"Hear this, and remember it well..." The jet black-haired man vehemontly said. "My name is Reeve Sardelli, and I'm the NEW leader of you all!"

Sheryl, still holding her right cheek, stood stunned. "What?!"

"That's right!" Reeve said. "No one here wants you to lead them anymore. They think that I could do a much better job, and I think- no, I KNOW that they're right!"

Sheryl sighed. "I knew that they didn't want me to be their leader anymore... whatever the hell that's suppose to mean to us now... But... So fast..."

"What are you talking about?" Reeve asked.

Sheryl became irritated. "You're dropped in our humble abode not long ago, and, all of a sudden, they make you the leader?! I never expected you all to be so hasty in choosing your 'leaders'!"

"Well, then they see a good one such as myself, they don't wait to appoint me! That's all." Reeve laughed, and then pointed towards a man standing behind her. "Hey, you. Take her away. I'll deal with her later."

"Of course," said the man, before walking up behind Sheryl, holding her arms behind her, and then escorting her away from this new man.

It was in the afternoon, sometime after 3:30pm. Melissa had indeed gone to a nearby gym. Donning a white jogging suit and black sneakers, she was running on a treadmill, and had been for quite some time now. In her mind, she imagined an infinite number of those small people, "Bugmen", standing in her way, as she ran down each one while jogging on an endless road. Each one of their helpless screams being silenced under the sole of her sneaker.

"Gurl."

Melissa was suddenly brought back from her fantasy. She looked to her left, and found her friend Lauren standing beside her. She wore a matching jogging suit, though it was baby blue.

"You've been on this thing for a long time," Lauren said. "Are you all right?"

Melissa pressed a button on the control panel, bringing the treadmill to a steady stop. "I am now."

"It was just one test-"

"No," Melissa interrupted as she stepped off the treadmill. "It wasn't just a test. It was a test that I spend so much time studying for, and I got a fuckin' D on it. That doesn't make any sense at all."

"Maybe you studied the wrong stuff."

"Bullshit. Why would I do that?"

Lauren shrugged her shoulders.

Melissa shook her head. "The good thing, I guess, is that my overall grade is still a B, but now a low one... I was so looking to boost it to an A with that test..."

"Well, it could have been worse... You could have gotten an F. That would have really fucked you over."

Melissa laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I would still like to know how I did so bad, though..."

"Forget about it. Let's go to the vendor. I'm hungry."

"...What are you, gaining back the weight you just lost?"

"What?! No!!"

Melissa laughed again. "Relax. I was joking. You always get so flustered when I talk about your weight... and you're not even fat."

Lauren grunted. "I guess it's good that you're back to your old self now. A while ago, you were heated about the test."

"Yeah, but I've putten things in perspective now. Anyway, let's go to the vendor. I could use a drink."

"Of course."

The two women walked out of the busy exercise room. As she was walking, Melissa pictured herself on the same endless road from before. The small people from before were gone. She turned around, and saw the tiny flattened bodies of each one she had killed.

She had run out of victims.

~~~

It had been nearly two hours since Sayuko and Thomas started their search for Edgar Cruz on the Internet. Only breaking to take Thomas to the bathroom, Sayuko sifted through over 25 pages worth of results on Google, trying to find the correct Edgar Cruz that they were looking for. However, it seems that most of the webpages that were retrieved were for an Oklahoman guitarist of the same name, as well as several MySpace pages littered here-and-there.

Sayuko sighed, and clicked the mouse, bringing up the next page of results. More of the same. She did not bother to visit these webpages. Click. Next page.

Thomas, who had been sitting there on the desk in front of her and silently watching for the past 20 minutes, had observed her unusually excited demeanor from earlier shift into a more tired, and maybe even frustrated, one.

"Sayuko," Thomas called.

"Mm?" she answered, while still keeping her eyes on the monitor's screen.

"I think you should rest a bit."

"I'm fine."

"It doesn't sound like it. You've been here for... two hours, I think."

"I'm fine," Sayuko repeated, while clicking on the mouse in her hand.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Thomas." Sayuko finally looked away from the screen. "Do you want to be big again?"

Thomas stood up. "O-of course!"

"Then we need to find Mr. Cruz as soon as possible." She returned her attention to the computer screen.

"Yeah, but you shouldn't overexert yourself. I'm sure that you had a long day at school, and you didn't even take a breather when you came home."

Sayuko did not respond.

"So, please. Take a 15 minute break, for yourself. Then, you can focus better."

"...I'm fine." Sayuko clicked onto the next page of results.

Thomas sighed. He never knew how stubborn she could be.

~~~

Sheryl had been taken to a different area than the one she was in before. It had also been surrounded by boxes, and cloths. From what she had gathered, Reeve had ordered that no one approach this area, for privacy reasons. For a newly appointed leader to already be making such demands seemed absurd to Sheryl.

However, the others seemed to listen, as no one did come anywhere near her. It was quiet, or rather, moreso than it was in the other parts of the glass cage. Here, she was slumped down against the glass wall, alone with her thoughts over what happened on this day.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching. She looked in that direction, and saw Reeve walking towards the area. He moved a box out of his way, and walked inside of the enclosed space, before moving the box back to its place.

"So, what do you think?" Reeve asked. "I guess you could consider this my... office."

"Why do you need something like this?" Sheryl asked.

"Well, a leader needs his own private quarters, doesn't he?"

"I never asked... no, demanded for one. You haven't even been here for a day, and you're already making frivious demands!"

"That's because you're weak. A strong leader gets anything he wants, and when he wants it." Reeve grabbed a few cloths from the boxes.

"What are you doing?"

"Making a bed." Reeve placed the sheets on top of one another on the floor. "I'm not going to sleep on a cold floor, and the boxes are too cramped for my tastes."

Sheryl stood up. "If you were as strong as you say you are, you'd tough out the cold floor."

Reeve laughed. "Even strong leaders such as myself have their weaknesses." After finishing with the cloths, he then looked towards Sheryl. "C'mere for a minute."

"Why?"

"C'mon~n," he said in an enticing tone.

Sheryl sighed, and walked towards the man.

"How old are you," Reeve asked once she arrived.

"Why does that matter?" Sheryl responded.

"I'm 34. What about you?"

Sheryl sighed again. "Thirty-three."

"Oh!" Reeve's eyes widened in excitement. "So we're a bit closer in age than I thought!"

"Apparently so, but why does that matt-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Sheryl was grabbed by the wrist. She tried to free herself from Reeve's grasp, but it proved to be too tight for her to unclamp. She was then thrown down to the cloths below. Despite them, she still hurt her left shoulder on the glass floor. Before she could make another move, Reeve moved down on top of her, his hands holding her down by the wrists. Sheryl was terrified, her eyes looking into his predator-like irises.

"You know," Reeve said. "You're not bad-lookin' for a homeless gal. From what I've seen, you're the most attractive lady here."

Sheryl did not, or rather, could not respond.

"I see you're scared." Reeve laughed. "That's okay. I'll make you feel relaxed pretty soon."

Reeve's face moved closer to her own, and his lips pressed against hers.

She could not believe that this was happening.

~~~

Melissa sat in the passenger seat of her car, her now bare feet resting up on the dashboard and the back of the seat lowered behind her. She had untied her black hair, and was letting the wind brush on her face.

Although it was her car, Lauren had offered to drive Melissa back to her house.

"Did you find a place in New York, yet?" Lauren asked.

"No," Melissa answered. "But I'm still looking for one."

"Well, hurry up! I want to get out of this place, too!"

Melissa laughed. "I bet you do."

"Seriously! This town is too lame for me! There's nothing here!"

"I agree with you on that. We have, what? A mall, a park, and a recreation center. That's it."

"Not even a beach!"

"Well, we're not near the Ocean..."

The car came to a slow and steady stop as the traffic light they had just come on turned from yellow to red. At this point, Melissa looked to her right, out of her window. On a bench was a ragged man laying there.

"Look at that guy," Melissa said. "So sad... How did this town end up with so many homeless people here?"

"I don't know... How does any town get homeless people?"

"Unemployment... Foreclosure... No one to turn to..." Melissa sighed. "But still... If I could save one homeless person, I would. I'd give them a warm home, a hot meal, and get them back on their feet."

"You'd seriously do that?"

"Maybe."

"...Speaking of feet... You need to get a pedicure."

Melissa quickly turned her head back towards her blond-haired friend, who was looking at her feet. "What?!"

"Seriously," Lauren said. "I mean... You wear flip-flops all the time. How is it that you never go out and get your feet done?"

"I don't know..." Melissa turned her head again, and watched as she wiggled her toes. "I just never thought about it."

The light turned green, and the car began to move again.

"How can you not think about it?" Lauren asked. "If you're going to be showing off your toes for the world to see, you need to go take care of them, Gurl!"

Melissa chuckled. "Fine, fine... I'll go get a pedicure this weekend."

"I'll go with you, then. I know this place over on Oakland Drive. I get my nails done there every month, and I think it's about time for this month's appointment."

"...They do French pedicures?"

"I believe they do."

"Good. I've always wanted one of those."

"I think they'd look nice on you. I'm sure the guys at the school would like it."

"I should hope so. Especially if I'm going to go through the trouble of putting so much effort into my fuckin' feet." Melissa laughed. "I'd rather work on my face, or my boobs. Most normal guys pay more attention to them."

"What? Oh no, gurl... Don't go and get plastic surgery or implants... You're a beautiful Black woman already. You don't need no surgery."

"How many time do I have to tell you...? I'm not Black."

"Why you keep sayin' that? You're darker than me!"

"There are many people who are dark-skinned but not Black."

"Whatever. Besides, whether you like it or not, I'll always consider you a Black woman. After all, you DO have African blood, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"See?! You're Black! We're strong Sistas!"

"More like strong women of Color..." Melissa muttered under her breath. She looked out of the window. They were not too far from her house.

~~~

Thomas looked at the lower right corner of the computer screen. It was 4:53pm. Sayuko was still looking through the pages of results. She almost seemed like a statue, having not moved from that spot, and her eyes fixated on the screen.

Thomas heard the mouse click, and saw the page change. She was now on Page 47 of her Google results. The cursor on the screen moved towards one particular link, result #464, a somewhat suspicious page titled "Edgar's World." The summary did not reveal much else, just "ENTER | WEBRING".

Sayuko clicked on the link, and a webpage with a black background was brought up. There was a picture of a jester's hat, and below it were two links: "ENTER" and "WEBRING". Sayuko moved the cursor towards "ENTER" and clicked on it.

The site turned out to be nothing more than a failed webcomic page. It had not been updated since May 13, 2001. Sayuko sighed heavily, and clicked on the "Back" tab twice, returning to the Google results page.

At this point, Thomas decided to try to force Sayuko to take a break. He walked towards the mouse, and then, with all of his strength, held onto it, trying his hardest to prevent her from moving it. Of course, due to his small size, he was unable to do so.

"Thomas, what are you doing?" Sayuko asked, in a somewhat aggrivated tone.

"Listen," Thomas started. "You've been sitting here for over three hours now, doing the same thing. Trust me, you need a break."

"Thomas-"

"Drink some water. Eat something. Or just lay on your bed and rest. Anything to give your brain some R&R."

Sayuko stared at Thomas, and then at the screen.

"Trust me," Thomas said. "This computer isn't going anywhere."

Sayuko turned back to Thomas, and then exhaled heavily. "Fine. I'll take a break."

She stood from her chair, and then cupped her hands around Thomas. He could not see anything for a few seconds, before being released on her desk, near his small living area next to the window. Sayuko pulled out the chair at this desk, and sat down in it.

"I'm sorry if I seemed mean to you..." Sayuko said. "I just want to save you and Taro as fast as I can... And we have no other way."

"I understand," Thomas said. "But, like I said before, you shouldn't overexert yourself."

"I'll try not too."

"Good."

Sayuko folded her arms on the desk, and then laid her head on them. "I've gone through so many pages... Do you think we'll ever find him?"

"Sure. Eventually. I mean, no one said that this would be easy. The Internet is a big place, and 90% of it is filth. Plus, all we have is his name to go on."

"Hm..."

There was a few minutes of silence, except for the sounds of the television. In that time, Sayuko had closed her eyes, though she was not sleeping. Thomas had been sitting down, his legs crossed, and watching the television before he had a thought.

"Hey, Sayuko," Thomas called.

She opened her eyes.

"I have a question."

"What is it?" She asked.

"You live here alone, right?"

"Yes..."

"And do you have a job?"

"I'm looking for one."

"So, how do you keep this house?"

"...My brother has already paid off this house. It's his."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. All he had to do was pay for the water, gas, and electricity. But since he's gone, it's been up to me..."

"Wait... How are you making the payments?"

Sayuko was silent for a few seconds, before raising her head and answering, though taking a bit of a more somber tone. "My... our parents died 5 months ago. There was an accident, and..."

"Oh, Sayuko... I'm sorry..."

"It's okay... When they died, they left Taro and me their fortune. Taro felt that I could use their inheritance more, so he gave me his share."

"Wait..." Thomas stood up. "Don't tell me that you've been using your inheritance to pay for your bills..."

"Not only bills, but groceries and school too. Until I can get a job, I have no choice..."

"How much did they leave you?"

"Umm..." Sayuko looked upward for a few seconds. "In American dollars... It would be about $367,000."

Thomas almost lost his balance from disbelief. "Whoa... I could only dream of having that much money..."

"We weren't rich, but we were better off than most people we knew."

"What were you going to use the money for?" Thomas asked.

"School... and maybe a house once I graduated. But if things continue the way they are, I may not be able to..." Sayuko sighed, and dropped her head back into her arms.

"Sayuko... Don't worry..." Thomas started to walk closer to her. "We'll put an end to this somehow. I promise."

Sayuko turned her head towards the small man. "Are you sure? Is that something you can promise?"

Thomas stopped in front of her massive face, and smiled. "Yes."

Sayuko hesitated for a moment, before nodding. She also smiled, though it was a weaker one. "Then I'll believe you."

"Good." Thomas placed his palm on Sayuko's giant arm. "We'll have your brother back in no time."

"I hope so..." Sayuko said, before closing her eyes again.

'Aren't you the little hero...' Thomas thought to himself.

He kept his palm on her warm skin for several seconds, before removing it. At his size, her skin was somewhat tough, and it was a bit easier to see her skin cells. In his mind, he pictured himself, back to his original size, and hugging her. No doubt that he wanted to. He told her yesterday that he did.

Gloria's question came back to his mind. ("Are you in love with Sayuko?")

He did not want to call it love. At least, not yet. He had not spent enough time with Sayuko for that. However, there was no doubt that he was developing some kind of feelings for her. Even before this incident started, when he was helping her with her assignments at school, he had some kind of desire for her, though he chose not to pursue it, and those feelings did not grow.

However, now that Thomas would be spending more time with her than he had ever imagined, he had a small feeling that those desires now had an opportunity to swell.

~~~

Melissa walked into her room, sneakers in hand. She dropped the sneakers on the floor, near her bed.

"Gurl," Lauren said, following her inside. "I can't believe you walked out of the car barefoot, and then walked all the way here."

"Hey," Melissa said, sliding her feet into her pair of black flip-flops, which were laying beside her bed. "I didn't feel like going through the trouble of putting those shoes on, only to take them off again a minute later."

"You really need a pedicure... More than I thought. Your feet must take a beating." Lauren laughed.

"I told you, I'm going this weekend. ...And stop laughing."

Lauren walked further into the room. "Anyway, your room hasn't changed much." She looked towards the cabinet. "I see you still have the lock there. What's in there, anyway?"

"That's none of your business," Melissa said as she walked to the room's window.

"C'mon, Gurl... I'm your best friend! We're not supposed to have secrets."

"...Who told you that? There are many things I don't know about you."

"Like what?"

"Well... Like... Where you were born."

"...I'd rather not say..."

"See?! Friends keep things from each other all of the time!"

Lauren chuckled. "I guess... But not only that cabinet..."

Melissa's somewhat cheerful mood dissipated as she watched her friend walked towards her closet's closed door.

"You don't let anyone in here, either," Lauren said, facing the door.

"Oh..." Melissa said as she slowly started to make her way toward her dresser. "I have some private stuff in there."

"Clothes?"

"Yeah, but some other stuff. ...If you know what's good for you, you'd get away from that door."

Lauren quickly turned towards Melissa. "Are you threatening me?!" she asked in a somewhat playful, yet grave, tone.

"Maybe..."

"Well, maybe I should just open this door, and see if you're being serious!"

Melissa saw Lauren reach for the door's doorknob. At the same time, Melissa started to reach for the top drawer of the dresser. The second Lauren gripped the knob, so did Melissa with the handle.

"Well, this is it, Gurl," Lauren said, not looking back at Melissa. "I'm about to open it."

"Yeah... And see what happens when you do," Melissa responded.

Lauren prepared to turn the doorknob, and Melissa prepared to pull out the drawer. However, before either one could do so, a sudden melody began to fill the air. Lauren pulled her hand from the doorknob, and shoved it into her pocket, and then pulled out her cell phone. She flipped it open, and brought it to her ear.

"Hello?" She said. "...Oh, hi, Boo! How are you?"

Melissa sighed, and released her grip from the dresser's handle. "Tell Rodney I said 'Hi'."

"Hey... Melissa says 'Hi.' ...He said 'What up?'"

Melissa giggled as she watched Lauren talk on her phone, and moving away from the closet door.

"Uh-huh... Okay... I'll see you there. ...Love ya, too. Bye." With that, she flipped the phone closed, and tucked it back into her pocket.

"Got a date?" Melissa winked.

"Yep," said Lauren. "He wants me to meet him at the mall."

"I could drive you there."

"Nah, Gurl. You stay here and rest. I'll take the bus."

"You sure?"

Lauren walked towards the room's doorway. "Oh, and I was just joking about the closet thing. You have your secrets... whatever they are, and I'll respect your privacy."

"Really? Well, thanks, Lauren." Melissa smiled.

"Of course. Well, I'll talk to you later, Gurl." She waved as she walked out of the room, and Melissa could soon hear her footsteps as they make their way down the stairs.

"Make sure you lock the door when you leave!" Melissa yelled out.

"I know!!" Lauren yelled back.

Melissa heard the house's door shut. She then walked to her bed, dropped herself onto it, and let out a deep sigh as she looked up at the ceiling.

God... Fate... Or whatever governs the world had stepped in today. Melissa was fully prepared to use the Shrink Ray on her friend when she was taunting her with the closet. Friends- no... Best friends they may be, but she cannot have anyone see the dozens of people inside of her closet, and leave the house.

If it did come down to it, Melissa could always find a new "best friend."

Though, lucky for Lauren if she had been shrunken, she would have finally seen what was inside of the cabinet. Especially since she would have been living in there with her other special prisoner.

"Lucky BFF..." Melissa said to herself, before closing her eyes.

~~~

Sheryl sat up on the cloth. Although Reeve had finished with her long before, she was still shuddering. Just who did he think he was? Did this guy truly think that he could get anything he wanted, including his way with any woman he wanted? What kind of leader did he think he could be? Not a very good one, Sheryl believed.

He had long since left her in the lonely area. But not before he made a suggestion. He asked that she become his advisor, though he said that he would not listen to any Refugee sympathies. Sheryl could not fathom how he could have the audacity to request something like that, especially after he had raped her. She had no intentions of helping him in his "rule," but no doubt that he would force her somehow.

What also sickened her was his other request.

"...Why would I ever want to be 'friends' with him?" Sheryl said, before dropping her face into her hands.