"Can you believe she said that though, for real?" Lexi tsked with disdain as she visually inspected her choice of outfit, a purple tank top to go over the white t-shirt she was currently wearing as she tilted her body in the mirror to have a look, offering a shrug of approval in her own reflection, "a publicity stunt? me? I mean, okay I'm not perfect but..."
"Lex... I get it..." Leah said, on the other end of the phone, as she tried to juggle it amidst the chaos currently going on with her own life as she had 2 classes that were scheduled way too close together and so she'd be in the mad sprint trying to get to that second class on time, all while attempting to console her best friend, "but wasn't it you who told me, you can't worry about the haters, yknow? Haters gonna hate hate hate hate..."
"I'm pretty sure you just got that from Taylor Swift" Lexi said with a degree of snark, finally settling on a jean skirt as she finished packing up, already running late,
"No, no I think that was you" Leah said with a nervous grin, nodding politely as a girl in front of her was holding the door open so she could get into the campus building, "L-Look Lexi, I get that it's frustrating, I do... but ... oh hey"
"Hmm?"
"Sorry, Alex was just saying hi" Leah replied
"Alex?"
"Guy from my social studies class" Leah shrugged, getting herself settled into the class, having made it in with a few minutes to spare
"Oooh, spill. Is he cute?" Lexi asked, sitting on her bed and putting pink socks on
"I don't know ... not really" Leah shrugged with indifference, "Look. I know what you're trying to do ..."
"You do?" Lexi answered hesitantly
"Lex I've known you practically my whole life ... you're trying to distract yourself with stuff to detract from whatever you're worrying about but in terms of your ... yknow, thing" Leah paused, trying not to be too public about the fact that her best friend was a superhero. "You do a lot of good .. for real ... it doesn't matter what what's her face thinks... she doesn't own you"
"Th-Thanks Leah..." Lex would say with a half smirk, "I ... I gotta go, I got Chrissy giving me a ride in a few"
"Oh cool ... yeah, I should get stuff ready for class myself..." Leah said, opening her book with one hand while reaching for pens with another and keeping her phone precariously balanced on her shoulder, "maybe we could have a study session or something soon?"
"I'd like that" Lexi smiled.
----------
"For fucks sake" an irate Roxie would exclaim, just about to chuck a lamp across the room for fun before deciding against it at the last second, just clutching it in her gloved hand for a second while her ungloved hand had a flip phone in it, "what do you mean 'not good enough'?"
"I'm just relaying to you what our client said ..." Byron Biggs elaborated on the phone, "they don't believe its authentic..."
"Then why don't you send this supposed client over HERE?" Roxie retorted, slumping herself up and out of her beanbag chair while pressing her face closer to the phone receiver, "so I can give them an authentic punch in the face?"
"Handling this like a true professional, I see..." Byron reponded with a tone of derision in his gravely voice
"You and I both know I'm not professional in any sense of the word" Roxie rolled her eyes, "except maybe the fact that I accept cash money as payment... although I'd also settle for a degree of human suffering..."
The reckless vixen would flop back down on the beanbag chair, while a pause lingered on the other end of the phone line. She'd grab a gun off the barrel that served as an end table for her rigged up set and shoot a bullet into the air, watching in amusement as speckles of dry wall showered around her, "Okay ... if that wasn't good enough, we need to go straight to the source"
"You mean?"
"You got any better ideas, chief?" Roxie shrugged, pointlessly aiming the gun around with an eye closed and her tongue slightly extended out of her blood red painted lips, not intending to shoot but just enjoying the sensation of lining up a prospective target
"It's possible ..." Byron conceded, "we could probably pull the operation off as soon as tonight, I'd just have to take some men off the Drexler district... I can trust you to lead this?"
"Psh, yeah right..." Roxie shrugged, "I ain't risking this pretty face on that bullshit ... and I don't get out of bed for less than 6 figures ... send Pyro and the new girl ... lord knows she's been itching to get some action"
"You sure that's wise?" Byron asked
"Since when is ANYTHING we do wise?" Roxie chuckled, only showing a sign of real human emotion while scritching the belly of her aggressive but friendly German shepherd, Woof. "Now, are we done here?"
"I suppose..." Byron sighed, "I agree with you that the client is being unreasonable but for what they're paying, we kind of have to make them happy"
"Happiness is overrated" Roxie shrugged, bopping her head along to a song only she could hear.
----
Lexi would get into Chrissy's car and let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't kept her friend waiting too long, having seen her just pull up only a few moments before she made her way down, double and triple checking to make sure she had everything before boarding Chrissy's powder blue Toyota. She'd smile upon seeing Chrissy in her white shirt and green apron although Chrissy didn't seem to return the smile. She had a much more demure appearance even when usually seeing Lexi would cheer her up no matter what.
"H-Hey Chrissy, thanks again for the ride" Lexi said, whipping herself into the front seat and getting comfy. She noticed that Chrissy remained silent, even as she started driving. Something was definitely off, "You okay?"
"I ... I don't know..." Chrissy sighed, "Everything at the mall was just so ... awful... and ... Rachel... I haven't heard from her since..."
"Well it was still only a couple days ago and she's probably got a lot on her mind, having to reset all her cards and stuff..." Lexi nodded, still feeling the guilt from letting the main criminal get away.
"Yeah ... I don't know ... it's not just her... I'm worried about you Lex ..." Chrissy said
"Me? I mean I'm flattered but why?" Lexi asked
"W-Well just ... seeing what you did, or tried to do..." Chrissy said, not sure how to address it, "I mean at one point I thought you actually ... yknow... died... I mean that chandelier looked like it fell right on you... and ... I mean, it's great that you wanna help your friends but ... that was just ... super scary ... for everybody"
"I know" Lexi sighed, and while she was understandably spooked by the experience herself, it was becoming more and more commmon for her to be thrown into life threatening situations so perhaps her heartrate had regulated when it came to that. A scary thought to be sure but her anxiety had definitely ebbed compared to her "early" hero days.
"But yeah ... no..." Chrissy shook her head, trying to regain that usual southern charm and confidence that people knew her for, "There's nothing to fret over, I suppose ... although seeing Trent again wasn't a big help ... he still won't leave me alone..."
Lexi frowned, "I wish I could help with that somehow..."
"It's fine ... you don't need to ... just ... do me a favor and don't dive under anymore chandeliers" Chrissy joked, driving by her job briefly so that she could drop Lexi off closer to the academic building's parking lot.
"You got a deal" Lexi smiled, hopping up a bit to give Chrissy a long hug before making her way out of the car, "thanks again for the ride ... I hope to have my own car soon"
"You ever consider just ... living on campus?" Chrissy suggested, "may be a bit extra but you save on travel and all that, plus you'd be right near Leah and everyone"
"I have considered it and likely ... yeah" Lexi nodded, "it's in the cards"
"Well anyways ... gotta go ... thanks for the pep talk ... see ya girl" Chrissy smiled, slowly pulling away.
Lexi would take a moment to feel some actual peace for once. She wasn't happy about what had been happening. She was angry that Cindy Rutschmann wrote her off so easily, even moreso because she was the one who asked her for help in the first place. Plus the whole incident with Rachel, plus just various worries going on. She had to get to class though, she was already running late and couldn't afford to miss too much more time.
Lexi's emotional peace was unfortunately short lived though as she noticed a single police cruiser parked on the cul de sac which was across from the building she needed to get into.
"Not more criminal activity..." Lexi thought although she did notice the cruiser's lights were off. It was possible an officer had just stopped there for something but this was really the first time she'd seen a police car (and not a campus police car) on campus since ...
"Ms. Alexis?" a gruff voice stopped her, having rolled the window down. This person had definitely been waiting for her.
Lexi would turn, not sure how to react. Sure enough, the brown eyes staring out at her would belong to none other than Officer Sonia Sanders. Lexi would stand there for a moment or two, awkwardly clutching books to herself before making a shrug and nervous smile as if to say "who, me?" Sonia didn't care for that as she rolled her eyes and made a motion to call the young woman closer.
Lexi would of course comply, not wanting any more trouble with anyone. To this point, aside from some initial hiccups she hadn't really dealt with the police too much in any bad way.
Sonia let out a bit of a sigh. It was hard to tell if it was one of relief or annoyance or just ... a sigh.
"Alexis..." Sonia sighed
"Lexi" Lexi gulped, hoping she might lighten the mood
"Whatever." Sonia said strictly. Apparently mood lightening was not on the table, "Look ... I know that you're trying to do the right thing. I get that you want to use your ... whatever for good but ... I warned you and I was pretty clear about it ..."
"I haven't done anything wrong though" Lexi whimpered
"Officially? No. But let's just say my sargeant and many others don't take too kindly to vigilantes ... and it doesn't help that you're going viral" Sonia replied
"How so?"
Sonia would pull up her cell phone real quick and show Lexi shaky blurry footage from the Mini Mall incident. The footage was taken from a spectactor who had been standing maybe 50 feet or so from the chandelier crash and had their camera pointed fairly well at the action to show the chandelier falling, Lexi seemingly disappearing and then reappearing to be able to fight the criminal again. Lexi gulped
"Yeah ...." Sonia sighed, "and I also know you trespassed at least once on the Enormo Eastside construction project in the woods"
"Oh ... well..." Lexi stammered, not even feeling too bad about that one but still.
"Look, as long as you don't hurt anybody, I'm not really looking to write you up or anything ... it's just that lately... we've been taking in a number of distraught criminals describing some bizarre stuff" Sonia explained
"Bizarre like?"
"Bizarre like somebody shrinking before their eyes or even shrinking THEM" Sonia snapped, "Now I don't know what you're capable of ... I took you at your word that you're a good person"
Lexi simply nodded at the last statement rather than verbally confirm to avoid any kind of escalation.
"But you need to lay low for a while ... people are questioning you and not just the police ... people are going to find out who you are, what you're doing ... they may not know HOW you're doing it ... heck, I don't know how you're doing it, but I'm just telling you ... please ... lay ... low" Sonia warned again, "now I'm sure you have class or something so just ... yeah ... remember what I told you ... because I'm probably not going to be able to protect you next time"
Lexi nodded humbly and walked away, mouthing the words "thank you" to the officer. Even though she was still a bit afraid and understandably so after the encounter, she hadn't been deterred as much as one would think. So maybe she wouldn't seek out trouble but that doesn't mean she'd stop responding if trouble came around.
Sonia shook her head, fearing that very same thing. She already knew this wouldn't be the last she'd hear or see of Alexis Cole. She just hoped the next time wouldn't be on the front page.
------------
Lexi stayed at home that night, getting some rare studying in as her cat Tiny occasionally brushed up against her leg. She'd pause only briefly to ruffle the fur on his underbelly before attempting to get back into it. Occasionally her phone would vibrate on the desk nearby and she'd have to fight the temptation to look. Leah was busy working on her home ec project and Chris was off ... doing Chris things, so who was it that seemed to keep trying to reach her?
No.
She wouldn't have time. She needed to study ... God knows this philosophy stuff was tough enough on its own.
"But really, what IS tough??" Lexi would think to herself in a bit of a facetious tone, something she did anytime she tried to dissect Philosophy to any degree.
Finally on the 4th vibration, Lexi could resist no longer. Maybe it was Chris. He knew Philosophy after all. Maybe he had some kind of Philosophy Sense and could tell she was having trouble reading through the dense text. While Lexi got her phone, Tiny decided to turn it into an open invitation to visit her lap. She'd let out a surprised eep and giggle as she checked the phone. It was 4 straight messages from Josh.
The first read, "Hey, I have some info you may want to know about ..."
The next read, "Rutschmann Cookies changed distributors...."
Okay, well ... interesting information but how did that pertain to her in any way?
The third was the most concerning, with just "911"
The fourth offered some further explanation saying, "My friend Emilio down at the Maxanto Food Plant says the shipments are running late. And not just a little late, like super late. Something is holding them up. I'd look into it"
Lexi sighed. Her parents weren't home so she could probably take a look but... no. No more hero stuff. Officer Sanders was very clear about that. Plus what were the odds any of this had to do with the robbery at Rutchmann's or that there was any kind of criminal activity going on? There was at least ONE way to check just to be sure. It was in Lexi's drawer in the form of one of the police scanners.
Almost as if understanding her trouble, Tiny would let out an inquisitive "meow?"
"I know ... I know..." Lexi sighed, "I really need to study, you're right..."
Lexi would put pen to paper, having very little intention of actually writing anything while she skimmed the pages of the textbook she was instructed to read. Tiny offered further insight in the form of another "meow"
"No, I know ... people COULD be in trouble..." Lexi answered, her pen hitting the paper's edge, signaling a sort of "defeat" on the battlefield of study.
"Meow?"
"Don't give me that look" Lexi grumbled, closing her text book and going for her drawer to search for and plug in the police scanner "...I'm talking to my cat, that's where my life has gone"
Lexi would throw her arms to the side as the police scanner hummed with idleness. Maybe Josh was worried for nothing. Sometimes he could be a bit overly paranoid. Just as Lexi was about to sit on her bed to take a break from her mind's aimless wandering, the signal over the radio came in a little clearer. Definitely clear enough to hear the words being said .
"....Maxanto ... attempted ... break-in .... send ... help"
Lexi sighed, "just once could Josh be wrong about something?"
Lexi went to look at her cell phone to implore her friend for a ride since he was the only one available. Before she could even get that far, she'd see a message already waiting. It was from Josh.
"I can be there in 5 ... get your costume ready"
"...I hate how he does that..." Lexi sighed
-------------
In a not too distant future, Joshua James had taken on the role of ShrinkGirl's personal chauffeur, at least to a certain point. If things were as hectic as they sounded over the police scanner, there would only be so far he could go before he'd be intervening in a police manner. Of course for Lexi, well ... it was just another day at the new job she gave herself.
"So what do we know?" Lexi asked, not feeling the most confident about this but also feeling a bit extra motivated by events that had happened not too long before.
"Well, in the wake of the recipe theft, Rutschmann Cookie Co switched distributors to Maxanto, who does a lot of the food distribution for the Minitropolis region..." Josh explained, "they thought this would be more ideal than using their private factory since they'd be more likely to be hit by theft there..."
"Makes sense..." Lexi nodded, following along as they drove through the dusk skies. It seemed peaceful to this point, but it was only a matter of time for sure.
"Well, somebody must've caught wind of the move because the Maxanto facility was suppose to receive their first delivery of resources from the Rutschmann plant but my friend on the staff there said they were running late and the last message they got from the truck driver was very concerning..." Josh continued on
"Concerning how?" Lexi asked, as the large building began to loom over them.
Surrounded by long chainlink fences on every side with strict "NO TRESPASSING" warnings at almost every corner, it was obvious they were reaching the limitations of Josh's transportation. The building itself was fairly massive, housing 3 large silos that were responsible for manufacturing and distribution of various food brands through the city.
"He said it sounded like the truck driver was distressed, as if under gunpoint or something... and well, we already heard that police call about the break in ..." Josh explained
"Well on the bright side, it looks kind of peaceful ... here ... never mind..." Lexi sighed, noticing that around on the other side of the building she could faintly make out red and blue alternating lights. The cops had beaten them here, but she had something they didn't ... the ability to shrink to tiny size.
"Alright..." Lexi sighed, stepping cautiously out of the car, setting one purple boot down in the gravely parking area just before the fences came down, "...wish me luck"
"Go get em, Lex ... remember I'm on speed dial as your getaway" Josh nodded, slowly driving off so as not to arouse suspicion.
"Let's hope I don't need a quick escape..." Lexi thought to herself, her breathing a bit shaky as she made her way up to the chainlink fence. Despite her nerves she'd give Josh her brightest smile and a thumbs up as she turned to face him, emulating a comic book like pose before he faded from view. There was no need to worry her helpful friend, after all.
She'd quickly shrink before there could be any further opening to see her make her move literally under the chainlink fence as she reduced small enough to navigate under one of its steel honeycomb patterns as if it were a large opening to a cavern.
Upon infiltrating the outer perimeter of the facility, she'd see a door with a lone guard. She'd keep herself her current tiny height, approximately 4 inches, before ducking behind a stone gray concrete wall, growing back to full size and having a quick peek at the guard who appeared as most guards do, stoic and stone faced, a dark visor obscuring his eyes.
What she didn't expect to see was someone who didn't appear so guard like, wearing mostly black and whispering in his ear. Unconventionally, the guard simply let the gentleman in. Lexi shook her head in disapproval. This had the Chaos Crew written all over it.
She took a step forward before hearing the slightest of noises. It was amazing how her recent experiences had made the usually clumsy girl into a sort of ninja with instincts and reflexes befitting of such a title. Upon hearing the rattling, she'd turn around, only to nearly get clubbed in the head with a night stick.
One of the fake guards was the culprit and he shook his head at his mistake. Lexi just looked at him, although couldn't make eye contact through the reflective black visor over the face, and she'd simply head out into the complex, drawing out the first fake guard who had been standing watch at the door.
"We've got her!" the guard barked, causing the doorman to draw a tazer from his pocket.
"Awwww c'mon, not even gonna ask me for the password?" Lexi shrugged, stepping up closer and sliding at the last minute to avoid the brute's aggressive force as he lunged forward, tazer gripped tightly in his hand and sparking from both ends. She'd shrink herself as she limbo-ed under the man's legs sending his momentum into his charging partner who he unintentionally tazered.
She would then slip through the door he was standing watch over but she knew now it was only a matter of time before the others (and there had to be others) caught wind of her appearance. The hallway she let herself into was dark and dingy. A distant dripping could be heard and an entanglement of pipes hung above her on the raised ceilings. She'd cautiously walk towards a dim light that led out into a bigger area but surprisingly nobody was to be seen there either. What was on the concrete wall was a fairly smudged and hard to read directory of what the factory manufactured and directions to each section.
A number of brands were listed, but Lexi's focus was drawn immediately to "Rutschmann Foods" -- underneath the main listing was something that said "main batch mixing". She'd feel a slight tingle at that moment on her left side, her eyes widened for just a moment before the pain set in, tickling every fragment of her spine and figure with a rattling shockwave as a thug stood behind her with a charged tazer that he stuck callously into her hip
"UGH!!" Lexi exclaimed, turning around to strike the man but to her surprise she did even more than that. As she stumbled back, her skin sizzling from the shock, she noticed the man had seemingly vanished, now no more than a pile of black clothes and a tazer on the ground. She stumbled towards the clothes and gently nudged them with her boot.
"Ummm... hello?" Lexi said, wincing a bit as the pain raged on like a soft heartbeat, inflicting her now and then. Being tazed wasn't pleasant naturally but this wasn't like the kind of pain she expected. It felt like her entire body was pulsating and in the moment she struck the man, she could feel a similar electricity discharging out of her and into him, which likely led to his shrinking. "Uh... what do I do? Do I leave a note?"
She heard some angry squeaking underneath the clothes and almost shrugged. She hated to be so careless but hey, the man assaulted her first. He had caught her by surprise for sure but Lexi had a surprise of his own for him that even had her flabbergasted.
"Um... well uh ... serves you right?" Lexi shrugged, not even sure if the stunned man in the clothing could hear her as she darted off, her body still not feeling quite right but she was shaking it off from the adrenaline that coursed through her. As she followed the confusing directions through the downward steel staircases of the factory, an odd thought passed through her mind that had little to nothing to do with the current mission.
"Why did everyone's voice sound so cute while tiny?"
Amusing thoughts aside, she couldn't stop her pursuit. She had no idea how many more thugs awaited or if she had even been too late for whatever they were planning next. She knew she was getting closer to the main factory as she could hear the sound of machinery growing subtly louder and louder with each area she cleared.
Elsewhere in the factory a trio of gangly thugs led by the aptly named pyro Pete were in front of a locked door with a 9 digit number pad on it.
"C'mon, hurry up, don't you know the password?" Pete yelled, barking orders at a masked woman who was trying a few different things but struggling each time to unlock the door that would lead them to their ultimate prize.
"I told you, I don't know ... I THINK I know" she said
"Well we're not getting paid to THINK we know..." Pete sighed
"Hey!" a voice rang from just above.
On a catwalk stood the purple and gold clad Lexi, hand on her hip (the one that hadn't been tazed) as she smugly smirked at her opposition down below.
"I just wanna say ..." Lexi said, in a semi-serious sounding voice, "I'm REALLY glad you guys hired a lady on your team, it's a good bit of inclusion ... that said, give her a break, she's new, yknow?"
"Get her!!" Pete shouted, sending the other thug after her. This thug had but a handgun and he cocked it and shot, of course missing as Lexi would shrink out of sight.
"Please don't tell me you thought that was going to work..." Pete growled under his breath, berating his fellow thug while the fully masked woman continued her work, her fingers shaking as she kept trying combinations, at times forgetting altogether and having to start over as the intensity of the moment was weighing on her. She was the only one of them to be fully masked. The other 2 were wearing black that covered most of their faces but she was truly concealed, wearing all black from head to toe, the only clues to her gender being her curvature and her voice.
Pyro Pete would reach for his signature weapon which he had laid against the wall, a rather hefty flamethrower as he turned to the woman, "You keep at it, I'll hold off the gnat!"
"Awww how cute!" Lexi smirked, suddenly growing in front of him and throwing a punch which connected, "You have a nickname for me, and here I thought you ..."
Before Lexi could continue her taunting she was wrapped up by the other, more portly gentleman in a tight bear hug kind of restraint.
"Do you .... mind?!" Lexi shrieked, elbowing the guy hard in the stomach, although it wasn't with enough force for him to fully release her, "we ... were... talking..."
She began to twitch a bit, trying to escape. "C'mon..." she thought in her mind, "shrink shrink shrink..."
It wasn't working.
Meanwhile, the ninja looking woman just glanced at Lexi curiously before continuing on. Finally the men would hear a click that would force them to give up their fight against Lexi.
"About time!" Pete remarked
Lexi let out a loud yelp as the other thug squeezed her tighter, only to forcefully bump her into a pile of boxes.
"Ugh ... I see how it is ... love em and leave em..." Lexi stated woozily, watching as the woman with them seemed hesitant to keep going. She would ultimately follow her cohorts but after pausing, as if to see if Lexi was okay but outside of a perfunctory look, her actions meant very little as she still went on with whatever they were planning to theft.
Lexi got up and stumbled, still feeling the tingle on her hip, her vision even blurring a bit but she had to keep going.
In the next room was the source of it all. Giant machines hissed and hummed, pumping out insane amounts of foodstuffs as the conveyer belts and giant vats were all over, surrounded by catwalks. On the highest such one were the 2 men and their female companion.
"Alright not bad, Sugar" Pete said
"Not crazy about the nickname..." she replied, shrugging a bit
"It grows on ya..." the other thug said, "At least you didn't get my nickname..."
"What's wrong with your nickname?" Sugar asked
"Oh stick a sock in it, Crudmaster and let's go!" Pete nodded, waving them both towards their next goal.
The man known apparently as the Crudmaster gave "Sugar" an annoyed eyeroll and followed along, their steps noisily echoing along the steel grates of the catwalk.
Lexi could shrink but she wasn't super fast and she was somewhat hobbled but still she wasn't too far behind. She'd watch the group discuss something amongst themselves upon reaching a small console at the end of the catwalk up against a wall. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but she'd begin to pace around to get a more advantageous position.
"Okay look, we don't have much time..." Pete whispered, "before the cops show up and there are likely going to be a lot of them ... our distraction will only last so long ... so we need to get this emergency shutoff thrown long enough for us to get the sample we need and get out of here ... did you bring the key?"
"I did" Sugar replied, holding a very small key that would act as the catalyst for the shutdown procedure. First she would enter a password quickly to confirm the shutdown, before getting the prompt for the key.
"What's that?" Lexi asked, growing back to normal and startling the 3 of them, "the key to my heart?"
"You're too late, ya pest!" Pete snarled, putting the key in and turning it, causing the machines to all whir to a stop around them, although this also turned out a lot of the lights that remained on, as they now glowed a dim red.
"EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN PROTOCOLS ACTIVATED. BATCH WILL BE SEALED OFF TO AVOID CONTAMINATION"
"Sealed off?!" Pete snapped
"Y-Yeah ... I thought you knew that ... " Sugar stuttered, "the emergency shutdown stops the process, but also seals the vats so that nothing can get in them and the dough can stay fresh"
"For fucks sake, you didn't think to mention that at any of the meetings?" Pete snapped
"To be fair, I haven't been doing this very long and..." Sugar started before being tackled by Lexi, causing the other 2 men to draw their guns on the 2 women as they struggled.
"Ugh! Get off of me ... Lexi!" Sugar yelped, realizing she had made a mistake.
Lexi's eyes widened, "...what?"
The other 2 men would chuckle at Lexi's dazed and confused look on her face. How did this stealthy ninja girl know her name? It wasn't Roxie ... she was much more tacky and cared nothing of disguising herself, plus this girl seemed to have a more shy demeanor. In fact, on closer hearing, the voice even sounded familiar.
"Don't ... try ... anything..." the Crudmaster said, his gun pressed firmly to the back of Lexi's head, "stand up slowly... let our partner up ... and just stay still..."
Lexi gulped and did as she was told, getting off the mysterious masked woman and scrambling to her feet at a reasonable pace while the gun followed her slowly. Pete smirked and picked up his super soaker like flamethrower. Sugar's eyes, the one thing that was showing looked aghast.
"Yknow, I've always wanted barbequed ShrinkGirl!" Pete snickered
"Wait!" Sugar yelped, getting to her feet as quickly as she could, "Don't hurt her!"
"The fuck you care?" Pete sighed
"She's ... she's..."
Lexi looked on confused but wouldn't have much time to process her current dilemma as she felt a hard slam to the back of the head and went out cold, as the Crudmaster slammed her with the flat end of the gun and she fell down in a heap.
"Lexi, I'm so sorry..." Sugar sighed, slumping down and looking down at the injured superheroine, tears forming in her eyes as she finally took off the mask.
"...this is why we don't hire more women..." Pete muttered under his breath, to which Crudmaster nodded in agreement.
With the mask off, the stunned woman would wipe the tears out of her eyes as her hands pressed her face and she let out a heavy sigh
Lexi wouldn't fully regain consciousness at this point but she'd see enough to make out some of what was going on
"...I ... I can't do this, you guys, I'm sorry..." the stunned blonde woman said, shaking her head as she went to grab the key from the machine. Now it was her turn to become the target of Pete's comically oversized flamethrower. "Huh?"
"Yeah ... this job doesn't really come with an exit strategy..." Pete sneered
"You're in, until you're not" Crudmaster reaffirmed, cracking his knuckles
"Now you're going to get us what we need, and MAYBE we'll let your girlfriend live" Pete said in a condescending tone. "You understand that, ...Rachel?"
Giantess World
