"He asked you out?" 

"He asked me out!" Leah exclaimed, almost breaking Lexi's eardrum. 

"...I'm guessing you said yes..." the still very tired and wary Lexi responded 

"Yes!! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Leah giggled, falling on her bed and just sighing in glee, "this is perfect Lexi .. you realize his name is Justin Wright?" 

"Yeah ... what about it?" Lexi shrugged

"He's Mr. Wright, Lexi!" Leah giggled, "he's literally my Mr. RIGHT ... well .. spelled differently but you get the picture" 

"I'm glad you're not jumping ahead here..." Lexi smirked 

"Look he's just really cute and nice and ..." 

"...I know Leah, I just ... I don't want you to get hurt, yknow?" Lexi cautioned

"I know, I know ... it's just a date, we're going to that nice restaurant in the mall tomorrow night but who knows? Maybe he'll ask me to the winter carnival!" Leah exclaimed.

At that moment it was as if a thundercloud had gone off in Lexi's heart. A low rumbling pit of anxiety seemed to open itself up and she felt very rattled. The winter carnival had been a tradition in Miniborough for a number of years. In fact, it was one of the duo's first outings outside the house when they were kids. They loved it there, always begged their parents to play the rigged carny games and ... it was just kind of their thing. That Leah was so quick to want to go with this newcomer, as cute as he may be. That hurt. 

After a long pause that rivaled the one from earlier with the cheerleaders, Leah realized her mistake, her voice got really low. 

"Lex... Lex I'm sorry, I know ... I know we always go to that ... of course ... I'd want you to go" Leah said, her voice sounding truly rattled as well. 

"It's fine ... if he asks you, go with him" Lexi nodded 

"Are you sure?" Leah asked

"I don't know what I am anymore..." Lexi sighed and found herself drifting a bit. 

Her and Leah had near identical positions in their respective beds at this point, arms and legs spread out, eyes up at the ceiling, and yet Lexi found herself riddled with dread and uncertainty while Leah felt a similar spike of energy but in the opposite direction. 

"Lex? You okay?" Leah asked after not hearing from her best friend for several moments. "Lex? Lex?" 

The phone had found its way out of Lexi's hand. She had dozed off for the night, her body on the bed, but her mind off in dreamland and her phone quite literally on the floor. 

"Lex...?" Leah tried one more time before realizing Lexi had likely turned in for the night. "...we'll talk tomorrow, okay? I love you" 

She'd hang up the phone and sigh. 

----

Finally, Lexi thought to herself ... peace and quiet ... this is what I need... just some nice peace and some nice quiet...

Lexi would find herself securing just that in a dark hallway. Normally this would be unsettling but she didn't care. She didn't even mind not knowing how she ended up there. All she knew was, she was alone and at peace. The only thing accompanying her was the very slight sound of her footsteps echoing as she walked. No more drama, no more restlessness, just peace. 

"BANG BANG!!" a loud giggling voice rang out. Lexi leapt about a foot as if she were a frightened kitten

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!! This is fun!!" 

Lexi would look around terrified. The hallway had suddenly opened up but it was still just as dark. The walls were inperceptible, if there even were walls. She tried to find a way out but no matter which direction she meandered to, she'd be faced with an invisible but inpenetrable barrier, her hands desperately banging and clinging for a way out. 

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!" 

She'd look over and see the source of the laughter, a giant brown eye peered in at her, belonging to the woman from the other night. Roxie. 

"You're soooo cute!!" Roxie laughed, looking over her captured prize, the little Lexi in the dark globe of glass. "and when I'm done playing with you? BANG BANG!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!" 

To make matters worse, every time the mischievious youth SAID the words "BANG BANG" it was followed by the actual sound of a gun shooting, something she had been all too close to just 24 hours ago. 

"BANG BANG BITCH!!" 

"Nooooo!!" Lexi would scream, still in bed, dripping with sweat. Her cat Tiny would hastily jump up with her, startled by the noise but wanting desperately to comfort his owner and friend. Lexi would snuggle her orange cat and sob. 

-----

"Lexi ... Lexi, are you okay?" Stacy would ask her usual star employee at the Krazy Kookie shop. Her substitute barista was currently staring vacantly into the coffee brewer rather than being on her toes and acting like her usual energetic self. It wasn't exactly an afternoon rush but it was still troubling to see. 

"Oh? Uh ... yeah, Stace, I'm fine" Lexi mumbled, trying to stay focused while the nightmares continued in her head. 

The sound of gunfire seemed to echo as it traumatized her through the night and while she got some sleep, it wasn't exactly quality. Luckily, a sight that could cheer her up was soon on the way as Chrissy came through the door, she gave Lexi a brief smile before Stacy took her into her office in the back to talk. Lexi returned the grin, knowing what the talk was about. 

Moments later, Chrissy would return and give Lexi a big hug

"I don't know what you did" Chrissy smiled, "But you cleared my name completely" 

"I uh ... of course" Lexi smiled and nodded, opting not to divulge the details of her methods. It wasn't really needed after all. 

During her lunch break, Lexi would check her phone and see a few messages from Leah.

One was a cute gif of 2 teddy bears hugging, the other was one saying "Have a lovely day Lex, love ya <3" and a little bit later was one saying "Wish me luck tonight! I hope I get this Wright hehehe" 

Lexi would grin goofily, leaning on the table while texting her back, 

"Go get em, tiger" 

----

"You came up a bit short this time, Roxie..." a gruff voice on the phone would say, while the tentative Roxie paced about her hideaway, kicking aside some trinkets and things as her heels clacked along the hard wood floors. 

"Well don't look at me, the jewel heist was off to a great start before the Shrink Bitch showed up" Roxie snarled 

"The ... what?" 

"Ugh, the girl in the purple tights, don't you watch the news?" Roxie scoffed 

"I figured that was just a publicity stunt ... I'm not taking some pro wrestler wannabe seriously at this point ... besides that, you were sent in to do a job and I expected it to get done" the man answered, his gruff voice flaring up a little bit as he puffed on a cigar. 

"Yeah yeah, don't worry about it ... I've been good for you before, I'll get it done again ..." Roxie shrugged, leaning on a wall while massaging her dog, Woof on the sides of his furry face. 

"See to it that you do, because this was only a small time client ... I'm going to need you for bigger jobs in the future, so no more fuck ups" 

"Message received..." the unengaged Roxie would respond, one arm wrapped around her mutt, while the other started aiming darts at a dartboard which was affixed crooked on the nearby wall. She'd hit the target right in the center while also balancing her phone on her shoulder. Once the mysterious crime boss had hung up she'd roll her eyes, letting the phone slip off onto a beat-up night stand, "nice guy ... can't imagine why he doesn't get laid more often..." 

With that, Roxie would get up and begin to pace. The ShrinkGirl wasn't a threat to her but she was annoying ... although strangely cute, in a go-getter Saturday morning cartoon kind of way. Still, she could be had. She was weak-minded, silly and basically a non-factor. Next time she'd show no restraint, and heck, she'd probably have some fun with it too. For now though, she was content to flop down on a bean-bag chair as Woof crawled up on her and she'd giggle, giving him little kisses. 

"Who's a good mutt? Who's a good mutt? YOU ARE!!" she'd squeal in delight. 

----

Enormo Enterprises 

Time : 11:45 pm 

A very tired Trevor Hoffnung would be heading down some dimly lit steel stairs to see his boss. He was wearing a thick white lab coat and had a cell phone in the baggy pocket. A cell phone that he would feel vibrate at a certain point. He'd have to let that one go to voicemail though. This was important ... whatever it was. 

Upon descending to the lower levels of the facility, a couple things caught his attention almost immediately. One ... the public restroom was finally fixed and up and running. He honestly thought that would never happen since it wasn't like this was a public area. But more importantly, the lab, or at least one very similar to it was up and running. From it, he could hear the sounds of machinery whirring to life, or perhaps it had already been running for quite some time. 

He'd peek in cautiously, seeing a mug of half finished coffee, a couple petri dishes and a few writing tablets on a white counter. Across from that he would see several metal plates with liquid metal in them. The metal was similar to the nanites they had perfected about a year ago but these seemed different ... they seemed ... alive, almost. 

"What in the world...?" Trevor muttered to himself, but the reprieve wouldn't last long.

For in the doorway stood Dr. Maximillian E. Mumford, determined to make his point heard. 

"Dr. Hoffnung!" the stern Dr. addressed his assistant. Trevor turned around, a bit startled. 

"You've been missing lately ... tardy, even ..." Dr. Max tsked, "You know I do not appreciate the tardiness ..." 

"I'm sorry sir, there's been ... a lot going on ..." Trevor nodded, his hands fidgeting inside his jacket pocket as nerves began to constrain him. 

"There's been a lot going on here too..." the evil Dr. asserted, directing Trevor's attention to the many new "test subjects" on display, all in different containment chambers like something out of a creepy sci-fi movie. "Enormites 2.0 are almost a go ... code named Maximites" 

"S-Seems a little self serving, no?" Trevor commented, "you named them after yourself?" 

"I have been doing the inventing ... I get to do the naming!" the arrogant Dr. quipped, his voice raising yet again as he reached for another sip of his coffee. Trevor sighed and looked at each of the unsettling experiments and the tools around them. This seemed like new technology, even for the usually technologically advanced Enormo Enterprises. 

"And what ... dare I ask is the purpose of this research?" Trevor asked, his own face reflected in the curvature of the glass as he inspected each of the different metallic mutations. 

"This is all new, never anything like it!" Dr. Max asserted, and to Trevor's surprise he'd slide open one of the glass cages, allowing the ... creature? to roam free. It was a fearsome looking thing, despite its size of about 1 foot high. It had makeshift legs and sharp metallic feet, resembling a robotic kangaroo, although its face resembled that of a jagged bird, minus the beak ... in its stead, it would possess steel jaws, akin to buzzsaws. Trevor would back away cautiously.

"Oh, do not be the baby" Dr. Max rolled his eyes, "I've been working with these for the past 2 months! They are yes ... different looking but docile..." 

Trevor wasn't so sure as he watched the now free "attack robot" take a few beleagured steps, its body morphing and changing ever so slightly as it was comprised of the strangest kind of crawling metal anybody had ever seen. It was almost as if it were made of mercury and aluminum at once. 

"Heh, maybe I'll name this one Spike" the evil Doctor joked, but Trevor wasn't in the joking mood, especially as the malignant robot let out a small mechanical growl and leapt off the table, pouncing on Trevor and sending him to the ground, scratching at his jacket with its sharp claw like legs. 

"Shit!! Get it off!! Get it off!!" Trevor cried out, forcibly shoving the creature in the face, smearing his own hands with silver metallic goo in the process but succeeding in jostling the creature off him. He quickly scooted off the ground and stood at the edge of the lab, giving Max a very annoyed glare. "This is not the kind of business we need to be in" 

Max let out an annoyed sigh and pulled a switch. To the robots surprise, a pneumatic tube dropped down and sucked it up, the robot letting out a pathetic screech as it seemed it was being sent through a vacuum, its unstable composition getting whirled up into the tubing and whisked away completely. 

"That experiment ... was not a success..." the annoyed Dr. Max wrote down in his tablet

"REALLY?" Trevor snapped, annoyed as all hell, "You sic one of your creatures on me and that's all you have to say?" 

"I did not do the siccing!" Dr. Max responded angrily, "that one was just .. not well adjusted..." 

"That's one way to put it ... and where did it go anyway? What did you do with it?" Trevor asked

"You let me worry about that ... all is being fine..." Dr. Max replied dismissively, "you go home now, get some rest ... I was going to show you more of my experiments but clearly this has been a traumatic experience for you"

"You think?" the usually calm but now upset Dr. Hoffnung responded, angrily walking out of the lab and heading back upstairs. 

Dr. Max sighed and shook his head. Some people could be so damn sensitive. As if this was the first time one of his experiments went a little haywire. The important thing is, he had been swift to take care of it and the Maximite, as it were called was likely no more trouble at all. 

Speaking of which, at that very moment, a tube leading towards the company's waste disposal would plop a seemingly useless puddle of liquid metal into the steel dumpster. This metal lay dormant for several seconds before reforming and letting out a haunting screech that echoed into the Miniborough night. Indeed, the nightmare wasn't ending. It was only beginning. 

Back inside the lab, Max would step away to make a phone call. 

"Joseph, it's me" Dr. Max said 

"Sir? It's almost midnight" Joseph answered 

"Yeah, I am seeing that ... I am not caring ..." Dr. Max responded, always a tactful boss after all. 

"Okay .. well, how can I help you, sir?" Joseph asked 

"You can help me ... by giving me an update on the project" Max answered, in an annoyed tone of voice. Then again, when wasn't he annoyed? 

"I ... I don't know what to say, sir" Joseph answered

"You say ... what you've found out!" Max snapped, pacing around the lab as he continued the talk, although something now had him distracted. Right in the area where Trevor had been assualted lay a cell phone. But it wasn't his company phone. It was a flip phone ... a very generic one. But why? He'd pick it up and hold onto it while listening to Joseph on the other end of the line. 

"I'm sorry sir, I don't have anything yet ... I'll let you know as soon as I do" the exhausted Joseph responded.  

"Fine Fine ... useless, all of you..." Dr. Max muttered under his breath, although he frankly didn't care who heard. "Just ... give me an update when you can, alright? Goodnight Dr. Wright" 

"Goodnight sir..." the tired Joseph Wright would answer, hanging up his phone. 

At that moment, just as the older Doctor was about to turn for the bedroom his son arrived home. 

"Oh, hi Justin ... how was your date?"