Southern Washington looked like a war zone. None of its magnificent government buildings was left standing. Here and there, fires had erupted and no one was trying to fight them. Large and deep craters filled roads and parks with a strange regularity. And bridges coming into town were no more.

In contrast, the northern neighborhoods were pretty much untouched. True, there were a couple of blocks that had suffered the consequences of the debris that had fallen from the sky, whose colors reminded of the news helicopters it had originally belonged to. But all of the buildings were still standing. The only sign of destruction was actually in the carpet of glass that covered all the streets in the city. Apparently, every single window in Washington had shattered at the same time. No one who had not been there when it had happened would have been able to understand what had been the cause.

George Balotelli was at the Lincoln Memorial, just where she had left him. With dexterity that was hard to believe in a woman her size, she had set him inside and had told him to wait for her there. She had some personal matters to take care of, she had said with a wink of one of her massive eyes.

He had understood the personal matters soon enough. She had been at it for what seemed like forever. George realized pretty quickly about one of the dangers the situation would end up bringing. He was glad that he had been prepared when the climax finally came. He wondered if anyone who had not found adequate protection for his ears would still keep his hearing. Thankfully, he still had had the headsets he had been wearing in the helicopter handy and he had then taken anything he had been able to get a hold of to muffle the sound as much as he had been able to.

It was not as if he had not clearly heard her screams. Or as if he had not felt the massive shakes every time she thrust.

At some point he had feared that if her intensity kept on growing she would bring the entire city down in an earthquake. She did not. There was calm after the storm. George risked getting out of the rendezvous point to take a look.

She was easy enough to spot, of course. Her head must be resting in the spot where the White House had originally been. Her body took about half of President’s Park. Lying there her toes and nipples must have been as high as the roof of a large office building.

George could see her chest calmly going up and down and realized that she had dozed off.

“She has the needs of a woman” he thought, his mind divided between the sight of her sleeping and the recent memories of her moans and screams. “She is just much bigger”

Then, he corrected himself. That was a very clumsy simplification, as Kelly herself had stated and had proven to the world. This woman had         just finished an entire military force and had crushed the government of the most powerful nation in the world. And she had not even broken a sweat while doing it. She had proven herself unbeatable, so far, and George had a hard time thinking on what else the army could throw at her. Unless they got really crazy, that is.

Kelly had even claimed that this would not kill her. She had even implied that trying this would make her bigger. He wondered if she had been bluffing but… she had actually grown twice over the course of the day, hadn’t she?

So, as crazy as it sounded, George believed that it was actually possible that this woman had the power to take over the world. What would happen next was impossible to guess. If she actually succeeded, this was going to be one of the biggest changes in human history.

Looking at her massive body lying on the grass, George tried to make an analysis, keeping his head as cold as the situation allowed.

He did not have too much background or references on Kelly, the self-proclaimed new world leader. He tried to put together what he had: the interview she had done in the morning, when she had not yet been so massive, her actions in Hollner, what she had done after growing bigger and being attacked and then her “press conference” with him and some colleagues. He tried to form an opinion and at the same time decide if his decision to accept the job as President had been a very bad mistake.

The first and most obvious characteristic of Kelly Hanson that had arisen during the two contacts with the press had been the fact that she was quite a megalomaniac. She was obsessed with talking about her power, how superior it made her to everyone else and about the things she felt entitled to thanks to it. And if her words had not been enough proof of that, her reactions every time she had been attacked were.

George did not know if he should blame her too much for that, though: in the end, she did really possess an amazing power.

The second thing that caught George’s attention was Kelly’s sense of purpose: she did not believe in power for the sake of power. She was convinced that she had to do something with it. Of course, her megalomania had pushed her to the only possible conclusion: she had to take over the world.

George was significantly more confused from here onwards: if one forgot about her bragging, Kelly Hanson had actually tried to reason with the people she had been talking to. Some of her arguments had been way too stretched, but she had made an effort to explain herself and in George’s opinion she had seemed smart and sensible enough.

Of course, that contrasted with the fact that she had killed tens of thousands of people already. And that she had made it clear that she did not feel sorry for it.

How could someone that did not feel sorry for thousands of deaths could then claim that she planned on making the world a better place?

George was not a psychologist, so he could not really know. He wondered if it would have anything to do with the fact that Kelly Hanson had now reached a point where individual lives did not mean that much but where she still cared about society. Was she actually the ultimate socialist? he wondered

He discarded the idea. Some of the ideas she had preliminary shared seemed to point clearly in the direction of “social justice”, but then she had proven herself quite a pragmatist, as well. George’s best guess was that Miss Hanson did not really have a strong ideology. This was, up to some point, best. But it also meant that from now on, the direction the world would go would depend exclusively on what she thought was right at any given moment.

And he would be the responsible to enforce her feelings in the United States…

George felt a cold shiver running down his spine and wondered, once more, if taking the position had been a good idea. Held between her fingertips, with her billboard size eyes observing him closely… he had not been able to answer anything else. Could he change his mind? He was not too sure this would sit very well with her, no matter how fair she had promised to be.

Maybe it would be a better idea to just leave while she was sleeping…

He thought about it. He really thought about it. His first reactions were quite instinctive:

“She will find you!” he told himself, even if that sounded quite ridiculous. The second idea that came into mind did not sound so ridiculous and was significantly scarier: “If she gets mad because of you, she may kill many others”

Trying to control the wilder part of his brain, the part that was being overtook by fear, he forced himself to have more positive thoughts:

“If you stay with her you can influence her. You’ve always had ideas” he thought. Now, he would have the ultimate power in the world behind him to try to make some of them real.

His thoughts were interrupted by something vibrating in the left pocket of his trousers. He had forgotten that he was still carrying his cell phone. He clumsily took it out as he used his other hand to remove the heavy headsets from his ears.

A notice on the top left corner of the screen told him that he had seventeen missed calls. He had not felt them or even less heard them. He focused on the name on the screen at the moment. It was his brother.

The slid his finger over the green icon.

“Are you alright?” were the first words he heard. His brother’s grave voice was quite unmistakable.

“I… I believe I am” he said

“Where are you?” his bother asked

“The Lincoln Memorial” he said. He realized that he could not hear his brother perfectly well. His voice also sounded a little weird inside his head. Despite all the protection, it seemed that her screams had had some effect after all

“What the hell are you doing there?” his brother asked

“I… I…” he started. Then he realized what he wanted to say. “I guess that I’m waiting for her to wake up”

“Are you crazy?” his brother asked

“Keith… I don’t know if you saw what happened after the press conference, but she kind of ….” He did not know how to say it. Finally, he spit it out: “She made me president”

His brother did not reply for a few seconds. George even looked at the screen of his phone, to make sure that the call had not been cut. It hadn’t. Finally, his brother’s voice came back:

“Listen to me, George. You are shocked. Everyone in your position would be. You have to realize about that and to listen to me. I am definitely thinking more clearly than you are. You have to get out of there right away. It’s a miracle that you are still alive. Don’t tempt your luck a second time”

“I don’t think she … I don’t think she is going to kill me” George said

“She has killed tens of thousands of people, George. Do you want your life to depend on what a 25-year old stripper decides at any given time? In any case, even if she does not kill you, the army is going to throw anything they have at her sooner rather than later. And when that happens you want to be as far away from her as possible” his brother said

“I’m not sure the army can kill her” George said

“For everyone’s sake, let’s hope they can” Keith replied

“Last time I checked you were anti-militarist and anti-government” George said, surprised by his brother’s words

“Last time I checked there was no risk of being ruled by a tyrant” Keith said

“You don’t know…” George started

“Of, for God’s sake, George!” Keith interrupted him. “Fifteen minutes in her palm and you have Stockholm’s syndrome already? You used to be a critical political analyst, not so long ago”

George did not know how to reply. His older brother and him had always loved politics. He had ended up as a journalist in Washington, right next to where real politics were made. His brother was a professor or Political Science in UCLA. Since he was not saying anything, his brother went on:

“You should remember one of the first basic truths of politics: power corrupts. That’s why every political system needs to have its counterbalances in order to work. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. No matter who wields it. And in this case, the person with absolute power is an unprepared 25 year old girl that used to show her big tits to make a living and that had been killing countless people without apparent regret for most of the day”

George felt something shattering in the back of his mind. He took a quick glance at Kelly Hanson’s titanic body, still lying on the lawn of President’s Park and felt a shiver running down his spine. He was about to reply to his brother when a strong shaking almost made his fall. He managed to keep his balance, but he could not keep a hold of his phone. He did not even think on looking for it once he turned and saw what had been the source of the shaking.

His jaw dropped. Advancing along the lawn of the park, having clearly just emerged from the Potomac, was another giant woman. She was, by far, not as big as Kelly. But she was huge compared to George, nonetheless.

She was equally naked but her body was far less voluptuous than the one of the woman that had just declared herself Goddess of the World. He quickly recognized her blonde hair and cute face. She was one of the other giant women of Hollner. Lisa Cooper had come to Washington. She had been clearly following Kelly’s tracks. George wondered why.

Kelly’s screams had been audible enough from miles away. They had sent Lisa into a trot. After a while walking north, keeping her focus on trying to prevent hurting anyone or damaging anything too much, hearing her former friend’s climax had reminded her of her purpose.

Extreme anger clouded her mind again. Anger at a woman that had killed thousands of people. Anger at the woman who had killed her husband and daughter.

She ran the last miles towards her destination, stopping only to watch with horror the devastation Kelly had brought to the southern bank of the Potomac. It took Lisa a while to realize that the wreck she was looking at had actually been the Pentagon. Even at Lisa’s current scale it was obvious that the building had been massive, so she could only imagine how many people had been there. A quick peek at a couple of Kelly’s huge footprints showed Lisa dozens of green, blue and white rags of cloth. Whatever Kelly had done, it seemed clear that she had done it on purpose.

The scene instantly reminded Lisa of the one back at the FSD. Madness completely took over her.

She ran across the river and into the northern riverbank. And then she ran towards Kelly. Seeing her calmly sleeping after all she had done made Lisa even madder. She covered the last few hundred feet in a matter of seconds… and then she stopped in her tracks.

She was facing the sole of Kelly’s left foot. Lying as she was, Kelly’s toes reached as high as Lisa’s head. Suddenly, Lisa realized that she did not have a plan.

Kelly had not even noticed she was there, yet. She was sleeping, legs quite spread apart. Lisa did not recognize what the monolith resting in the grass between them was, but she did not have too many problems to associate it with the screams she had heard on the way there.

The idea that she had been pleasuring herself after the carnage she had caused brought Lisa beyond the limit. Not thinking clearly anymore, she just ran next to Kelly’s body, getting between her torso and her arm. Kelly’s armpit formed a sort of cul-de-sac, stopping Lisa’s blind charge. Not knowing too well what to do, she just turned and jumped.

She had expected increased strength and agility. The height at which her legs shot her still disoriented her for a second, but her rage kept her focused on Kelly. She landed in her chest, right above her monstrous tits. Each of them stood almost as high as Lisa’s waist.

Her landing finally woke Kelly up. Moving her head a little, she could see her trying to focus her eyes on her. She frowned in surprise, when she finally managed to get eye contact.

Lisa realized she had to do something.

“How did she manage to get so big?” she wondered. “I need to know how to get as big as her!”. She concentrated on trying to grow once more. And once more, nothing happened.

The fact was that she was not growing, and Kelly looked like she was beginning to understand what was going on. Lisa realized she had to do something. Her rage decided for her. Bringing her leg as high as she could, she stomped down on Kelly’s chest. She managed to get an annoyed moan out of her.

She turned when she saw the movement through the corner of her right eye. She barely had time to understand that what was approaching at high speed was Kelly’s massive hand. Of course, she did not have time to dodge it.

It felt as if all of Casey’s blows during the long catfight they had had back in Hollner had been delivered at the same time. Lisa found herself flying for a couple of seconds before she crashed to the ground and rolled a dozen times over herself. It took her a while to realize that in the process her body had bulldozed through a large suburban area.

Part of her mind understood that the consequences of her landing had been hard on the city and its population. But she did not have too much time to waste on that thought. Kelly’s hit had almost knocked her out. Right now, Lisa’s main priority was trying to get her breath back. Moving was out of the question for the moment. It was as if a bus had trampled her.

In the distance, Kelly got back to her feet. Lisa could just look. There was no way she could react. Just moving her head to get a better look was painful. She saw her former friend’s massive eyes locking on her. She did not look happy.

Kelly took a step. The ground shook.

Lisa still felt mad at her, but another part of her brain was taking over. Her survival instinct had brought some of her rational thinking back.

“Oh God, she is really huge” Lisa thought as she saw Kelly taking a second step and reaching the limits of the park she had been sleeping at. Lisa had seen how big Kelly was, back in Hollner, but she had not understood her true magnitude until now.

“I cannot defeat her unless I get bigger. How the hell did she do it?” she wondered again. She had been just as big as Casey and her, and the only time they had lost sight of her was while they had been fighting each other. She was sure that Casey did not know what was behind Kelly’s growth. Otherwise, she would have got bigger herself. Unless she had got hold of any additional formula, which Lisa thought was unlikely, the only possible explanation was that Kelly had managed grow by herself. And if she had been able to grow at will, Lisa had to be able to, as well.

Kelly took one more step. Her foot finished half a city block. A quick look at the approaching woman’s face told Lisa that she was not even looking where she was stepping. Kelly’s other foot advanced an amazing distance and a small apartment building disappeared under it.

Lisa finally found the strength to stand up. Kelly was getting close. Clenching her fists and teeth Lisa concentrated on growing with all the strength she could muster.

“What the fuck?” had been Kelly’s first thoughts when she had been suddenly woken up only to recognize Lisa standing on her chest.

Almost without giving her time to react, the smaller woman had stomped her foot down hard. Kelly had felt it. As a matter of fact, it had even hurt, if only a little bit. Almost out of instinct, she had backhanded her.

Quite pissed off at the sudden transition from sleep, Kelly stood up and searched for Lisa. She found her soon enough, lying deep into the city. She headed towards her.

She forgot about the city at her feet as she advanced towards the smaller giant. The more she thought about the situation, the more annoyed she got.

“I told her to stay in Hollner” she thought as she advanced. “What the hell is she doing here?”

Kelly did not like being challenged anymore. And Lisa’s had been the ultimate challenge. Not only had she clearly disobeyed her orders… it was also clear that what she had done when she had been standing at her chest had been some sort of attempt at hurting her.

Of course, hurting her was well beyond Lisa’s capabilities now. To Kelly, Lisa was barely more dangerous than the little people were to Lisa herself. Still, together with Casey, Lisa was probably the second most powerful person in the world. In the end, nothing else in the world would have been able to survive her casual backhand, Kelly reflected.

Kelly was starting to feel as puzzled as she was bothered when she took one more step towards the unmoving Lisa. She had not expected her to show up at all. If she had had to bet for anyone to challenge her, she would have bet for Casey.

Lisa was barely a couple of steps away when she suddenly seemed to find the strength to stand up. Then, from up above, Kelly saw as she took on a defying pose. This bothered her even more.

“I was too soft, back in Hollner. They did not understand how things are going to work from now on” Kelly thought

The fact that she had only thought about what Casey would do in this new situation and that had not given any consideration to Lisa at all bothered Kelly. It was not as Lisa was really a threat, but Kelly realized that she had been overconfident. She had to prevent making the same mistake twice.

She wondered what to do with Lisa. She had not wanted to hurt her and Casey more than necessary, but the fact that she had come all the way to Washington to challenge her definitely deserved a punishment. And seeing her getting ready to fight made Kelly realize that the punishment would need to be strong enough to make Lisa realize about how things were going to work.

“Maybe it was a mistake to postpone this. Maybe I should have dealt with them first and come to Washington later” she thought

Kelly was trying to make her mind up on which type of punishment would be adequate when Lisa made the decision easier for her. As she was getting ready to take her final step towards her, the smaller woman took the lead and charged towards her. Lisa was too far down to see the disdain in Kelly’s face as she drew her leg back and then kicked her.

Lisa’s body flew well beyond the city limits, this time. From Kelly’s prodigious height she was still easy enough to find. Not in a hurry, she headed towards the spot where her former friend had landed, bringing an entire section of the city down in the process.

This time Lisa did not seem to have the strength to move, even less to stand up, when Kelly got next to her. Crouching, she reached out and gently grabbed her in one hand, marveling at Lisa’s Barbie-doll size once more.

“I was this big not so long ago, and I already felt like I could take over the world, back then”

Standing up and holding Lisa in front of her face, she rolled her eyes and said:

“I told you to stay in Hollner. What the hell are you doing here?”

Lisa coughed and then tried to push Kelly’s fingers apart. It was the first time in a very long while Kelly could feel someone’s efforts at all. Still, they were way too feeble to challenge her. To prove that, Kelly just tightened her grip on Lisa, easily defeating her efforts. And then, she kept on pushing, until Lisa coughed again.

Releasing a bit the pressure, Kelly said:

“I really don’t want to hurt you”

Then, she saw the bruises all over Lisa’s body and said:

“Well, at least not more”

Lisa’s first words were:

“You are a murderer!”

Kelly rolled her eyes again and said:

“We’ve gone over that already. Get over it!”

“You killed Joe and Stella!” Lisa screamed again

Kelly frowned. She then asked:

“Joe? Your… husband?”

Lisa nodded furiously and added:

“And Stella was my daughter!”

“Why do you say I killed them?” Kelly asked, surprised but not especially concerned

“They were at the FSD” Lisa said, her emotions now bringing her close to tears

Kelly understood. She just shrugged and said:

“I did not leave anything standing there”

She had known Joe since childhood, but Kelly realized that still she could not feel anything for his death. In her mind, it only registered as another of the thousands of people she had crushed while she was bringing the campus down. A quick look at Lisa’s face was enough to see the combination of anger and anguish that she was feeling.

For some unknown reason, she could feel some empathy at that. Kelly realized that she felt somewhat sorry at the suffering she had caused in Lisa but that she could not feel anything at having crushed someone she had known for just as long as her.

It was as if somehow… the bigger the size difference was with someone, the less she could relate to that person.

Softening her expression as she looked at her high school friend in her hand, she offered:

“I’m sorry”

Lisa burst into tears.

“Why? Why did you do that?” she screamed while she sobbed

Kelly shrugged again.

“They were trying to develop a reducer at the FSD. I could not have that”

“Did you know that Joe was there?” Lisa asked

“I didn’t” Kelly replied, sincerely

“If you had known…” Lisa started to say

Kelly realized about the benefits of lying. Lisa was shaken enough. It was not as if telling her that it had not been on purpose would bring her husband and daughter back, but it would relieve some of tension between them. She did not fool herself: they were not going to be best friends anymore. But she could calm her down for a while.

She just did not have the need to lie anymore. Why should she?

“If I had known they were there, I would have done the same” Kelly said bluntly

Lisa screamed in rage and tried to pry Kelly’s fingers open once more. She hated her more than she had ever hated anyone. She wanted to kill her… but she would make her suffer first. She clenched her teeth and wished as hard as she could to become bigger. She felt her skin stretching…

And then she realized that she had fooled herself. Nothing had happened.

Feeling incredibly frustrated, she tried to pry Kelly’s fingers open once more. She could feel herself stronger than ever. Maybe she had not got bigger… but maybe she had just become stronger… Kelly’s index finger seemed to move… and then, it closed again on her. This time Kelly squeezed harder than any of the previous times. Lisa could not breathe. She could even feel some of her bones starting to complain, getting close to the limit. If Kelly pushed just one more inch, some of them would break.

She had never felt so powerless before. A look at Kelly’s casual expression told her that the bigger woman was not even making a big effort. This made Lisa feel even more frustrated.

“Why? Why cannot I get bigger?” Lisa’s mind protested.

It was only the second time in her life that Lisa had wanted to really hurt someone… and it was the first time she was completely powerless to do it.

Kelly was looking at her with a mix of scorn and disdain. In a cold voice, she said:

“Stop being such an idiot. I really don’t want to hurt you”

Lisa was not thinking too clearly when she said:

“You are a killer. You deserve to be punished”

All she got back from Kelly was a chuckle.

“And who is going to punish me? You?” she asked

As if to prove her point, Kelly squeezed her again. Her ribs were on the verge of breaking. Lisa screamed. Kelly released the pressure again.

Kelly had to admit that Lisa was brave. She was stubborn as hell, too. This did not make her any less of an idiot.

She really did not want to hurt her, so she just pushed her fingers far enough to scare her and to make her understand that there was nothing she could do against her now. But she still had some affection for her. And, at the same time, she did not want to risk hurting her enough to trigger any growth. She knew she now was the only person in the world that could really hurt her to that point.

She was starting to become tired of her, though. She had clearly not paid enough attention to Casey and Lisa, back in Hollner. It was becoming obvious that it had been a mistake. She would not make the same mistake again. At least, Lisa was going to understand how things were going to be right then.

“Listen to me carefully Lisa. As I said, I don’t want to hurt you. But I will, if I need to”

To prove her point, she squeezed a little, once more.

“You are powerless against me. Casey is powerless too. No one can stop me anymore. I am the most powerful person in the world. We could have shared this. But you did not want to listen. Neither did Casey. You gave me no other option than getting big enough so that you could not get in my way”

“You are crazy” Lisa screamed. “You are fucking crazy”

“No, I’m just someone with the power to change the world and the will to do it. It’s a pity that you could not think clearly”

“You are worse than Casey” Lisa screamed

“Please” Kelly said. “That’s so absurd that it’s not even worth replying. In any case, it brings me to my next question: where is Casey?”

Lisa seemed startled for a second. Then she said:

“She left”

“She left Hollner?” Kelly asked, surprised

Lisa nodded

“For God’s sake, didn’t any you two understand any fucking word I told you?

Lisa did not reply.

Kelly was starting to get really upset. Why couldn’t they just follow her orders and make things a little easier?

“I will need to take care of her” she said, her voice cold

“I don’t know where she is” Lisa finally said

“Oh, I’m sure she won’t be so hard to find. I need to take care of a few things before I look for her, though. Now I see I should have spent some more time with you, before I left, but at this point it’s not worth to start looking for Casey before I finish what I started”

Lisa did not say anything, but she could feel her questioning look. Smirking, she said:

“It’s time to finish taking over the world”

Lisa opened her mouth again.

“You lost it. You really lost it. You are nothing more than a mindless monster”

Kelly frowned as she started to get angry again. She narrowed her eyes.

“Mindless monster? Really?” she asked

Without warning, she released Lisa. The smaller blonde giant fell all the way to the ground, landing with a loud thud. A small cloud of dust formed around her. Kelly knew that this would not kill her. She knew she was way tougher than that. Without waiting for Lisa to recover, she moved her foot forward and set it on top of her former friend. With her heel planted right before Lisa’s feet, she slowly moved her sole down and easily defeated Lisa’s attempts to hold it back. She did not push; she just kept Lisa trapped, only her head emerging from her toes.

Stooping, Kelly looked at Lisa from above. She momentarily enjoyed this. Not even someone of Lisa’s size and strength could dream of facing her. The, she addressed her trapped friend:

“You should be more careful with what you say. I’m not your equal anymore. You don’t seem to get it, yet”

Then, Kelly removed her foot from Lisa. She saw her trying to stand up. Feeling playful, she just nudged with her toes, making her fall. She giggled. She then waited for Lisa to stand up again. Bending at the waist, she picked her up again, easily defeating her attempts to resist.

There was less fire in Lisa’s eyes than there had been before. Kelly felt satisfied. She was beginning to get it, she thought.

“It’s all your fault, really. The fact that I’m this big, I mean” she said. “You could never think big. Back in Henford, you managed to drag me into your way of thinking, and the only thing it got me were six miserable years. I was not going to make the same mistake again. I made myself the most powerful person that has ever set foot on this planet. And I’m going to do the only logical think: take over it”

“People will never let you. They will fight back” Lisa screamed. She was not so defeated as Kelly had thought.

In any case, she shrugged and said:

“They cannot defeat me. I just hope I won’t need to crush too many more before they realize”

“Are you listening to yourself?” Lisa asked. Kelly did not like her tone once more.

“I’m tired of this conversation. I have things to do and I’m wasting my time with you. Now, listen to me: if you ever challenge me again, I promise you that I won’t go so soft on you. Give the same message to Casey if you happen to meet her before I do. You two are special. You are much bigger than everyone else and I still have some affection for you. If you behave, you can have an important role in my new world. But I’m not taking any shit from anyone, anymore. If you challenge me, I will hurt you”

To prove her point, Kelly started to squeeze again. She went on until she could see the pain in Lisa’s face once more. Then, she stopped. Softening her voice, Kelly asked:

“Did you understand?”

Lisa did not reply. She did not move her head either. Kelly was sure that she had understood, but she was not happy with the lack of response.

“I asked you a question. Did you understand?” she asked again

Lisa looked up, this time. She did not say anything. She did not nod either. She just looked at her, her eyes showing a mix of frustration and defiance.

Kelly did not want to waste any more time with Lisa. She had important things to do. And she was sure she had understood. Otherwise, Lisa would still be talking. Her last little act of challenge would not be for free, in any case.

“Now… I told you to wait for me in Hollner. I still expect to find you there when I come looking for you. I’ll even set you on the way” Kelly said

She decided there was no risk in what she was about to do. Lisa had proven that she was tough. She was not going to get hurt enough for any unwelcome effects. She was going to get hurt enough to make her more docile, though. At least, that is what she hoped.

So, without further warning, Kelly turned facing south and drew her arm well behind her head. Then, she just tossed Lisa as far as she could.

Her new strength never ceased to amaze her. Lisa flew well beyond the Potomac. Kelly followed her trajectory with her eyes until she saw her hitting the ground a several miles away.

Only one thought that came to her head as she went back to her original quest:

“I wonder what the hell I will need to do with Casey when I find her”

It took the giant woman less than a minute to walk back across Washington. George still did not know why he had not fled. She was standing in the grass, just in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

It seemed impossible that she would have noticed him from so high above, but the fact that she advanced until he was more or less in front of her and between her feet proved to him that he was wrong.

Her colossal form was blocking the late afternoon sun and casting a large shadow on him. Then, at a speed that defied the laws of physics, the body came closer to him. She was crouching.

She moved so fast that it was hard for him to follow her actions. Almost without knowing where it had come from, he found an extended finger of her right hand resting in front of him, face up.

“Climb into my fingernail” she commanded. Her voice was thundering but, strangely enough, George registered it as calm. He knew better than not following her instructions, though.

The massive fingernail was curved and got a few feet out of her fingertip. More than enough space for him to climb and lie down.

He almost threw his breakfast for the third time in the day when he was made to climb hundreds of feet in barely a couple of seconds.

Soon, he found his entire view blocked by her face. Her lips parted and she said:

“We’re going to spend the evening in New York”