Rachel Rutschmann? Working with the Chaos Crew? How could this have happened?
It's hard to say for sure, but the roots of it may have been earlier that week when she was working over at Aztek Parts & More in downtown Minitropolis. It was one afternoon after she had finished checking in a computer from her former cheermate and classmate Gloria Graff. Afterwards, her boss, the nice but at times stern Trevor Hilfmann had told her she needed to be more responsible with clients information and taking it down.
He would get called away on some matter. It was weird how he seemed to fade into that lab in the back so often. Rachel just figured it was some kind of project he had going on but as it was, she had heard some weird rumors about him, possibly being a former engineer with Enormo Enterprises and some even comparing him to the infamous "Mad" Max Mumford.
"Heya Miss, you doing okay?" a blonde girl from across the counter would ask the anxiety ridden Rachel at this point. She'd snap back to reality in time to return the greeting with some concern of her own.
"Oh hi!" Rachel stuttered with a nervous laugh, "welcome to Aztek Parts and more ... we sell parts ... and more! Did you find everything you needed today?"
"...and more" the young girl chuckled. She was wearing a black sweatshirt that went down past her waist and that was about it, as the pair of white short shorts underneath may as well have been panties, barely extending past her upper thighs. She looked rather young and had very striking blue eyes. "but for real, you okay? You don't need to do the whole spiel with me ... I use to work retail, I know how it can be"
"Huh, th-thanks and yeah ... I'm fine ... I guess" Rachel replied, trying to stay focused on the job. It was true her job at the computer store was just a side gig. A way to possibly get her some experience in technology related training as yet another merit to add to her already impressive resume. At least that's what her mom had pushed for her. "And ... hey I've seen you in here before, you were looking for a motherboard the other day ... Rosie, right?"
"Something like that..." the sneaky blonde snickered and nodded
Fast forward to present day and a dazed and confused Lexi would find herself tied up tight against a cluster of pipes that ran out from the wall, a thick and tense cabling keeping her binded. The thugs had apparently learned their lessons from past attempts of trying to contain the squirelly Lexi who could shrink out of most of their binds but with her arms and legs so tightly restricted it would be a challenge, especially in her weakened form as only her feet were able to scamper a bit, scraping uselessly against the industrial metallic floor. 8
In desperate attempts to get free, Lexi would strain and yank at the constricting steel cabling that bound her, only lascerating her arm more in the process, and occasionally experiencing the same blurry vision she'd get from time to time, likely as a lingering after effect of her tazer shock.
"R-Rachel..." Lexi would whimper, looking over at the gathered trio of criminals. "...wh-what's going on? Wh-Why are you working with them?"
"You don't have to answer that..." a very determined and focused Pyro Pete responded on her behalf
"Hey, human torch, I wasn't talking to you!" Lexi snapped
"Look toots, the only reason you're even still alive is because apparently Sugar here has some kind of attachment to ya, I don't really know and I don't really care ... once we're done here, we'll likely blow the place and you with it"
"What?!" Rachel yelped, "that wasn't part of the plan"
"Uh ... what's our name? We're the CHAOS Crew ... there IS no plan ... the only plan is chaos" Pete retorted
"Wait so then you ... PLAN the chaos?" Lexi asked, again being a bit snarky, "isn't it no longer chaos then? It's kind of a catch 22 when you think about it..."
"Make her shut up please" Pete snapped, his hands lingering on a handgun he had in his pocket, at first looking to Rachel but upon seeing her hesitance, turning to Crudmaster, "Crud ... put some tape on her mouth or something..."
"Where am I gonna get tape right now?" Crud responded, seeming a bit exascerbated by the whole thing before finally rolling his eyes and stepping away. Pete relaxed his grip for a moment from the gun.
"Lexi I'm so sorry about all this" Rachel said, tears forming in her eyes, "and Pete ... I'm sorry too"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Pete asked, turning to face her
"For this!" Rachel snapped, stomping his foot hard with her black work boots and snatching the gun out of the holster, pointing it at his head, "Get back!! Now!"
Lexi's eyes went wide. For some reason she was more panicked with Rachel holding the firearm than one of the thugs or even someone like Roxie who seemed more experienced at it. Rachel's arm twitched wildly as she pointed the gun's barrel at Pyro Pete.
"Don't move..." Rachel snapped, keeping the gun locked on him although somewhat loosely while she'd continue advancing towards Lexi
"Shit, NOW you show some guts..." Pete rolled his eyes, reluctantly keeping his hands up. He was more than a little reckless but he wasn't stupid either. He knew he was always likely to die in his line of work but he certainly didn't want it to be like this. He knew this much. Rachel was uninvited to the company Christmas party.
"This was a huge mistake ... this was a huge mistake..." Rachel would let out slow sobs, her breath panicked as she continued backing up towards Lexi
"Rachel ..." Lexi shook her head, a bit forlorn as well, "...don't worry about it..."
"Hey boss, I'm back..." Crudmaster would mumble, returning to the "job" with no tape to show for it, "they didn't have no tape but ... hey, what the fuck's going on?"
The man known only as Crudmaster would hastily reach for his weapon but Rachel would shake her head and offer no further warning, instead shooting Crud in the shin with a loud BANG, sending him backwards in pain onto the steel floors.
"What the fuck? You shot Crudmaster?" Pyro yelled indignantly
"I'm sorry, that nickname is still just ... like ... what bet did you lose?" Lexi muttered under her breath, while Rachel got to work, trying to undo the cabling but it was tied up pretty tight to keep Lexi there.
As Rachel worked on the cable untying, Lexi was aware of the fact that Pyro wasn't going to stand still for long and was intently eyeing his flamethrower which remained leaned against the wall a good distance from him but not so far that it was unthinkable that he could get it.
Rachel, in addition to the other millions of emotions running through her head could only think about one thing as she looked over at her friend Lexi, clad in purple and gold, right down to the wrist gauntlets and the shiny chrome SG medallion on her belt.
...Roxie was right all along.
But was she right about everything?
The question posed originated from that fateful conversation with the blonde girl she mistakingly called Rosie.
"Wait, you mean your name is really Roxie?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow, a bit of embarassment overcoming her as she hated missing peoples names. "I'm pretty sure I've called you Rosie the last 3 times you were in here"
"Oh you did" Roxie shrugged, "I just didn't wanna correct you, it was kinda cute and eh..."
"Ah..." Rachel answered as Trevor carried on his conversation with Lexi back in his office and/or not so secret lab.
An awkward silence hung over the pair of girls until Roxie just matter of factly referenced some of the conversation she had overheard with Rachel and Gloria just moments ago.
"That other girl... the tall one?" Roxie asked, "she been giving you problems too?"
"Her? No ... I mean she's a bit ... aggressive..." Rachel shrugged, "but I mean, it's been a hard few months for her"
"Yeah ... I thought I heard her reference ... Alexis? Lexi? Is that her name?" Roxie asked, playing dumb for the blonde computer parts employee.
"Y-Yeah ... Lexi Cole" Rachel shrugged, not thinking much of it
"Okay..." Roxie said, suddenly looking dire and worried, her voice lowering to a whisper, "listen ... you should stay away from her"
"Huh?" Rachel chuckled a bit, "you're kidding, right? Lexi's harmless"
Roxie shook her head and looked down now, visibly upset
"H-hey ... I didn't mean to make fun..." Rachel sighed, "you okay? Wh-What's the matter?"
"Lexi... is uh ..." Roxie sighed, "oh what's the point, you won't believe me anyway"
Rachel took a quick look back to ensure her boss wasn't watching her at the moment. She didn't want to seem too distracted from work or like she was on a social call. To make things seem even more "professional", she'd guide Roxie around the small store a little bit to make it appear she was assisting her.
"C'mon..." Rachel nodded, joining Roxie with a whisper, "...please... you can tell me, I won't laugh, I won't judge, I promise"
"Okay..." Roxie sighed, proving that her acting was surprising as impressive as her aim, "Lexi ...I don't know all the details and I know this'll sound completely crazy and ... I wouldn't believe it either if I didn't see it but ..."
"Please..." Rachel said, her eyes still darting back and forth between Roxie and the back room to make sure she didn't get in trouble
"She shrank my brother..." Roxie sighed, hanging her head
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Rachel stuttered
"I knew you wouldn't believe me, just forget the whole thing" Roxie sighed, a single tear dripping from her eye as she looked away shamefully, hands tucked into her pocket.
"No no, please.. just ... say it again" Rachel said, strangely intrigued now.
"Have you ever heard of ... ShrinkGirl?" Roxie asked
"The weird ... superhero person?" Rachel asked. There had been rumblings on the news. Some girl in purple would show up once in a while and criminals would occasionally say they were shrunk by her or that she shrunk herself before knocking them out in a fist fight. It was all rumors that the news would run with and turn into fantastical stories. Although there WAS that incident on the pier back in December. A giant robot attacked the Winter Carnival. Strangely enough the criminal the police were after was ALSO named Roxie (a sure coincidence) but another girl was spotted there as well, wearing purple who seemingly "disappeared" when officers tried to confront her amidst the chaos. "She's ... she's not real... at worst she's a vigilante with an expensive costume"
"She's real..." Roxie nodded, "And she shrank my brother ...he may never walk again! ...I mean he WILL walk again but it'll take him forever to get anywhere ... you see because he's ... so small... never mind, the point is ... just ... st-stay away from Lexi ... please ... I'm warning you ... it's taken everything I have to not swear revenge on her...I've ... I've made some horrible mistakes and..."
Rachel would stop the stuttering blonde right there. It appeared she had had enough of the bullshit. Or maybe not.
"Look." Rachel said somewhat sternly, "I know Lexi... I don't know her super well, but I've met her a few times and she seems like a genuine person ... but that doesn't make your pain less real ... ShrinkGirl COULD be real and whatever happened to your brother, I am so so sorry ..."
"Look. It's my problem, not yours..." Roxie stammered, smacking her lips a few times and sniffling as she tried to hide her clearly very real emotions. "Just ... thank you for hearing me out and think about what I said, okay?"
"I... I will..." Rachel nodded, "you sure you're okay?"
"I'll be fine" Roxie nodded, her hands sloppily entering her hoodie's pockets once more before she'd take a fairly hasty exit out of the store, but not before a small sleeve of paper came out and hit the carpeting just before the store's exit.
"Miss? Roxie?" Rachel asked in vain, trying to catch her but it seemed the blonde concealed in black could no longer hear her. In the doorway remained the paper, except when Rachel picked it up, she noticed it had a bit more weight to it than that. It wasn't just a paper. It was a paper CD sleeve. On its front surface was an elaborate red logo with the words
"Unlock your potential. Embrace the chaos. Call Now" 755-812-CHCR"
The CD inside seemed to be some kind of promotion or information about whatever this was. Rachel raised an eyebrow but decided to hold onto the disk. Maybe Roxie would return for it.
Back in the present moment, Lexi shook her head, although she wasn't able to fully turn it to get a full view of what was around her 360 degree surroundings but she thought she made out something that could be of use.
"R-Rachel..." the struggling Lexi eeked out, keeping her eyes on the pensive Pyro Pete while he analyzed a potential offensive action, her eyes signaling towards a large set of bolt cutters on the ground.
"Y-Yeah ... good idea..." the weary Rachel responded, keeping the gun pointed at Pyro but while also trying to lean over and pick up the bolt cutters. Lexi could only spectate, although she was doing her best to wriggle free of the restraints. She wouldn't need much freedom to at least pull off a shrinking type escape but she did need them looser, or ideally just off altogether.
Rachel was working on it but Pyro was growing impatient, plus there could be clattering heard down on the main floor of the factory below them. It was hard to tell whether it was officers finally arriving in the area or more of the thugs that had come on the heist but either way, Lexi needed a way out and fast.
As Rachel struggled to get the bolt cutters around the tight steeling cabling on Lexi's wrists, Pete let out a sadistic laugh
"Wh-What?" Rachel asked, her voice a bit choked up
"You." Pete answered rather simply, "You're not cut out for this ... look at you, you've probably barely touched a tool in your life"
"Th-That's not true" Rachel shook her head, "Back in 4th grade, my mom had me join the scouts and I worked with my cousins in their hardware shop when I was 16 ... she wanted me to get more of a background in ..."
"Rachel" Lexi warned, "he's just trying to bait you... please ... keep going"
Rachel would nod, getting back down on a knee as she carefully tried to free her friend without hurting her further, the bolt cutters firmly affixed around the cabling, beginning to fray it.
"So you've always been a mommy's girl, huh?" Pete laughed, "Roxie was right about you..."
"Roxie..." Lexi groaned under her breath, "...that figures"
She'd then hear a snap and smugly grin, trying not to make it obvious that her hands and most of her upper torso were now free.
"This is why I told Rox that whole "recruitment" idea was non-sense... we don't need amateurs working for the chaos crew" Pyro Pete stated emphatically, suddenly showing no fear as he stood up and walked towards the idle flamethrower, glaring at Rachel as if to dare her to pull the trigger, "you gonna do it? Bet ya never fired a gun until just now either, or lemme guess, your mommy gave you gun lessons in Kindergarten"
"FUCK YOU!" Rachel screamed, clearly emotionally rattled, the gun's sights lined up with Pyro's neck but a rushed shot would force her to miss to the north and the recoil would only hurt her shoulder briefly as Pete chuckled uproariously. Soon more thugs were coming up the ladders leading to the massive catwalk to join him. It wouldn't be long before Rachel and Lexi were surrounded and it wouldn't matter if Rachel had the nerve to shoot or not.
Lexi would nod towards Rachel to non-verbally let her know she was good to go. It wouldn't quite be that simple though but in Lexi's mind, it was more about instilling her friends, or in this case, the people she was trying to rescue with confidence. There was no benefit in letter Rachel (or anyone) know that she was a bit scared herself. Still, the superheroine would do what she did best and shrink, leaving nothing but loose cabling for a brief moment before growing back completely free, save for a sore shoulder and a still weakened body from the shocks and bruises she'd endured.
"Oh bravo ShrinkGirl..." Pyro Pete smiled smugly as his backup arrived, slowly standing to their feet, each one armed with an AK-47. "We figured you might show up ... according to Roxie, these are your favorite cookies or some bullshit ... we failed to kill you at the mall, but we won't fail this time"
Lexi looked over at Rachel who gave a guilty look. Was she in on the mall attack as well?
Perhaps. But it wasn't quite so cut and dry.
Lexi could remember being distracted talking to Chris and his friends when she happened to notice Chrissy and Rachel in the far corner of the food court, heading towards the ladies room. Well, Chrissy was heading towards the ladies room to avoid being seen by her now ex-boyfriend Trent. Rachel had picked up her phone and appeared to be on a call.
"Okay, I'm here ... you just need me to ... hand this off to you?" Rachel asked, her voice soft and cautious, trying not to be heard. She had what the Crew needed tucked in her wallet, but she wasn't sure how this would work or why they wanted her to do it there.
"Just confirm your location..." the voice on the other end would answer, a deep voice but a computer digitized one as well, intended to hide the identity of the caller.
"Um... okay" Rachel nodded, leaning in a bit closer, pressing her phone to her face, "I am at the Mini Mall Food Court, about 20 feet or so from the ladies restroom"
"Perfect. Stay there" the voice ominously said before the line would go cold.
-------------
"I swear, Lexi..." a distraught Rachel would mutter, "I didn't know they were going to try to ..."
"We can talk about this later..." Lexi muttered under her breath. Sure, she was angry ... feeling betrayed as well by the friend of Chrissy's who just so happened to be the daughter of the cookie mogul. But for now she had to focus as 4 thuggish looking figure, led by the bombastic Pete approached.
"Pete..." one of them muttered, loud enough to be heard but still under their breath, "you know we don't have much time here... that stupid emergency shutdown also triggered an alarm"
"Well, we can't get what we came for anyway at this rate ... but we have the next best thing... ShrinkGirl's head on a silver platter for our boss ... plus..." Pete snapped, grabbing Rachel forcibly by the arm and pulling her over, "someone who knows her away around here"
"Ugh! Cmon!!" she'd yelp
"Wait, isn't she one of ours?" the other thug asked
"Not anymore ... but perhaps she can be useful something..." Pete sneered, walking her back over to the machine where they started and initiated the shutdown. "Reverse the shutdown, Sugar"
Rachel looked worried but she had 3 armed men aimed on her while the other stayed pointed at Lexi.
Lexi just nodded, as if to suggest she comply.
"Hey punk" Lexi muttered, referring to the guy dressed in black who kept his gun at an uncomfortably close distance, "your shoe's untied"
"You really expect me to fall for that bullshit?" the angry thug retorted, his voice having a similar vocal filter on it, perhaps as a result of the helmet he wore.
"I don't" Lexi shrugged, "but I don't need you too"
Lexi took a deep breath and before she could exhale, she was no more than an inch high, although she had to be careful as she could slip through the small slots in the grates at this size. This seemed to take 30 seconds to her but in real time, it was maybe the blink of an eye. To say the gunman was startled would be quite the understatement.
While Rachel entered the password and reactivated the machines, turning the lights back on, Pete glared at his negligent henchman with disdain.
"Did you like ... really not know she could do that?!" Pete shook his head, seizing a firm grasp on his flamethrower gun again as he took a few steps forward, "For fucks sake ... sometimes you gotta do these things yourself..."
As Pete stomped along like a gorilla on the catwalks, the earthquake like thudding of his rubber work boots were giving the currently tiny superheroine a devastating rattle as she'd hang from the twisted corkscrew like metal, climbing underneath the grates like Crash Bandicoot until she'd find a way to climb back up once the menacing fire happy thug was past her. She'd then grow back and wave gleefully to the other 2 armed guards who had been blocking Rachel's path. A seemingly easy target to hit but as soon as they took their shot, she predictably "vanished" away or so it seemed.
Unfortunately for Pyro Pete, one of the missed shots would hit his right shoulder (and that was his good flamethrower holding shoulder) sending him to fall on one knee in agony, worsened still by the fact that his kneecap was impacting against the unforgiving metal surface.
"FUCK!! You morons!" Pete screamed out, "What are you doing?! You shot me!"
While the 2 guards went to help their bumbling boss up, Lexi grew back again and darted towards Rachel.
"Rachel, we've gotta go!" Lexi snapped, trying to remain as stern and calm as possible. She could see the flashing red and blue lights in the distance and was starting to hear the sounds of police sirens. On the other side, the chaos crew were none too pleased either.
"I can't...." Rachel sobbed, shaking her head in shock. "I'm so sorry ... I can't do it... I can't do this..."
"Rachel... please" Lexi shook her head, trying to keep it together herself, although she never dealt well with seeing tears on anyone's face. She'd hastily text Josh with her phone, typing "911" to signal the need for an escape. Looking back at Rachel, she could see this wouldn't be an easy feat to get her out safely. Her hands began sparking again, but this time it wasn't from the side effects of the tazer. Rachel looked at her a bit scared. Lexi didn't have much choice.
"L-Lex?" Rachel asked, her voice getting a bit more panicked
Lexi took a quick turn back to see the thugs were slowly reassembling. Although Pete was injured he could still hold his flamethrower in his other arm as he hobbled his way back up.
"Rachel, I'm so sorry" Lexi winced, lunging at Rachel as if to give her a hug but it was merely so she could press enough of her mass against the scared woman to begin shrinking her. Rachel would feel very lightheaded and uncomfortably, feeling like Lexi was a tumbling tree about to fall on top of her, seeing the superhero's costume and body get bigger and bigger.
Within a few seconds, the former 5'7 blonde was no more than a few inches tall as she was wrapped up tight in Lexi's palm so she wouldn't be smushed, even though there was some pressure put on her but Lexi cradled her as close as she could, her heart breaking more than just a little bit hearing the frightened screams and squeaks from within her clutched hand.
"Shhh Shh..." Lexi uttered quietly, knowing very well this would do little to comfort the tiny woman. Lexi herself had shrunk several times but of course it wasn't an experience one gets used to immediately, if at all. "It's going to be okay ..."
Lexi would stand to her feet and feel a swift WHACK
Having being hit by a thug's gunshaft would shake not only the side of her face but would send her back down on the cold floor on her shoulder, the tiny Rachel jarring loose from her hand. She was thankfully big enough to stand on the grated floors but she still looked stunned as her giant guardian was seemingly down for the count.
"You sure about that?" the smug thug would respond after his cheap shot. Lexi would get to her feet nervously as she was instructed by a pair of thugs with loaded guns.
"Okay fellas ... let's just ... talk about this..." Lexi whimpered, her eyes darting all over the place as soon as she was aware of the fact that Rachel was no longer in her hands. Her heart would race faster than the machines that had begun cranking to life. Looking down beyond the railing she'd see small vats of milk moving about on thin conveyer belts, serpentining around the larger vats that held the cookie batter and other large silos of commodities.
Rachel squeaked and looked around in shock. It seemed the Crew either hadn't noticed her shrinking or didn't care since all their attention was focused on Lexi but she had nowhere to go. Even if she COULD be undetected, at her current size, the very thought of escaping this building would be the equivalent of climbing Mt Everest in terms of distance.
Lexi would take a couple of careful steps back as the men seemed to walk closer and closer to her, leaving her nearly pinned to the railing, her arms leaning against it. It would be the third step that would be the most costly, but not for Lexi.
In a moment of unawareness, Rachel felt the wind get knocked out of her, hit by a "wall" of purple leather in the form of ShrinkGirl's iconic heel boot. The impact would send her careening off the edge of the catwalk. Such a light and gentle "thunk" against something the size of a boot would be imperceptible to most. But Lexi wasn't most.
She'd peer over the edge and scream, "RACHEL!!"
"LEXIIIIIIII!!" the tiny Rachel would squeak
"The fuck you waiting for?" Pete shouted, clutching his injured shoulder as he continued leaning in pain, "Kill her!"
The gunshots firing was deafening and as the police crowded their way into the facility, the noise and commotion would only grow louder... yet in the next ensuing seconds it was almost as if Lexi found herself in some kind of nightmarish action movie ... every sequence of events playing out in slow motion and very little no sound. Of course that's not really how it went down but Lexi's adrenaline and anxiety were at an all time high as she shrank and jumped from the catwalks herself with the intention of saving her friend Batman style, attaching the G grappling hook to the underside of the catwalk and essentially trying to "bungee jump" for her
"Rachel!!" she'd squeak, reaching closer for her.
At this point, the 2 tiny ladies were basically unnoticeable to the police who were hastily closing in on the Chaos Crew's location. A disgruntled Pyro Pete, knowing when he was outmatched, picked up a communicator device off one of the other guys, basically leaving them to get arrested while he made his way out through a corridor to the left.
"Yeah ... she's here ... no... we didn't..." Pete sighed, his shoulder and body still aching from the encounter
Meanwhile, Lexi tumbled down reaching her hand to try to catch the falling Rachel Rutschmann.
"I have one shot at this..." Lexi thought to herself, her body sparking briefly before growing back to normal, trying to snatch her up like a baseball. It looked like she might have a chance before her vision started to blur again and her mind practically exploded in grief.
"NOT NOW!! NOT NOW!! PLEASE!! PLEASE NO!!" Lexi thought to herself, and while her body language didn't show it, she was majorly freaking out right now. Her one chance was about to be squandered because when she looked to catch the shrunken Rachel, she was seeing 3 blurry after images of her. She'd take a blind attempt at it, feeling the cord on her grappling hook beginning to tighten. She'd keep her hand grasped and unhook the hook, maybe a bit too soon, sending her down on her back, she'd let out a pained yell, but look down in her hand, opening it in angst.
"Please be there ... please be there..." Lexi groaned, sick to her stomach already over the whole thing but the feeling hit her like a crushing thunderous tidal wave when she opened her hand and saw nothing. "N-No... No..."
It was then she felt her phone vibrating. She took a moment before answering it. The police were literally all around her but weren't keying in on her as they stampeded for the Chaos Crew and Lexi was a bit in the shadows, between some machinery that obscured her from view. She'd pick up the phone finally and through tears would answer, "Y-Yes Josh?"
"I'm like ... a street away ... I can't get too close because the Mini Troop is all over the place" Josh said, "...are you ... okay?"
Lexi would just shake her head, not that Josh could see it over the phone.
"No... No I'm not..." the downtrodden Lexi said between sobs, peering into the mechanical workings of the factory. The girl she shrank could literally be lost anywhere in there, if she even survived the fall.
There was only one thought Lexi had as she evaded police detection and headed for an exit.
"...I'm a murderer..."
"
Giantess World
