Quartzarian armor.

"The sword ... the radiant sword..." Ruby explained, dodging a sweeping kick and helping Sapphire up as she struck from the side, "it's one of the strongest weapons in the realm ... there's no wonder why Paradox would want that kind of power ... I mean technically, he helped to forge it..."

Lexi gave Ruby a quizzical look.

"It's ... complicated..." Ruby sighed, sensing a crystal knight was on the offensive behind her just before Lexi pointed it out. Ruby gave a calm look and just ducked out of the way before delivering a swift smack to the crystal knight's face.

"Speaking of complicated..." Lexi grunted as she threw up her metal plated wrist just in time to deflect a slash from an oncoming foe, sparks emitting from the impact, "Are we really not going to talk anymore about what you told me back there? Vektor and Pandora?"

"Heh... I ... don't technically have proof..." Ruby said, holding up her twin daggers as a shield as she once again got assaulted, the resulting impact turning the criss-crossing daggers back into seperate entities as Ruby's arms were involuntarily parted, swaying towards the ground.

Sapphire looked around whimpering a bit.

"I'm going to need some kind of sword if I'm going to stand a chance here..." Sapphire yelped, dodging a slash from a crystal guards powerful black sword as it slashed through the air with an intimidating screech and a residual yellow streak. "...also what about Vektor and Pandora?"

Ruby let out a sheepish grin.

"You mean ...?" Sapphire asked, a look of disgust on her face.

----

Outside the castle, things were just beginning to turn ominous for Vektor, Emerald, Lexi and Ruby as they neared the castle walls. The sky was still its usual shade of deep purple but swirling white lightning signaled the start of something a bit more sinister.

"Stay on your toes!" Vektor asked, prompting stoic looks of determination from Lexi and Ruby who both dug their heels in and put their arms out in fairly generic battle poses, causing Emerald to look a little confused, especially since she had never seen Lexi behave that way, despite only knowing her a short time.

Columns of white lightning fell from the skies above, shaking the very ground on which the warriors dwelled before a cackling filled the air. Vektor recognized it and so did Emerald.

Pandora.

Back inside the castle, things were getting ever more grim for the three heroes trying to see their way back up to the castle halls, sensing the literal coming storm with each crack of thunder they could hear even from below.

"The heck is that?? Lexi asked, stumbling and avoiding a punch, but her attempt to lunge backwards onto sent her into the unforgiving arms of a brutish crystal knight who gripped her forcefully around the waist. She struggled to break the vice grip or even size shift out of it but she was too constrained to do either. Luckily Ruby saw this and turned swiftly back to the ensnared superheroine from another dimension.

"Get down!" Ruby yelled, firing a blast of plasma energy from her wrist. Lexi got down as far as she could and fortunately for her, Ruby was a master markswoman and hit the face of the crystal knight squarely reducing it to rubble that rained down on Lexi as if a chandelier had fallen nearby.

"Thanks for the assist..." a nearly breathless Lexi said with a weak thumbs up

"You realize your suit can do that too..." Ruby reminded as another enemy crept up on her.

"I do ... at times ... still a lot to get use to..." Lexi replied with a sheepish shrug. Lexi then turned and delivered a swift blast to her foe, missing her intended aim by a bit but the blast was sufficient enough to graze a shoulder and leave a sizable crack in the knights arm, making its own sword now too heavy to hold with less matter attached to hold it.

Lexi looked around at the situation, momentarily seeming to see things in slow motion as she watched Sapphire surrounded by 2 encroaching guards. Ruby was sliding under a close-range melee attack before hacking and slashing with her own counter maneuver and Lexi could see the large glowing black sword being released by her own foe as a result of her attack.

"Here!" Lexi grunted, grabbing for the sword. She snagged it by the handle but even with her strengthened wrists and titanium aided grip, she found the weapon incredibly heavy, even compared to swords from her dimension -- not that she had held too many of those either. "Dang, this thing is heavy..."

Heavy as it was, Lexi let out a halfhearted wheeze as she lobbed it over to Sapphire who just barely caught it and was able to slash both guards across the stomach just in the knick of time, the slash leaving them both down for the count as they fell backwards with a loud powerful thud.

"H-Heh ... not a bad throw..." Sapphire commented, regaining her composure as the forces seemed to finally be thinning out and the girls could make their way up the tight staircase a lot easier. "Maybe just warn me next time..."

"Heh ... sorry..." Lexi sighed, "it's been a rough day ..."

Rough was only part of the whole story, as Vektor and his troops seemed to be paralyzed around a wicked swirling vortex of gale force winds that surrounded them in a tornado like formation.

"Well?!" Vektor shouted out, looking to his immediate left and right as Emerald, Cloak and Dagger at least attempted to push on through the winds, seeing the silhouttes of reinforcements appearing through a castle gate as it opened in the distance, "aren't you two going to fight?!"

Vektor was addressing Lexi and Ruby who seemed to be just stalling ; standing like statues, but also surprisingly unaffected by the wind as it circled around them both.

"It's not them, Lord Vektor!" Emerald grunted, getting checked by a fierce onyx clad warrior who had the element of surprise on their side. As the wounded Emerald looked around, over at Vektor she muttered, "...I figured by now you knew that ..."

Vektor looked over in surprise to notice "Lexi" and "Ruby" changing into crystal knights themselves, each holding a sword that crackled green and white.

"The hell is this sorcery?" Vektor asked, feeling deeply hurt even though the people behind the magical veils were never his allies to begin with

"I can answer that one!" a gloating Pandora replied, floating high above the action, several feet above the castle gate as she seemed to suck the black winds back into her fingertips as she raised them high, waving them away as effortlessly as puffs of cigarette smoke. It seemed she wanted things quieted down so that could be heard clearly as she mocked her foes.

"Pandora!" Vektor sneered, running fast without even thinking now that the winds had subsided, nothing would stop him from --

CLANG!!

Vektor, in his foolhardy ways was of course met with strong resistance in the form of 2 hulking onyx guards that stood like a literal stonewall in his way. Even with his expertise and well designed armor Vektor wasn't prepared for such a mighty slam and so like Emerald, he remained down on his side, just peering up at Pandora and the chaos that surrounded her.

"Bravo Team Vektor..." Pandora sneered, her feet hovering just inches off a black and silver cloud which coursed with lightning and moved with her as she hovered laterally around the makeshift arena. "You were able to make it to Paradox Peak and ONLY after we pretty much opened the runway for you and made it as simple as possible ... and you STILL barely got here... way to go!! Gold star!"

"Th-That was ... an open runway?" Emerald sneered, her vision still hazy as she tried to stand. An onyx guard would be there to foil her efforts but despite having the advantage, the enemy was quickly called off by its mistress, Pandora.

"Now now..." Pandora giggled, "There will be PLENTY of time to kick our foes while they're down so to speak ... but let's get to the main event...!"

Pandora cackled once more and snapped her fingers, causing a pair of the castle walls behind her to recede as if they were made of smoke. In the center of the two walls was a pedestal, and on it was the radiant sword, turned downward like the legendary sword in the stone with lightning crackling out of it, snaking into the sky and surging with power.

"The radiant sword..." Vektor groaned a bit.

Stepping out from behind one of the solid walls as if coming on stage was the main leader himself, Paradox, wearing his glowing black and green armor and finally receding the visor on his faceplate so Vektor could see into his eyes. Paradox didn't pick up the radiant sword but rather paced around it, as if to celebrate the acquisition.

Pandora snapped her fingers again, her power seemingly limitless as she conjured up a wall of haze that slowly took a pattern, appearing high above the skies as if it were a jumbotron, with the image of Paradox on it, amplifying not only his image but his voice as he spoke out boomingly.

"You realize ... with the acquisition of the radiant sword, the wide array of paradox crystals and my sheer advantage of troops against you ... this fight is all but over..." Paradox sneered, "but ... regrettably... it didn't have to be this way ..."

"V-Vektor...?" Emerald looked over a bit weakly as she finally got to her feet. It appeared the guards were only there in case any of the Vektor loyalists (or Vektor himself) tried anything as they simply remained in battle ready stance but never once tried to keep Emerald down. "What does he mean by that?"

"Who knows?" Vektor grunted, his voice full of anger, "It's probably another trick! Everything he does is a trick, everything SHE does is a trick!"

"HAH!" Pandora laughed, floating down to Vektor's level and gently parting the guards with a tap of her finger on their shoulders. She now stood just inches from Vektor who was on one knee, his fists clenched tightly beneath his armor. "That's rich coming from you ..."

"Tonight is not just about claiming victory!!" Paradox laughed, pleased to see his plan in full motion. "It's about the truth! The people of Quartzaria deserve the truth and on this day... this night ... they shall get just that!!"

Paradoxs booming words echoed over the hilltops, down the mountains and towards the bustling and unruly city below. The supporters of both Vektor and Paradox stood in the streets in stilled silence able to make out the image of Paradox on the large magical display even from their position many miles away.

As Lexi (the real Lexi), Ruby (see : previous) and Sapphire made their way up the stairs, they'd be surprised by the ever changing structure of the castle as Pandora's modifications now made reaching the center hallway a bit tougher but they could all see the glowing sword as it appeared to be more than a few floors up.

As they ran, Lexi couldn't help but ask Ruby the curious question again.

"Really though?" Lexi asked, "Vektor and Pandora?"

"What do you think started this whole thing?" Ruby scoffed

Lexi finally stopped running altogether, confusing both Sapphire and Ruby as they all gathered in the dimly lit hallway

"Lexi what are you doing?" Ruby scolded with a hushed whisper, "we're sitting ducks right here"

"I'm not doing ANYWHERE!" Lexi sighed, "Until you tell me what's really going on ... who's side am I on here? Who's side are YOU on?"

"I just want the fighting to ..." Sapphire whimpered

"Not now Sapphire, I'm sorry" Lexi snapped, cutting her off. She held no contempt for Sapphire at all, but she was caught up in a moment that left her further puzzled and enraged.

"You want the truth...?" Ruby sighed, "you probably couldn't understand it all being from ... whereever you're from but basically this whole war is futile ... no matter who ends up being the leader of Quartzaria, we either get an incompetent asshole who's full of himself and bent on getting credit for every little thing OR we get a deceitful lying piece of shit who doesn't think before he fights and used backhanded means to attain leadership in the first place!"

"Oh yeah ..." Lexi sighed, rolling her eyes, "Totally can't relate to THAT at all..."

"Look, a lot of it took place a long time ago, even I don't know the full story!" Ruby started, but the earthquake finished the abrupt discussion shaking the three ladies to the ground even in their armor. Something big was stirring under the castle, they could feel it.

Meanwhile, Paradox and his enchanted sister Pandora continued on with their regalia, leaving Vektor, Emerald, Cloak and Dagger helpless to watch as the swirling illusion of his face continued to rain down thunderous words to the people of the Quartzarian City below

"He calls them ... Paradox crystals..." Paradox proclaimed, "....he neglects to mention that HIS father, the late great Hyperbole commissioned me to help craft them as a way to help his armies spy on potential threats ..."

Emerald looked over, honestly not knowing of this fact. She did know that Paradox and his sister had been sorcerers in their kingdom many years ago before betraying the kingdom but she always thought the Paradox Crystals were purely a nefarious thing, set forth by Paradox and his batallion as a way of combatting Vektor. At least ... that's what Vektor had everyone believing.

While Lexi remained a bit dazed and confused from all that she was seeing and learning, she decided now was the time to put those doubts aside in favor of helping her allies, even while her mind was clouded with doubt as to who her allies truly were. Sapphire seemed to be the only one with any semblence of innocence. Something about this whole battle struck her weird, and that was saying something considering all the Minnesota native had seen to that point.

"Let's go!" Lexi said, suddenly leading the charge, as she pointed up towards the top of an adjacent staircase that led to the center platform from which Paradox broadcasted his ominous message.

"Wait!" Ruby snapped, pulling Lexi back for a moment, "what exactly is the plan here? We can't just charge in there..."

"Y-Yeah ... I'm with Ruby..." Sapphire nodded in agreement, "Even if I had my sword, I'm not sure I could ..."

Lexi thought for a moment, agreeing that perhaps some foresight was needed rather than just recklessly charging in. After all, she really didn't want to end up trapped in that labyrinthian cube again.

"Wait..." Lexi nodded, turning to the pensive Sapphire "The sword... that's like ... your sword, right? You can wield it...?"


"I ... I suppose..." Sapphire replied, her voice a bit droned out over the sounds of thunderclaps and quakes around them, "assuming I can get it out of that ... th-thing he has it in..."

"Leave that to us!" Ruby said, showing a bit more bravado

"Huh?" Sapphire asked

"Look sis ..." Ruby sighed, putting her hand on Sapphire's shoulder, "I know we're always giving you a hard time but you're ready for this ... there's a reason why you're one of the few who can successfully wield the full power of the radiant sword..."

"I ... I don't know ..." Sapphire whimpered, "I'm still not exactly a master swordswoman ... even with that blade..."

"Just use your instincts" Ruby said, coaching her nervous sibling up, "Lexi and I will distract them ... just go for the sword, okay? You got this ..."

Sapphire sighed, as she took a deep breath. Lexi noticed her evident anxiety and put a hand on her other shoulder, eliciting a shocked lurch from the nerve ridden female warrior. Feeling apologetic, Lexi gave a nervous grin to Sapphire

"S-Sorry ... all I was going to say is ... remember how scared you were about shrinking?" Lexi asked. Sapphire nodded, "w-well, at least in your world it's a power that a lot of you are able to wield, along with who knows what else? For me, I had no idea shrinking was even possible... I was scared out of my mind the first time it happened but I powered through it ... you can do this, okay?"

Ruby just looked over at Lexi and nodded with a smile, then glancing over at the purple armored superheroine as the three began to make their advance.

"Hey Lexi..." Ruby sighed, "if we make it out of this alright ... I promise we can ... talk about all this ... or at least what I know of it..."

"I know" Lexi said, "for now, let's just kick some ass..."

"People in your world are really fascinated with the word 'ass' huh?" Ruby quipped, impressed that Sapphire was now ahead of the duo. Unfortunately she wasn't the only one to notice this detail.

Three of Paradox's black onyx guards turned their attention to the trio as they made their way up the steps.

"Wh-What do I do?" Sapphire asked, armed only with the sword she had been gifted from Lexi earlier in their battles. She dragged it awkwardly along as a lumbering guard prepared to throw an attack of his own with a sharp sable blade, which crackled with a menacing red glow.

"Use the sword!" Ruby said, a bit matter of factly as she dodged an incoming attack herself.

The guards were brutish and strong for sure but also slow as all hell. Lexi could definitely use this to her advantage as she vaulted over one of them and slid backwards a bit. She sensed another one behind her but was able to anticipate the incoming attack and performed a backhanded slap similar to one Ruby had executed in an earlier altercation, shattering the face of the gruesome foe.

"Not bad, newbie" Ruby smirked, sticking her twin daggers through the lower torso of a guard before it could finish advancing on her.

Sapphire was holding her own despite her unfamiliarity with the dynamics of the foreign sword she held. She seemed a bit outmatched as the Black Onyx guard had a more powerful blade. It seemed like every time Sapphire countered the slashing motion, it left her with a sense of whiplash with each resulting blow.

"Hey!" Lexi barked, standing just behind the Onyx guard to lend Sapphire a hand, "Tall dark and ugly! Over here!"

The guard's eyes simply glowed red and he'd turn to face Lexi briefly.

"Too slow!" Lexi winked, shrinking out of sight and buying Sapphire the time she needed to lodge her sword into the shoulder blade of the backwards facing Onyx Guard. The strike wasn't quite enough to slay the foe but Sapphire found that the sword was now lodged in the firm stony material. She'd hesitantly shove it in further, twisting it a bit before pulling it out, finally resulting in the Onyx guards collapse.

Lexi grew back and winked, "Nice one!"

"Th-Thanks..." Sapphire said after a moment of stunned silence. She didn't exactly love fighting but she was happy to be helping in the battle.

Ruby rolled her eyes as she heard Paradox's ongoing monologue, "now might be our chance while he's still rambling on ... c'mon!"


Down on the castle entryway, Vektor watched on helplessly as Paradox continued his spectacle, aided by his sinister sister, Pandora. He then glanced down to notice a ring of green energy forming around himself and his fellow warriors.

"What do you say, brother?" Pandora giggled, as a portal began to form under the group, threatning to swallow up the ground from underneath them, "Shall we add this lot to the collection?"

"In due time" Paradox chuckled, still gloating over his assumed victory

Pandora simply kept the portal open, ready at a moment's notice to snap up a new group of victims. The cunning grin on her face was soon met with unexpected opposition though, her focus broken like so many shattered diamonds by the grating but familiar voice of a foe she thought to be left for dead.

"Hey, box lady!" Lexi smirked, pointing her wrist towards Pandora, the cannon end slowly glowing as it charged up a plasma blast.

Pandora shook her head in dismay, the portal dissipating from under Vektor, Emerald, Cloak and Dagger.

"You!! You can't be real! You're a paradox illusion! You have to be!" Pandora shrieked, her rage suddenly overtaking her as even her pink hair began to crackle with an imposing electrical haze "You're trapped in the cube!"

"Actually I prefer to call it a box!" Lexi smirked, firing off the slow charging plasma beam.

Pandora grunted as she threw up a swift forcefield of magical energy in the nick of time to dispel the blast.

Paradox would let out an annoyed groan, which would be the last thing heard of his public announcement as Pandora focused all of her energy instead on combatting Lexi and Ruby as they both ran towards her now. Paradox let out a frustrated grunt, just shaking his head in anger.

"Sister! Don't let up now!" Paradox shouted through the chaos, deciding instead to march on towards the radiant sword where it remained perched in the thick stone stronghold emitting lightning that ascended into the sky.

"Now's our chance!" Vektor cried out, sensing that Paradox and Pandora were divided. Vektor threw a mighty shoulder check into an imposing guard, throwing it onto the ground. With Pandora now going solely for Lexi and Ruby, her magic was no longer enhancing the strength of the guards which helped to further even the odds with Emerald, Cloak and Dagger assisting the fight.

Pandora would sneer, and although her emotions were a bit clouder she wasn't dumb enough to not notice Sapphire darting across the pillar lined battlefield in the near distance, making an intentional sprint for the radiant sword and where it stood.

Ruby, as if following the path of Pandora's gaze to a tee, smirked as she slid into the sorceress's line of vision

"Hey, why worry about her?" Ruby smirked, "she's just a rookie, right? Don't you want a real challenge?"

"Don't toy with me, child!" Pandora said dismissively, casting a protective glowing green aura around herself as she floated towards Sapphire. Ruby went for the intercept and found herself simply in a neutralizing position, able to momentarily hold back the magically enhanced Pandora even as her own feet were sliding in the opposing direction as if a wall was moving against her.

"Ruby!" Lexi shrieked, trying to lend a land as two crumbling looking guards materialized out of pure rubble. These creatures were far from natural, seemingly rock zombies conjured up by Pandora but they had enough functionality to prove difficult obstacles for Lexi who stood roughly half their size.

"That should keep you busy, silly girl!" Pandora smirked, feeling as though she barely needed to use a small percentile of her total power to thwart the upstart brunette from Minnesota.

"Oh, that hurts, Pandora... why worry about her when you got lil ol me here for the taking?" Ruby grunted, trying to jab the tip of her red dagger into Pandora's torso but the striking blade was repelled so hard by the green aura that it actually flew out of her hand, clattering to the castle ground where it remained, leaving Ruby momentarily defenseless.

Lexi lurched left and right, trying to see around the imposing shadowy creatures that blocked her view, acting as though she were a quarterback trying to avoid being tackled. She may not have been able to overpower the creatures who were basically made of castle walls, but she didn't need to be stronger, just smarter, or maybe ... smaller.

Lexi would press her heel down and lurch back and to the left so as to throw the pursuing enemies off track. Which way was she going? It appeared she was preparing for a dash to the right. Anticipating this, the stone zombies would plan their advance accordingly but they'd be dead wrong.

Lexi yanked her body out of harm's way like a rubber band, weaving under a punch that would barely be able to strike her face had she not ducked down so low, but as long as she was going to dodge under her attackers, she decided she may as well go all the way and so she made herself small. Very small in fact.

So small that for a moment or two, it appeared Ruby's fallen dagger was moving on its own as if being carried by a tribe of ants. Unfortunately unlike real ants, Lexi didn't gain the added strength that such insects posessed. Still, she smirked, having achieved her goal as she grew back, now gripping Ruby's dagger in her hand triumphantly.

"Yo Pandy!" Lexi teased, holding the dagger up as if to tease. Pandora looked back for just a moment but then went back to focusing on Ruby, her eyes glowing green as they sparked intense jade flames that surrounded Ruby.

Sapphire watched on, nervous about how to proceed. It wasn't exactly a clear path for her to make it to the sword. Even as she was able to evade the slow moving security of the crystal guards, she anticipated Paradox making his way up towards the balcony where the sword dwelled and even if she could beat him in a foot race to it, what then? She couldn't take her mind off seeing her sister and Lexi struggle either.

Ruby grunted, breathing hard as she was down on a knee, looking up at Pandora who gave the girl a sadistic grin. It was no longer about stopping them from beating Paradox, getting the sword or any of that, she seemed to have just one thought on her mind. Blood.

"If you didn't like my box joke, you really won't like this one!" Lexi cried out through the noise, loud enough for Pandora to hear as she leapt for the attacking woman with the dagger gripped tightly in her hand. She raised it way over her head and proceeded to begin a windmill motion with her arm as if intending to plunge the dagger into Pandora's head.

Raising an eyebrow, Pandora would simply tsk, disengaging the green aura to turn around and surround Lexi in a bit of an aura herself, this time to telekinetically hold her in place just short of stabbing her person.

"Really>" Pandora smirked, her bravado getting the best of her as she missed Lexi's final move.

As the valiant ShrinkGirl had been in the middle of her windmill motion, Pandora only assumed she was aiming straight for her. She missed Lexi's slick behind the back pass to Ruby. So while Lexi remained frozen in motion and no longer a threat, her own shield was down allowing Ruby to go for the strike into Pandora's side.

"GOTCHA BITCH!!" Ruby screamed, a bit of vileness in her own voice as she dug the dagger in and twisted.

Sparks emitted from Pandora's side and she screamed, smacking Ruby hard to push her away, but the damage was already done as a long red gash emerged within Pandora's garish green and pink dress that looked as though made of pixels and diamonds. The place where Ruby struck now resembled a TV with a dent in it.

Lexi gave a sheepish smile, her body still caught in the magic bubble but she could still speak

"You still wanna hear my joke?" Lexi smirked

"I don't wanna hear... another word from you, you vile THING!!" Paradox shrieked.

Ruby got back up and struck Pandora with a swift left hook to the cheek.

Pandora slid back on her feet, Lexi breaking out of the magic hold thanks to Ruby's thunderous blow. She'd wink and nod to Ruby for the assist.

"Wh-What was the joke?" Ruby asked

"Oh, I was just going to say I prefer Spotify..." Lexi grinned

"...I don't get it" a dumbfounded Ruby replied.

Lexi just sighed, but wasn't entirely surprised.


Emerald followed closely behind Vektor as the two of them were able to storm the castle with exceptional speed -- Cloak and Dagger staying behind to defend them while Emerald swatted away a couple more advancing guards who seemed to be generating from under the very ground they marched upon.

"So you're really not going to tell me?" Emerald exclaimed breathlessly as she fought on, Vektor seemingly more concentrated on the radiant sword and Paradox in the distance, "...what he was talking about?"

"It's ancient history, Emerald!" Vektor sighed with a dismissive grunt, smashing a foe who stood in his way. "Now cover me, I'm going in!"

"Vek--!!" Emerald started, her focus detracted by a strong grip that held her tightly from behind. "Ugh!! H-Help!!"

Vektor was too ensnared in his own greed though, and he had his sights set on the radiant sword. This may have been his only chance to get it back while Paradox and Pandora were both distracted, although he noticed Paradox getting every closer to the sword in the large stone.

Pandora's body sizzled with green lightning as she'd press her hand to the wound bestowed upon her by Ruby. A gathering of magestic sparkles would swirl around the wound and begin to heal it as she shook her head and tsked.

Sapphire looked on, seemingly frozen with indecision as her glance darted back and forth between the sword in the stone, and her two allies.

"Go!!" Ruby said reassuringly, seeing Sapphire in doubt, "we'll handle this!"

Sapphire just nodded, still unsure but she wanted to get to the sword before ...

"Got it!" a growling voice cackled, as Paradox's metallic black hand reached onto the sword handle and firmly pulled on it.

Lexi and Ruby both looked up nervously at the sight while Pandora simply smriked, confident that her side had won. But perhaps it wasn't that easy...

Paradox was able to yank on the sword, causing bright white flashes of lightning to crackle out but that was about as far as he would get, the sword remaining stubbornly plastered to the stone in which it dwelled.

"Well?" Paradox groaned, looking towards his sister, "A little help?"

"Come now, dear brother..." Pandora giggled, "I thought you were the strongest warrior in the universe... surely you don't need MY help..."

Paradox didn't even dignify the sassiness with a response, instead opting to continue pulling on the all powerful weapon.

Sapphire, despite being within a few feet didn't even move, she simply stared and watched, heart racing, her impulses telling her to run even though she was so close. Paradox, for what it was worth, didn't even pay attention to her, his entire being was focused only on the sword or else he would have had a shot at dispatching with the still and silent blue haired woman.

Ruby and Lexi were about to intervene when they both found themselves floating off the ground, gravity seemingly disengaged as they were surrounded by the same green lightning that seemed to pilot everything which Pandora controlled.

"Now to deal with you clowns!" Pandora sneered, lifting the two women higher and higher.

Ruby and Lexi struggled to move, but only little shifts here and there occurred within the seemingly inpenetrable lightning prison. Not only that but there was an increasibg sensation of constriction on both of their bodies as if they were about to be tied together.

Lexi felt it again, the electrical tingling but it wasn't from Pandora's lightning, it was a surge she was too familiar with.

"R-Ruby ..." Lexi grunted, her lips barely able to part as the paralysis was still battling against her own will and the white sparks that threatened to rip her armor apart amidst the green sparks of Pandora's spell. "Y-You ... m-may ... want to ... st-stand back..."

Ruby looked over a bit worriedly. Wasn't the interdimensional hero's name SHRINKGirl? Why then, did she appear to be ... growing?

The struggle between Paradox and the radiant sword continued as he pulled on it harder and harder, seeming to get pulled along with it.

"What IS this infernal madness?!" Paradox asked before suddenly another hand gripped for the handle, but it wasn't Sapphire.

"Hello, old friend" Vektor sneered, gripping the sword and yanking it towards him. This time the sword swung like a seesaw in his direction but remained lodged deep in whatever rock Paradox and Pandora had encased it in.

"You never give up, huh?" Paradox growled, "once I grab this sword ... I will strike you down and I WILL expose the truth..."

"You lack the strength and might to wield this sword!" Vektor snapped back, yanking it further in his direction while Paradox offered an opposing pull.

Pandora, seemingly fed up with the whole thing, turned away, snapping her fingers and dropping Ruby and Lexi harshly on their butts. Lexi seemed to be her normal size again after having started to expand but her body was still sparking, white electric sparks coursing through her as she lay there, breathing faster and faster. Ruby leaned over her in concern once she was able to move.

"Lexi? Lexi?" Ruby asked softly, trying to graze Lexi's armor around the chest area but getting zapped by a wayward spark. "...what the hell?"

"Will ONE of you numb nuts just get the damn sword?!" Pandora shrieked, beginning to float up towards them. "Don't you idiots even remember how it works? It's not about strength, it's about purity of heart..."

"Surely you don't still believe the fairy tales, sister" Paradox sneered, yanking the sword back towards him and holding the handle close. Vektor wouldn't budge though and he would shove the sword back in his direction, neither one of them able to dislodge the sword entirely.

"Gee, what a shock..." Ruby muttered under her breath, while trying to tend to Lexi who was slowly getting to her knees despite being surrounded by a white glow, "...they're both too big of assholes to get the sword out"

Lexi would nod weakly, a small giggle emitting from her despite her condition. She'd try to stand but fall back onto one knee, Ruby there to brace her, feeling intense static cling coming from her just by being near.

"Lexi... Lexi, don't push yourself, please..." Ruby sighed.

Pandora was levitating herself up closer and closer towards the action. At this moment the sword was the focus of the two warring men, Vektor and Paradox, the sinister sorceress Pandora and the young but weary Sapphire who watched on. Finally one voice cried out and broke through the chaos.

"ENOUGH!!"

Sapphire took both hands and placed them firmly on the sword, sparks shooting out in both directions to jar Vektor and Paradox' hands from it. They both looked over in shock.

"I have had ENOUGH of the fighting!!" Sapphire screamed, yanking the sword out slowly but effectively. It didn't look to be an easy feat and the strain on her face was evident but she was able to accomplish that which neither of the supposed "strongest warriors" could.

Paradox looked over at Sapphire with disdain and while Vektor felt some displeasure for not having the sword himself, he felt some selfish pride that his side had "won"

"Ha ha! You had it in you all along Sapphire, I knew it!" Vektor proclaimed, sounding like a proud father for a moment, "we all came here to rescue you!"

"Oh don't make me laugh..." Paradox growled, "you came here for the sword and nothing more ... you would've left her to rot if I agreed to trade the sword for her!"

"That's not true!" Vektor snapped

"ENOUGH!!" Sapphire repeated, slamming the sword on the ground and repelling both men in a flash of light.

Lexi smiled a bit, happy to see Sapphire taking charge for a change. Pandora seemed less pleased.

"We didn't get this far to be brought down by the likes of YOU, blue girl!" Pandora shrieked, firing off a blast of green lighting that struck the sword's former holder, the stone. The lightning coursed through the surrounding structure, creating cracks in the ground. "Hope that sword gives you the ability to fly..."

With a mocking wave, Pandora vanished to a safe vantage point, poofing Paradox over with her on a tower across from the action.

"SAPPHIRE!" Lexi shrieked, her own electrical polarity sapping her strength and setting her back down for the moment but that which weakened her shortly made her stronger as a determined scowl struck her face as fast as the very lightning that surrounded her.

"Oh NOW you use magic to help me ..." Paradox said sarcastically standing beside his sister as they watched the spire begin to crumble with Vektor and Sapphire atop it.

"Hey just be glad I helped at all..." Pandora said with another flippant roll of her eyes, "and what was THAT anyway? You and Vektor have a petty little measuring contest over the damn sword? What happened to taking back our kingdom?!"

"In due time ... we're not out of moves yet, assuming they survive this..." Paradox smirked

"You don't mean ...?" Pandora asked, seeming a bit worried

"I do ... release the KRAZACKEN!" Paradox chuckled with a malicious shout into the skies

"...the ... what?" Ruby asked, hearing the word echo throughout the palace walls. It was then the tremors from earlier grew even stronger "Oh shit..."

Lexi just remained kneeling there, her state constantly cycling through weakened, stronger, angry, weakened, sad and angry.

"Hold on!!" Sapphire shrieked, jamming her sword into a castle wall and sticking it through as a means to stay aloft but not for long as a large black claw big enough to hold her and Vektor swiped them both up.

Whatever this creature was was both large AND fast seemingly vanishing in a streak of black lightning before re-emerging, the size of a dragon-like behemoth, 2 sharp indented claws, one closed tight holding Sapphire and Vektor, its eyes a bright yellow like a rabid werewolf and its teeth crackling with electricity as it got ready to incinerate the two girls, Lexi and Ruby down below.

Before the Krazacken could finish its attack though it cried out in pain, its firm scaly fist opening to reveal the source of its pain, Sapphire -- who cleverly gouged the creature with the sword, causing white sparks to fly out and sending the massive beast into a state of confusion.

"Excellent Sapphire!" Vektor said, now reaching for her hand, "Now give me the sword, and I'll finish it off..."

Sapphire gave Vektor a bit of an uneasy look.

"Come then..." Vektor said, a bit huffy, "give me the sword ... I can strike the beast in the heart, we can end this ... you WANT to end this, don't you?"

As Vektor stood impatiently imposing himself over Sapphire, the Krazacken and its menacing face loomed behind, eyes glowing.

"You guys, look out!" Ruby screamed, as a couple of zaps of lightning firing off from the creatures eyes. Sapphire ducked down but Vektor lunged forward, not to save Sapphire but to try and grab the sword. He'd miss and fall a decent distance before clattering onto the castle ground by Lexi and Ruby.

Ruby looked at Vektor, his armor scuffed and his face beat red with pure anger.

Sapphire just looked down while standing atop the claw of the Krazacken at Vektor and his disheveled self. Even in the chaos, she was able to perceive what had just happened. He didn't care about saving her ... he just wanted the sword. Pandora was right.

Lexi even gave Vektor a bit of an angry stare.

"L-Lady Lexington?" Vektor asked, a more soft concern in his voice

"Why don't you stop worrying about ME and the damn SWORD and help your friends out?!" Lexi shrieked, lightning still emitting from her body as Vektor widened his eyes, backing away a bit and simply watching.

"Lexi what are you saying?!" Vektor whimpered, "I've been trying to help us all fight this battle safely and restore honor..."

"I don't want to hear about HONOR anymore!! As far as I'm concerned the only one with any honor in this whole messed up dimension is HER!" Lexi shouted, pointing up towards Sapphire who blushed a bit at the statement.

"Hey... what about me?" Ruby shrugged

"Yeah ... you're not bad ... and your cool blonde sister's a'ight too" Lexi smirked

"Look ..." Vektor sighed, as if trying to bargain his way out of something, "I don't know how things are done where you're from, Lexi ... but here in Quartzaria ... the strongest survive ... power does all the talking ... the citizens want to feel that they're safe and weakness will not be tolerated..."

"Ummm you guys?" Sapphire whimpered, making a weak leap off of the Krazacken's claw as it slammed it down on the ground. She narrowly avoided being squished and instead tumbled against the wall in a heap, the sword also clattering there next to her. Vektor briefly eyed the sword like a hungry cat eyeing a mouse.

"Vektor, if you touch that sword..." Ruby sneered, "you'll be showing your true colors now more than ever..."

Vektor just sighed and crossed his arms.

"Ruby ...?" Lexi asked, now actually levitating off the ground a bit, her armor starting to show serious signs of fatigue as it wailed and bent against the strength of the lighting that surrounded her like strands of fiber, "You might wanna get out of the way hon"

"Huh?" Ruby asked, simply stepping to the side as Lexi had a clear path at both Vektor and the Krazacken behind him.

"I'm about to ... as they say in MY dimension ... kick some ass" Lexi sneered

"His or ... HIS?" Ruby asked, pointing to both the gargantuan creature and Vektor's trembling form.

"....both"

"The four mystical realms ... Fensteria, Necraria, Primaria and ... Quartzaria..."

"Well duh, I know where Fensteria is ... we live there..." Spark sighed, interuppting her geeky brother Mark's explanation

"Well ... technically we don't ... our colony is an extention of the true Fensteria..." Mark corrected his overly eager sister

"...you don't really believe that non-sense, do you?" Spark sighed, rolling her eyes as she held a small phone in her hand. It was the same phone her brother had found in the woods and shrank with her help one fateful night. It came in handy when trying to stay in touch with humans on the outside, which is exactly why she had Leah and company on speakerphone while they listened to Mark explain things the best he could.

"Yes Spark ... I believe in the non-sense called the history of our people..." Mark sighed, "why'd you ask me for help if you're just going to mock me anyway?"

"Okay okay, sorry..." Spark sighed, "look, I'm really worried about Lexi and ... you think she's trapped in this Quartzaria place?"

"Well, for her sake, I hope not..." Mark sighed

As Spark let out a worried sigh of concern, she could hear hushed murmuring on the phone in her hand.

"Hey can you hear? Back up, I can't tell what they're saying..." Leah whispered

"I still don't see why we couldn't just ... y'know ,go there..." Chris sighed

"Well besides Mara, none of us can shrink..." Leah scoffed

"Yeah, can't imagine the fairies like people just stepping on their stuff..." Josh interjected

"...or them" Chris added with a nervous giggle

"Hold on one second, Mark..." Spark said in a pleasant tone of voice for a moment before talking directly into the phone, "will you guys pipe down?!"

"....Sorry" Leah sighed

"...Rude" Chris murmured under his breath.

"Anyway ..." Mark sighed, "Quartzaria is a realm that has been ravaged by war for millenia ... despite their advanced technology and incredible magic, the entire place has undergone many overhauls due to the clashes between powerful leader figures ... they enjoyed a momentary peace under Emperor Hyperbole..."

"I'm sorry, how is this relevant?" Lark sighed, observing the ongoing discussion from the threshold of their brothers room.

"Shhh!" Spark sighed

"Anyway..." Mark sighed, "Legend has it, Hyperbole was a kindly ruler compared to most ... his son Vektor assumed the throne after Hyperbole passed away ... but unlike his father, he used the paradox crystals in a bit of a more malicious way..."

"Paradox crystals... why does that sound familiar?" Spark murmured

"Well if somebody didn't fall asleep during interdimensional history class..." Mark smirked a bit, "Again ... this isn't all known for sure ... the walls between dimensions are pretty solid ... but yeah Vektor was said to be a bit war hungry and cruel ... he used the paradox crystals to ..."

"I'm sorry, you still never explained what a paradox crystal is..." Spark chimed in

"Sounds like a cool piece of jewelry" Leah said with a nod. Spark just ignored the comment and let Mark continue his explanation.

"The paradox crystal is a powerful gem capable of forced shapeshifting essentially..." Mark explained, "The victim of a paradox crystal if left unchecked could develop something called quantum corruption where they basically forget who they are ... and eventually well ... yeah ... it's not pretty..."

"Y-you're not exactly making me feel much better about this, Mark..." Spark frowned "what else do you know about this Vektor guy?"

"Again, this is all just stuff we learned in class, I don't know if it's for real ... but supposedly Vektor found a way to harness the paradox crystals for his own personal gain and was able to control them to turn into whoever he needed ... this is where it gets messed up though ..." Mark recounted, "the crystals were named after the sorcerer surpreme who crafted them, a powerful wizard and knight named Paradox. He and his sister were loyal to Emperor Hyperbole but weren't huge fans of Vektor, especially when he got more and more reckless with the crystals ..."

"So ... what happened?" Spark asked

"Well ... as the story goes, Vektor had an odd obsession with Paradox's sister Pandora ..." Mark nodded

"You mean...?"

"Yeah, he wanted it bad" Mark nodded

"Huh, so people are even horny in other dimensions ... neat" an immature Chris would chime in from on the other end of the phone. There'd be an audible groan from the others who were standing in the middle of the forest listening to Mark's history lesson.

"ANYWAY ... Vektor used the crystal to turn into one of his more handsome guards and seduced Pandora one night ... once she found out she was furious, as was Paradox ... they essentially broke off from the kingdom and this started a whole war of using the crystals to cause mass confusion and panic ... the kingdom splintered into seperate factions ... some in favor of Vektor and some in favor of Paradox ..."

"Honestly they both kinda sound like jerks..." Spark sighed

"Sounds like modern politics..." Chris said, in a sort of matter of fact way

"Well ... anyway, I don't know how much of it is true but ... if Lexi is there, we gotta get her out as soon as possible..." Mark nodded

"But how?" Spark asked, "you said yourself that the walls between dimensions are virtually inpenetrable..."

"Well if she got sucked in and you said you saw a phoenix, it's possible some sort of link was formed between the dimensions somehow..." Mark said

While Trevor remained the lone man who hadn't said anything during this exchange, he listened intently and nodded, worrying that Giovanni, as seemed to be the case with most scientific colleagues he had, went too far in his exploration of interdimensional travel. It appeared there was still much that the scientific community and humanity at large did not know in a number of facets... even if Giovanni had accidentally broken a dimensional wall, if only briefly, it became feasible to believe such a thing could happen again. Such an ability in the wrong hands though could prove devastating. Especially if used to really tear down the walls between dimensions.

"Okay so ....how do we use that?" Spark asked her knowledgeable brother Mark, "how can we take whatever let certain creatures IN through Quartzaria and sent people like Lexi away and use it to re-open the portal?"

"I'm ... not sure it's that easy..." Mark sighed

"Well wait, what about the fairy flummox?" Spark said, suddenly hit with a moment of inspiration, "the flummox is what keeps us cloaked to humanity? and you alluded to it acting as sort of a shield that allowed us to operate in our own sort of pocket dimension?"

"I did ... but ... none of us are experts on these things, Spark ..." Mark sighed, "even within our own colony, we have some elders who don't even believe in the dimensional realms ... we have others who believe we're the prime reality..."

"You never did explain what 'Primaria' was..." Lark chimed, eliciting slightly surprised, if not confused looks from her siblings. "What? I was paying attention ... sort of..."

"Primaria is just the name referred to as ... well, this place... or rather Earth in general ... the universe" Mark said, "Every dimension operates under a universe of some kind ... as well as alternate divisions of those dimensions which exist in something called the web of fate..."

"I do remember that term.." Spark muttered

"Of course you do..." Mark rolled his eyes, "it's that term that lost your team the academic decathlon back in mid-school"

"Okay we get it, I slack off!" Spark whined, "but the point is, what does all this mean?"

"It means finding Lexi could be as easy as just retracing the steps of that portal ... or she could be lost in one of nearly infinite pocket dimensions..." Mark warned.

"What was your idea about the Flummox?" Lark asked, intervening as soon as she noticed her usually strong willed sister Spark getting sad at the thought of losing Lexi, "about using it?"

"It's not going to happen..." Spark sighed, the phone slowly drifting out of her hand as it opened like a cherry blossom, and a single tear dripped from her eye, "I was just thinking maybe we could like borrow it ... or even a piece of it ... to ... try to open a portal? I don't know..."

"I mean ... I'm not sure that's how it works..." Mark said, trying hard not to be mean but rather just temper expectations. As soon as he got a glare from Lark though, he realized that altering his words may be the best course of action, "I mean ... we could try it ... Dani guards the flummox... m-maybe she could help us"

"Y-Yeah..." Spark nodded, her voice still suffering from the aftereffects of her crying, however brief it may have been, she picked up the phone gently, inadvertently hitting the "hang up" button on it with her thumb as she raised it up, "Dani could help us, I'm sure she could help us!"

-----

"I can't help you..." Dani said in a very stoic sort of way, seemingly mere minutes after the plan was set.

At this point in time, the three fairy siblings had found their way into the great Fensterian temple where the flummox was kept ; guarded night and day by a rotating cast of fairy warriors and knights, one of which being Daniella, the youngest who was also probably the most determined to see that the Flummox not get touched again, for last time such an occurence struck, it almost spelled doom for the fledgling colony.

"But we wouldn't even TAKE it ..." Spark said, trying to plead her case, "at worst, borrow it, and not even all of it, maybe like ... a piece?"

"A piece?" Dani exclaimed, her eyes momentarily widened as she took an attacking stance forward and a step towards the young fairies who all yelped. Spark had forgotten just how intense Dani could be. "It's not a cake or a watermelon... you can't just take a bit off of it and get a portion of its power ... to even alter the flummox a little could have disastrous results..."

"Okay okay..." Spark nodded, hands folded obediently in front of her person, "...we just ... wont' take it..."

"Look, I want to help Lexi as much as you do, truly..." Dani said, a rare moment of real emotion shining through her words, "but this isn't the way ... even if we KNEW which dimension she was ..."

"...we think she's in Quartzaria..." Mark chimed in shyly.

"Oh." Dani said, a bit of unease on her face

"You've ... heard of it..." Spark nodded

"It's said, the fairies who chose the way of the warrior and knightdom were influenced by the stories of the Quartzarian warriors of old... strong stoic figures who would routinely take on monsters 100 times their size and win thanks to their resourcefulness, magic and natural abilities... the Quartzarians were an admirable people ..." Dani nodded, showing perhaps the results of a different upbringing than most of the fairies.

"W-Well, you know it's not just stories, right? Mark added, "Quartzarians are real ... we just haven't ... seen one in ... well, forever"

"Well I did see that Phoenix..." Spark shrugged, "and I've been having these weird headaches since the portal breach happened"

"Of course Quartzaria is a real place..." Dani said slowly in a bit of reverence, "I have no doubt of that. All of our stories descend from SOMEWHERE and while we can't be 100% sure of their total validity, we all know of the 4 realms and their significance to the fabric of our present universe ... as well as the role Fensteria plays in it"

"....actually..." Spark gulped shyly, "I'm just kinda learning a lot of this today..."

"Spark wasn't what we'd call a straight A student..." Mark teased

"Can you lay off me for two seconds?" Spark whined, again showing signs of tears in her eyes as she began to step away angrily. Lark and Dani went off to follow her while Mark stayed behind, feeling remorse but also fascination at the Fairy Flummox as it floated just off the altar that kept it in place. He could see his reflection piercing off of it in multiple directions as his mind spun thinking of the possibilities. After pondering for several moments he simply stepped away to go consult with the others.

Speaking of others, Trevor, Chris, Mara (and new pet phoenix, Penelope), Josh and Leah waited impatiently elsewhere in the woods after being cut off from the phone call with Spark and the fairies.

"You think they just lost service or something?" Chris asked, trying to break the awkwardly tense silence.

Trevor observed what sounded like the increasing sound of footsteps nearing on their location. He didn't want to say anything just yet as it could be anybody taking an evening stroll in the woods but it did concern him that in such a remote location that could be encountering company at this time of night.

"I mean, the cell phone worked to call us just fine..." Leah shrugged, more concerned with the well being of her best friend than most of the logic that followed what was happeneing to this point.

"Leah ... I know you're worried about Lex ... I am too ... but don't you think we should head back soon? It's getting late and ... don't you start at that new job tomorrow?" Josh asked in concern

"Y-Yeah ... yeah ..." Leah nodded, thinking about it further. "It's just ... I know Lex wouldn't give up on me and ..."

"...and we're not giving up on her" Josh said reassuringly, "we'll stay as long as we need to until Spark gets back to us with answers... plus, it's not like we don't know where we are ... we're getting closer everyday to finding out where she got off to"

"I just feel like it's all my fault!" Leah sobbed, collapsing into Josh's arms. Chris and Mara looked on, upset as Penelope hung her head in mourning as well.

"W-We'll find Lexi, luv..." Mara murmured

"Yeah... for sure" Chris nodded, "... I mean I think anyway..."

"Shhhhhhh!!" the others urged Chris for a moment while consoling Leah became the number one priority ... for most, anyway.

For Trevor he was fixated on the sounds of aggressive sounding footsteps as they drew nearer. To confirm his fears, a flashlight began waving somewhere behind the thickets in the distance.
He backed up a bit, getting closer to the group to warn them.

"H-Hey you guys..." Trevor muttered, "maybe we should ... regroup"

"We will..." Josh said, with a nod, "Like I was telling Leah, we'll just wait to hear back from ..."

"No I mean now..." Trevor said, a bit more seriously but at this point it was more or less too late. The others saw what he had already heard and the flashlight shone brightly on the group in a matter of seconds, revealing a shadowy figure with a Mini Troop badge shining on her chest.

"Minitropolis Police!" Officer Sonia Sanders said, her hand on her gun but she wasn't resorting to that yet, she simply stood with the flashlight on the group of people gathered in the woods, as well as their phoenix friend. The flashlight had proved sufficient enough to cause them all to freeze in place.

Well, except for Leah who briefly muttered to Chris, "so what WERE you doing out here with Spark so late?"

"Not now..." Chris muttered, a bit frustrated.

-----

The deafening road of the Krazacken sent a bonechilling tremor through the area, but Lexi seemed unfazed, her eyes bared with anger as she stared down the flying enemy, her body crackling and sizzling as white electricity was continuing to cause spider-webbed patterns in her armor as even the armor creaked and wailed against the pressure.

"L-Lady Lexington, let's be reasonable here..." Vektor warned, "You're in danger of overloading your suit..."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!" Lexi screamed, electricity snapping from her body like multidirectional lightning, causing Vektor, Ruby and Sapphire to shield their eyes from the flash. The Krazacken was also repelled, letting out a screech before changing course, opting to go down to the battlefield just outside the castle where Emerald was struggling fighting off an overwhelming number of guards.

"A little help here?!" the frustrated blonde warrior yelled out as her sword continued to hack and slash at her advancing adversaries. She looked up and let out a loud scream at the appearance of the maw of the mighty Krazacken. The creature would open its mouth, as electricity began to charge within, threatening to vaporize Emerald and the surrounding crystal guards.

Just as Emerald was prepared for the worst, something miraculous happened.

The mighty Krazacken which dwarfed Emerald mightily with its imposing size let out a low whimper as if it were a puppy. A giant hand had it gripped by the spiky tail. Emerald looked up in shock to see Lexi but she was bigger ... much much bigger.

The supercharged superheroine had grown to about 30 feet tall, collapsing the surrounding sections of the castle and was now yanking on the creatures tail to keep it from harming her friend, Emerald. Vektor, Ruby and Sapphire made a break for it as the giantess Lexi stomped out onto the battlefield.

Vektor broke off from the other two and headed down a corridor of spiraling stairs. Lexi noticed him but decided to deal with the current issue at hand.

"Fuck, she's destroying everything!" Paradox sneered, watching the towering Lexi as she whipped the Krazacken around and around in circles before letting it go, thrusting it far into the heavens as if she were flicking a bug.

"Don't worry about her ..." Pandora rolled her eyes, "it won't last ... in the meantime, let's just contain the others ... make sure that coward Vektor doesn't get away!"

"Agreed..." Paradox nodded

Emerald looked up, in total shock as she gazed up at Lexi, scooting back a bit out of instinct at the sight of the giant woman.

"S-So you decided to use the growth gem after all?" Emerald asked

"Uh..." Lexi chuckled nervously, her armor almost all but gone, save for some remaining fragments around her wrists and hands, a couple of shoulder plates and a few scraps around her ankles. She was now more or less back in her usual ShrinkGirl costume, the growing process basically disintegrating a lot of the Quartzarian armor. "W-Well actually .. I didn't... I'm not sure how I did this..."

As fast as she grew, Lexi would let out a groan as the electricity in her body slowly left her and she'd shrink back to her normal size, falling on a knee and nodding to let Emerald know she was okay.

"W-Well whatever did it..." Emerald said, "thanks again for saving me ... but where's Lord Vektor?"

"Your Lordship..." Lexi replied somewhat facetiously, "is probably off trying to steal candy from a baby..."

"Huh?"

"Never mind" Lexi shook her head, "you okay?"

Emerald nodded, "Yeah I think so ... what about the others?"

"Ruby and Sapphire are in the castle somewhere... well, what's left of it ..." Lexi said with a sheepish look on her face to look back at her handiwork, a lot of the castles walls now in utter shambles thanks to her unexpected growth spurt. "Would you mind checking on them? I've gotta find Vektor..."

Emerald nodded, getting up and running towards the castle to search for her sisters.

Down in the anals of the castle, Vektor found himself in a dark chamber with just a slight sliver of light shining through. The area was eerily silent as he would poke around, noticing several gold chests, but the ones that he opened would be empty, eliciting a frustrated reaction.

"What's the matter?" he heard a voice from behind. The voice was familiar and sent a chill through his being. It was Pandora. "Looking for more of these?"

Upon turning around, Vektor saw the wicked sorceress holding a shiny diamond shaped gem in her hand, a white and green glowing paradox crystal.

"Pandora ..." Vektor sighed with disdain, "...before you try anything rash you should know that I'm equipped with the ..."

"Yes yes, we know, the impedence gem..." Pandora rolled her eyes, simply setting slipping the crystal into the safe confines of her bosom before address her adversary again, "I suppose you'd have a safeguard since you're so good at stealing our magic..."

"Steal?" Vektor scoffed, "Your paradox crystals were originally products of the Hyperbole Kingdom ... he is my father and ..."

"and he was three times the man you'll ever be..." Pandora scoffed, pacing around the cornered knight with a sneer.

"You leave my father out of this!" an irate Vektor yelled out, drawing his plasma sword and charging for the smug Pandora who he would attempt to strike hard with the blade, but she was ready with a swift flick of her wrist, producing a magical shield in front of her face. The blocking motion produced a loud clanging sound to draw attention to their location however and this made them easier for an overly zelous Alexis Cole to come charging down the stairs, slowing down as she got closer to the action, observing from around a corner as Pandora and Vektor continued their contentious standoff.

"Oh, seems I've struck a nerve..." Pandora smirked, a blood red smile crossing her arrogant face as she slid back as a result of the impact with the brutal warrior, "good to know there's still some semblence of emotion in there..."

"if this is all just a game to you, then ..." Vektor started

"Oh far from it ..." Pandora shrugged, walking about as if about to enter into a solliliquoy. "Truth be told, I wish things could've worked out differently, but ... you chose the ways of a traitor..."

"If anybody's a traitor here, it's you and your treacherous brother..." Vektor snapped as the two continued to circle one another, neither throwing a blow just yet as the stare down continued.

Lexi meanwhile, shrank herself and slid behind a small slab of a rock wall that remained following the explosive events that had left much of the palace in shambles. She simply continued to listen to the two as they sparred with their words.

"You know the saddest thing about you ..." Pandora sighed, "and there are ... SO MANY things to pick from ... but you'll never be satisfied ... all you know if the life of a warrior ... a warrior who kills and kills and conquers and plunders..."

"If this is suppose to upset me, it isn't working" Vektor growled, although his facial expression might've suggested otherwise.

"I don't need to upset you, you lumbering fool..." Pandora shrugged, "You're always upset ... always interallly upset with someone or something ... you pin the blame on me, or Paradox or whatever you'd like ... the fact is you'll never be satisfied ... everything is another battle for you ... something to be won or conquered..."

"ENOUGH!!" Vektor cried out in rage, about to strike another blow, this time with more conviction but at the last second his sword was intercepted by the quick appearing Paradox who shook his head in disapproval.

"I think you've already violated my sister enough, no?" Paradox sneered, holding his foe back before he could move any further

"Heh, thank you, Brother" Pandora said with a smile, stepping around the two feuding men as Lexi watched from afar. "Fact is, I know you're still sore about what happened and I don't blame you ... but if it makes you feel ANY better ... and trust me, it doesn't bring me much joy either, but I only ... did what I did thinking he was somebody else ... fact is, his Lordship ... didn't believe in himself ... despite all his bravado, he's deeply insecure"

Vektor let out a frustrated grunt as he repelled Paradox, simply drawing his sword against both the devious siblings.

"Can we stop bringing up the ancient past?" Vektor implored

"But why?" Pandora asked, "What is they say, those who don't learn from history ..."

"What are you getting at?" Vektor asked, growing angrier and more emotional by the second

"...I'm just saying, you'll never be satisfied ... because you're incapable of settling down ..." Pandora surmised, "For all the fights you may win, albeit through dishonest means, the one fight you could never win is that in your heart ..."

"Hmph, is that what this is about?" Vektor shook his head, "I'll have you know that life has a funny way of working out ... after this battle I do vow to settle down but that is none of your concern?"

"Oh yeah? Please do have us on the guest list for the wedding" Pandora chuckled, "lemme guess ... it's to be you and the girl in purple, huh?"

"Oh, Vektor's found himself a new bride?" Paradox chuckled, adding more fuel to the fire as Lexi herself began to take the talks personally. Her suspicions were all but confirmed but to make matters worse, it turned out Ruby was right ... Vektor was as much scum as the people he seemed to oppose. "I hope she knows of all the skeletons in your closet"

"I don't..." Lexi said, drawing a look of surprise from Paradox and Pandora, as well as Vektor who momentarily dropped his sword at his side. "...but I'm finding out ..."

"Lexi..." Vektor said, stepping closer to the skeptical Lexi who stood at her normal height after going through a carousel of sizes in the past several minutes, "whatever you've heard, I assure you ... it's all a bunch of lies ... they're all about deception and illusions ..."

"Don't touch me" Lexi said, sensing Vektor getting closer and closer

"Heh, such a way with the ladies..." Pandora said, digging into her bosom for a moment before revealing the familiar white glow as the small paradox crystal twinkled in her grip, "...here, maybe this'll help her lighten up"

Vektor's eyes widened as he watched the wayward gem make its way towards Lexi. He ran to try to catch it as it seemed to be homing in on her, but he was deterred all too easily by Paradox who gripped his foe tightly in a wrestling style stronghold, causing Vektor to fall to the ground and grunt helplessly, watching as Lexi was struck by the gem right in the chest.

"Wh-What?!" Lexi yelped, her vision beginning to fail her as everything went blurry again. It was similar to her disorienting sensation the first time she shrank but somehow even worse.

As Pandora watched on with glee at the sight of her handiwork, she proceeded to help her brother up and cackle a bit.

"Come brother... why don't we let these two lovers settle their quarrel by themselves?" Pandora smirked slyly, poofing herself and her brother away.

Vektor looked back annoyed but his concern was immediately deverted towards Lexi who writhed on the ground in apparent pain as she tried to pluck the crystal off her chest as it seemed to sizzle against her skin. Her hands were failing her it appeared, just as quickly as her other extremities. She'd remain on the ground as Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire all found their way down to the cellar to join Vektor.

"Just saw Pandora and Paradox making their way out of here..." Ruby sighed, "what the hell happened down here?"

"Never mind that!" Emerald yelped, noticing Lexi down on the ground, her eyes wide in shock. "What's wrong with Lexi?"

Vektor hung his head in disappointment.

Without the impedence gem on her person, Lexi was now susceptible to the untold powers of the paradox crystal and while Quartzarians were adversely effected by it, it was unknown what it would do to somebody from Primeria ... er... Earth.


"Wh-What do we do now?" Sapphire asked with a look of grave concern as she watched Lexi go from a state of constant twitching to a sudden stillness as she lay there.

Strangely, Lexi got up with a lack of hesitance, seemingly okay as she stood up but didn't say a word, looking at her cohorts with a look of confusion.

"Lexi?" Vektor asked, as the others leaned in as well, wrought with worry.

"Lexi?" Lexi asked, a sly smirk crossing her face. Her hands seemed to be twitching down by her pockets as if she were reaching for something that wasn't there, her fingers wriggling in a very methodical way. "Who the fuck cares about that bitch?"

The entire ground raised their eyebrows

"Uh... Lex?" Emerald asked

"Heh, wrong again ... but I guess that's to be expected ... if you asshats are as dumb as your costumes look I'm not surprised you can't remember names" Lexi chuckled, her mannerisms decisively different as her fingertips now wrapped around a pair of .45 pistols that seemed to appear on a holster that generated around her waist.

"Shit!" Vektor said, backing away as a crackling sound filled the air.

Lexi continued to laugh manically as her hair warped from brunette to a stark blonde. Her kindly brown eyes transformed into a decisively more cold shade of light blue. Her clothing, while remaining purple now incorporated elements of black and gray as she continued to change.

"...I recognize this person" Vektor stammered

"Heh, so which one of you mother fuckers am I going to waste first?" Lexi chuckled, now appearing as Roxanne Wright, "And don't be shy, I got plenty of bullets for all of you..."

"Lexi, please!" Vektor implored, "you have to fight it!"

"Sounds like we have our first volunteer!" the fake Roxie chuckled firing a shot directly at Vektor. Against mortals, the shot would have been fatal, but as had been demonstrated before, Vektor was immune to such pistol fire. That didn't stop the Faux Roxie from trying though, as she fired repeated shots at Vektor, then moving her attention to the others.

"Why is she shooting at us?" Sapphire asked, dodging the bullets and throwing up her wrist gauntlet to stop another shot

"It's not her, Sapphire!" Ruby sighed, also standing somewhat still as the bullet fire would simply clang off her Quartzarian armor

"We gotta do something ..." Emerald whimpered, "I'm not sure how long she can retain that form before..."

"I know ..." Ruby said worriedly, "Hey Vektor, you got us into this mess... how do we neutralize this?"

Vektor stood in stunned silence, trying to get closer to the transformed Lexi but anytime he did, she'd perform an athletic backflip, continuing to fire pulsating bullets at her former allies from what appeared to be an infinitely loaded pair of guns.

"Well?" Ruby asked impatiently

"I don't know!!" Vektor snapped, "I don't have a lot of experience with this ..."

"Hey numb nuts!" the possessed Lexi shrieked, about to jump on Vektor from above, "bombs away!"

Vektor simply blocked the attack, trying to grip her and finally succeeding in bear hugging her aronud the waist as she kicked and screamed, the fake Roxie trying to elbow her way out of the constrictive grip but Vektors strong armor just served as a means to wear the young blonde out.

While Lexi appeared as Roxie and seemed to behave like her, it wasn't a perfct 1:1 match, as she still seemed to fluctuate between tendencies of her former self and that of the familiar foe.

"Ugh!! Let me go ... let me ..." "Roxie" screeched, seemingly more helpless sounding than the real Roxie would've been in such a situation.

The three girls watched with frowns as Lexi/Roxie lost consciousness from everything she'd been through, her body going limp, until Vektor slowly let her go once it was safe to do so.

"We gotta get her back to the castle ... stat!" Vektor sighed

CyberTek Industries was a small upstart on the outskirts of Minitropolis. Not fairly well known but they produced some decent quality stuff, mostly using sheet metal, iron and quartz crystals. They hadn't even technically gone public yet, having just opened a facility about a year ago with plans to expand in the near future.

It seems, therefore, that somebody had been doing their research, for they knew exactly where to hit the nearly abandoned warehouse down on the pier, stealing only a handful of things but they were fairly pricey gadgets at that. As singular items, the stolen loot seemed worthless, consisting of mainly transistors, some fairly basic smart watches and some motion sensing lights, but as a collection, there had been some things of value smuggled in there as well.

The culprit of such a caper? None other than Roxanne Wright who sped into the night sky with a mighty howl of her motorcycle as the sound pierced the twilight.

She'd get her cell phone, resting it atop the space between the handlebars on her bike as she slowed down a bit, showing her boss, a Dr. Giovanni what she had collected.

"Very good, Miss... bring them to me at once!" Dr. Giovanni said, seeing some of the loot his hired criminal had gathered for him. Roxie shrugged, only somewhat questioning the Doctor's sudden change in tone. After all, he usually operated in secrecy and she only had the number through less than "by the books" means.

She suspected something was up but she thought not to question that the person hiring her for services was no longer Dr. Giovanni but rather a duplicate produced by using a Paradox Crystal.

This seemingly unrelated heist took place maybe a month ago, but it didn't seem so unrelated now as a skeptical Sonia Sanders eyed the small group she found in the woods, panning a flashlight over all of them. She hadn't made any arrests ... yet. She just feared that a certain cheerleader girl in purple was involved in this. She usually was...

"So you guys know noting about the missing merchandise from the Cybertek warehouse?" Sonia asked again

"I'm not even sure what Cybertek IS if I'm being honest..." Chris said, before frowning, "S-Sorry Ms. Officer, I'm sure that's not very helpful..."

"Oh, I've heard of them!" Josh nodded, drawing a bit of a surprised look from the questioning officer.

"Really?" Sonia asked, raising an eyebrow, "because they haven't even gone public yet"

"Yeah, true" Josh nodded, confirming this fact, "they filed some patents as recently as earlier this year but they're not set to release their first line of products until the next fiscal year ..."

"Seriously HOW....?" Leah muttered under her breath, incredulous at the wealth of Josh's knowledge, usually at the most convenient or least convenient times.

"I know things..." Josh shrugged, with his usual cheeky grin.

"Okay ... well that still doesn't explain what you were all doing out here, this is technically not a public area, at least not until the construction is over on the Enormo facility..." Sonia said, although she had very little intention of enforcing that rule. The facility was all but constructed but she'd say that (as instructed by her higher officers) to discourage visitors in case there was any truth to the rumors of toxic runoff or harmful toxins in the atmopshere surrounding the new lab.

"Hah!" Chris said, stepping forward, a bit overly eager but perhaps it was his nerves action up, "well, we're certainly not out here visiting FAIRIES or anything crazy like that ... HAH! Do you know how insane you sound?"

"Smooth Chris..." Leah nodded, patting him on the back with a very flat look on her face, "oh so smooth"

"Normally I'd write that comment off as some non-sense..." Sonia nodded, instead scribbling something on a notepad she took out of her pocket. Chris seemed curious to see what it was but knew better than to peek in on a police officer's writing. "...but given some of the stuff I've seen lately ... plus ... you know the ... bird?"

"The bird?" Leah asked

"The literal flaming bird that's sitting on your friend's shoulder ..." Sonia sighed, pointing to Penelope the Phoenix who remained perched on Mara. "How does that not hurt you??"

"We're all kinda wondering that..." Josh nodded

"Awwww, but look at how obedient she's being ..." Mara cooed, scritching the phoenix under the chin, "awwwww who's a cute little phoenix? WHO'S A CUTE LITTLE PHOENIX?? YOU ARE..."

"Officer..." Trevor stuttered, as if he were about to take control of the situation as the elderman of the group "...I have no logical explanation for any of this, and I'm a scientist. I'm deeply sorry. Please proceed..."

Sonia paused, looking at Trevor the longest as she set the notepad back in a holder on her waistbelt.

"You look familiar ... weren't you ... Enormo Enterprises? One of their engineers?" Sonia asked

"Was being the key word..." Trevor nodded, "it's a phase of my life I'd like to regret but I assure you, we are not here on any sinister business or anything of the like ... we'd love to help you find whatever was stolen but ..."

"I know..." Sonia nodded. "Truth be told, I've already given up on the missing tech, as has most of the force... I was more out on patrol ... I remember hearing about Roxie frequenting this place for a time but she hasn't been here in ... well a few weeks"

"That's about the time Lexi went missing!" Leah nodded

"Her parents called us about that..." Sonia sighed, "I've been very worried ... and I'm guessing ... by well, the fact that you're well ... you... heh, no better way to say it, you're all Lexi's ... friends?"

The group nodded in a heartfelt manner, except for Penelope who just kind of wailed.

Sonia sighed, letting her flashlight fall to the side, "I wish I had more leads to help you find her ... we know she was after Roxie ... Roxie hasn't even been around much in recent days ... just a heist here or there ... "

"We may have a lead..." Trevor said, "but we don't know how strong it is ..."

"Oh yeah?" Sonia asked

"You remember that lab that imploded about a month ago?" Trevor asked. Sonia nodded in response, we have reason to believe it belonged to my old colleague from way back when, Dr. Giovanni Guillardo..."

"So it WAS him..." Sonia said in a hushed whisper, "I'm sorry, it's just ... another case the police kind of wrote off..."

"They seem to do that a lot..." Leah sighed, "n-no offense ... ma'am..."

Sonia shrugged, "you're not wrong ... unfortunately a lot of crimes and mishaps go unsolved in the city... it's not that we don't want to solve them all, it's just ... we're limited on time and force... for something as mysterious as that lab accident we can't find any traces of a victim or a cause ... even our arson experts have no evidence of a fire started there, it's like the whole place..."

"Got sucked into another dimension?" Chris asked, trying to act smart for a second

"Eh... sorta?" Sonia answered, not sure she LOVED the young man's habit of interjecting but she couldn't help but find his demeanor somewhat endearing as he clearly cared about the well being of his friend.

"Well, if you don't mind my asking..." Trevor asked, "what led you down this path exactly to investigate?"

Sonia unfolded what appeared to ba a broken piece of something, it was silver and metallic, but that wasn't the strange part. She used her flashlight to illuminate a dirt path between a few trees that had led her to their current location and that path was littered with small shiny pieces of metallic residue.

"This component here seemed similar to the stolen tech ... I was following up on any thinking that Roxie could have some kind of hideout in the woods before realizing that sounded kind of silly..." Sonia answered

"Heh yeah..." Chris snorted with laughter, "I mean it's not like an entire colony of fairies are just living here in the woods or anything insane like that because ... heh ... that would be like ... heh... right?"

"...you really don't get out much, do you?" Leah sighed, rolling her eyes

"Not nearly enough, no." an ashamed Chris answered, lowering his head.

-----

"BANG BANG MOTHER FUCKER!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!" ~~

~~ "MAYBE I just wanna see what you'd look like as a cute little bug ... I know you can do it but you won't show me ... that's fine ... probably something you have to pay for, right? Maybe on your only fans page?"

Lexi cackled manically, thrashing around, her mind seemingly flickering from thought to thought as she'd see things from a unique point of view ... that of her rival Roxie. At the same time, the true Lexi tried to break through but it seemed to be a constant struggle. Lexi was in a battle for her identity and it was hard to tell who or what was winning.

Meanwhile, Vektor was elsewhere in the palace and despite being overwhelmed with grief, he was speaking to another guard of his, by the name of Smoke.

"Well?" Vektor asked, looking down at a table that held a very particular device -- namely Lexi's cell phone. It now appeared to have been altered, with some kind of small battery pack attached. As Vektor paced around the table anxiously, in the background, Lexi's car could be seen, having been unshrunk and extracted from her following the harrowing battle at Paradox Peak.

"It's done, Lord Vektor..." Smoke said, a shade of regret in his gravelly voice as he slid the altered cell phone over to the Onyx clad knight, whose armor still showed signs of wear from the battle. After a long pause, the elder guardsman finally got up the nerve to ask, "...how is she?"

"She's ... not well..." Vektor sighed, shaking his head, "I blame myself for this ... but I vow to stay by her side ... no matter what"

Smoke raised an eyebrow, finding the sentiment noble but also a bit questionable. He, of course wasn't alone in this train of thought.

It all felt like a blur for the poor Alexis Cole. It felt like her life had been standing on its head ever since she acquired those shrinking powers, but even for her, this was a new type of experience. Lexi usually loved trying new things. This was the exception.

She found herself in a purple nexus, a wondrous world of twirling ribbons streaking through a chaos filled sky. She looked around and yelled as loud as she could, yet the words seemed to fade into an abyss that vanished on into infinity.

"Hello?!" Lexi screamed, "Anybody ... please..."

Lexi fell to her knees, a single tear forming as she looked outward to notice two large pupil shaped openings in her cosmic prison. Through the slots she could see the ceiling of the castle, a mosaic of gray and gold, but it was obscured, like so much to her right now. It was as if she were in a glass case ... or a coffin.

On the outside, 3 people looked in on the woman formerly known as Alexis Cole. She currently appeared like a human from another dimension, and not a nice one. Her blonde hair was straggly and unkempt, her eyes remained staticly open as if she had experienced death itself.

Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire looked down at Lexi's current form as she was inside a Quartzarian medical chamber, a tube filtering a potent form of ionic energy attached to the complex sci-fi appearing aparatus. Lexi was capable of breathing on her own and her vital signs appeared fine, but it was her mind that wasn't functioning correctly. Every now and then the woman would show signs of life, but it would be as a confused Roxie Wright, not the Alexis Cole they had come to know and appreciate.

Breaking the tense and somber silence was the subtle whoosh of a door sliding open and Vektor who hung his head. It was a sad and poignant point in time for the team who had fought so well together despite their troubles. It should have been a galvanizing moment, for the group to unite over the cause of Lexi's condition.

Instead, the worsening situation only produced further disdain.

"Well ... I hope you're happy..." Ruby scoffed, looking at Vektor. The other 2 remained silent, Emerald keeping her eyes barred with anger before turning back to Lexi, tilting her head as she observed something but she kept her thoughts to herself, so as not to alert the others just yet. Sapphire meanwhile looked extremely shy but saddened, and she couldn't even make eye contact with Vektor, much less say anything.

"Why in the world would I be happy?" Vektor said, a hint of anger in his voice as it raised, "Lexi's condition is curable but it may take some time... we have to hope that she has the resolve, not just physically but mentally to counter what's happened to her... and knowing her, she should be able to..."

"Oh fuckin' save it!" Ruby snapped, stepping up towards Vektor in a battle-like stance. Vektor naturally took exception to this, his hand even clutching his blade for a moment. "Oh I dare you ... I would LOVE it!"

"Guys guys..." Sapphire pouted, turning away from Lexi to address the developing argument which showed signs of becoming violent. Meanwhile, Emerald stayed fixated on the corrupted Lexi's body in the case. "Please... let's not do this"

"Sapphire's right..." Vektor said, trying to de-escalate the situation as well

"Oh shove off!" Ruby shouted, literally shoving the taller male knight, "You don't care about Sapphire, you don't care about any of us ... you care about your precious Lexi who you didn't even know until yesterday ... you were prepared to throw us all under the bus and ..."

"Excuse me!" Vektor interjected with added furor, "Did we not all embark on a dangerous mission to rescue your sister from ..."

"Bullshit!" Ruby said, already making her way for the way out of the medical room, "You went for the sword, nothing more! All you care about is power and pride and all this other non-sense! You tell stories about these great heroes who you could never hope to be and try to build up your image into something it's not..."

"That's enough of this!" Vektor yelled, putting his hand on the threshold of the door so as to impede Ruby's progress, "We have a very dire circumstance on our hands as it is ... at this rate, you're going to make me think that YOU'RE a Paradox victim... shall we take a DNA sample?"

"Guys..." Emerald said in a hushed tone, beckoning the others to come look. "...look"

Ruby slipped under Vektor's extended arm to head back towards the metal chamber containing Lexi's body. Sapphire and Vektor both did the same, Vektor leaning forward a bit to have a better look.

"Wh-What are we looking at?" Vektor asked, simply seeing Lexi's physically altered body in a state of stillness yet again.

"She's ... she's coming to..." Emerald nodded, "I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure ... but ... look"

The group maintained a stare for another few moments before they too witnessed what Emerald had seen. An encouraging sign.

While it didn't last long, slight glitchiness appeared in Lexi, transforming her momentarily back into her brunette, kindhearted self before warping back to the blonde vixen from Minitropolis.

"It's working..." Vektor sighed in relief, watching the Quartzarian energy continue to filtrate into Lexi's chamber as a means of combatting whatever toxins had been effecting her due to the paradox crystal. "She's going to be okay..."

"We... don't know that ..." Ruby sighed, "just ... if she DOES pull through this ... make sure you send her back home as soon as possible..."

"Hmm?" Vektor asked, a bit too fixated on Lexi's fluctuating condition to completely pay attention, although he had heard the words "send her home"

"Vektor ..." Ruby said with a hint of sympathy, "I know how you feel about her ... hell, we ALL know ... and we like her too but ... she doesn't belong here"

Emerald nodded sadly in agreement, Sapphire remaining in stunned silence beside her.

"Wh-What do you mean by that?" Vektor asked, still only half invested in the ongoing conversation, as he stared at Lexi and noticed her body reverting back to normal more often than it would shift to Roxie. "...we've seen how she can fight, how she can hold her own ... she even escaped Pandora's clutches on her own..."

"Vektor..." Ruby said, her tone now shifting back to frustration, "there's more to existence than ... fighting and power ... this isn't where she belongs... can she handle herself? Sure ... but ... that's not the point ... where she's from, she has a life ... she has people ... who care about her ..."

Vektor sighed, shaking his head. He didn't say another word but all he could remember is what little conversation he had with Lexi about her life in the other dimension. She didn't seem too thrilled about being a hero there. It sounded as if she wasn't appreciated, and had to hide her identity. In Quartzaria, she could be revered. People would love and adore her... plus he couldn't help but be haunted by Pandora's accusations ... that he, the great Vektor somehow lacked the capacity to love or settle down. He didn't want to make his intentions known to the others but he couldn't help but feel that despite her not being from here ... Quartzaria may be the right place for Lexi ... especially with the right counsel and partner in her life.

The machine holding Lexi sparked briefly and though her progress seemed to have slowed, the others stood and began to take their leave, figuring there wasn't much else they could do to heal Lexi than give it time. Vektor meanwhile seemed to stay behind. Ruby just let out a sigh as they left him alone with the interdimensional woman.

Lexi's consciousness found itself still in the thickets of darkness, her mind had become her own worst enemy as she felt trapped inside her own body. Except it wasn't even her body. In a moment of consciousness, the confused Alexis Cole looked down at herself to see flesh, but it wasn't her own. It was ... different, paler, and as she examined herself briefly, she couldn't help but think "Damn... I'm sexy..."

But that wasn't her thought. It came from her mind but it didn't feel as though it was her own personality.

"What... in the world ... is wrong with me?!" Lexi screamed out but nobody could hear. She was alone, so she thought ... although she saw those cosmic eyelids again, representing her sole window out into whatever version of reality she was in. She now saw a person. They looked familiar.

"Vektor?" Lexi asked, seeing the blurry silhoutte through the glass, "Vektor?"

Lexi sighed. She couldn't be heard. Or could she?

Vektor's eyes widened hearing the soft voice. Even though tbe body was foreign to him (having only seen Roxie briefly) the voice sounded more like that of his beloved Lady Lexington.

"Lexi?" Vektor asked, peering into the chamber, careful not to disrupt her healing by making any sudden motions as he watched her vital signs improving via a monitor attached to the machinery. "Lexi? I'm here, Vektor's here"

"...Vektor..." the shape shifted woman muttered again, shifting briefly back into her original form.

It seemed the clouds were beginning to dissipate. While Lexi still felt like a prisoner in her own body and her memories felt fractured as if she had literally fused with the being of her rival, Roxie, she could see a bit clearer now. Her body, or at least the subconscious representation of it was beginning to glitch and flicker.

"I'm here Lexi... please... save your strength..." Vektor sighed

"Vektor..." Lexi repeated again, this time with a bit more conviction. Her face remained rough and jagged, her eyes bright blue but her hair was changing back to a light brunette and shortening up a bit. Her body was beginning to warp as well. Vektor looked over at the machine and saw the progress she was making, encouraged by it further. He knew she had resolve, and this proved it more than anything so far.

"Lexi..." Vektor sighed, kneeling in front of her medical chamber, "I'll be here... as long as you need..."

After a few moments, the weakened woman nodded, her hand grazing the glass very softly. It appeared Lexi was back ... for now.

"I ... I ... thank you ..." Lexi mumbled, still sounding a bit sedated and weakened but her body seemed to be retaining its natural quality.

Still, Vektor looked over at the vitals and saw at least one concerning sign.

On the monitor, displaying a wireframe of Lexi's body were several readings ... heartrate, polarity and more ... but also a stat known as PARADOX POISONING which remained at 20%

"Lexi ... I ..." Vektor stammered, "...I realize this may not be the time but ..."

"Vektor?" Lexi whimpered, still a bit confused, as if coming out of a fog. She was even beginning to wonder why she was trapped in a glass as she twitched a bit, "am I ... dying?"

"N-No..." Vektor said in a soft and reassuring voice, "No, you're going to be okay ... the paradox crystal may have some ... residual effects but it seems that you've weathered the worst of it ..."

"Thank ... you ..." Lexi muttered, still out of it as her vision went in and out.

"No... thank YOU..." Vektor sighed, leaning his head tenderly on the glass, "You've given me ... more meaning than I ever thought possible ... I ... I don't want to fight anymore ... I don't want to be a constant warrior ... you've shown me something far more precious and I ... I want to keep it ... I want to keep you ... in my life ..."

Lexi remained silent, and it was unclear if she just didn't hear or didn't understand what Vektor was saying in his moment of emotional honesty.

"...do you ... understand what I mean, Lexi?" Vektor asked

"...I think so" Lexi muttered weakly, a mass of smoke forming around her as her body seemed to be regaining a bit more life and movement to it. "I ... I ..."

"Then say yes, Lexi..." Vektor said, interuppting her. "Just say yes ... and we can have ... such an amazing life together..."

"Vektor?" Lexi asked, sounding as if coming out of a deep sleep

"Yes, Lady Lexington...?" Vektor asked lovingly

"Wh-What do you mean?" Lexi asked, again not in her best frame of mind.

"Lexi ... please..." Vektor sighed, on one knee now, "I ... I never thought I'd feel this way about somebody but ... destiny brought us together, I refuse to see it any other way ... a woman from another dimension who crossed paths with me ... who understands the Quartzarian way ... despite being new here ... and ... everybody loves you here ... I ... I love you..."

Lexi remained silent but again it appeared as though her mind and body were still ailing, although not as bad as before. The fact that she had held her original physical form without transforming any further was a good sign.

"...and I guess ... this whole thing has shown me that ... there IS more to life than fighting ... and so ... if you'll have me ..." Vektor sighed, "I could be ... your husband ... Lexi ... please... will you marry me?"

There was a long pause and Lexi's consciousness continued to fade in and out. She heard only bits and pieces of Vektor's words but as if hearing a recording out of order she remembered hearing Vektor say "then say yes..." from earlier in the exchange.

Knowing that anything was better than the pain she was currently in, Lexi simply nodded and obeyed.

"Yes..." Lexi muttered

"Yes??" Vektor asked, in a bit of shock but also elation, "Yes?"

"Mmmmhm" Lexi sighed weakly.

Vektor just stood up a bit, getting off of his knee and smiling. "She said yes..." he thought to himself with a sense of triumph.

------------

Back at the forest, the gang continued to investigate the mysterious trail of machine parts although the further they delved into the woods, the more the trail appeared to go cold. As if in need of a miracle, at least one participant in the search was willing to step up, but it wasn't who anybody expected.

Mara's new pet phoenix Penelope began to caw, pointing its head in a direction contrary to the one the group was walking on.

"What's that, girl? Trouble in the old well?" Mara queried, staring intently at her fiery feathered friend. The others just looked on in confusion, "Yeah I'm sorry, just trying to lighten the mood ... but she does seem drawn to something..."

"This thing is supposedly from whatever dimension Lexi got sucked into, right?" Chris asked, "maybe it's ... trying to lead us somewhere?"

"It's not Lassie..." Leah sighed, leaving Chris a bit glum for having been shot down, "S-Sorry, just ... a bit on edge..."

As Mara took a few cautious steps into the forest, guided by her phoenix, she looked down and raised an eyebrow upon a new discovery.

"Uh guys ...?" Mara said, as the others crowded around, Sonia shining her flashlight on the pile of crystallic matter that Penelope had been drawn to, "either a giant lost their earring ... or we might be onto something"

Chris suddenly received a call, reaching for his cell phone as Leah gave him a playful ribbing, causing him to turn.

"Is that your fairy girlfriend?" Leah winked

"Hey .. c-c'mon now..." Chris sighed, a bit embarassed as his cheeks turned flush red. Leah frowned a bit as Chris got the phone.

"Oh. Um... s-sorry..." Leah sighed a bit, "I ... I didn't mean anything by ... it"

Leah's words trailed off as she watched Chris retreat, trying to hear what Spark was saying.

"Hey, you guys may wanna have a look at something ..." Spark said, fluttering through the forest before realizing they weren't too far apart, "Actually ... is that you way down there? You brought a police officer?"

"Hmm? Well .. she kind of ... brought us ... it's a long story" Chris said, drawing confused looks from the rest as they tried to listen in on the crucial phone conversation, "but ... whattaya got, Princess?"

"Princess?" Josh asked

"Shhhhh!!" Leah urged, trying to stay focused on what was happening.

"I see..." Chris said with a nod, "be right there"

Chris looked at the others, pausing only briefly to acknowledge the phoenix at his feet as it sniffed and perused the shattered pieces of crystal matter on the ground. One certainly doesn't see such a sight everday.

"Spark seems to have found something" Chris replied, confirming the others suppositions. "We may have a lead..."

"Alright..." Leah said with a confident nod, "let's get our girl back"

"What do you mean, moving?" a disappointed blonde haired young woman sighed as her father sat her down. She knew dad always did the best he could but it just seemed like another sudden gut punch in a span of couple of months that was full of them. Her traumatic experience at the cheer regionals had left her extremely disheartened, the literal destruction of her job had left her displaced, she found out one of her good friends was some kind of crazy superhero, and while she was looking forward to getting back to school and maybe seeing some return to normalcy, it sounded like another big move was on the way.

Chrissy had unfortunately been used to this pattern before, for as long as she could remember.

"Yeah ... I'm sorry hon" the man said, his name known across town as Byron Biggs, "I know I said it would be a good idea to have you live here with me for a while but ... it isn't safe"

"Dad, I understand the whole bombing freaked you out ... trust me, it freaked me out too but ..."

"Chrissy darling..." Biggs sighed, "it isn't just that ... some real stuff's coming down the pipe ... dangerous stuff and I just ... I don't wanna see you here .. I don't want you to be in the crossfire..."

"S-So are you coming too?" Chrissy asked

"Yes... in due time" Biggs said, "I've been looking into places down south ..."

"Back to Alabama?" Chrissy sighed, rolling her eyes. She liked Alabama but the scenery change had done her good.

"Maybe ... maybe not" Biggs sighed, "I wish I had more to tell you but I felt like you had the right to know ... I plan to have you moved by the end of the summer, and I'll hopefully be able to come join you in the fall... until then, I'm looking for family for you to stay with ... your aunt and uncle in Wyoming seem to be the perfect candidates at the moment... although others aren't answering my calls"

Chrissy just let out a frown, trying to be a strong girl as she usually did. She just didn't understand it all sometimes. All she wanted was one place to settle down in ... was that asking too much?

-----

Across dimensional lines, another person was asking himself a similar thing, this particular person a large hulking man of unknown age or origin. He went by the name Vektor and for years all he had known was fighting or defending. Even now, while the threat of Paradox and Pandora had been momentarily neutralized, he knew it was only a matter of time before a counterattack would be coming. That's why, despite his intentions to settle down himself, he had to make sure he stayed on top of things, with further fortifications to his palace and a grand address he planned to deliver to his people later that day while Lexi was still recovering and his closest warriors, the three "gem themed" women, seemed to be in a state of seperation, not wanting to be too close to the current kingdom and its inner workings.

He understood it, it wasn't exactly orthodox. He regretted his past but he wanted to make a clean future. It would start with his new wife ... Alexis Cole. The one he intended to marry. She would set him on the right course. Over time, he was confident that her positive ways and friendly leadership would help change him and he in turn would help get her accustomed to life in Quartzaria.

Of course he also understood this wouldn't be an easy transition for her, despite that so he had prepared some gifts in her honor, some of them a bit more straightforward and indicative of ancient Quartzarian rituals in honoring their heroes. But he also had some modern ideas, some ways to ease Lexi's homesickness shoudl it arise.

Right on cue came a knock on the door of the chamber of Lord Vektor as he made a series of preparations ... some for his speech, some for a potential fight, and some for his planned nuptials which seemed to be on a fast track towards fruition.

"Come in..." the strangely calm Vektor responded and in walked a dark haired male who closely resembled Joshua James. "Excellent, it worked'

"Ummm... yeah ..." the fake Josh said, scratching his head uneasily, in a manner similar to his real counterpart, "This one's mind is full of knowledge of comic books and strange paranormal stuff ..."


"And?" Vektor shrugged, failing to see the issue, "what IS normal here anyway? He'll fit in great"

"Y-Yeah ... but I don't know ... he sees visions of this strange superhero named man of Spider? I don't get how a man can also be a spider?"

"Be open-minded..." Vektor said reassuringly, "if Lexi and her friend like this Spider person, then we shall like them too ... maybe we can look up some Earth media and assimilate it here ... besides, you know the bride always gets what she wants"

"And ... you're sure she's okay with this?" "Josh" asked

"Of course..." Vektor said, not a hint of hesitation in his voice. "She will be here later today for my speech, she will gladly accept the title of my wife and the ceremony will take place tomorrow in front of the grand court of Quartzaria..."

"Sir?" "Josh" asked, "doesn't that seem a bit ... soon? Even in falling in line with Quartzarian customs"

"Too soon would be applicable if I were still a young man..." Vektor chortled a bit, "and while I still have plenty more life to offer, I'm getting long in the tooth when it comes to love ... and I think it's time I gave that facet of life a try ... I owe Lady Lexington that much ... now where is your colleague? Where's Dagger?"

"I'm ... I'm here your lord..." a shy female voice arose from behind the door

"Well? Let's see ya!" Vektor said, a bit curious himself

"Ugh ... do I really have to ...?" the voice responded, before slowly walking out, revealing the form of Leah Henderson, "this one is really weird ... she thinks about Lexi a lot and wears these really tight outfits... I don't like the way they pull around my..."

"Hey, this is Lexi's really good friend, from what I can tell" Vektor nodded, "You shall be her maid of honor..."

"Lovely..." the fake Leah sighed. "Can you at least adjust this one so I don't think about boys all the time?"

"Unfortunately it's a side effect of the crystal..." Vektor shrugged, "you can do your best to control the thoughts of the persona you've assumed but, it'll be up to you how much you let it control you"

"Speaking of control..." fake Josh chimed in, "You guys ever get the feeling that the government is watching us?"

Vektor and "Leah" looked over confused

"Yeah I don't know ..." "Josh" said, "...this one's weird..."

-----

Elsewhere in the castle, in a mechanical chamber stood Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire. Sapphire in particular seemed a bit spooked as she'd occasionally peek through the door of the room to make sure nobody was coming. Meanwhile Ruby was intently examining a machine that Vektor had commissioned sometime during the outing to Paradox Peak but it had ceased production since the crew had returned.

The machine was a large portal producer, similar to the one that brought Vektor and Lexi to Quartzaria from Lexi's dimension. Vektor had his best engineers on the project at one point and the machine appeared to be nearly done, thus prompting Ruby to make some adjustments of her own, trying to finish what was left to do on the machine.

"A-Are you sure about this?" Sapphire whimpered, taking a brief pause from watching the hallways of the palace to address her sisters, as Emerald handed Ruby some tiny quartz gems to put in the mainframe of the portal machine.

"What choice do we have?" Ruby grunted, being extremely careful to insert the quartz crystals very carefully into the machine's slots which lined the circumference of the large arch of metal, "it's obvious Vektor has no intention of sending Lexi home and this machine is our only way of doing so ..."

"But even if this works..." Emerald sighed, thinking over the possibilities, "there's no gaurantee this machine will send her back to her exact dimension and even if it does, who knows WHERE in the dimension it will send her..."

"Well, it appears this machine was to have some kind of coordinate program built in..." Ruby nodded, swiveling a small screen outwards for the others to see. The screen resembled that of an old fashioned cash register monitor and the display was dim, only showing a few vague numbers that were to represent coordinates. "...but of course, the machine isn't exactly finished yet..."

"Perhaps Vektor plans to finish it after his big address today?" Emerald suggested, although she wasn't completely sure of her own words even as she said them.

"Psh, highly doubt it" Ruby scoffed, "Vektor could've had any of his finest engineers finish this project by now, yet he's left it unfinished ... thankfully I know a thing or two about wiring machines although this is ... well, it's still pretty untested..."

"So what do we do??" Sapphire asked, her back turned long enough to not notice a guard with a suspicious look on his face approaching the corridor.

Emerald and Ruby let out a soft but audible gulp as they gestured with their eyes for Sapphire to turn around. When she did, she too let out a yelp, noticing Vektor's loyal guard Smoke standing in the threshold.

"You ladies aren't supposed to be in here..." Smoke warned, "this machine is highly delicate and any alterations to it ..."

"Look, I get it..." Ruby sighed

"You didn't let me finish..." Smoke sighed, "any alterations should be made by a qualified professional..."

With that, Smoke unveiled a small Quartzarian wrench from his pocket. Of course the wrench, like most things in this realm didn't resemble a traditional wrench, instead branching off in a few different directions similar to a Swiss army knife. Still, his intentions appeared a bit unclear.

"I'm sorry?" Ruby asked, a bit confused as she watched Smoke approach the machine with his wrench, getting down on one knee to examine it closer.

Smoke shook his head in dismay as he continued working on the machine, "just watch the door ... I'll take care of the rest..."

It appeared the three ladies weren't the only ones doubting Vektor's intentions...

----

"The heck is this place?" a confused Chris asked, sparking a small fireball in his hands to light up the surrounding area, as the crew finally found what Spark was trying to show them, a dark and dim lab in the middle of the woods.

"Well, this definitely explains the headaches I've been having..." Spark sighed, looking around the disheveled laboratory, clear signs of a struggle as various metal components lay strewn about on the floor.

Trevor looked around, as best he could with the lack of light, completely enthralled with what he could see.

Meanwhile, Sonia was just trying to fathom that she was gazing upon an actual fairy as she stared utterly stupified at the tiny floating woman in red and black. Sensing the burning stare, Spark swiveled around to face the giant officer, giving her a shy wave.

"Um... hi?" Spark shrugged, wings flapping gingerly in the breeze.

"S-Sorry..." Sonia nodded, putting her head down as if in regret, "don't mean to stare"

"Eh, it happens," the non-chalant Spark responded, giving a friendly shrug, "I don't see too many humans myself so its always a bit of an experience for me..."

"Spark..." Chris asked, as he combed through more of the debris, seeing various shiny crystals scattered throughout the lab in addition to the metallic wreckage, "what did you mean when you mentioned those headaches?"

"Well it was like ... related to whatever rift was opened, it's hard to explain..." Spark shrugged

"Yeah, because this has been so easy to follow to this point..." Leah sighed, trying to add some levity to the dire situation.

"Well ... it's said that Fensteria exists in a sort of realm between realms ... and because of that, if one of the other realms is ever opened, it kind of sets off an odd ... sensation in us fairies..." Spark explained, holding her head again as being in the presence of the portal machinery alone was causing her a slight adverse reaction.

"Kind of like Spider sense?" Josh asked, quick to draw the comparison.

"Um... sure?" Spark chuckled nervously, not quite getting the reference as she landed on a lab bench.

"So ... we can safely assume this is likely where Lexi got warped to ..." Josh said, combing through the area himself, using his cell phone's flash light to have a gander. He turned the cell phone briefly towards hif ace and raised an eyebrow, "Uh ... this is weird"

"What??" Leah asked curiously, peering over Josh's shoulder to see what he was looking at

"Well ... my messenger is showing Lexi is online ..." Josh said, perplexed as he clicked on her name

"Try calling her!" Leah insisted

"I can give it a shot..." Josh said, typing in her number, "but I highly doubt we're going to get through ..."

There was a long pause but to his surprise the phone began to ring rather than kick back his call.

On the other end of the line, Lexi's modified cell phone vibrated on a table made of Quartzarian marble. A hand reached out and picked it up.

"L-Lexi?" Josh asked, as everybody in the room perked up to have a listen. The voice on the other end wasn't Lexi at all though.

"Um... sorry, wrong number" the voice said, before hanging up.

Josh looked a bit confused and even slightly angry.

"Wh-Who was it?" Leah asked

"That's the crazy part..." Josh said, as he attempted to redial the number, "... it was you"

----

An urgent "Leah Henderson" came to find Vektor in his private chamber as the self appointed Lord was preparing for his speech. Vektor turned with a bit of indignance at the sudden intrusion.

"Yes?" Vektor sighed, standing in front of an elegant mirror as if rehearsing.

"I'm sorry to bother you..." "Leah" said, "but we have a problem..."

"A problem?" Vektor asked

"Somebody's trying to call Lexi, sir" the fake Leah said, "I accidentally picked up"

"Okay ... no worries..." Vektor sighed, "we knew this was a possibility..."

"Shoudl we disconnect the signal?" "Leah" asked

"Not just yet" Vektor shook his head, "If Lexi is to be my wife, there needs to be a degree of transparency... she deserves the opportunity to say goodbye to her friends from back home ... besides, as her future husband, I'm sure we could arrange for occasional visits to her realm ... it's only fair after all"

"And ... why exactly am I disguised as the girl friend?" "Leah" asked, still sounding a bit annoyed at the situation

"It's ... an aide..." Vektor sighed, "a way to ease potential homesickness... heck, if you do a good enough job, maybe she'll take you in as her own ... she might not even need whoever this person really is in her world..."

"Great... I get to spend the rest of my life as a fashion obsessed girl from another world..." the disguised Dagger sighed

"Look, this will be a strange transition for all of us, I'm sure" Vektor said, "but this kingdom has been through so much ... this could be the beginning a new era of peace and prosperity with myself and Lady Lexi at the helm for years to come..."

"Yeah yeah ..." fake Leah scoffed, before pondering something, "y'know ... what's the deal with that Smoke fella? He was kinda cute..."

Vektor sighed and rolled his eyes, "control yourself..."

Spekaing of control, it was something that Lexi had been desperately fighting to regain and she finally had done so, as a loud hissing sound signaled the decompressing of her medical chamber. Her vital signs showing sufficient improvement for the glass chamber to disengage.

The still disoriented Lexi fully awoke surrounded by a valley of smoke. She peered over at a red monitor that showed various vital signs. She felt surprisingly energized and even healthy considering everything she had been through. As she slowly got out of the chamber, she stretched her arms to the sky as if yawning, and while she slowly stepped out of the chamber, she neglected to note one important thing on the monitor.

PARADOX POISON LEVEL : 25%

Lexi looked around, a bit dumbfounded. While she felt physically better, she was still a bit hazy on what had happened to her since the fight at the Paradox Peak. She remembered her powers going haywire for a moment, allowing her to grow to a giantess size and dispact of that dragon-like creature, the Krazacken. She remembered a brief encounter with Vektor and Pandora but then everything was a blur.

Had she actually turned into Roxie?

And why did that thought both scare and arouse her?

Lexi wouldn't have much time to ponder further before she saw Emerald pass by the medical room, only to stop and turn back, her eyes wide with shock.

"You guys!" Emerald said, bringing her sisters along, "Lexi! She's ... "

"Yeah..." Lexi sighed, still catching her breath from the ordeal, "I'm okay ... and I'm me again ... wh-what happened exactly?"

"You were struck with a paradox crystal..." Emerald explained, "It got pretty rough ... we were all pretty worried..."

"You sure you're alright now?" Sapphire asked, offering an arm for Lexi to lean in if she needed it. Lexi politely declined the help.

"I'm .. I'm good... I actually feel .. a bit better than before..." Lexi replied in a confused tone, her fingers again sparking but it didn't hurt. It felt as though her veins were coursing with power, but not enough to hurt her, just enough to seemingly heal her as she walked out of the medical room and peered down the extensive hallway of the palace.

"Well ... that's good..." Ruby nodded, "our next step is going to be trying to get you back home"

"I'd ... I'd really appreciate that ..." Lexi sighed, "not that you all haven't been awesome ... but ... I really miss my friends... I really miss..."

"Heya Lex" a familiar voice chimed in from behind, right on cue. Lexi turned in shock to see her best friend Leah Henderson standing just a few feet behind her. Rather than question the odd, impossibly unlikely occurence, Lexi found herself just collapsing into her arms in a hug.

"Holy shit, Leah!" Lexi giggled a bit, "H-How did you get here?"

"We've been looking for you, silly..." Leah giggled, "Josh and I and the rest ... it's ... it's been really tough without you..."

Ruby and Emerald exchanged confused glances at the emergence of this new fellow "other dimensional" gal with the long brunette hair, wearing super casual clothes that even they weren't familiar with. Lexi had entered their realm wearing something of a superhero outfit. It was not to the level of traditional Quartzarian armor but it was something that the Quartzarians could at least relate to. This Leah girl was wearing an orange tank top and some kind of blue denim fabric to cover her legs. They hadn't seen anything like it but they figured such a garb were common where Lexi hailed from.

"You ... know her?" Sapphire asked, peeking out from between her two sisters, shyly introducing herself to the new girl, Leah.

"Yeah! She's my best friend!" Lexi exclaimed, certainly overjoyed to see a familiar face -- so much so that she wasn't even letting the lack of logic stand in her way as she delivered another warm hug to the duplicates body. "Leah, this is Sapphire"

"Oh ... hello Sapphire" Leah nodded, "oh Sapphire! Such a lovely gemstone! I bet I'd look lovely in one"

Lexi raised an eyebrow, but appreciated the comment all the same, glad to see Leah hadn't changed too much, although she almost seemed a bit TOO peppy considering what had been going on. How could she talk about jewelry at a time like this? Then again, the person currently "portraying" Leah felt the same way. Their actual persona, who was a male, found himself disgusted at how often "Leah" would make lame jokes, think about boys or talk about jewelry. It was almost involuntary for him to adopt her personality though, or pieces of it.

"Heh, well... I will say, the orange top is nice" Lexi nodded, "b-but ... how did you get here? Is anyone else with you?"

"Um... Josh is" Leah nodded, "but he's somewhere in the castle ... something about wanting to see genuine knights armor or something..."

"That sounds like Josh..." Lexi giggled, rolling her eyes. For just a few fleeting moments, everything appeared to have some sense of normalcy, which brought on her next question, "so ... does this mean you have a way for me to go home"

"Oh! Oh yes, sure!" Leah nodded, a bit of hesitance in her voice, which wasn't lost on Emerald or Ruby. "We're going to get you back as soon as possible ... we just have to wait for Vektor's speech"

Lexi raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, what? I mean ... n-no offense but ... why do we need to wait for Vektor's speech?"

"Well..." Leah said, trying to play it up, "he was nice enough to bring us here to find you ... and he said it would be this epic incredible speech or something"

Lexi began to find her suspicions again. If for no other reason than Leah had said Vektor's name perfectly -- not the same clumsy way (Vector) Lexi herself had said it. That was a bit too easy for somebody who wasn't a native of this dimension.

"So c'mon, girl... let's go" Leah yelped, pulling Lexi's hand along towards the crowd.

Elsewhere, Vektor was up in his quarters as a nosy "Josh James" poked around behind him.

"Cloak... what are you DOING in here?" Vektor sighed, finding the young man's persistence super annoying even as he knew the whole time, this wasn't a real resident of the other dimension he was dealing with.

"I'm sorry but is this a real knights helmet?" "Josh" exclaimed.

"You know it is!" Vektor groaned, "look, just go find Lexi and the girl friend, Leah and go ... be with them... okay?"

"Oh right ... right ... y'know sire..." "Josh" said, regaining a bit of his personality for a moment, "I don't think Lexi is going to love what you're planning here"

"I guess we'll just have to see..." Vektor shrugged, as he watched the fake Josh depart the room. As soon as he was free and clear, Vektor reached onto his black dresser countertop and picked up a small device about the size of a key fob, holding it close to his person.

Outside, Quartzarians from far and wide had flooded the valley just outside the gorgeous Quartzarian castle. It shone like a bright multicolored beacon, especially in contrast to the black and green spire to the north which was now laid in ruins following Vektor and his troops invasion.

Security was fairly heightened as one might expect with troops lining the outer walls in case any further attacks were launched, plus one could never be too sure that who was being let in as a Vektor loyalist wasn't actually a Paradox sympathizer in disguise.

Also in that same paranoid boat was Lexi. It was sad in a way what the brief time in Quartzaria had done to Lexi's mind. She was much more chipper and optimistic back at home, even with the troubles she had been going through. Heck, she would gladly take those troubles to some of the stuff that Vektor, Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire dealt with here. Even with all the beautiful purple and orange skies, the wealth of technology and magic and more ... this place seemed like anything but a utopia and even with her "best friend" beside her, Lexi sensed something was very wrong. She was about to put that to the test as well while the crowd began to silence at the appearance of Vektor, as he stepped out onto the central balcony overlooking the massive crowd.

"Hey Leah?" Lexi asked, "How's Justin been, anyway?"

"Hmm?" Leah asked

"Yknow... Justin Wright... your boyfriend..." Lexi asked again

Justin Wright ...

The name rang memories in the fake Leah's head but it wasn't clear who he was or what he meant. She was hoping to stall for time until Vektor's speech began but she got into a bit of a panic as Lexi continued to look her way.

"Justin? Oh ... he's uh... he's good" Leah said with a smile.

Lexi knew then and there that whoever was next to her wasn't Leah Henderson.

"Wonderful people of Quartzaria!!" Vektor announced, his voice loud and booming over the large sprawling valley, "I am here with a couple of grand announcements and my Kingdom, my Warriors and myself are all very grateful to see you here!"

This drew a loud cheering from the crowd, for the most part. Lexi remained stone cold silent, just glancing over at the fake Leah and sighing. Was ANYTHING in this place real?

"Today we struck a huge blow against the menace of the Paradox threat!" Vektor announced, "it will not be the final blow, but it was a crippling one ... as my forces and I were able to storm Paradox Peak, rescue our captured warrior and friend, Sapphire and begin a long process of restoring order to the kingdom!"

As loud cheers continued to rain all around, Vektor gestured towards something. A large statue covered up in the courtyard. It was guarded by a handful of soldiers who stood along its perimeter, the nature of the stature still obscured by a large tarp of sorts.

"And that is not all!" Vektor said proudly, "As you know, here in Quartzaria, we revere our heroes, and we have nobody to thank more for this latest victory than ..."

"Oh please, no..." Lexi thought to herself, but her fears were more than confirmed as the tarp was removed from the statue.

What was revealed was a large mighty bronze likeness of Alexis Cole herself, striking a fighting pose with a serious look on her face. While the statue was stunningly similar to her in appearance, the facial expression and outward fist wasn't really how she'd like to be remembered or thought of. She didn't really like to use violence, it was just a necessary thing sometimes. Plus ... in general, the whole thing was making her uncomfortable, especially as the crowd let out a loud gasp and some looked in her direction as they recognized her from the statue. Lexi just gave a super nervous wave as if she had been called on in math class, wishing she could shrink right now and just disappear from the public eye for a bit.

"Oh shit Lexi!" an overly excited (and fake) Leah Henderson exclaimed, hugging her "best friend" again and giggling, "that's totally awesome!"

"Yeah..." Lexi grumbled, "so... very awesome"

"That is our hero, that is who to thank ... the great Alexis Cone..." Vektor chimed out

"Wait, did he say Cone?" Lexi thought to herself, "dude doesn't even know my last name right!"

"Her bravery in this time of turmoil AND the fact that she hails from another realm are just two of the things that make her so special to me ..." Vektor announced.

Lexi again began to feel very uncomfortable, fearing where this was going.

"And that is why ..." Vektor announced loud and proud as people seemed to hush even more to listen to his words, even backing away from Lexi in the crowd to make her more visible to all, "...I've asked Lady Lexington to marry me ... and she has said yes"


"I did what?!" Lexi screamed, her voice drowned out by waves of cheering, including by that of Leah.

"Omigosh girl! We're going to be bridesmaids!" Leah giggled, "well you'll be the bride, I'll be the bridesmaid! We should totally get matching gowns!"

"Get away from me, you fake!" Lexi screamed, forcefully pushing away the surprised Leah Henderson as the crowd let out an audible gasp. It wasn't exactly the reaction they had anticipated from the girl who was set to wed Lord Vektor.

Lexi would beeline straight up the castle walls, a look of determination on her face that sent even the well armed guards backing away, simply relinquishing their place to her as she swung open the castle doors, likely to go find her "Fiancee" and kick his ass.

"Um... she's a little nervous ... understandably.." Vektor said, trying to downplay what had just happened, the device from before firmly in his hand but on his backside where it couldn't be seen what happened next as he applied just a little pressure to a glowing red button. "But it is GLORIOUS news indeed!!"

Vektor continued with the pomp and circumstance by sending out several pink phoenixes in Lexi's honor. The beautiful birds would twinkle as they swirled around the castle gates, delighting the crowds, all except for the dazed and confused Leah Henderson who would slide behind a bush before transforming back into Dagger for the moment.

"Ugh all that just to get pushed to the ground..." Dagger sighed, rubbing the side of his cheek, "and why do I still have the urge to go shopping?!"

Having heard the shocking news themselves, Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire were already in the castle, not buying into Vektor's grand display of fireworks, phoenix feathers or statues. Unfortunately things were too far in motion. A quick peek inside the castle showed an incredible amount of decorating had already been done, with a gold and silver cake adorning the center of the palace's main chamber. The cake predictably featured the likenesses of Vektor and Lexi as husband and wife.

"Something is wrong here..." Sapphire muttered

"Yeah, that much is for sure..." Ruby stuttered, stuck between speechless and vividly furious.

"Vektor's off his rocker..." Emerald sighed, shaking her head, "we just have to hope Smoke can get that machine up and running and we can get Lexi out of here before ... well... THIS..."

"Yeah ... I'm not sure how strong of a possibility that is..." Ruby sighed, "He's not sending her home... this whole thing has been a rouse... Vek has snapped ... this is even worse than Pandora..."

"So... what do we do?" Sapphire asked, discouraged.

"I ... I'm not sure" Ruby relented, "but the first step is finding Lexi"

Vektor retreated from the balcony, about to head downstairs to see where Lexi had gotten off to. Her reaction was not the one he had hoped for but he was prepared for such things. What he wasn't expecting was a sudden vibration from the cell phone he had captured on his waist. It was ringing again.

Vektor finally picked it up, waiting for a long while.

"Lexi...?" a female voice rang through. Vektor recognized it as Leah from having heard it before.

"Ah, you must be the best friend..." Vektor said, in a strange personal kind of way

"I'm sorry, what?" Leah asked, using Josh's cell phone to make the call and wondering who the heck the deep voice guy was.

"I regret that you can't make it to the ceremony..." Vektor said as he methodically made his way down a set of cascading stairs towards one of the castle's main hallways. "But I promise you, we will come to visit once things are settled here... I expect you'll still want to be part of her life after all"

"Uh... damn straight I'm going to be part of her life!" Leah said, a bit perturbed by the way this smug arrogant man was talking to her, "Who is this? Put Lexi on!"

"Lexi has a lot of preparing to do, I'm afraid..." Vektor said, "But don't worry, you'll be well represented here ... and while I unfortunately wasn't able to get your blessing ... I look forward to meeting you in the future ... well, the real you"

"The real you? What the hell does that ..." Leah snapped, before the line went dead.

Chris, Penelope, Mara, Spark, Sonia, and Josh all looked at Leah with a similar look of confusion.

Trevor meanwhile was focused on fixing the machine as the gang had managed to get SOME power to the devices using a combination of Spark's fairy energy and the flames from Penelopes feathers. Who knew that Phoenix Feathers made such a reliable power source? It was at least enough to get the machine humming as Trevor put the finishing touches on it using the quartz crystals. He was only familiar with such a machine at all from having seen Giovanni's old designs back in school. Whether or not the thing would still work would be a risky proposition.

"You guys?" Leah said worriedly, "I don't think we have much time... Lexi's in serious trouble ... or about to be married... I honestly can't tell which..."

"Well... regardless" Trevor said, trying to keep his cool despite everything going on, "you kept him on the phone long enough for me to get a trace..."

"You mean?" Leah asked hopefully

"It's not a gaurantee of course ... but if there's any way to control where this portal goes? We know from your fairy friend here the place is called Quartzaria and the coordinates given based on the phone call should put us ... hopefully in the right area to retrieve her ... I just don't know how long this portal will stay open or if we're going to have any way to contact Lexi in time to let her know the portal will be open..."

"We've gotta try!" Leah nodded, "Lexi needs us!"

But where was Lexi?

The answer to that would literally be on the black and white tiled marble floors of Vektor's palace where he'd walk by, forlorn to see his future bride in such condition. It would seem in her overecstatic state she got herself worked up again and passed out on the floor. He summoned a couple of his guards to bring the fallen girl to her chambers at the top of a tower he had set aside for her. It would be a lovely place to rest and hopefully she would feel more like herself in the morning.

"Please see to it that she's well rested and hydrated..." Vektor instructed the guards, "and make sure nobody disturbs her before the big day ... after all, we've a wedding to plan!"

It was many moons ago, when a younger Vektor approached his sorceror surpreme in his chambers atop a large gold and purple spire that stretched into the sky. Of course like so many Quartzarian monuments and buildings, this one was built with form and style before substance and function.

Speaking of function, Vektor was interested in seeing if his plan had succeeded... that is the plan to advance his father's work. Back during the rule of his father, Lord Hyperbole, the Kingdom enjoyed a wonderful peace, especially by Quartzarian standards where war and turmoil seemed to be quite common.

While not the entire cause, the Paradox Crystal, named after the sorcerer who made it was a valuable tool for the military of the former Lord, who rarely had to resort to such violence, as the Crystal allowed for his troops to spy on any potential opposition and squash any problems before they arose.

Vektor, while he agreed with the idea, thought it could be expanded in its scope. That's why when he took over as Lord of the Quartzarian Kingdom, the first thing he had Paradox work on was modifying the crystal to make it more powerful. Maybe TOO powerful. The new crystal proved unstable, even for Quartzarian soldiers who were use to the properties of the former one. They would shape shift erratically at times and be left in a state of trauma if left in their form for too long.

It was for this reason, Vektor had Paradox design one more modifier, although neither of the two were sure if it would be effective in controlling the gems one way or the other.

"So this is essentially ... a kill switch" Paradox instructed his master, handing over a small black and gray device that was about the size of a key fob, featuring a glowing red button, "although it can also act as a ... reactivation switch"

"How so?" Vektor asked curiously

"This switch is only to be used in case of emergencies... if somebody's paradox poisoning gets out of hand, it acts as a way to quickly dissipate the gem, but it's not known what long term effects there could be from just disintegrating so much magic at once ..." Paradox explained, "that's one use of it ... however, if somebody's already been inflicted with the paradox gem... even if they recover from it, it's possible there are still small traces of the poison in their body ... this button can also reactivate that small portion in them and ... basically cause them to revert again ... but ... chances are it'll be just as unpredictable as the initial change"

Vektor held onto the device with a curious gleam in his eye as Paradox attempted to take it back, finally getting it back onto his lab bench after an unusual amount of resistance from Lord Vektor as he loomed over the sorcerer's area turning and glancing over at Pandora, Paradox's sister only briefly before leaving the room.

Maybe they HAD gone too far in altering the paradox crystal ... but one had to be ready for every possibility ...

And that would of course eventually lead to present day and the approaching wedding that became the huge news around Vektor's lavish castle. Up in a large green emerald tower dwelled the bride to be, Alexis Cole, or at least... that's what Vektor's guards and most in the castle would logically assume.

Vektor himself knew better ... although he had hoped he hadn't worsened Lexi's condition somehow in his haste. If only she could have accepted the idea of being his interdimensional wife with a bit more class and maturity ... it might not have come to this. But Vektor always was more about style and substance than function. So activating the switch on Lexi was more or less within his nature.

Cold, calculating, greedy and hungry for power from the start, Vektor was attempting to turn over a new leaf and become a responsible, mature and loving man as he aged older and hoped his eventual marriage to Alexis would help him do just that. Well, it wasn't exactly off to an ideal start.

Outside of the tower, the two guards began to converse as all appeared quiet.

"This seems..."

"Like a very rash idea??" the other agreed with a nod

Lexi could feel it again ... the fog that overcame her mind from before. Although this time it almost felt more gentle. It made her want to ... lean into it. And so ... she slept. Unlike in the medical chamber where she had been gasping and screaming for air, she felt as if floating on a cloud, her eyes closing and giving way to sleep that she hadn't known in some time.

After the blissful slumber was over, Lexi felt as though her emotions had been wiped clean. She no longer felt the angst, anger, fear or any of the sadness she had been feeling lately.

But ... something still felt off. She wondered why her best friend didn't seem to want to hang out with her as much anymore ... ever since she became ShrinkGirl... she was very happy for her but she just felt like maybe ... spending time with silly old me was ...

The brunette woman blinked a few times, confusion striking her once more. "ShrinkGirl? Aren't I ShrinkGirl? Isn't ..."

The woman stumbled towards the mirror and let out a yelp. She saw the face of her best friend Leah Henderson staring back and yet that wasn't what scared her so much as seeing further back into the distance and noticing the orange skies and strange environment she was in. She turned around and noticed the bed. How had it taken her so long to notice? This wasn't her bed, this wasn't her home! She looked to be in some kind of twisted fairy tale.

And so, this led "Leah Henderson" to let out a great scream, immediately alerting the attention of the guards who dashed upstairs in a panic. Upon opening the door, they didn't see Alexis Cole, but rather the girl who looked similar to one whom their fellow guard Dagger had earlier shapeshifted into it. It was then they knew exactly what had occurred.

"Oh great ..." one of them sighed, "it's happened again!"

----

Back at the disheveled lab, it was all systems go as the ragtag team, headed by a technically off-duty cop, a former Enormo engineer and scientist, a fledgling young wizard with incredible elemental powers who couldn't think of a good pick up line to save his life, a spunky, well meaning and sometimes lucky elf named Mara, her fiery pet Penelope, a strong willed crimson clad Spark who saw herself as more than just a cute tiny fairy, and Lexi's best friend Leah Henderson.

Leah leaned back on the dusty old lab bench, glancing back at what had been the door of this building. It was blown clean off, and all along the perimeter of the lab walls were signs of extreme burning, similar to the collapsed lab from the city. Whatever this place was, it made little to no sense how it was built so fast or how it was similarly destroyed so fast.

Trevor was focusing on powering on the machine, watching as a series of breakers flipped on in a vertical sequence, all save for the last one which would flicker off, shutting down the power, not just on the machine but in the entire lab yet again as the group let out an audible groan.

"I'll get the switch..." Spark sighed in disgust, floating off and flipping the large switch to restore power. "But could we maybe please try not to fry the circuits again? We don't know how many uses that machine has left ... if any..."

"I wasn't TRYING to blow the power..." Trevor sighed, sounding a bit annoyed as he hunched over the lab bench with a wrench in his hand.

"I know... I'm ... I'm sorry..." Spark pouted, landing on the bench next to Trevor and offering him a supportive smile, "y-you can do it, Mr. Science Guy"

"M-My name's Trevor..." Trevor Hilfmann stuttered, looking down at the strangely charming young fairy as she glanced up at him, "you've known that for a while now"

"Oh I know!" Spark giggled, "But it's cuter if I give you the 'fairy eyes' and say something dopey like that"

"Ah, so you DO use your size like that" Chris smirked, offering a hand for the hapless fairy to fall back into like a butterfly net, an offer that she gladly accepted, flopping back as if landing on a futon. "Don't act all cute innocent like 'oh I'm a fairy, I never use my smallness for any of that..."

"Not my fault I'm cute..." Spark giggled, causing Chris to chuckle as well.

Leah broke her anxious stare for a moment to break a smile, observing Chris and Spark's undeniable chemistry.

"Can I just say you two are so adorable together?" Leah giggled, Josh also cracking a small smile.

"Hmm?" Spark asked, looking over as she floated out of Chris' hand, landing on her heels back on the lab bench, "what do you mean by that?"

Before Leah could answer however, the large Phoenix perched itself in front of Spark and briefly sniffed her, tilting its head as sparks crackled around it.

"Penelope ... no!" Mara said sternly, "No incinerating the fairy!"

"Well..." Spark said, a bit monotone in her delivery as she brushed a few wayward embers off her sleeve, "I wasn't worried about that ... until you put the thought in my head..."

Trevor looked over, observing what little "tools" he had at his disposal. Being a scientist, he often operated in logic and proven theories. He knew of many types of conventional energy ranging from electrical, solar, wind and even some uses of nuclear from his time at Enormo (although if anybody asked, that information was strictly classified)

Maybe he had to think a bit more outside the box though.

"Um... I'm sorry ... Ms. Fairy Lady..." Trevor stuttered, trying to return Spark's etiquette. Spark just raised an eyebrow as she looked up at the older scientist.

"Sorry, sir..." Spark sighed, a nervous smile crossing her face, "it's ... a bit more creepy when YOU do it... I ... don't know why..."

Even the rest of the ground, including the mostly silent Sonia Sanderson nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, what were you going to say, sir?" Spark asked, feeling bad if she had upset the older gentleman.

"Well ... huh... not sure how to say this ... but ... is there such a thing as ... uh ... fairy power?" Trevor asked, feeling a bit silly even uttering the words, "like not magic but ... energy specifically...?"

"Well ... yes actually" Spark nodded, happy to answer the question even if she didn't see where it's going. Chris on the other hand, had a few ideas of where he thought it was going and took slight exception to the implication.

"Hey, if you think you're going to have her run on a treadmill like some kind of hamster to somehow power the ... machine or whatever.. you can forget it... it's degrading and ... not even gauranteed to work and ..."

"I'll do it" Spark smiled and nodded, not even sure if that was the plan, "whatever the plan is to save Lexi, I'm in ... I'll give you as much of my fairy power as I can"

"...and she's totally down for it..." Chris mumbled, "and now I look like a jackass"

Leah leaned against Chris playfully and elbowed him a bit, "hey, gotta respect the fact that you defended your woman"

"She's not my ..." Chris said, looking a bit sad as his words trailed off. He just let out a great sigh.

"Well, I'm not sure it's going to be anything as rudimentary as that..." Trevor nodded, "but we can't seem to fire up this machine past a certain point ... fact is, there may not be enough juice left in this place to do the trick, but if we use some non-conventional means ... like we did to get the power back in the first place..."

Josh found himself perusing the area as well for any clues or hints on how to repower the machine. He let out a great sigh of his own as he remembered at least one potential roadblock that could stall their plan, "but ... we don't even know if Lexi is safe... or can hear us ... she has her cell phone but Leah said some guy had her captured"

"If I know Lexi the way I do..." Leah said confidently, "that guy will be sorry he dealt with Alexis Cole"

----

"But I'm not Alexis Cole!" a confused young woman who thought herself to be Leah Henderson said as she was sat down in a chair and surrounded by a few guards and Vektor himself who looked at her concerned. "You're talking about my best friend and I just wish you guys would tell me what you did with her! I ... I'd do anything..."

"Listen, I understand this is hard to comprehend..." Dagger sighed, trying to walk the confused woman through the process again. Before he had a chance though, he was interuppted by a deviously thinking Vektor who stepped forward into the fray.

"Anything you say?" Vektor asked

"Leah' looked at the hefty onyx clad gentlemen and gulped.

"I'm not going to hurt you..." Vektor said, holding his hands up where she could see them, "I'm just saying ... what if there were ... a way to bring Lexi back?"

"Back from where?!" "Leah" grunted shaking her head, tears forming in her eyes. She just wanted her best friend back.

"Okay look..." Vektor sighed, "this is all going to be very hard to believe..."

"My best friend can shrink herself!" "Leah" said, shaking her head in resilience and crossing her arms, "I've danced with fairies with her ... I ... I can believe a lot ... I'm going to be okay ... I mean, she's going to be okay..."

The slip of the tongue proved a bit worrisome for Vektor. The corruption might not last long before she remembered who she truly was.

"Lexi is caught in a vortex..." Vektor said, hanging his head

"Okay, well how do we get her out?!" "Leah" asked, still trembling. She still didn't remember anything that led to this point. She just remembered waking up in the strange castle and being stopped by guards when she tried to leave the room. From there, they took her to see Vektor who tried telling her that she was actually Lexi and that she was set to marry the strange man.... but how? Why? Would Lexi really go off and get married without telling her?

"Well... I was going to try ... to reason with the one who has her captured there ... " Vektor said soft and slow, his own guards shooting him looks of confusion at the concocted story, "They say ... if I want to save Lexi ... I have to get married in the next 24 hours"

Leah gave the strange warrior a raised eyebrow, "I'm sorry what?"

"I don't get it either!" Vektor stammered, his lie falling apart fast, "Th-That's why I was going to marry Lexi ... just as a means to save my friend Emerald, but before that could happen, they captured Lexi and now they want me to get married anyway..."

"So... there's some of monster that captures people in vortexes and only lets them go if somebody gets married?" Leah asked.

Vektor hung his head and began to walk out of the room, "N-Never mind... I ... I knew you wouldn't believe it ... let's go, men. We'll have to save Lexi some other way..."

The men were utterly incredulous. Was he really going to lie to Alexis this way? They reluctantly hung their heads and began to shuffle out of the room along with Vektor before the voice of "Leah Henderson" could be heard once more, a shaky confidence arising out of it.

"I'll do it"

------

In the mechanical room of the castle, it was clear time was running out. Vektor's latest scheme was unknown to Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald as they hung over a hard at work Smoke.

"You know..." Smoke sighed, a bit irritated as the three ladies crowded his already limited space, "this won't go any faster with you watching"

"Oh. Sorry." Sapphire whimpered

Ruby appeared less sorry, simply leaning against the concave wall of the machinery room and looking around for any signs of guards coming.

"So how are we going to do this?" Ruby asked, "we need to get Lexi out of there ... we need to get her here and there won't be much time to do so before the portal closes from what you're telling me..."

"...the cell phone" Smoke sighed

"Hmm?"

"I gave Vektor Lexi's cell phone" Smoke explained, drawing a very aggressive step forward from Ruby, who's fists were clenched

"Well what the hell did you do that for?!" Ruby sighed, "Who knows kind of information is stored on there?"

"Enough for Vektor to clone a couple of her friends as part of this madness..." Smoke sighed, "look, I messed up but ..."

"You're damn right you messed up!" an irate Ruby continued her verbal assault before Emerald attempted in vain to subdue her.

"BUT..." Smoke continued, "if we can get the cell phone back, we can try to call through ..."

"You mean?" Sapphire asked

"Yes... I made some modifications to the phone, so it can call through to anyone on her contact list ... and vice versa... chances are Vektor has the phone now" Smoke explained, "but if we can get it back..."

"We can get it to Lexi and she can let her friends know what's going on..." Emerald nodded, "we can then trace where the call goes and get approximate coordinates to get her home..."

"Okay... so we have a plan then?" Sapphire asked, a bit nervously.

"We have an IDEA" Smoke said, pressing the last quartz gem into place to complete the outer rim on the machine. It was the final component needed to complete the portal machine which now hummed to life, "but still, we have to get the phone back first..."

Sapphire peeked around the corner nervously before retreating back into the room.

"Shit." Sapphire sighed, looking at Ruby, "Vektor's coming"

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked

"Yes! It's Vektor! What do we do?" Sapphire asked in a hurry

"Emerald!" Vektor said from down the hall, "I'd like to see you, please"

Emerald mouthed the words "me?" pointing to herself in confusion. The others just shrugged.

"I have an idea..." Ruby said as Vektor got closer. "Emerald, get out there and just distract him... see what he wants ... talk to him ... preferably far far from here..."

Ruby then looked at Smoke and nodded

"Wh-What?" Smoke asked

"You got any paradox crystals?" Ruby asked.

Sapphire simply raised an eyebrow, not liking where this was going.

"Emerald..." Vektor asked in a serious tone as the two walked side by side down the palace corridor, "you have some experience as a tailor, correct?"

"I ... do?" Emerald responded, a bit dumbfounded, "but ... what is this about, Lord Vektor?"

"Well... there's a been a bit of a ... complication..." Vektor sighed, "you see, Lexi's paradox poisoning seems to have taken a turn ... she's kind of uh ... changed body types ..."

"Oh?"

"She seems fine otherwise though" Vektor said, his thumb perched under his chin in thought, "but ... since she's now ... well, a different figure, we may have to make some alterations to her dress..."

"I see..." Emerald nodded, for the moment just going along with Ruby's plan to distract Vektor while personally upset that he seemed more concerned with the wedding than Lexi's condition, "and you're sure she's okay?"

"Yes yes ..." Vektor said, very quick to skirt the question, "even though she now appears to be someone else, she's retained her normal personality and says she wants to have the wedding nonetheless"

"And ... you need me to ... alter the dress?" Emerald asked

"If it's not too much trouble, I realize it's short notice... I just want this wedding to be perfect!" Vektor said, while noticing another figuring sidling up beside them, "Yes, Smoke?"

"Lord Vektor" the ingenuitive guard said, "I'm afraid I'll need to borrow Alexis' cellular device for a moment..."

"Oh?" Vektor asked, "And why is that, Smoke?"

"I realize I didn't finish the proper modifications ... if we're not careful, the people from Lexi's home dimension may be able to track us ... if you'd allow me to borrow the phone, Lord Vektor, I could put a scrambling device in it to avoid such a possibility..." Smoke said, nodding.

"Hmmm... good thinking I suppose" Vektor said, handing the phone hesitantly to Smoke, "although I have to say I'm a bit surprised at your change of heart ... you were afraid to even touch this device before..."

"Well, I figure since Lexi has agreed to the wedding, there's no need to cause any more undue drama, sir" Smoke said with a reluctant nod, "we can always remove the scrambler after the ceremony"

"Very well then, make it so" Vektor said, dismissing his master mechanic at once while he continued to talk to Emerald.

Back at the increasingly hectic lab, things were quickly in motion. Dr. Hilfmann... Hoffnung... had constructed a small power conduit for Spark to help energize the machine. Spark had no reservations about stepping inside the power box sized device before a hand stopped her. It was the doctor himself.

"If you're not sure about this ... you don't have to do it..." Trevor said reassuringly, recalling some of his ... darker days at Enormo where unethical tests would be run under his watch, or at least he highly suspected it. He wanted nothing more than to seperate himself from his past work.

Spark nodded,

"I understand the risks ... if it gets to be too much, I'll let you know ..." Spark said with a nod, stepping into the chamber and nodding as a signal to activate it.

As the machine began to whir to life, it would almost be expected that one might not hear the slight vibrations of a cell phone, but Josh was pretty perceptive as it was and quickly snatched up the phone.

"Oh shit, it might be Lexi" Josh said, about to open the call again when an anxious Leah Henderson snatched the phone away.

"Lemme see!" Leah said, picking up the call. Josh simply rolled his eyes since the option to hand the phone to her was already taken from him quite literally.

"Lexi?!" Leah asked worriedly, her voice projecting over the sounds of the machinery as it snapped and flickered behind her.

"It's not Lexi..." a hushed female voice said, walking down some stairs towards a basement in the palace, her voice producing slight acoustical echoes as she spoke. Leah again grew angry, not sure who this group was that kidnapped her best friend.

"Whoever you are..." Leah said, "We will find you and we will..."

"Miss, please..." the woman said, revealed to be Ruby holding the cell phone. "My name is Ruby ... I'm from the Quartzaria kingdom..."

After a long pause, Ruby quickly surmised that this information had no bearing on the being on the other end of the line.

"OKay look, that's not important ... I know where your friend is and we're all trying to help her..." Ruby sighed

"Who's we all?" Leah asked as the machine continued to give off sparks. Mara let out a yelp as one almost touched her.

"My sisters and I ... and some other guards ... look, I realize this is a lot..." Ruby said, "We are working to get Lexi free and when we do, we're going to need your help ... as we speak I'm tracing your coordinates so that we can hopefully send her back to you ... like directly TO you..."

"You mean?" Leah asked

"We have a portal transducer" Ruby explained, hoping the other person knew what that meant, and unaware that the humans on the other end were working on their own such thing.

"Oh no kidding?" Leah asked, almost casually compared to everything else to that point, "we do too ..."

Just then there'd be a yelp and a scream on the other end, as another fuse popped, causing a couple lights to go out and a usually calm Trevor Hilfmann would let out a curse while Sonia yelled "what was that?!"

"...it's uh ... still in progress..." a sheepish Leah replied.

"Hmmm..." Ruby thought aloud, realizing what must've been happening, "You're repairing the machine that sent Vektor and Lexi here, correct?"

"Vektor?" Leah asked, "is that the douche who picked up the phone earlier?"

"...most likely..." Ruby groaned but with a slight smirk, "that could be a very good thing though ... the machine we're working on is also of his design ... meaning if we sync this up right, we can return Lexi through a portal that is more or less gauranteed to produce a tunnel through to where you are"

"Yeah? That's great!" Leah exclaimed, drawing some interest from the others while Mara grabbed a fire extinguisher that just happened to be in working order, hosing down an area of the lab table that caught fire while Penelope fluttered about erratically.

"Y-Yeah ... so you sure your machine is almost ready?" Ruby asked

"Oh yeah..." Leah said, exuding a similar confidence to before her final exams, while the others worked on the machine, "it's like 5-10 minutes away ... make that 15..."

"Okay well, you may have more time than that..." Ruby said, "I'll keep you posted and hopefully the next voice you'll hear is Lexi's..."

"If you talk to her again soon..." Leah said, turning the phone closer to herself as she got a bit teary eyed, "tell her I miss her a bunch... my name's Leah"

"So you're the real Leah, huh?" Ruby asked

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Leah asked in confusion

"N-Never mind..." Ruby sighed, "Just know that ... your friend is ... kinda amazing"

"Like I don't know..." Leah grinned, "I'd like to think she learned everything she knows from me"

"Oh? So you two are kind of alike?" Ruby asked

"I guess you could say that" Leah replied with a grin

Neither Leah or Ruby knew just how true that statement was as a frantic "Leah Henderson" was trying to find a way to escape from the high Emerald Spire that served as her bridal quarters. There was no way she was buying Vektor's stupid silly story of needing to marry him to save Lexi. The whole thing defied logic, even as she felt to be in no position to question anything.

Glancing back at the bridal gown hanging on the door, she'd shake her head, running her hand through the empty form. It wasn't terrible but seemed awfully garish, various fibers of gold threading running up its purple facade. It looked like something Lexi might wear, and while she usually liked the combo of gold and purple, it just didn't work here. "Leah" would shake her head, needing to focus on her more pressing goal. Finding a way out of the spire.

She looked down out the window seeing it was a big drop and let out a gulp.

"What would Lexi do here?" "Leah" sighed.

Suddenly, the dazed and confused Leah duplicate would hear a knock at the door, slightly startling her as she backed away from the window.

"Lexi..." she heard a female voice whispering.

"Um... come in?" the confused young woman answered. She gasped as a blonde woman in green and gold walked into the room with a blade on her arm. "Whoa whoa whoa, who the hell are you?"

"Lexi, it's me ... Emerald!" the desperately frantic woman tried to explain, "listen ... I know you're scared and ..."

"Please!!" "Leah" sighed, nearly brought to tears as she backed away, "just help me find my best friend, okay? Help me find Lexi ..."

"Listen to me!" Emerald said with a bit more of a forceful tone in her voice, this would draw "Leah" to repel back a bit, reaching her hand out defensively, "this is not you, Lexi ... please... you have to fight this..."

"I don't know you..." the angry "Leah" replied, staring at Emerald as she advanced on her, looking down to notice odd sparks emanating from her own fingertips. What in the world?

The next thing the wannabe Leah Henderson knew, she was watching in shock (some pun intended) as the taller knight began shrinking before her eyes. She tried to pull her hand back but there seemed to be a strong electromagnetic hold on Emerald, as Leah watched the green clad knight shrink into a little doll size version of herself.

"Um... okay..." Emerald giggled a bit nervously, looking up at "Leah", "well ... c'mon, surely that isn't something that THIS particular girl you are can do ..."

"I ... I guess not..." "Leah" said, blinking a few times before beginning to see flashes of her past -- including the time she shrank Rachel Rutschmann, Gloria Graff, and ... even Leah Henderson herself. "Leah" would hold her head and stumble back. Emerald would simply watch, hoping that Lexi would come to at some point soon and grow her back, since Emerald wasn't quite sure how the young woman's size changing powers worked.

"Leah" stared down at the ground, seeing the tiny Emerald as flashes of memories flooded her mind and soon began changing her body back into its former state.

Emerald looked up, relieved to see Lexi feeling and literally being more "herself"

"So uh ..." Emerald chuckled nervously, looking up at the giant Lexi, "would it be too much trouble to ask for a reversal?"

"Oh my gosh!" Lexi gasped a bit, "I am SO sorry ... of course..."

Lexi knelt down and gently poked Emerald, causing an electrical field to surround her body, slowly regaining her former size. Lexi sighed in relief, glad it was that easy. She had noticed her powers had become a bit more effective since coming to this strange dimension. Perhaps it was a by-product of the world's electrical atmosphere or something else entirely but Lexi felt a bit more sure handed even when it came to something like shrinking or growing someone else. Perhaps it could have also been the experience factor.

Emerald opened her mouth, about to deliver some news to Lexi before a parade of trumpets filled the air outside. Lexi looked outside confused to see confetti and more pink phoenix birds circling the courtyard outside of the castle. It was then the full gravity of the moment hit her again ... this was her "wedding day" wasn't it?

"Oh good lord..." Lexi sighed, a hand to her head.

"I know ..." Emerald chuckled nervously, "look, we have some good news"

"Oh?" Lexi perked up, "I could really use some"

With that, Ruby slipped into the room next, holding onto Lexi's cell phone. Lexi smirked and took the phone.

"Well I appreciate that, but I doubt it gets long distance..." Lexi sighed, looking at the phone to notice it did seem a bit different.

"That's where you'd be wrong ..." Ruby smirked

Sapphire would be the next to enter the room, a glowing white crystal behind her back as she stood nervously in the threshold.

"A-Are we ready for the plan?" Sapphire asked

"The plan?" Lexi asked

"We have an idea..." Ruby nodded, huddling up with the ladies.

----

"Lexi? Is that you?" Leah exclaimed hopefully back in the makeshift lab at the heart of the Fenster Forest back in Miniborough.

"The one and only" Lexi nodded, "We don't have much time ... but Ruby and the others have a plan ... I'll give you a call when I'm close to the portal ... if this works, as long as you trigger your portal machine around the same time as we trigger ours, I should come out whereever you guys are"

"You hear that, guys?" Leah said, referring to the others in the room as they were on speakerphone, "We've got a plan ... let's do this!"

"You got a whole posse there, huh?" Lexi smirked, hearing footsteps approaching, "Oh shoot, I've gotta go for now..."

"Copy that ... hang tight, girl" Leah said, as she disconncted from Lexi for now, looking over at Trevor and Spark who was helping to power the machine, "you guys ready?"

"As ready as we're going to get ..." Trevor sighed, while Spark gave a thumbs up from within the power conduit, her hair a bit frizzy as red electricty crackled around her although she seemed to be fine and not in pain.

----

The trumpets sounded the arrival of the groom, dressed in black and gold (as usual) riding in on a crystal horse. Stepping onto the cobblestone path as several dozen people gathered was none other than self appointed Lord Vektor. He'd wave to the people as they cheered joyously, music echoing harmoniously from the rooftops to commemorate the coming nuptials of Vektor and Alexis.

In the distance stood a hesitant Alexis Cole, dolled up in a floofy purple and gold dress as she hesitantly took a few steps forward, ushered on by a few of the castles makeup artists and tailors. She'd seem to be glued to the ground as her steps were slow and hesitant, she'd hold her breath hoping this plan would work.

Up in a balcony a decent distance away was Ruby, leaning on the window frame with grave intent. She'd glance down at her own wrist to see the holographic image of Emerald.

"Are you sure about this??" Emerald asked, "I mean, I know we're trying to help Lexi but this is ... serious shit if you pull this off..."

"Extreme times ... call for extreme measures..." Ruby sighed, looking through the sights of what appeared to be a futuristic sniper rifle, looking through the reticle as it shook wildly, her aim squarely on Vektor as he took the altar. "Besides, I'm not going to kill him ... I just need to cause a distraction ... how are things on your end?"

"I'm just about in position ..." Emerald whispered, leaning against a purple car which was up on a pedestal. It was meant to be a wedding gift for the bride to be, none other than the shiny purple Pontathlon Stratacruze.

"It's going to work ..." Ruby said, keeping her aim steady, "... it has to"

An anxious Vektor stood at the end of the aisle as the gathered Quartzarians stood up at the sight of the beautiful Alexis Cole as she walked down the aisle. Lexi wasn't sure how to react, giving shy waves to the people as they hailed her like some kind of princess. It would be more appreciated if not for the dire circumstances. This wasn't exactly how the shy brunette pictured her wedding day.


The confetti fell at Lexi's feet as she made her way down the aisle. The walk felt like an eternity and to be fair it was longer than most aisles for a wedding, spanning almost a half mile and as extravagant as anything this kingdom had to offer. She looked up and around nervously, anxiously anticipating what was to come and she didn't mean the wedding vows.

A momentary calmness fell over the amethyst sky as the music subsided and the crowd fell into a hushed silence, taking their seats as a hefty male wearing a green and pink suit jacket rose from behind the pulpit.

"Dearly beloved..." the boisterous man proclaimed, as Vektor gave Lexi an excited nod, finding her stunning in the Quartzarian dress. "We are gathered here today to join Vektor and Alexis in the holiest of matrimonies..."

While the dreaded ceremony prattled on, Lexi looked around worriedly, noticing very slight green streaks in the sky which she wrote off to unusual weather. After all, she still wasn't quite familiar with the weather patterns (or anything) in this new realm she found herself in. She just knew she didn't intend to spend the rest of her life there -- let alone as Vektor's housewife.

It finally reached the point of the ceremony for the vows. Emerald watched on nervously from beside the purple car.

"Dearest Alexis..." Vektor said, in a deep sincere tone. Lexi just stood and watched, her smile wavering from nervous to anxious as her eyes darted every which way, her body shaking a bit, "I don't fully comprehend the circumstances which brought you into my life, but I know it was for a very important reason ... it will be my honor to have you and treasure you for the rest of eternity..."

Vektor went to grab Lexi's hand. She reluctantly took his handin hers but her face was showing signs of serious doubt even as Vektor continued to wax poetically.

"and Lexi ..." Vektor sighed, continuing to show an odd vulnerability, all while the other ladies stayed focused on their mission. "When I'm with you, I just feel like ... nothing else matters..."

"Uh-huh..." the anxious dolled up Lexi responded, her mouth barely opening as she mumbled, her eyes noticing the green streaks getting closer, while exchanging a glance with Emerald and peering off towards a balcony in the far distance.

Ruby remained perched there, her aim becoming a little shakier as the time drew near.

"C'mon..." Ruby whispered "keep it together, Sapphire..."

But unbeknownst to Ruby, Vektor, the soon to be wed Lexi or Emerald who was staking out the purple Stratacruze, the streaks of green lightning were approaching the castle were much more ferocious velocity than what had originally appeared. What would normally be written off as a flash in the sky or some random occurrence was becoming clearer and clearer to not be the case.

As all these things were concurring, Emerald had a small microchip looking device pressed to Lexi's future car. It let out a very slight click as it had remotely unlocked the car. After which, the chip unfolded itself into something resembling a key. Emerald slid her body against the car door and would turn the key while the bystanders were all focused on the ceremony.

Lexi's hands continued to shake as the intimidating man acting as priest turned to her now, as if it was her turn to deliver the vows. Her lips shook as she looked at Vektor, her hands almost feeling trapped in a vice grip as she tried to take them back, she turned back towards the anticipating crowd as they hung on every word, and raised an eyebrow at Vektor's look as he stared back at her with intent.

"I'm sorry ..." Lexi stammered, beginning to glitch out a little. This understandably caused the first few rows to back away as sparks flew from her. "...I ... I can't do this!"

"Ruby..." Emerald whispered to her wrist as she slipped the key and something else into the passenger seat of the now opened purple car, noting the spectators drawing their attention to the developing scene as the wedding was quickly turning into a nightmarish magic show.

"Lexi!" Vektor yelped, grabbing her around the shoulders and gently shaking her, "are you alright?"

Lexi's once soft brown eyes warped wildly back and forth between brown and blue, her hair seeming to do the same as she had gently scratched the back of her neck once releasing her hand from Vektor's. In doing so, she activated the impedence gem that had been implanted there by her sisters, thus undoing the paradox transformation. So in reality, Vektor's "bride to be" was actually Sapphire in Paradoxed disguise.

Before that surprise could fully sink in, the entire front row, Vektor, Sapphire and the priest were nearly blasted by the impending green lightning was it fell from the sky, a large blast erupting and striking a castle wall hard causing a great tremor while a flabbergaster Vektor gently pushed Sapphire aside, her body sparking blue while she recovered.

"What the hell??" Emerald snapped at Ruby on her wrist comm, "I told you to cause a distraction, not blow up the place!"

"That... wasn't me..." a concerned Ruby said as she headed back down the spiral staircase to try to head back towards the courtyard, the green lightning only serving as a prelude for what was to come.

Meanwhile, Emerald nervously bumped the car door with her elbow as it shut. That was the signal.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Vektor shrieked, heading towards a frightened Sapphire as she scooted back, shreds of Lexi's intended wedding dress on the cobblestone path as she looked up at a fleet of flying black dragons. "If you're not Lexi, where IS she?!"

Right on cue, the bright piercing lights of the Pontathlon Stratacruze fired up as the engine let out a loud and powerful vroom. Lexi herself smirked, having grown back to normal as she clutched the wheel. Her smug victory was short lived though as she watched the invasion scene unfold from the skies.

The first part of their plan had worked nearly perfectly. In disguising Sapphire as Lexi, they had created a "decoy bride" to keep Vektor and his ill-begotten fantasies satisfied long enough for Emerald to sneak a shrunken Lexi over to the purple car as a means to escape. Ruby's part HAD been to cause a distraction by launching a mock attack on the wedding but it turns out she wasn't needed as Paradox and Pandora themselves were descending, both piloting latge crystal dragons as they landed, the crowdspeople screaming far and wide to give their creatures areas large enough for their landing.

Lexi looekd on disgusted to see the diabolical duo return although strangely they were a slightly less frightening sight to see than Vektor who had basically become like an interdimensional stalker to her. She heard a *bzzt* on her wrist comm and looked down to see Ruby who was in motion while talking, having run out of the castle tower and was in a location that was back and to the left of where Pandora and Paradox made their uninvited grand entrance.

"Lexi, what are you doing?" Ruby asked, "get out of there! Smoke is waiting in the portal room!"

"I can't just leave you guys!" Lexi said, a genuine concerned look on her face even as she started the car and began to drive it towards the wedding procession.

"Go! Please!!" Ruby said, as Emerald cut in, her face appearing in a seperate slot on the holographic monitor in front of Lexi's face. "We've got this"

"I'm with her!" Emerald said, "We'll cover you ... we'll give you time... just get in the castle and get back home safe, okay?"

Lexi frowned a bit, "I'm really going to miss you guys..."

"Just go!!" Ruby said, her voice a bit shrill as she was about to be attacked from behind. She turned away and in doing so turned off her wrist comm to slash at a flying crystal bat that threatened to snap her neck off otherwise. Emerald finished the moment for her distracted sister with a nod and nothing more.

Lexi put her head down, her heart racing in a million different directions but her car was only driving in one ... straight towards the castle.

"Well well well..." a smug Pandora laughed watching the chaos unfold before their attack had even truly began, "you really thought you could leave us for dead at the castle?"

"Now now, sister..." Paradox joked, "we shouldn't be TOO rude today ... it appears it's finally Vektor's wedding day ... and where is your bride? Oh is that her? Driving away?"

The two would laugh callously, driving Vektor to further violence. He quickly unleashed a gold lance that seemed to generate from his holster and slashed at Paradoz who put his solid diamond plated armored armor up to protect him.

"Don't you DARE talk about my bride to be that way!" Vektor yelled, "this day is not about you!"

"Well it kinda is Vek..." Pandora shrugged, "Since you went and trashed OUR place, we figured it's only fair we come crash with you for a while... you don't mind now, do you?"

Sapphire remained on the ground, cowering in fear but running towards the trio eventually.

"What are you waiting for?" Vektor asked, pointing to Pandora and Paradox as they flanked him, "Get them! Get these riff raff out of my kingdom!"

Indeed Sapphire did begin to draw a sword that similarly generated from her pocket and it was none other than the radiant sword. She flew into the air and let out a powerful shriek, causing Lexi to even turn back for a moment while she drove quickly for the castle entrance. The scene played out like an epic action movie with Sapphire about to strike a deadly blow into the heart of ...

Vektor.

Vektor shrieked, blocking the attack with his own lance but in doing so it shattered entirely, leaving only gold fragments on the decorated ground around him and a very infuriated Sapphire looking at him as if she were possessed. Even Pandora and Paradox were confused.

"You ...." Vektor growled, generating another sword, this one a red laser sword from his holster, "YOU... YOU... UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BRAT!!"

As Vektor went to strike the blow against Sapphire with the sword and Sapphire shrank back in fear, he was met with more resistance than just Sapphire's guarded sword. Ruby and Emerald stepped forward with Emerald taking a slash across the side of the face in an attempt to save Sapphire.

"YOU FINALLY SHOW THE GUTS TO FIGHT!!" Vektor screamed at Sapphire, slashing at her furiously. Stood in his path and threw a slash at her former "Lord Vektor" but her sword was shattered against the laser sword's might, "AND YOU FIGHT FOR THE WRONG SIDE!! YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO THIS KINGDOM!!"

"I WANT NO PART OF THIS AND I MADE THAT CLEAR FROM THE VERY BEGINNING!!" Sapphire screamed, blue sparks flying from her sword as she repelled the advancing knight for a moment, Pandora and Paradox cautiously approached before she turned her attention to them, "Just to be clear, I don't like you clowns either"

Pandora shrugged while Paradox remained a bit still, neither seeming offended. They both just found it funny that so much damage had been done to Vektor's kingdom, and more importantly, his credibility without them having to do a thing except for show up.

Ruby, also a bit injured from her run in with Vektor went to check on her sister Emerald who lay on the ground in pain, her face sparking a bit as a red streak was across it.

"Shit, we gotta get you inside!" Ruby said, a single tear trickling from her face.

"I'll be fine ... just ... keep Vek... away ..." Emerald sighed, her voice fading fast, "...from ... Lex..."

Lexi herself was too concentrated on trying to get away and unfortunately had to forgo the drama and battle with Vektor and the warrior women. Instead she had to deal with a wall of crystal knights that stood in her way. Even though she had a car and that car was made of a material far stronger than anything in her home dimension, she'd still surely be smashed if she drove right into the knights or the castle. Thankfully she didn't have to go through them. She only needed to go under them.

"And .... shrink thrusters, don't fail me now!" Lexi yelped, throwing the gear which caused the car to shrink, not sure if "shrink thrusters" were even a thing but she just felt badass saying it.

Lexi would normally have shielded her eyes due to the quick flashes that occurred but she had to stay focused, not just as a driver, but as the driver of a car that was getting very, very tiny along with her, resembling a purple hot wheels car as it skidded into the castle, strangely giving her an advantage over the larger but slower foes as they turned to give chase.

Outside the castle, Paradox and Pandora both took a couple of shots at their hated rival Vektor, blasting him with green fire. Sapphire and Ruby both helped up Emerald, each taking one of her arms and helping her to her feet, neither of them even bothering to defend Vektor. Similarly, neither Paradox nor Pandora seemed intent on picking off any of the trio of sisters. It was as if neither side had a beef with each other and they only wanted Vektor. As far as Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald were concerned, they could have him.

Lexi frantically dialed her cell phone while keeping a single hand on the wheel, noticing a couple of tower sized legs slam down in front of her, she'd swerve wildly as reinforcements had been sent in to join the developing fight against Paradox. They weren't even going for Lexi and her tiny car, they just happened to be charging her way now.

On the other end of the line was Leah as the gang on the other side, back in the Fenster Lab were having troubles of their own, the machine only showing intermittent signs of power. Leah answered the phone frantically

"Lexi?!" Leah said, looking behind her to see a purple portal flickering on and off through the ring of the machine as it struggled. She could also hear on Lexi's end all of the weird tremors but also a whooshing noise around her, "...wait, are you driving?"

"It's a long story, but yes!" Lexi yelped, dodging another larger creature as its foot blocked her path, "wait didn't we tell you the plan?"

"Well you mentioned a car, yes but I figured that was just to get away in!" Leah said, getting her hopes up as the portal machine fired up, only to watch it fizzle out again, "I don't think an entire CAR is going to fit through this machine!"

"This one will, don't worry" Lexi said, in a strangely calm voice as she bared her eyes with determination speeding towards the portal room, "I don't have much time though! So please... open the portal as soon as you can!"

"You guys!" Leah said, turning her head to the side, "we need more power...!"

Lexi sighed, hoping this would work. Thankfully for Leah and the others, her estimate of being "almost there" was a bit off, as at her relative size, the distance to the portal machine was more like a mile or so.

Back outside the castle however, Vektor wasn't going to go down without a fight. Having turned to look back at the castle, he had watched the scene of Lexi's purple car shrinking itself to fit through the castle's entrance and was more determined to catch it than ever, throwing back the green flames that had only slightly dissolved parts of his armor.

"I don't have time for you charlatans!" Vektor shouted, slashing his sword through the air and producing a wave of red plasma that momentarily threw the magical pair back while he started towards the castle.

Sapphire yelped, letting Emerald down easy as she'd run into the castle to pursue him.

"Sapphire!" Ruby grunted,doing her best to set Emerald softly on a knee. Emerald shook her off and stood of her own accord. "Where are you ... what are you doing?!"

"She's being the warrior we always knew she could be..." Emerald said with a proud smirk despite the gash on her face. She herself would turn back preparing to swat at a crystal bat as it flew for her but strangely it whizzed right past. In fact it seemed all of Paradox' forces were going straight for the black knight Vektor as he fled into his own castle to try and make one last plea with his currently tiny and armored bride in the shrunken car.

Back on the other side, Trevor had the machine ready to go and was typing in the coordinates

"And you said she was ready?" Trevor asked nervously as the machine twitched and shook. It was almost like any use of its power was near debilitating for it. This machine seemed as though made of components that were already once or twice rebuilt.

"Yes! Please!!" Leah said, getting another call.

"Please tell me you have it!" Lexi said as her car whizzed towards the portal on her end, she bid a friendly wave goodbye to Smoke who noticed the tiny toy like car driving by his feet.

"We got it, we got it, we got it!" Leah exclaimed, watching the machine's quartz crystals outline the rim and glow a burning red before they almost burnt out, another jolt leaving Spark worn out as she was getting tired even with her wealth of fairy energy, she fell to the ground in a heap and let out a groan as the machine began to fail again.

"We... don't got it..." a forlorn Chris added, watching the portal vanish and reappear before vanishing again.

"Trevor!" Leah yelped, covering her mouth for a second, "s-sorry ... Doctor... do something!"

"I'm trying but I'm running out of ideas.. everything is installed as it should be... we've exhausted every possible energy option available!" Dr. Hilfmann sighed as he opened a panel just under the makeshift power conduit. Josh leaned over the machine for a moment, reaching his hand in between a couple of blue wires that weren't quite touching. "Wh-What are you doing? That's extremely dangerous!!"

"Well, have you tried maybe patching these wires back up? I think I have some tin foil in my pocket..." Josh said casually, unfolding a small piece of aluminum foil that he began to use as gauze to fuse the cables

"I've been studying engineering for more than half my life!" Trevor exclaimed, a bit frustrated by the situation already as they all had been, "you think I didn't try..."

"Got it!" Josh yelped, moving his hands back before a nasty flash of electricity could ensnare them.

As Trevor stood there dumbfounded, Leah shouted back into the phone "We've got it!"

For a moment, Lexi asked herself in a profound way, "...what's taking so long here?" before realizing that while she was punching the car at full speed, she was still tiny.

To emphasize that fact she heard a loud boom as Smoke fell to his knees, having been struck by a blast clear through his chest. He slumped over, seemingly dead. Lexi let out a shriek but that was only the beginning of her nightmares as a giant black and gold boot came slamming down. Lexi wasn't going to be able to turn in time.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!" Lexi squeaked, closing her eyes and bracing for impact.

"Leave her alone!!" another voice yelled out again. Sapphire struck just enough of a blow on Vektor to send his ankle back enough for Lexi to make the last minute adjustment, she drove in a straight path around the now cleared area too fast to even properly thank Sapphire but tears fell from her eyes as she drove into the swirling portal, knowing that whatever happened, she'd likely never see her or the other ladies again.

Vektor yelped, more concerned with the portal machine than the attacking Sapphire. He took a single step forward to try and enter the portal himself before Sapphire threw the sword at its upper most corner, causing one of the quartz crystals powering it to explode. The remaining crystals would all pop like lightbulbs around the perimeter of the machine causing it to shut down and spark.

"You fucking brat!!" Vektor snapped, stomping the castle ground so hard that it shook, a small crack forming in the stone floor of the lab as he loomed over now unarmed self while the radiant sword remained lodged in the now useless portal machine. "You've ruined everything! You are fucking finished, you hear me?!"

Before Vektor could take another step, a sword was put in his way, that sword glowing red. Another sword was put in his path shortly thereafter and it glowed a distinct green and gold. As if that weren't enough, a fleet of crystal beasts flanked both Ruby and Emerald who led the charge.

"You'll have to answer to US first, Vektor!" Ruby sneered, as Emerald tended to her shellshocked sister, helping her up.

------

The portal machine, or whatever remained of it would jerk and crackle only a few more times as the resultant portal gave way, fizzling out entirely, although not before a tiny car would make its way across the steel floors of the lab. This would go largely unnoticed by everyone though including the long haired brunette herself, Leah Henderson who let out an audible weep as the power failed one last time, the lab left in darkness.

"No!"

The gang simply stood there in solemn silence, even Penelope hanging her wings a bit as she landed on a table. Mara frowned. Chris looked at the now non-functional machine with a hint of disdain. Josh just looked devastated, especially as he stared at the small Spider-Man bouncy ball he had received not too long ago.

"Fuck..." Leah sighed, falling on a knee and hanging her head.

Lexi opened her eyes, still in her car. It was dark though but she heard a sound she never liked to hear. It was Leah, but she was crying.

"This is all my fault..." Leah said, the words too choked up for most people to hear, but Lexi understood every one of them.

Lexi took a few moments to compose herself, finally figuring out what had happened, although not quite sure where she was. She disengaged the key from the car's ignition which caused the LED lights to briefly flash on. Chris gave a curious look to that area for a moment as the shiny white lights were extra noticeable due to the advanced darkness surrounding the gang.

"Um.... you guys?" Chris said, sounding a bit skeptical, but hopeful, "d-did you see that?"

"See what?" Leah asked, her voice and tone still bitter

"Yeah, I did..." Josh answered, his own tone sounding a bit more excited.

Sonia pulled out her flashlight and focused the beam down, revealing a tiny purple car.

"The hell?" Chris asked, "did we maybe open the portal to a hot wheels dimension or something?"

"Dude. Bad timing..." Josh scoffed, before nodding, "although hot wheels world does sound kinda cool"

"Right?" Chris whispered

"It's ... a car..." Leah whispered, careful not to make any sudden motions in case its tiny driver potentially showed up. "L-Lexi mentioned she was in a car before ..."

Suddenly, the young woman's phone rang. She picked it up and her voice was still as the night.

"Y-Yes?"

"Quit your crying girl and look down!" Lexi squeaked, raising her arms up high

"LEXI!! SHE'S ALIVE! SHE'S HERE!! OMIGOSH SHE'S HERE!!" Leah cried out, leaping up so fast that the tiny Lexi fell on her butt, while her hands stayed up in the air for a few moments and even she had to giggle at her giant best friend's celebration.

"Geez, careful Leah... you're gonna squish her" Chris smirked

"Omigosh Lexi..." Leah sniffled

"Hold on..." Lexi said, "I'm coming to you"

With that, the tiny superheroine grew back to her full height and although it was still pretty dim in the room, the whole gang could see she was wearing something completely different, although still true to her style. It was the set of purple and gold armor she acquired during her time in Quartzaria. Many of its components were now non=functional and the suit was extremely bulky, making it inefficient to move around in but the more important souvenir came in the form of the small automobile which Lexi picked up to show her best friend.

"You uh ... you got a car?" Leah said, trying to stifle a giggle, "it's cute but ..."

Lexi just gave her a brief stare as if to say "really? you don't get it?"

"Ohhhhh, the car grows, doesn't it?" Leah asked, feeling like a dope for even wondering.

"Sure does!" Lexi replied with a dopey grin, "I could show you all right now if you'd like!"

"No! No!!" most of them all exclaimed

"Heh, I'll ... take your word for it ..." Leah said, falling into Lexi's arms with a hug.

While the gang released a collective sigh of relief, Spark fell onto the lab bench, her hair pinned up in the air as if she had spent hours just scooting around on a patch of carpet before touching every doorknob in a square mile radius. Chris looked down and chuckled, but not in a mean way.

"You okay down there, little princess?" Chris asked, holding out his hand. Spark didn't answer but simply glided into the moving hand as if it were a hammock, letting out a cute little giggle as she nodded.

"When did those 2 become so adorable?" Lexi joked, watching Chris interact with his tiny female fairy friend.

"Right?" Leah joked, "it's totally adorbs!"

"You guys .. it's just ... ugh..." Chris sighed, "can we just focus on Lexi being back?"

"Heh, it is pretty awesome, yes" Leah blushed.

Mara walked by and smacked Lexi on the butt

"Missed ya, luv" Mara said with a wink as Penelope the phoenix flew by and landed on her shoulder.

"Shouldn't that ...?" Lexi asked

"...yeah, don't even..." Leah shrugged, a bit out of explanations for a millenia with everything had gone on to that point.

The gang would eventually find their way towards Sonia's police cruiser where she would check and make sure everybody was okay while Chris bid adieu to Spark.

"Sure you don't need me to walk you home?" Chris teased while Spark floated up by his face

"I got wings, big guy" Spark giggled, "but ... I'm really glad Lexi's okay ... yknow?"

"Y-Yeah, for sure!" Chris smiled wholesomely.

"If you can ... maybe give her something, from me?" Spark asked

"Oh? W-Well you could always give it to her yourself, she's right over there..." the naive young man Chris said, and the next thing he knew, Spark would hover up to his cheek and give him a light smooch before flying into the forest. "Oh! Oh... you ... should I ..."

Chris looked away confused for a moment as Spark vanished into the forest like a literal spark.

"Am I supposed to kiss Lexi now? What's even happening?!" Chris exclaimed, freaking out a bit while Mara and Josh just kind of giggled, the latter of which went over to Lexi to see how she was doing.

"Hey... I'm glad you're back" Josh said, "and I'm sure your fans on the website will be glad to hear it as well ... don't worry, I've been keeping up on it while you were gone"

"Oh thank heavens" Lexi giggled, giving Josh a big hug, "I was afraid the website would go to hell without me"

Josh chuckled and then held out the Spider-Man ball, "I also really liked the gift ... you know Spidey's one of my favorites"

"Awww, I missed your birthday?" Lexi frowned, "Shoot, I'm sorry Josh... you know I was gonna get you more but then ... yeah..."

"Hey, it's okay ... you got sucked into an interdimensional vortex... it happens" Josh shrugged, "pretty cool car though ... I assume you're going to keep it?"

"Heck yeah" Lexi giggled before frowning, "wait ... this magic armor doesn't work anymore and this car is probably powered with something that we can't use here either..."

"Hmm... I could take a look at it once you grow it back" Josh shrugged, "could probably take out whatever engine is in it and replace it with a gas one..."

"Seriously, how do you even....?"Leah stammered, not even sure where to begin.

"...I know people" Josh shrugged in his usual matter of fact way before joining the others, now leaving just Lexi and Leah.

"Heh... he's something, huh?" Leah shrugged, again just overjoyed to see Lexi in one piece.

"Hey Leah..." Lexi said, sounding a bit concerned, "I hope you didn't blame yourself for all this"

"What?! No..." Leah scoffed, laughing as if she had just heard a funny joke before dropping the act "...yeah I totally did"

"You shouldn't..." Lexi shook her head, "you know me by now ... if you hadn't driven me, I'd just find someone else to drive and throw myself into that dangerous spot ... it's what I do..."

Leah nodded, "and I think it's really cool how courageous you are ... and how giving you are ... but I sometimes wish..."

"I'd give it a break?" Lexi said, nodding with sympathy. Leah nodded back, before Lexi confessed something to her best friend, "yknow... while I was ... in there... I was temporarily in your body and I saw your thoughts ... some of them anyway ... how you feel like we don't spend enough time together?"

"Wait can we back this all up?" Leah giggled for a moment, "you were in my BODY?"

"It's a long story, I wasn't REALLY you but I kind of was?" Lexi blinked, trying to explain it as best she could even though it made no sense in her own mind either

"What was I wearing?" Leah asked

"What were you WEARING?" Lexi giggled, "I don't know ... orange?"

"Orange?" Leah scoffed, "Did I at least coordinate? Geez, don't tell me you had my body walking around in some mediocre clothes in there"

"Leah they don't even know who you are there..." Lexi giggled, "...anyway ... do you ... do you really feel that way? That ... I've somehow ... left you hanging... since I became ShrinkGirl?"

Leah gave her best friend an awkward look which told Lexi just about everything she needed to know.

"I mean ... not THAT much but ..." Leah stammered, "I guess ... sometimes yeah ... I just miss how much time we used to spend together but I also know we're both going to be busy and ... grow up and stuff"

"Yeah but ..." Lexi said as she shook her head, "You're always going to be my bestie... and I'm always going to make time for you, okay? Doesn't matter if I'm in another dimension or what... and hey, I can hang out with you like every day until you start that new job..."

"Uh... about that?" Leah said awkwardly

"What? What? Don't tell me they didn't hire you" Lexi said

"No... they did ... I started a couple days ago" Leah confessed

"What?" Lexi gasped with shock, "but you said you started in a few weeks ... h-how long was I gone?"

Lexi paused for a while as she realized that the answer was in the question.

"Holy shit ... it felt like a few days in there..." Lexi sighed

"Well time does travel differently through other planes of existence..." Chris chimed in, interuppting with a bit of science that nobody had asked for.

"Geez, no wonder your fairy girlfriend thinks you're so cool..." Leah teased

"She's not my girlfriend... cmon!" Chris sighed

"Hey, it's not a bad thing!" Leah shrugged, I mean Lex and I love fairies... and having a fairy girlfriend? That's gonna give you major street cred!"

"You think so?" Chris asked, to which the girls nodded back in response, "I've never had cred before ... be it street or card."

Lexi chuckled before asking one final question about it, "Wait... though, if they ARE together and ... y'know, it gets serious ... how are they going to ...?"

There was a momentary pause as they both watched Lexi slowly smush her hands together to charade what she meant.

"Oh gawd!!" Leah chuckled as Chris also did, albeit uncomfortably, "You're horrible Lex"

"Ah I know..." Lexi smirked

Elsewhere, Sonia took a look at Dr. Hilfmann, finishing her questioning of him with one last one.

"There is something else I'm interested in knowing though, doctor..." Sonia asked, "you said Professor Giovanni was once a colleague of yours? Do you have any idea what became of him?"

"Honestly? No" Trevor replied, "I never fully bought that he died, but ... I also don't know if he's ... still around or maybe has deceased SINCE the incident in the 90s but ... no, I haven't seen him in years although you do have me wondering now..."

"What's that?" Sonia asked, taking note of the elder doctor's concerned face.

"Well... whatever rebuilt this portal machine wasn't Giovanni but rather took his appearance ... so then ... where is the real Giovanni Guillardo?"

-----

For the full answer to that question, one would have to look back at the fateful night that Vektor and the crystal beasts escaped from Quartzaria, albeit briefly, using the portal inducer that Giovanni had fired off in one of his many interdimensional experiments. The experiment was both a success and a failure, producing literal proof of other life in other dimensions but also destroying much of his work in the process.

In a desperate attempt at survival, he fled into the Fenster Forest that evening trying to escape the clutches of whatever strange monstrous creatures he had unintentionally let into their reality, while Vektor had stolen his identity and eventually his clientele, having Roxie fetch him many components to rebuild the portal machine.

Exhausted, the spent Dr. Guillardo collapsed against a tree trunk, thinking he had lost the creatures for now. Suddenly a piercing set of red lights filled the surrounding area as a whirlwind of helicopter blades filled his ears with their descending sound.

He heard a voice through a fuzzy intercom as a flock of menacing looking drone like creations surrounded him, one leaning in extra close to get a better look at him through it's orbular red eye which housed an effective but nanoscopic camera inside.

"Dr. Giovanni?" the voice said. It was a familiar voice. One the dimensional doctor recognized despite not hearing it for many many years.

"...Maximillian?"

"Oh thank heavens you're okay!" the mad scientist declared as a panel unfolded from the drone revealing the face of Giovanni's old colleage and maybe his only fan at the time, Dr. Maximillian E Mumford

"'Okay' may be jumping the gun just a bit..." Giovanni shouted, out of breath as he looked around to make sure there were no other creatures on his tail.

"Yes yes, I was seeing the crazy things that were chasing you ... what WERE those?" Dr. Max asked curiously

"Creatures ... from another dimension..." Dr. Giovanni replied in a daze, "you wouldn't even believe me if I told you..."

"Here is where you would be making the mistake!" Dr. Max said with a gleeful grin, "But why don't we talk it over at the lab sometime?"

"I'm afraid I don't have much of a lab anymore at the moment..." Giovanni sighed

"Then feel free to borrow mine..." Dr. Max replied with another grin, this one a bit more devious. "It's time we catch up a little"