I blinked a few times, trying to clear away the haze, but I was still groggy.  The ground beneath me was hard, cold, and there was a weight on my chest that made it hard to breathe.

"Yes, wake up little pet.  You've been out for far too long."

It was a sweet and soft voice, one I only vaguely remembered.  My vision cleared slowly, this mystery woman's elegant white stiletto heel coming into focus as it rested atop my body.  As my eyes traveled up along her rich, bright crimson stockings and took in her immaculate business suit and perfectly styled, long and blazing bright red hair, I remembered Route 7, and a battle, and betrayal...

She could see it in my face.  Her sparkling green eyes shone with satisfaction as she looked down on me, smirking at my predicament.  In the distance, I heard Yveltal's familiar cry.

"DId you really think you could just toss a Quick Ball at him and control such a creature of legend, little girl?"

She gave a nod to the unseen creature somewhere in the distance  and produced that same ball from my bag, which she'd apparently seized.  In a flash of light, Yveltal returned, and the ball snapped shut.  "He knows who his true masters are, dear girl.  We were able to watch and track you through all of your journeys after Geosange, and when the moment was right, all I had to do was come for you."

I continued to watch her fish through my bag, pulling out the balls that contained my loyal Pokemon and the cards that identified me and contained all of my savings, and I remembered everything clearly then.  I was visiting the daycare and carrying an egg with me, so my team was depleted already.  As I rode my bike along the river walk, she stood in the middle of the bridge, those same striking green eyes staring me down as I approached.

I couldn't refuse a battle, and ever since I'd become the champion it seemed those battles came more and more frequently.  It seemed as though every Pokemon she produced was tailored specifically to counter mine, though, and when Yveltal turned on me in the middle of the battle, there was nothing I could do.

"Really, though, do you black out every time you lose a battle?" she continued, inspecting my pokeballs one by one and further inspecting the one that contained the Butterfree I'd caught as a Caterpie at the very beginning of my trip.  "Even you have to realize that's terribly pathetic."

What do you say to that?  I was full of more questions than I could count, but here, in this strange place, pinned to the ground beneath this striking woman, I couldn't summon up a word, even as she let the Pokeball she held lazily slip from her grasp and clatter to the floor.

Finally, her shoe lifted from my chest, and I found out how much I really had been struggling to breathe beneath its weight.  I sighed with relief, but then I realized that her foot was raising into the air to hover over my little Butterfree.  I barely had time to scream out "NO!" before that shoe smashed downwards, breaking through the durable plastic and crushing the ball to splinters beneath the force of her stomp.

I tried to hold back the hot, stinging tears.  I didn't even really know what had happened, but as I watched her bite her lip, grinning with delight as she twisted her foot once, then twice, leaving the remnants of the ball to crunch beneath her shoe, I couldn't help but cry.

"I've always hated bug types," the woman muttered with a shrug.

She was gone.  Just... Weeble, my little Butterfree.  This woman had made her disappear forever with one firm stomp, and all that was left were some shards of plastic and circuitry.

"I'm Chloe," she spoke with a little playful grin, then idly kicked at the smashed ball, scattering the pile across the floor a bit.  "You didn't think Team Flare just laid down and died when Lysander left, did you?"

This Chloe, whoever she was, had been content to let me lay on the ground in shock while she gathered her possessions and mine.  I continued to stare at the shards of plastic that represented all that was left of my longest companion, and while I still wept, despair was starting to give way to a growing, burning indignant rage.

I started to push myself up off the ground, but the movement must have caught her attention.  A deft flick of her wrist sent sent something dark and spherical flying towards me, and I barely had time to notice that it looked oddly like a strange translucent Pokeball before it popped open, bathing me in a blinding light.

 

 

 

Darkness was everywhere, but it wasn't a quiet darkness.  I was swaying, braced against something hard and smooth and curved.  Frightening clunks and clatters resounded all around me, almost in rhythm with my movements, and in the next moment, the sky ripped open and long, slender fingers each five times my length dove towards me in the sudden dull light.

 

I screamed, screamed for all the unimaginable nightmarish things this could be, and I buried my head in my hands, desperately willing this all would end.  My stomach lurched, and I knew I was moving upwards at a terrible pace.  It took all the courage I could muster, but in time, I opened my eyes.

 

It was her.  Chloe.  Her angelic countenance filled my vision, and I could only stare at her darkly painted lips, her huge, shimmering green eyes and perfectly arranged, brilliant red hair spiraling down about her shoulders.

 

She was a goddess, holding me in the palm of her hand.  I hated the layer of grey plastic between us, keeping me from feeling the warmth of her flesh beneath me and obscuring even a trace of her utter perfection from my eyes.

 

She was all that was beauty and power, and I belonged to her.  I marveled at how gracefully her thumb shifted, clicking a smooth white cylinder downwards towards me, and at how utterly stirring her marvelous little chuckle was as she let me fall from her fingers and tumble towards the distant floor, a deadly mile-long drop from where I sat.

 

There was another burst of light all around me, each one seemingly more disorienting than the last. I got my hands beneath me and looked up, and she was still there, smiling her smug, self-assured smirk and watching me pull myself together.  She was just a woman, a few years and inches more than me, and I couldn't determine if I feared her or hated her or loved her.  She took a step towards me, and I flinched and jerked back while she stooped down and plucked up the ball I'd been held in.

 

"Amazing, isn't it?" She purred, waving the dull, translucent ball a bit as she rose back to her full height.  "Really puts your little life into perspective, doesn't it, pet?"

 

***************

 

Chloe was beautiful, there wasn't any doubting that, but the way she seemed to captivate me... the strange yearnings I felt for her were unlike anything I'd ever experienced.  Still, I was starting to understand my situation.  She had captured me, and I was being held here in what seemed to be her well-decorated and spacious bedroom.

 

"Why am I here?" I finally asked, trying to piece together this puzzle and figure out what was going on and just how much danger I was in. "Who are you, and what did you do to me?"

 

I pulled my legs underneath me and tried to get a little more comfortable where I sat on the floor, not feeling quite up to really standing up just yet.  Chloe took another small step, and I found myself unexpectedly shuddering when her shoe clicked heavily on the hard floor, but the simple grace of her motion as she settled upon the side of her bed and smoothed out her skirt settled me instantly.  She was so perfectly elegant, but her smile, her girlish glee was so strangely and utterly thrilling...

 

Ugh!  What's wrong with me?  I'm her prisoner.

 

"So many questions, little one," she purred, leaning back on her hands and casually draping one leg over the other, meeting my gaze as she continued.  I fought the urge to blush and drop my eyes.  "Fortunately, I have to admit that I'm rather eager to explain all of these things to you.  As I've said, my name is Chloe, and for all intents and purposes, I am the new chief executive of Team Flare."

 

"But Team Flare is done for!" I protested. It hurt to contradict her, but I'd done it myself, I knew it to be true.  "I see its former members everywhere, and they're not part of any organization anymore."

 

She chuckled softly and shook her head once, her hair twisting slowly through the air as she clicked her tongue.  "You don't understand the first thing about us, child.  Do you think every fool you met on your journey mattered the least to me?  We took their money, gave them cheap red suits and promises of a brighter future.  They were cattle, foolish animals scraping together everything they'd ever earned for a dream, and while they count for little in the grand scheme, their contribution to the better tomorrow I'll create ended with their cash."

 

I stared silently at her, dismissing the dozens and dozens of people that had loyally served her with such ease.  I never imagined someone so casually cruel could exist, let alone be so gloriously gorgeous…

 

No!  She’s a monster.  She’s…

 

“As for your next two questions, sweetest, I can provide a simple answer to both.  We battled, I defeated you, and then I captured you.  It’s not complicated, dear, you’ve done it a hundred times over at least in the past few months.”  She smirked and tossed the dull grey sphere into the air, catching it in her palm as it fell back to her hand and looking it over.  “I caught you in this ball right here, and now you belong to me.”

 

Whatever spell I was under was broken right there.  I swiftly hauled myself up to my feet and looked her dead in the eye.  “You’re crazy!  I don’t belong to anyone, least of all you, and Pokeballs don’t capture people, it just… it just doesn’t work!”

 

Chloe’s expression didn’t change for a moment.  She leaned forward a bit, uncrossing her legs and pulling open a drawer in her polished oak nightstand.  “Did you completely forget that we captured the Pokeball factory?  That for every twitchy goon you ran across on the road, there was a scientist back in our labs, working day and night to accomplish our glorious dream?”

 

Her hand emerged with another dark sphere, identical to the one she claimed had held me.  I held my breath, certain I could see something inside.  “Anything is possible with enough time, effort and money.  We did, after all, come within moments of wiping nearly every person and Pokemon from the face of Kalos.  Altering the programming of a Pokeball and creating these magnificent new devices was almost easy by comparison, and yet, they are what’s going to change the world.”

 

She held her newly produced ball in her hand, lifting it to her face and squinting at whatever, or… god, whoever was inside.  “That doesn’t make any sense, Chloe,” I found myself protesting.  The idea was just too crazy.  Pokemon were special, different, and the way people and Pokemon existed together and related to each other was something that just was.  “You can’t just capture people!  People have lives and families and plans and dreams, even if it worked, you just couldn’t do something like that.”

 

Chloe laughed a brief and frightening laugh, suddenly sitting upright and crossing her legs once more, leaning towards me and biting her lip as her piercing gaze bore into my skull.  “Oh, it works, little girl.  We tested these devices several times before I decided the time was right to come for you.  See for yourself.”

 

And with that, she turned the ball in her hand, covered the larger of the two buttons with her thumb and pressed down.  A cool, bright light began to flow from the sphere’s parting seams, and by the time Chloe let it fall to the ground, I could already see a figure forming.  She flickered into being, taking shape and rising from the ground in a bright, flickering blue light.

 

Human.  A girl.

 

Shauna.

 

My friend, one of the closest I had, just popped out of a Pokeball and stood before me, smiling sweetly at me as she had so many times before.  She even waved a little before I could break the silence.”

 

“What… what are you doing here?  Is that really you, Shauna?”  She was wearing the same outfit I saw her in last, her favorite pink top and those little denim shorts.   Her lips parted like she was about to answer, but Chloe cut her off.

 

“Shauna, shoes.”  Simple and direct.  A command.  That was all it took, though.  Instantly, Shauna responded, sinking down to her hands and knees, bowing before the statuesque beauty that had captured her.  Chloe’s eyes never left mine, and her grin only grew wider as she watched me cover my mouth, gasping in shock as I watched my friend press her lips to the executive’s elegant ivory pumps, placing one reverent, loving kiss after another along the surface of those expensive heels.

“Shauna,” I whispered, unable to look away as I sunk to the ground, watching my friend flatten further to the ground and start to draw her tongue along the soles of Chloe’s shoes.  Our captress, though, did only one thing more.  Her head rolled slowly back, and she began to laugh.

 

 

 

"Shauna was the first one that I caught," Chloe mused, half to herself. By now, my friend had finished worshipfully tonguing the woman's shoes to a shine and reverently removed them, and was now giving her attentions and affections to her stockinged feet. "The others all have their places and roles to fill, but I decided to keep her with me."

Shauna's eyes slipped upwards for a moment while she continued to nuzzle and kiss her keeper's red nylons, and Chloe paused for a bit to affectionately stroke the girl's cheek with her toes. "They say the first you capture is always special. I must admit, I do enjoy her company."

"That's not Shauna," I murmured through half-clenched teeth and narrowed eyes. I felt sick to my stomach, like the whole world was swimming around me. "Shauna wouldn't... she'd never be someone's... someone's slave."

Still, I watched Shauna bow further towards the floor, stretching out and cupping her hands so that Chloe could rest her foot on them instead of the floor. She busied herself by laying her head on the ground and gently kissing along her instep. Even as Chloe let her other foot casually settle onto the side of Shauna's head, rubbing gently back and forth against her skin, they both seemed utterly content, even pleased. It was so casual, so common for them, like they'd sat like this dozens of times.

Chloe's eyes lifted from the girl beneath her feet and returned to me. "You've never really considerd what happens when you catch a Pokemon, have you, Lucy? It never seemed odd to you that a proud Terrakion would fight against you with all its strength in one moment, and in the next, after you'd battered and weakened and trapped it in a ball, it would immediately fight for you and obey your commands?"

Of course I'd never considered that. It was just how Pokemon were. It's how they'd always been, even hundreds of years ago when people first started carving Apricorns.

Chloe ran her fingers through her hair, tossing a few locks over her shoulder with a slow, thrilling shake of her head, then leaned towards me. I swallowed hard and took a step back, and Shauna purred softly to feel the added weight pressing down on her.

"Pokeballs do far more than just contain our Pokemon, you see. They transform them, influence and even reprogram them, preparing them for obedience. Really, Pokemon and people are not so different. The experience is different for everyone, and humans are certainly more mentally complex than most Pokemon, so the transition isn't quite so instantaneous. After enough time, though, it's almost always just as complete."

She paused and raised her toes, softly tapping her foot on Shauna's cheek beneath it. "Isn't that right, sweetheart? You're as happy as you've ever been, aren't you?"

Shauna's only reply was a muffled giggle and a sultry little "mmhmmm," as she wriggled back a little and drew her tongue along the side of Chloe's largest toe, bringing a soft sigh from the powerful executive sitting above her.

"You're a monster," I hissed, half-turned to the side and trying not to look at the frightening and weirdly alluring scene playing out before me. "You just can't do this! Someone's going to stop you... I'll stop you."

There was a moment of silence, but before long it was broken by a stifled snicker. "Oh, honey," Chloe murmured while shaking her head and scooting back onto her bed. Her feet lifted from Shauna as she did so, and the girl seemed to pout for a moment but was quickly back up, sitting on her haunches like the obedient puppy she seemed to have become. "I've already seen it in you. Unfortunately, the rare person seems incompatible with the transforming nature of our Flare Balls, but you..."

She bit her lip, looking me over with a chillingly predatory eye, then smirked. "You're going to be just as happy as your little friend before long, don't you worry."

I took one more glance at Shauna, sitting on the ground and staring up at Chloe in silent wonderment. "No. Never. You said it doesn't always work, and that means I can fight it. I won't let you do this to me."

Chloe gave a little jerk of her chin and Shauna eagerly crawled up onto the bed with her. "Nightclothes, dear," she declared for the benefit of her servant, then turned back to address me while Shauna started undressing her, slipping off her blazer and starting to nimbly unfasten the buttons of her silken blouse.

"I've done this dozens of times, little Lucy." She was watching me intently, but I couldn't stop staring as more and more of her perfect, milk white flesh was exposed. "Already your defiance is mostly feigned. I can see it in your eyes, you belong to me."

Those eyes she spoke of were wholly fascinated by the way Shauna slipped off the woman's blouse and then immediately slipped back to the ground, unfastening and slipping Chloe's skirt down simultaneously, dragging it smoothly along her magnificently slender stockinged legs. I don't know how long she watched me watch her, but eventually she spoke again.

"Still," she mused, drawing my eyes back to her own with a jolt. Instantly I realized I'd been staring intently at a half-naked woman, and my cheeks flushed with shame. "It does give me the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the more significant and exciting added feature of the Flare Ball. Shauna, fetch the other from the drawer."

Her eyes never left me, and something about her supremely confident smirk left me wondering if every detail of this entire scene was orchestrated just for me. Shauna didn't bother to rise from her knees, and I watched her crawl the couple feet to the nightstand and retreive another of those dull grey spheres, then hand it over to Chloe.

"Let me show you what happens when things don't work quite as they should." She stretched out her leg, kicking away the short skirt that had pooled about her feet, then rose back to her full height before me.

Without her heels, we were almost the same height, but as she took her first step towards me, I felt as though I were staring up into the clouds. Her presence towered over me, even if her person seemed not to. My heart hammered in my chest. Blood rushed in my ears. My mouth was dry, my fingertips numb...

Her panties were black. Her bra, too, and they were the deepest, truest black I'd ever seen, but they were trimmed with bits of brilliant red ribbon, perfectly matched to the shade of her stockings, and I wondered at how she'd found such things. Were they sold in a set? No, they fit her so perfectly, hugging her immaculate hips and breasts in the most amazing way. They must have been custom crafted just for her, perfect for her perfect figure, for the way she moved and every slow, swaying step...

"Sit," she commanded, voice low and flat and insistent. Immediately I flung myself to the ground, hard enough that I was certain to bruise. I was immediately aware of my parted lips and shallow breath, and immediately shut my mouth, doing nothing else but staring upwards as she stood over me.

"I think you're familiar with him, aren't you?" she continued, grinning broadly as she extended her hand towards me, displaying the tiny figure trapped inside the translucent ball.

"Calem," I whispered, reaching out to touch the ball that held him, but Chloe slapped my hand away, causing me to whimper in distress.

"Yes, your little neighbor," she murmured as we both watched him. From the moment he'd seen me, he'd started banging on the plastic, shouting something neither of us could hear. His tiny fists struck the surface of the ball again and again. "You two are from the same town, have the same eight Badges and experienced almost the same journey. He was with you when you defeated Lysander and splintered our organization, even. But when you were in the ball, you had a very different experience than him, didn't you?"

I thought back to being held in Chloe's hand. I'd already tried to drive the thought from my mind, but it came flooding back so easily. I bowed my head, cheeks burning, and couldn't keep myself from nodding.

She crouched a little and slipped her fingers beneath my chin, turning my face back upwards. "Watch this," she whispered with a gleam in her eyes. She held the ball before me, inches from my face, and I watched Calem call to me, screaming what looked like my name and perhaps a few other things. Chloe’s thumb slid across the ball’s surface and settled on the smaller of two buttons, the second one that I wasn’t used to seeing on all the balls I’d purchased and used in my time. I squinted, preparing for the burst of light I expected to fill my vision, but it never came.

The ball cracked open. The hinge squeaked the faintest bit, and Calem spilled out into Chloe’s waiting palm.

He may barely have been over an inch long. I could hear his tiny voice now, squealing, “Lucy! Lucy,” and some other things I still couldn’t quite make out. He started to rush towards me, clambering over the little creases in Chloe’s hand and starting to climb the curve of her fingers, and I watched his progress with fascination until she decided he’d gone far enough and drew her fingers together, pinning him between her thumb and two longest fingers.

“This is the key, Lucy,” she whispered while standing over me, holding the closest thing I’d had to a rival between her fingers. “Pokeballs have always done amazing things, not the least of which is converting living beings into… energy, for lack of a better term. We haven’t mastered the entirety of the process yet, but we’ve managed to tweak it… override and alter the process to accomplish incredible things. Already you’ve seen firsthand how we can keep people conscious and aware of their surroundings while in containment...”

I felt thoroughly faint once again. I locked my arm to keep myself from collapsing, supporting most of my weight on it as I leaned to the side, and while I was listening, I can’t be sure I really heard and understood everything she said. All I could manage was the single most obtuse realization one could make in that situation. “He’s so… tiny.”

“Yes,” Chloe breathed, the end of the word giving way to a long sigh of supreme satisfaction. “Roughly two percent of the original size after the Flare Ball transformation process. It’s…” she paused, laying a hand across her chest and drawing a deep breath. Her eyes shone with an undeniable, electric excitement as she spoke on this particular subject. “It’s truly incredible, isn’t it? Do you understand what this means?”

I leaned in closer, forgetting most of the danger of my predicament for the moment in light of really examining this miniscule version of my friend. “Run, Lucy,” he called out while trying in vain to fight against the slender thumb that covered most of his body. “Get out of here, she’s insane, you have to stop them!”

I looked up at her, overcoming the incredible urge to wilt before the unadulterated beauty of her nearly nude form for the first time. “It means you’ve taken everything from him. It means he’ll never see his family or his Pokemon or his friends again, he’ll never do anything at all!”

Again, Chloe barely reacted to my tirade. It was infuriating, how she laughed off every rebuke of her I could manage, and this time she even reached out and ruffled my hair a bit before she responded. “Sweet Lucy, you have to pardon my choice of phrase, but you’re thinking too small. This is the future, don’t you see? This is salvation!”

I shifted back to sitting straight up now, bolstered by my growing anger. How dare she reduce Calem to this tiny facsimile of himself. How dare she kidnap me and hold me here, destroy my Butterfree and turn Shauna into her pet and how dare she even say things like this! How dare she even think them!

“What are you saying?” I growled, feeling my nose wrinkle and my eyes narrow as I did my best to stare her down.

“Lysander was right about some things,” she murmured, letting her attention drop back to Calem as she parted her fingers and let him slide down along her fingers. She started to idly toy with him, dumping him from one hand to another and watching him squirm and scurry around. “This world’s resources can’t long sustain us at the rate we’re progressing. Granted, he had a certain flare for the dramatic and thought wiping out the majority of humanity would be the perfect way to fix this little problem, but I’ve created a far more elegant solution, don’t you think?”

I shook my head slowly. “No. No way.”

“Think about it, Lucy,” she purred, crouching down as I’d done so many times when speaking to little children on my journey. “Two percent. Humanity could continue to breed and prosper to its content for an eternity without limits. In one fell swoop, the world’s resources would be effectively increased by a factor of fifty, giving us thousands of years of comfort and prosperity. It’s magnificent, Lucy, and the benefits are nearly innumerable.

“It’s impossible,” I stammered, knowing but also somehow praying that what I said was true. “You’ll never be able to capture every single person in the world, there’s just no way!”

She stayed crouched for a moment longer and laid her hand along my cheek, eliciting another brief and involuntary blush on my part as she continued to speak to me. “We’ll have some help, dear. After all, you’re the very best, right? Better than anyone ever was, they’ve said.

Her hand lifted from my face, and it took every ounce of my will to keep from pouting at the loss of her touch. I looked upwards to her as she rose back to her full height, seeming so far above me, and almost pleaded with her. “I’ll resist you, though. People will fight you.”

“Not nearly so much as you might think, pet,” she assured me. “Still, for those that do try to stand in my way…”

I watched her hand slowly turn, her fingers extend and open and the tiny form of a young man begin to plummet through the air towards the hard floor below. I tried to scream, but something caught in my throat. I tried to push myself forward, but I only managed to shift to my hands and knees, watching him crash to the ground, bounce once, and lay there, groaning and writhing in discomfort. I looked up at her, ready to shout at her for her carelessness, but her shimmering green eyes remained locked on the ground, not even seeming to notice me. She was totally focused, biting her lip, and her hand had slowly come to rest on her hip.

I looked back to Calem, and already he was in her shadow, kicking at the ground and trying to crawl away, but his half-broken body was failing him. She’d only lifted her foot a few inches off of the ground, but she was definitely taking her time, flexing her toes within their silken red stocking, slowly lowering them towards the scrabbling, screaming tiny boy.

“No!” I finally cried out, louder than I’d ever imagined I possibly could, but by then it was already too late. Her merciless foot already rested on top of him, pinning him flat. I thought he might already be gone, but she must have paused to savor his struggles, because next I heard Chloe’s small and soft (and exhilarating) moan, and immediately after, I watched her heel rise, her ankle pivot, her toes spread and I saw the pressure build for the briefest of instants before the faintest wet crunch told me it was over.

"You... killed him," I whispered, covering my mouth and struggling to hold back the bile rising in my throat, even as she continued to twisting and grinding her foot slowly atop whatever was left of Calem.

"I crushed an obstacle, Lucy," she purred, finally liftting her foot and reveling the grisly mess that my friend had been reduced to. For a second, her stocking stuck to the floor, but it quickly pulled away with a horrible, wet peeling sound. Chloe didn't pause, didn't even look back as she turned and strolled back to her bed. Her first few steps left just faint little traces of red wetness behind, and I found myself horrifyingly riveted by every motion of her murderous foot.

"I'll do the same to anything that gets in my way," she declared, voice low and dark as she settled back onto her bed. "Shauna, stockings," she murmured without taking her eyes from mine, and the girl was swiftly on her knees, fingers carefully sliding up along Chloe's shapely leg and peeling the crimson nylon downwards. As she worked, her head dipped down and she guided the administrator's heel further into the air, displaying the terrible wet spot on her sole.

My chest heaved, my stomach lurched as I watched Shauna press her lips to what Calem had left behind, even start to sensually lick at the stain my neighbor, our friend had left behind on Chloe's cruel and beautiful foot.

"So tell me again, little Lucy," Chloe purred, her bright eyes smoldering with sultry delight. "Tell me what I can't do, about resisting and fighting me. Tell me about stopping me."

It was too much. Calem was dead. Worse than dead, he was crushed like an insect and reduced to nothing more than a wet mess on the floor. I doubled over, clutching my gut, and was grateful to feel the cool ground against my cheek.

"Exactly, little girl. I am unstoppable."

I couldn't bare to look, but I heard another little murmur of pleasure, and then a click. "Return," Chloe commanded, and I was enveloped in light, hurtling through the air.

I was safe, secure in my ball again.  I knew what it was, where I was and understood it all, but despite my situation I found it utterly comforting to be totally contained, to lay upon the smooth plastic beneath me and just breathe.

 

My ball rested on Chloe's bed at her side.  I watched her for a long time, marvelling at her smooth, languid movements and gestures, at the warm, contented smile she continued to wear throughout the evening.  She really was like a goddess... it shouldn't be possible for so much power and grace to exist together in one perfectly beautiful form.

 

I watched Shauna serve her.  Watched her lusciously strip off the lady's stockings and carry them to the sink, washing them by hand.  I watched her with smoldering jealousy as she knelt and suckled at our keeper's long and lovely toes, then fetch her slippers and delight in tugging the soft, fiery red knit boots up over her smooth and slender calves.

 

I helplessly watched as they left me behind, moving to a plush armchair across the room.  Chloe settled into it, and Shauna brought her a  stack of folders and a cup of tea, then stretched out on the ground before her, wearing a silly little grin and seeming utterly relaxed.

 

I hated being so far away.  Of course, Chloe was a busy woman with much to do.  Team Flare was worth billions, possibly even trillions.  I really had no idea how many members there were, but maybe I was one now?  Anyhow, I logically understood that she didn't have time to be interacting with me all day.

 

Still, Shauna was with her.  Shauna was there, and I was trapped in a ball.  I dragged myself up and pressed myself against the plastic, filled with longing as I continued to watch their interactions.

 

At one time, it had seemed so strange, so wrong that Shauna would do all of the things I'd seen her do.  Crawling on the ground and licking Chloe's shoes and obeying every offhand order she gave with an eager smile... it didn't initially make sense.

 

It did now, though.  It made Chloe happy.  It pleased her to have people underfoot.  It satisfied her to be unquestioningly obeyed.  Even now, she leaned back and lifted her legs to bring her feet to rest on Shauna's supine form, I called to her, pleading to let me take her place.  I saw the gleam in her eye, the utterly contented sigh and the gloriously radiant smile she wore when her boot settled slowly onto Shauna's waiting face.

 

If only she'd use me to rest her feet on.  If only she'd let me crawl to her and shower her slippers with kisses, with all the desire and worship earnestly building in my breast.

 

If only it was my face pinned beneath her sole, kissing the bottom of her boot again and again and again...

 

Then that smile would be for me.  That happiness would be mine.  That angelic pleasure would be my doing, my gift to the incredible being I belonged to.

 

I watched for what felt like hours, Shauna squirming and smiling underfoot, glorious Chloe reading her files and contentedly sliding her soft-soled boots along the girl's body and face.  I was empty where I sat, filled only with longing for what they had.  Eventually, I drifted off, wishing for my lips upon those precious and powerful soles, for her eyes upon me or even the faintest touch, but all I had were my fitful, pathetic little dreams.

 

***************

 

“Lucy.”

 

White light surrounded me, and the sweetest voice called my name.  I stretched lazily, yawning, rubbing my eyes.  I didn’t remember standing up, but I seemed to be on my feet all the same.

 

“Lucy.”

 

Just as sweet and melodic and soft, but there was a touch more insistence in her tone.  Chloe was speaking my name, calling to me, and as I opened my eyes I saw her standing before me, bathed in the beautiful morning sun.  She’d dressed already, wearing a little bright red turtleneck sweater dress that wrapped around her body with wondrous precision and sheer black stockings that stretched above the tops of her tall black buckled boots, and she looked so effortly magnificent that I had to catch my breath.

 

I wanted to rush to her, to throw my arms around her and nestle at her side.  I wanted to beg her never to leave me alone again, to keep me with her every moment and never go.  Instead, I swallowed once and tried to run my fingers through my long, wavy hair, focusing on my hopes that her slightly more casual dress was intentionally a step down from the executive garb she wore the day before, meaning that she’d not be going off to wherever her office happened to be and would instead spend the day with me.

 

Me and only me?  I took a step forward, nervously folding and rubbing my hands together, having a hard time looking her in the eye.  “Where’s… ah, where’s Shauna?”

 

“You are a mess,” Chloe flatly stated, looking me over and wholly ignoring my question.  I was suddenly terribly self conscious of the fact that I was still in yesterday’s clothes, and that they were the same ones that I’d worn while laying in the dirt, being stepped on, and crawling about on the floor.

 

“We’re entertaining today, little one,” she continued while closing the distance between us in one long stride.  The sound of her heavy boot striking the floor sent a chill through me, though I couldn’t immediately place why it intimidated me so.  Her hand stretched out to brush some bit of stray debris from my shoulder, and I found myself leaning towards it, dreaming that her palm might brush my cheek.  “She’ll be here any moment, so go… do something about yourself.  Quickly.”

 

I whimpered at the rebuke, but there was no time to pity myself.  I gave a quick nod of understanding and scampered off to the sink.  I rushed through washing my face with cold water, splashing a bit of it through my hair and trying to brush it with my fingertips.  Only a few minutes had gone by, and I was still dabbing at the streaks of dirt on my skirt when I heard the chime of the door bell.

 

“Answer that,” Chloe called to me over the faint clink of glass from the kitchen, “And remember, this is a dear friend of mine.  You will respect her as you do me, understood?”

 

“Yes, Miss!” I answered as I dropped what I was doing and briskly scurried towards the door.  Why ‘Miss?’  Where had that come from?  I guess I had to call her something, but saying her name out loud just seemed like it would be too familiar.  Either way, I didn’t have time to worry about that now.  I cleared my throat and reached for the door, swinging it wide and offering my brightest smile.

 

There was no mistaking her.  The pink hair, the contemptuous sneer, the narrowed eyes that stared me down over the rim of her colored sunglasses.

 

Malva.

 

“Nice to see you, runt,” she uttered while planting her hand on my chest and shoving me back through the door.  “Now, get on your goddamn knees.”

 

I’d seen her a dozen times.  Since I’d become the champion, visiting the Elite Four became a regular part of training my teams.  Of all of them, she had seemed to be the easiest to defeat, but also the only one that made me feel uneasy when I visited her.  In time, her thinly-veiled threats and proclamations of hatred and distaste for me cooled to a sort of cold professionalism whenever we interacted, but there was some trace of smoldering anger behind those tinted lenses of hers.

“Lucy,” Chloe spoke, softly admonishing me as she strolled in from the kitchen.  The disappointment in her voice wounded me like a kick in the gut, and I stood there in stunned anguish watching her approach.  I found comfort in her easy gait, the sensual sway of her hips and the confidence she exuded with every sonorous step.  She carried a tall glass of sparkling wine in each hand, and offered one to Malva when she drew near.  “Don’t be rude, do as she says.”

I melted under Chloe’s warm but firm gaze.  I was to respect her guest to the same degree I respected her.  She’d said as much, and already I was failing.  Slowly, I turned my head back to Malva, watching as she narrowed her eyes at me and took a long swallow of her wine.  She frightened me, even though Chloe was here and would surely keep me safe, but even if I was a little uncertain, I still had no choice in the matter.

I bowed my head and carefully sunk to the ground, kneeling at Malva’s feet.

I found myself looking at her boots, probably because there wasn’t much else for me to look at, and I certainly wasn’t going to lift my eyes to either of them, especially after disappointing Chloe at my first opportunity.  They were black, ankle-length with the ends of her trademarked diamond cutout leggings tucked into them.  I watched one lift from the ground and move towards me, resisting the urge to wince as I half expected the platform sole to smash into me for some reason, but instead it settled to the ground against the side of my leg and was quickly followed by the other.

Malva had moved terribly and uncomfortably close to me and was straddling my knees.  My face was inches from her crotch, but it seemed like I was the only one this bothered.  I tried to pull back a little, turning my head to the side, and my cheeks flushed with shame as I imagined her standing over me, savoring my embarrassment and sipping her wine.

“Oh God, Chloe, this is just fantastic,” she murmured, and I felt her fingers slide through my messy hair, her varnished nails scraping across my scalp a couple times.  She was rough, but it didn’t feel entirely terrible.  “I can’t tell you how good it feels to see this little <i>bitch</i> where she belongs.”

With that, her fingers curled, viciously seizing a fistful of my hair and wrenching my head back, forcing me to meet her gaze.  I squealed in pain, but bit my lip, not wanting to upset our guest anymore than I already had.  “I hate you, Lucy,” she sneered in disgust.  “I hate everything about you, and I can’t tell you the number of nights I drifted off to sleep with soothing scenes of you being burned alive filling my thoughts.”

I couldn’t believe it, to hear that anyone could find me so infuriating.  I’d always been a nice girl and helped everyone I met, behaved myself and put others first.  “I’m sorry,” I genuinely began, but she twisted her hand and wrenched my head back, straining my neck to its limit.

She was leaning down now, right in my face.  What wine she had left sloshed in her glass and spilled across my knee and onto the floor.  “Shut up!” she screeched, “I will see you charred to nothing but cinder and ash, you stupid slut!”

I wailed.  Tears flowed freely from my eyes, and I started to shake, but Chloe came to my rescue.  “Malva, darling, “ she whispered, laying a hand on the seething woman’s shoulder.  “Your searing spirit thrills me to my core, but,” she continued while diplomatically guiding her hand away from me and getting her to take a step back.  “Why don’t we take our time here?  Relax, Lucy spent the evening in her ball, she should be wholly enthralled by this point.  I’ll get you another glass of wine, and you…”

She smiled sweetly, taking the glass from her guest’s hand and giving her a small, sweet kiss on the cheek.  “Take a breath and have some fun.  Experiment,” she suggested, then disappeared into the kitchen.

I was thankful, incredibly thankful for Chloe’s intervention.  Malva, for her part, did take a breath and, after a moment more, smiled down at me as I tried to compose myself, wiping away my tears with the back of my hand.  “You’re afraid of me,” she said, and it hardly sounded like a question.

I didn’t answer out loud, but she was content with a timid nod.  “You fear me,” she continued, her smirk growing as she said it aloud, “and you’ll obey me.  Unquestioningly, because you know that’s what my dear friend Chloe wants from you, isn’t that right?”

I nodded again, taking a breath myself and running my fingers through my hair, trying to rub away the tingling pain from how she’d yanked my head about.  Malva, though, just chuckled softly and nodded once.  “Good.  Get up.”

I was on my feet instantly, as intimidated by Malva’s intense presence before me as I was eager to please Chloe.  Just as quickly, the back of Malva’s hand was whistling through the air and smacked brutally across my face, sending a wave of hot pain through my skull.  My hand went to my cheek and I turned my head back to her, but this time her smile still remained.

“You embarrassed me, you know.  Turned my position into a joke.”  She reached out and firmly took hold of my chin, her nails digging into my reddening cheek, making me wince again.  “The Elite Four were a group to be respected and feared, but now that some child comes to roll through our teams once or twice a week, it’s like we’re a laughingstock.”

Her grip just kept tightening.  I could feel warm blood starting  to trickle down from where her nails dug into my flesh, and I was sure she could break my jaw if she just squeezed the faintest bit harder.  I couldn’t speak, only watch as she continued.

“I’m a huge Holo Caster star.  I don’t have the time that a child like you does to catch and train and bond with my Pokemon.  I have a job and a life, little girl.  Both things it seems like you’re never going to have again.”

She released me after that.  What did she mean, though?  I was only a teenager, of course I was going to have all of those things.  I reached for my face and when I drew my hand away, I did see blood on my fingers.  When I looked back up, though, her hand was already inches away from smashing into my face again.

I couldn’t take it this time.  I collapsed to the ground in a heap, offering only a faint cry as my reaction to her brutal slap.  I tried to blink back tears, not wanting to start crying again so soon after last time, and lay as still as I could.  If I didn’t move, I might not offend her, might not make her want to hurt me again.  Maybe she’d even think I was badly hurt and leave me be.  I wanted to close my eyes, but then I saw Chloe’s towering boots in the distance; felt her footfalls through the floor and I watched her approach carrying the bottle of wine and two fresh glasses.

“Well, I see you two are getting along a bit better,” she mused while settling back onto her couch and setting down the glasses.

“Oh yes,” Malva purred, taking one step towards me, then lifting her other foot above my face.  I continued to lay absolutely still, continued to pray that she’d just leave me alone, but she clearly wasn’t done.  Slowly and firmly she stepped down, pressing the smooth, unyielding sole of her boot into my savaged cheek and grinning with mad delight as she started to grind it back and forth, leaving me writhing in pain.

“We understand each other quite well, don’t we, runt?” she uttered, letting the last syllable hang on her lips a bit longer, drawing out her pet name for me as she twisted my face underfoot.

I’d tried to resist, but there was no stopping it.  Pinned beneath Malva’s heel, beaten and bleeding, I again began to cry.  I didn’t deserve this, I didn’t deserve any part of this.  How did I get here?  How did my life come to this?

I didn’t have time to delve too deeply into those troubling thoughts, though.  “Lick it,” Malva demanded, taking a break from stepping on me and rocking her boot back onto its heel just enough for me to turn my head.  Immediately my tongue slipped out and slid along her sole.  I  tasted my own blood mixed with traces of dirt and dust from the streets, the two women watching me seemed to be satisfied, and that was enough to occupy my mind for now.

 

“Malva, dear, come sit with me.” Chloe again seemed to be my savior, trying to pull the vicious starlet away from me with her polite suggestions. I’d long since licked the underside of Malva’s boot to a lustrous shine, but she seemed to be deriving an odd sort of satisfaction from seeing me curled at her feet and tonguing her shoes. She shrugged and took a minute to hook the toe of her boot under my shoulder and kick me away from her. “Good enough,” she muttered for my benefit before she clomped over to the couch where Chloe awaited her.

She flung herself back onto the plush cream colored cushions, letting out a long sigh and turning to her hostess, giving her a bright smile as she plucked her wine glass up from the table. “I’m impressed, Chloe,” she spoke with a contented smile. “You guys in research and development really are worth every dollar. You really have thousands of these Flare Balls ready to go?”

“Mmm,” my owner replied, sitting up and crossing her legs while taking a small taste of her wine. I watched her intently, drinking in the beauty of her every movement, the curve of her hand and the movement of her lips as she spoke. This was all for her, and it was okay that I was laying on the ground, a dirty, trampled mess, because I knew that it made her happy to see her friend smiling.

“Thousands, and thousands more are being produced each day. I’m surprised you haven’t insisted on seeing them in action yet, actually. We’re very close to rolling them out.”

Malva shrugged, taking a long swallow of wine and leaning back a bit more, settling into the couch and noisily kicking her feet up onto the glass coffee table before them. Her boots landed with a crash and a clatter, but she couldn’t begin to concern herself for the damage she might have caused. “You know how busy I am with my videos and battling ambitious runts. I couldn’t resist this particular invitation, though.”

“Oh, and you’ve only seen a small part of what it can do!” Chloe leaned forward to refill Malva’s glass, and as she did so, her sparkling green eyes shifted to me. “Lucy, go fetch your ball.”

I was up instantly, before she’d even finished saying my name. My heart was restored to see her looking at me and acknowledging my presence, even if it was just to give me a simple command. My name on her lips restored so much of the damage her cruel friend had done to my spirit, and I hurried to my feet to go get the ball I’d spent the night in from the bedroom.

“Crawl,” Malva added before I could fully right myself. I froze for a moment, then slowly lowered myself back down to my hands and knees, looking back at her for a moment. All she did was smirk at me while taking another sip of wine, then jerk her head towards the bedroom to encourage me on my way.

It didn’t take much longer, really, but it felt like a much longer trip with her eyes on me, watching me crawl like a dog on the ground. I found the ball easily enough and made my way back, going a bit slower with the ball in one hand. Chloe and Malva paid me little mind as I crawled up to the table and carefully set the Flare Ball in the center of it. By now they were wrapped up in conversation, sipping their wine and laughing while I knelt before them and did my best to smile politely.

It hurt to smile. My lip was swelling, and the scrapes on my cheek were stiffening along with the faint but growing bruise having my face stepped on was going to leave. “Now, this is what I was telling you about,” Chloe eventually mentioned as just a casual segment of their chat, and without looking at me she reached out and picked up the ball. It wasn’t until she halfheartedly uttered “Return” and pressed a button on it that she bothered to look my way, and then the light surrounded me and I was back within it.

It was horrifically disorienting, and I didn't even really have time to figure out where I was even though I understood on some level that I was in a plastic ball being held in Chloe's hand. I had just reconciled the shadows around me as her elegant fingers when I was wrapped in light again.

It was frigid this time, and I groaned as the world around me lurched once more. I was on solid ground this time, though everything was still spinning and swimming around me. I made out the ball in Chloe's hand, and the two figures on the couch, but I was having a hard time putting them into focus.

Then I turned my head. Malva's leather-wrapped legs stretched on seemingly to infinity, even past where I stood. My eyes followed them, and widened as I started to grasp their scale, and then they ended as I knew they would, tucked into her boots.

The soles were still somewhat slick from where I'd thoroughly licked them, and just the bottom of the thick heel was at least as tall as I was.

She'd shrunken me and dropped me from the safety of my ball, utterly helpless and vulnerable at Malva's feet, and as I backed away, shaking my head, I looked up at the pink-haired giantess and realized that the idea excited her as much or more than it terrified me.

"Holy shit," Malva whispered, staring at me without making a move. "Chloe, she's tiny. She's totally tiny."

"Of course she is, dearest," my owner responded as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "That's the solution. By the time we're done, everyone will be as she is now."

I looked back and forth between the two collossal beauties, discussing me like a little object. I guess that's kind of what I was at this point, but it still felt a little off. So did hearing Chloe suggest that they were going to shrink "everyone," whatever that meant. I furrowed my brow, staring at her and trying to figure out just what she meant, but my concentration was broken by being suddenly cast into shadow.

Reflexively, I looked up and saw Malva's massive boot heel hovering over me. How could something so huge move so quickly and quietly? She wouldn't...

I screamed and dove to the side as her boot smashed down, dropping onto the surfece of the glass table with a jarring crash. I didn't know if she'd meant to kill me, but it wouldn't have surprised me. I lay on the cool surface, my face turned to the side, and our eyes met.

Even behind those glasses, I could see the frightful, burning eagerness in her. "I could crush you, runt," she declared, enunciating each word for my benefit. "I could squash you like a bug and nobody would know or care."

I could see her nostrils flare as her breathing quickened a bit. Just hearing those words out loud must have thrilled her all the more, and instantly I knew this wasn't a game. She wanted just what she said, she wanted to smear me under her shoe. I pushed myself to my knees, looking to Chloe, praying she'd help me, that she'd step in again and protect me from this gorgeous monster.

"Really, Malva," she started, and instantly my heart was lifted. "If you ever resisted the urge to break your toys for a moment, you might learn what fun could be had in playing with them."

This didn't sound perfect, but it was better than being a stain. I pulled myself up to my feet and nodded a little, feeling it best to encourage this idea. Chloe reached over and tapped Malva's thigh a few times, then shifted forward in her seat, leaning towards me.

It was like watching a mountain of heaven move. She only shifted a few inches, but suddenly she filled my world, radiant and perfect in every way. I stood staring up at her, and I couldn't resist smiling at least the faintest bit for a moment.

"Undress yourself, Lucy."

It was a simple command, and she said it so easily and with that same warm smile that it didn't even seem improper. The next moment, though, Malva was leaning on her shoulder, looming over me as well.

"Yeah, runt. Strip."

It sent a chill through me, and though I was already pulling my sweater over my head, suddenly I felt disgusting under her gaze. Chloe remained calm and seemingly disinterested as I dropped my sweater and slowly, shamefully pushed my skirt down to my ankles.

"Not bad," Malva muttered with a smirk, and the moment I'd stepped out of my skirt she leaned in and flicked my clothes away, sending them flying off of the table into the unfathomable distance, seperating me from them forever.

I kept my eyes down, totally unable to let myself look look at her while she mocked me. As I started tugging my long socks down over my knees, I heard Malva start to giggle, and I was stunned to hear Chloe's exquisite voice join with hers in light, lilting laughter.

I looked up then while I finished pulling off my socks, just in time to see Chloe playfully give Malva a little shove and then return her attention to me. "Good girl," she murmured, and for a moment a small bit of my shame was replaced by a strange sense of pride, but then Malva's slender fingers were stretching through the air towards me.

I tried to turn away, to dodge or run or flee, but her finger knocked me from my feet so easily. I tried to roll and rise to my feet, but before I could even lift my shoulder, the tip of her index finger dropped down on my chest, holding me motionless under its crushing power.

"What a useless little runt you really are," she musically intoned, leaning over me and enjoying my futile struggles. "You're small, so terribly small, Lucy," she continued, starting to slide her finger slowly up and down along my torso while I twisted beneath it.

It was warm, smooth, and her finger even smelled faintly sweet, like the wine she'd been drinking. I found myself flushing and even moaning faintly as she stroked my mostly bare body. I'd never really even had a boyfriend, and only had my first kiss a year ago, but now this devilish giantess was carressing me all over at the same time.

"You know what I could do to you, Lucy," she whispered, her voice low and sultry as she continued to rub her finger along my entire length. It sounded like the was experiencing some sort of excitement, too, but I didn't pay that much attention to that, struggling too much to remember who it was that was doing this to me and that I should be trying to resist her.

"I could push down," she purred and started to stroke me a little more firmly. "I could press down and squish you so easily. All your tiny ribs would snap and scrunch together, and your itty bitty skull would just squish."

Her finger lifted from me, and suddenly I had a moment to reflect on exactly what she was saying more than the sweet, playful tone of her voice. "Please!" I called up to the weirdly grinning girl toying with me. "Please, don't..."

And then her finger dropped and smacked into my face, silencing me instantly. "All. With. This. Little. Finger," she murmured, punctuating each word by dropping that frightening finger onto my face again.

A moment went by, my head swimming from the force of those impacts, but then I heard her voice again. "Kiss it," she ordered, and without thinking my lips pressed to her warm fingertip, slowly at first, but I did it again and again, much to her delight.

"Lick it, Lucy. Lick the finger that's going to smash you."

She was moaning softly now along with my desperate tongue sliding along the ridges of her fingertip again and again. I was in a haze of eager pleasure and pulsing pain and desperate obedience. Her finger finally pulled away, poised above me and ready to crash through my infinitely fragile body, and I stared, bracing myself, desperate for her touch yet fully expecting to be smeared across the table.

Instead, she broke into laughter. Hearty, giddy giggles, and Chloe seemed to catch her breath and join her as they leaned agains one another, cackling at my plight.

"You're getting kind of hot, aren't you, little girl?" Malva spoke while trying to quell her chuckles. I was panting, it was true, but I couldn't believe how cruel she was to me.

"Maybe you could use some cooling off, little Lucy," Chloe added, and then Malva swiftly snatched me up in her fingers and tossed me into her empty wineglass.

I hit the glass hard. It felt as though my bruises were going to have bruises on them, but I still had to pull myself up, still had to see what was going in and if there was any way out.

The glass was wet and slick, and it wasn't easy to turn over and look up at them. Malva's hand was sliding along Chloe's thigh, stroking her smooth flesh, and the hunger in her eyes bothered me. Chloe grabbed the quickly emptying bottle of wine.

I knew it was happening an instant before it did. The pale liquid came gushing from the spout and crashed into me with all the force of a tidal wave. I coughed and sputtered under the frigid, fizzy torrent, but the glass was filling quickly and before long the cascade of liquid began to force me below the surface again and again.

I struggled, clawing through the wine, straining towards the ever more distant surface to suck in a mouthful of air, all amidst the deafening rush of pouring and fizzing all around me and the muffled laughter of my collossal captresses.

My eyes burned horribly and I was shuddering with the intense cold, but after another interminably long moment, the glass was full and I was able to push to the surface. What tiny parts deep inside of me that weren't absolutely numb were utterly nauseous from a combination of the alcohol and the lack of air and the disorientation of being caught in a raging waterfall of wine.

"Oh, I wondered if you could swim, you silly little runt," Malva chuckled as she spoke. "For all the riding around you do on that dumb Slowbro of yours, I thought you might just sink to the bottom."

I stared at them, teeth chattering and pawing at the surface, trying to keep myself afloat. My muscles were ready to shut down, but as long as I could keep my limbs moving I'd be okay. Then, Malva reached for me.

I vaguely found myself pushing myself away from her extending grasp, swimming backwards towards the far rim of the wineglass and trying to prepare myself for the vertigo of being lifted into the air, but she didn't pick up the glass. Instead, she extended a finger towards me and lowered it into her drink. "You don't expect me to drink this now, do you?" she quipped, and I had time for a sad little yelp of protest before she shoved me back below the surface again.

i fought back against her immensely powerful digit, but it only seemed to tire me out and make swimming back to the top all the more excruciating. My head was buzzing, my limbs nothing but tingling pain, but I made it to the top and burst into the air, desperately filling my lungs with oxygen.

"I mean, that persistent dirty little thing's still floating in it."

Then she smirked and shoved me to the bottom again. I whimpered. I moaned in despair, but somehow I managed to will my arms and legs to start dragging me upwards one more time. Everything was blurry now, and the sounds around me grew more distorted as an icy sort of blackness seemed to be slowly closing in around me, but before things darkened completely, I felt air rushing into my lungs again.

"Oh, fine," I heard the unmistakable, if weirdly distant voice of my beautiful mistress say. I could only vaguely make out her shape in the distance, but as her fingers grew closer and wrapped around my crystal prison, I could tell they were hers. Suddenly, I was hurtling through the air, wine swirling all about me as my stomach lurched and I wailed, sickened and sinking.

"You can have mine," Chloe offered, and I watched as her painted lips parted, as the liquid around me started to spill from the glass's rim and poured past her perfect rows of ivory teeth, and I was filled anew with mortal terror. I plunged into the depths of my reserves and summoned all of my energy for one utimate, desperate scream, and tumbled into her mouth amidst a rush of chilled moscato.

The cold liquid rushed all about me in the humid darkness of Chloe's mouth, and my screams continued, reverberating back to me from the smooth surfaces of her teeth.  She was going to swallow me, going to let me slip down her throat and just vanish to nothing inside her, and nobody would ever know what became of me.

I felt the frightening undulations of her hot, wet tongue beneath me and ended up tumbling across its surface.  My bare skin was covered in her fruit-tinged spit, and I felt myself rising swiftly to the point where it choked off my cries.

The roof of her mouth smashed into me, pushing me firmly into the faintly forgiving and frighteningly powerful muscle beneath me.  She held me there, safely squished to the top of her mouth while she swallowed her wine, and when it was gone her lips parted slightly, letting daylight spill inside.  Maybe I wouldn't be eaten after all?  Her tongue relaxed, and I began to claw and crawl along its surface towards freedom.

"Nnn, Chloe," Malva moaned, her voice faintly slurred  and riddled with dark lust.  I saw slivers of her approaching face as she must have moved closer, and the nearer I got to her lips, the more of her I saw until the moment she surged forward, her own slightly parted mouth blotting out the light and giving me the chance for just the briefest shriek before her tongue smashed into me, sending me tumbling back into the depths of Chloe's mouth.

For a frightening moment, I thought I'd fall all the way to her throat and be swallowed and consumed, but Chloe's tongue slipped forward to meet the intruder, catching me between them.  I was smashed and shoved and batted around like the tiny toy I was between the eagerly dancing powerful pink muscles, able to do little but whimper and squirm as their ecstatic moans echoed around me.  It would only take one firm push against a tooth, one wrong twist to smash me or fold me in half, and I was so horribly, utterly unable to do the first thing to resist.

Then suddenly, I was free.  Malva continued to murmur and pant, but as she pulled back her tongue must have dragged me past Chloe's plush, pink lips, and I was hurtling through the air, bouncing along her soft dress and catching glimpses of the goddesses gripped by passion above me.

"I'm so... hot," Malva purred while stripping off her top, baring acres of perfect pale skin as she swung her leg across Chloe's lap, straddling her thighs and nipping at her neck.  I seemed utterly forgotten as I came to rest amidst the couch cushions, and I could only lay there, abused and beaten, sticky and wet and broken while I watched.

"I want more," she whispered.  "Hundreds, I want to feel them breaking beneath my toes, I want to squeeze their little bodies and feel them burst in my hands…”

She was breathless, panting as her hands slid all along Chloe’s body, hungrily kissing her neck and sinking her teeth into my keeper’s collarbone.  I hated seeing Malva lustily defiling her almost as much as I hated seeing Chloe’s shudder with pleasure, as I hated hearing her low, contented moans.

Finally, blissfully, her hand came to rest on Malva’s shoulder and slowly pushed her back.  “God, Chloe, you’re incredible,” Malva stammered as she slid back and unsteadily found her feet.  “Just, the things you do..”

She was shushed by Chloe’s fingers laying across her lips, and I slid a little further on the couch cushions as my massive, gorgeous goddess rose as well.  I thought she’d had just as much wine as Malva, but she seemed to be far more secure atop the towering heels of her boots.  “Shush, darling.  Come along, you can tell me more in the bedroom.  I’m sure I’ll enjoy this particular subject,” and with that, she turned and was gone from my sight, though the thuds of her boots on the hard floor followed by Malva’s rushed clomping echoed for a while after.

I took a long, shaky breath and closed my eyes, trying to make some sort of sense of the last half an hour.  They’d left me behind, maybe even totally forgotten me.  Maybe I could hide somewhere until Malva was gone, or even escape?  I had to do something at least, but what?  I couldn’t even really move, and while I didn’t think anything in me was broken, I wasn’t exactly sure how I’d be able to tell.

So, I didn’t do anything.  I lay there and found myself listening to the muffled giggles and low groans coming from the distant bedroom, and for some reason it made me feel totally awful, cold and sick and empty.

I coughed once, tears slipping down my cheeks, rolled onto my side, and drifted off to sleep.

***************

I groaned and twisted a bit on the couch.  My head was pounding, and I couldn’t quite remember why I was in my underwear, and why my legs stuck together slightly when I tried to move.  Something blurry and pink was moving about the blurry room.  I reached up and rubbed my burning eyes, and when I opened them again I was face to face with the weirdly hovering form of a huge fish.

“Alomomola, return,” Chloe called, and in a flash of light the pokemon vanished from in front of me and was replaced by the far more pleasing form of my mistress.  She’d changed since I last saw her, wearing a simple, short and silky white gown and those same red knit boots from before… last night?  Last week?  Ugh, my head…

“Here,” she sighed while leaning down and offering me a glass of water.  Shouldn’t she be bigger?  Or, I was smaller.  Last time I saw her, I was…

My brow furrowed as I stared intently at her mouth, watching as it formed such a wonderfully warm and reassuring smile.  Still, I shuddered, even while I took the water and she reached out and gently patted my head.  I felt I should be scared, but it felt so lovely, so soothing to be touched by her, to see her smiling just for me.  “What… what happened?” I finally managed to ask, then took a long, slow swallow of water.

“You did wonderfully, pet,” she cooed, and I was filled with a flush of pride as she stroked my cheek.  “You’re such a good little girl, and I’m very happy with how quickly you’re coming along.”  I purred contentedly, utterly delighted that I’d pleased her so much with whatever I’d done, not really pausing to think about exactly what that was.  I turned my head just enough to lightly kiss her wrist, and she laughed briefly, giving me a little nod before she stood back to her full height.

“If you’re feeling up to it, Lucy, I have a very special present for my good little ,girl.  Can you get up?”

I was still stiff and sticky, but the pain I vaguely expected wasn’t really there when I tried to move.  I did still feel sort of dizzy, and my head still pulsed and thrummed, but it wasn’t that hard to sit up and drag myself off of the couch.  She offered her warm, soft hand to me, and I carefully took it, following after her and beaming with pride as we padded towards her bedroom.

The closer we got, the more uneasy I became.  A gnawing sense of dread built within me for whatever was behind that door.  I still couldn’t piece together the things that had happened yesterday, though I didn’t know if that was related to having been in my ball again or by whatever it was that was making my head hurt so much.  I slipped behind Chloe a little, hoping she’d protect me from whatever it was I feared, but she barely paused to chuckle at my plight before pushing the door open.

Just the sight of that pink hair made me shriek, and I clung to Chloe like a startled infant.  I buried my face against her shoulder and wrapped my arms around her waist, and she laughed lightly again, stroking my hair as we stood in her doorway.  Everything came rushing back so quickly: the cruelty, the threats, the taste of dirt and blood and boots.

“Shhh,” Chloe continued, slipping her fingers beneath my chin and slowly turning my head back towards her bed.  “It’s okay, dear, she’s sleeping,” she assured me, and as I looked her over I started to feel better.  Malva was indeed heavily sleeping, her hair loose and spilling over her bared shoulders.  In fact, she seemed to be covered only by a silky white sheet half over her torso.  Her clothes were strewn about the room haphazardly, and she just laid there motionless and softly snoring as we watched.

“Isn’t she lovely?” Chloe lazily inquired, and for all the things she’d done to me, I found it hard to disagree.  My eyes roamed over her body, from the toned leg poking out from beneath her blankets to the manicured fingers and curves of her neck and shoulders and the features of her angelic face.  It wasn’t hard to see how she’d become the biggest Holo Caster star around; just looking at her was exciting.

Chloe picked something up from her shelf while I stood there watching Malva sleep, and then she was pushing it into my hand.  I almost had to pull myself away to glance down and see what she’d given me.

“Go on, darling.  She can be your first one,” Chloe suggested, giving me the sweetest smile and a little pat at the small of my back to encourage me forwards, and that’s how I found myself standing over Malva, nervously turning a Flare Ball about in my hand.  I had questions, so many questions and more than a few concerns, but clearly my mistress expected me to take action, so those questions could wait.

Maybe some part of me wanted to do it, too, but either way, I tossed the ball right at her pretty face, and it smacked against the side of her head.  She stirred and groaned as it popped open, but she didn’t even wake up before she was transformed into a burst of light and the ball quickly snapped shut.

“Good,” Chloe purred in my ear, her hands laying across my bare back as she leaned over me.  We both watched as the ball rolled just a bit, then came to rest with the tiny, totally nude Malva laying on the bottom, turning over and snoring a bit louder before settling back to her peaceful slumber.  “Very good, Lucy.  Should we give her a nickname?”

 

I sat on the edge of the bed with the ball containing my miniature Malva in my hands, just turning it slowly and staring at her.  The motion had woken her up by now, and once she'd pounded on the plastic for a while and screamed herself hoarse, she'd slumped down and tucked her knees under her chin, her smoldering eyes doing their best to burn through me.

Chloe sat beside me, arm curled around my back and fingers slowly stroking my shoulder.  "I don't understand, though," I hesitantly began.  "Aren't the two of you friends?  Why did we do this to her?"

Chloe chuckled softly and leaned a bit closer, and I sighed happily to feel the warmth of her skin against mine.  Her chin rested on my shoulder and I could tell she was delighting in watching the tiny girl in my hands.  "She really is a beautiful little creature, isn't she?"

I smiled faintly and gave a little nod.  She somehow seemed even more beautiful now that she was so small and vulnerable.  "But..."

"Yes, Lucy," she continued, patting my thigh.  "I adore Malva, it's true, but she was going to prove a challenge to restrain.  She needed to be controlled, and I thought you would do well and perhaps even enjoy being the one to control her."

I slowly broke into a sort of funny grin, staring at the tiny thing in the palm of my hand.  I thought of all the things she'd done to me, all the things she said, and I grinned a bit more.  "I control her..."

"Oh yes, Lucy," she nearly purred, stroking my thigh a bit more firmly.  I shuddered faintly under her touch.  "She's only just been captured, so she may still resist you to a point, but she will surely obey you in the end.  Your power over her is absolute."

I realized that my breath was coming quicker.  I felt my chest rising and falling, felt Chloe's hands roaming along my body and I was so keenly aware of every detail, every sound and scent and sensation around me.  I was hot and hungry for... something.

"I think I want to play with her," I whispered, but as I reached for the button that I thought would release my new pet, Chloe reached out and snatched the ball from my hand.

"Plenty of time for that, darling," Chloe uttered with a grin, and I found her smile reassuring despite the fact that I was visibly pouting in my disappointment.  "First, you absolutely need a bath.  I want to take you out, but we can't have you in public all sticky and messy."

I still frowned, but it was admittedly a halfhearted effort.  Chloe was going to take me out with her, and there was no disguising my excitement about that fact.  She beckoned to me with a little wave of her hand, and instantly I hopped up and followed her to the luxurious bathroom.

The tub might have had more in common with a swimming pool than a bath, but either way I'd never seen anything like it.  Even though I'd been roaming about in my underwear all morning, I still wasn't overly secure about stripping totally bare in front of others, but knowing that I was going to get to hop into that magnificent bath certainly helped a bit.

I noticed Chloe slipping away through the door and quickly turned.  "Wait, where are you going?" I asked before really thinking that it might actually make more sense for me to be left alone to bathe.

"Shauna always helps me in the tub," she replied, pausing briefly and half turning back to look at me.  "I was going to let you use her."

I blinked a few times, considering that while reaching up and fidgeting with my long, somewhat matted dark hair for a little while.  "Oh!  Well, ahm... that sounds nice, I guess, Just, what if Mal stayed with me instead?  Would that be okay?"

She furrowed her brow for the briefest of moments, but then the bright smile Chloe gave me was enough to melt me to a puddle.  "Of course it would, dear," she replied, walking back to me and offering me Malva's ball.  "Just remember, she's only just been captured, so she may still have to learn respect.  Whatever happens, you are her trainer.  Don't be afraid to train her."

I nodded eagerly, far too excited to be getting my new toy back to really care all that much about anything else.  Chloe took a moment and patted me on the head.  "Have fun, pet," she spoke, then left and shut the door behind her.

I was all too ready to hit the button and let her out.  I tossed the ball a few feet in front of me, and before it hit the ground, the thing had popped open and released Malva, full sized, onto the tile before me.

"Nrrrrrrgh," she groaned, smashing the heels of her hands against her temples.  "Enough with the lights."

I stood there over her, just grinning and breathing, watching her slowly pull herself together.  It didn't take her long to notice me and figure out where we were, and after she rubbed her eyes I found myself withering under her baleful stare.  "Right.  The runt," she growled.

My blood froze in my veins.  I took a step back and slowly shook my head.  This wasn't how it worked, was it?  How could she still talk to me like that?

"No!"  I snapped in a moment of desperate resolution.  "No, bad girl!"

She blinked a few times, tilting her head and seeming quite perplexed by what I was saying.  Still, yelling at her had somewhat restored my confidence.  "We're going to take a bath, Mal. Now, get up."

My mouth was dry, and I thought I'd bite clean through my lip as I watched her and waited for a reaction.  She did as I asked, though, and slowly dragged herself to her feet, giving an exasperated sigh and a roll of her eyes as she did so.

I nodded once, then turned my back on her.  I told myself it was to make the next task easier for her, but I don't think I was really quite ready to look her in the eye as she did what I was about to ask her.

"Undress me," I commanded, though the little squeak in my voice might have undermined the authoritative tone I intended to have.

I heard her shuffling towards me, and even though I'd given the order, it still startled me to feel pop the clasp of my bra.  "Have you had a suntan in your life, runt?" she casually asked as she pulled the straps over my shoulders and off, then tossed the garment aside.

I took a sharp breath, feeling out the anger growing in my gut.  I worked really hard to be pretty.  I scraped and saved for nice outfits and had my hair styled every few weeks and watched what I ate so carefully.  Where did she get off criticizing me?

Her thumbs hooked under the sides of my panties and shoved them down around my ankles.  "I bet you've never been touched.  No wonder you squirmed like such a <i>slut</i> under my finger."

"Shut up!" I screamed, whirling around to face her.  My breasts, whose smallish size I was keenly aware of at the moment, heaved with my indignation as I sucked air past my teeth.  Malva was still crouched before me, and now she stared up with wide and unblinking eyes.

I struggled to find words I wanted to say, and I probably stammered a little as I said them.  "You do <i>not</i> talk to me like that.  Never!  Not at all."

She blinked a few times, and then further infuriated me with a rather dismissive shrug.

"That's it!" I shrieked.  "No more talking.  You're not allowed to talk, Malva.  Do you hear me?  Don't you dare say a single word!”

She narrowed her eyes, but remained silent.  I took a deep breath and looked her over, crouching before me.  She was still smug as could be, but she was quiet.

Obedient.

“If you need to communicate,” I started, breathing slowly and trying to keep myself steady.  “You… you can bark.  Bark like a dog.”

Her brow furrowed and her teeth clenched as she started to rise from the ground, but I found myself reaching out and resting my hand on her head, gently but firmly keeping her lowered before me.  It was a reaction, and it happened so quickly I almost wasn’t prepared for it myself.  She wasn’t completely prepared either, and ended up dropping to her knees as I threw her off balance.

I liked that.  An exhilarating rush of heat coursed through me, and my fingers and toes tingled a bit as I took another long, shaky breath.

“No, Mal.  Stay down, and go ahead and bark for me so I know you understand.”

Her eyes burned with a hatred whole and pure and unadulterated for me, but again she obeyed.

“Ouaf, ouaf.” she growled from between clenched teeth, and I could feel myself breaking into another of those weird, giddy grins.  Still she despised me, but she did what I said.  I was in control.

“Good girl,” I purred.  Talking down to her like this felt so good, so totally right.  “We’re going to take a bath now.  <i>Crawl</i> over there and start the water, and try not to make it too hot.  I know you like the heat.”

She did it.  I sighed contentedly as I watched her crawl, and moments later I was dipping my toes into a steaming hot bath.  I slipped in carefully, exhaling as my body sunk into the water, and once I was settled I turned back to Malva.  She’d been watching me, and while her disgust was still evident, it seemed to have softened somewhat.

“Grab the sponge, Mal,” I casually demanded.  “You need to get in and wash my back.”

I watched her for a moment and enjoyed her momentary surprise, but once I saw her start moving towards me, I decided to just close my eyes and wait.  I felt the water slosh a bit as she entered, and I let out a low groan as I felt her hands on my body, the sudsy sponge sliding across my back and shoulders.  She stayed properly silent while she worked, and without prompting continued to gently, almost sweetly wash my neck.  I leaned back and groaned in total, blissful delight as she sponged my breasts.

“Oh, Mal, you’re learning so quickly.  Doesn’t it feel good to make me happy?”

She continued to gently scrub my body, but when she didn’t reply I allowed myself to open my eyes and give her a pointed glance.  She paused for a moment met my gaze, and though there wasn’t a single trace of anything but dutiful obedience, she seemed too preoccupied to actively hate me in that moment at least.  “Ouaf,” she replied, and I nodded my approval while reaching out and pushing her back a bit.

“Legs,” I simply stated, and lifted one of mine from the water and resting my heel on her shoulder.  It was incredibly fulfilling to subjugate her like this, and I sighed happily once again as she began to caress my calf and thigh with her sponge.  I let her do her work, slowly sliding my leg back as she skillfully soaped it up, giving her the chance to wash my foot.

Once again, I was further delighted.  I shivered a little to feel the rough sponge slide across my heel and sole, then brush back over the top of my foot.  Chloe seemed to take particular pleasure in having others beneath her feet or otherwise servicing them, and I was starting to appreciate the idea as well.  I wondered if this was what she felt when she did these things while I pulled my leg back and gently pressed the undersides of my toes to Malva’s soft lips.

“Kiss it,” I commanded, and again my body was awash with that exquisite, erotic heat.  My eyes fluttered as she did just that, gently pressing her mouth to my toes.  I’d never experienced anything like this, but I wasn’t going to let it be a brief experience either.  “Yeah,” I sighed, loving the sight of her pressing her mouth to my foot.  “Keep kissing.  Use your tongue.”

She did.  Oh my god, she nuzzled my sole, kissing from heel to toes, swirling her tongue amongst my digits.  My head rolled to the side and I let out a low moan, my body tensing a little and relaxing again, but when my eyes opened I gasped and pulled back my legs, curling defensively under the water in my shock.

Chloe was standing in the doorway, her eyes dancing with delight.  She seemed a split second from breaking into laughter, but all she did was give her broad smile and a little nod of approval, and with that I took a breath and relaxed.  She crossed through the room and reached towards me, laying one hand on my cheek and afterwards giving me a large, plush towel with the other.

“Come on, pet.  You can play with her more later, but there’s things I want to talk to you about before it gets too late.”

 

I was out of the bath pretty quickly, dried and wrapped in a huge, plush robe.  Malva was back in her ball and tucked in my pocket while I sat next to Chloe on the same large couch the two of them had sat on last night.  She was leaning back into the corner, daintily sipping a mimosa and resting her heels in my lap.  I shivered a little, the combination of her warmth and her wonderful scents leaving me wholly captivated as she looked me over.

 

“Lucy, you know you’re a very important girl, don’t you?” She began, and I grinned in reply and nodded.  She thought I was important, and that made me want to squeal.

“You’re the Champion, darling, and you must know that your voice carries tremendous weight.  There was a parade for you more than once, so when you join us for a special event and speak on our behalf, people are going to listen to you.  They’re going to trust you.”

I blinked a few times, not really certain where she was going with her line of thought, but I continued to enjoy feeling so important to her.  I wasn’t sure when I started, but I found myself gently massaging her stockinged soles while she continued to speak.

“Do you remember what Team Flare’s ultimate goal was, little one?”  She took another little sip of her drink, and I think I might have forgotten to speak for a while, just staring at her perfect mouth.

“Oh!  Oh, well, they mostly they wanted to, umm, create a beautiful and better world and they also took a whole bunch of money.  Somehow wiping out all the people and Pokemon with Yveltal’s power and a big, old machine were supposed to help?  I don’t really know, I didn’t really pay a whole lot of attention…”

I was distracted again by Chloe’s majestic toes.  My fingers nimbly caressed and squeezed them, doing their absolute best to give them pleasure.  Her stockings were of the richest silk, and I wanted to lean in closer, feel that soft smoothness against my face, revel in their warm scent…

Chloe cleared her throat, shattering my reverie.  I looked up at her, and was mortified to see her seeming perhaps the faintest bit displeased.  “You wiped out Lysander and nearly destroyed our organization and you didn’t even really know what we were?”

I wilted a little, bowing my head in true shame.  I should’ve familiarized myself with them more, should’ve watched all the Holocasts and listened to all the stylish grunts who tried to battle me along the way to the places I wanted to go.  “I’m sorry,” I murmured while grimacing, keeping my head down and my eyes on her feet.  I didn’t move or speak as one of those immaculate feet rose towards me, her toes slipping beneath my chin and turning my head upwards to look her in the eye.

“It’s okay, pet.  These things happen.”  She was smiling again, and I was forgiven.  I dipped my head a little and pulled back enough to press a long, loving kiss to the ball of her foot, burying my nose beneath her toes and allowing myself to savor the luscious scents that lingered there.  I  don’t know what was so alluring about her lovely feet, but she thoroughly enjoyed my fascination with them and that was enough to make me happy.  “But remember, the reason Lysander wanted to wipe out everything was to remove competition for resources, and we’re going to accomplish the same goal in a wonderfully nonviolent way with the Flare Ball, and you’re going to help with that.”

I perked up a bit, placing another little kiss on the tip of her biggest toe as I did.  “I’ll do what I can, I guess, but I only have Malva and you helped me with her.  Will it be easy to capture more people?”  It felt tremendously strange to say as I thought about what that meant.  Taking everyday people and capturing them, trapping them in balls and taking them away from their  lives.  I suddenly felt strangely uneasy, and it must have showed on my face because Chloe was quick to reassure me.

“Oh, sweetheart, you’re not going to be out capturing people.  That just wouldn’t be practical at all.  Slippers,” she added as a brief aside, but I was swiftly sliding from the couch and fetching her knit boots, then dropping to my knees to tug them onto her feet.  She continued to speak to me as I worked.

“First we’ll have a grand census, and you will speak at events and on Holocasts emphasizing the importance of registering.  People from every city and area in Kalos will be recorded, along with all the members of their family, and from this information we’ll be able to compile a database of every resident.”

I paused for a little, bending down to place another gentle kiss on the top of Chloe’s slipper, and then my head shot up and I beamed with pride.  “Like a Pokedex!”

She laughed and shrugged, but after a moment more she gave a little nod.  “You could think of it like that, I suppose.  Once we have everyone tagged, though, it’ll be easy enough to move through in one large sweep.  We have enough balls manufactured to contain the population twice over, and enough loyal grunts to move through every house in one night.  We just need everyone’s trust for one brief moment, darling,” she purred, leaning forward and taking my head in her soft, warm hands.  “You’ll get the people’s trust for us, won’t you?”

Of course I would.  What wouldn’t I do for her?  I nodded slowly, knowing how important this was, and she patted my head and smiled.  “Good girl,” she sighed, then gave me a little nudge with her foot.  “Now, go get dressed.  You need to look presentable, so we’re going shopping.”

Whatever else I'd been thinking about instantly evaporated with thoughts of the Lumiose boutique.  Surely we'd be going there, as I've never seen someone so stylish as Chloe.  I'd never been inside myself, but if I was her guest... oh, the wonders!  Would I wear the same spectacular styles she did?  Even to touch them...

"Lucy," she sighed, tapping my nose with her finger.  "Go get ready."

I squealed softly and scurried to my feet, running to gather the embarrassingly soiled garments I'd worn the other day, and Chloe gracefully rose to her feet and headed towards her room, plucking a ball from her pocket as she walked.  "Come, Shauna," she breathed, summoning the young girl from within in a little flash of light.  "Let's get dressed."

I turned slightly while pulling at and adjusting my dress, watching Shauna smile sweetly and follow at her heels like some stupid obedient dog.  I hated her for a second, just... overwhelming hatred that I don't know where it came from, but I tried to remember that she was my friend and we all were Chloe's, so it had to be okay for them to share that moment, that intimate moment of helping her dress for the day, touching her fantastic garments, her amazing skin...

I guess I wasn't quite ready to let it go.  I'm the Champion, and she's nobody.  That should be me in there.

 

 

The four of us arrived at the Boutique together, and I could barely contain my giddiness as we were all warmly received as Chloe's guests.  Many times I'd poked my head through the door, but each time I was chased out and informed of my lacking status before I could even really take in all that there was to see.  Now, I stood bouncing on my toes, slowly turning around and around and drinking in the sights.  Luxurious dresses, sharply tailored coats, stockings and shoes and handbags and jewelry and even hats, far too numerous to comprehend, and I knew even a single one of the items here would devastate my savings, if not send me spiraling into debt.

 

 

"You like what you see, don't you, little one?" Chloe murmured, and I instantly replied.

 

"Oh, yes!" Shauna and I intoned simultaneously, and at that I sharply turned to glare at her.  Obviously she loved it here, I could tell she'd already been.  The little summery white dress tightly hugging her curves and the platform wedge heels she stood atop were unlike anything I'd ever seen her wear in all the years I'd known her.  She looked... sophisticated.  More grown up, and worse than that, she was taller than me in those heels and that frustrated me almost as much as knowing that I was still wearing the same dirty clothes from days ago, my worn boots and the blouse with Chloe's shoeprint on the chest.  She remained blissfully unaware of my dissatisfaction though, simply beaming for the benefit of our beautiful mistress.

 

"Hey," Malva muttered while giving me a little nudge to pull me out of my seething rage.  "Go pick something out so you can get out of those rags, hmm?"

 

I stood there blinking a bit and took a deep breath, trying to be a little more calm and composed for a moment.  My Malva still had some kind of attitude, but she had a point and I was willing to go with her suggestion instead of snapping back at her.  I looked back to Chloe for some reassurance, and she offered one of her radiant little smiles and nodded.

 

"Anything you want, sweetheart.  Go on, you two have fun."  She patted Shauna on the head and pulled her off to another section of the sizable boutique, and I was left standing there, staring after the two of them with my eyes narrowed and my teeth clenched.

 

"Seriously, come on kid."  Malva shoved me forward a little and I sort of let her guide me towards the dressing rooms.  Somewhere along the way she must have snatched a few things off of the racks and tables, and while I was still internally grumbling to myself she was pulling the curtain closed behind us and swiftly starting to unbutton my blouse.

 

“Hey…” I blinked and tilted my head a little as Malva finished with my shirt and tugged it off of my body.  She was efficient, businesslike, but then I felt her warm fingertips sliding over my stomach briefly and it left me shuddering, at least long enough for her to loosen my skirt and drop it around my ankles.

 

“You know, runt, you’ve actually got a half-decent body under there,” Malva quipped while yanking off my boots and guiding my feet out of the skirt pooled around them.  “It’s really too bad that you have no clue what to do with it.”

 

“Hey.”  This time I said it with a lot more conviction.  “Aren’t you supposed to be my slave pet servant or something?” I snapped, and without thinking I just kicked out a leg and knocked Malva flat on her back.  I must have kicked her harder than I thought, because she laid on the ground and coughed a few times instead of snapping back at me, which was enough time for me to take two steps forward, the first one positioning me over her torso, and the second firmly planting my foot on the side of her face and pinning it to the ground.

 

“Where do you get off talking to me like, that, huh?” I growled, grinding my heel into her jaw.  Her pretty little face fit perfectly under my foot, and I could feel her movements, even her little groans through the sole of my thick sock.  “Didn’t I tell you not to talk?” I shrieked, and I found my chest heaving as I raised my foot just enough to stomp back down on her stupid head.

 

It felt good.  It felt really good just stepping on her.  Standing over her, pinning her to the ground, holding her helpless under my foot.  It was fulfilling, satisfying, even exciting to do this to her… to overpower her.

 

“Man, you really hate her, don’t you?” I heard from beneath my heel.  It surprised me, enough that I lost a little bit of my thrilling and righteous indignation and became a little more aware that I was standing in my underwear and boot socks in an upscale boutique and stepping on a rather formidable woman’s face.

 

“Wha… what are you talking about?” I stuttered while doing my best to continue sounding authoritative.

 

“Look, kissing your feet was kind of hot in the bathtub the other day, but your socks are like a week old.”  She eased out from beneath me and started stripping off those same admittedly dirty socks, and I let her without any resistance.  “I mean, I’m kind of into the scent,” she continued while pressing my balled socks to her face and taking a deep breath.  “Chloe’s kind of conditioned me to this whole foot thing, but I can’t deal with you looking like a homeless girl,” she grumbled and then tossed them aside.

 

I was pretty confused by this point, between being almost naked and having ended up that way because Malva’d undressed me and all the things she was saying.  “Sit,” she suggested, and I settled back on the bench against the wall.  Still, she was on her knees and I was comforted by that fact at least, even as she started to guide a silky white stocking up over the curves of my leg.

 

I hadn’t worn anything so… smooth, and Malva was there, kneeling before me with her hands sliding up along my leg, gliding across my thigh and again I was flushing, taking a shaky breath and watching her eyes for some strange reason.  “Shauna,” she casually spoke.  “You can’t stand her.”

 

“She’s my best friend,” I calmly replied as she shifted a little closer, her fingers sliding back down along my silk-covered calf before she started carefully slipping the second stocking over my toes.  “We’ve been friends almost since I moved to Kalos.”

 

Malva was taking her time with my second stocking.  Her thumbs guided the band slowly up along the curves of my leg while her fingertips teased and caressed further and further up my smooth and sensitive flesh.  She didn’t look up, wholly focused on her task, but I was completely focused on her, watching her down on her knees and watching her serve me.  I took a long and somewhat shaky breath and shifted to rest one of my stockinged feet just above her knee, and she let out the faintest sigh before speaking again.

 

“You look at her the same way I used to look at you,” she commented while stretching the tops of my stockings a bit more, making sure they were even.  “It makes sense, though,” she continued as her fingers brushed my inner thigh, making me shudder a little while I bit my lower lip.  “She doesn’t belong with us at all.”

 

“Wha… what?  Huh?” I stammered while I watched her rise up on her knees and slip forward between mine, moving closer, moving very close to me.  I felt her body against my thighs, her hands on my legs as her head finally rose and her bright eyes locked with mine.

 

“Chloe runs all of Team Flare.  I’m, well… of course, I’m me.”  She laughed a little and rolled her shoulders, then gave me this look that made me shiver… she was smoldering, her mouth so close to mine and her fingers just touching me, touching my thighs while she licked her lips…

 

“And you,” she purred.  “You’re the fucking Champion, Lucy.”  She leaned closer, her cheek brushing mine, and I found myself shifting closer to her, moaning softly as she whispered in my ear.  “Shauna?  Shauna’s nothing.”

 

God, I’d never thought about it that way before, but it was completely clear to me now.  “Nothing,” I whispered back.  It felt so good… I felt so good, I was powerful and in control, and Shauna…

 

“Just a useless little nobody” Malva hissed, her teeth tugging at my earlobe, pulling it past her lips.  I leaned back, letting out a soft and low moan that I didn’t know I had inside of me as she suckled at my ear.  “She’s nothing next to you.”

 

She was right.  She was so right.  “You’re right,” I laughed, reaching out for her.  My eyes were closed by now, I was just letting her do whatever she wanted because everything in the world really did feel just so right.  One of my hands slipped into her hair, so soft, but she was pulling away from me and it left me briefly whimpering with my need for her.  I opened my eyes to see her leaning back, turned to the side and pulling something out of her purse.

 

“That’s why we’re going to put her in her place,” she muttered with a grin, and when she turned back to me she was holding a Flare Ball.

 

 

 

“What exactly are we going to do with that?”  Malva was clearly very proud of herself, grinning deviously as she tossed the ball into the air and caught it.  “I mean, Shauna’s already… captured, right?  Isn’t that how this works?  We can’t catch her again.”

 

She ignored me, though, and rose to her feet, brushing past me and poking her head out through the curtains.  “Hey, Shauna,” she called across the store, and I stood up behind her and leaned over to peek out through the curtains as well.

“What are you doing!” I hissed in Malva’s ear, but she just gave me a little shove.

“Hey, shut up and trust me,” she whispered, and we both watched Shauna perk up and smile in our direction.  “Come here, we need a hand with something.”

Shauna looked back at Chloe, who was busy admiring herself in a large mirror and comparing a few different sets of earrings.  She stayed rooted to the spot until Chloe gave her a brief and dismissive nod, and watching her play the obedient puppy just got me all worked up again.  It was like there was this clenching, rising wave of lava pushing from my belly to my chest as I watched her gleefully bound towards us.

“Grab those boots, too,” Malva added with a little grin, gesturing to a pair displayed at the end of a rack and then taking a brief glance at me.  “Size eight,” she correctly assumed, then pushed me back inside the dressing room and picked up one of the dresses she’d snatched from the rack, and I awkwardly stumbled around at her direction as she positioned me in front of a mirror and draped it over my chest so I could imagine myself in it.

“What do you think?” she lazily asked, but I was a little too impressed to respond.  The dress was amazing, tight at the top and white with a bit of black stitching and detail work, then transitioning above the waist to a black, sharply angled, flowing slit skirt that looked like it would drop just past the knees on the long side but still bare most of my leg on the other.  It wasn’t like anything I’d even imagined being on my body.  It was the kind of dress a supermodel would wear.  It was…

“Pretty!” Shauna squealed as she slipped past the curtains and joined us, a tall white stiletto-heeled boot in each hand.  I whirled around to face her, having almost forgot she was coming in all my fashionista fantasies, but Malva quickly intervened.

“Don’t you think those boots would go great with this?” she hastily asked before I could open my mouth, and Shauna looked me over with those big dumb cow eyes and gave an enthusiastic nod.

“Good, then help me get her into this.”  Malva spun me around and pulled the dress away from me, and I was left standing face to face with this prissed up version of the girl I’d come to loathe.  All I could think about was that she was seeing me in my underwear and it just pissed me off more and more, but then they were both on either side of me, lifting my arms and unzipping things and sliding the fabric over my skin and smoothing it out.

It was a whirl of activity, at least to me, but in another moment when it was all over I was left staring at myself in the mirror, blinking in confusion as I seemed to be seeing someone else.

“You’re beautiful,” Shauna murmured, giving me one of those huge, eager smiles from over my shoulder, and I almost believed her.  I looked sophisticated and sassy.  I looked like a woman.

“Yeah, good work, Shauna,“ Malva muttered with another of her wicked smirks.  “Now, return.”

I whirled around and watched wide-eyed as Malva held out the Flare Ball she’d showed me earlier.  Shauna blinked once and then dissolved in a flash of light, and by now I understood what had happened.

“Oh god, you mean that was <i>her</i> ball?” I croaked, trying to catch my breath and gather myself.

“Absolutely,” she laughed, turning the ball over in her hand a bit and looking over Shauna’s suddenly very tiny form.  “I swiped it from Chloe’s dresser, easy enough,” and with that she casually tossed the ball towards me and I shrieked in surprise, barely managing to clumsily grab it out of the air.

She laughed at my reaction and shook her head.  “What are you so concerned about, huh?  She’s nothing, remember?”  She stepped forward and cradled the hand that held Shauna in both of hers, looking into my eyes as she continued.  “ And now you’ve got her, tiny and insignificant like the little fucking insect she is.”

The way she looked at me and the way she talked stirred something in me.  I took a deep breath and examined the tiny Shauna I now held in my hand, and the more I thought about that, just the fact that I was holding her in the palm of my hand and could do anything I wanted with her, the more flustered and excited I got.  I pressed my thumb into the side of the ball and turned it a little, watching the tiny girl stumble and fall onto her backside, and it made me grin.

This really was how things were supposed to be.  I was the one with power.  I was the Champion, I’d beaten them all, and I deserved to be in control.  I deserved Chloe, and nobody else was worthy of her attention like I was.  “Stupid bug…” I whispered, narrowing my eyes and further scrutinizing Shauna.

The bitch was still smiling.  Didn’t she get it?  Didn’t she understand what was going on?  I ground my teeth a little, but Malva laughed a little and started to slowly turn my hand over.  I looked up, meeting her gaze, but she just grinned that same devious grin and turned my hand further until the Flare Ball rolled from my palm and tumbled towards the ground.

“Malva!” I cried as I realized what I’d done.  It was a serious fall for someone as small as she was, and even inside the ball she was sure to strike the floor pretty hard, hard enough to injure or maybe even kill her.  The ball smacked into the hard floor with a sharp crack and bounced a few times, and I went to reach for it but Malva grabbed my wrist.

“Leave her.  She belongs on the ground, doesn’t she?”  Malva intertwined her fingers with mine, and her other hand reached out to lightly brush my cheek.  “She should be treated like the dirt she is.”

Malva was making so much sense right now, and besides, I could see Shauna moving.  “Dirt…” I mused, stretching out my toes towards the ball containing her.  “You’re nothing but dirt, Shauna,” I purred while lifting those toes, sliding them over the curve of her ball, letting the silky sole of my stocking rub back and forth over the smooth plastic and totally obscuring the tiny girl from view beneath my foot.

“She’s so little, Lucy,” Malva whispered while she crouched down, running her hands along my silky thighs.  “So small and weak that you can just step on her.”

My breath was coming faster now as my mind started to race.  “I can imagine her, so tiny and helpless, trapped in her ball and staring up at my foot completely covering her…” I slid my foot slowly forward and back, letting the ball roll along my arch as I stared at myself in the mirror.  So in control.  So… sexy.  “Get down on your knees, Malva,” I demanded with utter confidence.  “Get that girl out of her ball.”

Malva grinned a bit more broadly and did just as she was told, slowly and seductively sinking to her knees before me and meeting my gaze the whole while.  She slipped a hand beneath my heel, gently cradling my foot while she slid Shauna’s Flare Ball out from beneath it.  Her thumb quickly found the button and dropped the tiny girl into her waiting hand.

“Good, good,” I hastily whispered.  “Now, kiss my foot.  Kiss my foot and then put her back on the ground so I can play with her.”

Malva laughed again softly and gave a little nod.  “Yes, Miss,” she gaily quipped while bowing down before me and pressing her precious lips to my toes, giving them a long and lingering kiss.  She dumped Shauna at my feet without much concern once she was done, but stayed down on her knees to watch me enjoy my new little toy.

“Look at you,” I scoffed, watching the tiny girl pull herself to her feet after being unceremoniously dumped on the ground.  “Gosh, Shauna, you’re just so <i>little</i>” I taunted her, then reached out and knocked her over with my toes.

She started to pull herself back up again, still trying to do her best to give me a warm smile, and this time I slid my foot to the side and kicked her over once again.  “I can’t believe I let you bother me, Shauna.”

She rose back to her hands and knees, but I didn’t give her enough time to get all the way back up this time.  I planted my heel in front of her and then gently dropped the ball of my foot onto her back, pushing her flat to the ground with just a little tap of my foot.  “I’m the one that matters, Shauna.  I’m the one with power.”

My heart was hammering in my chest, blood was rushing in my ears.  I’d never experienced such a rush; there was no stopping me.  “And you,” I declared, slow and sultry like I imagined a sophisticated, powerful woman would speak.  “You’re just a…”

My foot slapped down on her body to punctuate every word.  “Tiny.  Useless.  Nothing.”  With the last one I left my foot resting on her.  I could feel her little body through the sole of my sheer white stocking, just laying there.  Malva was staring upwards at me, watching my eyes as I kept Shauna pinned beneath my foot, and it felt like my body was totally ablaze, tingling in places I wasn’t even aware of before.

“Get those boots,” I demanded, and Malva eagerly nodded, rising to her feet and crossing the tiny room to fetch them.  They really were gorgeous, knee high with a tall, slender heel and a couple inches of platform.  A pair of thick straps criss-crossed the fronts of each, the right, white leather held in place by a pair of broad, gold buckles.

My eyes dropped back to my feet to see how my trampled tiny friend was managing.  Shauna had managed to roll over and sit up a bit, but I could tell she was a little worn out.  Not that I had been particularly rough with her; I just wanted to show her how superior I really was, but between the fall and struggling under the weight of my foot she’d already been through a lot.  I was about to give her just another slight nudge with my toes when a chorus of loud crunches and cracks nearly made me jump out of my new fancy dress.

My eyes snapped to the source of the sound and there I saw Malva’s own heavy black boot planted atop the shattered remnants of Shauna’s ball.  “What did you do?” I gasped, but she just chuckled briefly and shrugged, kicking the little pieces out of the way and dropping back to her knees.

“You worry too much, Lucy.”  Her hands guided my toes into the opening of the first boot and I let her help me push my foot down into it.  I had to place my hand against the wall to keep my balance while she did the same with my other foot and tightened the buckles.  “Now, how do they feel?”

Once again, I couldn’t believe what I saw in the mirror.  I’d never worn anything more than kitten heels, and there was something amazing about suddenly being five inches taller.  Malva was right, too, my legs looked fantastic, and I felt all that much more alluring as I gave a little turn.  I wasn’t even embarrassed when I stumbled just a bit and caught myself against the wall, laughing a little as I turned back to Malva, raised my arms above my head and adopted my best sexy model pose.  “Amazing,” I replied.  “Absolutely amazing.”

Malva bent down further, lowering her head next to the tiny Shauna as she continued to stare up at me.  “They’re totally hot, don’t you agree, little girl?” she teased the tiny thing, giving her a little poke with the tip of her finger.

Shauna nodded a few times and tried to turn and give Malva a little smile, but another poke pushed her back towards my feet.  “They’re super pretty,” she called out, though I could barely  hear the squeaky little sound.

“Then why don’t you go give them a kiss?” my companion suggested, then planted the tip of her finger in the tiny girls back and forced her flat on her belly.  “Go on, crawl to her boots like a little worm and give them a kiss.”

I couldn’t help but cackle at the thought of her squirming at my feet, but all I had to do was look down to see that she was already pushing herself along the ground towards my comparatively towering footwear.  “You’re going to use your tongue,” I spontaneously added.  “You’re going to crawl and lick my boots, tiny worm.”

I  looked to Malva for approval, and the smoldering desire in her eyes did more than reassure me.  She laid her hands across the fronts of my legs and let them slide up towards the tops of my thighs as she stood up in front of me.  “God, I’m so hot right now,” she murmured, voice low and lusty as her hand slipped along the small of my back.

I couldn’t feel Shauna licking the side of my platform boot, but Malva leaned to the side enough that we could both glance her for a moment and watch her obediently tongue the tall platform sole.

“Step on her,” she whispered, more a plea than a demand, but I blinked and shook my head.

“I’d crush her,” I lamented, and while just saying the word ‘crush’ sent a thrilling shudder through my core.  “I don’t want to hurt her,” I lamented.

“Just rest your foot on her,” she continued, her body sliding up against mine.  “I want to know that little bitch is helplessly pinned under your boot when we kiss.”

My eyes widened a little at that, but she had me so worked up that I wasn’t even that surprised that she wanted to kiss me.  I carefully slid my boot forward, balancing it on the tall stiletto heel and delicately letting the thick sole settle onto Shauna’s tiny little body.  “Mnnn~,” was all Malva had to say before her hand slipped beneath my hair and pulled my head towards hers.  I knew I was supposed to close my eyes, but my mind was racing as she leaned closer towards me.  If I had closed my eyes, though, I wouldn’t have noticed the curtain parting a little more.

Chloe stood in the entryway, smiling sweetly as she watched the two of us.  I shrieked and almost lost my balance, draping my arms over Malva’s shoulders to keep myself from falling, and Malva only gave another of her little playful laughs at my distress.

“Where’s Shauna?” she asked with what seemed to be a terribly casual amount of concern.

“Under her boot,” Malva chuckled while dragging her fingertips along my cheek.

“Chloe, I’m sorry!”  I started to stammer and shrink, all of my sexy confidence dissipating with incredible swiftness.  “I got carried away, I didn’t mean for anything to happen, I just felt so angry and…”

I continued to plead with her for forgiveness, but she only shook her head and took one step towards me, then another.  I chewed  my lip and wholly anticipated some sort of terrible retribution.  The idea that I’d somehow disappointed or disobeyed her was more awful than almost anything I could think of in that moment.  She looked me dead in the eyes, that same confident smile never left her face.  I was utterly paralyzed with dread, and that has to be the only reason that I didn’t resist, didn’t even move as she slowly settled her stylish high-heeled shoe atop my boot and began to slowly press down.

I could barely feel her at first, but as Shauna’s little body started to crumple beneath my boot I was acutely aware of every crunch and squelch, feeling it just as clearly as I heard it.  Her eyes never left mine, and the smile never left her face as my boot descended towards the floor, snuffing out the little life of the girl who had been my best friend.

I couldn’t begin to conceive how I felt in that moment.  I had been excited to torment her, even to step on her, and maybe I had enjoyed the sensation but I was so filled with that sick dread that I don’t even know if I felt anything.  All I know is that once Shauna was squished, Chloe turned  away and headed back through the curtain.

“We’re done here,” she called over her shoulder as she left, and Malva leaned in to give me a little kiss on the cheek before she walked out after her.  As for me, I stood there, afraid to move my boot and afraid of what I was going to see, but at the same time I couldn’t be left behind and I couldn’t take my eyes away as I slid my boot back and revealed what was left of Shauna.

Just a reddish wet mess and a pretty pastel rag.

I ran through the curtains, stumbling in my massive heels all the way back to the car.

 

 

The rest of that day was a fog.  I remembered watching Malva pull my boots into her lap, cleaning the blood from my sole with a tissue and lewdly caressing their curves for the rest of the trip back to Chloe’s apartment.  I remember Chloe’s eyes on us, her satisfied smile that made me feel like she was watching two children, or maybe pets playing well with each other.

 

After we returned home I remained in a daze.  Chloe and Malva seemed strangely sweet, caring for me like some sort of a child once we’d gotten there, Chloe’s own hands carefully helping me out of my dress and Malva guiding me to the couch.  She dropped to her knees and reverently slipped off my new boots, running her fingers over my equally new stockings.  I didn’t feel any satisfaction, even when she cradled my calf and ankle in her hands and guided my foot towards her face.

 

She nestled herself against my sole, her little nose buried beneath my toes and taking long, steady breaths as she pressed soft, lingering kisses to the bottom of the foot that had ended Shauna’s life… that had crushed my helpless, innocent friend like an insect on the ground.  Malva’s worship should have pleased me, and I know Chloe would have approved, but I only felt more queasy as it continued and I couldn’t help but pull my feet away, twisting to the side and curling into a ball on the couch, squeezing my eyes shut and covering my face with my hands.

 

I was vaguely aware of Malva’s frustrated sigh, and slightly moreso of Chloe’s clicking heels signalling her return.  There was some murmured conversation for a moment, maybe even a brief disagreement, but before long there was a moment of silence and then an increasingly familiar plasticy click before I was bathed in brightness, ripping through the air for a split second and then settling to the curved surface of my Flare Ball.

 

I was wrapped in Chloe’s slender and elegant fingers, and that fact provided some level of comfort as I watched her immense and immaculate form settle onto her couch where I’d just been a moment ago.  Her other hand patted the cushion next to her and Malva slipped up from the floor to sit there, wearing that same nearly constant self-satisfied smirk.

 

I watched along Chloe’s colossal crimson-stockinged legs as she pushed her stiletto-shod feet into Malva’s lap, bringing the faintest murmur of contentment from the once again suddenly massive woman.  The last time we all sat here like this I had been plunged into a frigid pool of champagne and nearly drowned and then came within seconds of being swallowed alive, but even considering that I had no emotional capacity for fear right now.

 

My insides still churned with the still fresh memories of Shauna beneath my boot.  The faint and terribly brief resistance, the slow crunch and wet squelch… the bloody smear surrounding her flattened clothes…

 

My chest heaved with a little suppressed wail, but I managed to swallow it back and breathe a few shallow, steadying breaths.  The horrid guilt did feel somehow a bit further away from me as I watched Malva’s fingertips slide along the curves of Chloe’s exceptional high heels as the two women held their conversation above me.  I didn’t follow what they were talking about, instead letting myself focus on Malva as she carefully slipped off one of those shoes, setting it on the nearby cocktail table.

 

There was this pervading element of sexuality to everything she did.  The curl of her lips as she slid the flat of her hand over Chloe’s certainly warm and wonderful sole… the little sounds she made between her sentences and even the way she shifted her body, seeming so totally open and alluring… I understood why Chloe had chosen her for a friend, despite her somewhat unpredictable nature.  I watched her slip off the other shoe and carefully set it on the table alongside the first, and with every moment she absolutely smoldered.

 

Without a break in the conversation, I felt my world shifting as I slid through the air, the hand that held me stretching out, tearing me away from the pleasant place against Chloe’s skirt where my ball had been resting.  I watched the towering twin white shoes rush towards me, and before I knew it I’d been dropped into one of them, my Ball rolling along the slope of her insole, sending me tumbling head over heels until it came to rest against the throat of the shoe, leaving me to stare out at the two spectacular giantesses over the tip of its pointed toe.

 

They continued to talk, and from the sounds of it the conversation was relatively businesslike, but all of the words sort of blended into the background.  My focus was more on the situation before me… the big picture, so to speak.  I watched Malva’s hands immediately began sliding along the crimson silk wrapped around Chloe’s foot, offering a practiced and patiently affectionate massage throughout their dialog.  For her part, Chloe reclined against one of her plush toss pillows, letting her free foot press and slide against Malva’s thighs, idly teasing and toying with her as naturally as she might breathe.

 

Only the occasional faint moan or sigh from Malva interrupted the flow of their conversation, Chloe occasionally pulling the foot she was massaging away and dragging it across some part of Malva’s body before she pushed her other foot into her hands as the night went on.  They were continuing to go over all manner of thoughts and plans for the future, both immediate and otherwise, but my thoughts continued to remain elsewhere.

 

This was what life was for Chloe.  All of this, everything around her had come to be because she had desired it and taken the steps to create the world she wanted for herself.  Here she sat in a gorgeous apartment, one girl… a member of the Elite Four, even, was absolute putty beneath her toes, completely twisted up in her own desire as she directly served at her feet, receiving instructions she was sure to obey even if they were disguised as simple conversation.

 

Another girl, me, the Champion of Kalos, tiny and trapped and nicely tucked inside one of her expensive shoes, watching in wonder as she sat there, smiling contentedly at the center of everything, controlling it all.  There was no woman like her anywhere in the world, and I was sure that nobody as beautiful and brilliant, as exceptionally incredible as Chloe had ever existed before.

 

Nothing around her happened unless she willed it to.  It had been my boot that had crushed Shauna, there was no denying that, but she clearly belonged to Chloe.  All of us belonged to Chloe in one way or another, Shauna and I were her express possessions, or maybe her pets?  It was my own jealousy and excitement that had driven me to cover her tiny body with my boot, but hadn’t Malva pushed me in that direction at every turn?  And whether she knew it or not, she was just another one of Chloe’s playthings.

 

I stared at my owner, overwhelmed with understanding and admiration as she stretched her stockinged toes towards Malva’s lips, permitting a few soft kisses to be placed upon them while she continued to speak.  Again, it all seemed so natural… it pleased her to have her feet worshipped and kissed, and we existed primarily to please her.

 

Just as it pleased her to watch me crush my former friend underfoot like a worm.  My eyes dropped down to my foot, the foot that had ended Shauna’s existence.  I flexed my toes a little, feeling the rich silken stocking shifting against my skin with the slight movements as I sighed.  Shauna never had a chance.  She was meant to be squished, because that’s what Chloe wanted.  

 

I tried to think back, separating the sickness from the other sensations of that moment.  The feel of Malva’s lips on my foot and tiny Shauna struggling beneath it… the way she crawled for me and slid her tongue along the sole of my tremendous boot.  Malva’s passionate kiss, the taste of her tongue and the warmth… the unbelievable rush of heat…

 

And then Chloe.  Her confidence and her smile, the smell of her hair as she stood so close to me… she exuded power, she was power, and the satisfaction and sparkle in her eyes when she pushed down and Shauna crumpled and crunched beneath me…

 

I leaned back, letting my eyes drift shut as I rubbed my feet against each other, vaguely enjoying the feel of silk on silk.  I’d done what Chloe wanted.  In fact, I’d pleased her greatly, but I’d been so wrapped up in my past, in my own selfish guilt that I’d nearly ruined the moment.  At least it was my own pleasure that I’d stymied and not hers, but now that I had the proper perspective for my reflections…

 

I glanced back at Chloe, relishing everything about her.  From her dancing, brilliant eyes and the measured, eloquent way she spoke and gestured while explaining whatever concept it was that she needed Malva to understand to the way she twisted her heel between the other woman’s thighs with as much ease as she might say hello, every ounce of her was spectacular, and I belonged to her.

 

My eyes drifted shut as I leaned back, thoroughly exhausted from the events and the emotional ups and downs of the day, but as I started to drift off I was running my hands over my own mostly bare body while whispering a single word.

 

“Crush,” I breathed in a lusty sigh, pressing the same sole that Shauna had died beneath against the side of my ball, slowly grinding it back and forth against the smooth plastic.  I let out a weird, brief giggle before I purred and muttered that magical word again.  “Crush…”

 

 

 

 

I woke with a short, sharp yelp as my body crashed to the floor.  It took me a moment to blink away the fog of my suddenly interrupted sleep, grumbling under my breath as I did so, but when I finally opened my eyes enough to see I realized I was back to my normal size, staring up at Chloe from the ground.

 

“I allowed you to rest last night,” she began, the faintest hint of terrifying impatience mingling with the honeyed tones of her voice, “but this is a big day for us, and if you want to replace that girl you crushed…”

 

For some reason I moaned softly at that point, but Chloe continued on without seeming to have noticed.  “...You’ll have several new responsibilities to consider.  First on your list is our morning run.”

 

Her outfit made a bit more sense now.  My addled brain hadn’t quite pieced together how unexpected (and strangely exciting) it was to see her wearing so little.  Her sports bra was white with crimson straps and trim, and her tiny shorts were of the same bright red hue.  "Come on," she entreated with relatively firm nudge at my side with the bottom of her bare foot. I started to pull myself up from the floor and her foot gave my backside a bit of further encouragement, nudging me towards a little table beside her bedroom chair.

 

A long pair of brilliant white tube socks were laid across it, and a pair of lightly worn or perhaps just immaculately cared for running sneakers that matched the same blazing red of her shorts sat in front. The fact that Chloe had dressed herself but left the footwear to me didn't escape me for a moment, but I well knew by now how such things satisfied her, and that alone was enough to make the task more than pleasing.

 

With the socks draped over my bare shoulder and my fingers hooked inside the heels of the shoes, I scooted back across the floor to their owner, who was already settling back onto the side of her bed in preparation for my services.  I noticed the familiar, pleasing scent of her soles mingling with the materials of her shoes before I set them back on the floor, and as I stretched her socks out across my lap I found myself marvelling at how quickly I had learned her fragrance and how reassuring I seemed to find it.

 

Her toes stretched towards me expectantly, and I scrunched the cuff down and started to slide the first sock up over her heel and toned, smooth and slender leg, thoroughly enjoying the feel of the soft, stretchy fabric slowly encompassing its fantastically firm curves.

 

Two bands of that same blazing red interrupted the smooth expanse of plush pure white wrapped around that thigh, the stripes perfectly bringing together her outfit.  I let my fingertips slide over those stripes for a moment with a happy sigh, but when I risked a glance up I immediately ceased my somewhat indulgent behavior.

 

True, I expected Chloe would have enjoyed it as well, but when I met her eyes, even though it wasn’t like she was frowning or glaring at me, but the simple lack of her persistent self-satisfied smile was enough to startle me.

 

“We have a busy day ahead of us,” she gently scolded, pushing her other foot towards my face.  This time I was far more efficient with slipping on her tall sock, and was equally swift with fitting her running shoes to her feet, letting her use my fingers as a guide to push her heels into the back.  The little bit of pain was well worth it, and I set to work tightening and firmly tying the laces.

 

The moment I pulled the second bow taut she rose to her feet and pushed past me.  I had to reach back and brace myself to keep from tumbling over from my position on my knees, and by the time I turned she was already picking up a little strappy white athletic bag.  “Carry this,” she flatly instructed, tossing it towards my face.  I think I only managed to catch it as a defensive reaction, but before I could even make a sound of protest she had already left the room on the way to the door.

 

“What… what am I going to wear?” I timidly called out after her while I pulled myself up from the floor.

 

“No time for that,” she replied, and I heard the latch clicking open and the creak of the hinges as the front door swung wide.

 

I hesitated, clutching the little bag to my chest and fretting as I glanced around for anything to throw on, but Chloe’s room, like everything in her life, was immaculately maintained.  The sound of the door clicking shut spurred me to action, though, and with a little whimper of frustrated protest I scampered along after her.

 

I caught a glimpse of Malva as I opened the door.  She was still fast asleep, sprawled out and snoring on the couch, and once again I envied her as I slipped out into the hallway with nothing but my underwear and a little bag to hide behind.  I hustled to catch up to Chloe, matching her stride once I'd scuttled down the hall and obediently following at her heels with that bag tightly clutched to my chest like some sort of shield. If I focused on my task, carrying that bag and following Chloe to wherever it was she was heading.

 

We popped into the elevator and thankfully, much as my the last time coming through the building’s hallways, no other people were around.  I realized that the two times I’d been outside of Chloe’s apartment since I met her were yesterday, when I stumbled through in a delirious fog after… mm, crushing Shauna… and the day that I met her, when she carried my tiny and terrified form home in her bag.

 

There was a soft chime as the elevator slowed to a halt, but Chloe showed no signs of moving so I stayed rigidly still at her side.  The door slid open and revealed a lovely dark-haired woman wearing a blazer of the same brilliant red that accented Chloe’s running outfit, a pair of dark, painted-on jeans and towering platform stilettos that perfectly matched her blazer’s shade.

 

She glanced up from the papers she carried and took a long pause once she noticed us, her blank expression quickly twisting to a tremendously amused grin before she noisily stepped onto the elevator with us.

 

Chloe greeted her with a nod.  “Helen,” she uttered while giving the approaching woman a warm smile.

 

“Hello, Madame Leader,” she murmured in this low, sultry voice.  Was everyone in the new Team Flare some sort of stylish goddess?  I started to look Helen over a little, but when she failed to turn back towards the door like I’d expect most people to do in an elevator and instead took a step in my direction, turning her full attention to me, I made this little muffled abbreviated whimpering sound as I swallowed, my eyes widening with my shock and shame.

 

“Who’s your new little friend?” she inquired, slipping a finger underneath my chin and encouraging me to meet her gaze.  Between her towering heels and the fact that I was sort of recoiling from her, wishing I could coil into a ball and hide, I had to somewhat crane my neck to look up at her.  I stared into her eyes and in them I saw traces of the same exquisite confidence and power that helped make Chloe so spectacular, but there was also this… hunger, this terrifying hunger in her that made me want to sprint through those elevator doors and find someplace to hide.

 

“You don’t recognize our League Champion?  That’s Lucy,” Chloe casually replied, seemingly unaware of the danger and discomfort I was in, continuing to watch the blinking numbers above the door.

 

“I guess I didn’t recognize her without one of those dingy outfits and stupid hats,” the other woman murmured in that same low voice that just dripped with dark sensuality.  The backs of her fingers started to graze along my neck and cheek, and her thumb gently pressed against my jaw, turning my head slightly so she could get a better look at me.  “She’s cuter than I remember,” she continued, the two of them talking about me like some sort of inanimate object, like this subhuman thing that wasn’t even there.  I shuddered and tried to pull away, feeling as small and helpless and exposed as if I was trapped in my tiny Flare Ball, but the wall was behind me.  There was nowhere for me to go.  “You should let her come and visit, maybe spend the night,” she added, and the way she bit her lower lip dragged another tiny, timid whimper from me.

 

“Helen!” Chloe turned to look at her now, though there was this playful undertone to her rebuke that somehow tainted my relief.  “You’ll have plenty of girls to play with when we’ve completed our mission, now leave mine alone.”

 

The elevator dinged again and the door slid open, but Helen’s eyes stayed locked with mine as she responded, patting my cheek as she did so.  “And boys, Leader.  I want some boys, too.  They’re almost as fun.”  With that she turned and left, leaving me to catch my breath as I watched her stroll away, her hips swaying with each crisscrossing, clomping step.

 

I wanted to crawl into the corner and disappear.  I wanted… I wanted Chloe to put me back in my Ball and shove me somewhere deep in this bag I was carrying and not let me out until we were back in her bedroom.  I wanted the chance to curl up somewhere and cry, but the elevator dinged again, and Chloe was stepping through the doors.  The thought of not following closely at her heels never crossed my mind, it wasn’t even a choice.  I could take some small comfort in the fact that she’d at least called me hers, and if nothing else I found a little pride in that public declaration of possession.

 

I belong to you, I thought as we moved into a wide open space.  I kept myself fully focused on Chloe, though I could tell from the sounds of equipment and the faint, lingering smells of sweat that we were in some sort of gym.  I’m your girl I mentally declared as we climbed the stairs to the running track, trying to overcome the oppressive feeling of dozens of eyes watching my nearly naked body.

 

We reached the top of the stairs and I followed Chloe to a little bench positioned alongside the rounded running track. She settled onto it and turned back towards me, leaving me to stand before her and nervously fidget with one of the straps on her bag while I listened to the increasingly frequent whispers mingling with the otherwise uncommon silence.  Yours.  I tried to comfort myself again with my mantra, blocking out anything that wasn’t her.  Hearing her voice giving me instruction only helped me focus.

 

“Have a seat,” she directed me, and I took a relieved breath along with a step towards the bench.  I didn’t make it any further than that first step, though, as her leg shot out and the bottom of her sneaker buried itself in the bare flesh of my belly, keeping me from any more forward movement.  What was I thinking?  She hadn’t even let me wear clothes, so why did I think I’d be allowed to sit with her on the bench?  Maybe just since we were here, with all these other people, she’d let me be treated like a normal person…

 

“Sit.”  Her voice was a touch more firm, but she hadn’t lost that warm, casual smile.  Obviously I dropped to the floor like a ton of rocks, almost as embarrassed by my presumption as I was by my nakedness.  Her outstretched leg remained extended towards me, coming to rest across her knee,  I could feel the color draining from my face as her shoe’s mostly white sole stretched closer to it.

 

“Lick,” she instructed, leaving me to finish completely blanching as I was faced with a reality I probably should have expected.  I didn’t even know how many other people were here, but of course I would be the only one mortified by their presence.  Chloe was superior and separate from anyone else, and I wanted to please her and fulfill her expectations, but I just hadn’t been prepared for all this.  Of course she would expect to be treated with the same level of deference whether we were in the privacy of her home or not.  I opened my mouth, ready to try and stammer some explanation about all of these things, but Chloe’s own voice cut me off.

 

“I’ll have better traction with the dust removed from my soles,” she sighed, her smile fading almost completely as I forced her to inconvenience herself by spelling things out for me.  “I’m sure you don’t want me slipping, hmm?”

 

A little color returned to my face now, and all of it was red.  I was going to apologize before she added one more thing, leaving me to fully flush and stare at the ground in my shame.

 

“Shauna never would have hesitated.”

 

I stewed in a sea of swirling, conflicting emotions, but Chloe didn’t want me to think and she didn’t want me to feel.  “Lick,” she repeated, but I was already leaning towards her foot.  My tongue met her heel and she helped me with my task, dragging the rubber sole of her sneaker down across my tongue as I lapped at it.  I heard the whispers even more clearly now, and even a passing chuckle from somewhere around, but I was so overwhelmed with my multiple layers of shame that I didn’t dare let myself so much as glance anywhere else besides the bottom of Chloe’s shoe.  In fact, I mostly kept my eyes shut, only opening them here and there to check my position and my progress.

 

She seemed satisfied that her first shoe was appropriately cleaned and slowly recrossed her legs, letting me start licking its underside as well.  I still trembled a little to hear the strange voices around us, and some small part of me wished I could be anywhere but here, but there was also an element of security in knowing I was doing exactly what I was supposed to.  I allowed myself to offer a tiny kiss at the tip of her shoe once I’d reached the top, and the subtle murmur of approval I heard encouraged me tremendously as I bent down to let my tongue start again at her heel.

 

A couple of voices much closer than the rest tempered my encouragement a little bit.  They were either close enough or noisy enough that I could even make out some of the conversation.  I made out the phrase “training a new house pet” from the man before the woman broke into laughter loud enough to be jarring against the background of hushed whispers.

 

I felt Chloe’s shoe slowly pulling away from me, and this time when I opened my eyes I felt secure enough to glance up at her, watching her head slowly turn to regard the two, a young man and woman dressed for running as well.  “Come here, grunt,” she ordered.

 

The two stopped dead and stared at each other briefly before the woman gave the man a little shove forward and beat a hasty retreat back down the stairs.  I watched him take a deep breath and swallow hard as he timidly approached.

 

“Leader?” he asked, his voice breaking a bit as he did so.

 

“I think you owe the Kalos League Champion an apology, grunt,” she flatly declared, keeping her legs crossed and wrapping her hands around her knee.  “Stand up, Lucy,” she added, not bothering to turn back to me and allow the intimidated man a moment’s reprieve from her withering gaze.

 

I slowly pulled myself back up off of the ground, still giving most of my attention to Chloe.  Now that she was focused elsewhere and now that I’d done as she asked neither of us were really lingering on my earlier failings, but if I turned and looked at this other guy that meant I’d have to deal with the fact that he was looking back at me.

 

I did steal a brief glance, though.  He was a few years younger than Chloe, but maybe not quite as young as I was.  Close, perhaps.  He turned towards me and I instantly looked away, but as he began to stammer, “I’m… very sorry, Miss,” I felt compelled to turn and face him.  My arms wrapped awkwardly around my body, one across my breasts as I rubbed my shoulder and the other at my waist, instinctively trying to cover up as best I could.

 

I started to nod, but Chloe wasn’t about to be satisfied with that.  She slowly rose to her feet, taking an easy step towards us.  She drew up alongside me, folding her arms across her chest and shaking her head once.  “No.  No, I don’t think that’s quite good enough.”

 

He looked back at her, twitching and blinking, but she wasn’t going to leave him without instructions.  “I think you should get down on your knees and beg for her forgiveness.”

 

His lips parted, perhaps in surprise or perhaps he originally thought he might say something in reply, but either way he made the only decision a person can make when Chloe gives an order.

 

He obeyed.

 

I watched as he slowly knelt before me, and when I took a moment to glance over at Chloe I took a little reassurance from her confident smirk.  “I’m sorry, Miss Lucy,” he carefully repeated.  “Please forgive me.”

 

I took a deep breath, watching the nervous man kneeling for me and anxiously awaiting some sort of absolution, but again Chloe spoke first.  “Sweetheart,” she began, immediately drawing my attention with the uncommon affection in her voice.  I turned to her as she smiled, relaxing her posture a bit before she continued.  “It wouldn’t hurt to have your soles cleaned as well before we take the track.”

 

“Huh?” I responded in unison with the kneeling grunt.

 

“Provided you think his rude tongue’s not too undeserving of your feet,” she continued without missing a beat.  Her eyes shifted to look him over, though she stayed turned towards me.  “This little nothing needs to be reminded of his place,” she finished with the barest hint of a sneer.

 

Her words resonated with me as I looked back at him, this semi-attractive and athletic but wholly vacant man staring back at me with his brow furrowed, so obnoxiously perplexed.  Nothing, I silently rolled the word through my mind, letting the idea really sink in.  Who was he to get off with making comments about me, anyhow?  I mean, I was the Champion.  I’d beaten everyone I’d ever come up against except for Chloe.  I was the best and most famous trainer in all of Kalos, but even more than that, I was Chloe’s.  He was probably just some doofus who’d paid his five million with his family’s money and bought his membership like the other dumb saps that Chloe used like financial livestock.  Disrespecting me was the same as disrespecting her, and if he or anyone else thought they could get away with that, they had another thing coming.

 

I narrowed my eyes and took a step towards him.  “Lay down,” I demanded, sounding more polite than I meant to.  He still seemed to not quite understand what was going on, but I was more than happy to help clear up the confusion.  I raised my foot and heavily planted it on his shoulder, forcing him to awkwardly tumble back from his knees.  “Down,” I firmly enunciated when he caught himself on his elbow.  He was already starting to do as I said anyhow, but I slammed my heel down on his chest for good measure, helping force him to the floor.

 

I felt the eyes on me still, but I’d quickly moved past caring about them.  In fact, it was good if they watched, since they probably deserved the same sort of treatment.   Now that I had this idiot pinned beneath my heel, I started to feel a little more than just anger driving me.  There was some hint of those feelings I’d had with Malva, in the bathtub or at the boutique, they started to seep into me.

 

I looked into his eyes and saw that he was afraid.  Did he just not expect this from me?  Or was it Chloe that frightened him so?  Either way, I was hers.  I was her instrument and if he was afraid of her, he should damn well be afraid of me.  I gradually pushed my bare foot along his high-performance exercise shirt, along his throat and across his chin, keeping my weight on it as it moved.  “You heard her.  Lick it,” I growled as my toes ground against his mouth and slid further forward, mashing his nose beneath them.  I was surprised by how low and throaty my voice sounded as I spoke, but it didn’t bother me.  Nothing bothered me right now.

 

His tongue pushed forward as best as it could, dragging along whatever part of my wrinkled sole he could reach.  It was warm and exhilarating, but it also tickled a lot more than I expected it to.  Every time I had the urge to chuckle and pull my foot away, though, I just stepped down harder, bringing these pained little moans out of him.  I knew I was hurting him and suddenly I was more than fine with that.  Let the little jerk suffer for once in his life.  Besides, it felt good.  Suddenly I wasn’t afraid or ashamed, I had an outlet for all of that emotion, and if someone was going to pay for making me feel that way and for everything that had been taken from me and for Calen and Shauna and… and…

 

I’d stopped caring about him licking my foot at some point, and now I was just smashing him underneath it, grinding his own saliva into his eyes and twisting the ball of my foot into his skull.  I didn’t remember feeling his nose crunch, but there was enough blood on his face that I guessed it might have broken.  Chloe had stepped around him and taken my hand, and when I glanced up at her I found some serenity again in her warm, approving and seemingly delighted smile.  I looked down at the man beneath my foot, and before I let him go I raised it a little, giving his head one short and swift firm stomp.  “Remember this next time you think about so much as looking at me,” I called back to him as Chloe pulled me away, but as we headed for the track I matched her easy and confident stride, wearing my own little grin.

“Ready?” she asked, doing a few stretches before we took off, and I nodded while doing my best to imitate her.  A moment later, we were on our way, neither of us noticing or caring about the battered man scooping himself up off of the ground and clutching his face as he scurried away.

I certainly admired every little thing about Chloe, and I quickly learned that her tremendous fitness was yet another one of her impressive qualities.  I’d done a lot of biking and skating over the last year or so, but even with that bit of preparation I had a terribly hard time keeping up with her.  I lost count of the number of times we circled the track, but I had to imagine that we’d gone more than a couple miles, so when she started to slow to a jog I was beyond grateful, and when we finally veered off the track and she settled back onto the same bench from before I had absolutely no reservations about collapsing to the ground at her feet this time.

“Water,” she uttered with a gesture towards her bag, and I fished her bottle from her bag, offering it up to her.  She unscrewed the lid and took a long swallow, then leaned forward to pour some into my waiting upturned mouth.  I had some brief thoughts about the earlier comments referring to me as some sort of pet, but I was either too exhausted or too confident to care, though I doubted it was much of the latter.  Besides, the cold water was exactly what I needed now, and I was simply happy to receive some.

I stared up at her while I continued to suck down lungfuls of air, watching her take the bottle back to her perfect pink lips and finish it off.  She was so thoroughly glorious, even with her blazing red hair tied back in a tight ponytail and a thin sheen of sweat clinging to her skin, she seemed somehow more radiant under the gym’s bright lights than she’d been when we were getting ready an hour ago.  I imagined she could jump right up and run another few miles without so much as thinking twice about it, too, but fortunately for me that wasn’t in the plans for the morning.

I sighted in rapt wonder as she rose and stood over me, smiling up at her as she gently kicked her little bag back towards me.  “Come on, let’s go,” she simply stated, giving a jerk of her chin before the rest of her turned to head back down the stairs to the elevator.  Despite my groans while pulling myself up and the thoroughly active protests my body made to every hurried step I took to catch up to her, I was still wearing that same dazed, ecstatic smile when the elevator doors closed behind us.

This time I let my arms hang limply in front of me as we stood there in silence, her bag dangling from one of its straps.  I wasn’t afraid or ashamed or hiding at all, I was just watching Chloe as she stood there next to me, calmly watching the lights that indicated our progress and seemingly unaware of my dreamy stares and undisguised longing.  The elevator finally dinged and at long last she turned to give me a little glance before stepping out into the hallway.

“You did well today,” she casually commented, and I nearly dissolved into a warm puddle of bewildered bliss right there.  Instead, I stood rooted to my spot, barely remembering to squeeze out of the elevator before the doors shut.  Once again I had to coax my aching legs into hustling to catch up with Chloe, and I managed to get there just in time for us to walk back into her apartment together.

The first surprise was the smells of breakfast in the air.  Eggs, fruits, bacon… I was suddenly keenly aware of the fact that I hadn’t eaten a thing since I arrive here, however many days ago that was.  I guess my pokemon never really ate anything either, so perhaps that was just one more wonder of science.  My Ball must have been sustaining me, but if I was going to get the chance to have some real food… my mouth was already watering at the thought.

The second surprise and the one that left me slack-jawed and speechless was Malva herself.  She’d obviously gotten up while we were gone and started cooking, but apparently she’d also had time to shower and dress as well.  She was a Holo Caster star, so everyone in Kalos knew she was a beautiful woman, but the way she looked this morning…

She wore this short, soft and shockingly feminine crimson dress underneath a white, tight-fitting cropped leather jacket, and her legs were sheathed in these incredible ruched white legwarmers that smoothed out near the tops of her thighs, held in place by a buckled piece of ribboned leather and ending with a band of lace just inches from the dress’s hem.  They covered all but a bit of the toes and the thick platform soles of her matching red heels, which I found myself staring at as her steps loudly fell around Chloe’s dinette while she set some plates on the table.

“Put some pants on, runt.  Your boner’s showing.”  My eyes shot up from her shoes immediately and I found she hadn’t even glanced up from her task, but in that same instant I recaptured every ounce of my overwhelming shame.  My body was overwhelmed with a blazing, sickening heat and tried to cover my face while a weird whining sound came out of my throat instead of the words I meant to respond with, but again Chloe was my saving grace.

“Be nice, Malva,” she murmured while moving towards one of the elegant dining chairs.  “She’s been a good girl today, and besides, she does have plenty to look at.”

“Don’t start,” Malva replied as she moved to the seat at Chloe’s side across the table from where I stood.  “You know how turned on I get when you work out.”

It was at this time that I realized there were only two plates on the table, and both had been claimed.  I stood there, distressed and confused as the two women settled down to eat, but I didn’t have to wait long for some clarification.  Chloe stretched one of her legs out, using the toe of her sneaker to slowly push the chair closest to me down towards the end of the table, and at first I thought she may have meant to push it out for me, but my hopes were swiftly dashed a second time by her words.

“Come get me out of these shoes, dear,” she calmly instructed before taking a dainty bite of her eggs, and I quickly understood that she’d just been creating an opening for me to easily slip under the table.  Again she seemed to be paying little attention to me, but when I glanced up while sinking down to my hands and knees I noticed what I’d almost expected, Malva’s laughing eyes bearing down on me.

This time I didn’t look away, meeting her gaze until the moment her eyes disappeared behind the edge of the table as I slowly crawled beneath it.  I was a good girl.  Where did she get off mocking me like that?  And wasn’t she supposed to belong to me, anyhow?  I started to fumble with the laces of Chloe’s running shoes, probably taking longer than I should have to get them untied as I let my thoughts carry me away a bit.

Obviously Chloe was truly the one in charge.  Everyone she met bowed down to her, figuratively if not literally, and it certainly wasn’t like I had any issues with fulfilling her needs and doing whatever it was that pleased her.  In fact, there was this almost surprising wave of euphoria that flowed through me as I gripped her shoe’s heel and watched her foot slowly slip free.

The thick, soft white fabric clinging to every exquisite curve only made her perfect foot all the more inviting, and the radiating warmth and the hot, heady scents that I found so unexpectedly alluring only intensified as it stretched out towards me a bit, her toes flexing as I imagined they were enjoying their newfound freedom.

Some part of me knew that she would enjoy feeling me beneath the sole I was staring at; she always liked having someone underfoot, but as I pushed myself towards it I felt something more basic, more instinctual driving me.  I took one last glance at the traces of grey that her shoe had left behind before burying my face in the hot, faintly moist fabric beneath her foot.

I hadn’t been following their conversation above me, but I was aware of them just enough to realize that Chloe hadn’t been surprised by my actions nearly as much as I thought.  She didn’t make a single sound out of place, not a contented murmur or a gasp of any sort, just a brief pause as I fit my face to her arch and slipped my nose beneath her toes, letting her fantastic fragrances fill my world.

Every concern and trouble I had melted away as I breathed her in, and when she started to push back against my face, slowly grinding her soft sock against my nose and lips, I reacted to every shift and movement with a firm and loving kiss.  This powerful passion just continued to build in me, leaving me literally panting as she continued to enjoy rubbing her foot in my face and I worshipped it desperately, devoting my entire being to that plush and powerful sole.

My fervent adorations may have been a touch too audible, though, as they were interrupted by the sharp jab of a stiletto heel in my side, which I reacted to with a brief howl and a jerk of my head upwards, which quickly sent it slamming into the underside of the table and leaving me stretched out prone on the floor, my skull suddenly throbbing while Malva’s unforgiving shoe and sharp heel continued to grind away at my bare back and side even as her soft, mocking laughter died away.  

What was wrong with her?  Could she seriously not just let me be, let me enjoy a moment for once?  I was admittedly sort of dazed, letting the cool floor beneath my head give a little bit of comfort as I tried to gather my thoughts, but I was getting angry, too.  I didn’t see them coming with my head turned to the side, but when I felt Chloe’s warm toes touch my cheek and then the rest of her foot slowly sliding over it, its welcome and reassuring weight pinning me to the floor.

Chloe let her sock just slowly slide forward and then back again, its fragrance further suffusing my skin, like she was somehow marking me for her own.  I sighed, somewhat content to be back beneath her foot, but the sharp scrape of Malva’s twisting heel forced me to wince and suck a sharp breath past my clenched teeth.  Why won’t she just leave me alone?

Jealousy.  Why didn’t I see it sooner?  Chloe was such spectacular perfection that she easily inspired such things.  I’d seen it in myself, how I’d been driven so far as to… nnn, <i>crush</i>... to crush Shauna.  I groaned softly as Malva began to grind my butt beneath her shoe, realizing at the same time that some part of her must want to do the exact same thing to me.  She and Chloe had clearly had some sort of relationship before I showed up, and now she was being forced to share her attentions.

Chloe had given her to me, though, and I was supposed to be the one training her.  How would I deal with a pokemon that didn’t want to respect me?  I could try what I’d done with Articuno.  If I gave commands that she wanted to obey, I’d look like the good guy.  It could work a second time, right?

“Mal!” I called out from under the table, trying to make my voice as bold and authoritative as I could manage when I was beneath both of their heels.  Their idle conversation swiftly stopped, and I stayed completely focused on the sneaker just inches in front of my face, trying to distract myself from the sound of my own voice.  “Chloe wanted her shoes removed.  Come get her second one for me.”

There was utter silence for a long, uncomfortable moment.  Chloe’s foot even stopped sliding against my face, its weight just resting on my head as I waited to see what would happen.  For all of Malva’s intensity and bravado, she hadn’t yet totally disobeyed an order I’d given her.  Even though I largely expected it, I was still tremendously relieved to feel her shoe slide away from my body and her chair slide back from the table.

There was still some disdain in Malva’s eyes as she lowered herself to the ground and crawled under the table with me, though I didn’t have to endure it for long since her attentions went very quickly to Chloe’s shoe, her fingers deftly undoing the laces in a fraction of the time it had taken me.  Her hands gripped the crimson sneaker with an affectionate reverence and she carefully eased the back down past her heel, sliding the shoe towards her until Chloe’s majestic toes were free as well.

Malva let out almost the same soft, happy sigh as she experienced the heat and warm, wafting scents of that freshly freed foot, but this time Chloe pushed herself back from the table, not letting Malva enjoy the same experiences I’d had.  Now that she’d lifted her other foot from my face, though, we were both equally free to crawl out from under the table and follow her.  I could see her picking up a folder from a nearby side table and letting it fall open, her attention completely focused on the pages within while her legs stretched towards us, crossing at the ankle with one of her heels resting on the ground.

Malva and I both hesitated for an instant with some degree of uncertainty, but as always, Chloe didn’t leave us uncertain for long.  “Go on,” she murmured while turning a page, and before she was done our lips were both dancing across her soles.

It hadn’t escaped me that her untouched foot was the one being offered to me, and I eagerly slipped forward and pressed myself against it, this time keeping my breath steady and deep and my kisses slow and firm.  I wanted Chloe to feel every one through the thickness of her sock, and for the warmth and fragrance of her foot to totally overtake my senses.

Malva was only inches away from me, though, and I could hear every one of her ragged breaths and soft little moans.  I let myself take a glance at her, smiling briefly as I watched how quickly she was overwhelmed by her passions, losing her restraint and burying her nose beneath Chloe’s toes while she fervently kissed the same spot again and again.  Her fingers groped and caressed the plush curves of Chloe’s sock, from her instep and heel, up along the ankle and calf and then back down again.

“You know what your socks do to me,” she purred while nuzzling Chloe’s arch, catching her breath before turning back for another wave of furious, desperate kisses.  I didn’t hear Chloe respond, though I guessed she might have nodded.  Either way I was quickly lost in my love for her sole once again, and we both continued to contentedly worship at her feet for some time until a familiar sharp click and whirring sound broke our trance.

I looked up to see Chloe smiling brightly as her head moved back out from behind the camera.  “A special moment,” she declared while setting it aside on her table, and I could only imagine how we looked to her, my nearly naked sweaty self and the gorgeous Malva, dressed to the nines, both stretched out before her and smothering the soles of her socks with our kisses.  I smiled a little, at the thought while we watched her wondrous feet retreating from our faces as she pushed herself up from her chair, but Malva let out a little whimper of protest.

“Come on, Lucy.  Showertime.”  That was all she had to say before turning back towards her bedroom, but I didn’t have any trouble hauling myself up off the floor as well.  Malva, though, continued to lay on her side and watch every step Chloe took as she left us behind.

I stood there over Malva for a moment, looking down on her and her faraway stare.  I had some idea of the gnawing, overwhelming and unfulfilled desire she was probably experiencing, and while there was some sympathy in me for her position, there was a lot more of me who remembered what she put me through and couldn’t resist taking advantage of it.

I slid my dusty foot slowly across the floor towards her face, not stopping until I felt my instep brush her lips.  As I expected, she was so worked up that she couldn’t resist pressing a few soft kisses along the side of my foot, and I let her do just that for a half a minute or so, my own grin spreading across my face.

“Good girl,” I murmured before pulling my foot away, and as I turned to follow Chloe I was so filled to the brim with gleeful self-satisfaction that I nearly skipped into her room.  I could hear the water already running in the bathroom, and I hummed a little tune as I quickly shed my dirty underthings and went to join her.

Compared to how the day started, the rest of the morning was relatively uneventful even considering that I shared a shower with Chloe.  Maybe I was still overwhelmed with everything else that had happened and riding too much of a high to really appreciate the experience, but I did notice that underneath all of her exquisite clothes she had an equally exceptional and exquisite body, but I was there to wash it and not marvel at its details.

She left me to finish up once she was clean, and by the time I’d washed myself and exited the bathroom wrapped in one of her luxurious towels she was already wearing the same outfit she’d had on when I first met her.  Her suit was perfectly tailored, of course, and she was just adjusting the tops of her brilliant red opaque stockings as I stepped into the room.  I went to her immense closet, trying to not be distracted by the vast collection of footwear and clothing, and took a bit of time to pick out the pair of tall white stilettos that I recognized,

She smiled warmly as I knelt down and placed them at her feet.  “You remembered,” she declared with delight while guiding her toes into the first, then stepping up into it, ascending five inches further above me as she slipped her other foot into the second shoe.

“Of course,” I responded automatically, just as I bent at the waist to place matching kisses at the tips of her towering shoes.  She’d stepped on me with those shoes, and crushed my Butterfree out of existence beneath them.  I tried to remember how I’d felt back then, only days ago although it seemed so much longer.  I’d been sad, terribly sad, I could remember that much, but I as I stood up and Chloe pulled my towel away from me, I just couldn’t bring that feeling back.

It had been the first time I experienced her strength… felt and observed the power she could wield and the things she could do with her fantastic feet.  I stepped into the white satin underwear Chloe must have specially purchased for me, marvelling at how silky and smooth it felt against my skin while she fastened the matching strapless bra behind me.  Those cruel, beautiful white stilettos had been the beginning of everything… they’d been the first magical moment on the path to this new spectacular life.

She helped me into the dress we’d bought yesterday, then picked out some jewelry for us both while I tugged on my stockings and boots.  I had my choker and bangle, and she found a silvered bracelet and emerald earrings that sparkled with the same brightness of her eyes, and with that we were ready to go.

Malva was sitting on the edge of the same table they’d had their breakfast at, having pulled herself off of the ground and presumably dusted herself off.  Her arms were folded across her chest, and she gave an impatient and exaggerated “Finally,” when we walked out together.  With that, we were off, off to… wherever it was we were going.

I’d never actually asked, my head still spinning that I was dressed like I was and in the company of these two spectacular women.  I may have been a little unsteady in my tall boots as we headed to the elevator, but still, I was with them.  I was one of them, we were all equally fabulous… three dazzling, beautiful women.  Like some sort of fairy tale, I’d transformed into something so much greater than I’d been before.

We piled into the spacious back of a large waiting car, my own silly grin still spread from ear to ear as the two women settled in on either side of me.  Chloe pulled a little folder from her bag and handed me a few typed pages.  “That’s your speech,” she informed me, and suddenly I realized what we were doing today.  “Read it over a few times so you’ll be prepared.”

I fought back waves of panic as I pored over the words, but as I finished my first readthrough and started back again I began to relax a little.  Whoever had written this really understood me, or at least understood the sorts of things I would say and how I would say them.  My lips began to move along with the words as I imagined saying them, eliciting a fierce eye roll from Malva as the car rolled on.

I stayed buried in my speech until Chloe basically had to take it out of my hands.  We’d gotten out of the car and were climbing the stairs to the same stage in the heart of Lumiose that I’d stood on during several parades in the past few months.  “Let the little people look at you, Lucy,” she instructed me as we found the chairs that had been prepared for us.  “Let them see you and let them feel like they’re being seen in return.”

Every important person I could imagine was there, from Professor Sycamore and Diantha to gym leaders and even the proprietors of the city’s more established restaurants and boutiques.  “Are they all here for us?” I asked while looking around at all of them, and Malva chuckled a little and patted my thigh. “They’re all here for your big announcement, runt.  Try not to screw it up.”

Chloe instantly reached over and squeezed my hand, quick to add her own version of encouragement to Malva’s less than reassuring words.  “You’ll be wonderful, dear.  Just smile, stick to your script, and speak from the heart.”

I nodded firmly, looking deeply into her eyes and feeling her confidence fill me, gradually becoming my own.  After that there were introductions, handshakes and smiles, but before long I was standing, carefully placing one heavy boot in front of the other as I made my way to the podium amidst thunderous applause.

There was a moment where I lost myself in the sea of people spread out before me and just stood there staring back at them as their applause started to die down, but after a long, frightening and awkward moment I looked down and found the words on my papers, and from there I found the reserves of confidence Chloe had given me.

“When I first set out from my home on that journey that so many of us begin, I was very much a girl, filled with so much hope and excitement for the months ahead that would be the first that I spent out on my own.  In many ways that youthful exuberance and optimism helped give me strength as I travelled to every corner of our region, and in time I became the strongest I could be.  

“I became the very best, and in so many ways I see Kalos as much like myself, on its own sort of journey to greatness.  Our region is young and strong and beautiful, and its growing more and more each day.  I love this place that’s become my home, and I want to see it prosper for the rest of my life and the lives of those that come after me as well.

“If I seem different at all today, I can promise all of you that it’s more than my style that’s changed.  There comes a time when we have to take all of the lessons and experiences of our journeys and make plans for what lies ahead.  That’s simply growing up, and as Kalos continues to grow I want to see it mature as well.

“We all live such rich and wonderful lives here, enjoying so many resources and pleasures, but there is a cost for all of these wonderful things we enjoy.  I would never suggest that our lives should change; they’re part of what makes Kalos so grand.  For our children, and our children’s children, we simply need some structure.  We need a plan.”

From there I went on to detail the broader elements of where that plan began.  A huge task force was already assembled to perform the first Grand Census of Kalos starting as soon as tomorrow, and the data from that would let the region’s best scientists and researchers develop the next steps.  When I finished with more grand praise for the place I lived there was another wave of even more spirited applause, and from there I yielded the podium to my “dear friend” Chloe, who further explained how the technical details of the Census would work.

When it was all over, we all exited the stage together, and once the car doors had closed behind us Malva and Chloe both erupted in giddy laughter, and I impulsively joined in.

“You were brilliant, Lucy!” Chloe sighed, leaning in and even giving me a little peck on the cheek.  I immediately felt I was melting away like a lump of sugar in her hot tea, but fortunately all my body was able to do was flush a fantastic shade of red and fill with a flustered heat.  I curled up in the seat next to her, leaning against her shoulder and letting the lovely fragrance of her hair be my focus as she and Malva chatted excitedly all the way to our next stop.

The rest of the day was a blur as I found myself unexpectedly treated to an extravagant lunch, complete with several glasses of very sweet and very bubbly wine.  It was my first experience with alcohol save for the time Malva had nearly drowned me in a glass of moscato for a few minutes of entertainment.  I kept expecting to be roughly shoved beneath the table and ground into the floor beneath their beautiful shoes at any moment, but as the afternoon went on I started to just enjoy myself in their company.

After a whole lot of enjoyment I kind of lost track of things.  I’d seen enough television programs to have some context when it came to girls who had too much to drink, so I wasn’t sure if my memories of Malva helping me to the bathroom were real or imagined, but when I woke up to the increasingly familiar feeling of curved plastic beneath me I figured that one of them had decided that carrying me home inside my Ball would be a lot easier than trying to do it the traditional way.  Either way, I didn’t really mind.  It was probably only mid-afternoon but I’d had quite the day already, and I was tremendously happy sitting here in my tiny Ball at the top of Chloe’s purse, staring up through the tinted plastic and the unzipped opening at her utterly angelic countenance.

I’d had some really strong feelings for people in the past.  People like Calem and Shauna, I guess, if I wanted to be specific, but there was a reason they’d both been crushed like insects beneath Chloe’s feet.  I mean, I’d been the one who stepped on Shauna, but Chloe was stepping on me at the time and anyhow I belonged to her and my feet were her feet if you really thought about it, weren’t they?  But anyhow, the point was that they were nothing compared to her… nobody could begin to compare to her, and the same could be said for my feelings before I met her and the way I felt now.

“I love you!” I called out to her.  Of course I did.  This was love, this incredible overpowering all-consuming feeling inside of me.  I was completely and totally in love with her.  “I love you, Chloe,” I declared again to her massive face far above, too occupied by talking and laughing with Malva to hear me.  I didn’t mind, though.  I knew how I felt, and that thought left me with a smile as I drifted off to sleep.

*****

The next morning I woke up with a screaming headache, curled up in just my silky underwear at the end of Chloe’s bed.  My senses were still thoroughly hazy but I could feel the warmth of her soles just inches from my face, so naturally I nuzzled up against them and gave her feet a few soft, sweet kisses.

“Time for our run, little one,” her surprisingly jarring voice called out, and when I rolled over and turned my head I saw Chloe standing in the doorway to her bedroom, already wearing her running clothes.  The outfit was the same as yesterday, save that the reds and whites had been reversed.

“Glad you still care.”  Malva’s voice startled me, and when I turned back it was her that I saw tucked under Chloe’s soft blankets.  One of her feet stretched towards me, rising towards my face as she let out a playful, derisive laugh.  “Chloe can run on her own, you can stay here and suck my toes while she’s gone.”

I twisted back and tumbled off the end of the bed, landing in a heap at Chloe’s familiar crimson sneakers while Malva laughed at me again, stopping only when she felt the need to yawn.

“Come on,” Chloe sighed, and I saw a couple pieces of fabric drop in front of my face.  As I pushed myself up I realized it was my own similarly styled running clothes, complete with a pair of tall striped socks that I snatched up instantly.  “Get dressed and put your shoes on, I don’t like waiting around.”

Shoes!  She’d gotten me shoes, too?  My excitement overcame my headache as I hopped up and started tugging on my tall socks and my tiny shorts.  I heard Malva make some sort of crude comment as I switched over to my sports bra, and then I was hurrying into the living room, easily spotting my own pair of bright red running shoes by the door.  I wanted to take my time enjoying slipping them on for the first time and lacing them up, but I knew Chloe wouldn’t stand for that, so as quickly as I could I tightened up the laces and we were off.

She laughed when I knelt down to lick the bottoms of her sneakers, and I felt for a moment that there was the possibility she may have just forced me to do that for her own purposes yesterday.  Still, I was going to show her how great I could be, and she didn’t mind lifting her feet so I could clean the soles of her shoes.

The rest of our run went much like yesterday, and again Malva had breakfast nearly ready, though this time she was only wearing a scandalously short kimono as she moved about the kitchen.  I was given a plate of my own this time, and after I’d knelt down and pulled off Chloe’s shoes, giving each of her amazingly alluring feet a long and loving kiss, I was even allowed to sit at the table.  We enjoyed a simple, filling breakfast while Chloe propped her warm and wonderful feet in my lap, amusing herself by sliding and grinding her socks against and between my thighs, leaving me to nearly choke on my eggs more than once while the both of them stifled their laughs.

After we finished and showered together once again, I found Chloe sitting on the edge of her bed.  It seemed like she’d started dressing, but hadn’t gotten any further than her button down shirt.  I was surprised to see her like this, a little because she was simply half-dressed, but mostly because she seemed to be waiting for me.  I was somewhat timid as I approached her, and for some reason I let my towel fall away, maybe to show my vulnerability in the same kind of way she seemed to be doing.

Either way, I approached her wholly naked and settled to the floor at her feet, taking one of them in my hands and starting to gently massage her heel.  She kept a soft smile and her eyes on me, and I continued to look back at her until she spoke.

“You need to know something, Lucy,” she began, and I thought my heart would stop.  What could she be about to say?  Had I missed something, or was everything about to change and fall apart now that I’d done what she brought me here for?  Now that everything was coming together and I felt like I finally understood my life, was she going to take it all away from me?  What had I done?  Why did I deserve this?

“The next week or so is going to be very busy for me,” she continued after a split second that seemed like an eternity.  I felt like I could suddenly breathe again.  I sighed and broke into a seriously relieved smile as I listened to the rest of what she had to say.

“I won’t have very much time to spend with you, but I plan to keep you close.”  She reached into the drawer of her nearby nightstand and pulled out a lovely multi-layered necklace, and I quickly noticed a Flare Ball, most likely my Flare Ball attached as a pendant.  I understood all too quickly, and bent down to gratefully cover her toes with kisses.

“Thank you,” I whispered, taking a deep breath that was filled with the mingled scents of her herbal soaps and lovely sole as I kissed her toes again and again.  “Thank you,” I repeated while she let out a little affectionate chuckle.

“Return, Lucy,” she muttered with a smile, and I was bathed in light and whipping through the air, coming to rest in the ball on her bed.  I watched her continue to finish putting on the rest of her flared leg pinstriped pantsuit, vaguely wishing I was there to help her into her boots, but I was content to just watch every movement she made.

Finally, she moved back towards the bed, and I craned the neck to watch her until her hand reached down towards me and I was lurching up through the air, dangling at the end of her necklace as she fastened it behind her neck.  Even if she didn’t feel like she’d be spending a much time with me, I felt as differently as a girl could.  We were going to spend every moment together.

Every moment of the day with the woman I loved.

 

 

I quickly found out that Chloe hadn’t been exaggerating.  Every once in a while she’d have me curl up at her feet at the end of her bed, or let me help dress her in the morning, but I found that she never rested and barely slept, and the instant I’d placed a kiss on each of her shoes I was back in my Ball, dangling from her neck and swaying with each thrilling, sonorous step she took.

 

I saw so many places and people over those next several days.  We visited Professor Sycamore, and when I watched him greet Chloe with the same sort of look in his eyes that I’d seen in the eyes of several others and give soft, lingering kiss to her extended hand, I began to wonder if she’d trained him as well, or perhaps just overwhelmed him with her own natural charms.  Chloe was equally capable of both, but it seemed to matter little.  He informed her that participation in the Census had been nearly universal, and the extreme majority of those who hadn’t participated had been seen and cataloged by his new devices.

 

I stared through the translucent plastic at the luminescent tablet that he slid across the table towards Chloe, and it was much like I expected: A larger, more expansive Pokedex-styled indexing of every person in Kalos, complete with images, vital statistics, locations, and sortable in numerous different ways. . As Chloe quickly scrolled through the lists I caught sight of a very few entries that had a tiny icon off to the side of the person’s name, and though it took me a brief moment to realize what it was, it should have been obvious from the beginning.

 

A Flare Ball.  Those people had already been caught.

 

“And they’re all linked?” Chloe questioned, smiling above me with a glee that was only somewhat restrained.

 

“Oh yes,” Sycamore replied.  “Any changes to one will be reflected in the central database here, and all of the devices will check for updates automatically at frequent regular intervals.”  He was obviously quite proud of his work, and I watched him eagerly page through the device and demonstrate how well all of its features were working.  It was almost like he was more in love with his work than with Chloe herself, and while I couldn’t imagine that being a common occurrence, knowing what I did of the Professor, it was certainly a possibility when it came to him.  I was still staring at him and trying to figure it out when Chloe turned away, causing him to vanish behind the massive wall of her jacket as we left him behind.

 

The next stop we made had me wanting to leap out of my Ball with delight.  I vaguely recognized Brigette, the woman who had recently created the Pokemon Bank, seated in the shadow of this tremendous computer terminal, but my friend Trevor was with there right alongside her, tapping away at the keyboard!  It felt like an eternity since I’d seen him and I tried my best to call out to him, but I was just so tiny.  They both greeted Chloe warmly, and once they’d all exchanged pleasantries I was about to try calling out to Trevor one more time, but the increasingly familiar, sharp sounds of approaching stilettos drew  my attention away, and the instant I saw those massive red heels and tight jeans clinging to every curve of the perfectly sculpted, slender legs beneath them, getting someone to notice me became the last thing I wanted to happen.

 

“Madame Leader!” the woman purred enthusiastically, striding directly toward us.  I’d been so frightened when we were the same size, and to see her moving towards me like this, when I was so helpless and small…

 

“Helen,” Chloe replied somewhat noncommittally, though I was lost in darkness for a moment as she returned the woman’s light embrace and air kisses.

 

“I figured you’d be making the rounds and checking up on us at some point,”  Her smile was as dangerous as ever, and that hunger in her eyes was all the more terrifying now that she was a hundred times my size.  She moved across in front of the other two, trailing her fingertips along Brigette’s cheek as she slipped around to her side.  “Have a seat,” Helen offered, and Brigette took the hint, popping up from her chair and sliding it over to Chloe, even holding it still as she daintily settled back in it.

 

“I’m sure you have some questions.  I could go for some tea while we talk, though.”  Brigette was immediately at attention, clearly used to these requests.  “Four sugars for the Leader as  well,” she instructed the woman with that same startlingly sultry voice while moving around to Trevor.  Her fingers snapped once and she immediately had my friend’s attention, and all it took was he pointing at the ground for him to slide from his chair.

 

“We both like things sweet,” she declared while settling back into the suddenly unoccupied chair and draping her legs over Trevor’s shoulders, leaving him to flush a deep and telling red as she stretched out a hand to tousle his hair.

 

I stared in shock at my friend’s predicament, trapped between this terrifying woman’s legs, but as I watched the way he slowly turned his head and nuzzled against her thigh, then started to sweetly stroke her calf while she continued to play with his hair, I began to understand.

 

“I learned quite a bit from Cassius,” Helen began.  “Pretty smart guy, and he was such a fighter, too…” she trailed off slightly and let out a little sigh as Brigette returned with their tea.  “You know I prefer my playmates full-sized, but I’m starting to figure out some things to do with the little ones, too.  He told me everything he could before I finished using him up.”

 

Trevor was hers.  He and Brigette probably both were trained by her from the way it looked, but the way she talked about Cassius… I’d seen some frightening things since become Chloe’s companion, but I didn’t even want to imagine what she’d done with him.  Still, they both seemed happy, just like me, so was it really my place to judge or fear for him?

 

“I wish he hadn’t been so stubborn,” Chloe sighed as she took a little sip of her tea.  “Cassius was a brilliant man for all his faults, it would have been nice to keep him around.”

 

“Mm, that’s true,” Helen responded while raking her nails along Trevor’s scalp, drawing a little pleasurable sigh from him.  “You’ll have to let me have a difficult one every once in a while; I forgot how exciting a challenge can be.  As for the work, though, you’ve got nothing to worry about.  Briggy and my little boy here are doing just fine.”

 

“I’m glad to hear that,” Chloe replied, but before she could continue Helen interjected what seemed like a sudden consideration.

 

“You know, she’s not doing anything right now.  You want to put your feet up?”

 

Brigette blinked a few times, looking between the two women and trying to figure out what they were talking about, but Chloe waved away the suggestion with another little sigh.  “That’s quite alright, I’d rather she get back to work.”

 

“I just know how you’re always happier with someone underfoot,” Helen muttered before looking over at the confused woman and giving her a little shrug.  That seemed enough to allow Brigette to scamper away, and I thought I saw her let out a long breath, like she was somehow relieved as she left, but I quickly lost her in the maze of machinery.  “I’ll try anything once, especially with a beauty like you, but I think we both know that it wasn’t quite my scene.”

 

Chloe’s brow furrowed slightly and she seemed about to chastise Helen somewhat, but the other woman quickly continued.  “Briggy’s pretty much a genius, though.  What she lacks in her ability to dress herself she more than makes up for with her technical skills.  Once this is all over I’ll get her a few outfits, but for now she and this little guy…” she patted his cheek, a little too roughly to be a truly affectionate gesture, “they’ve got everything working perfectly, just like you wanted.”

 

“Oh?”  Chloe raised an eyebrow, her faintly amused grin broadening to a slightly more earnest smile.”

 

“Tell her,” Helen softly commanded, giving the back of Trevor’s head a little shove before he started to speak.

 

"All of the Balls are tied to a singular storage system," he began in that soft and timid voice of his, or at least it seemed exceptionally timid while he was sitting at Helen' feet.  She stroked his hair with her fingertips while he spoke, growing more confident the further he got into his explanation.  "With Brigette's help we've been able to make the system accessible from any of the indexing devices Professor Sycamore' created for us."

 

"What is it you've been calling then?" Helen interjected, sinking her fingers into his hair and gently pulling his head back so she could lean over and look at him.

 

"Peopledexes," he muttered with a sheepish grin.

 

"Peopledexes!" Helen exclaimed amidst a burst of laughter that somehow seemed thoroughly condescending. "So freakin' cute," she sighed, mussing his hair again.

 

Chloe remained vaguely amused throughout this entire exchange, though I still felt somewhat uncomfortable as I continued to watch the three of them interacting.

 

"Anyhow, the storage can be accessed directly through the Peopledex for anyone given access, and the boxes can be individually secured for different user accounts, similar to the Pokebank.  We were able to incorporate elements of the Global Trade System in order to transfer ownership as well."

 

Transfer ownership? It sounded so harsh to hear people talked about like that, but that's exactly what I did when trading Pokemon. Besides, these were just technical details we were discussing.

 

"I hope you've done some testing," Chloe noted while taking a little longer sip of her tea. How were her lips so perfect? I let myself stare at them... at her for a while as the conversation continued.

 

"Oh, of course," Helen murmured with another of those throaty purrs. "A few friends and I passed Briggy around the other evening and rather... tested her limits. It was a tough night for her, I think, but she stayed the same lovely little docile darling all night long."

 

There was silence for a moment, Trevor bowing his head and blushing all the more while I stayed focused on Chloe, watching her delighted smile and slow, understanding nod. Her delight, beautiful as it was, disturbed me enough that I let myself turn away, though my eyes didn't wander past Chloe's immense and immaculate body, instead settling on her slowly bobbing foot. Another moment passed as I watched her luxurious shoe lazily moving through the air before Helen's predatory voice broke the silence.

 

"Who is it you've got there on your necklace?" My heart seized in my chest as I looked up to see her huge, bright blue eyes squinting at me, trying to make me out behind the translucent plastic of my little Ball. "Are we wearing the little ones now? I missed that trend, but I can see how it might be fun."

 

"It's Lucy," Chloe replied with ease, much to my horror. Helen continued to narrow her eyes and lean forward until she added, "From the elevator," which brought a little laugh from the devilish woman as she hopped up from her chair, leaving Trevor behind as she became instantly fascinated with me.

 

"We should try her out in the system," Helen suggested, leaning down in front of Chloe and slipping her fingers underneath me, lifting me towards her elated face with the tinkling of numerous slender silver chain links all around me. Her grin was so huge and her eyes so big that I felt she was moments away from swallowing me whole, and when she spoke again I couldn't resist flattening myself agains the curved plastic behind me, trying to get as far away as possible.

 

"I know how much Chloe loves to watch her girls crawling around and licking her shoes. I bet you've got quite the little tongue." I twisted my head back and forth, shuddering under her hungry, menacing stare until Chloe reached up and wrapped her fingers around my chain, lazily pulling me back from Helen's grasp.

 

"I think your tests sound like they've been sufficient," Chloe declared with that same warm, confident calm that she always seemed to possess. She rose to her feet to emphasize the finality of her statement, and Helen gave me a little smirk and a wave of her fingers before she stood up straight as well. "Just make sure your little friend puts.just as much effort into filling out his 'Peopledex' as he did his Pokedex, hmm?"

 

"He'll do us proud," she declared, glancing over her shoulder at Trevor still sitting patiently on the floor. "I can keep whatever he catches, right?"

 

Chloe shook her head and laughed. "Goodbye, Helen," but the other woman only gave her another of those devilish grins before she turned away.  Chloe and consequently I both watched her go, hips swaying and heavy shoes clacking against the ground with each seductive step. As she passed by Trevor she gave a little sharp snap of her fingers behind her, and at that my friend swiftly hopped up and followed after her, leaving us to watch until she vanished around a corner.

 

I could only assume she was enjoying the view, because even I could understand that there was some appeal there despite the overwhelming discomfort I felt during every moment I spent in her presence. Either way, once she was gone, so were we.

 

From there we made a few more visits and received a few more technical explanations. The only other thing I saw that was interesting at all was a cute little model house that seemed to be one of thousands that had been produced. The girl showing it off, Megan as I found out during the mostly one-sided conversation, was exuberant and enthusiastic with huge black buckled boots and long hair that was somehow even blacker. She wore a blazing red jumper and a tremendous pile of bracelets and necklaces, rattling and clinking with every excited gesture she made while showing off the features of the tiny home.

 

"I'm so so happy that you let me work on this," she bubbled, lifting the roof of the little home with ease to further show off the insides. "I used to be like, crazy with dolls when I was little so this has been pretty much the coolest work I've ever done in my life. Anyhow, the rooms are completely modular so you can piece them together a bunch of different ways, but we've been able to make a few hundred so far and should have a couple hundred more every week until you guys think you've got enough."

 

Chloe did her the courtesy of leaning over and peeking in the structure, and Megan quickly took notice of me, crouching down and starting to look me with this fascinated smile as her huge eyes grew even bigger.  "Are they really going to be that tiny?" she whispered while carefully poking my Ball.

 

"Mhmm," Chloe replied, but before she could take take a step back Megan sprung back up into the air, clapping her hands together with delight.

 

"Let's have her try it out!" she suggested with even more excitement than she'd already shown.  I'd been through enough that I'd grown very comfortable and secure in my little plastic container, dangling about Chloe's chest, so I was both surprised and a little scared when she gave a little shrug and acquiesced.

 

"Sure, why not?" she muttered while pressing the release on my Ball and inviting Megan to reach in and grab me, which she did without hesitation, my little squeal of protest not slowing her eager fingers from wrapping around my tiny body.

 

It was only a short distance to the table that Megan's model was sitting on, but I still collapsed in a heap on its surface when she dropped me in front of the little box.

 

"Go on, little girl!" she called to me with the same tone that a child would use with her newborn kitten. "Go on, pop inside and tell us what you think!"

 

I eventually pulled myself together and got up, and during the process in found the colossal Megan's enthusiasm hard to resist. I slipped through the doorway and into the structure, wandering through and taking in what sights it had to offer. Aside from a few smaller boxes and very plain surfaces that I imagined must be what would pass for tables and seating within the rudimentary structure, there really wasn’t much else save for a little hose in one wall and a hole in one of the corners rooms, which I guessed were for some sort of water service and waste removal.

 

I turned slowly around in the middle of the structure, shaking my head as I thought about people living in a place like this, and not just a few people, but everyone.  Every single person outside of Team Flare in all of Kalos was going to live in these ugly, bare shoeboxes.  Not even shoeboxes, they were significantly smaller than…

 

I shrieked and fell to the floor as the roof ripped away to reveal Megan’s huge, beaming grin absolutely filling the sky.  “Whaddaya think, sweetie?” she asked, clearly quite eager to hear my thoughts.  As warm and joyful as she seemed to be, there seemed to be a distinct possibility that she might not be completely stable.  I clearly remembered the feel of her fingers wrapped around my body and found myself thinking about how easily they could just squeeze a little harder and smear me across her skin, or about those absurdly tall platform boots and if she enjoyed any of the same hobbies Chloe did in her free time.  I was absolutely afraid to disappoint her, but in the end I had to speak my mind.

 

“It’s… it’s just…” I began, and she leaned in closer, her smile fading the faintest bit.

 

“It’s just, you know… really sparse.  Like, it’s so bare.”

 

I held my breath for a brief moment, but Megan quickly let out a little giggle, which let me let out my sigh of relief.  “Well, of course it is, little lady.  Once our little guests move in, they’ll want to decorate and furnish their own home.  Wouldn’t you?  So once they’ve started making progress on paying off their home, they can start buying other little things too, if they want.”

 

I was beyond confused now.  “...Paying?” I managed to spit out, and again Megan simply laughed and nodded.

 

“Oh, of course!  You didn’t think we could provide all of these services for free, did you?  Obviously they won’t be needing real money anymore, so some consideration will be given for what their bank balances can contribute to Team Flare at the time of relocation, but after that it will be up to the Governess of each town to give jobs to her tiny people and arrange for compensation.  Eventually we’ll have, like, a marketplace or something, and after everyone gets sort of settled I might even set up some sort of exchange for trade between our tiny towns, too.”

 

Megan’s head moved away when she was done speaking, and I saw Chloe’s heavenly face above where it had been, smiling down at me through the open ceiling.  “Megan is in charge of housing, development and economics for us.  It’s a very big job, since she’s pretty much building the entire society from scratch, but her tireless enthusiasm for her work has left me quite impressed.”

 

I couldn’t see her from where I stood, but I heard her let out a soft “Awwwwww!” at Chloe’s very notable praise.  Of course Megan was enthusiastic for her work.  It was one big crazy game to her.  She was what, maybe seventeen?  And all of the details for the futures of thousands was being left entirely up to her.

 

“My tinies are going to be so, so happy,” Megan began to tell Chloe for the plans for her own town.  “There’s going to be a mailman and teachers and a policeman, and then off course I’ll have to have a couple of crooks for him to catch but it won’t be anything serious, they’ll just spend a night in jail or whatever and then go back to do whatever they were going to do the next day.  I even have some little outfits started for them, want to see?”

 

“That’s quite alright,” Chloe politely declined the invitation with a smile, and I was immensely thankful that her hand was reaching down through the roof of the little model home.  The more I heard about Megan’s plans, the more queasy I started to get, and it was only when I was back in my Ball, hanging from Chloe’s neck and swaying at the end of my chain in time with her rhythmic steps as we headed out through the door.

 

I was starting to get an idea of what the future of Kalos was going to look like, and a lot of what I’d seen was thoroughly disturbing.  Megan already saw the people as barely more than a bunch of exciting new toys, and Helen seemed to think of everyone she met as some sort of object for her pleasure.  I shuddered to think what she’d do with a whole town full of helpless playthings, and then there was Malva.   I still didn’t quite understand her, but she certainly didn’t seem to place a very high value on the lives of those around her, tiny or otherwise.  Was she going to be one of those Governesses, too?

 

At least here in my Ball, staring up at my beautiful Chloe, I knew I was safe.  She was the only one I could trust, and when it came down to it, she was the one who was in charge of everything.  As  long as she was in control I was pretty sure that everything would work out.  It couldn’t be easy managing so many diverse personalities and guiding them towards a common goal, but if anyone could do it it would certainly be her.  She’d keep them in line, and everything would fall into place.

I looked up at her brilliant red hair swirling in the breeze, and at her calm smile and the focused, forward stare of her piercing green eyes.  With Chloe in control, everything was going to be fine.

 

 

After Megan's display it seemed like we were headed home, and the moment Chloe closed her apartment's front door behind us I was instantly more relaxed than I'd been all week. Chloe seemed to have some invisible weight lifted from her as well. I watched as she dropped her bag on the table by her couch and shed her jacket, laying it across her purse. I enjoyed watching her movements as always until she started to pull off her necklace as well.  I sailed through the air at the end of the long chain, seemingly forgotten as my Ball noisily crashed into the table's glass surface. The impact rattled me, and I was sure I'd have a few bruises, but the real suffering set in as I continued watching her move around the room, seeming to wholly forget that I existed.

It may have been because I'd spent so much time in my Ball, dangling so close to Chloe’s  chest with her regal neck and angelic countenance serving as my sky, her voice surrounding me every time she spoke and my own body swaying along with every movement she'd made for the last several days...

She just seemed so far away.  I watched, totally consumed with longing for her as she poured a glass of dark wine, slipped off her shoes and settled onto the couch, and that was when she finally seemed to notice that something was missing. I nearly leapt for joy when her outstretched fingers plucked me from her table, slipping my Ball free of its chain, but when she held me up to her face and looked me over through the translucent plastic there was this trace of mischief in her smile.

She stretched out along the length of her couch with her knees drawn up slightly towards her chest, and she started to move me away from her body, letting me watch as inch after inch of her alluring, silken red stockings passed beneath me until she set me down on her knees. I stayed there for a moment, just happy to be in her hands once more, but then her hands pulled away.

I went rolling down the slope of her legs, tumbling end over end along the curve of her shins and screaming for all I was worth while she softly chuckled under her breath. I went careening past the slope of her ankles and smashed into the arm of the her couch and my body bounced off the unforgiving plastic of my Ball, leaving me in an aching heap at the bottom as the Ball slowly rolled to a stop on the couch's cushion.

I groaned, even whimpering a little as I tried to pull myself together. I heard Chloe gently sigh and was pretty sure I glimpsed her picking up her tablet computer, but my view of her was quickly cut off by her crimson covered toes slowly sliding over me, enveloping me in almost complete darkness beneath her feet.

I was nearly whining in frustration to be trapped beneath her beautiful silky soles, mere inches away from them but completely cut off at the same time. In some part of me I knew that Chloe was deriving some sort of pleasure from slowly rolling me back and forth underfoot and I tried to take some comfort in that, but the agony of my situation was almost overwhelming. They were fresh from a long day in her shoes and I knew heavenly feet would be so wonderfully warm, and as they started to faintly fog the plastic of my Ball I grew even more desperate and excited.

I don't know how much time passed, but I started climbing the side of my Ball as it rolled, doing my best to press closely to the plastic on the other side of her stockinged soles, wanting to feel their warmth and even at some points, whether it was real or imagined, I thought I could discern their familiar fantastic fragrance.  Even though I knew my position must have been pleasing been to her, I hated being toyed with like this and was certain it was going to drive me mad. A few moments before I was sure that I'd start pressing my lips to the plastic, though, her toes slipped over the button that unlatched my plastic prison.

It took a moment for me to process what had happened, but after that moment quickly passed I was scrambling towards the open crack in the Ball, pushing my way through and landing on the couch cushion.  I turned to try and get a glimpse of my beloved Chloe through the gap between her arches, but I could only see part of her face at the end of the tunnel formed by her mile-long legs.  She wasn’t looking back at me, still staring down and from the reflected glow I could only assume she was still busy with her tablet.  That didn’t keep her from finding me, though.  One of her feet rolled my Ball away, and then her majestic toes were lowering towards my tiny body but I didn’t mind, I didn’t mind one bit.  I stretched out my arms, ready and eager to embrace them.

I moaned softly as I was swiftly forced flat on my back, so much of my longing fulfilled as I could finally touch her again, finally feel her and smell her and love her… her stocking was somewhat cool to the touch, but I could feel the warmth of her sole behind it when I gave it the first of innumerable long and loving kisses, and its fragrance was still rich and intoxicating, the leather of her designer heels mingling with the aromas emanating from beneath her toes.

I pressed myself against her superior silken stocking even as she started to smash me into the forgiving surface of the couch, slowly and idly sliding the ball of her foot back and forth across my entire little body.  I gave myself fully to her fantastic foot, so tremendously thankful to be surrounded by something I’d missed and longed for far more than I realized, and it was even better because I knew Chloe could feel me beneath her and the way she was using me and grinding me into the couch told me that she was definitely enjoying my presence as well.  Sure, there was some discomfort, especially with all the freshly forming bruises that my little roller coaster ride down her legs had left me with, but I barely noticed as I kissed her sole again and again and again.

Eventually, though, her movement above me came to a stop and left me just pinned beneath her foot, helpless and wholly immobilized.  I wasn’t sure what to do at first, just reflexively continuing to give my little kisses to the limitless expanse of stocking above me.  I was surprised how sore and exhausted I seemed, but during my excitement I must not have noticed the toll that my feverish adoration and the incredible force of Chloe’s foot had taken on me.

After a few more minutes I started to worry.  Could she even feel my tiny lips?  Had she gotten bored with me?  I started to struggle, squirming uselessly beneath the unstoppable power of her foot’s casual weight, but I quickly realized there was no way I could wriggle out from under her sole.  Hopefully she had at least felt and appreciated my efforts beneath her.

I didn’t have to wonder for long.  Suddenly her stockinged sole was sliding across my body again, but this time it slid completely off of me, leaving me bathed in a rush of cool air.  I hadn’t even realized how stale and humid the air had been beneath Chloe’s foot, just accepting it as reality since I’d been so happy to be there, but now she was reaching for me and I took a deep breath as her immense fingertips covered my body and plucked me up from the little impression I’d made on her couch.

She dropped me in her lap without so much as looking at me, and I tumbled along the folds and wrinkles of her dress until I came to rest in a spot just a little ways below her waist.  Much as I loved the warmth of Chloe’s spectacular soles, I was surprised at the exceptional and enjoyable warmth radiating through the thin material of her dress.  After resting and appreciating my situation for a moment, I gathered myself up and dug my fingers into the spectacularly smooth fabric, pulling myself upright.  I found myself staring up at her for a moment, but her own stare was so intense that I had to follow it towards her tablet’s screen myself before long.

It took a while, but I finally figured out what had her so fascinated.  Various reports were popping up along the sides of the screen here and there, but the primary display was the same software that had been running on what Trevor had called the Peopledexes.  With every passing second more tiny digital Flare Balls popped up alongside the extensive, scrolling list of names, and at the bottom there was a sort of progress bar that was slowly and somewhat irregularly filling towards the top.

I watched the percentage alongside it, calculated out to the second decimal and continuously ticking upwards.  It was already in the seventies, and looked like it would have no issues with climbing significantly higher at the rate it was progressing.  I was pretty sure that I understood what this meant, though I was having some difficulty wrapping my head around it.

Unexpectedly I felt her touch, a fingertip almost as large as me running gently along my back, stroking me like some tiny little pet in her lap, and when Chloe’s voice broke the evening’s long silence I had my suspicions confirmed.

“You’re going to have so many new little friends, Lucy,” she softly breathed, her eyes dancing with utter delight.

 

Between the soothing feel of Chloe's finger rhythmically running along my body and my overall exhaustion, it wasn't long before I drifted off to sleep while watching the numbers on her screen continue to tick along. I woke up back in my Ball, resting on the surface of Chloe's nightstand. As I got my bearings I was treated to the sight of Chloe herself propped up on her bed, leaning back against the upholstered headboard with her legs stretched out before her.

I noticed first that she was still wearing her stockings from last night, and then I realized her entire outfit hadn't changed. She still had her tablet in her hands; she must have stayed up all night monitoring things, but even without a wink of sleep and in yesterday's clothes she still possessed this flawless beauty that I simply couldn't resist.

She must have noticed me sitting up against the side of my Ball and staring, because after a moment her head slowly turned towards me. My heart immediately set to racing to be held in her gaze and see her tremendous, warm, earnest smile.

"You're awake," she noted, her voice still wonderfully sweet even if it was a little flat. I only gave a happy nod and a stifled yawn in response, and, to my delight, she reached out to pick me up. "Go, Lucy!" she called out, lazily tossing my Ball towards the end of the bed and giggling briefly at her own silliness as I popped out in a burst of light, finding myself sprawled out at her feet, feeling strange to be suddenly back to my original size.

“You should get dressed,” she suggested with a smile, stretching out her stockinged foot, which I immediately and reflexively kissed when she gave my face a little nudge.  “Malva should be here soon, and I want you to take her out on a little assignment.”

I looked down at the tiny little nightgown I’d been wearing for the past several days and when I thought of Malva seeing me in it I suddenly felt terribly exposed.  Somehow it had seemed totally fine when I was just being a tiny ornament dangling around Chloe’s neck, especially since she’d picked it out for me, but now I wasn’t comfortable at all.  “Wear your old clothes,” Chloe suggested as I slid back off the edge of the bed.  “You’re going to be doing some walking and probably some battling, too.”

My eyes lit up when I heard that, immediately remembering the thrills of my adventures over the last year and the well-publicized contests I’d had with some of the best and most famous trainers in Kalos.  I was good at it, better than anyone else, and I loved it.  That’s what made me the Champion, obviously.

The outfit I’d been wearing when Chloe… caught me had been cleaned since she brought me here, I pulled on my blouse and stepped into my matching short pleated skirt, but I was still pulling my striped socks up to my thighs when I heard Malva burst through the door.  “Naked check!  Hope you guys aren’t fooling around back there,” she called out while clomping towards the bedroom and unceremoniously pushing her way through that door as well.

“Seriously, though,” she seemed to just start rambling, barely even looking at us as she turned to the nearby full-length mirror and started to fix her slightly messy hair, picking at it a bit and smoothing some flyaways.  “That was the most fun I’ve had in years, or maybe even ever.  I’m pretty sure I nabbed like, fifty at least.”

“Forty-six,” Chloe interjected after a few taps of her fingertips on the screen of her tablet, grinning a little to see her friend filled with so much energy.

“Whatever,” Malva snapped back with a brief glance over her shoulder.  “One of your stupid grunts kept getting in my way.  He’s lucky I didn’t shove him in a Ball and remind the little moron of his place.  So, what,” she finished applying a fresh coat of lipstick and gave herself one last appraising look in the mirror before she turned back around.  “Are you seriously not ready yet?  Let’s go!  I’m on a roll.”

I looked her over for a moment, slowly letting a small grin spread across my face.  She didn’t look like she’d slept either, but clearly she was still riding a high from her night full of activity.  She looked good, back in her cutout leggings, boots and cropped sleeveless top like I’d seen her many times at the Pokemon League.  “I was just waiting for you, Mal,” I muttered while my grin grew.

“Oh?” She replied, her eyebrows excessively raised as she questioned me, but I was undeterred.

“Get my boots,” I instructed her with a little jerk of my chin towards my low-heeled lace-up footwear on the floor by my side, and while she took a minute to furrow her brow and seemingly consider my demand, she did eventually move across the room to me and bent at the waist to pluck them up from the floor, every movement exaggerated like she was some small child being forced to perform a loathsome chore.

“Go on,” I encouraged, placing a hand on the nearby wall and lifting one of my feet towards her, wiggling my toes inside of my sock.  Again, my smile only grew as she sunk to her knees and complied, guiding the shaft around my descending pointed toes and giving a little tug to help my heel settle in.

I sighed happily as I watched her do the same with the other one, then set to work pulling and tightening the crisscrossing laces with care.  Maybe it was just the promise of upcoming Pokemon battles filling me with confidence or something, but I was really enjoying bossing Malva around right now, and I could tell from the little smile she was trying to hide that there was something about it she was enjoying, too.

Once she’d finished and started to stand up, I reached out without thinking and placed my hand on the back of her head, stopping her from going anywhere.  She was confused for a moment, and truthfully so was I, but deep down I knew what it was I wanted her to do.

My right foot slid forward a few inches and I shivered as I said the words.  “Kiss my boot.”

I might have heard the faintest chuckle from her, but I was too fixated on watching her slowly bowing down before me to really notice or care.  When she placed a long, sweet and loving kiss on the top of my foot I couldn’t help but let out a small, satisfied gasp, and after she pulled back I found myself smiling and staring at the little trace of pink that the outline of her freshly painted lips had left behind on the black leather.

“You should get going, girls,” Chloe suggested, and when I glanced over at her I caught a bit of her smile before her eyes drifted shut and she rolled her neck back and forth, stifling a tiny yawn.  “I’m going to try and get a bit of rest while you’re gone.

“You have no idea how much fun this is going to be,” Malva uttered while rising from her knees, already heading towards the door, and I followed after her once Chloe gave me a little nod of approval.  I blew her a kiss over my shoulder before closing the door and immediately felt like an absolute and total fool for doing that, but I hoped she’d either be tired enough to forget or just chalk it up to a long week in my Ball doing funny things to my head.

“So where are we going?” I asked Malva as I watched her pick up a rather large bag and sling it across her shoulder.  She handed me one of my own, and when I peeked inside it was packed to the top with Flare Balls.

“Lost Hotel,” she informed me while reaching up for something on one of the shelves by the door.  I was pretty surprised when she handed my Pokedex.  I hadn’t really thought about my things since I watched Chloe rummage through them back when we met, but it made sense that she’d still have them here.  “Go ahead and grab a Pokemon from your bank.  You should only need one, so don’t go crazy.”

“Just one?” I questioned as I poked the screen and punched in the information needed to access my Pokebank.  All my old friends, I hadn’t seen them in so long…

Malva was going through her bag, picking through the Balls she was carrying and examining a few while she waited for me.  “Yeah, we’re travelling light.  Shouldn’t be much of a fight, but if you get into trouble you’ve got big, strong me to bail you out.”

“Alright, I’m ready,” I declared once I’d made my choice, and Malva quickly snatched the Pokedex back from my hands and popped it back on top of the shelf.

“Good,” she declared as we headed out and closed the door behind us.  “Who’d you pick?”

“Buzzbeat, my Zapdos,” I responded with pride, but she only groaned and shook her head.

“Of course you’d bring a legendary.  You’re such a little show off.”

“You’re only bitter because I’m so much better than you,” I immediately shot back, and she turned and gave me this withering glare that startled me for a moment, but to my relief it quickly softened, and by then we were on the elevator, able to focus on something other than each other.

"You have the worst nicknames," she quipped as we both stared at the door.

"Shut up, <i>Mal</i>," I retorted with a smirk and the confidence of a Champion.

*****

When we made it to the Lost Hotel, Malva pulled a Pokeball from her bag and I took the hint to do the same.  "So there's a few dozen holdouts down there from what we figure. Don’t pop your stupid bird out until we’re ready to go, alright?  Think you can try to keep quiet on our way inside?"

I blinked once, slightly confused as I slowly turned the Pokeball I held over a few times in my hand.  “So, we’re not going to be having a battle down there?”

Malva rolled her eyes briefly and shook her head.  “Not if we do this right.  Just… follow my lead, okay?”

I nodded and with that we were on our way down the stairs, Malva moving ahead of me, trailing her hand along the wall and carefully placing each step she took, moving in absolute silence as I did my best to quietly follow along.  We reached the end of a hallway and she peeked around a corner, motioning for me to come up alongside her, and when I took a glance as well I saw the people we were there for.

Like she said, it was twenty-some, maybe thirty people at the most, but it was more than just the punk types I’d been accustomed to seeing down here, with a few older adults and even one or two kids mixed in as well.

“Ready?” she whispered, and I found myself wiping my hands on my shirt, surprised at how sweaty they seemed to be.  This wasn’t a battle.  Was I supposed to just attack these people with my Pokemon?  That wasn’t even close to what I’d trained them for, but Chloe’d sent us here for a reason…

“Now!” Malva hissed, and I simply reacted.  I flung my Pokeball towards the middle of the group, calling out, “Go, Buzzbeat!” as my Zapdos burst into the air with its piercing cry.  “Use Discharge!” I screamed while Malva’s Pyroar popped out of its Ball, dashing towards the group with a startling roar.

I watched as the people tried to scatter, flares of electricity dancing between them and leaving some falling to the ground, twitching with paralysis.  Malva flung the first of her Flare Balls at some of them, and as they gently rocked with the slight spasms of the tiny people inside she called out, “Lise, Hyper Voice!”

Even directed away from me the ensuing roar was bone-jarring, and as I watched with my hands over my ears even more people crumpled under the overwhelming sonic force.  I took a couple Balls from my bag and tossed them out, capturing four or five.  “Thunder Wave!” I called to Buzzbeat, and the few people still trying to flee went down one by one as their bodies seized up under the pulsing electricity, and from there it was easy for Malva and me to hit the rest of our targets with our Flare Balls.  It had barely been a full minute and every single one of the people were now trapped in our little spheres on the floor.

“Too easy,” Malva purred as she started to saunter towards her Pyroar, chuckling softly as she watched her bat around the nearest Flare Ball, purring as she played with it.

“Look out!” I cried, but it was too late, or maybe Malva was too absorbed with the rush of our success to interrupt her stride.  One of the many Flare Balls littering the ground loudly crunched beneath her heeled black boot,

“Oops,” she remarked in a completely unconvincing and casual way, barely pausing to examine the little red smear left behind amidst the shattered shards of plastic as she stepped away.

I was already uneasy about what we were doing down here to start with, and as I watched Malva move up to her Pyroar and let her nuzzle her hand for a moment, my insides started to churn and boil at her utter disregard for what she’d just done.

“Malva!” I shrieked, though she didn’t react at all, instead focusing on letting her Pyroar nuzzle her hand for a moment.  “What’s wrong with you?  These are <i>people</i>!  Now let’s start picking them up.  <i>Carefully</i>,” I added, but she still didn’t so much as even look at me.

“Return, Lise,” she softly murmured, her Pokemon giving a little purr as she returned to her Ball.  I watched her clip it back to the strap of her bag and then fish around inside the bag for a moment before she produced one more Flare Ball.

“And I think you should, too,” she added, finally turning back to look at me, and I had just long enough to catch a glimpse of her crazed, devilish grin before I was surrounded by the blinding light and being dragged through the air towards her hand.

 

Malva held me in the palm of her hand, and it was all I could do to stare up at her immense, wicked grin as my heart hammered in my chest, blood rushing in my ringing ears.  She started to walk around, humming a little tune as she started nudging and kicking all of the scattered Flare Balls into a pile in the center of the room.  I squealed as she casually tossed me into the air once and then again as she walked around.  Before long her collection was complete and she settled to the ground in front of it, crossing her legs and setting me off to the side of the pile as she continued humming along.

I watched in wordless terror as she took one Ball after another, cracking it open and dumping the person inside onto the ground before she carelessly tossed the empty containers aside, each one landing with a clatter that made me cringe.

It was the way she grinned that made it so frightening, and the little tune she just kept humming as she went along.  It didn’t take much time for the twenty-some tiny souls to be emptied out, and once they had been Malva reached over and popped open my Ball as well, shaking me out onto the floor before setting it aside with noticeably more care.

She'd stolen my Ball. Of course she had; she'd done the exact thing to Shauna. The fact that she hadn't smashed it gave me some hope that she wasn't planning anything truly terrible for me, but in truth I had absolutely no idea what she actually was planning to do. Wasn't she supposed to belong to me? I'd caught her like Chloe wanted me to, and even if it had seemed rather be grudging at times, she'd always obeyed my commands.

"Malva, what are you doing!" I shrieked at her from far below on the floor. "Stop this right now! Pick up my Ball and turn me back."

I took an involuntary step back when she turned her attention towards me and let out this long, terror amused and derisive laugh.

"You're supposed to listen to me!" I cried out, though a significant amount of uncertainty had crept into my voice.

Malva just shook her head and made a show of slowly pulling herself up from the ground, like a cruel and threatening colossus of femininity wearing a menacing and condescending smile of smug superiority.  I'd felt insignificant in her shadow when she was still sitting on the floor, but seeing her so far above us... I knew I was visibly trembling but it seemed like I was the only one. The rest of the tiny people seemed mostly confused, milling about and just staring up at this four hundred foot tall version of the woman that gave them the news on their Holo Casters.

"Sorry, runt," she muttered in her low and throaty voice, sensuality dripping from her lips with each carefully enunciated syllable. "I played along for a while, 'cause you're just this special kind of sexy when you think you're in charge, but this... this is just too important."

That was when her boot started to shift, and as I watched in mute horror it slowly slid through the air to hover inches above the still staggering and bewildered crowd.  It wasn't until it started to descend towards them that I found my voice and began to scream and scream and scream.

"Stand still," Malva quietly commanded, and It was almost as strange as it was horrifying to watch her step down in the midst of the crowd. None of them seemed to react at first, so dazed by whatever the Flare Balls had done to their minds in the brief time they'd been inside, but once the thick tread of her boot sole started to force the five or six people beneath it down to the ground some waves of panic began to spread around her unstoppable boot.  I still must have been audible above the crowd, though, because when I screamed "Stop it! Stop it, stop it, stop it!" she actually seemed to pause.

"Is there a problem, little Lucy?" she taunted, nearly sneering as she turned her tremendous eyes to stare down at me while carefully keeping several people pinned flat beneath her foot.  “You don’t like how I deal with people who stand in our way?”

“We already caught them!” I protested, still feeling a little strange to be talking about people as I was.

“They were going to fight us,” Malva growled, and she must have grown tired of keeping her boot raised while we spoke.  Her thick heel settled to the ground and I watched it utterly pulverize a young man’s arm, sending him into a desperate, high-pitched wail. “They don’t want to be part of our world, so why not give them their wish?”

She chuckled at her own bit of cleverness, and I started to protest again.  “But-”

“Hey.”  She narrowed her eyes at me, and I was immediately silenced by the firmness of her voice, gasping to feel her suddenly undisguised malice directed at me.  “You don’t want to be a part of this?  There’s your way out.”  She jerked her chin towards her raised boot, and my eyes followed down along her body to simply stare at the black leather wrapped around a foot that was poised to snuff out a half dozen lives.  “Go ahead and wriggle your way under there, runt.  I’ll even act as sad as possible when I tell Chloe that her favorite toy betrayed us and had to be squished.”

There wasn’t much light or really anything else in the room, so Malva’s gargantuan, somewhat shadowy form utterly dominated the empty space, nothing but a seemingly endless expanse of cracked tiles spread in every direction and the few functioning bulbs in the chandelier above her left her grinning face and shining hair ringed in a halo of light.  She was unstoppable, godlike in power and presence over the helpless things, the entirety of Kalos’s resistance at her feet.

“No?” she asked, that same smirk persisting as she continued to taunt me.  “Then shut up and watch, little girl.”

An evil goddess, that’s what she was.  I’d known she was twisted, and certainly dangerous, but as she slowly and carefully pushed her boot towards the floor it became absolutely and completely clear that Malva was nothing but pure evil.  The silence surrounding the first squelches and crunches was almost the most disturbing element, but the rest of the people finally started to panic as more of the screams beneath Malva’s thick sole turned to gurgling squelches.

“Good,” she purred, watching as whatever remnants of the Flare Ball’s influence over the crowd gave way to their growing mortal terror.  She took her time pushing her sole to the floor, seeming to savor every detail of the lives being obliterated beneath her boot.  “Scream for me, weaklings,” she demanded with a lustful sigh, making a dramatic show of slowly twisting her foot in the splattered remains of her first victims.  “I love your stupid fear.”

People started to break away from the group, drawing a cruel laugh from the giantess above them as she lifted her bloody boot and tracked the movements of a few fleeing together, a man and woman and boy close to my age, possibly a family.  I was still considering their relationship to one another when she stomped down, erasing them from existence and splattering bits of them in every direction.

“Go ahead,” she murmured, letting out a little sigh as she dragged her foot back and smeared what was left of the family across the floor.  “Run.”

I wanted to help or cry or do something, do anything at all, but what could I do?  What could any of them do, isolated in the middle of the floor, nowhere to go, nowhere to hide with Malva towering over all of us like we were nothing but scurrying ants on the ground.  I found myself crawling back into my Ball and curling up against the plastic, trying my best to hide my eyes and look away and failing completely.

This was so much more than just a mass execution for Malva.  She toyed with her victims, nudging them about with the toe of her boot, viciously taunting them as they ran about this way and that.  “Don’t stop,” she laughed, always with that dark, ringing laughter as a woman tripped and fell, then instantly vanished in a spray of gore beneath her sole.  “Stop and you squish,” she chuckled.

“Squish, squish, squish,” she cackled, smashing three more with three separate little taps of her toes.  She crushed them so easily, so casually and effortlessly and seemed to think about nothing more than how fun, how exciting it was to eradicate these little people at her feet.

“Anyone want to stop?” she teased, sweeping her boot through a bunch of the fleeing people, sending them tumbling and sprawling across the tile.  She bit her lower lip, eyes gleaming as she pushed them around with her foot until she’d built a wriggling pile of humanity, then she let out a little breath as she settled her sole on top of them.  I don’t know why but I tried to count them while they struggled, shrieking and writhing beneath the incalculable pressure of her building-sized boot.  “You can try….” she began, but interrupted herself with a revoltingly sexual moan as she slowly shifted her weight forward and crushed eight or nine or ten tiny people to pulpy smears.

“...Begging for mercy,” she concluded, her eyes fluttering as her black boot remained perched atop the flattened remains of the group it had just crushed.  I quickly looked away, but so did she, scanning the ground for more little things to play with.  A pair of women had fallen at some point or maybe just given up, just laying on the ground, huddled close to one another and hiding their faces while they sobbed in absolute despair.

Malva took a second to aim the broad stacked heel of her boot at them, then dropped it onto their bodies, silencing their cries with a sharp, wet smack.  An older man was off to their side, quite a distance away by his perspective but only a couple of feet for the massive Malva.  He’d fallen to his knees, taking her invitation to beg for his life quite seriously, but as soon as she noticed him she pivoted on her heel, its thick tread noisily squeaking as it twisted atop the women’s ruined bodies before the simultaneous thud and squelch of her other boot stomping down signaled the end of his life as well.

Her chest was rising and falling as she scanned the ground for more people to play with, and I knew it was entirely from excitement rather than exertion.  She hadn’t exerted herself at all, barely needing any effort to utterly destroy a dozen lives.  I couldn’t see anyone still standing, but I imagined someone out there had to have survived.  Whatever miniscule hope I was trying to summon swiftly faded, though, as Malva let out a long and happy sigh while turning around, firmly treading through the broad swath of gore she’d reduced the captive crowd to.

That dreadful humming had started again.  Her steps were carefully placed as she walked, further crushing anything that looked like something more than messy red smears, occasionally giving a little twist of her toes to squish any bigger bits or still squirming people she came across.

“Oh my god, that was good,” she happily sighed once she’d completely run out of little things to crush.  At least I prayed she was done smashing things beneath her boots, because she was turning towards me and making her way across the bloodied floor, every step squishing and splashing through the wet mess she’d made.

I rediscovered my ability to scream when she crouched down over me and stretched out a hand, snapping my Ball shut around me and rising back with me in her grasp.  Her fingers wrapped all around me and I knew, I absolutely knew that I was completely held in her power.  My pulse hammered through every inch of my body as I stared back at her heavily lidded eyes and the faintest sheen of sweat at the corners of her brow.  Was she going to squeeze and crush me in her hand?  Maybe just pop my Ball open and dump me out, letting me fall for hundreds of feet and splatter upon impact with the ground?

A burst of light around me caught me by surprise, and in the next instant I was pulling myself up to my full height, glancing around at the scene for a moment before meeting Malva’s gaze with a cold and icy stare.  Truthfully, the little red smears and streaks looked a lot smaller from so far above them, but that didn’t change what I’d seen Malva do.

“Well, that was super easy,” she breathed, giving me this easy smile that seemed to just further emphasize all the malice inside her.  “Pretty cool, huh?”

That was all I could take.  Thirty people, good and innocent people just crushed to death in mere minutes and here she was, laughing about how cool it was?  I howled as I lunged at her, no real plan in mind aside from going for her face, even if I had to rip that smirk off of her face with my fingernails I was going to do it.  

I flew through the air towards her, ready to rip her to shreds, but she was more than ready for me.  In one fluid motion she took a small step to the side and brought her knee smashing up into my stomach, sending me tumbling over it and leaving me to land roughly on my back, groaning and gasping for breath.

“Nice, Lucy,” Malva laughed, dropping her horribly gory boot onto my chest and forcing what little air I had managed to suck down back out of my lungs.  I was normal sized at least, but here I was, trapped beneath her heel and staring up at her like the other helpless people she’d snuffed out without a care.  “You might be a Pokemon Champion, but you’re still just a stupid little girl.  This kind of works out, though, since I’ve got all these guts on my shoes.”

She started to twist her boot into my blouse to emphasize her point, leaving me to whimper while my vision started to swim from a lack of oxygen and the mess from Malva’s sole began seeping through my shirt.  “How’s that?” she asked, sliding her foot forward and lifting her toes to show off the underside of her boot, its thick heel still crushing down on my collarbone while her sole’s thick tread hovered inches from my face.

My first glimpse of those reddish streaks drove me to turn my head to the side, but Malva instantly shouted, “Look at it!” and I compulsively obeyed, my head snapping back to stare directly at the bottom of her boot.  Much of the mess that the dozens of dead had left behind had already been wiped off on my chest, but it was still somewhat stained and reeked with the stench of death mingling with the scents of leather and rubber.

“Clean yet?” she taunted, and I squealed, shaking my head as she lowered her foot a fraction of an inch more towards my face.

“Then lick it,” she growled, letting her toes lower a little more.  I let out a fearful grunt and clamped my mouth shut as her slick lugged sole grazed my nose and lips.

“Lick it,” she droned, drawing out each syllable as she rocked her boot back on its heel and then slapped her sole down onto my face again.  This time I turned my head to the side in protest and she just leaned forward, letting her wretched, heavy black boot smash down on me with all of her weight.  I could only whimper pathetically as she twisted her boot back and forth, grinding my face under her foot while she simply cackled with delight.

By the time she was done I was sobbing hysterically, tears rolling down my face and shooting streaks of pain lancing across my skull as the nauseating scents of the squashed and splattered dead smeared into my skin.

“Stupid,” she spat once again with a cruel little sneer as she stepped off of my face and turned to walk away, and for my part I could only lay on the floor, watching as her heavy heels pounded their way back down the hall and eventually disappeared into the darkness.  I didn’t get up, nor did I feel like I had it in me to ever get up again.  Every sniffle I took and every reddish smear I saw reminded me of the horrible things Malva had done to all of those innocent people.  What we’d done.  What I’d helped her do.

I attacked those people with my Zapdos.  I caught them and laid them out directly before Malva’s murderous boots.  I was a part of this, no matter how I tried to fix things in my head, and it was that realization that pushed me to haul myself up off of the ground and get out, get out of that horrible place and hurry back home to Chloe.  She’d fix everything for me, like she always managed to do.

 

 

I could have asked for help, and I’m sure anyone I met would have offered it to me.  I was the Champion and everyone knew me, after all, but for that same reason I was terrified to be seen.  Nobody could know what I’d done, and the first person who recognized me as anything more than a trampled, disheveled and bloody mess would surely tell everyone they knew, and from there I could just imagine Malva’s laughing grin as she shared the pictures of me scurrying through the streets on the weekend’s Holo Cast.

 

But who was even going to watch?  Who would even be there to see me?  Was there anyone besides Team Flare left?  I thought of the percentages and progress Chloe had been monitoring and what Malva had said about the tiny resistance that she’d so brutally and literally crushed, and realized why I didn’t pass anyone out on Route 16.  Still, I stuck to the bushes and trees, staying off the side of the path and then slipping back through the side streets to Chloe’s building.

 

I slipped inside without any problems and punched the button for the main elevator over and over and over again until the doors parted and let me dash inside.  As I started to ascend I realized how far up it was to Chloe’s apartment, and with each passing floor I was left to pray that I’d be allowed to make my trip in solitude, so of course the elevator slowed to a stop a half dozen floors before I wanted.

 

I backed into a corner as the doors slid open, trying to look away and hide my face as they revealed a slender woman with short, shocking red hair that used to be the norm for every member of Team Flare.  She was dressed for the office in a blouse and wide-legged trousers that mostly hid her matching red heels, but as they clacked onto the elevator I couldn’t help but notice them.

 

She didn’t seem to catch me glancing down at her feet, or at least didn’t react to it in the least despite my momentary shame at staring.  Instead, as I turned my head I could still feel her eyes looking me over, surely staring at the relatively clear imprint of Malva’s boot on my chest or what was left of the wretched grime that same boot had ground into my face.

 

I was seized by this urge to turn on her, to rush straight at her and throw her to the floor and just kick her… just kick her and kick her and kick her until she shut her stupid eyes and just stopped staring, but instead I seethed silently for the last few floors, and once the doors opened I was dashing away down the hall towards salvation and safety.

 

To Chloe.

 

I wanted to hammer the door with my fist, but I managed to just press the bell once, though I pressed it firmly and at length, listening for the chimes on the other side.  When I didn’t hear the customary sonorous impacts of her fashionable footwear approaching I started to panic.  What if she wasn’t home?  Of course she had better things to do, especially now.  Why would she be here just waiting for little, useless me to drag myself back to her door?

 

Tears started to fill my eyes, but the click of her latch instantly ended their production.  I sniffled as the door began to open, and when I saw her, resplendent even in nothing more than a short and silken belted black gown, I leaped forward with my arms outstretched, desperate to embrace her, to feel her supple, superior body against mine and to press my cheek to her chest as I let out my sobs and waited for the moment when she showed me that it was okay, that everything was going to be okay.

 

Instead I was left wailing as my arms wrapped around empty air.  Chloe took a swift step back and watched with a furrowed brow and a frown as I tumbled to the floor, landing in a heap at her feet.  What had I been thinking?  Trying to hug her, to force myself on the most majestic creature I’d ever encountered in my life when I was nothing, nothing but a worthless failure…

 

“Ugh.  You’re filthy,” was all she had to say, but I didn’t even bother or dare to look up.  My eyes stayed locked on her knit crimson boots before me, those same ones that I’d watched Shauna wriggle around beneath, nuzzling and kissing and licking for hours on end the first night I’d spent in this place.  Maybe she’d simply crush me… just shrink me down with my Ball and erase me with one good stomp, smearing me around on the floor beneath one of those inch-thick rubber soles.  I hoped she would, hoped she’d see what I deserved and just end my misery for me.

 

No, not what I deserved.  I could never deserve her perfect and powerful foot, even if it was just for the briefest instant before it squished me into oblivion. I wanted it, though. I was ready to beg for it, too, but then I heard a faint, friendly chuckle from above.

 

More than at any time in my life, Chloe's radiant smile filled me with a world of warmth. "Come on, Lucy. Get out of that sweater and those messy boots and we'll get you cleaned up."

 

I took a deep and shaky breath, sniffling again as I brushed my tears away from my eyes and pushed myself up off of the floor. I didn't have any reservations about undressing in front of her by this point, but I definitely didn't feel like I deserved to sit on any of her fancy furniture in the state I was in. I sat on the floor to unlace and pull off my boots, then pulled my shirt off over my head once I stood up

My boots went by the front door, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with my soiled shirt. I didn't want to just toss it somewhere in Chloe's immaculate apartment, so I just clutched it in my hands as I followed after her into the kitchen.

 

I followed closely, padding after her in nothing but my tall striped socks and my little skirt. When we got to the sink she turned on the rushing water with a flick of her hand and grabbed my shirt from me, thoroughly soaking it under the stream. I was surprised and a little confused to think she would make the effort to clean my sweater herself, but I quickly realized that was never her intent. She turned back to me and took me by the chin, using my favorite sweater like nothing more than a rag to scrub the smeared traces of smashed people from my face, and when she had finished and given me a scrutinizing glance, she tossed it into the trash and patted my head, leaving me too distracted by the minor gesture of affection to worry about my clothes being thrown away.

 

"Much better," she declared, and with her approval I just faintly started to believe in myself once again. I hadn't seen her quite so warm as she was being with me right now, and when she gently touched my shoulder and moved back towards the couch, I actually managed a smile as she spoke. "Come here, dearest. I have something to show you."

 

She settled on the plush couch and I plopped down on the floor, curling up against her legs with my chin resting on her knee. Chloe had picked up her tablet and was tapping and sliding her finger across it, and in the moment of silence I felt some of my recently suppressed nausea and dread rising back to the surface.

 

"The... the people at the Lost Hotel--" I began, but Chloe didn't let me get any further than that.

 

"Shhh," she broke in, not bothering to look up from whatever it was she was doing. "It's okay, I know."

 

She knew? She knew what? Did she know everything, even the way Malva had tortured them and me and the fact that every single one of those people had been squashed like so many bugs beneath her boots? I wasn't going to question her, and if there was anyone who would know what I'd seen it would be her.  I didn't say a thing; I couldn't say a thing, but fortunately she turned her tablet to the side and gave me a simple direction and something else to think about.

 

"Watch," she softly demanded, and we both watched the image on the screen. It was a room of some sort, well-lit and spacious and seemingly devoid of any furniture. I recognized the woman sitting on the floor almost instantly by her jet black hair and exceedingly huge black boots, but it took me longer to recognize the small shapes spread out on the floor next to her.

 

"Megan?" I murmured, the sight of her helping me recognize the dozens of structures like the one she'd displayed for us a few days ago.

 

"Shhh," Chloe repeated, though I felt her polished nails grazing along the back of my head, removing any concern I had for how I'd spoken out of turn. "Listen, dear," she directed, and we both did while she tapped the screen and zoomed the camera in closer.

 

"...And I think you'll be the perfect little postman!" Megan decreed with delight to the tiny man she held between her fingers. I leaned in closer and managed to make out easily more than a dozen more tiny things on the floor at her side in varying degrees of costume.  None of them seemed to take issue with their current condition, but the one in her hand was violently shaking his head.

 

Chloe slid her finger along the tablet and increased the volume so we could hear.

 

"...Crazy!" the tiny man shrieked. "We're not your freaking toys, we're not your dolls! You can't do this to us, take us away and shove us in these boxes and--"

 

"Whoa, wait wait wait." Megan pulled her hand up to her face, narrowing her already huge eyes as she looked the protesting tiny man over. "Are you saying you don't want to be the postman?"

 

I looked up at Chloe for a moment, catching her grin as she continued to watch the scene unfold on the screen. Was she really so amused by the little man's terror? Or was it Megan's game or the fact that she seemed to have the little town she wanted?  Either way, I couldn't help but watch as well.

 

The tiny thing she held seemed totally flustered for a long moment before he responded. "No! No, I'm not your damn mailman! I'm not--"

 

"Nobody else has a problem with their new jobs," she interrupted again. "See how happy and cute they all are?"

 

Megan lowered the man back to the ground in front of the gathered crowd of doctors and firemen and teachers and all other manner of professionals dressed in their doll clothes. True to her statement, all of them seemed to be relatively content aside from the confusion a few seemed to show at watching the man rave and rant.

 

We couldn't clearly make out what he was saying anymore, but Megan just talked over him anyhow.

 

"You've got this brand new house and plenty of food, right?  The system only works if everyone does their fair share," she chided the tiny man as she slowly pushed herself up to her full height. "I assume you're sure about this?"

 

Chloe pulled the camera back so we could see all of her. Megan towered over the costumed specks on the floor and the pale blue monochrome village spread out at her feet. There was a long pause while I imagined Megan must have been listening for his response, and it was frightfully clear when she’d heard all she needed to.

 

After a little shrug, we watched her colossal black boot rise into the air.  I gasped, my fingers digging into Chloe’s leg while I heard her little intrigued chuckle, and within an instant that heavy boot was smashing down on one of those little cookie-cutter structures, the thick platform sole crushing it to splinters with such tremendous and terrifying ease.

 

Chloe’s laugh became a little more full-fledged now, shifting in her seat as she zoomed the camera in on Ashley’s boot, affording us both a much better view of the destruction she’d caused with a single step.

 

“Well, congratulations to our town’s first homeless beggar,” the Governess announced with a smirk, grinding her boot atop the shattered remnants of what would have been the man’s house, the noisy crunches drowning out his shouts as he rushed towards her towering boot and began to hammer his fists against the side of her skyscraping sole.

 

“Oh?” Megan muttered before dragging her boot back.  We both saw it at the same time that she did, a little smear of reddishness amidst the pulverized rubble.  “Be generous with our little hobo, villagers. It looks like he’s a widower, too.”

 

Chloe chuckled softly once again but I just shook my head in shock.  “She just killed that man’s wife!” I cried in protest, but she totally shut me out, not even giving me a glance as she pulled back the camera to watch Megan settle back down to the ground and converse with her villagers, as she called them.

 

“I bet you could pull off boots like those,” she idly commented, leaving me to just shake my head again.  I was going to make my point a second time about the way one of those boots had just ended a woman’s life, but she continued to talk while starting to tap at her tablet’s screen.  “Remind me to have that man transferred to Malva, though. Megan should know she can’t keep a Resistant.”

 

That phrase and Malva’s name dredged up a number of new questions, but I still couldn’t get past my first one.  “She killed someone!” I squealed while she brought up a display with several other feeds, apparently uninterested in seeing who Megan’s new postman would be.

 

“These things happen, dear,” she sighed, taking a moment to decide what we were going to watch next.  “The world didn’t stop for every ant you’ve ever stepped on, did it?”

 

I didn’t even have time to ponder the absurdity of her comparison before the image that Chloe called up on her screen stopped my thoughts cold.  Two men were standing and facing each other atop a smooth wooden surface, and off to their side were an immense pair of pretty feet shod in an instantly recognizable pair of comparably colossal platform crimson stilettos.

 

Chloe zoomed the camera out so we could get a more complete look at Helen leaning back in a plush, high-backed chair with her shoes propped up on her desk near her two tiny companions.  “You heard correctly,” she purred in that same unnervingly sexual voice that lowered even more as she made her firm demand.  “Fight for me.”

 

All three of us stared in fascinated silence for a moment longer until one of the young men lunged at the other, and from there they were rolling about on the ground, scuffling and smashing their fists into one another while Helen laughed in cruel delight.  “That’s it,” she happily sighed while encouraging them, but after one drove his knee into the other’s groin and then dove on top of him, she clicked her tongue and uncrossed her ankles, jabbing at him with her heel and sending the man tumbling several feet away.

 

“Bad form, little man.  Come on, show me what you can do,” she entreated the two battered and wheezing men while wearing a wild and eager grin, and all three of us were captivated by the way they both struggled to do as she asked and were quickly back at each other, throwing punches as they tumbled back to the surface of the desk.

 

It was all so fast and unsettling, but Chloe was stroking my hair again as we watched these two brutalize each other for seemingly nothing more than Helen’s amusement and that was more than enough to keep me mostly calm.  It wasn’t long until the blonde one had gained a distinct advantage, though, straddling the dark-haired one’s waist and raining down blows while the one on the ground could do little besides just try to cover up.

 

“Okay, okay,” she sighed, leaning forward and reaching out towards the two men, the one on top not letting up until she’d plucked him up off of the man he was pummeling.  She let him dangle by his shirt, holding him in front of her huge and gleaming eyes.  “Not bad, my pet.  Not bad at all,” she murmured before giving a little twist of her fingers to shred his shirt with her nails and let him tumble through the air, landing inside an open Flare Ball that she held in her other hand.

 

There was a flash of light and once it cleared that same man was standing at Helen’s side, full sized and showcasing his shirtless, athletic frame far more clearly now that he was more than just a speck on her desk.  I turned to Chloe with a questioning look, and I noticed the faintest bit of concern creeping into her general sense of amusement before we both returned our focus to her screen.

 

“It takes a strong man to satisfy me,” she commented as her chair turned to face her suddenly tall companion.  “I think you might do the trick tonight,” she continued, letting out a short and throaty purr while her foot stretched out, the toe of her towering shoe teasing along the inside of his thigh.  “What do you think?”

 

His reply was mostly wordless, consisting primarily of a long groan and a nod.

 

“Yes, Miss Helen,” she instructed her flustered and quivering man, and he swiftly repeated the words himself, gasping a little as her shoe slid a bit higher.

 

I blushed a little as i watched, feeling the need to look away.  Everything that Helen did just seemed so… lewd.  Chloe seemed to have returned to being wholly entertained, though, so I let myself continue to watch in silence as well.

 

“You’re clearly good with your hands, gorgeous,” she mused while continuing to tease him with her shifting and sliding shoe.  “Are you as talented with that pretty little mouth of yours?”

 

His eyes were closed now and he was simply groaning with every motion she made, but then Helen’s foot pulled back from his crotch, leaving the man to stand there moaning with his unfulfilled longing for a moment before it swung upward, gently but firmly smacking into him between his legs.  

 

She chuckled as he groaned a very different groan and sunk to his knees, her foot already pushing towards his face while he struggled to catch his breath.   “Start with my shoe,” she purred as her platform sole grazed his lips, eliciting a pleasurably reflexive kiss from the tall and athletic man.  “We’ll see if you’re good for anything more.”

 

I curled a little closer to Chloe’s legs, wrapping my arms around one and nestling my cheek against her outer thigh as we watched the man cradle her ankle in his hands, supporting her leg as he started to feather soft kisses along her sole.

 

“No, no,” Helen sighed, shifting her foot to guide the tip of her stiletto towards the man’s impressively adoring lips.  He grunted briefly as she forced her heel against his mouth, but he quickly got the hint and took it past his lips, wrapping them around the shaft and letting his eyes drift shut as he suckled at it.

 

“Ooh,” she purred, letting her heel slip deep into the man’s mouth and slowly, seductively pumping it in and out, laughing softly as she did.  “I bet you had a few happy girlfriends, didn’t you?  Or maybe a very happy boyfriend, hmm?”

 

Chloe chuckled at that herself, which put me a little more at ease.  When Helen reached over to pluck up the battered tiny man that was still lying stretched out on her desk, though, I felt my queasiness swiftly returning.

 

“That’s it, my little warrior,” she murmured, pushing her heel into his throat all the way to the base, then slowly, slowly drawing it back out until the tip popped free from his lips.  “So strong, and so completely mine, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes, Miss Helen,” he proudly replied, just as she’d taught him.  His blue eyes smoldered with an eager intensity, clearly hungry for whatever this devilish woman would give him next.  She moved forward to the edge of her chair, settling one foot down on either side of her strapping plaything.

 

“Unlike this useless little weakling, huh?”  She turned the tiny man over, letting him spill into her other hand as a bit of a sneer overtook her self-satisfied smirk.

 

“Yeah,” he responded automatically, his breath quickening to have his goddess so tantalizingly near.  I even leaned forward, so captivated by the palpable passionate energy playing out on the screen.

 

“Such a turn off,” she muttered, stretching out her free hand to run it through her new pet’s luxurious wavy blonde hair.  “We don’t need him around, do we?”

 

Before he even had time to shake his head, she was already closing her fingers around the tiny man.  It took me far too long to realize what was happening, but her fingers just kept tightening and then the tiny man started to scream, though he was barely audible through the all-encompassing walls of flesh.  Even that was brief, as that faint scream was quickly silenced, and before long a faint trickle of redness appeared along the side of her palm.

 

Chloe made this little sound of admiration as she watched Helen work, but the way these people just continued to casually kill innocent men and women churned my stomach.  I watched as Helen slipped from her chair, planting her messy hand on her man’s chest and pushing him to the floor beneath her, pinning him to the ground as she straddled his waist.  She made a show of wiping her palm on his bare skin, seeming to relish the feel of his muscular chest beneath her hand and the way the crushed remains mingled with his sweat

 

“Oh yeah, I can use you,” she huskily declared, brushing his cheek with her now mostly clean hand.  He looked back up at her with this undisguised animal longing that almost startled me, but I didn’t have to see it for long.

 

“I’ll use you up, sweet boy,” she declared while sliding forward, adjusting her skirt as she settled onto his waiting face, seizing a fistful of his pretty hair and letting out a jarring moan as he presumably went to work satisfying her.  I could feel my cheeks absolutely blazing and I started to look away, but Chloe was already tapping the screen, blissfully cutting off the sounds coming from the tablet’s speakers.

 

The sound that replaced it turned the blood in my veins to ice.  A cold and cruel voice that I’d heard all too many times, that I had somehow hoped I wouldn’t have to hear again, at least for today.

 

“Pick someone,” Malva demanded, standing over a gathered group of tiny people. She'd cleaned up a little bit since I'd seen her last, but her outfit hadn't changed. I imagined that her collection of people might even still be able to smell the blood on the soles of her huge boots, and after what I'd seen her do just hours ago I wouldn't be surprised if some or all of them were close to becoming something messy on the undersides of her shoes as well.

 

These people had there own collection of shelters, though these somehow seemed even more sparse than the ones I'd seen before. More noticeably, though, was the fact that they seemed totally different than the people we'd gone out to capture earlier in the day.

 

They were afraid.  There was no confusion or stupor; they trembled with real and absolute terror in Malva’s shadow.

 

"Come on," she sighed.  "You're the disobedient ones. You're here to be punished, so you can either pick someone to take the punishment for you, or I can just take an extra minute or two and stomp the guts out of every last one of you. So, what's it going to be?"

 

Her wicked smirk was just as terrifying as it had always been, and I could only be thankful that I was on the other side of the screen from her. I don't think I could have bared witnessing whatever she was about to do in person after all the things I'd seen already.

 

There was some discussion among the shuddering mass of humanity, but after a moment an old man emerged from the group and shuffled forward, his eyes cast toward the ground as he approached Malva's tall black boots.

 

"What, this old thing?" she sneered, her nose crinkling as she regarded the elderly individual standing before her. In one swift, fluid motion her boot rose into the air and slammed down where he stood, utterly obliterating him in one firm and thunderous stomp, bits of the man spraying over the rest of the crowd in a wide radius from beneath her foot.

 

The people shrieked and screamed, panic ripping through them, but Malva's firm, powerful voice kept them from devolving into chaos.  "You've got ten seconds to make a fitting sacrifice to my feet, or you're all dead," she bellowed with the broadest of grins.

 

We watched as the fearful pile of people collectively pulled themselves together a bit, and eventually a young man emerged, looking far more determined and resolved than the older man that came before him. He stared upwards and Malva gave a little nod of appreciation as she returned his stare with her own playful gaze.

 

"Mm, that's more like it," she murmured. "Now come here, little guy."

 

He approached cautiously, losing a bit of his nerve as he had to move across the blood spattered portions of the floor towards the cruel, colossal woman's murderous feet.  "I want you to kiss my boot,” Malva declared, sliding her foot towards the man just enough that its heavy tread, slick with the other man’s gory remains, noisily squeaked against the hard floor beneath it.

 

The man didn’t react instantaneously enough for her, I guess, since she quickly followed her statement with a sharp snap of her fingers, drawing his attention up from the demanding boot before him to her tremendous, narrowed eyes.  “Hey, stupid,” she addressed the tiny man.  “You realize they gave all of you to me because you’re too freaking dumb to listen to us like you should, right?”

 

He seemed totally perplexed and frustrated and confused.  She was going to step on him, wasn’t she?  In fact, all of them seemed somewhere between baffled and horrified, wavering between the two with each passing moment.

 

Malva’s foot shifted forward just the faintest bit more, nudging the miniscule man enough to knock him to the ground.  “It’s my job to prove that you little idiots can learn obedience, so to start with, you’re going to do exactly as you’re told from this moment on.  Got it, little guy?”

 

She was absolutely glowing with that terribly familiar, cruel and dark delight that I’d seen in her again and again by this point.  “Now, show some respect and get down on your knees,” she murmured with a devilish smirk, “and once you’ve taken a moment to appreciate all that I am in comparison to the nothing that you are, you can start licking my boot.”

 

I shouldn’t have been, but I was still partially dumbfounded by her callous cruelty and also by the startlingly absolute authority she so easily wielded over the dozen or so odd people at her feet.  I couldn’t believe that they weren’t scrambling to every corner of the room, fleeing in total panic for their lives.  

 

I briefly wondered if I would do the same in their position.  I’d been tiny and helpless at Malva’s feet before, too, but that was before I’d seen how brutal and ruthless and bloodthirsty she could be… before I’d gotten to really know the beautiful monster that she was.

 

The monster that she was.  “Come on, stupid,” Malva growled.  “Start licking or I’m going to take one good, firm step into the middle of that pile of friends you’ve got over there instead of just stepping on you.  I doubt I'll get them all, but I bet I could crush six or seven easily enough.  You want them all smashed because you're too good to do what you're told?”

 

As Chloe zoomed the camera in closer, letting us see the tiny man grinding his teeth and shaking his head as he dropped down to his knees, I realized that I was really starting to like Malva’s boots.  I found it surprisingly cool that the kneeling man was barely taller than thick, lugged sole of the boot he was stretching his tongue towards.

 

The same sole that had smashed down on my face that afternoon, leaving me staring upward in horrified terror, catching glimpses of Malva’s menacing, lust-tinged grin as she ground the filthy crushed remains of thirty-some innocent people into my flesh.

 

My thoughts were interrupted by a sweet, soft giggle from Chloe as we watched the tiny fearful man drag his tongue along the surface of Malva’s massive black boot again and again.  Her leg shifted against my body, sending an unexpected wave of warmth through me as her soft boot brushed against my inner thighs, and it was enough to wrench my eyes away from the screen and turn to watch her warm and wonderful smile.

 

“When I told her to do what she wanted with them, I thought she’d just squish them all,” she sighed through her subsiding chuckles.  “I didn’t expect her to be so creative.”

 

Not only had Chloe made all this happen, but she approved of it as well?  But of course she’d set everything up.  She was at the top, the one in charge and the one with all the power in this bizarre organization.  She probably knew exactly what had happened to all of the people at the Lost Hotel and she might even approve of what became of them. Did she know that Malva was Resistant, or anything about how she'd treated me? Maybe it was all part of one big plan. Maybe…

 

“Don’t you want to watch him squish?” Chloe idly inquired, her eyes remaining focused on the tablet’s screen.  I wanted to shake my head and make some statement about how shocked I was, or maybe protest the way she could so calmly and casually watch her subordinates seemingly murder these innocent people just for fun, but that's not what I did.

 

I turned back to the screen and watched in what I told myself must have been morbid fascination as Malva's toes lifted and slid forward, completely covering the wretched tiny man. We could hear him scream once he was in the shadow of her blood caked sole, but at her firm command his screams quickly ceased.

 

"Keep licking!" she loudly demanded, and even though there was no possible way she could see him beneath her foot or verify the man's fearful obedience, Chloe and I were both able to watch as he softly wailed and stretched out his tongue, lapping at the merciless, messy descending sole until the very moment when it's thick tread started to smash through him.

 

Malva's textured sole slowly ripped the man apart, giving him just enough time to let out a final shriek before she twisted her massive boot and made a spectacle of smearing bits of him across the floor for the rest of her possessions, her prisoners to witness.  Chloe pulled the camera back so we could see all of Malva and her long sigh and smile of satisfaction as she finished rubbing out the little life beneath her foot.

 

"Model citizen," she muttered after taking a long breath. "Take some inspiration from that guy, you little jerks.  He knew his place, and because of that the rest of you get the night off. I've had a long day already, so it's a shower and silky clean sheets for me."

 

She braced the heel of one of her boots against the side of the other, shifting her foot free while she spoke and then, without warning, she kicked it off of her foot in the direction of her people, smirking a bit more as they tried to scatter from its path.  A few were sent tumbling across the floor and one woman found her arm totally smashed as the heavy boot crashed to the ground on top of her, with another totally trapped and pinned beneath the side.

 

"All you've got to do is make sure these are all nice and cleaned up by tomorrow," she informed her pets with a smile. They were more prepared this time, avoiding the second boot as it bounced and crashed to the ground next to the first. "They're my favorite pair, after all."

 

We continued to watch after that, with Malva just standing over the scattered crowd and the people at her feet staring back, paralyzed by their fear and their horror.  A moment later, Malva swiftly raised her foot generally over the middle of the group, and I stared as the soft, white cotton-wrapped appendage easily threatened all of their little lives, staring at the spots where her sweat and the friction of rubbing against the inside of her boot, likely increased by all of the brutal, lethal stomping she'd done that day, had left the sock blackish or grey.

 

I found myself wondering how the hot, clearly visible curves of her sole would feel against my face, how the warm, heady scent would overwhelm me if I buried myself in the bottom of her sock and let myself kiss it again and again. Her foot's shape was so perfect, so pleasing and I could see every detail from the way her surely damp sock tightly clung to it...

 

"Move!" Malva shouted, and as the tiny people in the shadow of her foot started to scramble towards her filthy boots she let out a short, sharp laugh and turned away, stomping off out of the camera's view as they set to work pulling and scraping at the bits of muck that mostly consisted of tiny crushed people.

 

The screen went dark after a brief moment more, and I found myself catching my breath and shaking my head as I looked back to Chloe and watched her set the tablet aside.  I must have seemed to still be thoroughly bewildered, because the excitement in her eyes softened a little as she looked at me.  Her legs shifted and settled on either side of me as she leaned forward and took my head in her hands, and after I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling the warmth of her palms on my cheeks and taking in the faint, sweet scent of her expensive lotions, I looked back at her and only managed a single word.

 

"Why?" I timidly whispered, and she only offered a warm, affectionate smile like she was regarding a curious and confused child.