Kyle heard footsteps behind him, and gulped as he tried to pick up his pace, shouldering his heavy backpack. He’d had to stay at school a little later than usual to check a telescope back in that he’d borrowed for stargazing, and while he didn’t regret it in the slightest he hadn’t realized at the time that this would leave him in a nearly empty school at the same time as the girls’ soccer team would be starting their practice… and the girls’ soccer team meant-

“I think I saw him go this way Carmen!” a girl’s voice giggled.

“Nope,” Carmen herself laughed, stepping out of a hallway directly into Kyle’s path, “he’s right over here, aren’t you Kyle?” Her hand shout out, grabbing the strap of his backpack before he could run

He sighed, letting her tug and lead him through the hallways while the two other girls with her giggled. He didn’t bother resisting, Carmen was tall for a girl, at five foot ten, to his own five foot five, with a lean and toned physique that was the result of hours of extracurricular athletics. The team called her “The Phoenix,” for her apparent ability to turn around losing matches in the second half, and it was no wonder, Kyle had always found her terrifying and he could only imagine how she would be on a soccer pitch.

Carmen giggled and winked at him a led him like a condemned prisoner through the hallways, the school’s bright soccer uniform contrasting with her light brown skin and waving black hair as they reached their destination.

“C-Carmen, I can’t go in the girl’s locker room,” Kyle panicked.

Carmen’s minions giggled, and she just rolled her eyes, “get in here squirt,” she pulled him forcibly inside, and he gulped as he saw the rest of the soccer team, dressed thankfully, all smirking at him as Carmen dragged her prisoner along.

“Okay,” Carmen said, stopping Kyle in front of a locker as the group looked on, “where’s the other one?”

A girl squealed in panic as she was shoved to the front. Whoever she was, Kyle was pretty sure she wasn’t on the soccer team, she was a mousy looking girl, with frizzy red hair and thick glasses and skin just pale as his own.

“C-Carmen,” the girl stammered, “p-please I just want to go home-“

“In a minute Sammy!” Carmen said with a sigh, “I just need you and my little buddy Kyle here to help me win a quick bet!”

“There’s no way you can fit two people in one of these lockers,” a blonde said, crossing her arms.

“Look, it’s a sports equipment locker, it’s huge,” Carmen said, pointing to it. Kyle’s heart sunk, it was large… for a locker, if she was intending to stuff him in there- his thoughts were interrupted by Carmen slapping his back hard, almost knocking him forward, “Kyle here is a teeny tiny shrimp,” Carmen said, “and so is squeaky little Sammy, plus she’s got those little mosquito bites on her chest, so she won’t take up much space.”

The girl blushed, and tried to stammer something, looking down, but Carmen ignored her. A moment later she squealed again as Carmen lifted her up under her arms with a grunt.

“Get in there!” Carmen laughed, pushing the poor girl in. She playfully flicked the girl’s nose as she fought back tears, “now stay put Sammy!”

Kyle felt his stomach fall as his realized what she was planning, and he struggled a moment against the laughing members of the girls’ soccer team as Carmen strutted up to him. He felt her hands slid up to his shoulders, slipping his backpack off and letting it clatter to the ground, a heavy sound born of his textbooks, there was a *crack* like plastic snapping, and he sighed as he realized his graphing calculator was likely broken.

“Oops,” Carmen said with a shrug as she looked down, “shouldn’t keep fragile stuff in there Kyle.” He gasped as she lifted him up bodily, he was light, true, but it always shocked him just how strong Carmen actually was. The girl easily hefted him up on the locker room bench, and with a shove that caused him to wince as his shoulder impacted the metal siding, forced him into the locker alongside the crying girl.

“See?” Carmen laughed as members of the soccer team giggled and snapped pictures with their phones, “two losers, one locker, it can totally be done.”

“Okay, haha,” Kyle sneered, “let us out!”

Carmen just smirked, then slammed the door shut while he shouted impotently at her. A moment later he heard the click of a combination lock sliding into place, sealing the locker and trapping him and the sobbing girl inside.

“Now you two have fun,” Carmen laughed as the rest of the girls giggled and egged her on, “I’ll be back to let you out after practice!”

The two of them heard chatter, and through the thin slits in the locker they could see the girls on the soccer team filing out after Carmen, already chatting about the practice and everything else but the two people they’d just trapped in a locker. Soon the only sound in the locker room was the soft sobbing of the girl pressed against Kyle’s chest. He grunted and tried to separate from her, but there simply wasn’t room.

“Hey,” he whispered, “it’s going to be okay… I’m Kyle, what’s your name?”

“S-Samantha,” she sobbed, looking at him. “Why does she do this shit!?” she asked angrily, tears still in her eyes, “I just had to return a microscope, I just had to borrow one and return it during her soccer practice!”

Kyle laughed a little, “you’re not going to believe this… I was returning a telescope and the same thing happened.”

Samantha did giggle a little, sniffing as the tears slowly stopped, “wanted to see the meteor shower last night?” she asked.

“Yeah!” he said excitedly, “did you-“

“Couldn’t,” Samantha sighed, “I had to stay home and babysit my sister…”

“That’s a shame,” Kyle said, forgetting that the two were trapped in a locker, “it was pretty great, I went a few miles outside of town to watch it.”

Samantha gulped, suddenly nervous, “there’s uh… there’s a comet passing by in a few weeks, if you wanted to maybe… watch it together?”

“Sure!” Kyle said, his smile barely illuminated by the small amount of light filtering through the slits in the locker.

…

Over the weeks and months that followed, Samantha and Kyle found themselves spending more and more time together. It seemed the most natural relationship in the world, and both found themselves shocked that they’d found someone who loved astronomy, anime, and tabletop games as much as they did.

Neither wanted to ruin what they had by asking exactly what they had, at least until one day when the other thing they had in common reared itself again.

“Mind if we sit here?” Carmen asked, leading a trio of other girls from the soccer team through the lunchroom to the table where Kyle and Samantha sat.

“Yes, actually,” Kyle said angrily as Samantha looked down at her tray.

“Aww come on Kylie,” Carmen mocked, ignoring him as the other girls joined her, “there aren’t any other open spots, the girls and I got here a little late today.” She smirked, “besides, with Prom coming up, can you really afford to be mean to any girls?” She smirked, “you know Kyle, I could really use a boy to buy me dinner that night…”

Samantha looked up suddenly, “H-He’s not going with you!” she squeaked, her voice trembling.

Carmen raised an eyebrow, and a predatory smile crept over her features, “Oh? Are my favorite little losers an item now?”

“Maybe Squeaky Sammy is jealous and wanted you to take her?” one of the girls laughed.

Carmen joined in, “is that it Sammy? Did you want to go with me? I mean I knew you had a bit of a curious streak with the way you look at me during PE, but-“

“S-Shut up!” Samantha stammered. She reached across the table, surprising Kyle as she gripped his hand, “we’re going together.”

“Really now?” Carmen asked with amusement, causing her cronies to giggle, “hey Sammy, you know Kyle still wears tighty whities, right?”

“I do not!” Kyle sputtered.

“It’s true,” Carmen said in a condescending tone, “I pantsed him in the hall once, we all saw them.”

“Samantha!” Kyle said, looking to her pleadingly.

“I know what kind of underwear Kyle wears,” Samantha said confidently, causing the girls with Carmen to look at the fuming bully in shock. Samantha smirked, enjoying the rare victory, and in a moment that caused the entire lunchroom to go quiet she leaned across the table, hooked an arm around Kyle, and buried his stunned face in hers as they shared a deep kiss.

When they parted Samantha was grinning, Kyle was red faced and stunned, and Carmen was giving them a glare that could have shattered glass.

“You know you have to show me your underwear later, right?” Samantha whispered as they parted. Seeing his look she giggled, “well I need to know or I’ll look like a liar!”

…

As their senior year of high school came to a close Samantha and Kyle were officially dating, and when both of them got in to the same school, they excitedly planned the next phase of their lives together.

For Carmen’s part, she upped her torment, knocking books out of their hands, mocking them during student gatherings, and being a terror to the two that they couldn’t wait to escape. The final month before graduation seemed like an hourglass filled with a slow mud, the days dribbling by in a painfully slow fashion.

This sensation reached a new height when Carmen came and sat next to Samantha and Kyle during their literature class, the only one the three all had together.

“Hey bitches,” she said with a wide smile, “what’s happening?”

“What do you want Carmen?” Kyle asked in a tired voice as he glanced at the front of the room. The teacher, Mrs. Krupp, an aging woman with short grey hair, was present, but was checking something on her desktop. Carmen usually didn’t do anything too aggressive in front of staff but… it paid to be on guard around her.

“Just recruiting you two for the big group project,” Carmen said with a shrug.

“Oh god,” Samantha moaned, realizing what she was implying.

Mrs. Krupp had opted for a final group project instead of a final exam, a paper worth ten percent of the class grade. Few people were really thinking about it, and Samantha and Kyle had planned to simply do it together over a few hours that weekend.

“Yeah, I was thinking… I need an A on this project,” Carmen said with a shrug, “and you two get A’s on everything you do so… we’re a group now. I don’t think I need to go into what’s going to happen if you don’t let me in?”

“Fine,” Kyle said, defeated, “we’re meeting at Samantha’s house on Saturday, if we do this you need to leave us alone for the rest of the year, none of your usual-“

“Oh come on I just fuck around with you two big babies,” Carmen said dismissively, “fine, Saturday it is,” she groaned, “and what a waste of a day…”

…

The group collaboration wasn’t going well, it had quickly become apparent that Carmen hadn’t read any of the assigned books for the class, and the session had rapidly become Kyle and Samantha doing the work while Carmen lounged on her bed, reading her phone.

“You guys hear about this shrinking lady?” Carmen said suddenly.

Samantha and Kyle sighed, turning away from the computer, this wasn’t the first time a bored Carmen had derailed their work.

“The nurse?” Samantha asked, “yeah, those are just rumors though.”

“Internet chatter,” Kyle said dismissively.

“Nope, turns out she’s the real deal,” Carmen said, sitting up excitedly and showing them her phone, “she’s on all the networks right now!”

Samantha frowned, then minimized the document they were working on and pulled up a news site. The three crowded around Samantha’s desktop, reading the developing news story.

“Shrinking phenomena defies much of known science,” Samantha mumbled, reading aloud.

“Therapeutic health benefits?” Kyle asked, “like… if she shrinks you, it heals diseases or something?”

“Wounds, diseases, and even some genetic conditions,” Carmen said, “that is so fucking cool! Like she just looks at people and BAM! They’re fucking bugs!”

“Look at the video here, it seems like there’s a little more to it than that,” Kyle said, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the news story for more details, “I guess she was exposed to some kind of gene therapy to activate this…”

“Superpower,” Samantha said, “let’s call it what it is… it says she’s intending to use her abilities to treat the sick and injured… huh, good for her.”

“I can’t wait until I get that shit,” Carmen said eagerly, “I don’t care how much it costs, I’m-“

“Oh please,” Kyle laughed, “the article says only one in five thousand women even have the genes for it, and they’re not going to take you, you spent two months in juvie and you’re constantly getting into trouble.”

Carmen scowled, “you guys know I’m getting a full ride soccer scholarship, right? They’re saying I could go pro, maybe be on the Olympic team. I’m going to be a big deal someday, they’ll be talking about Carmen the Phoenix on every sports network, shit I’m going to have a Wheaties box. They’ll give me whatever the hell I want, everyone will!”

“What would you even want to do with shrinking powers anyway?” Samantha asked, “you don’t strike me as the type to want to heal up sick people by making them tiny.”

“Nah,” Carmen laughed, “I think I’d use it to… keep my favorite people close,” she ruffled Samantha’s hair playfully, causing the other girl to step back angrily. “Like if it was me that had the shrinking powers, I think I know which two little squirts I’d start with.”

“Samantha and me?” Kyle asked in a tired voice.

“Damn straight,” Carmen said, “Sammy, you’d be way cuter as a doll, like I’d have a jar for you that I’d cover in unicorn stickers, and I’d take you out when I wanted to play with my squeaky little friend.” She grinned, “think of all the fun you could have as my little toy Sammy! Remember when I shoved my sneaker in your face a few weeks back? You could slide the whole way in, really get a good whiff.”

Samantha gulped, “q-quit it-“

“And you Kyle?” She grinned wickedly, and he tensed as she gripped his shoulders, massaging them in a rough and mocking fashion, “a little slave to paint my nails, maybe… I don’t know, how small can that nurse lady shrink people? Like if it was me, I’d be finding out with you.” She giggled, “god, imagine if she can make people like, microscopic…” She bit her lip, “yeah Kyle, you’d be tossed in with my sweaty gym clothes and… poof!”

Kyle blinked, a sort of unease building in him as he realized that Carmen wasn’t just trash talking, but was really thinking of what she’d do if she could shrink the two of them. The room was silent, and Carmen giggled softly as Samantha came to the same understanding.

“I-It’ll never happen,” Kyle muttered, looking back to the computer screen, “we’ve wasted enough time on this, Carmen just get the hell out of here, we’ll do the project.”

“Whatever,” she sighed, picking up her purse, “you guys make sure it’s an A, okay? I cannot stress that enough, I need a certain GPA for my scholarship and this class can’t be the one that gums it up for me.”

With that she strutted out of the room with an air like a master dismissing servants. Samantha and Kyle stared after her a moment, then returned to the computer, working on the next parts of the group paper.

“I fucking hate her,” Samantha growled suddenly.

“I know,” Kyle said.

“No, I really hate her,” Samantha repeated in a hushed tone, “I just wish there was something we could do to her…”

Kyle stared at the screen a moment, a plan forming in his mind that he felt somewhat guilty for even entertaining, “What’s your grade in this class?” he asked suddenly.

“95, why?” Samantha asked.

“Mine’s a 96,” he muttered, “so… if we just crapped out on this paper, we’d get Bs… I can live with a B, what about you?”

“Yeah but…” Samantha gaped, then slowly smiled as she realized what he was saying, “but a certain soccer loving witch wouldn’t have the GPA to claim that scholarship…”

“No scholarship, no college, no athletic future,” Kyle said with a smirk.

“Let’s make some changes to our work so far,” Samantha giggled, “Great Expectations is the blurst novel of all time, the main themes are…”

“The light side of the force and the dark side of the force,” Kyle cut in.

“Oh, this paper’s coming along!” Samantha laughed.

…

“W-What do you mean an F?” Carmen stammered, looking at the returned paper from Mrs. Krupp.

“I’m sorry Carmen,” the teacher shrugged, “perhaps your group should have put a little more effort into it.”

“Y-You don’t understand,” she started, “those two losers, they sabotaged me-“

“Carmen,” Mrs. Krupp said sternly, “I’m sorry, but you have never prioritized my class, there is nothing I can do.”

“B-But-“ Carmen stammered, but Mrs. Krupp just sighed and walked to the next student, laying a paper on their desk.

Carmen felt numb, then a boiling white-hot rage forming in the pit of her stomach, those two, she thought furiously. She whipped around, looking at where the pair normally sat in the class, but their chairs were empty.

…

“Man, it sure sucks that we got the flu during the last few days of school,” Kyle laughed, looking up at the clouds go by.

Samantha sighed, laying next to him on the grassy hillside, “it feels good, we won… we’re going to college in the fall, and we’ll never see her again.” She turned to him and smiled, gripping his hand as the two enjoyed the early summer day.

…

Months later Carmen stared angrily into the boiling oil of the fryer at the fast-food restaurant where she worked. With a sigh she pulled the fresh order of fries out, dumping them into a nearby tub and wiping her forehead with her arm.

For the millionth time she felt like crying, this wasn’t her life, it wasn’t supposed to be her life anyway…

“Carmen!” Mr. Cargill, her manager, shouted, “I need you to work Saturday.” The pudgy man waddled his way through the kitchen, scowling at the other employees.

“I can’t!” She shouted angrily, “I haven’t had a day off in-“

“No arguments!” Cargill shouted, “you’ll be here or I’m writing you up!”

Carmen scowled as he left, her parents had forced her to get a job or move out of their house, and with rents in their city skyrocketing she hadn’t had much of a choice but take the first offer she’d gotten. She fought the urge to scream as she brought the fries up to the order window.

“Hey Carmen,” the cashier said, “a pair of guys are here to see you.”

“A pair of guys?” Carmen asked with a frown. She glanced through the order window and saw two men in business suits waiting at the register, “I’m going on break!” she called, walking out into the lobby.

“Are you Carmen Mendez?” One of them asked as she approached.

“Who wants to know?” she asked, beckoning them over to a table.

“We’re from the Valkyrie Project,” one of the men said as they all sat down, “we’d like a few moments of your time.”

Carmen raised an eyebrow, “Valkyrie Project? Like that shrinking lady on the news?”

“Nurse Groves, yes,” one of the suited men said with a smile, “a sample of your DNA was sent to our lab during your sports physical-“

“I don’t recall consenting to that,” Carmen said, crossing her arms.

“Miss Mendez,” the second man said, cutting off his partner’s protests, “you’ve tested positive for the Groves gene, you’re one of the rare few who can receive the same gene therapy as Melinda Groves… we want you to enroll in the project immediately, now obviously you’ll have other questions-“

“You mean I’m one of them?” Carmen asked numbly, “I can shrink people?”

“Not yet,” the man explained, “and there will be considerable training and preparation before you receive the gene therapy, but-“

“Hey Cargill!” she shouted with a smile, “I fucking quit!” she tore her nametag off, standing up and shoving it into the nearest trashcan. She turned to the two recruiters with a grin, “when we do we start boys?”

The phoenix is back, she thought, feeling a surge of fiery excitement as the two men began producing consent forms.

…

Excerpt from Project Valkyrie Website

PROJECT VALKYRIE FAQ

Q. What is Project Valkyrie?

A. Project Valkyrie is a joint public private venture to fund and facilitate the recruitment and creation of “Enhanced Individuals,” or as they have colloquially become known, “Valkyries.”

Q. What are Enhanced Individuals?

A. Enhanced Individuals are women who have had their Groves genes activated by advanced genetic therapy, in addition to a number of physiological enhancements, such as enhanced strength, speed, and agility, those with active Groves genes have the ability to reduce others in size through a mass reduction or “shrinking” process.

Q. How does the shrinking process work?

A. Enhanced Individuals can usually cause anyone within a five meter radius of them to reduce in mass, with the speed and effective range varying by the individual, though physical contact also makes the process much easier. A special “receptor serum” can also be injected to allow for easier mass reduction.

The process itself can be fully and easily reversed by any Enhanced Individual, and is often reported to be easier to perform than the initial shrinking itself.

Q. Why is this mass reduction, or “shrinking” process desirable?

A. Persons undergoing mass reduction exhibit dramatically increased healing rates and ability to repair bodily damage, for victims of terminal cancers, genetic disorders, or grievous injuries, reduction therapy is often the only possible chance at survival. Due to the limited number of Enhanced Individuals available and trained, priority is given to the neediest cases.

Q. Is shrinking safe?

A. Members of Project Valkyrie are expertly trained in the handling and care of reduced persons, who will stay in one of our expertly crafted clinics until the healing process is complete and they are cleared for re-growth. As of this writing there have been no lethal incidents on any Project Valkyrie property.