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Allison had methodically gathered up each of the tiny assailants, who in their sealed suits had been helplessly trapped until she opened the visors to retrieve them. Within a few minutes Vasquez, Drake, and their four mercenaries were all naked, three inches tall, and looking up at Allison’s grinning face from the bottom of a large glass mixing bowl.

“Who the hell are these people?” Clark muttered, still six inches tall himself, and with a full doll sized Sadie behind him, gripping his shoulders nervously as they stood on the counter, watching Allison work.

“So, let’s recap, you came here for Sadie,” Allison said, crossing her arms angrily, “who sent you?”

“Get fucked lady!” one of the men shouted.

Allison rolled her eyes, then plucked him out of the bowl, squeezing him and giving him a quick smirk, “what a cutie,” she said mockingly, “but kind of a potty mouth… I know just what to do with you.” She walked, sauntering her hips mockingly as they all watched her, and a moment later Clark saw her duck into the hallway bathroom. They all heard the sound of a toilet flushing, and every tiny person in the room gaped, wide eyed, as Allison came back into the kitchen without her tiny captive.

“Holy shit,” Clark breathed, “d-did she just”

“Allison, a-are you okay?” Sadie called nervously.

Allison turned and glowered at the two of them, and for the first time since he’d been tiny Clark felt a tinge of real terror, not the instinctual fear of being small, or the almost giddy flight response he sometimes got during his games with Allison, but a real raw dread that was rising the longer he looked at her.

“I almost lost you two,” she said quietly, slowly looking down at the prisoners in the bowl, who backed away nervously, “lost you to these… well, you’re not really people now, are you?” she smirked, “more like bugs…”

“Allison, you’re freaking me out a little,” Clark said, gulping as she reached into the bowl for the next prisoner.

“Don’t tell her anything Drake!” Vasquez shouted as the other man was lifted up to Allison’s face, squeezed between her thumb and forefinger like a piece of candy.

“Drake huh?” Allison said, “start talking, why are you here?”

“I…” he gulped beneath her gaze.

Allison licked her lips, “I wonder what you’d taste like?” She playfully cocked her head, thinking it over, “of course as soon as you’re in my mouth you’d just start getting smaller and smaller, by the time you’d hit my stomach you’d be the size of a grain of sand… not very filling.” She licked him, and he shuddered, fighting the urge to scream as he shrank in her grip even further, until the pads of her fingers swelled around him like massive cushions.

“I… I won’t-“ he managed, grunting as she pressed her fingers down further, watching him go to ant sized.

“Damn,” Allison muttered, “already too small to hear…” She looked down at the remaining four figures in the bowl and smirked. She walked over to the apartment entrance, frowning as she saw the ruined door. She bent down to pick up her shoes, where they’d been left when she came inside. She brought it up to her nose and sniffed, grimacing as the foul odor of her sweat wafted out. She carried the shoe, and her tiny prisoner, back to the bowl.

“Everyone take a good look,” Allison said, angling the shoe so they could see. They all watched, spellbound, as Allison dropped Drake in, he made contact with her soft insole, and then looked up at them in horror as the world began to grow around him.

“Help!” he shouted, his voice fading as he shrank into the insole, becoming a dot, then shrinking out of sight.

“Bye bye Drake!” Allison said with a grin, turning back to the bowl, “he’s going to reach microscopic size pretty quickly, I wonder if your bosses told you I could make people that small?” she sighed, looking down at the insole, “he’s going to spend the rest of his life down there, no more sunrises and sunsets for him! Just when I take my shoe on and off.” She pursed her lips and giggled, “I wonder what he’ll find to eat and drink down there?” she said teasingly.

“Fucking hell,” one of the mercenaries said, stunned, “Vasquez, what in the goddamn did you drag us into-“

“Next contestant!” Allison laughed, “hey, let’s up the ante! First one of you to crack gets to regrow and go home! What do you guys think?”

“I don’t like this Clark,” Sadie whimpered, watching Allison pick up the next mercenary.

“She’s… She’s lost it,” Clark muttered, “Allison, this is getting nuts, you need to-“

“They were going to kill you!” She snarled, causing everyone to jump back, “they were going to take Sadie and do god knows what to her!” She turned back to the terrified man between her fingers, “I like to joke about being a goddess, being a monster, whatever Clark, but…” she grinned wickedly, “there’s a part of me that’s really messed up, always has been, I don’t know if the shrinking thing caused it, or if I was always destined to be a bit of a psycho and the universe just gave me this power as a bonus, but it doesn’t really matter…” There was a small squeak as Allison picked up another man, “maybe if I crush one of you to paste in front of the others?” She squeezed, and the man let out a scream of pain as her thumb pressed against his ribs.

“Allison STOP!” Clark shouted, “you’re not this person!” She hesitated, and Clark had a sudden surge of hope that he was getting through to her. He licked his lips and continued, “Allison,” he said quietly, forcing her to step away from the bowl and crane her head down to him, “think about how you’ve felt when you’ve hurt anyone using your power, I know you, I…” he gulped, “I love you Allison, I know you’re going to regret it forever if you do this!”

Allison looked at Clark and Sadie, taking in their fearful expressions. She felt a bit of doubt, and slowly lowered the mercenary back into the bowl.

“I don’t have a choice,” she said softly, “you guys… they can’t leave here, otherwise they’re going to come back and… and…” She sniffed, “you two are the only things I have.”

“Allison, you don’t have to do this,” Sadie pleaded, “we can call the police, we can…” she sighed, “we can go public with this, if we have to.”

“I don’t think so,” Allison said, looking balefully at the terrified group in the bowl, “that’ll just end with another group of assholes like this busting into our place, maybe a different group will hire them, but it’ll be the same, everyone will want us.” Her voice became low, cold, “I’m sorry, but I really don’t see any other way,” her hand stretched towards them again.

“Holy shit,” one of the mercenaries said in a panic, “lady please, we were hired by some group called The Lab, a little fuck called Kimbers was cutting the checks, they’re at-“

“I know where they are,” Allison said quietly, “I… I guess I should have known it was them, they’re the only ones who would know…”

“Oh shit,” Sadie muttered, “they were trying to ET me!?”

“Why didn’t you come for me, why Sadie?” Allison asked angrily.

“I don’t know!” he shouted, “we just got a dossier on her being able to shrink people, honestly we all thought it was bullshit, a code to hide something else.”

“You shut the fuck up before I shut you up!” Vasquez shouted, but one of the men grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms as she cursed at them angrily.

“And that’s all you know?” Allison asked quietly

“I swear, that’s it! Vasquez and Drake were the points of contact!”

Allison nodded, “Okay then,” she looked at Vasquez, who was seething angrily at everyone around her, then at Sadie and Clark. She’d calmed down slightly, and the idea of ripping the tiny group limb from limb, or crushing them, was losing its appeal, and increasingly she was horrified of the thoughts she’d been thinking, the things she’d been ready to do…

It was a tense moment, she told herself, smiling at Clark and Sadie, who seemed visibly relieved at the expression.

She sighed, “here’s what I’m going to do,” she said calmly, “you’re all going down to microscopic size with Drake… you’ll probably be back someday, and whenever you’re walking around at full size again, I want you people to forget I ever existed. You might think you can come back, maybe surprise me, but the reality is there’s no protecting against me,” she snapped her fingers and she was almost as surprised as everyone else when Vasquez suddenly halved in size, struggling against her former minions, towering over her at two inches. “Consider this your warning,” she growled, “if I see any of you again? I will fucking eat you.”

“You don’t have the guts you bi-“ Vasquez started, but one of the mercenaries leapt at her, scooping up her half-sized form and clamping a hand over her mouth.

“We’ve got it,” the mercenary growled.

“Glad we’re all on the same page,” Allison smiled, slowly tipping the bowl and causing the group to shout in surprise as they began sliding towards the opening of her shoe. They tumbled in one after another, and Allison watched with a smug smile as they dwindled away into the vast and endless expanse of her sweat stained insole.

“Now let me just seal up our little friends in their new home,” she said, peeling her sock off. Clark and Sadie watched as she balled it up, stuffing in the mouth of the shoe, no doubt sealing the microscopic team of mercenaries in darkness.

“Allison, we… we need to talk about that,” Clark said uncomfortably.

“I’m sorry, I went too far,” Allison said, shifting slightly, “I just don’t want anyone to hurt you guys!”

“Y-You killed that guy,” Sadie said, wide eyed, “you killed someone by flushing them down the-“

“Oh,” Allison giggled, “he’s fine, I just stuffed him in the medicine cabinet and then flushed the toilet to freak everyone out.”

Clark and Sadie looked at her, stunned, a moment later Clark snorted, “y-you’re fucking kidding?” Clark asked, fighting the urge to burst into laughter.

“Hey, I was really scared,” Sadie protested, but as Clark lost the battle and started chuckling, she was trying harder and harder to keep a smile off her face.

“Let me go get him,” Allison said, smirking as she strutted back to the bathroom. A moment later she returned, a cursing inches high man angrily pounding his fists feebly against her gloved fingers as she carried him past Sadie and Clark. A moment later his cursing was cut off as Allison pulled the sock plug out of her shoe, depositing him with his fellows and then replacing the sock, listening to his muffled voice fade as he shrank down to microscopic size too.

“So what now?” Clark asked miserably, “this Lab, are they feds, or what?”

“I don’t know,” Allison muttered, “I think they’re connected somehow, but they don’t have any kind of government logos or anything that I saw, and I’m pretty sure the bunch trapped in my shoe aren’t with any of the three letter agencies, there weren’t any badges with their stuff anyway.”

“Do you guys think… they made me have the shrinking power, like Allison?” Sadie asked suddenly.

“Maybe…” Allison muttered, “or at least they knew it was coming…” She growled angrily, “there’s so much we don’t know, we’re flying blind here…”

“Speaking of,” Clark asked suddenly, “what was that back there? Shrinking all of those guys at once? Through those suits?”

Allison shrugged, “it just sort of… happened, it was like I had this sense that I could do it, like a limb that had been asleep or something that I could move again, you know?”

“Do you think I can do it?” Sadie asked eagerly. She glared at Allison, focusing suddenly.

“Cut that out!” Allison snapped.

“Come on!” Sadie muttered, a tense expression on her face, “shrink shrink shrink-“

“Okay, stop that before you pop a blood vessel,” Allison said, rolling her eyes and picking up Sadie by the waist again. “I went years without ever being able to do that, even knowing I could do that, you’re not going to shrink me by staring and making a face like you have to poop.”

Allison’s phone rang suddenly, and she lifted it up, her stomach dropping as she saw the contact, “It’s Doctor Kendra…” she muttered, “she’s my contact with these people…” With a sigh she answered the call, “This is Allison,” she said in a cold voice.

“Oh thank god,” Dr. Kendra breathed, “you’re at Sadie’s, yes? Listen to me very carefully, you need to contact the police now, there is a group of men coming to-“

“They’re dealt with,” Allison said neutrally.

There was a pause, “D-Dealt with? Allison, did you-“

“They’re currently exploring the lost continent of my shoe’s insole,” Allison replied, “now, do you want to tell me what the hell you were thinking, sending a goon squad to kidnap my friend?”

“I… Allison, you have to believe me, I had nothing to do with this, one of my subordinates acted on his own, he activated Sadie because he wanted his own test subject-“

“So, your people did this to her,” Allison said, sighing. It was a small relief, to think she hadn’t inadvertently infected her friend somehow.

“I didn’t approve it, I would never approve it!” Kendra protested, “Allison, please-“

“We need to talk,” Allison growled, “in person.”

“Of course, I’ll let security know you’re coming-“

“No,” Allison said, cutting her off, “I want you to meet me at my apartment, alone. No unmarked vans, no bodyguards, no goons, and don’t bother with the biohazard suit, it won’t do you any good anymore.”

“Allison,” Kendra said quietly, “I don’t know if-“

“Go and measure yourself Kendra,” Allison ordered.

Halfway across the country, in her office, Kendra gulped nervously. Her clothing felt a little looser all of a sudden, but it had to be in her head… She heard Allison breathing over the phone as she weakly stumbled out of her office and down the hall, finally bumbling into an examination room, complete with a height line in the corner. She placed herself against it, backing away in awe as she saw how tall she stood, or rather didn’t stand.

“I-I’m five foot five,” Kendra stammered.

“No, you’re not, you’re probably about five one right now,” Allison said, “consider the implications. I will see you at my front door tomorrow evening at five.” She ended the call without saying anything further, then slapped her head, wincing in pain.

“D-Did you just shrink her over the phone?” Clark stammered.

“Yeah, but it hurt like hell,” Allison replied, rubbing her head and blinking her eyes, “it was the same as it was with them, like as soon as she started talking to me, as I got angrier, I could feel something from her, her… her size I guess? And I could just take it, like I did for those guys in my shoe, but she was so far away… I think I just did the shrinker’s version of pulling a muscle.”

“No way,” Sadie gasped, “do you think my powers will let me do that too?” She jumped excitedly, the red doll’s dress flapping slightly, “I have so many ex-boyfriends I’m going to call!”

“So, I guess we’re going home then?” Clark asked in a tired voice, ignoring Sadie’s romantic revenge fantasies.

“Yeah,” Allison murmured, “I think so. We’ve got to go finish this thing, one way or another.”

“W-What about me?” Sadie asked, looking up at Allison eagerly.

She just smirked and picked up the doll woman, “you’re coming with us, you’re a part of this whole thing and after what just happened, I’m not letting you out of my sight, you’re staying in the dollhouse until further notice.”

“Oh no,” Sadie said in mock horror, “Allison’s finally whisking me away from my life and making me her doll forever!”

“Just go really still when we got through airport security tomorrow,” Allison said with a smirk.

“What about me?” Clark asked.

“Regrettably I need your help with all the luggage,” Allison said with a sigh, “so I’m afraid that instead of getting your much deserved upgrade to ‘back of my panties’ class, you’re flying coach at full size with me.”

“Damn, maybe next time,” he laughed.

“Yeah, the door got kicked in by uh, punk teenagers,” Sadie said, speaking into a phone half as large as she was.

“Punk teenagers?” her landlord asked skeptically, “did you call the cops?”

“No, I uh… they ran off and I didn’t think I needed to,” Sadie said.

“I’ll be over to replace the door later, but I want to hear more about this-“

“Sorry, can’t,” Sadie said, “I’m actually flying out on vacation and I’m going… somewhere I can’t be reached,” she said, biting her lips as she tried to think up lies.

“Whatever Sadie,” her landlord sighed, “but I’m not happy about this, if it happens again, we’ll talk about your rent rate.”

“Yeah, sure, okay, bye!” she said, slamming both hands together on the phone’s touch screen, just barely registering enough to hang up the call. “Fucking asshole,” she muttered.

“I mean, you did get his door kicked in,” Clark said, standing full sized next to Allison.

“Pfft, I don’t have to deal with that guy ever again, I’m moving into my dreamhouse permanently!” she said proudly.

“You wish,” Allison said, rolling her eyes and chuckling, “you really should move near Clark and me though… your job can transfer you, right?”

“I’ve been working on the paperwork since I got back last time,” Sadie said sheepishly, “they say they’re working on getting me something at the branch near you, I didn’t want to say anything until it was official.” She paused a moment, “hey, if I do get transferred, can I stay with you until I find a place to live?”

“Sure,” Allison laughed, “you don’t take up much space.”

Allison gulped nervously as the security agent at the airport briefly looked into her purse, “Random check,” she explained in a bored tone, snapping blue gloves on. The woman lifted Sadie out of the bag, looking at her quizzically. “Is this a doll?”

“Uh yeah,” Allison said, shifting uncomfortably as Clark passed through the metal detector behind her, “it’s a super expensive one, so please be-“

“She’s so lifelike,” the woman chuckled, poking at Sadie’s breasts and feeling the soft resistance. For her part Sadie was holding herself as still as she could, a goofy smile plastered on her face as the woman’s finger poked into her belly next. Her abs quaked, and the effort of keeping her legs straight was beginning to wear on her when the woman slowly lowered her back into Allison’s purse.

“Fuck,” she whispered, collapsing and panting as she rubbed her quivering core muscles. Sadie wasn’t in bad shape by any means, but it took more strength than she’d expected to hold herself stiff while being handled like the doll she always liked to pretend she was.

Allison sighed, looking out the plane’s window as they took off. Clark squeezed her gloved hand as they shared the armrest, giving her a small smile which she returned. It was funny, she’d have given anything to be here a year ago, a boyfriend who loved her, a best friend who’d reunited with her, she was, or had been happy.

I guess I just don’t get any of that for free, she thought, placing a pillow between herself and Clark so she could lean against him without skin contact.

“I can’t believe you’re wearing the same shoes you… you put them in,” Clark muttered, looking down at her feet.

Allison smirked, “I only packed one pair, and besides part of the microbial experience is understanding just how pathetic you are to the rest of the world.” She flexed her socked foot idly, no doubt shaking the entire universe of her prisoners, “if anything they should be thankful, my foot brings them valuable water and nutrition, they should worship it.”

“Right,” Clark said, the corner of his mouth quirking in a grin. “You are going to let them go, right?”

“Yes, but I’m not going to make their time at my feet pleasant,” Allison said, “in fact, I want them traumatized, so traumatized that whenever they go back to whatever black market you hire goons at, they’ll all be too scared shitless to come looking for a girl with shrinking powers ever again.” She smirked, “I’m going to go for a run on the treadmill when I get home, that should be real fun for them.”

They were quiet a moment, then Allison spoke again, “Clark, you were right, I don’t really want to hurt anyone, but… we might not get lucky again, if it’s between saving your lives or sparing them…” she pursed her lips, “I’ll do what I have to do.”

“So will I,” he said with a resigned sigh, “and I’m sure Sadie will too… how is she, anyway?”

Allison pulled her purse out from the seat in front of them, unzipping the top carefully. The two of them looked in to see Sadie curled up happily on a small pile of tissues Allison had thrown in for padding, fast asleep. With a smirk Allison zipped the purse back up, stowing it under the seat again.

Clark circled the apartment complex in his car a dozen times, looking for any suspicious figures, big unmarked vans, or signs that anyone had been around their units while they’d been away. He came up empty, and with a sigh he resigned himself to the fact that he’d been as careful as it was possible to be without fleeing, something Allison had been adamant that she did not want to do.

“It looks like Doctor Kendra kept her word,” Clark said, “I don’t see anything unusual.”

“Well, let’s go in then!” Sadie said, poking her head up from Allison’s purse.

Clark carried the bags up the stairs as Allison walked in front of him, sparing nothing more than a quick glance at his own door to see if it looked like it had been opened. As they entered the apartment Clark involuntarily flinched as she turned on the lights, looking around as though he expected a band of black clad special forces types to pop out from behind the counter, but… nothing.

“Home sweet home,” Allison said softly, lowering her purse and allowing Sadie to scurry out towards her dreamhouse, still set up in the corner of the living room from their last visit.

“Oh man, I miss this place so much every time,” Sadie said, running up the tiny staircase and out on the dollhouse’s balcony.

“If you’re moving here, we might get back to having you spend Fridays in it,” Allison said with a wink. She shot Clark a smirk, “and you might have a little roommate…”

“Okay,” Clark said, “should we just… wait for her to show up?”

Allison shrugged, “you two do what you want, I’m going to go change into my workout clothing and…” she looked down at her shoe, “have a nice jog.”

Drake wasn’t sure how long he’d been in the microbial hellscape of Allison’s shoe, he’d seen his comrades dropped in too of course, going from relative titans at two inches, to germs like himself. They’d shrunk maybe an inch or two away from him, an insurmountable distance at this size, possibly days of trekking across the girl’s fetid insole.

When she’d slipped her socked foot inside at first he’d been scared, but at this size it was nearly impossible for him to end up crushed, and he’d simply been rocked and tumbled along the length of the material as the light had gone out from the world. The stale smell of sweat and shoe leather filled the world, impossible to get off him no matter how he tried.

There was a thump, tossing him through the “cavern” of free space he had between himself and the sock overhead, then another thump, tossing him again. She was running, he realized, and the crisp earthy smell of fresh sweat began to fill his prison as the sock overhead began to moisten.

Allison didn’t jog too long, just enough to work up a sweat, then she’d kicked the shoes off, casually leaving them by her front door. She spared one final smug look down into the seemingly empty shoe before walking towards the bathroom, eager for a shower.

Clark watched the clock slowly tick towards five, a silence hung over them all as they waited to see if Dr. Kendra would appear. He sighed and tried to kill some time surfing the internet, when he noticed Sadie glaring at him from the balcony of her dollhouse.

He frowned, “Sadie, are you trying to shrink me?”

“Did you feel anything!?” she asked eagerly.

“Stop trying to shrink me from across the room!” he replied.

“I want to see if I can do it!” she protested, “seriously, did you feel something or-“

“No, I just saw you, Allison help me out here!”

“Sadie, don’t shrink Clark,” she said, not looking up from her phone.

“But-“

“Sadie!” Allison snapped, “he needs to be at full…” she rubbed her chin a moment, then grinned, looking at the clock, “actually… Clark, help me move this chair over by the door, I want to do a thing.”

“A thing?” he asked, sitting up and helping her with the piece of furniture.

“Yeah,” she said, “also I’m going to make you a little smaller, but not like, super tiny, okay?”

“I don’t know if I like this,” he said, moving the chair to face the door.

“Trust me, setting the right mood is going to make it a lot easier,” Allison said, walking over to the dollhouse, “c’mere Sadie…”

Dr. Kendra stopped in front of the apartment door and sighed. She was in her normal clothing, having shed her labcoat and biohazard suit when she’d left. She hadn’t told anyone she was meeting the girl here, they’d have never allowed it, insisting on security officers, cameras, something…

Just tell her everything, you owe her that much.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Allison’s voice called. Kendra slowly pushed the door open, revealing a dark apartment. She reached for a lightswitch, flicking it on, then jumping with a start as she saw Allison, sitting coiled in an armchair facing her like a snake. On one armrest of the chair the other girl, Sadie, sat in a doll’s dress, on her lap was her boyfriend, shrunk to a manageable two foot size, his clothes hanging off him as Allison slowly ran her gloved hands through his hair, like she was petting a cat.

Kendra gulped, “Hello Allison,” she said cautiously.

For her part Allison seemed pleased that her attempt at intimidation had succeeded, with her miniaturized friends draped over her, she certainly exuded a certain… presence.

“Do you have the retrieval team somewhere?” she asked quietly.

“They’re all alive,” Allison said, “look to your right.”

Kendra looked down, “there’s just a pair of…” her stomach dropped as she realized the implication.

“They’re far too small to see, but they’re in there somewhere. You can take that old pair of sneakers with you, I’m sure someone at your lab has the equipment to locate and extract your team,” Allison said with a small smile.

“I’ll be sure to grab them on my way out,” Kendra said, staring at the shoes a moment. A part of her suddenly regretted coming alone. She forced herself to return Allison’s gaze and adopted the cool professionalism of a scientist, “how did you make me smaller over the phone?”

“I don’t know,” Allison said with a shrug, “and isn’t that just the story of my life? I don’t know how, and nobody else does either, but I do know I don’t even need to touch you anymore Doctor, I think I just need to be aware of you, isn’t that wild?” She giggled, “it’s like something out of a comic book!” She did a faux ominous voice, “my powers have doubled since we last met!”

In spite of everything Clark snorted, and Sadie just looked at them both, confused.

“You’ve made your point,” Dr. Kendra said in a tired voice, “you’re not the scared little girl looking for help, you’re the big bad villain I shouldn’t have messed with, what do you want from me Allison?”

“Tell me everything, I want to know what you people know, I want to know how many people know it, I want to know the jokes you people tell me over lunch, leave nothing out!”

Dr. Kendra thought a moment, then slowly nodded, walking her way towards the couch, “All right… put on a pot of coffee dear, this could take a while.”

Chapter End Notes:
Things continue to come to a head, will Allison get the happy normal life she wanted? Or is she destined for something else? Thanks for the reads and reviews!
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