The year was 1992 ... and it was the night of a social mixer at Southern Cal institute. It wasn't exactly the most happening social event as it was mainly for the science and business majors. Still, the gymnasium was fairly packed as a group of promising 20 somethings would walk about mingling, discussing their plans for the future and reminiscing about the times they had had during their time studying various up and coming sciences.
One of those people was a bit of a recluse, an odd case who went simply by Dr. Max, even though he wasn't officially a doctor at this point. In fact, his major was something of a mystery, having taken all manners of chemistry, engineering and particle physics. Still, the spry young scientist, who's hair hadn't gone totally gray yet (save for a patch in the back) drew some attention from his classmates, as well as some ire from those more skeptical of his ideas.
He would be sitting at a round table with a single half finished glass of fruit punch, sitting alongside one of his few friends, another scientist who was a bit more social named Trevor Hoffnung. Trevor saw something in Max, despite the fact that his ideas seemed all over the place. The ambition itself was infectious though and he hoped that in time Max could settle on some course of study and stick with it.
As it was though, the young Maximillian was boasting of something new he was working on and he had a prototype to show off as always. His friend, Trevor tried to remain supportive as he joined Max and a group of fellow science and engineering majors to watch Max unveil what appeared to be a small silver plastic toy, akin to something you'd get in a happy meal.
"Nice trick, Max" a snarky young scientist retorted, adjusting his glasses as he had a better look, "gonna market that to McDonalds?"
Trevor sighed, always feeling like he had to defend his misunderstood colleague. But this time Max seemed a bit snarkier than usual. He gently slammed the table and the small critter moved on its own a bit.
"Hmmm, did you use a small motor to achieve the movement effect?" one of the curious science majors asked
"Nein ... as usual you are thinking too simply" Max sighed, as the creature moved on its own again, eventually running out of steam and returning to a stationary position. "It's made of nanites ..."
"Nanites are a total gimmick..." another scientist chimed in, "You've been watching way too many science fiction movies"
"Say what you will ... but I'm already working on a deal to start my own company with Eddie ..." Max touted, "and we're going to produce all kinds of tech that can grow and shrink at will..."
"I'm sorry ... Eddie... Eddie Enormo...whatever?" one of them chuckled, "There's no way he'd back this ... this ... whatever this is ..."
As the group joined in mocking the increasingly irked Maximillian, another colleague walked by. He had light brown hair and stood at about 6'2. Not much was known about him but he was one of the few for whom Max had true respect. In fact he considered this man to be something of a genius, even if he would never admit it out loud.
The man's name was Giovanni Guillardo and he had already been offered a position as a student professor in quantum physics upon completing his bachelors. He also was conducting a number of studies on interdimensional matter and chaos theory. As much as people gave Max weird looks sometimes however, many considered Giovanni to be something of a nut case, despite his excellent grades.
Giovanni would pause and take a rare interest in the science discussion, pulling up a chair and inserting himself right into it, peering in at Max's creation with curiosity.
"Shrinking and growing technology, hmm?" Giovanni asked
"That is right! See, it's all based on molecular transfusion" Max explained
"I see... although there's only so far that can go ... in this dimension anyway" Giovanni retorted, drawing groans from almost everyone at the table, including the usually mild mannered Trevor Hoffnung.
"Oh god, not the multiverse thing again..."
"Not multiverse..." Giovanni restated, "it's like a ... web of possibilities ... other dimensions, similar to ours but different ... at this very moment there could be this same exact conversation occuring but maybe ..."
"Maybe you're actually not a loser in it!" someone chimed in, drawing snickers from the other mean spirited scientists
"Say what you want" Giovanni shrugged, seemingly unfazed by the relentless insults, "I'm building a particle collider that's almost finished... I plan to demo it later this summer at the university before the fall semester ... you're all welcome to come see it"
"As much as I'd love to see the chance to see you blow up half the science complex, I think I'll pass..." one of the scientists quipped, slowly shuffling away from the group upon seeing a colleague they recognized.
Max simply looked down at his creation, a very rough prototype at what would later be called a Maximite. He shook his head in disdain.
"Hey ... I think it's a cool idea" Trevor shrugged, "and you were serious about Eddie, right?"
"Hmm?" Max asked, seemingly distracted for a moment, before nodding, "Yes, yes of course! We're going to start the biggest company this side of the west coast! Mumford Mechanations ..."
"You don't think maybe Edward Enormoligatti will want his name on the company?" Trevor teased
"Eh, we'll work out the details..." Max shrugged.
As socially awkward as his entrance had been, Giovanni then made just as abrupt of a departure, drawing a bit of an eye roll from the future Dr. Trevor Hoffnung.
"That guy's a bit out there, huh?" Trevor suggested
"Eh, I wouldn't say so..." Max said, seemingly in a state of admiration as he watched Giovanni head off, "reach for the skies, yknow?"
Trevor shrugged. Ambition was one of the founding principles of new discoveries and eventually new inventions.
Unfortunately for Giovanni though, the mean spirited scientists joking prophecy would later come to pass, as that summer would see Giovanni's lone test into creating an interdimensional gate end in tragedy ... while nobody else was hurt, the science lab was engulfed in a fireball for a brief moment and nothing in the vicinity survived the blast, meaning the scientist with so much ambition and ideas was a mere memory... vaporized by the technology that he thought would show him a whole new world of possibilities.
Or at least ... that's how it was reported at the time ...
-----
In another time, perhaps more familiar to present day, and in another place, unfamiliar to most any mere mortal, a battle raged on as a strong figure in black armor, adorned with green and red shoulder pads fought off a horde of encroaching creatures who appeared to be made entirely of crystal. While he dodged and weaved to avoid their attacks, he also kept tabs on his duo of warriors who were also dealing with similar threats.
To his immediate left was the enchantress known as Emerald, clad in heavy green and gold armor and able to produce strong forcefields with a wave of her hands. Her lustrous golden locks flowed in the breeze giving her a very aesthetically pleasing feminine appearance as she dominated her foes. She had fought under the royal guard of Duke Vektor for quite some time after all and this was nothing new to her, but the impending threat had taken over more and more of the kingdom of late. While she battled off the growing army, she looked to Vektor with a glare.
"I warned you, Sire ..." Emerald cried out during the volley of attacks she defended, "I warned you that we needed more numbers ... more warriors ..."
"I've brought your sister along, haven't I?" Vektor, the heavily armored warrior and Duke proclaimed, gesturing to a less than agile and prepared warrior in her own right.
"She's not ready, Lord Vektor..." Emerald protested, letting her guard down just long enough to incure a sharp incision from an extended gem laden limb as the creatures continued to multiply in number. "Ugh! Son of a ..."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." the third warrior, the sister of Emerald muttered, although to nobody in particular. She seemed out of sorts as the invasion continued but she was doing everything she could to fight off the foes with her meddle and her trusty glowing sword. The radiant blade, glowing a similar blue to her short hair was said to possess mystical powers that only a few could handle. Since birth, Sapphire had been one of those who could handle and yield the blade without incurring harm to herself, but she lacked the confidence and conviction of a true warrior to unleash its full power. In other words, she was clumsy, but meant well.
This clearly wasn't meant to be her day on the battlefield, but time was running out and training was not an option. It was all hands on deck for the dwindling court of Duke Vektor and the Kingdom of Quartzaria ... it was a dimension that knew mostly peace, save for a few cataclysmic events in the past that would normally wipe out other civilizations.
But the Quartzarians were a strong race. Even when obliterated, their bodies would turn to pure gemstones and over time they would reforge, although perhaps in a different form than they originally were. It was hard to say how many generations had evolved and revitalized in this way. But that was the past and if Vektor wanted to save the future of his kingdom, he would need to heed the advice of his longtime companion Emerald and find a new kind of hero. He would need to find somebody cunning, somebody with their own set of powers and somebody who was capable of perhaps doing the impossible and saving their realm from what seemed to be another apocylyptic event.
Where could such a being be found though? And what was her name?
"Lexi, you coming?" Leah teased, from another place far far away as she waited outside Lexi's house patiently with her Toyota for a random outing to the Mini Mall.
"I'm coming, I'm coming..." Lexi sighed, schlupping herself out the door wearing a light purple tank top and jeans, her purse bobbing a bit more up and down due to the heavy boulder in it that was her SG medallion. The medallion itself, while functional in a battle context was fairly impractical to carry around but the young Alexis Cole found it necessary just in case the need should arise.
"Any word from Josh?" Leah asked, the radio at a dull hum as Lexi entered the car
"He never picked up the phone" Lexi shrugged, sliding out her own phone from the depths of her purse to confirm, "he must be working on something..."
"Just hope he doesn't blow up the neighborhood..." Leah joked, flipping through the channels as the two ladies were off on a shopping spree. Well, Leah was anyway. Lexi was desperately trying to save money while also looking for a new job, whether it be something temporary or more long term while the Krazy Kookie got repaired ... if that was even the plan. Unfortunately the Kekse stand that opened across the street was humming along just fine, especially with the void created due to the utter obliteration of their only competition. Who knew college based cookie stands could be so cutthroat in their competitve ways?
As Leah continued on her drive to the mall, the duo would pass a building which was ravaged by a mysterious explosion not too long ago. It wasn't from a bomb and something about it looked ... unnatural. Some of the bricks were almost melted and beams of steel would contorted at weird angles, almost as if the building were part of a surrealist painting. It was only missing the dripping clocks. As the girls drove by, Lexi would again pause to look, noticing a few parked police cruisers and police tape roping off the area.
"Lex..." Leah warned, "...let it go"
"Huh? What?" a flustered Lexi responded
"Everytime we go by that place, you do that thing where you like gawk at it..." Leah sighed, "not EVERY situation is one you need to get involved in, yknow? Besides, I need you here ... with me ... it's summer time, we're gonna do it up, right?"
Lexi paused but eventually smiled, turning away from the situation and facing her best friend instead
"Yeah, for sure" Lexi replied enthusiastically.
At the site of the mysterious happenstance, things were a bit less jovial. As a crew in hazmat suits carefully inspected the fallout from whateve occurred at the mysterious building, the police observed from a safe distance. Inside one of the MIni Troop cruisers dwelled Sonia Sanders and her partner, Alexandra.
"I just don't get it..." Sonia sighed
"It's a weird one for sure ..." Alexandra replied in agreement, "no signs of arson or a break in ... it's like the building imploded on itself or something ... there are traces of some kind of radiation but even our experts say they can't identify what it is ..."
"Well, not only that but I did some research as to who owned this property..." Sonia said
"And?"
"That's just it..." Sonia nodded, taking a collection of records out of the glove box to show her partner, "It's either been unowned or changed hands a number of times in the past several years ... the last owner was a Giovanni Guillardo..."
"Now why does that name sound familiar?" Alexandra asked
"I looked it up and he was a scientist who died in a tragic accident in California back in the 1990s ..." Sonia explained
"Could it be someone else with the same name?" Alexandra asked
"Possible but fairly unlikely... I mean, how many Giovanni Guillardos could there be??"
Giantess World
