"You know, you really SHOULD check out this winter carnival sometime, it really IS something..." the maniacal doctor touted, all the while keeping Lexi's best friend a hostage in the back seat of her boyfriend's father's car.
"Max ... what the fuck have you done?" Lexi asked
"Oh the language ..." Dr. Max retorted, "today's youth always with the bad language speaking"
"Max..." Lexi growled, not in the mood for games.
"If it makes you feel any better, Ms. Alexis, you were the prize I was seeking after but we got a pretty decent second prize indeed..." Max smirked, striking even more fear into Leah as she was about to scream, before the doctor put a hand over her mouth, "Mmm mmm... not yet, don't ruin the surprise"
"What surprise? Max? MAX!!" Lexi shouted, but the line went dead.
Fuck.
Lexi would work her way back up towards the carnival, or what was left of it anyway. The police were still evacuating people and even offering escorts to some who needed rides. That would've been a wise idea under most circumstances but Lexi knew better. She was considered an enemy as well, for whatever reason. In fact she took just a few steps before a gruff and stern female voice called after her.
"Hey! You! Freeze!"
Lexi stood perfectly still as the Officer held up her weapon. She was rather intimidating and a bit feisty despite her short height. Even at 5'4, Lexi had about a few inches on her but that didn't stop the auburn haired cop in dark shades from approaching. Upon closer inspection she was the same one who almost shot Roxie and was involved in the standoff that ultimately led to the deadly creature attacking. If you could call that mechination a creature, of course.
Sonia Sanders stood silent and then motioned her gun towards her car a good distance away. Lexi cautiously walked forward, without saying a word. This was going to be a tough one to explain to her parents, and anyone else. She still had the thought to shrink and run, or just run in general but it wasn't a safe move, nor would it be helpful. Maybe she could convince the police officer that she was a good person? Somehow?
"Get in" Sonia said authoritatively, directing Lexi into the car but strangely not the backseat but rather the passenger seat up front.
Lexi would nod and get herself into the cop cruiser, looking over at Sonia and hanging her head. Her feelings were as apparent as the bright purple on her crop top. She was devastated. She had tried so hard to stop things from getting out of hand and look what happened. Her best friend could be in serious danger, a young woman almost died and she just felt utterly useless as she sat in the cop cruiser, waiting presumably to be taken to the station for questioning.
Sonia set her gun on the dashboard and looked Lexi in the eye, finally taking off her shades to reveal her actual eyes, which were hazel as they drilled into Lexi's face.
"Where to?" she asked Lexi.
Lexi gave her a confused look.
"I don't have all night, ma'am" Sonia said
"I'm... confused" Lexi whispered a bit, still shaking
"You heard me ... where do you need to go next?" Sonia repeated
"You're giving me a ride? But why?" Lexi asked, honestly shocked as Sonia started her cruiser up and pulled away.
"I saw what you did" Sonia nodded, "I stayed behind to see if Roxie survived and I saw you drown that ... whatever it was ... do you even know?"
"Honestly, I don't ... but I know who made it ..." Lexi sighed, at a loss for words, "It was Dr. Max ... Enormo Enterprises..."
"I've had my suspicions about them for a long time..." Sonia nodded, "lots of weird stuff comes out of there ... nothing technically illegal although a lot of small violations ... unfortunately we can't prove much, especially since you drowned our only evidence"
"My bad ..." the forlorn Lexi replied, hanging her head.
"Hey cmon, I'm kidding you, kid" Sonia chuckled a bit continuing to drive, pulling onto the main road and swerving around some of her fellow police officers, "now keep your head down so you're not seen, my colleagues may not think so fondly of you ... well, some of them anyway"
"I'm not a bad ..."
"I know" Sonia nodded, "I don't really know WHAT you are ... no offense, but I saw you and your weird powers? You like transformed yourself? Are you ... an extraterrestrial?"
"Not exactly" Lexi shook her head, a slight smile on her face for whatever reason, "I grew up in this area and ... yeah... again, you can thank Enormo for ... this" she said, showing her fingertips which could spark just a little bit if she willed it. "Don't worry, it's not harmful..."
"It looks ... serious" Sonia commented, "are you sure you don't want to go to a doctor or something?"
"I ... I don't know" Lexi started and stopped. She did recall that Hope, assuming she was on her side, wanted to run some tests on her. In hindsight maybe she should have but she wasn't sure who to trust anymore. Heck, she kept this a secret from her best friend of all people and she historically told Leah everything.
"Would you like me to drive you home then?" Sonia asked
"Um... as much as I appreciate that, I can only imagine the line of questioning I'd face coming home with the Mini Troop" Lexi replied, keeping her head down
"Heh, can't believe people really call us the Mini Troop" Sonia shook her head,
"Can you take me to Miniborough University please? That's my school ... I may have a friend I can go to for help" Lexi nodded
"If that's what you'd like ..." Sonia replied with a sympathetic nod, before a call came blasting through her police radio.
"Officer Sanders, any progress on the location of the perpetrator or the girl in purple?"
"I'm sorry Sargeant Meyer, nothing as of right now, I'm still securing wayward park goers" Sonia responded in a stern voice as she looked over at Lexi now and then, driving towards the college campus. "I'll let you know as soon as I see any sign of either one of them"
"Y-You could get in serious trouble for hiding me" Lexi whimpered, "...I'd hate to see you lose your job over me"
"Hey, I'm a big girl" Sonia asserted, not realizing the irony of her statement, "I made my choices ... just ... maybe don't show up at any more jewel heists okay? I can't cover for you all the time ... I just know you're not a bad person... I could tell as soon as you stepped into my car and I got a chance to really talk to you"
At this Lexi smiled, as best she could. Her emotions felt like they had been wrangled into a pretzel for the past couple months with everything going on, but for a brief moment she felt a little bit of peace despite everything that happened. The real struggle was just beginning though.
"I appreciate the ride, I truly do, Officer..." Lexi thanked her sincerely as she stepped out of the car once they reached the campus parking lot.
"...Sonia. Officer Sanders" Sonia nodded, "just ... stay out of trouble kid, okay?" Sonia smiled, pulling back onto the road once she had securely left Lexi off.
Lexi would run through the campus as fast as she could, taking out her cell phone and calling Leah but the phone kept going to voicemail almost immediately. Shit. Not a good sign. She was on her way to Leah's dorm to try to check on her personally. Perhaps she had gotten away safely with one of the police cruisers.
As she approached Leah's dorm building she was greeted by another familiar face instead.
"Josh!" the frantic Lexi shouted, falling into his arms for an impromptu hug. Josh looked surprised and concerned but hugged her for as long as she needed it.
"Lexi? Is everything okay?" he asked
"I ... I don't think so..." Lexi stammered, shaking her head, "Tell me ... did you by any chance put some kind of tracker on Leah's phone?"
"Psh, you really think I'm that creepy?" Josh joked, to which Lexi gave him a sort of flat look. Josh rolled his eyes, "Ouch. But no, I didn't, I swear"
"I believe you..." Lexi sighed, "I'm just ... I'm afraid ... I've called her phone and ... oh, I could call Justin!"
"Justin? You mean Justin Wright?" Josh asked
"Yeah, they're dating" Lexi replied with a nod.
"Oh. Huh. Wonder if he's related to Dr. Joseph Wright" Josh pondered out loud.
"Who's Dr. Joseph Wright?" a suddenly intrigued Lexi asked
"Well, he was on the Enormo Enterprises tour, he's a doctor there... oh right, you weren't on that part of the tour because you acted out and got thrown out..." Josh recalled
"and you never thought to mention this until now?" Lexi grunted
"Well I mean, I didn't really think it would matter..." Josh shrugged
"I think I know where she is..." Lexi gulped with an exhale, looking out into the not so distant building looming in the twilight. Enormo Enterprises' main science facility. The place where the horror had started. If anything happened to Leah, she'd never forgive herself. "Josh, I know this is going to sound crazy but could you maybe float me a few bucks for an uber to the facility? Oh shoot, I'd still need a way past security..."
"Oh, that's easy, my friend Rufus runs security detail for them ... I'll have him pick you up in a few" Josh replied non-chalantly.
"Seriously, how do you keep..."
"I know people" Josh replied with a shrug, "but now I have to ask... are you a ...?"
"I'm not a superhero..." Lexi groaned.
"Are you sure? Because I mean ... the costume ... the lab accident..."
"If I hear about this lab accident one more time..." Lexi sighed with exhaustion, "and this isn't a costume, I just like purple and gold..."
"...and Wonder Woman bracelets?" Josh asked
"Wonder Woman is an inspiration to women everywhere ... any more questions, Mr. Nosy?" Lexi sighed, backing off a bit
"Just one ..." Josh sighed, "My friend Trent told me a couple months ago that a teeny tiny woman begged him to give a pastry back that he stole from a cookie shop ... the same cookie shop that you work at"
Lexi would stand there, stunned.
"Sounds to me like your friend is doing some serious drugs" Lexi nodded
"Whatever you say ..." Josh rolled his eyes, "I'll have Rufus meet you down by the north parking lot in 10 minutes, okay?"
"Thank you so much" Lexi nodded, looking sincerely grateful before taking off, but not before running into another woman who was coming the other way. "Oh shoot, I am so sorry, Miss... oh ... shoot..."
The other woman was quick to hoist Lexi back up onto her feet along with herself, glaring angrily down at the already battered brunette.
"Yeah I bet you're sorry, Ms. Goodie Two Shoes" the taller woman snapped. It was none other than Gloria Graff and to say that she was pissed would be an understatement.
"Gloria, I get it ... we have beef... but I REALLY need to go ... this is an emergency" Lexi pleaded, trying to work her way around the imposing figure but Gloria had other thoughts. She continued to block Lexi by shifting left and right every time she tried to pass.
"Tough shit," the abrasive woman in the white pullover asserted, even shoving Lexi a little, "I know you squealed on me, ya little bitch ... you got me kicked off the cheer team, you got me probation at work ..."
"You shouldn't have tried to frame Chrissy..." Lexi muttered under her breath
"What was that?" Gloria protested, trying to shove Lexi again but finally the anger overcame the bullied brunette. She had had enough.
"Gloria, no!!" she said sternly, a single fingertip poking her around the shoulder area. She watched in shock as the taller Gloria quickly diminished before her, poofing into a pile of clothing all pooled up on the pavement, she could only make out little squeaks. Holy shit, Lexi thought to herself, I actually shrank someone...
"What the fuck you little whore?!" Gloria squeaked and whined, completely terrified to be covered in her former clothing as if it were a circus tent, she couldn't even make out anything save for the faint light piercing her pullover. "What did you do to me?!"
"Gloria I am SO sorry ... Gloria ... I don't even ..." Lexi would whimper, kneeling down over the clothes. As her hands hovered over them, more sparks of electricity seemed to shower the area, she pulled back and to her surprise, Gloria would snap back to her previous size, although her clothes weren't so lucky. She gasped in shock and covered herself, scooping up her clothes in a futile attempt to save face, screaming as she ran.
Lexi breathed heavily, terrified of her own capabilities and to make matters worse, Josh had seen the whole thing from not so far away.
"...this doesn't prove anything!" Lexi defiantly shouted before running off to meet Rufus and hopefully complete her toughest mission so far.
----------
Leah kept her head down, holding back tears and also anger and confusion as both Maximillian and Joseph led her up what felt like an eternity of steel staircases, each troubling step making a distinct clang on the floor until they reached their destination, a lab up on the top floor. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie with a strange device resembling a larger scale "hungry hungry hippos" glass dome, minus the plastic hippos. There would also be a giant glass tube big enough to house a gorilla ... or a human being.
"Wh-Where are we going?" Leah asked defiantly
"You ... stop the talking" Dr. Max sighed, shaking his head. "This is the testing cite of the new Delta Project"
"Dude, I have no idea what you're talking about" Leah snapped, "And where's my boyfriend?!"
"Hah! Your boyfriend?" Dr. Max laughed mockingly in her face, "did you hear that Joseph? She misses her boyfriend... oh that's cute"
"What are you talking about?!" Leah snapped, tears in her eyes as suddenly a large imposing man in a black coat held her back. "Let go of me!!"
Before the moment could fully reach its head, Justin himself stepped out into view.
"I'm ... I'm sorry, ..." Justin sighed, hanging his head in shame.
"You knew about this?" Leah shook her head in disbelief. The man restraining her almost didn't need to apply any force as Leah's own resolve was quickly vanishing. How could this be possible?
"Knew about it? This was the plan the whole time" Dr. Max scoffed. Joseph Wright appeared to stay neutral on the matter, not agreeing or disagreeing as he just paced around the room, eventually joining his son who both stood there with complicit expressions on their faces. "However, there is just ONE minor detail ... he was SUPPOSED to get the OTHER GIRL!!"
Justin frowned, "...I didn't want the other girl"
"Oh I'm sorry..." Dr. Max rolled his eyes, while another agent in black followed him closely, heading towards Justin's location. "Did I miss the part where this is a dating game?! You didn't WANT her? You wanted bachelorette #2? You wanted what's behind curtain #3? We don't play games, Mr. Wright... this is not a game!"
At this moment, the other security guard would grab Justin by the arm and force him to sit.
"It is ... unfortunate..." Dr. Max would sigh, rolling his eyes as he just watched the two struggle. "I wanted Alexis and I got ... what the hell's your name again?"
"Like I would tell you ..." Leah scoffed
"Her name's Leah..." Justin shouted, "and I really like her ... like a lot..."
"If you like me, you wouldn't have sold me out, you bastard!" Leah screamed, again becoming irrate but unable to act as the large man kept her pinned down to a chair of her own.
"It wasn't like that ...!!" Justin shook his head, tears of his own streaming down.
"Ugh please .. I cannot do it with the emotions ... get the machine ready Dr. Wright..." Dr. Max said
"Uh... Doctor?" Joseph Wright asked, utterly confused
"Am I not saying the words correctly?" Dr. Max asked with an angry scowl, "We saw what the first experiment did to the other subject Alexis Cole ... maybe we have more luck with THIS one...!!"
Leah shook her head nervously, not sure what these men were talking about or why they knew Lexi.
"Sir, you're not suggesting what I think you are..." Joseph muttered
"You rationalize this however you need to, Dr. Wright, all I know is SOMEONE'S going in that machine... perhaps your son, Justin would like to volunteer?" Dr. Max snapped
"I'll go in her place!!" Justin yelled, again restrained by one of Max's goons.
"Ugh, it was a rhetorical question... I hate romantic gestures ... just ... prepare the machine ... we proceed with this one here... this ... Leah ..." Dr. Max said callously.
-------------
The big, burly but ultimately well mannered Rufus would let Lexi out, just inside the entrance of the large and complex Enormo Enterprises. Maybe it was just the weight of the situation but the building looked positively overwhelming, even moreso than her last time inside.
"Thank you so much!" Lexi sighed
"No problem!" Rufus said, "Any friend of Josh is a friend of mine"
"I guess it does help to know people..." Lexi muttered as she ran towards the building but not before seeing a tall Doctor in a white coat loading things into his car. Sure seemed late at night but then again, who knows what kind of crazy hours they work at this insane asylum?
"You!" Lexi shouted out, running over to him. "...you look familiar..."
The Doctor looked at Lexi, seemingly stunned and not necessarily because of her outfit (although that sure didn't help)
"Alexis Cole" Dr. Trevor Hoffnung muttered
"The hell do you know my name?" Lexi asked, her heart racing. "Does this company have me bugged or something? First drones come after my friend Josh, I've got someone feeding me information through a so called secure cell phone line, Dr. what's his face, Maximum, kidnaps my best friend and ..."
"Wait, kidnaps?" Trevor gasped
"Oh, like you don't know ... what else do you guys know about me? My blood type? My favorite pizza? My allergies? Why should I believe anything you say?" Lexi yelled, beginning to become aggressive towards the doctor.
"Because..." Trevor sighed, speaking in as calm a tone as he could, "...everybody could use a little Hope"
"No..." Lexi gasped, shaking her head. Trevor would respond by nodding. "But you're..."
Trevor stopped her for a second, "You'd be surprised what some voice modification can do... and you can call me Dr. Hoffnung"
"This doesn't exactly help me trust you more" Lexi sighed, shaking her head.
"Maybe this will" Trevor said, handing her another packet of Enormo nanites and a keycard.
"What's this?"
"Well, I just realized you have no pockets in that thing but ... the keycard will get you in where you need to go" Trevor sighed, "if that madman is doing what I think he's doing, he has your friend up on the 8th floor..."
"So you've known he's up to this and you've done nothing?!" Lexi asked
"I've kept tabs on him ... I reached out to you privately because quite frankly, I knew what his intentions were and I wanted nothing to do with it ... I fear he got a hold of my private cell phone that I was using to communicate with you but how he got a hold of anyone you know ... I honestly can't tell you, I promise anything we talked about stayed between us"
"I ... I trust you" Lexi sighed, "and there aren't too many trustworthy people left out there"
Trevor sighed and shook his head, "If you want, I can go in there with you"
Lexi shook her head
"I made this mess, I'm going to clean it up" Lexi said determined as she clenched her fists. Trevor couldn't help but smile
"I'm sorry but what are those ... armbands? and the costume... this is what you used the nanites for?" he asked, "I'm not making fun ... I'm just ... intrigued ... and I should warn you... Dr. Max has ..."
"Yeah I already know about the mutant metal hounds or whatever" Lexi sighed
"...He calls them Maximites..." Trevor groaned
"What a narcisisst..." Lexi sighed, rolling her eyes.
With that, the disillusioned Trevor Hoffnung would get into his car, looking up at the building that employed him for well over 15 years and sigh, beginning to back out. Lexi would approach the car and he would open the window to listen to her.
"Wh-Where are you going?" she asked
"Anywhere but here..." Trevor sighed, putting his head down, "I really did have the best interest of science in mind. I can't in good conscience work for this mad man anymore ... I already put my resignation on his desk before this happened and now I'm more confident than ever that I made the right call"
"W-Will I see you again?" Lexi asked, a bit worried
"Possibly ... if you want to ... although quite frankly, you don't look like you could use my help, you're remarkably strong Ms. Alexis Cole" Trevor nodded
"Please. Call me Lexi" she smiled, shaking his hand.
"Lexi then" he nodded, "I wish you the best of luck"
"Thank you Doctor..." she nodded, "for giving me Hope"
He'd nod and smile before pulling away for the final time from Enormo Enterprises' grimy parking lot. Lexi on the other hand was about to enter the belly of the beast.
Giantess World
