Three o’clock arrived sooner than anyone expected. Carla, Marie, and Andy continued to play and horse around outside, Andy hoping that their sizes would stay just as they were. Hailey and Jerry continued to hide away from everyone else, presumably trying new erotic adventures. Vera, Paul, and Dale all sat and waited individually, the fight still weighing hevily on their minds.

The three who had been outside came in for a breather, and were sitting on the couch when Betty knocked on the door. Marie, who was feeling a bit better now, lept up and opened the door.

“Hi,” Betty said with a smile, watching everone gather in front of her. “It’s time for today’s competition, which I am sure you have all been waiting for.”

“Oh, yes.” Dave muttered from below.

“Follow me, and you will soon see the kind of game we will be playing.” Betty said. The eight of them trailed behind her around the far side of the house and into an open clearing of grass. There they were met by what appeared to be the set of a game show.

On the left were three ordinary podiums, not unlike those seen in Jepordy and other question-answer games. Straight ahead in the back were four more podiums, but these were half-sized. Behind them was the shrinking booth, brought out from the compound. On the right side were four little quarter-sized podiums, no bigger than cereal boxes.

Right in front was Betty’s podium, a bit grander than the others. But the most interesting thing was right on top of it—a tiny little eighth-size podium. The contestants stared at it, wondering who would be using it in just minutes time.

“As you probably guessed, your success in this round will depend on your ability to answer questions.” Said Betty. “They will include questions about the house, questions about each other, and questions about the outside world.”

“To make it perfectly clear what the stakes are, I will tell you exactly how many people will be at each size by the end of the game.” Betty said. “Two of you will be half-sized. Four of you will be quarter-sized. One of you will become the single, full-sized king or queen of the house. And one of you shall be reduced to eighth-size; in other words, just about nine inches tall.”

All the contestants looked at each other. Not only was there a new smaller size bracket openining up, there would also be many fewer taller people! And only one person at full size—the power was intense to think about.

“You will now file behind the podiums apropriate to your size, and we will begin.” Betty instructed. They did as they were told; Carla and Marie moving to the left; Andy, Hailey, and Vera moving to the back; and Paul, Dale, and Jerry moving to the right. Betty got behind the grand podium and looked out over the contestants. She certianly liked this batch.

“Before we begin the actual game, we’re going to do something I like to call Trading Up, Trading Down.” Betty said. “A little size-shuffeling to start things off. Nothing big. Just one person from full-sized will be shrinking, one person from half-sized will be growing, and one more person from half-sized will be shrinking.”

Betty grinned as she watched the eight of them frantically try to decide what they were doing in their heads. She loved putting them through things like this…trying to outlast each other when most of them were eventually going to her at the end anyway. Everyone worked out that this would be a net loss of one half-size position and the net gain of one quarter-size position.

“What shall happen is those who decide the fate of those to change sizes will be the ones in the size bracket directly below.” Betty said. This brough astonished shifts in many of their faces. “So the half-sized people shall decide which full-sized person is shrunk, and the quarter-sized people shall decide the half-sized people that are to be enlarged and shrunk.”

Betty waited another moment as they all thought about this. “When I ask you, you will enter the name of the person you want to change.” She said. “Keep in mind that everyone will be able to see who you vote for, so be careful about it.” The players looked down at their podiums. Sure enough, there was a button for each of the eight contestants, plus buttons for colors, the numbers between one and six, a directional pad, and a larger buzzer for aswers.

“I will now ask the half-sized people to vote for the full-sized person they want to shrink.” Betty said. “Place your votes now.”

There were three chirping sounds in quick percession as Andy, Vera, and Hailey cast their votes.

“Let’s see.” Betty said. “Andy voted for Marie. Hailey voted for Carla. Vera also voted for Carla. Carla, please step into the booth for reduction to half size.”

Carla sighed and shrugged, knowing that this wasn’t anything smaller than she had experianced thus far. She gave Marie a hug and wished her luck then stepped into the machine. There was a flash, and a half-sized Carla moved to join the other half-sized people at the back.

“Okay,” Betty said. “Now the quarter-sized people will make their two votes. To make sure one vote doesn’t effect the other, I will ask you to vote for the half-sized person you want to enlarge first, then the half-sized person you want to shrink second. You may not pick Carla for either as she was full-sized just a second ago.”

There were six chirps as each of the three of them made their two choices.

“Okay, I’ll put the votes for enlarging up on the screen.” Betty said. “Dale votes to enlarge Vera. Jerry votes for Hailey, and Paul also votes for Vera.” Vera smiled widely. “Vera, to the machine if you will.”

Vera walked to the machine and let it enlarge her back to normal size. Stepping out of the machine she looked happily at the world around her, everything as it should be. Paul was absolutely miniscue now and Carla, whose shoulders she had just been riding on, was now the size of a small child. She moved to join Marie, who greeted her warmly.

“Alright,” Betty said. “Now for the votes for shrinking. Dale votes for Hailey. Jerry votes for Andy. Paul also votes for Andy.” It took a lot of effort for Andy not to smile. He would be smaller than Carla again! “To the machine, if you will.”

Andy walked into the machine and waited in anticipation for the shrinking to come. There was a flash of light and suddenly Andy found himself in a much larger world. The door opened and Andy walked, trembling, into the daylight.

Hailey and Carla looked down on him as he came out. They were both giantesses to his eye, but even they were shrunk. He looked over in awe to Betty, Marie, and Vera. They were truly awesome sights to behold.

Andy tried not to show any emotion as he joined the three other men who were well used to this size by now. Was it a coincidence that now all the guys were small as could be? It would just have to be seen.

“Now that everything is set, the game will begin.” Said Betty. “This game will have three rounds. Each round will be played amoung the people of a similar size, starting with the quarter-sized contestants. The winner of the first two rounds will move up and compete in the next. The winner of the final around will be the full-sized ruler.”

“We begin round one.” Betty said. “Andy, Dale, Jerry, and Paul, you will be asked a question in order. The first person to answer three correctly will be the winner. If more than one person answers three than there will be a tiebraking round.

The contestants looked stoicly forward.

“Andy, question one,” Said Betty. “What is the color of the rug in the first bathroom?"

Andy honestly didn’t remember. “Green?” He suggested.

“Blue. Sorry, no point.” Said Betty. “Dale. In the movie ‘The Dark Barge’, what does Captian James wear around his neck?”

“A silver medalion,” Answered Dale, confidently

“Very good,” Said Betty. “A point for you. Jerry. Which one of the group studied for a semester at a univerity in the NVB?”

“Carla.” Remembered Jerry. This had come up in conversation a few days previous.

“Correct,” Said Betty. “Paul. Who starred as Lady Red in the big-screen adaption of the classic play Marigold Lane.”

Paul racked his brain, but he failed to think of it. “Donna McLean.” He guessed randomly.

“Wrong, it was Lana Bovard.” Said Betty. “So far, Dale and Jerry each have a point, Andy and Paul have none. Okay, Andy. Which one of the group sustained an ankle injury from playing basketball in high school?”

Andy remembered the had been talking about this. “Vera?” He offered.

“No, sorry, it was Hailey.” Said Betty. “Okay, Dale. What is the next prime number after 89?”

Dale thought about it. He nearly said ninety-one, but caught himself at the last moment and said, “Ninety-seven.”

“Very good, another point for you.” Betty said. “Now Jerry. How many protons are in an atom of carbon?”

Jerry wasn’t very good with science, but he remembered this answer because of his favorite high school teacher: “Six.”

“Excellent, another point for you.” Betty said. “Paul. In the movie Island of Hell, who was the first person to die?”

It had been ages since Paul saw the movie. He had to make a guess. “Renee,” He said.

“Renee is correct!” Betty said, to Paul’s surprised delight, “You’ve earned another point. At this time, Dale and Jerry lead with two points, Paul trails with one, and Andy still has zero.”

Betty paused for a moment before starting up again. “Andy.” She said. “You’re going to have to get this one if you want a prayer of continuing. Tell me, who is the mayor of the City of Easthill?”

Andy knew this. He didn’t really want to enlarge but it wouldn’t be bad to at least get one point. “James Scraff.” He said.

“That is correct.” Betty said. “Take a point. Now Dale, if you answer this question you will be at the very least guarinteed a tiebreaking round to continue. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Said Dale, building his confidence.

“Your question,” Betty said, “Who, in this group, used to volinteer as a pack leader in the Child Scouts of Dayview Nudist Territory?”

Dale thought he was probably the only one who knew this answer as it related very well with an experience he had with the person in question just yesterday. He could not bring himself to meet her eyes as he said it.

“Marie.” Dale said.

“You are correct!” Betty said. “That is your third point. Jerry, if you answer this question right, you will enter a tiebreaking round with Dale. If you do not answer it correctly, Dale will continue on to the half-sized round.”

“No pressure, huh?” Jerry said, smiling.

“None at all.” Betty said. “Okay: Which senator was indited last year on the charge of soliciting a bribe?”

Jerry knew this question as well. “Lauren Lumbourgh.”

“Very good.” Betty said. “Now it is between Dale and Jerry for the tiebreaker round.” Dale, dispite being in his depths of unhappiness over Marie, started to feel a little better; this was a real chance for him.

“Dale,” Betty said. “What is in the picture frame hanging on the right side of the kitchen in the house?”

Dale remembered this. “A basket of fruit.”

“Very good!” Betty said. “Jerry, if you answer this correctly, we will have to do the tiebreaker again, but if you fail to answer correctly, Dale will win this round.”

“Let’s do it!” Jerry said.

“Jerry,” Betty said. “How many drawers are located to the right of the washing machine in the kitchen?”

“Four.” Said Jerry. There was a pause.

“I’m sorry, the answer is five.” Betty said. “Dale is this round’s winner!”

Dale shot his fist in the air in celebration. Finally, he would not be one of the smallest ones on the show! Not only that, now he will be bigger than Paul!

“If you please, Dale, enter the booth to be enlarged to half-size.” Betty said. Dale didn’t need to be asked twice. With a kind of a strut, Dale entered the booth and waited for the light to activate. There was a flash, and now everything seemed just a little bit less scary.

Dale exited the booth and took his spot next to Hailey and Carla. He looked over to Andy, Jerry, and Paul, still small and standing over to his left. This was the first time that he saw people smaller than himself and he couldn’t help from smiling. Not only was he bigger than Paul, but Hailey was no longer a giantess.

“Now Carla, Dale, and Hailey will compete in round to determine who will get to face Marie and Vera in the final round.” Betty said. “The rules will be the same, except this time you must answer four questions correctly in order to move ahead. Are you ready?”

The three of them nodded their heads.

“Okay, Carla,” Said Betty. “First question. In the house, how many light fixtures are above the mirror in the first bathroom?”

Carla was usually good at this kind of thing, but this question missed her. “Six.” She said.

“No, the correct answer was four.” Betty said. “Onto Dale. How many protons are in the nucleus of silver?”

“Sixty?” Dale asked.

“No, the answer is forty-seven.” Said Betty. “Okay, Hailey. Who played Dr. Hunt in the pyschological thriller ‘Shadow Mountian’?”

“John Grey.” Answered Hailey immediately.

“Very good, a point for you.” Betty said. “Now Carla, in the house, what object is portrayed on the couch in a pattern?”

Carla thought about it. “Flowers.” She answered.

“Very good, a point.” Betty said. “Dale. Which one of the group used to own a small dog named Rover?”

Dale didn’t remember this. “Vera?” He suggested.

“No, it was Jerry.” Betty said. “Sorry, no points for you yet. Hailey, which one of the group has a small tatoo of a Mushroom Man on their lower back?”

“Vera,” Said Hailey, who remembered seeing it the other day when Vera was picking up something.

“Correct.” Betty said. “At this point in the round Hailey leads with two points, Carla with one, and Dale with none. Okay, next question for Carla. How many trees are in the yard surrounding the house?”

Carla counted them in her head. “Five.” She said.

“Correct.” Betty said. “Another point for you. Now Dale. Which one of the group has three older sisters and one younger brother?”

“Hailey,” Dale said. He only remembered this because she talked about it durring the brief time they were together at the beginning of the show.

“Right.” Betty said. “A first point for you. Now Hailey. How many towel racks are in the second bathroom?”

“Two,” Answered Hailey confidently.

“Correct,” Said Betty. “A third point for you. All you need to do is get another point on the next round and you will move ahead. Okay, Carla, your question. How many rose bushes are on the east end of the house?”

Carla tried to remember. It was difficult, they all grew in together. “Three?” She offered.

“I’m sorry, the answer was four.” Betty said. “Dale, your turn. Which one of the group here is an avid motercycle rider?”

Dale knew the anwer though he hated saying the name. “Paul,” He said.

“Correct,” Betty said. “Now Hailey, if you answer this question right, you will move ahead to the final round. Ready?”

“Yeah,” Said Hailey, taking a breath. Full-size was within her grasp. She could nearly feel it.

“Your question.” Betty said. “Which one of the group starred in their high school production of ‘Oliver’?”

“Jerry!” Exclaimed Hailey. She knew she had it. She couldn’t help from bouncing and clapping a little bit.

“You’ve done it!” Betty said. “You may now proceed to the shrinking booth to enlarge to full-sized.”

Almost giddy with joy, Hailey entered the booth. Dave watched her with a bit of fear, but reassured himself that there was only a one in three shot of her becoming the leader. Jerry didn’t know what to make of it, his giantess lover becoming bigger once again.

There was the customary flash of light and a full-sized Hailey emerged from the booth. She shreeked in joy as she looked down on all the shrunken people before her. Smile on her face, she moved over to join Marie and Vera at the full-sized booths. Both girls acknowledged the newcomer and prepared themselves for the battle.

“Congradulations to the three of you for making it this far,” Betty said to Marie, Vera, and Hailey. “But as you know only one of you can be the Queen. This round will decide which one of you will take on that roll. But the stakes are high. The first person to be eliminated from this round will be the person who is shrunk to one-eighth height.”

The three girls looked at each other in alarm. They might be the giantesses now, but at the end of the competition one of them would be a tiny little doll.

“The second runner-up will merely join her friends at quarter-sized.” Said Betty. This was a clear departure from the first season; in that game, two people had been reduced to eighth-height. Whoever suffered that fate this time had to do so alone.

“You will all start with six points.” Betty said. “If you answer a question correctly you will earn one point while your teemates will each loose a point. You will have the opertunity to steel from another player if they do not answer correctly. As you can obviously see the number of points will rapidly decrease. To make matters more difficult, each of the three current members of quarter-size will be able to knock a point off of a contestant of their choosing for whatever reason suits them.”

The quarter-sized men smiled in acknowlegement. At least they had some power to effect the outcome of this round. “Okay, quarter-sized people, place your vote now!” Said Betty. There were three chirps as three answers appeared on the screen.

“Andy votes for Vera,” Betty said.

“Jerry also votes for Vera,”

“Paul votes for Marie.” Betty concluded. None of the players tried to show their emotions. “Okay. That means that Hailey starts the game with six points, Marie with five, and Vera with four. One more thing: all the questions in this round will have to do with other players, so the more you’ve gotten to know them in the past few days the better your chances will be to come out ahead. Are you ready?”

All three girls nodded, but they were unable to hide their nerves.

“First question.” Betty said. “What is the name of the youth football team Dale coaches?”

Vera punched first. “The Hornets?” She offered.

“I’m sorry, but no. A point off for you.” Said Betty. Vera cursed under her breath. She could swear she heard Dale talking about them. “Any steals?”

Marie tapped her buzzer. “The Raiders.” She said.

“I’m sorry, you are also incorrect.” Betty said. “A point off for you as well. Hailey, do you know it?”

“The Vikings.” Said Hailey confidently with a little twist of a smile. She remembered distinctly her short relationship with Dale in which she called him “my little viking” and instructed him to do “raids” when in bed.

“Very good.” Betty said. “A point for you and a point off for each of you. That makes Hailey vastly ahead of each of you with seven points. Marie, you have three points and Vera you have two. Be very careful now.”

Vera was having a very difficult time holding in her tension. Sweat could be seen gathering on her brow.

“The next question.” Betty said. “What is the name of Andy’s younger brother.”

Vera smacked the buzzer right away. “James.” She said. She heard Andy mentioning the name in conversation a few days ago.

“Very good.” Betty said. “Hailey still leads with six points, Vera now has three points, and Marie trails with two points.”

Vera looked a little less stressed now. Hailey still seemed happy and confident, but Marie was starting to look a little nervous.

“Next question.” Betty continued. “When Carla was in college, what was the name of the paper she wrote editorials for?”

Vera hit her buzzer. She was sure she knew. “The Campus Times.” She said.

“No, I’m sorry.” Said Betty. “One less point for you. Anyone else?”

Marie hit her buzzer. “The Campus Buzz.” Marie said. She had been talking to Carla about it just that morning.

“Very good, a point to you.” Betty said. “Hailey is ahead with five points, but Marie is not far behind with three points, and Vera is barely hanging on with one point. Vera, you understand that if you do not correctly answer the next question you are headed straight for one-eighth size.”

Vera nodded, unable to speak. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She knew her chances of getting through this were decreasing by the minute.

“The next question.” Betty said. “What is the name of Paul’s German Shephard?”

This was Vera’s lucky moment. She hit the buzzer and said, “Roger!”

“Roger is correct.” Betty said. “Hailey still leads with four points, and both Marie and Vera are hanging on with two points.” Marie and Vera exchanged a glance. Very soon one of them would likely be shrinking.

“Moving along.” Betty said. “What is Dale’s middle name?”

After a second-long pause, Marie hit the buzzer. “Charels?” She offered, but the moment it came out of her mouth she feared that it was wrong.

“I’m sorry, that’s incorrect.” Betty said. “That’s a point off. Anyone else venture a steal?”

There was another momentary pause, then Hailey’s buzzer went off. “Robert?” She suggested.

“You are correct. A point for you, and a point off for Vera and Marie.” Betty said. All eyes moved to Marie. She wore a serious expression on her face—she was aware of what had just been decided.

“Marie, you have reached zero points and you are now out of the round.” Betty said. “You must now enter the shrinking machine for reduction to one-eighth size.”

Marie nodded her head. She wasn’t in an absolute hurry to get in the machine and took her time. First she gave Vera a hug, then Hailey. Vera could not help but feel sorry for Marie; sure they were competitors, but being tiny was a fate they all feared. Marie made her way over to the machine, but bent over to kiss Carla on the forehead first. Indeed, this may be the only brief moment Marie would be larger than Carla. In a moment the girl would tower over her.

Not able to dilly-dally any longer, Marie entered the portable booth and watched as the doors closed on the full-sized world. Marie stood in suspense as she waited for the flashing light. A moment later it came.

Marie blinked her eyes trying to clear out the spots. She looked around her, her mouth open in awe. What had previously been the size of a small phone booth was now more like an atrium, with walls and celings that went far above her head. I must be less than eight inches tall Marie thought, doing some quick math in her head. The fact was utterly unbelivable to her.

The door to the outside world opened and Marie gasped in shock. The small area next to the house where the game was being held had turned immense. Even the quarter-sized people to her left were giants. Dale and Carla stood in front of her and absolutely towered, and it baffled Marie’s mind to think that they weren’t even full-sized.

All the contestant’s eyes were on Marie. They, or course, had never seen anyone so small before. Betty watched them all with amusement. She loved this part, seeing all the others shocked at shrinking, nieve to what awaited them. How she loved her job.

“Carla, if you would bring Marie over here, please,” Suggested Betty. Carla reached down and scooped up little Marie and carried her gently in her arms. The girl who had just a moment ago towered over her was now a tiny figure in Carla’s arms.

When Marie first saw Betty up close she almost fainted. Betty’s head was about as tall as she was, and of course many times bigger. Her breasts were nearly the size of small sofas. The expanse of her body was enormous, bigger than most ordinary rooms. Betty took Marie from Carla in a hand that wrapped completely around Marie’s middle. Now several times her height above the ground, Marie stood behind the little podium on top of Betty’s podium with a premium view of all the contestants.

“Okay, it is down to Hailey and Vera.” Said Betty. “Hailey has five points, Vera has one. Obviously, Vera, you have a lot of work to do if you want to catch up with Hailey. In any case, the looser of the next round will be ‘merely’ shrunk to quarter-sized.”

Hailey and Vera looked at each other. Neither of them had been that small yet, but Vera was bracing herself. She knew she could not outlast Hailey. At least at quarter-sized she would be the same size as Paul and he could stop being uncomfertable around her.

“The next question.” Betty said. “What was the name of Andy’s best friend in high school?”

Both Vera and Hailey dove for their response buttons but Hailey hit hers a fraction of a second earlier.

“George.” Hailey said. She was once again thankful that she had a remarkable memory for conversations.

“You are correct.” Betty said. “Vera, I’m afraid this seals your fate. Please walk to the machine for reduction to quarter-size.”

Hailey offered Vera a concilitory hug which Vera accepted. Vera then walked over to the machine and stepped in. She took a few breaths to calm her racing mind. She reminded herself that she would be back with Paul and everything would be fine, Hailey would not be a bad leader.

The machine activated and Vera was shrunk. Seeing the world larger than it had ever been was a shock to her, but she just focused her eyes on the spot where the three men her own size stood. She didn’t even wait for Betty to ask it; Vera walked over to her same-size compatriots. Paul embraced her with open arms and they hugged each other strongly, Jerry and Andy standing on either side to watch.

“Well, that concludes this afternoon’s competitions.” Betty said. “I trust that your new Queen Hailey will take good care of you all.” Hailey beamed at all of them, unabashadly happy about her victory.

“I will escort you all back to the house,” Betty said, stepping away from the podium. “There is nothing more schedualed for today. Your sizes will remain in tact at least until tomorrow, when we will have a few suprises.”

The contestants followed Betty back to the house. Hailey picked Marie up off the podium and cradled her, hardly believing she was holding a doll-sized human. Marie was smiling up at Hailey. Hailey could not tell if the smile was a nervous smile or a smile for some other reason.

“Uh, hold on, I have a question,” Said Dale just before Betty was about to open the door. “It was this evening last season that the first elimination took place. Is that going to be happening soon?”

“Gee, I didn’t know you were so eager to be eliminated!” Betty joked.

“No, no,” Dale said, hurredly, “I was just wondering, that’s all.”

“Information regarding elimination will be forthcoming in due time,” Said Betty, playfuly mimicing a businesslike tone, “Until then, don’t worry your pretty little head over it.” With that she opened the door to the house and the contestants filed in.

“I’ll see you all later,” Said Betty as she left the house.