Out of the corner of her eye, Lexi noticed an orange streak of lightning make its way out of the locker room, likely heading back towards the auditorium. Roxie saw it too, but chose to largely ignore it.
"Worst case scenario..." Roxie shrugged, walking right past Lexi and heading to Chrissy, "Blondie here is my bargaining chip to get out of here"
"Don't you ... dare touch her" Lexi snarled
"Awwww, is she your girlfriend?" Roxie giggled, "Seems I've struck a nerve ... I will agree she's cute but ..."
Lexi would dive at Roxie now, no longer caring about the detonator because she saw an opportunity to get it as Roxie yammered on. She'd tackle the chatty supervillain to the floor and the two would struggle as the detonator rolled to Chrissy's ankle who struggled to move closer towards it, her arms and legs still bound up.
"Nice to see you have some edge to you, Shrink Gal" Roxie smirked, dodging a punch from Lexi that would cause the superheroine to injure her hand on the cold concrete, leaving a noticeable red bruise. "Seems you've been practicing since our last go round, you even upgraded your gear a bit ... respect."
"Wish I could say the same" Lexi grunted, rolling onto her side as Roxie kicked her in the groin, sending her down in a loud groan of pain. As she watched Roxie stepping towards the bomb, she could only try to line her body up so that what she was about to do would work, firing the G from her belt like a grappling hook but this time she was aiming to use it more as fishing wire, as she hooked Roxie around the boots, disabling the usually agile Roxie.
With that, Lexi would unhook the belt buckle from herself to keep Roxie restrained while heading over to Chrissy briefly, "We will get this off you ... I just need ... some ... uh ... bolt cutters?"
Roxie would let out a hearty, if not maniacal giggle, "Bolt cutters?! HA HA HA HA HA!! Listen to this one, it's almost like you have ZERO experience disarming a bomb!! Bolt cutters would cut your friend in half before you even did anything to the circuitry in the bomb!"
Lexi rolled her eyes, standing up with Chrissy and trying to get her out of the locker room, careful to make sure she also took the detonator with her.
"C'mon ..." Lexi sighed, "the police are here ... surely one of them will have a way..."
"Heh, turning yourself in, huh?" Roxie giggled, still on the ground and writhing to try to escape as Lexi held the detonator. "Always detested your honesty but hey, you do you!"
Lexi again would roll her eyes even if she did see some truth in what Roxie was saying. She was pretty much about to surrender herself to a swarm of angry Mini Troop who had already begun making arrests on the thugs that held the auditorium hostage.
As she arrived back in the auditorium she noticed the tiny Sugar Rush hovering at her.
"Don't you DARE activate that thing!" Sugar squeaked, referring to the bomb remote in Lexi's hands.
Lexi made a "hands up" motion, keeping the detonator up in the air for a moment to show Sugar she meant no harm.
Unfortunately someone else did.
"Yoink!" Roxie giggled, snagging the detonator from Lexi's hands.
"Roxie, this isn't what we agreed on!" Sugar squeaked, hovering angrily about
Roxie gave her a bit of a careless shrug
"Buyer Beware" Roxie giggled, about to flick the floating Sugar out of the sky. Lexi shook her head with concern and dove in the air, shrinking in the process and driving Rush out of the way, sending them both down towards the floor, the impact injuring them both further but doing greater damage to Sugar Rush's elaborate system of jet packs as her arm started sparking as she stood up.
"I can handle myself, Lexi" Rush growled a bit
"I'm on your side!" Lexi sighed
"Nobody's on my side ... and I could care less about the other bomb she has, but I don't want my mom to die, as much as I claim to dislike her..." Sugar Rush declared
"...Wait. Other bomb?" Lexi asked, before looking up to see the menacing face of Roxie glaring at them both.
The police began to close in on Roxie yet again, reminiscent of the Winter Carnival fiasco from about 6 months prior. This time though, Roxie had some negotiating power as she had previously mentioned and she intended to use it. Without hesitation she clicked a button, triggering a countdown of 10 minutes which started on Chrissy's bomb as it was strapped to her still by pretty sturdy wiring.
"Uh uh uh..." Roxie taunted as the cops came in closer, "You want her to die?"
Roxie grabbed Chrissy and spun her around so the encroaching police could see the red flashing numbers as the ticked down. They groaned as their leader, Sonia Sanderson shook her head, instructing them to put their weapons down.
"Very good" Roxie giggled, then shoving the bound up blonde to the floor and making a break for the exit.
The police were swift to pursue, except for one who could only keep her focus downwards.
"Rachel, what do you mean, other bomb?" Lexi squeaked, her mind overrun with anxiety as she had Roxie getting away, another potential threat and the impending countdown on Chrissy's bomb. Sugar Rush simply glared at her, "Look, I want to help you but we have to help each other... I'm on your side!!"
"You're not on anyone's side!" Rush retorted, pointing her arm cannon in Lexi's direction, "And I'm not on anyone's either!"
"Look, you can trust me..." Lexi sighed, "just please ... tell me where the other bomb is!"
Sugar Rush sighed, looking a bit aggravated if nothing else. She opened her mouth as if to reveal something but a loud thud silenced her. The same thud silenced Lexi as 2 overturned glass tubes trapped each of the tiny young women.
"What the fuck?!" Sugar Rush shrieked, struggling futilely to break through the glass prison as a police officer scooped it up. The glass containing Lexi was picked up by none other than officer Sonia Sanderson herself. "You set me up you bitch!!"
"Rachel!! I swear...!!" Lexi grunted, in her own predicament now as she was trapped and watching any chance of victory fade with each step that Roxie took out of the auditorium. "Sonia!!"
"Alexis Cole..." Sonia Sanderson sighed, holding the glass steady, "It gives me no pleasure to do this but you are officially under arrest!"
"No! You don't understand!" Lexi squeaked, tears streaming down her eyes, "This is ... this is my fault, you're right .. but ... if you don't let me go... I can't stop Roxie!"
"We have our police on that right now ... she won't escape the campus, there's a perimeter all around the block" Sonia replied in a terse tone of voice
"B-But there's another bomb!! And Chrissy!!" Lexi sputtered, "please!! I know I probably don't deserve it but give me a chance!! Please... Pl-Pl-Please...."
Lexi's squeaks and cries soon faded as she fell to her knees. She knew in her heart she deserved this. She just felt even worse if something happened to Chrissy on top of everything else as part of her recklessness. She didn't say another word but found herself being placed down as the police officer securing Sugar Rush had her tucked safely into a duffel bag within a police cruiser parked just outside.
Lexi looked up, a bit confused.
"Go" Sonia sighed
"Y-You sure?" Lexi asked
Sonia rolled her eyes, seeming a bit pissed but she gently tapped the glass with her boot to knock it over, giving Lexi her freedom back. Lexi looked back, a hint of confusion but also gratefulness on her tiny face. Sonia simply gestured with her eyes in the direction that Roxie had gotten off to. Lexi would grow back and notice the police officers working on Chrissy, trying very hard to get the bomb off before it could detonate as a bomb squad was brought in.
Lexi was tempted to see how it all played out, but she doubted she had friends on the force, aside from Sonia herself.
Roxie simply giggled in glee as she strutted about Miniborough University campus, holding tightly onto the remote detonator which showed 2 different countdowns now. The screams of the innocent and the increasing presence of the police didn't seem to phase her as she almost seemed to have an extra hop in her step.
"Freeze!" a Mini Troop officer protected by a large bulletproof shield shouted, popping out from behind a formation of foliage. Roxie mockingly put her hands up.
"Awwww shoot, you got me" Roxie giggled, her fingers still dancing around the buttons of the detonator, "y'know it would be a shame if somebody were to ... set these bombs off now"
The officer narrowed his eyes as he glared at the smug young criminal.
"That's what I thought..." Roxie smirked, unholstering a pistol and going for the officer regardless of the shield. Before she could get a shot off though she'd be tackled by the adrenaline fueled Lexi who delivered a swift flying kick, causing the officer to groan a bit since he no longer wanted to aim his gun since another civilian was involved.
Rather than go off on another ballistic verbal barrage, Roxie simply readjusted her pistol to shoot at Lexi in the temple, which would've struck head on if Lexi hadn't quickly shrunk.
"That is getting SERIOUSLY annoying" Roxie snarled, trying to stomp on the small ShrinkGirl while the police officer stayed studied on her, trying to get a good shot in while she was distracted. The officer didn't exactly LIKE ShrinkGirl, he only knew of her from the tabloids and various rumors he had heard on the force. But for better or worse, he was finding her helpful.
Carefully observing the scene through his scope, he'd try to find the best non-fatal place to shoot the vixen as she thrashed about. Roxie, more focused on her now tiny prey would simply stomp a boot dangerously close to the bug sized Lexi to stun her and then glare down.
"End of the road Shrinks..." Roxie giggled
BANG!!
Lexi winced, rolling a bit to look up and notice Roxie wounded, having been shot in the shoulder. In the process she'd watch as the building sized detonator came crashing down near her, the compact superheroine curling up a bit to avoid being smushed. The officer would be quick to come over to Roxie and apply handcuffs although Roxie would have an interesting reaction to her impending incarceration.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!" she'd laugh maniacally despite the burning pain and the discomfort of the handcuffs, "You got the wrong gal! But then again, you guys aren't the brightest bulbs in the ... ouch... bunch!!"
Lexi glared down at Roxie as she grew back, a bit of a smug smirk of satisfaction on her face as she watched the woman get handcuffed and pulled up off the ground by the Mini Troop Officer.
"Take her away" Lexi muttered
The officer gave her a bit of an annoyed look
"Y'know, you're not exactly on our favorite persons list either..." the gruff officer stated, more focused on keeping Roxie in front hf him as he walked her towards a police cruiser.
Lexi was about to respond but thought better of it. At this point, her sometimes hasty mouth had gotten her into more trouble than it was worth, and she still had a bomb to stop ... and possibly more. She'd notice the 2 countdowns on the detonator -- the one that represented Chrissy's bomb was down below 2 minutes now. She gulped audibly and ran as fast she could back to the auditorium.
"Please remain calm..." a member of the bomb unit told the trembling Chrissy as they were very careful to cut one of the wires that kept the bomb fastened to her wrist. Lexi cautiously walked in, holding the detonator which she would bring over to officer Sanderson.
"Did you stop Roxie?" Sonia asked
"With help from one of your men, yes ... she's been placed under arrest ... I have the detonator but ..." Lexi stuttered, "I... I don't know how to stop it"
"It ... can't be stopped" Sonia sighed, "our people are doing the best they can, they should have it disarmed..."
"But what about the other one?" Lexi asked, worriedly, as the crowd would hear a click, holding their collective breath. The light on the detonator would momentarily dim and the bomb, which had been fastened around Chrissy's arms, clanked harmlessly onto the ground. Lexi let out the biggest sigh of relief but still noticed the other countdown continuing, approaching under 3 minutes.
"We have our crews searching with bomb sniffing dogs but nothing has turned up ... there doesn't seem to be another bomb in this building..." Sonia stated, trying to sound as calm as possible but she was understandably rattled as well.
Lexi thought for a few moments when it dawned on her. She knew where the other bomb was.
Without wasting much time, the anxiety driven Lexi dashed her way up towards the upper row of bleachers where her backpack dwelled and pulled out her cell phone. She didn't have much time.
Not too far away at the Krazy Kookie, a bored Mara remained sitting at the counter, holding a pastry and a can of whipped cream which she'd grasp in each hand as if putting on a puppet show.
"But Mara..." Mara said in a high squeaky voice, as if playing the voice of the pastry, "you don't deserve to be here all alone..."
"Eat me, Mara" the red haired playful elf would continue, voicing the strangely manly voice of the whipped cream bottle
"I already told you..." Mara sighed, "if I eat you, I get in trouble"
"Nobody has to know ..." the whipped cream can, also voiced by Mara would proclaim proudly in its demanding masculine tone.
Mara's green eyes darted each other as if to survey the situation and she raised the can up to her mouth, with every intention to fill her gullet. She then felt a vibration and yelped a bit, reaching for her cell phone.
"Oh hiya Lexi luv, how's the cheerleader thingy?" Mara asked
"Not exactly ideal ... Mara, look. You've gotta get out of there" Lexi said
"Hmm? Wh-Why?" Mara asked, "Y-You're not watching me, are you? Because I swear, I was going to clean all this up"
"What?" a confused Lexi asked before staying on track, "No!! No!! Mara, listen ... there's a bomb in the building! I don't know where it is but you have ... a minute and 37 seconds to get out of there"
"Y-You're serious, huh?" Mara asked, suddenly worried as she put the whipped cream and pastry down, looking around her surroundings and taking a few slow steps forward.
"Mara, please" Lexi gulped nervously, "Get out of there"
"Wait..." Mara said bluntly, "I think I can hear it..."
"Mara, please..." Lexi cried, "there's no time to be a hero ... get out of there, and get anyone else out of there!"
"Oh there's nobody here" Mara shrugged, still surveying the area for the bomb which she suspected was somewhere under the floorboards. Somebody very tiny would've had to have gotten it under there without being noticed. "I ... think I know where it is, Lex"
"Mara!!" Lexi whined, the timer coming down under 20 seconds now
"Oh alright, alright..." Mara sighed, surprisingly non-chalant for somebody who's life was in danger.
Lexi remained on the phone, her heart racing as she didn't hear anything from Mara and could only watch helplessly as the timer counted down on the detonator.
"Mara?" Lexi asked in a worried and high pitched tone. The next sound she would hear on the phone was a crackling BOOM and the sound jostled the auditorium even.
Lexi began to weep, still not hearing anything but a bit of rustling.
"S-Sorry about that" Mara smirked, taking her phone out from inside her top, "had you in my boobs for a second there ... well, not literally ... although how wild would that be?"
Lexi let out a relieved giggle, "Mara... fuck .. don't scare me like that again"
"Hey, I owe you big time, luv" Mara smirked, "B-But how did you know?"
"J-Just a hunch..." Lexi sighed
But how DID she know? It took her some time, but it seemed other than the cheerleading regionals, Sugar would stand the most to gain from blowing up anything that reminded her of her mother's cookie recipe, the thing that got her into the ordeal in the first place. That would be one clue but another would be Roxie's wording from earlier in the night when she threatened to "blow up the competition" ... The Krazy Kookie's impending competiton would of course be the "Kekse" cookie shop that was being built right across the way. Roxie likely didn't have a dog in the fight but the fact that she had a packet of the KEKSE cookies on her meant that she at least had some contact with someone from there. It was a shot in the dark, but one that paid off in this case.
-----
"...and that's how it happened..." Lexi sighed, sitting across from a woman as she twiddled her thumbs, trembling in her seat.
"I uh ... huh..." the perturbed therapist sighed, "I ... honestly don't know what to say ..."
"J-Just promise me..." Lexi sighed, laying her head in her hands, "That what we talk about is confidential..."
Dr. Sheila Hillenbrandt made a couple notes on her scratch pad before nodding. Her demanor was a bit methodical and some may even say cold, but she did have a caring look in her eyes as she had listened to the young and frightened Alexis Cole recount the whole ordeal that led to the "demise" of Rachel Rutschmann.
"It will stay between us" Dr. Hillenbrandt said, "and ... even though I'm not an attorney, I don't think what you did, no matter how outlandish, qualifies as murder"
"S-So you do believe me?" Lexi asked hesitantly
"To say things have been a bit unusual lately would be an understatement" Dr. Hillenbrandt said, tweaking her glasses, "...but it all kind of adds up now ..."
Lexi nodded, still looking disturbed as she tried to shake the endless guilt she was undergoing. She muttered something softly to the doctor, something that Sheila had to lean in to hear.
"Is... R-Rachel okay?"
"I ... honestly don't know" Dr. Hillenbrandt responded, "She was transferred to a high security facility last I knew... unfortunately, nobody's saying much about the situation... but she seems to be in stable condition, all things considered..."
"I would give anything..." Lexi sighed, almost breaking into tears again, "to help her grow back again... I think I could do it, I just ..."
The kindly doctor finally broke her usually stoic appearance, a sincere frown crossing her face as Lexi's words trailed off into melancholy sobs.
-----
Some time earlier, a smirking blonde stared down proudly at the carnage she had wrought, as a Mini Troop police cruiser was crackling and burning like a campfire after having run into a tree. The young woman, Roxanne Wright was no worse for wear, her cheeks a bit dinged up, not to mention the sharp shooting pain through her shoulder. She'd walk it off though. This wasn't her first time being shot.
"Poor bastard..." Roxie smirked, watching the police cruiser finally detonate as she walked away victorious, a single handcuff around her wrist while the other dangled like some kind of charm bracelet. "All in all, not my best work ... but that's okay ... time to call the boss man"
Roxie would shrug non-chalantly after having committed yet another homicide to escape, propping her cell phone up around her shoulder and after a long delay hearing a click. The line was fairly silent until a deep voice came over it.
"...Roxie? I told you not to call this number..." the gentleman on the other end said.
Normally Roxie would be a bit more fiery in her response but she was understandably spent.
"Yeah ... look boss man, I'll keep this quick ... I'm gonna need double my usual rate and maybe some super strong painkillers to get me by for a few days... I'd say all in all it's the least you could do" Roxie shrugged, as if ordering a pizza.
Again, the line remained silent, although Roxie could hear strange noises in the background. Then again this guy was always a bit strange and that was putting it mildly.
"N-Now ... is not a good time..." the mysterious gentleman responded as Roxie could hear sounds of struggle and some kind of electrical interference, "...I told you to run any kind of financial requests through Biggs anyway"
"Whatevs" Roxie sighed, "good luck with your science project or whatever"
With that, the careless blonde would toss her cell phone, she had about 2 dozen of them anyway, and make her way home after an eventful night of chaos and carnage.
-----
Lexi, on the other hand had had enough chaos for one lifetime. She came home from her therapy appointment at least feeling a little better. Sometimes it helped to just get the burden off of herself. It had been about a week since the terrorist attack at the cheer regionals. She had tried to call Chrissy but to little avail. The whole experience left her blonde friend understandably rattled.
Still, the young superheroine, who had completed her first year of college somewhat successfully (hey a 2.87 GPA isn't the worst, right?) decided she deserved a treat and so she found her way into the kitchen, fishing out a creamsicle and heading upstairs.
Lexi curled up on her bed as her cat Tiny joined her, a goofy grin on her face as she took a small bite of her creamsicle. She was about to settle into a more restful state when a knock on the door startled her. Standing in the threshold of her bedroom were her parents and they looked gravely concerned.
"Is... everything okay?" Lexi asked, looking back
"Lexi ... we need to talk"
Giantess World
