In many stories, the nine-tailed fox was a complicated piece of folklore that often fluctuated between negative and positive perspectives. Across Eastern Asia the tales varied greatly. In Korea the mythological beast was often portrayed with the ability to transform into a beautiful woman who seduced men and then devoured them. Rather than the trickster or benevolent scoundrel of other accounts, the creature was seen as almost unequivocally evil in her homeland.

Jisoo found it curious that she had been drawn to the fox mask while at the mall some weeks prior. A cheap little plastic bauble, it had primarily served to protect her identity whenever she exacted delicious retribution upon those who became her enemy. For some time now it had collected dust in storage. Although she no longer really had a use for it, Jisoo still resonated with the entity it represented. 

After all, it was also a monster that lied to men to keep them close at hand. Just like her. Although unlike the kumiho she had no intention to harm Eren. She said what she had to. Most of what she had told him was the truth. The most important bits anyways. The best way to conceive a more believable lie was to sprinkle in a few truths after all. Truthfully there was nothing she had said to him that was technically wrong, however there were some more personal details that for now she omitted from her explanation or small exaggerations to prove her point.

She heard Grace enter the apartment bedroom and placed her mask within a suitcase to take back home. It was one of the few real souvenirs she felt any kind of attachment to. The mask joined a few vials of golden liquid, tucked safely away for now. 

“How much did you tell him?” Her cousin asked quietly. 

Grace felt a considerable degree of guilt for her role in their current predicament. Had she listened to Jisoo’s advice from the start, then none of this would have happened and Eren would still be none-the-wiser to the darker side of his girlfriend and her family. However it had been her own carelessness while inebriated that had been at fault. 

Whoever bore the blame for what happened the night prior was unimportant though. Crisis had been averted and a suitable explanation for her motivations to execute the Evans siblings had satisfied Eren for the time being. It had not been her most honorable move to mention the demise of his parents, but Jisoo thought it was the only way to flip the conversation. 

That day in the park after their failed dinner at Delphi’s Tavern, she had seen the remnants of that trauma. Eren had never been to a therapist about those bottled up feelings. There was a tremendous amount of resentment he held towards brobs, like with all specks. But due to the futility of their predicament there was never any point in expressing that sentiment.

Jisoo zipped the suitcase shut and took a seat on the hardwood floor. “He knows of our role in The Diminution. And the nature of my birth.” She revealed as Grace folded her arms in concern. “That’s all.”

“So… you didn’t mention…?”

“No. I did not.” Jisoo replied crisply. “Our Heavenly Duties will be revealed to him in due time. And he will support them.” She insisted. 

Her cousin nodded after a slight pause and took a seat across from Jisoo. With a heavy sigh she rubbed her temple, still throbbing from the excessive drinking from the night before. Although sunglasses and a warm cup of tea had alleviated the worst of a hangover, Grace was in no mood for air travel. 

Therefore they would wait one more day to recuperate and ensure any last minute arrangements had been made. This was likely to be the last full day Jisoo spent in the United States for quite some time. And presumably for Eren it might be his last if things went her way. He would bid farewell to his miserable life as a Communal Speck sentenced to a lifetime of torment, and step into a new era. There would be challenges of course, however compared to the hardships from before nothing ahead was arduous.

She let out a long groan and flopped back onto a mound of nearby bubble-wrap. Every second she spent in this shithole made her want to throw-up. To think she had actually called Norwich her home. Fortunately Grace got the message and decided to not push the issue any further. At least for now. 

Of course, all kinds of unnecessary precautions would be made to ensure that the biggest secret in human history was not leaked. For the next few months Eren would be very closely monitored by specialists to be absolutely sure he would not say the wrong thing. His browser history, texts, emails, phone calls…

It was for his own protection, she told herself. He would never find out about the breach in privacy and the data collected on him would never be used against him. All they cared about was that the secrecy of what he had learned was maintained. Eventually they would realize what Jisoo knew for certain: Eren would never betray them. Nobody would take her word for it, but she knew that one day Eren would come to embrace their Heavenly Duties together.

Jisoo brushed some loose strands of hair from her cheeks and scrutinized the raven black locks. “I think I'm going to dye it again when we get home.” She mused, and changed the subject. “Any suggestions for what color?”

“Hmm… maybe teal? That looked nice on you.” Grace recommended. 

Maybe I’ll ask Eren what he thinks before I make a choice. Jisoo considered and stretched lazily. Until her cousin recovered enough to make the flight across the Atlantic, there was not much for her to do other than sit around. 

At some point on the flight, they would all need to have a chat and establish where to go next now that Eren had been made aware of the true nature of the world prematurely. There were a plethora of protocols to follow given the circumstances. Also, Jisoo expected that Grace would want to explain herself after what Eren had seen last night.

Two people trapped and bound, tortured for weeks in her custody and almost broken mentally. That had been her doing. 

“You’ve changed, Jisoo.” Grace suddenly blurted. Her tone took Jisoo by surprise, and she furrowed her brow in response to the odd remark. “Or rather… you’ve returned to normal.”

“Was I acting strangely?” She asked, confused by what her cousin meant. 

Had anything changed about her personality? Jisoo certainly could not think of anything that she had done differently the last few days that would warrant that kind of statement from Grace. 

Although she did feel different this morning. When she woke up to a world where she knew everything she said to her boyfriend did not require censorship, where she could let her hair down and refocus on what really mattered. 

Grace nodded. “You tried so hard to be something you weren’t whenever we were around Eren. For so much of your time here you were ‘Tae’.” She murmured. “But now you’ve gone back to your old ways. You’re the woman I love like a sister again.”

“And soon Eren will come to love the real me… up until recently I was still too much like Tae.” Jisoo said with a yawn.

Perhaps that was it? All the time she had spent trying to emulate her soft-hearted adoptive sister. Now she realized that it was pointless, and exhausting to keep up the charade just for Eren’s sake. That kind, gentle and affectionate woman who she tried to be around him was disingenuous. It wasn’t the person she really was deep down. 

Ever since she had come to Norwich to escape, Jisoo had wanted to seal away the monster hidden within herself. She locked it, and any semblance of her true nature away and put on a show to masquerade as her sister. A woman far nobler but considerably weaker than herself. 

Now she was free. 

Northside had been Eren’s home from the day he was born. His first cries had been heard in an old shoebox, attended to by a single surgeon and midwife. Apart from excursions for his education most of his life had been spent within the dilapidated walls. By all means the Commune and its denizens comprised the bulk of everything  and everyone he knew. 

Now it was little more than a pile of rubble. It had never been a majestic place, at its peak several years prior Northside had been at best a sad little shantytown full of forlorn men and women. Really it seemed like overkill to bring in more than one bulldozer to raze the place to the ground. Homes, storage units and all sorts of facilities were reduced to loose earth and debris within minutes. 

Both Eren and Jisoo watched the raw destruction from a few dozen yards away from the yellow construction line set up by the city. Occasionally she would check to see if he was still alright, but surprisingly all things considered Eren had remained taciturn. 

“I hope Oscar and his dad made it somewhere safe.” Eren eventually murmured as the demolition of his former home continued. “And Gabriel.” He wondered aloud.

Jisoo shifted her weight from side to side. There was a strong nip in the air that day which presumably had kept most locals indoors. Either that or nobody cared enough to see the wreckage of a historical landmark. Northside was a very old Commune. Yet no reporters or journalists seemed to pay it any mind.

There was no legacy or final respects paid to what had once been the home of so many people. Only the sound of cinder blocks burst beneath the asphalt and concrete shatter. When she was still a speck, Jisoo had the great fortune to live with her adoptive family. She never spent her time in one of the Korean Speck Officetels. Unlike their American equivalents, Officetels were almost always underground or at least partially underground. The work done by inhabitants was connected to the building they lived in, and the only reason people would ever leave was for school.

Jisoo found it peculiar that American Specks were not typically permitted to hold ‘normal’ jobs by employers. In her home country specks often did online work such as data entry and programming. Although they made reasonable wages, there was not much for them to spend their money on and they seldom left their homes due to tension with their bigger counterparts. It seemed like a waste of valuable resources.  

She glanced at him. “Before we go, we could visit the Westside Commune… you could say goodbye to everybody.”

“It’s better they don’t see me.” Eren replied quickly. “Those people are probably hungry and cold. To see me now would make them feel… worthless. More so than usual.” He told her.

They had discussed the possibility of an anonymous donation before they left, however after some research into local laws it became clear that such a charitable contribution would probably be a waste. As Grace had told them before, all things considered to be needs and necessities of specks were supposedly handled by licensed vendors who distributed approved goods to the Communes. The provision of other assets was strictly restricted by federal law, since technically the Communes were considered under the custody of the state. An easy comparison was penitentiaries. An ordinary citizen could not simply donate food or supplies to prisoners. Likewise, an ordinary citizen could not donate anything to specks. 

There were some ways around the laws, like a school in California that managed to host a food drive for specks a few months ago. It had gained national attention and wide spread derision from many circles, but the logistics involved had been complicated and was only possible due to local lobbyists intervention to allow the procedure. As Eren had learned, there were at least some people who wanted to help specks. Those teachers and students genuinely wanted to help out and were willing to face nationwide mockery for it, as were their parents and the people who petitioned their city council to allow it. 

I’ll never see this place ever again after today. Eren thought. He wondered if his little home built from a modified milk crate was among the wreckage. And that’s just fine.

After a few more minutes Eren felt ready to leave. Most of the Commune was destroyed, crushed and broken beneath the weight of the construction machines. Once the demolition was finished a clean-up crew would be dispatched in order to remove the debris then construct the new freeway. If any specks still remained in the Commune or nearby, then they were simply another body amongst foundations. 

This was the future of his people. To be relocated and slowly purged by society until they were forgotten; their history a curious oddity in the timeline of mankind. No remnants of them would be left, and the suffering they went through would vanish as well. History would eventually treat their existence as a strange oddity that simply ceased to exist, a footnote.

Jisoo sniffed. “What’s that smell?” She murmured quietly and peered around the secluded sidewalk. 

I smell it too. Eren thought with a frown. It had a very pleasant smell, like a bakery in the early morning. Cookies? Muffins? Either way it was very different compared to the typical odors found in a city like car exhaust. He felt Jisoo tense up before he saw her, his girlfriends’ perception was far better than his it would seem.

She turned around to face a young woman with very curly red hair and fair skin. In her hands was a tray covered in foil. Like a guilty puppy, Madeleine Lacroix offered a weak smile and stepped forward towards the pair. Her eyes found Eren on Jisoo’s shoulder.

“Hey you two… it’s been a while.” 

It had been a lucky coincidence she had stumbled across Eren and his girlfriend so soon after she arrived in Norwich. After she had fired him, Maddie had destroyed all records she had of the young man from her professional records. Without any method to contact him, she decided to look around the dilapidated Communes for any clues. Although Northside was now closed and its inhabitants transferred to a different area, yesterday Maddie had noticed a few homeless specks left behind in the relocation. They took shelter in a nearby alley, and Maddie wanted to lend a hand. 

A freshly baked batch of cookies always put a smile on her face, so she thought they would be a suitable peace offering to show the people there that she meant no harm. Then she could figure out how to help beyond a few sweets. It had come as a complete surprise when she noticed a familiar face on a nearby street corner observing the demolition. Maddie took a deep breath and crossed the street.

The pungent aroma from the cookies she had baked seemed to give away her location, and Tae quickly turned around as she got closer. Immediately the taller woman’s eyes narrowed to a deadly scowl as she recognized Maddie from their brief encounter. Eren noticed her as well, but his expression seemed more surprised than bitter. 

She vividly remembered how Tae had sent her across the dining room in Delphi’s Tavern with a complete lack of effort. Tae was remarkably strong and carried herself with a kind of absolute confidence that led her to conclude that if she desired, she could rip Maddie in half. Not that her previous violence had been unjustified given the circumstances by any means.

Maddie forced herself to smile despite Tae’s deathly glare. “Hey you two… it’s been a while.” She said cheerfully and shifted from side to side awkwardly. “I… wanted to speak with you, Eren.” 

Tae scoffed and walked forward purposefully. “Why? Come all this way to try your hand at slapping him again?” 

“No! It’s nothing like that I swear!” Maddie replied with her cheeks flushed red and took a few instinctive steps backwards from the terrifying woman. She gulped and glanced towards Eren. “I… I just wanted to say I’m sorry, Eren. I’m really sorry.” She stammered when Tae was right upon her.

It took an immense amount of effort to look at him and not the towering woman right in front of her, but Maddie mustered the courage to see it through to the end. Deep down she knew she deserved this kind of hostility, especially after how terrible she had been to Eren when he had been nothing but good and hardworking with her. 

His expression was unreadable as Maddie continued.“I was wrong to fire you for who you are, and I was wrong to lash out at you. You were an incredible employee and I destroyed the rapport we developed.” She profused. “It’s fine if you both hate me for what I did. I just want you to know that I know what I did was wrong and I’m trying to make amends for it.” Maddie said, and held up her homemade tray of cookies.

“There are some specks nearby who were left behind when this Commune was closed down… I wanted to bring them food and figure out a way to help.” Maddie explained. “I just happened to run into you earlier than I expected.” She insisted.

I feel like such a child! Trying to solve the world's problems with sweets and kind words. Maddie thought and realized how ridiculous this must seem. Just a few weeks ago she had treated Eren like a leper, now she had come miles away from home to find him and all she could do was apologize. Truthfully if she were in his shoes, Maddie would have simply walked away without a word. That’s what reasonable people would do after all, this probably seemed like an expression of a guilty conscience at best, and a poor attempt to get him back in her company at worst.

Eren brushed aside some of his girlfriend’s hair. He glanced over the sweet smelling tray in Maddie’s hands for a moment and then at her a few times. “What happened to you?”

“…pardon?”

“You look as though you haven’t properly slept in days.” Eren noted pointedly. “When we last spoke you tried to kill me. Now you came all the way here… for what? Just to say you’re sorry? What changed?” He pressed.

Maddie sighed and rubbed the dark bags under her eyes. Even with her brief respite taken off from work she was still perpetually exhausted. The brief flight from Philadelphia to Norwich was the most sleep she had acquired in quite some time, it had had definitely taken its toll on her health. Regardless there was plenty of work left to do in her ever crumbling start-up, and she refused to let it all go to waste. 

Finally she pulled herself together. “I visited a speck commune in my hometown. It was nothing like what I imagined. Seeing it made me realize how wrong I was about specks.” Maddie murmured. “And it made me realize that what I did to you was truly terrible, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I’m sorry, Eren. I was wrong.” She apologized once more.

For several moments Eren remained completely quiet as he contemplated what she had said. The only sound that broke the tension was the distant crack and rumble from the demolition of the old Commune. Maddie patiently waited for a response and briefly turned her attention to Tae, who still regarded her disdainfully.

“Where are these specks you found who were left behind?” Eren eventually asked after a long pause.

I’m turning into Jisoo at this point. Grace thought remorsefully and set down a pitcher of almond milk next to her coffee. Although she normally preferred tea, coffee alleviated the tremendous headache that had persisted since she blacked out the previous night. 

Normally she was not one to drink in excess, but her cousin seemed to have rubbed off on her in the past few weeks. Every social event was accompanied by a copious amount of liquor. Xiangling was still barely able to get out of bed, and Grace insisted she take the day off to recuperate. She had canceled their flight plans until the next day, since she doubted the voyage in her current condition would be bearable.

Below the table, the sole survivor of this entire affair rubbed her sore feet obediently. It would be a shame when she had to part with Claire, since she had become such a good and well behaved pet recently. However she was also too good of a late Christmas gift for Lily to pass up. Of course Grace had countless personal attendants similar to Claire in stature, all of which were considerably better trained and acclimated to her personal needs. However Claire was exotic and new, with a tremendous urge to please her mistress.

Occasionally Grace would reward her pet with treats, like a good owner should. A few crumbs from her toast as a snack was suitable. Frankly it was very easy to manipulate Claire with food in the aftermath of her near-death experience from starvation. It had left permanent trauma and food insecurity issues embedded within her mind, and any edible morsel was now a treasured gift no matter how pitiful. 

 I’m bored. Grace thought with a sigh. She nibbled at a piece of plain toast, which was currently all her stomach could handle. Although she did not disagree with Jisoo’s decision to terminate both Alice and Thomas, it still left her with an empty feeling. Now she had nothing to do all day but wait out her hangover. 

That had been a narrowly averted disaster. Fortunately Jisoo still had a silver tongue and managed to keep Eren on their side, but she had been forced to reveal many things he was not meant to know just yet. Namely their family’s role in The Diminution. That would be a difficult conversation with Min, and her mother when they returned. 

Eren would now be kept under constant surveillance to ensure he had no plans to betray their trust. It was unfortunate but necessary that he not be allowed to leak any of what he had learned. And if he did…

No. He would never betray Jisoo’s love for him. Grace thought with a shiver. She didn’t want to think of what her orders would be if he showed symptoms of betrayal. Regardless, a small part of her mind asked the question as to what she would do if Eren was declared a threat now that he knew at least some of the truth. 

I hope it never comes to that. For both our sakes. 

The area surrounding the Northside Commune was largely old buildings scheduled for demolition to make room for the expansion of the interstate highway. None of them had been inhabited for quite some time, which had always been a blessing to the specks nearby. The fewer people around the better, since it would greatly reduce the hazards from their neighbors.

When Maddie had strolled by the previous day she had noticed a few shoddily placed cardboard boxes and other such bits of garbage placed in one of the gaps between two abandoned apartment buildings. The specks there had hidden upon her approach but not before she realized that there appeared to be a few dozen or so. Mostly children and elderly among them. It was evident that those deemed dead weight would be left behind, ostensibly to prevent furthering burdens amongst the expanded Westside Commune. Unfortunate, but understandable given the terrible circumstances.

She could feel Tae’s eyes bore into the back of her skull as they approached the alleyway she had noticed the beleaguered specks. The woman clearly harbored a great deal of animosity towards her, and Maddie sensed that the only thing that protected her at the moment was Eren’s presence. He was still hard to read. Whether or not he was willing to give her a second chance, or he simply wanted to see how this played out was anybody’s guess. Regardless, Maddie would not leave before she had a chance to help the people in the alleyway. It had been a long night in the cold, although thankfully snowfall had been limited. Hopefully they had not been buried.

Both women came to a sudden stop when they rounded the corner. Tae frowned and observed the nook between two larger brick and mortar buildings. As did Eren from his perch upon her shoulder, and he too quickly realized that the alleyway was barren. 

Tae folded her arms. “Is this it?” She asked quietly, and peered around some more as Maddie strolled deeper in the walkway.

I’m sure of it! Maddie walked past a dumpster and looked behind it, but only found some gunk and residue. “This can’t be right… they had a bunch of boxes and stuff as shelter.” She muttered and scratched her head. “Maybe they picked up and left?”

“No. They wouldn’t have been able to drag away makeshift homes.” Eren dismissed. He turned his attention towards the partially open dumpster nearby. “They used this dumpster as a barrier for the wind. Was it open when you were last here?”

“I don’t think so?” Maddie replied.

Curious, she approached the dumpster and peaked inside. Surprisingly there was no awful smell despite how old the trash unit seemed, at a guess since there were no residents in the run-down area. However there was a single garbage bag inside at the bottom, with only a loose film of fresh snow on top. Maddie set her tray of food aside away from the garbage bin and leaned over to pull the bag from inside.

She placed it on the ground in front of Eren and Tae, who both stood silently as Maddie gently untied the knot. The bag did not smell of typical trash like rotten food or something similar. It was also very light despite how bulky it was. 

“Oh… oh no.” Maddie uttered and felt herself become faint. She stood up and stumbled backwards until she slammed into the brick wall behind them, while Tae took a closer look.

The contents of the garbage bag was primarily bits of cardboard and sticky tape. A single milk crate, deformed as if smashed by some kind of heavy object was in the mix as well. As were several small dark red stains which occasionally dotted the light brown cardboard. Pieces of smashed flesh and viscera preserved by the cold resembled cuts of meat found in a freezer, recognizable as human only by the occasional tiny arm or foot.

Some of the body parts were tiny even by speck standards, likely those of young children. While others were frail. Those of the elderly. What was left had all been smashed and crushed out of shape, and numerous spots in the cardboard that had once served as the specks' temporary home had gaping holes. Perhaps stricken by a large hammer repeatedly. Carefully Tae investigated the scene of the massacre, ostensibly in search of a single survivor. Alas her scrutiny turned up no results and she closed the bag once more. When she turned around, her expression softened slightly as she realized that Maddie was hunched over with a hand clamped over her mouth, tears flowing freely from her eyes. 

For several tense seconds she considered what had happened, before Tae turned her attention back out of the alley towards the nearby construction crew. The only people nearby who had any business in the immediate area, with their task to ‘clean up’ the site.

Jisoo in her time had been to countless countries around the world, and seen the best and worst humanity had to offer. Since then she had come to a great and terrible realization about their species. Humans were truly despicable, evil, and cruel creatures when granted the opportunity. When provided with even the slightest chance to inflict pain and misery on those they deemed as ‘lesser’ they always took it. The worst aspects of mankind far outweighed the good, so much so it was hard to look at the average person anymore and see what value their life had. Until proven otherwise, every person had to be considered an enemy. 

It was a lesson almost two decades spent as a speck had taught her. Her life had always been in the hands of others, and the wounds she had suffered all those years were testament to the cruel reality of human nature. What little kindness she had ever garnered was fleeting, and any friends she accrued were fair-weather. Ultimately without a set of strict laws and rules, people revealed their true awful nature. Hence why when such regulations were not enforced those at the bottom of social hierarchy suffered the most. That was why her family’s divine mission was mankind’s only hope to move past their primitive, repulsive existence. 

She touched the outline of the wrist blade connected to her watch beneath the sleeve of her jacket. Grace’s gift for her was a new prototype classification of equipment designed to replace the syringe model which had been used by the operations division of the Amrita Corporation’s upper echelon agents for quite some time now. With a more potent formula that needed only a small scratch to activate the zhìyù it was the perfect weapon.

I hate to make a mess right before we leave. I need to be thorough. Jisoo thought, and remembered how her sloppy mistakes in the past with Alice and Sylvia had long-lasting effects. Fortunately unlike then, Northside was in an abandoned part of town with nobody around for miles. Once Maddie and Eren were far enough away, she sent a quick text to Grace and informed her that a cover-up would be needed.

In less than ten minutes she received a response, and was given clearance to do whatever she intended to do. Thankfully like most major cities, her clan had an iron grip over the local administration. Few American politicians made it to public office without their approval, whether they were aware of it or not. Although most often they worked from the shadows to manipulate election results in their favor and keep up appearances. Some major roles at the state level or higher like Governor or Attorney General were closely monitored, however plebeian positions such as local mayors were considered irrelevant. 

Therefore the demise of a group of simple blue collar workers could be written off as a bad construction accident or a toxic gas leak and no more investigation into the matter would ever be attempted by the authorities. To really sell the story they might have a lawyer represent the bereaved families to sue the construction company for negligent practices which had led to the deaths of the entire crew that day, but also control media coverage of the issue. Any private investigator who made any progress into the matter would usually be allowed to run in circles, or re-educated if need be.

A quick search of the area revealed a few things. The construction crew in charge of the demolition was fairly small. Only a dozen or so workers at most. Jisoo had no way to tell which one of them was responsible for the destruction of the speck survivor’s camp, but frankly did not care. In her eyes they were all equally guilty and would be treated as such. 

Most of the demolition crew appeared to be on break when she arrived, and only two of the bulldozers were actually active with a single foreman in charge of the operation. The rest were inside a trailer on the other side of the district. Jisoo crept to that side of the Commune and weaved between the debris from Northside to maintain her cover.

Occasionally she would stumble across an obliterated or fallen house where a family of specks had never left. Presumably they were too weak from hunger or poor health to even leave the immediate area like the ones Maddie had found in the alley, and been crushed beneath the bulldozers' treads. It felt wrong to simply leave their smashed corpses to rot, but was left with no choice. She would avenge them all.

Some of these must have been Eren’s friends. Jisoo thought with a shudder. They were the people who raised him after his parents died. 

Eventually she reached the trailer, and hid behind a large slab of ruptured concrete foundation that had been dug up. Beyond the window she could see several men in bright yellow vests chatting with one another. It was hard to get an accurate count from the angle, but Jisoo placed their number at about seven. Maybe more elsewhere inside. She did not intend for there to be any survivors, so there was no need to hide her identity.

The door to the portable was unlocked, and she entered briskly to the confusion of the workers inside. The room quickly went silent as Jisoo folded her arms and addressed every employee in the trailer with a firm voice.

“Who killed those specks in that alleyway? Was it one of you?” She asked before anybody could ask questions as to who she was or why she was here.

It didn’t really matter who had committed the crime, her mind was made up whether or not someone claimed responsibility. At least one among their rank had massacred young children and elderly specks, and the rest were compliant. Therefore they would all be punished accordingly. 

A murmur went throughout the room. “Ma’am I don’t know which wack-job activist group you belong to, but those pests were illegally squatting on our client’s property so we exterminated them.” One man said and stood up from his lunch. “If you wish to file a complaint about our conduct, I’ll have you know my boys acted within company protocol and city ordinance.”

It took all of you miserable bastards to kill those helpless people? No… you all just thought it would be fun. “There were kids in those cardboard boxes you all smashed.” Jisoo replied. “Does company protocol tell you to bludgeon little children to death with hammers?”

“Fuck you. Nobody will miss those little parasites anyways.”

“Ma’am I’m going to have to ask you to leave before things get ugly for-!” A different man said before he clutched his neck in agony. Blood from a small incision made just above his collarbone squirted out from between his fingers as he collapsed to the ground.

Jisoo was a flash across the room as the blade extended from her wrist. With a superhuman degree of speed she slashed through half the room before anybody was able to react. By the time any of the workers realized what she had done, most of the men were on the ground and shrinking rapidly. 

The man who had first spoken to her upon her entry attempted to fight back and raised his hand towards her, only to be kicked several feet into the air where he smashed into a light fixture and fell with a thud on the ground. Jisoo inserted the blade into his back, then moved onto the last few in the corner of the room. To her they all moved in slow motion, as if frozen in time. In their perspective she was a blur too fast for the human eye to see properly. Her abilities were still not as honed as they had once been, but Jisoo’s time spent working on her physical prowess had paid off tremendously over the past few weeks. The difference in strength between a true descendant of the Fang Sisters and ordinary people was as vast as the space between the sun and the Earth. 

She walked back towards the various piles of discarded clothes, now with tiny little shrunken men trapped underneath the fabrics, unable to find their way out. Her thunderous footsteps must have terrified the worthless rodents, as on her approach to the nearest one the figure beneath the vest hurried in the other direction. Jisoo chuckled at the futility of his efforts to get away, and simply brought her heavy winter boot over the newly created speck who finally managed to crawl out from beneath his own jacket. 

Naked and scared, he noticed the outline of a massive shadow far above him and rolled onto his back just in time to see the underside of Jisoo’s colossal sole. He screamed and attempted to run but was far too slow. She pressed him down into the grubby floor of the portable trailer and held him in place firmly for a few moments. Slowly she applied a bit more pressure until his bones began to crack beneath the impossible weight. The speck squealed like a pig until only bubbly gurgling noises could escape his throat, until his body capitulated and burst like a berry beneath her shoe. Satisfied, Jisoo turned her attention to the other specks. 

Some of them had managed to escape from their vests and now looked at the godlike woman with sheer terror, while a few others were still trapped within their clothes. Adrenaline overcame shock and pain from the shrinking process, and those that had escaped ran in different directions.

Grace was right. I feel like my old self again. Jisoo thought to herself as she pursued the wretched little things at a lazy pace. There’s nowhere to run. You all might as well just give up.

Her next victim was the man who had first spoken with her upon her arrival a few moments ago. The overseer or manager whom she imagined had personally approved whatever action to be taken against the speck survivors. From the way he spoke of their kind with absolute derision, he was a repeat offender. Were he not so fat and wrinkly, she might have satiated her hunger. Instead Jisoo plucked him off the ground and brought him up to her face while the others ran in fear from her feet.

The manager looked at her with wide teary eyes. “I’m sorry!” He begged. “It wasn’t my idea to get rid of them!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll kill them too.” Jisoo assured him with a laugh. She pinched his leg by the ankle between her index finger and thumb. His eyes rolled back in his head and bloody foam spurted from his mouth as she effortlessly pulled the limb off. The pain was probably so intense his body could not handle stimulus to his nervous system, instead his brain sent his body into shock. 

His arm came off next, this time there was no scream or holler. Just feeble quakes and shivers. Boring. Jisoo crushed him into pulp within her fist and tossed the remains away where they splattered against a window. She felt bad for the clean up crew when they arrived, but Grace had treated them quite a bit recently. 

A wet spot had formed between Jisoo’s legs as she continued her massacre. Each construction worker she bisected or crushed was a delicious pleasure that sent sweet chills down her spine. She desperately awaited the day she could bring Eren along with her on these kinds of excursions, but feared that for now he would find her gratuitous self-indulgence scary rather than sexy. One day though he would be wedged firmly in her love spot revving her engine while she delivered cruel justice to the loathsome filth of mankind’s worst offspring. 

This is my ‘normal’ I suppose. The person I really am I kept hidden from Eren all this time. 

Quite a few of those who had escaped her initial brutal onslaught congregated at the door which led out of the trailer, but had no way to open it. Four construction workers were left, and turned around in horror to see the giantess calmly saunter towards them. Blood dripped from her hands and trickled down to the floor, an ominous indicator of what awaited them. 

“Please we’ll do anything! Don’t kill us!”

“I have a family! M-My little girl needs me!”

“O-Owen was the one who suggested we deal with those specks in the first place! Take him and not us, it was all his idea!”

“Yeah, take him!”

Jisoo watched in amusement as three out of the four survivors turned on one of their own, a bearded man with a few tattoos who had huddled for safety far away from her earlier. He protested and tried to fight back against the other three workers as they worked in harmony to drag him off his feet and shoved him to the ground in front of them.

Owen gulped and looked up the endless twin pillars of Jisoo’s legs, past the expanse of her torso and into her twinkling eyes which found his own. He was crying and mumbled apologies under his breath. 

She placed her hands on her hips. “Hmm… what should I do with you?” Jisoo asked aloud and tapped her foot against the floor menacingly. 

The powerful vibrations shook the ground beneath their feet and sent jolts up and down their fragile bodies like an intense earthquake. His sobs echoed in the otherwise quiet room, until with a tremendous crash like the roll of thunder Jisoo took another step, this time directly over Owen. He watched in awe as her foot swung over his head, the wind generated by the simple motion was enough to blow him away a few inches. Then he heard a sickening crunch as two of his coworkers vanished beneath her boots. 

Owen murmured a prayer as the final survivor other than himself found himself within the clutches of the giantess. Slowly she began to dismember the man until he was nothing more than a lonesome head atop a limbless corpse. Then she pinched his skull between her fingers and popped it like a cherry. 

Fuck! I needed this… Jisoo thought and bit her lip to choke down a moan of pleasure as the warm blood soaked her fingers. This was what she had missed so greatly last year. Why did I ever convince myself that this was wrong? 

With all the others dead, Owen was left in her shadow as the titanic woman slowly turned around. Jisoo got on her haunches, then licked the blood off her finger with a twisted grin. Owen screamed as her other hand closed in on him, but was far too slow to avoid the elephantine appendage which quickly closed the distance.

How do you taste, I wonder? 

Eager to find out, Jisoo quickly tossed him into her mouth and swished him around with her gargantuan tongue which effortlessly manipulated his body. He was a little salty, and also sort of bitter. The closet comparison she could think of was a roasted pumpkin seed. Not terrible, but certainly not as savory as she found Thomas. A suitable appetizer before she devoured the workers outside later. When she was satisfied Jisoo tilted her head back and swallowed. She felt the lump travel down her throat, before finally Owen was deposited within her stomach. 

Ohhh... It feels good to be back.