“Gee Luke you’re so smart,” Katherine said with a sardonic smile. “And your friends are so dumb.” She glanced up at Blake and gave him a disciplinary pat on his chest. “Why didn’t we ever think to try getting bigger? Without Luke here I’d probably forget to breathe.”

Lucas blushed in response to Katherine’s playful sarcasm. Of course they tried. “Well did it work?” he asked impatiently. Blake gently scooped Lucas up, holding the smaller man in a giant cupped palm before his huge face.

“No,” Blake answered with tangible disappointment. “We spent hours in the yard last week, but nadda. This is as big as we get.”

Lucas shook his head. “You’re already doing the impossible. You’re manipulating size with just your mind. If you can’t make yourselves or anything else bigger, there has to be a reason. Try again. It can’t be right. I need... I need you guys to get bigger.”

“You need?” Katherine asked with eyes alight.

“He’s into freaky shit, babe,” Blake said, without a hint of judgment.

“I’ll say!” Katherine said. She pat Luke on the head with one finger. “Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that little head of yours.”

“Sometime I’ll tell you,” Lucas said, coyly.

Blake sighed. The warmth of his exhalation washed over his shrunken friend. One eyebrow arched, snagged by a passing thought. “What if he’s right?” Blake said, twirling Kat’s hair between two fingers. His eyes drifted off, his gaze seemingly lost in her black locks as he pondered the possibilities. “Think of how much fun we could have.” His eyes shifted, meeting Katherine’s directly. He offered a mischievous smile, which she returned with her own. The three silently entertained their own fantasies of what a colossal Blake and Katherine might get up to.

Katherine stood and collected the leftover plates from breakfast. “Alright alright okay fine. We’ll try again, after I clean up some of these dishes,” she said, trotting off to the kitchen. “Anything to humor our little bug,” she teased in the distance.

The two men were alone, the larger one still lost in his own fantasies. After a moment, the smaller spoke up. “Blake,” Lucas began, “even if you can’t grow, you and Kat have an incredible power.”

“I know,” Blake said, raising his head off his pillow to gaze down at his tiny friend. “It’s fuckin’ bananas, man.”

“Yeah. I don’t even know what to make of it.” Lucas shrugged. “But you could’ve already... I dunno... Done so much with it. You and Kat could have a whole collection of little people here, but instead you chose me.”

“Is it what you wanted?” Blake asked. “I mean, this is what you always wanted, isn’t it?”

Lucas nodded. Though they rarely spoke of it, Blake knew of Lucas’ secret obsession with macrophilia. Blake didn’t know the word for it, but he got the general idea. It was an elusive fantasy, an unobtainable goal Lucas had chased his entire life. And now they both fully understood. This was Blake’s gift to his longtime friend. He had the power and the means to give Lucas his dream of a tiny life at the mercy of giants. “Yes,” Lucas whispered. “Yes it is. Thank you.”

“Mmhmm,” Blake said. The larger man’s head dropped back on his pillow. “I did think about it... Using this power in... Other ways... I had this psycho ex a few years ago. Remember Meg? Girl was a nutcase. Took me way too long to realize it, and by the time I did she’d already done a number on me. Cheated on me, hurt me pretty bad. I thought about paying her a visit. Shrinking her down, then...” He trailed off, realizing it was better not to venture too far into such dark fantasies. But Lucas was too keen to hear it.

“And then what?” the smaller man pressed.

“Squishing her under my foot,” he reluctantly admitted. Blake sighed, feeling hesitant to continue, but he knew Lucas of all people would understand. “I wanted to feel her bones break while she screams tiny, meaningless apologies.”

“What if you ate her,” Lucas said, pouncing on the idea and immediately feeling himself go erect at the thought. “Or even better - what if you fed her to Katherine? Or made her Katherine’s pet? Or... Find the guy she cheated on you with, and have Katherine step on them both!”

“Dude, you are into some really weird shit,” Blake said. “But I like where your head’s at. Not gonna lie man, I don’t get why being small gets you off, but the flipside - just the idea of being big - yeah. I’m liking it more and more.”

The two remained silent for several minutes, listening to the sound of dishes being cleaned from the kitchen. “Blake,” Lucas began, breaking the silence, “Whatever you do with this power, I’m still your friend and I’m not going to judge you or Katherine. I want you two to use this power. I’ve fantasized about this shit my whole life. And now it’s here. It’s real. Don’t be held back. For all we know, you and Katherine are gods. People should worship you. And they will. I promise they will.”

Gods, Blake thought. The word had a nice ring to it.

An hour later they were outside, no better clothed than the trio was moments ago in the bedroom. In the privacy of Blake’s country house, they had no fear of gaining the attention of unwanted spectators.

“Just give it your best shot,” Luke pleaded. “For me. For your bug.”

“Aww,” Kat said, finding the nickname endearing. She cuddled him against her face, and planted a big kiss across his tiny body. “My widdle bug boy!”

Blake sighed. “Okay Kat, focus.”

“Okay!” cheered Katherine. “So who’s going first?”

But Blake had already closed his eyes, focusing his mind on the thought of becoming a giant, willing himself bigger, picturing himself ascending into the heavens.

“Concentrate!” Lucas yelled, as if he had any idea how any of this worked. “Really picture yourself, not just as a giant, but becoming a giant.”

He pictured it. Becoming the giant. Becoming the giant. Growing, ever taller, ever bigger, ever stronger. All the world would worship him. He imagined, again and again, his perfect naked form looming above even the tallest skyscrapers, while indiscernible masses of speck-sized people bowed beneath his feet. He envisioned himself scooping motes of human beings into mile-long hands, holding them, letting them simply bask in his pure power.

“Oh fuck honey,” Katherine shouted, “You’re getting HUGE!”

Blake opened his eyes, ready to be shocked by his own growth, to see for miles in every direction above the trees at his ankles. But nothing had changed. Katherine laughed, and pointed at the erect bulge throbbing behind Blake’s briefs.

“That really get you off? Being huge?” she teased.

But something had indeed changed. Blake was the first to notice it. He and Katherine were normally the same height, but now her eyes no longer perfectly met his own. She was looking up at him, just slightly.

“Holy shit,” he gasped. “I’m bigger.”

The smile vanished from Katherine’s face. Replacing it was an expression of shock, as if for the second time in their lives they faced the dawning realization that they possessed godlike power. “This changes everything,” she whispered.

“Keep going,” Lucas said, excited at the new possibilities before them. “It’s just like Big Man, Blake. Just like those stupid comics I drew of you when we were young. You were meant for this. You were always Big Man.”

Blake closed his eyes, recalling once more his visions of grandeur. He felt his own power pulsate throughout his body, he beckoned this ineffable energy to his bidding, commanding it to expand his body above the clouds. Become Big Man. Become the giant that rules this world, that saves this world from itself. An invulnerable, all-powerful protector.

“Be the biggest, honey,” Katherine chanted. “Do it for me!”

The biggest. Become a god, Blake thought. This is the moment, the real, true moment, when I become the god of this world. He flexed his muscles, tensing his entire body, gritting his teeth and silently screaming, become the god. Become the god. I’d be a good one too, Blake thought, I’d be the best. He envisioned Meg, an ant in his presence, begging for mercy before being scraped into the pavement under his heel.

“Nadda,” Kat said. “You really suck at this, Blake.”

He opened his eyes, and frowned, dismayed at his failure.

“Forget him,” Lucas said, looking up at Katherine from beneath her breasts. “I was rooting for you anyway!”

Katherine giggled. “My turn,” she said. But before she even closed her eyes, she ascended. Her palm expanded all around Lucas’ body. The little man nearly shrieked with joy as distant tree tops grew ever closer. Blake could only stand by and helplessly watch as his girlfriend nearly doubled his height. It didn’t feel fair. They were supposed to be in this together. But Katherine didn’t seem to mind. She laughed with unbound glee, only momentarily shocked by the booming echo that returned to her. When she’d finished growing, she was just over 11 feet tall. Blake’s head barely rose above her waist.

“I feel like I hit a ceiling,” she said, straining to make herself larger. “But still though!” she chuckled triumphantly. “Look at me! I’m fuckin’ big time, baby!” Her mighty, feminine hand reached out and stroked the leaves of a nearby tree, now much nearer than ever before.

Lucas was in a state of near catatonic awe. There she was, Katherine, the raven-haired goddess of his wildest dreams, standing tall, surveying her world from new heights. But even as his fantasies were being realized, Lucas craved more.

“It’s not enough!” Lucas shouted, almost too small to be heard. “Something’s wrong!”

“I’ll say,” Blake grumbled.

“Well, excuse me little misters,” Kat objected. “What else should I be doing?”

Lucas buried his head in his hands, trying desperately to make sense of the situation. “Earlier neither of them could grow,” he mumbled. “But now.. Blake only a little. Her a lot. What’s changed... What..” He got it. “Kat! Come back down! Both of you, normal size, now!”

The two obliged, though they were equally puzzled.

“Blake,” the tiny man barked to his much larger friend, “shrink Kat. Do it.”

Blake sighed, a little irritated to be taking orders from his new pet. But he was itching for some payback. He focused his energy once more, this time fixating on Katherine, willing her to be smaller. No matter how hard he tried, it made no difference. Katherine just blinked and smiled, remaining a defiant 6’5”.

“Okay,” Lucas said, bobbing up and down with anticipation on Katherine’s palm. “You’re not gonna like this Blake, but just... Just roll with it, buddy.”

“Oh fuck...” Blake said under his breath, knowing what was coming next.

“I’m ready!” Katherine cheered.

“Do it,” Lucas said.

She licked her lips like a predator sizing up its next meal. Blake barely had time to brace himself for the imminent rush of Katherine’s newfound power. Once again, Katherine rose above her boyfriend, but she wasn’t getting taller. Blake was merely being willed downward by his insatiable lover. She was merciful, however, leaving him at a laughable three feet tall.

“Okay Kat,” Lucas continued. “Now grow again.”

She didn’t need to be asked twice. Katherine rose once more, quicker this time, finishing her growth exactly three and a half feet higher than her previous attempt. Standing over 15 feet tall, with two minuscule men quivering in her shadow, Katherine shouted with glee, unafraid of who might hear, as if anyone could do anything to stop her. But this time she was the one craving more.

“Lucas!” she shouted with unrestrained exhilaration. “What is happening?! I got bigger! How do I keep going?! Did I steal Blake’s size?!” She looked around, eyeing all the trees around her hungrily. “Give me your size, little oaks!” she commanded. The trees around her seemingly obeyed, reducing themselves by her order. But to no effect. To her consternation, Katherine was unable to grow any further.

“Damn,” Lucas said. “Shame. Good idea though. Come back down. Get poor Blake off the ground while you’re at it.”

Everything was restored to its original heights, except Lucas.

“Alright little guy, explain,” said Blake. “What did all that prove?”

“Okay. Hear me out. The way I see it, I think there’s some kind of energy between all of us,” Lucas said. “Maybe it’s only the three of us. Maybe it’s in all humans. But when you take that energy from someone, you’re stealing their... Um.. How do I wanna say it...”

“Growth Potential?” Katherine offered.

“No, that doesn’t sound right,” Lucas said.

“Dumb name,” Blake agreed.

“Size factor. Much catchier,” Lucas continued. “You couldn’t grow before, I’m guessing, because you never did it while the other one of you was shrunken. But I show up, Katherine shrinks me, and-”

“I shrank you a little more,” Blake said, finishing Lucas’ thought.

“Right. So now Kat is sitting on the highest reserve of Size Factor.”

Katherine shook her head, still not sure that name sounded at all right.

Lucas carried on. “Meaning she not only can grow largest, but as far as I can tell-”

“I’m the strongest!” Kat shouted, thrusting a fist in the air. “Think you can handle a woman who will always be bigger and better than you?” Katherine gloated, increasing her height a full head taller than Blake. She tussled his hair, gleeful in the knowledge that he was helpless against her.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Blake muttered.

“I will. Starting right now, in fact.” She grinned, watching Blake shrink once more. He dwindled below three feet and continued dropping, his reduction only ending when he could barely stand above Katherine’s flip flops. She stooped down and collected her boyfriend, a toy boy in each hand. Delighted with herself, Katherine carried both her pets back indoors to have some fun.