Being the good friend of a well known superheroine had its perks but also its issues. Joshua James took his "job" as Lexi's righthand man very seriously. Maybe a bit TOO seriously. Currently though the more laidback brown haired young man with the eyes of bright enthusiasm had himself locked into a battle of wits, playing a particularly strategic game of Gwent in the Witcher.
From outside, Lexi was strolling along the sidewalk when noticing something she hadn't before in all of her times visiting Josh's residence. There appeared to be a small cubicle of fencing wrapping around the side door by Josh's garage. Lexi, overridden with curiousity peeked around the corner to see that the side door now had a picture with a colorful, comic-like sketch of her in a ShrinkGirl costume that said "The Shrink Grotto"
"...I'm glad he's not taking this too seriously..." Lexi sighed, quickly pulling out her phone as she hoisted her purse onto her shoulder, the bag currently holding quite a bit of extra weight. She'd dial Josh just as he was getting more and more invested in his video game. He'd glance over at the phone noticing an SG logo come up instead of Lexi's name on the caller ID.
"This is ShrinkGirl HQ, Josh speaking ... how may I help?" Josh said, suddenly adopting a strangely serious and professional tone.
Lexi, normally all too much of a dork and willing to play along found herself growing more impatient as she really needed her car sped up the process with a quick sigh, followed by her words, "...Josh... there IS no ShrinkGirl HQ ... and even if there were, you're the only one working there..."
"I mean for now ..." Josh shrugged, pulling up another computer window along with his ongoing video game. "I've got a few applicants coming in next week who are rather promising ... including..."
"Tell me you're joking ..." Lexi said with an exacerbated voice.
"Huh? Oh ... heh yeah, of course..." Josh said, sliding shut a drawer with job applications in it.
"May I get in please?" Lexi said with a slight laugh as she toyed with the side door to notice it was locked. In fact not only was it locked by regular keylock but it seemed to have 2 added layers of security with a deadbolt and a digital lock of some kind keeping the door firmly in place.
"Hmmm ... okay ... but first answer me this ..." Josh said, already stepping up to the door to get a look at his visitor through a security camera he had wired up with some duct tape.
"Josh ... I don't have time for ..." Lexi sighed
"If you're the real ShrinkGirl, you'll know the answer to these questions three..." Josh said, definitely taking his self appointed job as "gate keeper" way too seriously now.
"Josh, you asked ME to come here ..." Lexi said, a bit annoyed, "you said the ShrinkMobile was ready to go ... and I need it for work..."
"Okay, that was the first question" Josh said, a slight bemusement detected beneath his serious demeanor. "Next question ..."
Josh felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Not now, Lexi, I need to ..." Josh yelped, noticing Lexi was now behind him. "What in the -- how did you get in?"
"I shrank under the door..." Lexi shrugged, "You were taking too long ... although I AM going to need my purse..."
Josh sighed, deactivating the security locks and opening the door to scoop up Lexi's heavy purse from the ground.
"Geez, what's in this thing, rocks?" Josh asked, half joking
"Uh sort of..." Lexi replied, pointing to a metal counter where Josh could leave the purse. As soon as he did, it was evident there was more than mere cosmetics and a change of clothes inside from the noise it made when clanging down on the steel surface. "Also I was instructed to tell you to be ... very careful with those..."
Josh peeked into Lexi's purse to see 4 brightly colored stones. He recognized them almost instantly as the Quartzarian power gems but these seemed more vibrant and rich than their prior samples. They glowed in such a stellar way that Josh could only classify them in the most sophsticated and scientific of terms.
"...whoa, shiny..." the wannabe scientist would declare as the warbling glow illuminated his excited face.
"...I feel so safe with these in your hands ..." Lexi sighed, "speaking of which, be careful how you pick them up, they're still fairly warm ... maybe use some aluminum gloves if you have them..."
"Aluminum or titanium?" Josh asked, "I have both..."
"Knock yoursef out ..." Lexi sighed, peeking around the garage, "Now ... I hate to be in a rush but where's the ...?"
"Stop!" Josh warned.
Lexi stopped dead in her tracks to notice her own RC sized ride just below her feet. A few more steps and it might've been totaled.
"You ... shrank it." Lexi said, somehow not surprised so much as confused. "How did you ... fix it then?"
"Teeny tiny instruments ..." Josh said, "Don't ask. I accidentally engaged the shrink drive while working on the inside ... thankfully most of the damage was fixed by then, it should be good to go once you're ready"
"Okay cool and ... thanks again for doing this" Lexi said with a smile and a warm hug, "I really appreciate it"
"Of course Lex" Josh said, "now what's the deal with these crystals?"
"It appears we may have an issue on our hands ... a big one..." Lexi sighed
"Heh, good one" Josh said with a wink and a point
"No ... no, that one wasn't a size pun..." a sheepish Lexi admitted, later realizing that she maybe should've just run with it. "So ... I guess the portal to Quartzaria has been getting opened again ... but only temporarily... best case scenario, it's some kind of a glitch or ... that dimensional doctor guy trying that machine again ... worst case..."
"Mad Max?" Josh said with a dreadful look
"Yeah ..." Lexi said, "which is NOT what I need right now ... things had finally slowed down ... I've got school starting up again, I've got a ob that pays decently ..."
"...well isn't most of that money from the endorsement dollars?" Josh chimed in
"I try not to think about it that way" Lexi shrugged, "It's ... flattering but honestly kind of odd at times ..."
"Well I just think it's great that you still remember the little people..." Josh with a smirk, as if waiting for approval.
"Was that a size pun?" Lexi said, with a raised eyebrow. Josh simply nodded with a sense of pride. "...okay fine, that was good"
_______________________
A single light hummed in the offices of Scott Travis, CEO of CyberTek.
The usually excitable and talkative young man had felt a great heaviness in his heart since the incident with Aeris. He came into his office, not looking at all like his usual self. His tie was barely finished, and disheveled as it hung from his blazer which was also opened, sporting a dress shirt underneath that looked as though it bore a coffee stain.
Even with the recent success his company had been having, it was hard to get too excited given the young woman being kept in containment.
Scott sat at his desk, peered around the dreary office and hit a button which would bring up a monitor.
This monitor served as a direct video feed to a room underneath the manufacturing plant where he could keep tabs on Aeris. The young woman, being propped up like a waterboarding victim had a blank look on her face. She had shown limited signs of consciousness since her accident, but her face remained motionless. Scott was very close to placing a call down to the team working on her condition but he decided against it, instead turning his attention to another set of monitors.
Scott had one of the most advanced surveillance systems in all of the region, if not the country. He had cameras on pretty much everything within the facility as well as a few outside the facility. One was simply a black staticy screen showing nothing at this time, serving as an ominous reminder of Aeris' horrid fate.
Just then Scott's ears perked up at a slight sound, as if listening to a fuzzy two way radio. He'd quickly fetch his headphones and clip them on, hearing a conversation between a man and woman. Their voices sounded ... familiar, to an extent.
"I still can't believe our daughter is going to be part of the Minions game" the woman said
"So you've said ..." the man, seemingly having heard it a million times already replied.
"It's just exciting ... why aren't you excited?" the woman said with a sly chuckle.
"I was excited and still am ... just figure she's got a lot on her plate ... why put more pressure on it?" the man replied
"Lexi really works hard, yknow?" the woman said, "it's just nice to see her get this opportunity..."
Scott frowned as he kept the conversation on at a low volume while also keeping tabs on Aeris. He squinted a bit noticing something odd.
Did he just see one of her fingers move?
_____________________
It was the big day at last ...
Not the day of the ballgame but the day and evening that meant so much to Leah Henderson. The day of her fashion show -- well not HER fashion show but nonetheless she took a lot of pride in the work she had done and the progress she had made. Likewise, her boss was proud of her as well and so was Lexi who took one last chance to text with her before she herself had to return to work.
"You're gonna rock this, gurl" Lexi typed excitedly to Leah while wearing her white and purple pin striped uniform for "The Shrink Shack"
"Thanks Lex, I gotta get going..." Leah typed furiously fast as things were bustling behind her. She had her phone tucked down by her waist in an attempt to hide it as people passed by her in nearly every direction. "but I'll see you tonight, right?"
The last sentence was followed by a "pleading emoticon' -- sort of a smiley face with the tearful looking eyes... much too cute to resist.
"Duh" Lexi responded, "I'm out at 5, I'll see you for 9"
"8!" Leah typed back in a panic, almost dropping her phone, "the show starts at 8 ... maybe even get here a bit early? I could really use the support"
"You got it, Lee" Lexi responded as she slid over to allow one of the Shack's busy chefs the opportunity to get by her and into the crowded main area which was full of happy customers munching on Shrink Burgers, sipping on Shrink Shakes or even just kids playing around with their "Complete the ShrinkGirl Adventure" maze.
Lexi sighed, shaking her head and stepping back into the kitchen with her phone tucked into her pocket before she heard some applause.
"Oh c'mon..." Lexi said with a half joke, stepping out to a rousing applause, she'd throw her arms up in the air as the lights seemed to grow brighter and brighter on her, almost feeling as though she were on stage. People began to stand up and clap, the applause becoming positively thundering.
The smug Lexi decided maybe it was time to give the people what they wanted.
"Excuse me, Lexi..." Will asked, poking her on the shoulder, "Table 3 needs some help"
"You've got it, Will!" Lexi smirked, jumping into action, quite literally, performing a front flip over one of the booth partitions as she shrank athletically and landed on the table square in the center of the amused guests as she held her appropriately tiny order pad.
After showing off and taking the order, Lexi slid off the table, growing back to normal size and offering smiles and high fives to guests as she walked by, hearing chanting and cheers.
"Lexi ... Lexi ... Lexi ..."
"Lexi!" Kim snapped at her from behind.
"Huh?" Lexi eeped, caught in a moment of daydreaming. That was weird ... but the shrinking front flip WAS pretty cool. Too gimmicky perhaps.
But then why did she hear the cheering even still?
It wasn't as grandiose as in her dream but there were some people clapping and crowding around a group of girls who just entered the restaurant.
"Lex... we need you ... like now" Kim said, half joking but all the waiters and waitresses seemed a bit stressed as they picked up the pace.
The reason for such an occurrence was quickly evident as Will, perched at the hosting counter was swarmed by about a dozen ladies, who played for either the Minitropolis Minions or Texas Tumbleweeds teams. They were all in "street clothes" but most were cheering for Molly Anderson, who had become something of a small celebrity for her rise to athletic fame-- although some also cheered for the Minions players, some of whom even had their pictures on the wall from eating there before.
The women were mostly tall, some even topping 6 feet so Lexi was able to easily recognize some of them despite the cluster who ironically obstructed each other, all there to have a meal and chill, but that would be very unlikely as they offered shy waves to the crowd, even Molly who was usually a bit more excitable.
"Oh shi --" Lexi thought to herself. She was happy to see Molly again and the team but this could potentially keep her held up at work if the team stayed a while. The restaurant just went from busy to absolutely bustling. But Lexi still had a couple more hours on her shift. It hopefully wouldn't matter much. Plus it was at least a chance to catch up with --
"Lexi! Holy shit is that you?" Molly asked, emerging from the small group and wrapping her arms around her old childhood friend. Lexi had zero time to respond but blushed bright red upon receiving the hug, embraced by Molly's taller 5'9 build and her pretty chestnut hair which fell to her sides.
"Molly!" Lexi grinned, "I ... yes, heh, it's me ... I'm surprised you remember me, you sportstar!"
"Hah, well it's kinda hard not to know about you, 'little superstar'" Molly giggled, "I remember you used to tease me at times for being the shorter of us both ... seems I've had a bit of a growth spurt since and you? Well you've gone the other way..."
"Yeah yeah ..." Lexi sighed, "May I show you ladies to a table? I somehow don't think you'll have an issue finding one"
"Omigosh..." a shy young lady asked, squeezing between Molly and Lexi to get to a couple of the young ladies who flanked them, "can I get a picture with you?"
"Oh uh ... s-sure..." Lexi stammered, before realizing the young groupie actually DIDN'T want a picture with her but rather the two girls beside them who were players for the Minions. Lexi blushed but stepped closer to Molly as she watched the scene unfold. It was cute to see and a bit of a relief that Lexi herself wasn't the center of attention for a change.
Shortly enough, the hysteria would die down as the ladies sat down and dined. A few customers would occasionally awkwardly ask Molly or others for pictures of autographs but for the most part, the softball players just sat, laughed and dined at the large circular corner booth, ordering plentiful appetizers and entrees as it seemed everybody was eager to be the server to work with them.
Lexi would walk by once and poke Molly on the shoulder
"Hey ... heh ... you all doing okay over here?" Lexi asked shyly, "I notice people are kind of crowding you, wanna make sure you know that comfort is our number one priority here at the ..."
"Omigosh Lex" Molly chuckled, gesturing over to Lexi as a few of the girls leaned over in interest, looking in the direction of the interaction, "...this is my friend Lexi I was telling you about"
A few of the players seemed enthusiastic to meet her, offering hands to shake, while a couple others, the local players seemed less enthused. When one lived in the Minitropolis area, seeing Lexi/ShrinkGirl got less and less intriguing each time. While the softball team hadn't formally met Lexi, they saw plenty of her on team buses or posters throughout the city, not to mention the times they'd order out from the SHRINK SHACK which usually bore her likeness somewhere on the bag or menu. It was a bit of a Lexi overload. But to newcomers, like the visitors from Texas, it was a treat to meet the young lady in person.
"You were talking about me?" Lexi chuckled nervously, quickly feeling the heat of the gaze of all of the players at their seats, "Um... did you need any more water or ...?"
"Lex Lex, calm down" Molly said with a grin, "I told you all, she's super conscientuous ... always was... even as kids growing up"
Lexi blushed, folding her arms neatly and trying to remain professional. She felt as though maybe she should just walk away and let the women continue their meal in peace but Molly simply wouldn't have it, continuing to try and call Lexi back.
"Oh -- oh I'm sorry!" Molly said, scootching over with what limited space she had in the already overflowing booth, "I meant it as a compliment Lexi... it was always super cute how much you cared but ... yeah, you're not our waitress here, hon.... you're my friend, yknow? "
"Yeah?" Lexi said shyly, "even after ... all these years?"
"Uh ... duh" Molly smirked, pulling out her phone and posing it over her shoulder. Some of the remaining softball members watched in anticipation as the two snapped a quick selfie. "Once a friend, always a friend... you said it yourself"
Lexi nodded. It was a philosophy Lexi had kept her entire life but it rarely worked out as such. People move ... they lost touch and even in the age of modern social media, it's unrealistic to think that anybody will be friends forever. Needless to say, hearing these words from Molly Anderson warmed young Lexi's heart.
After a moment of making herself comfortable, Lexi stood up and turned her head a bit.
"W-Well technically I AM your waitress..." Lexi chuckled nervously, looking around at the busy restaurant, "although ... only for another ... half hour or so..."
"Oh yeah? Wanna go check out the park with us after?" Molly asked
"The ... park?" Lexi asked, a bit too caught up in the moment to question it any further.
"Yeah, the Minidome, silly!" Molly said, again gesturing for Lexi to sit down with them but Lexi resisted, not wanting to draw any further ire from her boss or coworkers at that moment.
"We're going to just hang out and take BP, it'll be fun!" one of the other players chimed in.
"B...P?" a confused Lexi asked
"We'll show you" Molly chuckled, "besides, would be fun to catch up, right?"
Lexi gulped and nodded, her heart racing a bit. She knew she had to attend Leah's fashion show. That was an absolute 'must' for her. But she hadn't seen Molly in so long ... plus she had a chance to be on a real baseball field with real baseball players ... something she only just now realized she was kind of interested in. But ... she couldn't ditch Leah on her big night. There was no way ...
"I'm sorry Mol..." Lexi said, "I ... don't know if I can ..."
Molly pouted a bit, "Got plans?"
"Y-Yeah ... I ..." Lexi stuttered, "I'm sorry ... I just ..."
"Can't toss around the ball just for a little while?" one of the girls quipped in, a skinny red head with hazel eyes. She had something of a southern drawl as she spoke, "You're some kind of super girl, right? I bet you can toss a mighty mean fastball!"
"W-Well ...?" Lexi sighed nervously, "M-Maybe? I mean ... I could always just ... for a little bit ..."
Lexi eyed her watch nervously. She HAD done faster turnarounds before ... even if she just missed a LITTLE of Leah's show, she could likely get there on time. Heck, maybe she could even surprise Leah with an appearance from the Minitropolis Minions and Molly. Wait ... was Leah all that familiar or caring about baseball either?
________________________
What Leah did care about was the pit in her stomach that seemed to be mounting as the time drew nearer.
At the Miniborough Auditorium, Leah had been wrapping up with some of the ladies. Thankfully her role wasn't to actually MODEL the dresses and gowns on stage. She'd likely melt from embarassment if she had to do that ... or worse yet, go flailing about in some of the sharply cut high heel shoes. As much as Leah adored heels, she hated walking in them. Her clumsiness rivaled that of Lexi's although she could at least stand on her own two feet if wearing flats.... usually.
"You okay Leah?" Sally asked, taking her fashion consultant and ushering her out into a bigger clearing.
There were still a few hours until the show as the clock had just passed 5 o clock.
Poor Leah had been up all night stressing about this and didn't get much sleep before her long shift began. The hard work was mostly over now and it was just a matter of getting the show coordinated and overseeing it. Sally was about to check on one of her other assistants before pausing and giving Leah something of an unexpected hug.
"Huh?" Leah said, a chuckle briefy crossing her face.
"Your mom would be so proud..." Sally said with a longing, wavering tone to her praise.
"Thank you..." Leah sighed, smiling even as she felt the slightest of tweaks from her pocket, which contained her cell phone.
Leah picked it up as she paced around the backstage area.
"Yeah Lex?" Leah asked, her voice down to a murmur.
"Hey Leah ... uh ... hey ... it's me... Lexi..." the voice on the other end said.
"Heh I know ..." Leah replied, "...that's why I said ... Yeah Lex? You DO know your name shortens to Lex, right?"
"Huh. Right right..." Lexi answered nervously, as a car horn could be heard in the background from a group of rowdy girls in a car behind her.
"See you at the park, Lex!" one of them shouted.
Leah couldn't make out the shouting but she definitely heard the car horn.
"Are you driving?" Leah asked
"Um... n-no ..." Lexi said softly, currently seated in her ShrinkMobile's front seat, her eyes staring down at the ground. Geez, had Josh even vacuumed the floor mats? That was an amazing degree of detail. "...not yet"
"Okay cool..." Leah said, "Because for a second I was afraid you were calling to say ..."
"...I'm ... going to be a little late..." Lexi said, trying to choke the words out. It seemed like time was at a stand still as Lexi let those words sink in, even questioning for just a bit if her cell phone had lost signal. "Leah? You ... you there?"
"Yeah." Leah said, her tone suddenly contrite, while remaining soft. "Did something ... come up? Roxie? Mad Max?"
"Oh uh ... no... nothing like that ..." Lexi said, trying to circle her way back to the answer as she offered a nervous wave to the van of ballplayers who waved as they drove past. "...it's uh ... Molly"
"Oh." Leah said, hearing some racket behind her. She didn't want to stand still any longer than she already had to ... and her growing anxiety was making that even less appealing of an option, "...well, if you can't come..."
"No! No!" Lexi stammered, "I'm totally gonna come! It's just ... Molly ... and some of her friends ... stopped by the Shack and ... they're just going to show me around the ballpark ... it'll take like an hour tops! I'll be there Leah, I promise..."
Leah was about to say something but it was like only air could escape her lips for the next few moments.
"...I've gotta go" Leah said, hanging up hastily rather than say anything she may regret. She paused for a breath, eyes on her phones wallpaper which was a picture of her and Lexi posed off kilter from an old selfie at the winter carnival, taken just a few years prior. She tried not to let her sadness show as she walked over to talk to the gentleman in charge of lighting.
Before she could get over there however, she heard a voice from behind.
"Oh hey Leah... it's okay if I stop back here, right?"
Leah turned in surprise, not expecting in the least to see who she saw.
Giantess World
