"Look, Sayuko," Melissa calmly, but fearfully, pleaded, holding her hands up cautiously. "I don't know what you plan to do with that thing, but I don't think that this is right. Just put it down, and we can talk about this. What do you say? Just put the Shrink Ray dow-"

Not letting Melissa finish her sentence, Sayuko pulled the trigger of the shrinking device, the Shrink Ray, that she held. A flash of light burst from it, and hit Melissa's body. Her body glowed in a white light, as it rapidly reduced in size. In seconds, the now small light faded, revealing Melissa laying on the floor, as she was apparently unconscious.

Sayuko sighed in relief, and pressed a button on the side of the Shrink Ray. Upon doing so, she heard a sound from the device as if it was powering down. Then, she walked to Melissa's desk and placed it onto it.

"Thoma-kun..." she said as she turned back to Thomas on the floor. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he answered. "She didn't really do anything to me, thank God..."

"Good," Sayuko said, before walking towards him, and picking him off of the floor, then holding him in her palm. She looked towards Melissa. "So that's how she shrinks... To think that she had something so remarkable--so dangerous--in something so small..."

"I do wonder what Mr. Cruz would think of her using his invention for something evil like this," Thomas said. "...Sayu."

"Yes?"

"...You know what you have to do now."

Sayuko looked from Thomas to Melissa, and then back to Thomas. She nodded slowly. "I know."

(The prior evening...)

"Mr. Cruz turned out to be useless, so I don't think we have a choice now," Thomas said as he walked towards the edge of Sayuko's desk, and stopped there. "...It's time we took matters into our own hands."

"What?" Sayuko said, surprised at this statement. "What do you mean?"

"Look. You want your brother back, and we both want to put an end to what Melissa's doing. We hoped for Mr. Cruz to do it for us, but we weren't that lucky."

"Thoma-kun... Are you suggesting that we go in Melissa's house and stop her ourselves?"

"Yeah."

Sayuko gasped, and stood up. "Are you crazy?! We can't do that! Melissa would get us for sure!"

"I thought that you'd be willing to do anything for your brother."

"Yeah, but... I don't want to throw our lives away! What could we even do against her?!"

"I've been thinking about a plan all day today," Thomas said as he sat down, crossing his legs Indian-style. "It's very risky, though."

Sayuko sighed, and walked closer to the desk. Once there, she pulled out its chair and sat down in it. "How risky is it, Thoma-kun?"

"Well, if it fails," he said, "at the worse, she'd have both of us to do with as she wishes. At the least, she'd just have me."

"But I don't want to lose you. Not after all of this..."

"Same here. But you also want your brother ASAP, and tomorrow could be the perfect opportunity, right? It's now or never to try."

Sayuko started at Thomas for several seconds. She had no idea what he had planned, but anything that would put either of them into harm's way did not seem like a good idea in her mind. However, she DID want very badly to rescue Taro, and she was hoping to end this all by tomorrow. But was this worth the risk of being caught by Melissa?

"What do you have in mind?" Sayuko asked.

"Well..." he started. "First we go over there, of course. You could say something to get out of Melissa's sight for a few minutes. Something like... you have to go to the bathroom."

Sayuko nodded her head as she listened. "I see..."

"Once you do that, you get me out, and get me near someplace I can run into."

"Like the Master Bedroom? I believe her bathroom is nearby."

"Yeah, that could work. Anyway, once you're sure that I'm inside, or close enough, you go into Melissa's room, and tell her that you saw 'a little person' run into the Master Bedroom. Hopefully, she'll take the bait and chase after me. I'll try to distract her for as long as I can. In the meanwhile, you get her Shrink Ray."

"You want me to search her room for the Shrink Ray? Surely she'd notice that I was looking around when she returns! What if I don't find it?"

"Well, let me tell you this: You know her dresser near her front door?"

"Yes."

"Unless she decided to move it, it's in the top drawer. As far as I know, she's kept it in there for all this time, so I don't think she'd move it now."

"I suppose you're right. ...What then?"

"You use it on her."

Sayuko's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Yeah, and then you force her to give you the combination to the lock on her cabinet. After that, you open it, rescue your brother, and grow him back to normal. Then you could do the same to me, and I'll find the others and you can restore them as well."

"Thoma-kun... You really thought about this, but are you sure that it will work?"

"...No. I said that it was risky, but we're out of options right now."

"Hmm..." She had to admit, this plan that Thomas had thought up of was impressive, but could it work?

"Sayu," Thomas called. "I see how you're looking at me. ...If you too worried about me, then I'm not going to force you to do it."

"No, Thoma-kun..." Sayuko said, before exhaling heavily. "You're right. I do want to rescue Taro, and if your plan does work, then I'll finally be reunited with him."

"So you're going to go through with it?" Thomas asked.

Sayuko nodded. "Yes."

"Great," Thomas responded. "I suppose that we should get ready, then."

"...But we have until tomorrow. ...Unless you mean mentally."

"Exactly. This will be a hard day, and there's no guarantee that we'll get the results that we want. ...You should go to bed early tonight."

"I will, Thoma-kun. You should do the same."

"Of course," Thomas said with a smile.

~~~

Sayuko stared at Melissa, who was still laying on the floor. In a way, she felt a strong relief overtake her. The plan that Thomas had come up with the day before worked flawlessly. She never thought that she would see the day that she would even be half as close to rescuing her brother than she was now.

However, the next stage may prove to be more difficult.

Sayuko walked towards Melissa's bed, and set Thomas onto its sheet-covered matress.

"Sayu," he called. "Try to go easy on her. Remember: she has a family that still loves her."

"I know," Sayuko said. Despite everything Melissa had put the two through, she found it somewhat admirable that Thomas did not want Melissa to come under fatal harm.

She looked towards the now tiny woman on the floor, who seemed to be stirring.

~~~

Melissa opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was her room, which seemed to have grown by the dozens. She picked herself up and looked around herself. The floor seemed to stretch as far as her eyes could see, and the ceiling hung over her as if it were the sky. The furniture, her desk and dresser and the like, seemed like high skyscrapers compared to her.

However, what really caught her eye, and what really made her heart sink in her chest, was the sight of a woman of gigantic proportions. No... This was no giant. This was just Sayuko, who was still as short as ever. Melissa was just incredibly small compared to her.

Once her mind wrapped around her current predicament, her fear gave way into anger.

"What the fuck!" Melissa blurted out. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, you little bitch?!"

Sayuko merely stared at her, with a calm look on her face.

"Change me back! Or else I'll kill your brother!"

"No, Melissa," Sayuko responded as she shook her head. "If I do that, you'd just go after me, my brother, and Thomas."

"Goddammit, Sayuko!" Melissa yelled. "I'm warning you! You better do what I say, or you'll be sorry!"

Sayuko stepped closer. As she did so, Melissa's fear resurfaced as she realized just how big she was compared to her. Sayuko's sandals each had a 2-inch high sole, and Melissa's head could barely reach her toes.

"You're quite angry, aren't you?" Sayuko asked as she stopped in front of her. "As it stands now, I'm the one who will be making demands."

"The fuck?! What the hell do you want?!" Upon asking that, Melissa had quickly figured out the answer. "Taro?!"

Sayuko nodded. "Tell me the combination to the lock."

"Get the fuck outta here!" Melissa vehemently responded.

"Are you sure you want to talk to me like that?" Sayuko asked. "Especially since I could easily kill you?"

"You wouldn't dare!"

Sayuko lifted her right foot over Melissa's body, and held it in the air above her. "I have killed many people already, thanks to you. Why are you so sure I wouldn't do the same to you?"

"Sayuko, I swear! If you don't make me normal again-"

Melissa was interrupted as Sayuko's foot came down onto Melissa's body. It pushed her onto the floor on her back, and rested on top of her body, not with enough force to kill her, but with enough to keep her pinned there.

"Fuck you!" Melissa barked out. "Fuck you, you stupid bitch! Get off of me, right now!!"

~~~

Thomas watched as Sayuko lowered her right foot onto Melissa's body. From that point, he heard muffled expletives being shouted out from underneath Sayuko's foot. Sayuko looked towards Thomas, and he met her gaze with his own.

"She's lost it," Sayuko said, with a weak smile.

"Yeah," Thomas responded. "Now she knows how we felt, the ones she shrunk down and played with."

Sayuko nodded, before turning her attention back to her foot. "Melissa thought she was so powerful, that she could control us for as much as she wanted... But now, her time has run out."

Sayuko moved her foot off of Melissa's body, and pulled it back besides her other leg. Thomas peered off of the bed, and tried to look as closely at Melissa as he could. He could barely tell, but she seemed to be more furious than she was before.

Melissa stood to her feet. "Goddamn you, Sayuko! You're going to pay for this! All three of you are!"

"Melissa," Thomas called out. "You had this coming. It's your fault for-"

"Shut the fuck up, you son of a bitch!!" Melissa interrupted. "I knew I should have killed you the day I brought you here!"

"Yeah, well too bad," Thomas responded.

"Melissa, I'll ask you again," Sayuko said. "Tell me the combination."

"Fuck you!" Melissa responded. Despite the obvious shift in power in this situation, she still remained defiant.

"Is that how it's going to be?" Sayuko asked. "Fine, then."

Sayuko then kneeled down and reached her right hand out for Melissa. Melissa turned and attempted to run away, but Sayuko's hand wrapped around her before she could make any headway at all. As Sayuko pulled Melissa off from the floor, Thomas was surprised at what he heard next: screaming. After her outrage, actually hearing Melissa scream was quite a shock.

"Melissa," Sayuko said as she held Melissa wrapped in her hand, and still kneeled on the floor. "I literally hold your life in my hands. If you had any common sense, you would do as I say."

"Go to hell!" Melissa blurted out.

Sayuko sighed. "So that's how it's going to be? Very well, then..."

Melissa began to scream again, this time in agony, as Sayuko's grip tightened on her body. Thomas could identify with the pain; on his first day here, six weeks ago, Melissa had subjected him to a similar torture, though she had used her toes instead of her hands. After a minute, Sayuko released the tiny woman from her grip, and let her fall to the floor.

Breathing heavily, Melissa slowly struggled to her feet and stood up.

"How does it feel, Melissa?" Sayuko asked. "To be so powerless?"

"I..." Melissa started. "I feel that you're one crazy bitch!"

Thomas shook his head. If Melissa would just relent and give Sayuko what she wanted, this could all end for her. However, her mouth was just making things worse for herself.

Sayuko moved her right hand in front of Melissa, and then flicked her in the chest with her index finger. Melissa was sent flying back several inches, before being strewn on the floor while clutching her gut. Sayuko stood up, and then looked towards Thomas.

"I don't know why she keeps resisting," she said. "Is she trying to protect her pride?"

"Well, they do say that pride goes before a fall," Thomas responded.

"True." Sayuko turned back towards Melissa on the floor. "You should stop this, Melissa. I don't want to end up killing you and causing your family grief."

A look of realization mixed with anger appeared on Melissa's face. "How... How the fuck do you know about my family?!" Melissa then looked towards Thomas. "Did you tell her?! You met my family?!"

"Yeah," Thomas responded. "Just when I thought I'd seen it all with you, I find out that you shrunk your own mother and sister. That's sickening!"

"Sicken-" Melissa stood up. "S-sickening?! You think that's sickening?! You have no idea what they put me through these past 17 years! My mom's a whore, and my 'sister's' a worthless piece of shit! How do you think I feel living in the same house as those two?!"

"You're horrible!" Sayuko shouted. "How could you do that to your only family?! You're supposed to cherish one another, and look past their faults!"

"Bullshit! You don't have a clue about my family! Why don't you go back to yours- Oh wait! You can't!"

Thomas' mouth dropped upon hearing this. That was a cheap shot, as apparently Melissa did know about the tragedy that befell Sayuko's parents. Sayuko did not take this insult well either, as now, the last shred of calm that she had disappeared completely.

With her right foot, Sayuko kicked forward, striking Melissa and sending her flying across the floor. Melissa crashed into the wall behind her, and slumped down onto the floor.

Afterwards, Sayuko let out a cry of rage, and stomped after her. Once she reached her, Sayuko pinned her against the wall using the front of her sandal. Or so Thomas assumed, as he now could not see Melissa from where he was.

"You are the worst person I have ever met!" Sayuko cried, overcome with anger. "You're even worse than the man who killed my parents!"

Melissa said something, though Thomas could not make out what it was.

"Shut up! Just shut up!!" Sayuko screamed. "You talk about what your family did to you?! What about what you did to me! You turned me into a murderer!! And a cannibal! I have a hard time sleeping! I have nightmares! My grades have dropped! And I can't get close to anyone! You ruined my life!!"

Sayuko pulled her foot away from the wall, and backed away from it. With her out of the way, Thomas could see Melissa laying on the floor against the wall. He then looked towards Sayuko, who was faced away from him. She was breathing heavily.

"Sayu," Thomas called.

"She insulted my family," Sayuko said. "I know you told me to keep her alive, but now, it's taking me everything in my power to not kill her."

"Just hang in there," Thomas said. "I just wish she would give up this tough girl act already, though."

Sayuko backed behind her further, until she reached Melissa's bed. Then, she sat down on it, right beside Thomas, and began to unstrap her sandals from her feet. Once they were free, she kicked them off of her feet, sending them flying several inches away from her.

"What are you doing?" Thomas asked.

Sayuko stood up from the bed, now two inches shorter than she was before. "I'm going to get that combination out of her somehow," she starkly stated.

Sayuko walked back towards the wall that Melissa laid against, and picked her off of the floor. Then, she walked into the center of the room, and placed the small woman on the floor there. Melissa was now standing on her feet, and still seemed to be as mad as ever.

"Melissa," Sayuko said. "Tell me how to get inside of the cabinet, or else."

Melissa scoffed.

"Suit yourself."

Sayuko right foot bore onto Melissa's body, and with its big toe, she pushed the tiny woman onto the floor. Melissa began to scream in pain as Sayuko increased the pressure on her body.

"You're just making this harder on yourself," Sayuko said. "You can just end this by giving me what I want."

Melissa said nothing. She had her hands on Sayuko's toe, and seemed to be trying to push it off of her body. Of course, considering the size difference, Melissa was not successful in the least.

Watching this, Thomas could not help but think of his first day here. Much of what Sayuko was doing to Melissa, Melissa had done to him on that day. It was almost like deja vu for him. In fact, Thomas could almost see a bit of Melissa in Sayuko right now.

"Get your damn foot off of me!" Melissa ordered.

"What's wrong?" Sayuko slyly said. "You can't handle what you've been doing to those people all of this time?"

"Fuck you! Get off of me!"

Sayuko shrugged, and removed her toe from Melissa's torso. However, before Melissa could stand up, Sayuko stepped down on her with the same foot. She rested her foot on Melissa's body, keeping her pinned to the floor like before, though now without her sandals, she did not have to be as careful to avoid crushing her to death. From underneath, Thomas could hear Melissa's frantic and indignant voice, though it was muffled by Sayuko's flesh.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Melissa," Thomas yelled out, "but how long is it going to take you to realize that you're screwed? Face it. You're done."

"Thomas is right," Sayuko added. "If you would give me the combination, your suffering would be over."

Sayuko lifted the front end of her foot off of the floor, and off of Melissa's body.

"Both of you... Are out of your fuckin' minds!" Melissa blurted out. "Just get out of here and leave me the fuck alone!"

Sayuko began to lower her foot again, but this time, Melissa quickly got to her feet and ran out of the way of her footfall. She continued to run, towards her bed. Perhaps she thought that she could find safety underneath the bed?

Unfortunately for Melissa, she would not find out, as Sayuko reached down and swiped her off of the floor again. Once she stood upright, she used the index finger and thumb of her other hand to grab ahold of Melissa's right arm. She then began to squeeze softly on it, though to Melissa, it must have felt like her arm was being compressed, as she started to scream.

"Do you want your arm?" Sayuko asked. "Because if you don't cooperate, you won't have it anymore."

Melissa's response was to merely attempt to spit at the giant woman, though her saliva barely reached Sayuko's face, and instead fell onto the giant hand wrapped around her.

"Dammit, Melissa," Sayuko muttered in frustration. "Why won't you give up?"

Sayuko released Melissa from her hand, and let her fall to the floor between her feet. She laid on the floor, and tried to nurse her right arm with her left hand.

"Fuck this," Melissa said. "You might as well just kill me right now. I know you want to."

"No, Melissa," Sayuko said. "As much as I want to, I can't."

Melissa stared at Sayuko for several seconds, before letting out a cry of anger and then turning over to her side. A few seconds later, a different sound started to eminate from the defeated woman. A sound that almost sounded like... weeping.

Thomas and Sayuko looked at one another, before looking back down at the crying woman below. Had Sayuko finally broken this woman? Seeing her like this, Thomas almost felt pity over her.

"Sayu," Thomas called. "Let me get a closer look."

Sayuko nodded, and walked to the bed, and sat down on it. Then, she cupped her hands around Thomas, and moved him onto the floor. Once her hands retreated from his body, he walked closer to the slumped Melissa who laid on the floor.

He peered closer to her, and listened closely to the weeping sounds.

"...You gotta be kidding me." Thomas was stunned, as he had just realized something about Melissa.

"What is it, Thoma-kun?" Sayuko asked.

"She's... laughing."