Part 5

The miniaturized Justice Leaguers, now roughly the size of mice, looked up in fear at the gargantuan form of their teammate Zatanna. The twin pillars of her fishnet-clad legs seemed to stretch up hundreds of feet, terminating at a pair of hips almost as wide as the horizon. The cliff-like contours of her chest obscured any view of her face high above. But the heroines were reasonably sure that the face was smirking triumphantly.

As the leggy giantess stepped forward, they were forced to flee from her gigantic feet. They scattered in all directions like cockroaches escaping the light. The ground shook beneath them with every impact of those boat-sized high heels. 

Still weakened from her battle with Devouris, Mera stumbled and fell, thrown off balance by the rumble of a huge footfall. A dark shadow passed overhead. The tiny redhead peered over her shoulder to see a huge black shoe descending towards her with incredible speed. The Queen of Atlantis gave a very un-regal shriek of terror.

There was a rush of wind and a crackle of electricity as Jesse Quick darted under the giant shoe and pulled Mera to safety. Zatanna’s foot landed with an earth-shaking crash behind them. The resulting tremor sent the little heroes bouncing slightly into the air but Jesse never broke her stride. She dragged her friend under the shelter of the meeting room table where the other heroines had regrouped.

“Jesus H. Tap-Dancing Christ!” Vixen stammered. “What’s gotten into Zatanna?!”

“I heard a voice,” Supergirl told her. “Before she did this. There was a…a little man in her pocket. He called her Mr. Mind.”

“The worm guy?” Vixen said. “So it’s mind control.”

“Looks that way,” Jesse agreed. “Mind usually has to be somewhere on his victim’s person to maintain control, if I recall. He could be in a pocket as well or latched onto her neck or—”

“In her ear,” said Supergirl, peering intently into the distance. “I can see him.”

“X-ray vision for the win,” Vixen quipped.

“We’ve got to get him away from her,” said Jesse.

“And how do you propose we do that?” Mera asked. “We’re no bigger than guppies.”

“Don’t worry, ladies,” Supergirl declared, her face a mask of determination. “I’ve got this.”

Before the others could protest, the Maid of Might marched boldly out from under the table and took off into the air. The tiny Kryptonian flew higher and higher as she crossed the room, approaching the towering shape that was Zatanna. The magician’s back was turned and she had ceased her pursuit of the shrunken heroes for the moment. She stood calmly in the center of the meeting hall, a shapely skyscraper fixed to the spot. Supergirl hesitated and hovered for a moment, fearing a trick. But as her presence hadn’t been noted yet, she continued her flight.

As she drew closer to this human mountain, Supergirl had new appreciation for how Lesla-Lar saw the world. Zatanna’s body seemed to stretch up into the sky. Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall. The top hat on her head was almost as big as a house. Human beings and the world they inhabited now seemed unfathomably large to Kara Zor-El. She recalled that Lesla was far smaller than the three-inch dimensions Kara had been reduced to. Supergirl suppressed a shiver. What must she have looked like to the miniature criminal?

She cast these thoughts aside and sped towards Zatanna’s billboard-sized head, aiming for her ear. Without turning, the lady mage casually lifted a hand and uttered a single word:

“Etinotpyrk.”

Instantly, a golden ring on the magician’s finger turned bright green. An otherworldly glow began emanating from it and Kara felt suddenly sick. All her strength abandoned her and she started to fall from the air as she felt the effects of kryptonite. Supergirl plummeted like a stone and crashed into the ground hard. With a chuckle, Zatanna turned around and dropped to one knee. Weak and disoriented, she could only hold up her hands in a futile attempt to shield herself as Zatanna reached down and scooped her up.

Holding Supergirl tightly in her fist, the mystic made sure to keep the hand with the kryptonite ring as close as possible. The radioactive rock hovered over the heroine until the she felt like her insides were on fire. The twin pools of Zatanna’s eyes fixed her with an icy stare.

“You Kryptonians think you’re so untouchable, so god-like,” Mr. Mind said through Zatanna. “You don’t impress me, little lady. I’ve fought gods before. And let me tell you, Mary Marvel you’re not. I’ve brought her and her brother Captain Marvel to their knees and that was without a convenient alien mineral to steal their powers.”

Zatanna walked over to the meeting table, causing the other heroes to scramble for cover as they saw the huge feet coming closer. But her attention wasn’t on them. The magician dumped Supergirl onto the tabletop and removed the kryptonite ring from her finger (making sure it was never far from her tiny prisoner). She grinned wickedly and slipped the ring over Supergirl’s head, letting it hang about her neck. With a mumbled incantation, she caused the ring to expand slightly and began to force Supergirl through the opening. When she had finished, the ring was looped about the tiny woman’s mid-section, pinning her arms to her sides. The minuscule heroine doubled over in pain, wriggling like a worm as she tried to free herself.

As Supergirl writhed in agony, Zatanna reached for one of the discarded wine glasses the women had left behind. She overturned this on Supergirl, trapping her under the goblet.

“Feel free to die slowly now,” Zatanna said. “But if you don’t, I’ll be back to check on you soon. First I have to find your teammates.”

“Come out and play, my wee little friends,” Zatanna continued, addressing the general vicinity of the floor. “FYI, I’ve disabled all communication devices in here. So there’ll be no calling the rest of the Justice League or anyone else for help. And your green-skinned associate should be well on her way to Dr. Mid-Nite’s lab by now. It’s just you and me.”

Down by her feet, the heroines were in a panic. “Crap, crap, crap,” said Vixen. “She just took out our heavy hitter.”

“We must help Kara,” Mera insisted. “She’s dying up there!”

“We’ll be dying down here unless we think of something fast!” Vixen said.

“Fast is my specialty,” said Jesse. In the blink of an eye, she was gone, speeding out from under the table and leaving an electrical trail in her wake.

“Jesse, wait!” Vixen called. “We need a plan!”

With a pop that was probably the world’s smallest sonic boom, Jesse ran towards Zatanna’s enormous foot. She sped over the top of a stiletto heel, moving with such speed that she was soon running straight up the magician’s leg. The creamy surface of the giantess’s skin rushed by below her as Jesse continued to pick up momentum. Whispering to herself, she focused on her scientific mantra (“3X2(9YZ)4A”) and summoned the power of flight. Like her super-speed, this was an ability she had inherited from her father, Johnny Quick, but it required intense concentration to maintain.

Jesse rose into the air, still moving at blinding speed. She swooped past Zatanna’s building-sized abdomen and up to the side of her head, aiming for her ear. She had arrived at her destination faster than the magician could blink. Jesse grabbed hold of the ear’s outer rim and hung there like a human earring. She reached into the orifice with one arm, searching for Mr. Mind.

A sudden electric shock sent her reeling backwards. Jesse fell from the giantess’s ear and began to tumble wildly. She tried to shake herself back to her senses. She knew she had to create a whirlwind to slow her descent or build up enough speed to activate her flight power again.

“Ezeerf!” Zatanna called. Jesse’s whole body seized up and her muscles refused to respond. Her fall suddenly stopped and she hung suspended in place, approximately level with Zatanna’s chest. The magician smiled and reached out a hand, plucking the frozen Jesse from the air.

“Did you think I’d leave myself completely vulnerable in here?” Mr. Mind asked through his mesmerized hostess. “Please. Give me a little credit. It’s only a rudimentary force field, I admit. But I was pressed for time and materials.”

Zatanna looked down at the tiny statue-like form in her open palm. “So you’re the swift one, eh?” she said. “Didn’t you hear me say I’ve fought Captain Marvel? If I can outsmart someone with the Speed of Mercury, I can do the same to you. I’m sorry, speedster. All you’ve succeeded in doing is to give me a sudden craving for…fast food.”

The magician lifted the hand holding Jesse high above her head. That wicked grin was once again on Zatanna’s face. Tilting back her head, she opened her lips wide and dangled Jesse above the daunting abyss. Frozen and helpless, Jesse could only stare down into the massive jaws at rows of teeth as big as her head and a huge serpent-like tongue slithering below. With a flick of her fingers, Zatanna dropped her little prisoner into her mouth.

Jesse landed on the surface of the tongue with a wet plop. The light was cut off behind her as Zatanna closed her lips. Unable to move or fight back, Jesse felt herself being pushed from side to side by the enormous slippery muscle below. She was completely petrified (in more ways than one). After a moment of sampling her taste, Zatanna pushed Jesse between her upper and lower teeth and prepared to bite the heroine in half.

The magician felt a sudden sharp pain in her ankle as Vixen launched herself at it with newly grown claws. Vixen bit and scratched and tore at the flesh of the giant leg, slicing the skin and the lower end of Zatanna’s fishnet stocking to ribbons. The giantess gave a cry of pain, dislodging Jesse from her teeth. The tiny speedster tumbled backwards into her throat and caught there, choking her. Zatanna gagged and coughed while simultaneously trying to kick Vixen off her leg. 

Refusing to release her victim, the sorceress changed tactics and tried to swallow. It took a bit of effort but after a moment, she felt the miniature heroine slide down her throat in a massive gulp. Jesse was gone, tumbling down into the dark recesses of her body.

No longer distracted, Zatanna focused fully on Vixen and sent her flying with a determined kick. Mera was there to catch her and the two Lilliputian heroines soon stood before the gigantic magician. The shadow of her colossal form cast them both in partial darkness.

“Look what you made me do! I would have made it quick for her…excuse the pun,” the giantess said. “But you had to attack me. Now I’ve gone and swallowed her. Well, she’d be dead either way.” Zatanna smirked down at them and lightly patted her belly. “Your little friend will simply take longer to die this way. Hmm. Digested alive. Nasty way to go.”

“Gods of the sea,” Mera whispered. “Jesse...”

Vixen ignored her horror and yelled defiantly up at the giant woman. “Hey, Mind! Afraid to pick on someone your own size? Why don’t you face us yourself?”

Zatanna frowned. “That seems counterintuitive, my dear, when I could simply crush you with one step. Still…I’m feeling sporting. Let’s play a game, shall we? I’ll turn off my force field for the next, oh, two minutes. If you can reach me all the way up here by then, we can spar one-on-one. Well, get going, heroes. The clock is ticking.”

Frantically, Mera and Vixen ran towards their enormous opponent. They suspected a trap of course but this was a better chance than staying at ground level near those high-heeled weapons of destruction. They clambered up the sloping insteps of her feet and grabbed hold of the lower end of her fishnets. With Vixen on one side and Mera on the other, the heroines began the arduous climb up the shapely towers of Zatanna’s legs. The huge mystic held very still and watched the little climbers with a bemused expression.

The netting of her stockings gave them plenty of handholds so their journey was fairly quick at first. Vixen was making better progress, having called upon the climbing prowess of a monkey. In moments, she had ascended up the length of the shin, over the bumpy surface of a knee, and onto the wide expanse of the magician’s thigh. Mera had only just reached the knee as Vixen took hold of the black trunks that covered Zatanna’s pelvis. She scrambled up higher, grabbing the bottom of a silken white dress shirt.

Adjusting one hand at a time, Vixen maneuvered herself towards the middle of the shirt. With a mighty leap, she reached the lowest button and clung to it tightly. She repeated this with impressive agility, jumping from one button to the next as she continued to make her way upward. The twin hills of Zatanna’s bosom soon loomed above her, creating a daunting overhang. Vixen summoned the adhesive touch of a spider so that she stuck to the shirt even as she was forced to climb outward and over the suddenly curving terrain. She pulled herself up on top of one of Zatanna’s breasts, resting for a moment on the soft spongy surface.

As she glanced to the side, she saw that the top few buttons of the shirt were undone, exposing a rather generous amount of cleavage. The tiny heroine couldn’t help but stare into the depths of this fleshy chasm. At her current size, such a tunnel could likely swallow her up entirely.

“This is so weird,” Vixen muttered to herself.

Zatanna caught her looking and smiled. “Don’t fall in, my little mountaineer.” She chuckled at her joke, causing a jiggling tremor to shake her chest. Vixen grabbed hold of the shirt fabric desperately to keep from being thrown off.

Resuming her trek, Vixen climbed up the collar of the shirt and onto the black velvet tailcoat Zatanna wore over it. With one last effort, the heroine pulled herself up onto the giantess’s shoulder. A curtain of black hair hung in front of her, over the shoulder’s edge, and the brim of the top hat high above created a bit of shade. Vixen laid there for a few seconds and tried to catch her breath. She soon realized, however, that she was not alone.

“Howdy,” said Dwarfstar, standing over the exhausted hero with his knife in hand. “Let’s you and me dance, sweetness.”

Vixen jumped to her feet, barely dodging the thrust of the blade. She bobbed and weaved from side to side as Dwarfstar continued to slash at her. But the shoulder wasn’t very wide and she didn’t have much room to work with. Grinning from ear to ear, Dwarfstar advanced on his foe, slicing at her with glee. Now and then, she wasn’t fast enough and she felt the sting as the knife slashed little cuts in her arms. Out of the corner of her eye, Vixen saw that she had been backed up to the very edge of the shoulder. A terrifying drop of several hundred feet lay below.

With a savage cry, Dwarfstar leapt forward, intent on cutting his victim open from neck to sternum. In her panicked state, Vixen channeled the abilities of a rhinoceros and increased her body’s natural armor. The knife struck her chest and bounced off, throwing Dwarfstar off balance. Vixen retaliated with a right hook to the face. The villain stumbled backward along the shoulder in surprise. His knife flew from his hand, tumbling off the side of the shoulder. Vixen came at him again, punching with the force of an angry rhino. Dwarfstar flew backward and struck the trunk of Zatanna’s neck. Still the heroine did not let up and she began to charge at him.

Shaking himself to his senses, Dwarfstar slapped the button on his belt and started to shrink. He dwindled below the trajectory of Vixen’s fist, causing her to punch Zatanna’s neck instead.

“Ow!” the giantess cried. She turned her head towards her shoulder. “What’s going on down there?”

Now merely an inch tall, Dwarfstar scurried through the gap under Vixen’s legs until he was behind her.

“Heh. You’re strong, lady, I’ll give ya that,” he said, rubbing his aching jaw. “But I can play that game too.”

Adjusting a setting on his belt, Dwarfstar increased his density. He ran at Vixen and punched her in the small of her back. The impact was like being hit with a boulder. Vixen shrieked and fell forward against Zatanna’s neck. The comparatively dwarfish Dwarfstar jumped onto Vixen’s shoulders and started pummeling her. This time she was ready. The denser the criminal made his fists, the tougher Vixen built up her armor. Punches glanced off her as Vixen jumped to her feet and tried to shake him off. But Dwarfstar held on tight, tightening his arms into a choking grip. They seemed to be at a stalemate.

Finally, Vixen called upon the power of an electric eel. The Tantu Totem glowed as she began to generate electricity. A powerful shock emanated from her skin and flowed straight into Dwarfstar’s body. The villain screamed in agony. After a few moments, the pain overwhelmed him and he simply passed out. With a grunt of disgust, Vixen pried Dwarfstar off of her and chucked him over the side of Zatanna’s shoulder. The unconscious super-villain slid down the giantess’s chest and vanished into the canyon between her breasts.

“Impressive,” Zatanna said, ignoring the tiny form sliding down into her bra. “But ultimately futile. Your time’s up and the force field is back o—wait. What are you doing?”

Vixen had jumped up onto Zatanna’s ear and thrust her arm inside. Energy crackled and sparked as the she hit the force field but the heroine ignored it. Vixen growled in rage and pain as the sparks continued to fly. Zatanna also was crying out as her ear was nearly electrocuted. At last, the field shorted out and Vixen reached in further, grabbing hold of the slimy tail of the mind-worm within. She yanked hard.

“Ahhh! Stop!” two voices shrieked at once, one from the giant magician and the other a small, modulated one coming from inside her ear. Zatanna reached a hand up and grabbed Vixen’s tiny legs, trying to pull her out. But the heroine tightened her grip on Mr. Mind, forming claws that latched onto his carapace. The more Zatanna pulled, the more her wormy master was pulled along as well. Mr. Mind dug his pincers into the flesh of the ear, trying to dig himself in.

Zatanna reached her other hand up to pry Vixen off but found that the hero had wrapped herself around the worm’s body in a bear hug. If Mind commanded his thrall to crush Vixen, he’d be destroyed along with her. Physical force was too risky in his current position. But he still had a powerful sorceress under his control.

The mage opened her mouth to cast a spell on Vixen but immediately choked on her words. Her mouth and throat had gone completely dry. In her peripheral vision, she saw Mera on her other shoulder. The little queen had her arms outstretched, using her powers to sap all the saliva from Zatanna’s mouth. Each time she tried to speak, the giantess merely coughed and gagged. She reached a hand up to grab Mera but the monarch leapt from her shoulder and tumbled down onto the surface of the meeting table. Mera ran towards the drinking glass currently imprisoning Supergirl.

Zatanna tried to cry out in protest but again could only gag. Instead, she slammed her fist down onto the table, attempting to smash Mera to a pulp. Zatanna was now fighting a battle on two fronts, one hand tugging at Vixen on her ear, the other pounding the table. The huge fist crashed against the tabletop again and again but the tiny queen was too quick for her. Mighty Atlantean muscles strained as Mera pushed the drinking glass off the table.

In an instant, the two heroines plummeted to the floor, glass shattering everywhere. Mera tucked in her legs and rolled as they hit the ground, trying to minimize injury. Her Atlantean body was durable but she still felt something crack within her. The fall had done its work however for the kryptonite ring had also shattered into a dozen pieces. Limping painfully, Mera scooped the weakened, unconscious Kara into her arms and tried to find shelter.

Zatanna whirled about, one hand still awkwardly locked at her ear trying to remove Vixen. Multitasking, she gave pursuit to the little figures on the floor and prepared to stomp them both into oblivion. For the second time, Mera saw a dark shadow pass over her and sensed the presence of a monstrous giant above.

She was nearly upon them when Vixen dug her claws deeper into Mr. Mind. The alien worm screeched in pain and for the briefest of moments, his hold on Zatanna began to slip. Cognizance came back into her eyes for a split second before Mind sent out another psychic command and regained control.

It had only lasted a moment but it was enough. Had anyone been watching the shards of kryptonite, they would have seen them change back into tarnished gold. Zatanna’s spells were fading. Almost immediately, the sorceress felt an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach. Her insides seemed to be churning and roiling as something thrashed about within her. Zatanna clutched her belly in pain, overcome with nausea. A small semi-transparent form could be seen emerging from her abdomen like an alien bursting out of its host.

With her mobility and powers returned, Jesse Quick was vibrating at such speed she was passing between the molecules of Zatanna’s body. She had phased straight through the wall of the stomach and through flesh and fabric to emerge back out in the open. Regaining solidity, she swooped down to the floor.

It was almost more than she could manage. Jesse was a wreck. Her skin was badly burned, much of her hair had dissolved, and her costume was reduced to a few scattered rags. Imprisonment in Zatanna’s guts had nearly killed her. Luckily, with her powers back, her super-fast metabolism was already beginning to heal the damage. Jesse staggered to where Mera and Supergirl had fled.

“H-how we doin’? ‘Re we winnin’?” she muttered before collapsing to the floor.

“Jesse!” Mera cried. “You’re alive!”

“Not for long,” a voice declared above them. Zatanna loomed over them once again and lifted her foot high, bringing it down with swift finality. Mera closed her eyes and waited for the end.

But the foot had stopped. The Atlantean looked up to see Supergirl with arms above her head, halting the massive juggernaut’s descent. Still weak, her muscles strained and her face was a grimace of effort. But the Girl of Steel would not give up. She held the foot there for a moment, a female Atlas supporting the heavens, before she pushed against it with all her might and sent Zatanna tumbling backwards. The titanic magician fell and landed hard on her back, creating an immense earthquake for the tiny heroines. Almost utterly spent, Supergirl collapsed next to Jesse.

“She’s down!” said Mera. “We can’t stop now! Fight on!”

Half dead with barely any strength between them, the three heroines forced themselves to their feet. In a daze, Supergirl managed to fly them all to the side of Zatanna’s head. They approached the prostrate form of the giantess and grabbed hold of Vixen’s waist. Like contestants in a miniature tug-of-war, they pulled. Mr. Mind at last popped out of his sanctuary.

“Curse you!” his small electronic voice wailed. “I’ll destroy you all! You’ve not heard the last of Mr.—”

Huge feminine fingers closed around the mind-worm, cutting off his threats. Only sounds of muffled agitation could be heard inside the giant fist.

“Hi girls,” Zatanna said, propping herself up on one arm. “What’d I miss?”

* * * *

The heroines were soon returned to their proper sizes and the villains each locked in cages, ready to be shipped off to a metahuman prison facility. Zatanna had fished Dwarfstar out of her décolletage and taken his size controlling-belt, trapping him at a mere inch tall. She also whipped up a red sun-lamp in Lesla-Lar’s cage to sap her powers. Mr. Mind had been frozen with an icy blast from Supergirl’s breath while Atomia and her robots were packaged in individual boxes like action figures. A short time later, the Justice Leaguers were turning their miniature prisoners over to federal agents.

The Mouse Man brooded furiously in his cage as he awaited his turn to be handed over. He perked up slightly when he was placed close to the larger cage holding Devouris the Conqueror.

“Devouris, now!” he declared. “Plan B!”

The would-be alien despot stuck a hand through the bars and projected a beam of blinding white light in Mouse Man’s direction. “Milton Raton, thou art chosen! I imbue thee with the Strength Celestial!”

As the light bathed the shrunken scientist, his body began to glow and levitate off the floor. With a gesture, the Mouse Man melted the bars of his cage and floated menacingly out into the air. His costume had changed into an elaborate suit of high-tech armor and his mouse ears emerged from a vaguely Greco-Roman style helmet. The heroines and feds turned to face him in astonishment.

“Ahahahahaha!!!! Behold!” the villain cackled, arms spread wide. “The power of the cosmos is mine! No longer shall I be the pitiful Mouse Man, subject of ridicule and disdain! Gaze with wonder, heroes, at the majesty of the Mouse-Lord!!!!”

Two giant hands slapped hard around the Mouse Man’s tiny body, knocking him senseless. Instantly, the light drained from him and his costume returned to normal. Vixen opened her hands and held the unconscious little man in her palm.

“Cute trick, Mickey,” she said. “Should have opened with that.”

The End