A phone would ring from inside a drawer, and its owner would gasp audibly, as if not expecting this call. Of course they always knew it was a possibility but it would appear the time had come. This person would reach for the phone hesitantly, its ring growing louder as it was removed from the drawer.
On the other end, Lexi stood impatient in her room. This was a big risk she was taking ... she really wanted to have nothing more to do with Enormo Enterprises since they ... well, altered her life, sent a small army of crazy drones after her and her friends and ... well, I mean c'mon, that Mad Max guy? Nuff said.
Still she waited for a few rings, then a few more. She was about to hang up when she heard a quiet female voice answer.
"Hello?"
Lexi paused. Still time to hang up. No.
"H-Hi..." Lexi would nod, clearing her throat briefly as if to disguise her voice for some reason.
"Is this ... Alexis Cole?" the girl on the other end would ask.
Lexi was almost tempted to correct her. After all, she hated her full name, but ... eh.
"Yes, this is uh ... she" Lexi answered nervously. This is she? Who the heck says that?
"Alexis..." the voice would suddenly turn a bit more stern, "Are you okay? Have you felt any ... strange disturbances?"
"Um... no? Maybe?" Lexi answered, not really sure what to disclose and what not to. It was obvious from the tone in the note she had received that this person knew more than a decent amount pertaining to what happened to her. Why hide it? Then again, why reveal it?
"Please..." the woman on the phone would implore, her voice sounding a bit more sincere now, "any details you can offer will..."
"Okay" Lexi said, in an equally stern tone, as if she were to be the one setting the terms of the conversation, "Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes. I have felt ... things..." Lexi gulped, again going back to her awkward self, "I have ... hold on, are we being call monitored? Is this being traced?"
"I promise you this is a private line, Ms. Cole" the lady would reply
"Okay ... because ... uh... never mind" Lexi sighed, tempted to divulge the story about the drones but it was too outlandish to even ponder. Then again, she was about to tell some female scientist that she could shrink so who knows what she'd believe? "...yes I have um... been... um... I don't know the word..."
"My main concern, Alexis... is for your health" the voice would say as calmly as possible, "have you felt woozy? have you had to lay down? is everything ... functioning properly?"
"Ummmmm?" Lexi giggled, but it was a very nervous giggle as she bit her lip, "y-yeah ... I'm ... I'm still me ... a little wooziness here and there but ... no, nothing major..."
"So ... you're fine....?"
"I wouldn't say that either ..." Lexi sighed, "Look, no offense ... what's your name again?"
"Call me Hope"
"No offense, Hope but ... I don't really know you" Lexi sighed
"You called me though" Hope replied
"I ... I did... I was hoping maybe you could ... answer some questions for me?" Lexi asked nervously
"I can try, but you need to help me help you" Hope said in a reassuring tone.
Lexi would nod, pacing the room and even making sure her parents weren't nearby as she eventually settled on her bed.
"I can shrink..." she said very quietly.
"I'm sorry, what did you say, Miss?" Hope asked
"I can shrink!!" Lexi would bark a bit louder before lowering her voice, "I... I can shrink myself ... I can even shrink objects like my clothes ... although it takes an annoying amount of effort ... I can... I'm sorry, you probably think I'm crazy right now"
There was a pause on the other end of the line but it wasn't complete silence. There appeared to be the sounds of writing or maybe even typing coming from the receivers end.
"No, I don't think you're crazy, Ms. Cole" Hope replied, "not at all... I am still concerned for your well being though ... would you be willing to maybe take a few tests? Medical type things? Just to make sure you aren't adversely affected by the ..."
"I'm not doing ANYTHING..." Lexi would say, standing up from the bed and hunching over her phone a bit, as if arguing with a cable company, "...until you give me a little more information on ... what the heck has happened to me! and just what the heck your company even DOES!"
Again, there was a long silence.
"I understand Ms. Cole..." Hope responded, her voice remarkably calm. "The best I can do is provide you some information and maybe something else to help"
"Okay? It's a start I guess?" Lexi responded, sounding understandably skeptical.
"Do you know where Promenade Park is, in East Minitropolis?" Hope asked.
"Ummmm yes?" Lexi nodded along, "Don't tell me you're going to say to go to the tree in the park and find ..."
"Of course not, Ms. Cole..." Hope would respond very matter of factly, "that would be foolish"
"Okay good, because..."
"You're going to go to the park ... and check the trash receptable at the western most point in the park ... 3rd from the entrance if you're coming in from 6th boulevard..."
"What is happening to my life right now?" Lexi would audibly groan.
"I'd be happy to meet you in person, of course" Hope would offer another option
"No! No that's okay ... I'll just ... do the park thing, I guess... should I wear like a black hood or ... what?" Lexi would ask, exliciting a small chuckle from the girl on the other line.
"Just ... come to the park around noon tomorrow if you can, the information will be there. If anything comes up, call me"
At that point, the call would terminate, leaving a very confused Alexis Cole on the other end.
"What have I gotten myself into....?" Lexi would ask herself
Early that next morning Josh would be asking himself that same question,
"What have I gotten myself into...?" Josh asked, deeply engaged in a game of D&D online
"Josh ... you ever wanna do more than just like ... hang out and play video games?" Lexi asked from behind him while laying across a beanbag chair he had on the floor of his dorm room.
"Well yeah, but I have class soon and you said you wanted to talk to me about something, so what's up?" he'd ask
"Actually, I wanted to ask you a couple things" Lexi would nod, sitting up a bit, "You haven't ... heard anything more from Enormo, right? No more weird drones or lasers or ... anything?"
"Oh son of a bitch!" Josh would exclaim, having just lost a battle to a terrible ogre, "Oh... sorry ... um... no, not really, why? I'm also good about staying off the grid if I have to"
"Surprisingly, I believe that..." Lexi would smirk, "So much so, I need to ask you if you have a ..."
"Oh yes!! I rolled a 20!"
"...a police scanner..." the confused Lexi would finish her sentence.
"A police scanner?" Josh asked
"Yeah, I know ... kinda weird..." Lexi would sigh, turning away, "just forget I asked, I'm sure you don't ..."
To that Josh would slide open a drawer under his monitor while he gamed and slide out a few options, "you looking for a 2103 or a 2017-rx? I find you get better reception with the rx but the 2103 is less likely to be detected and has better range ... really, it's all about what you believe on the consumer reports, because they're saying the new 2209 is supposed to be ..."
"Wait wait wait wait wait..." the flustered Lexi would interuppt, "you just HAVE police scanners?"
"I've got like 7 of them" Josh would shrug, "I know people"
"Should I be concerned?" Lexi would ask, taking one of the scanners
"I don't know, should I?" Josh asked, finally closing his game, "not everyday someone asks me for one ..."
"I just ... I'm worried about my parents, and Leah's" Lexi sighed, "There's been a huge crime spike recently and if I can even get a hint of trouble, I'd like to..."
"I'm gonna stop you there" Josh said, "I've been meaning to ask you something myself"
"Oh?"
"Just hear me out here ..." Josh would take a deep breath before asking, "Are you ... a superhero?"
Lexi would blink, a bit dumbfounded.
"I mean ... no..." Lexi nervously chuckled, "no more so than any of us are heroes in our own right or whatnot"
"Well I just ... I mean, you've got the perfect backstory for it" Josh exclaimed
"Oh please not the science lab accident thing again..." Lexi groaned
"You were involved in a science lab accident..."
"ALLEGEDLY!" Lexi interjected
"...you somehow defeated ALL those drones by yourself" Josh would continue, ignoring her.
"Hey, you helped!" Lexi nodded, "let's not forget you helped!"
"Yeah after you used your superpowers on them!"
"Josh, I don't have super powers, I don't... have ... any of that stuff.." Lexi would say but something in her statement felt weird as her voice wavered. In her heart, she knew comics and the such were make believe but she HAD used her powers to help her friend out. She had also been using her powers intermittently to stop some petty thefts. Maybe she WAS a superhero? No, that's ridiculous. Random college aged girls don't become superheroes. They also don't shrink out of their clothes and chase down cookie thiefs masquerading as a tiny conscience.
"Eh, maybe you're right" Josh would shrug, suddenly dropping the point altogether, "but hey if you ever need anything else, feel free to ask"
"Th-Thanks Josh, I ... I will... and thanks again for the scanner" Lexi would smile.
As for Lexi herself, she was late for a date with destiny ... well, actually her name was Hope. Actually ... just never mind.
A short time later, Lexi would find herself at the Promenade Park, a few dollars poorer from having taken some Uber rides and she'd scour the park while also trying not to look too weird as the public place was littered with people. Kids who would be climbing up on the monkey bars and said parents trying to corral said kids. She'd pass the small fountain in the center of the park and smile.
Minitropolis, or at least parts of it, really could be beautiful if you really just took a second to stop and look and listen ...
"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, BITCHEZ?!!!" a cackling biker girl would broadcast, blazing down the adjacent road with reckless abandon as 1 cop car became 2 and quickly 3, all in pursuit of her as she weaved down a nearby dark alleyway.
"I'm sorry the kids had to see and hear that..." Lexi would think to herself before realizing the appearance and sound of the reckless biker chick pretty much matched that of her mom's assailant, as well as the one who caused so much injury -- and maybe even death -- in the city not too long ago.
As she pursued this information from Hope, she couldn't help but feel like it was somehow her duty to take this on. Maybe Josh was right ... maybe Leah was right about the police not being equipped to stop this threat. But was she? A random college aged girl who had been exposed to a lab accident? Oh great, it's turning into a superhero backstory, isn't it?
Mumbling to herself, Lexi would reach the desired location and peek inside.
"Really? All the way at the bottom?" she'd think to herself, noticing a lone packet of papers and ... something else buried deep in the trash can. She'd reluctantly reach down and seize the packet before scurrying off.
"Mommy, did that girl just reach into the trash?" a little kid would ask from a bench.
"Yup. I'm a real hero..." the young Alexis Cole thought to herself.
Giantess World
