"Shut up! Just shut up!!"

Taro jumped at this latest loud cry from beyond his cabinet walls. He had been trying to listening closely to what was happening out there. He expected to hear the usual weeping and protests from his sister over being forced to kill Melissa's prisoners. Instead, he heard some yelling and quiet screaming, which started from what sounded like his sister ordering Melissa to put down someone.

"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!!"

There was no doubt in Taro's mind that the loud, emotionally torn voice outside belonged to his sister. Could it be...? Had Sayuko turned the tides of this horrible situation?

Taro walked out of his small hamster house, and walked towards the edge of his prison cage. There, he stood, and waited. Waited to see the outcome of whatever it was that was going on outside.

~~~

The Survivors looked towards the closed door of the dark closet. They had heard a loud voice several times within the last few minutes, though they could not make out what exactly it was saying. One thing was clear, though: something was happening out there. Today was Sunday, however this seemed different somehow than what they had come to expect from this day.

"What the heck's going on out there?" Robbie asked.

"Maybe that girl flipped," Dawson responded.

"...What girl?" Kim asked.

"Oh yeah, we haven't told you both yet," Dawson responded. "Okay. There's..."

Thomas and Sayuko watched as Melissa lay curled up on the floor, all the while laughing quietly to herself. Thomas had no idea what was going on inside of the head of the woman. Perhaps the torture that Sayuko had put her through just moments before had gotten to her.

Then, Melissa's laughing started to become louder, as she started to uncurl herself. She then slowly rose to her feet, before she began to laugh manically, as if she had indeed completely lost her mind.

Thomas turned around, and looked upward towards Sayuko, who, from her facial expression, looked to be as disturbed and dismayed as he was at that moment.

"Melissa," Thomas said as he turned back and faced the manic woman. "What going on with you?"

Melissa continued to laugh for a few more seconds, before calming down and inhaling. "Oh, me? I just find it funny how you don't want to kill me, after everything I did."

"We already explained why," Thomas said.

"Yes," Sayuko added. "If it weren't for your family, I wouldn't have held back as much as I did."

"...You kicked me to a fuckin' wall, you stupid bitch!" Melissa shouted, her rage suddenly ignited. "You call that holding back?! And you...!" She quickly turned her attention back to Thomas. "You caused all of this!"

She started to walk towards Thomas, in a menacing stride that caused him to back away from her with each step.

"I don't know how or when you two met, but this is your fault!" Melissa snapped. "You son of a bitch!!"

With that, she lunged towards Thomas, and swiped at him with her right hand. It connected with the side of his face, and knocked his glasses right off of his head. Thomas recoiled backwards, as Sayuko called out to him out of worry. Just as he regained his footing, Melissa came at him again, this time attempting a left punch to his face. He managed to move his head backward, narrowly dodging her attack.

Melissa again swung at him with her right fist, but Thomas managed to block it with his left hand, and then gripped tightly on her wrist. She struggled to free her arm from his grip, but she was unable to do so. She then swung with her free left hand, but Thomas grabbed ahold of it as well with his right hand.

Melissa gritted her teeth and let out a growl of frustration, before pulling Thomas' left arm towards her face, and biting down on it with as much strength as she could muster. Thomas yelped as her teeth buried into his flesh, as the pain caused him to release his grip of her right wrist. He let go of her other arm, before Melissa grabbed onto his arm with both of her hands and began to bite down harder on his skin. With his free arm, he pushed on her forehead, trying to make her release his arm from her mouth, but to no avail.

Faced with no other choice, he drew his right fist back, and punched Melissa right in the face. However, she did not release him. He punched her again, this time in the cheek. She finally opened her mouth, released Thomas' arm from her grasp, and recoiled backwards. Thomas looked at his left arm, at where Melissa had bitten down on. There was blood where Melissa's bitemark was, though not too much of it.

He looked towards Melissa, and saw her charging him again. She attempted another punch with her right hand, but Thomas grabbed ahold of her fist before she connected with his face. Not giving her any chance to try to attack him again, he spun her around to her back, and then grabed ahold of her other arm. Holding both of her arms tightly on her back, Thomas pushed her onto the floor, and held his hands tightly in place on her hands, though Melissa was struggling with all of her might to free herself.

"Goddamn you, you motherfucker!" Melissa barked. "Let me go!"

"No," Thomas answered.

"I SAID LET ME GO!!!!"

"And I said no."

"Pfeh! You cunt! You think you're going to get that combination out of me?!" Melissa spat on the floor. "Well, you and your bitch girlfriend can just forget it!"

Thomas sighed, and looked behind him, towards Sayuko, who had a look of genuine concern on her face.

"What do we do now?" Sayuko asked.

"Well, I thought getting it out of Melissa would be easier," Thomas said as he fought to keep Melissa down on the floor, "but I guess now we have to somehow break the chain around that cabinet."

"How?"

"... Go downstairs in the basement. See if you can find a saw or some other kind of tool."

Sayuko nodded. "Okay."

She then stood off of Melissa's bed, and walked past the two on the floor. She then grabbed her sandals, and placed her feet into both of them, before strapping them up.

"Thoma-kun," she said. "You can release her now."

Thomas looked down at Melissa, before releasing his hold of the woman and moving away from her. As both stood to their feet, and as he expected, Melissa quickly turned back towards Thomas and began to charge him once more. However, a giant hand reached down from above and grabbed her off of the floor.

Thomas watched as Sayuko examined the struggling and shouting woman in her hands, before walking to Melissa's desk, and pulling something that was on its surface closer to her. Sayuko dropped Melissa onto the desk, and then turned her back against it, rested on the desk for a moment, and let out a relived sigh.

Sayuko then walked to Melissa's bed, careful of Thomas below her, and grabbed the Shrink Ray off of the mattress.

"Could you move over there?" Sayuko asked as she pointed towards a more open spot a bit further away from where he was.

Without a word, Thomas picked up his glasses, placed them back on his head, and made his way for the area that Sayuko had chosen. While walking there, he heard the Shrink Ray power on behind him.

"You said the red button restores things?" Sayuko asked.

Thomas turned back towards Sayuko as he neared the spot. "That's what Mrs. Cruz told me."

"Hm..." Sayuko pressed the button on the side of the ray gun. "Okay, Thoma-kun. That's good enough."

Thomas stopped in his tracks, and turned around. Upon doing so, a bright flash of blue light overtook his vision. However, unlike how he had expected, the light did not blind him or render him unconscious. He looked around himself as he watched the giant room shrink, or at least that was what it looked like from his perspective. Instead, he knew that he was growing.

Within several seconds, the growing ceased. Thomas looked at Sayuko, who looked right back at him with a content smile. He looked to his right, and saw Melissa's desk, with the now tiny Melissa sitting in a glass jar on the desk's surface. He looked back towards Sayuko, and gave a smile of his own.

"Well, it's about time!" he said with a slight glee.

Sayuko chuckled a little, before walking closer to Thomas, and handing him the Shrink Ray.

"I'll see what I can find downstairs," she said. "You take care of your friends."

Thomas nodded as he took the ray gun into his hands. "Will do."

Sayuko stared at him for a few seconds, as if she was examining him.

"What?" Thomas asked.

"...Oh. I had just forgotten how tall you were," she answered.

"Oh." At that moment, Thomas remembered how short Sayuko was. Without her sandals, she would be even shorter, a bit over a foot shorter than he was to be exact. "I'm going to get them now."

"Okay, Thoma-kun," Sayuko said, before heading out of the bedroom. "I'll be back shortly!"

Thomas watched as Sayuko walked down the hall, and turned to her left, before she was out of his sight. All he could hear were her footsteps as they made their way to the floor below.

He looked down at the Shrink Ray in his hands. It was his first time holding the device, and, like Sayuko, he could barely believe that such a thing has such a power. However, unlike Sayuko, he had experienced the process firsthand, so he knew what it was capable of. It would be horrible if it fell into the wrong hands. Not that Melissa didn't qualify, but if someone more dangerous had gotten it, this situation may have been dozens of times worse than it was.

"Hey!!"

Thomas turned to his right, and saw that Melissa was calling out for him. He sighed, and walked closer to the desk where she was. The tables were turned: he was now much larger than she was. If he wanted to, he could easily end her life much like she could have with him six weeks ago and today.

"Tell me," Melissa said, now a bit calmer. "When did you and her rendezvous?"

"...Three weeks ago," Thomas answered.

"...Dammit. Of course. That's why she all of a sudden showed up..."

Thomas could barely make out her last sentence, as she started to mutter to herself. Not wasting any more time with Melissa, Thomas walked to Melissa's bed, placed the Shrink Ray onto it, and then continued to head for Melissa's closet.

~~~

The Survivors braced themselves as the heard the closet door open. Whatever was going on out there had ended, as the screaming from moments before had been brought to a halt.

"Here she comes," Shawn warned. "Probably to pick out which one of us will be killed."

They all waited. Waited for the image of Melissa's face to break through the hanging clothes.

Instead, they were all shocked to instead see Thomas make his way into the closet. Except he was much larger than they were.

"It's Thomas!!" Kim called out, before she fell to her knees in awe. "Thomas!!"

"Thomas?!" Dawson called out, mixed with surprise and excitement. "What the hell happened?!"

"Hey, guys," Thomas greeted. "There's been a change of powers out there, so..." He moved closer to their glass cage, and looked to his right. "...Wow. Just this one? What happened to the rest?"

"They're all dead!" Shawn yelled out. "In fact, there's only seven of us left in here!"

"Really?" Thomas said in surprise.

"Thomas, it's me!!" Kim shouted out. "Can you see me?!"

Thomas looked towards Kim, and squinted his eyes. He then gasped, as he seemed to recognize the young woman who was calling out to him. "Kim?"

"Yes! Yes!!" Kim said excitedly, nearly breaking down in tears. "Robbie's here, too!!"

"Are you serious?!" Thomas said.

"Yeah!" Robbie called out. "I'm over here."

Thomas looked towards the direction that Robbie's voice came from, before grabbing the cage from underneath and picking it up from the small chest that it was sitting on.

"Well, let's get you guys back to normal," Thomas said, before carrying the cage out of the closet.

As they entered Melissa's bedroom, the Survivors seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief.

It was finally over.

~~~

Thomas powered down the Shrink Ray, and placed it onto Melissa's bed. Everyone in the glass cage had been restored back to their normal size. He looked around. There was Shawn, Dawson, and Carlos, a brunette girl who he believed was named Jenna, his best friends Robbie and Kim, and an older woman that he did not recognize. While he was happy that they had been rescued, it did not take him long to notice that someone was missing: Gloria.

"Uh, Shaw-" Thomas tried to call, before he was interrupted.

"Thomas!" Kim tearfully called as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged tightly. Robbie followed her, and also gave him a hug of his own.

"How long have you two been here?" Thomas asked.

"We just got here yesterday," Robbie answered. "Melissa said that she wanted to work on a project for school. Kim came with me, and she got us both."

"I had given up hope," Kim said. "But you rescued us! Thank you!"

Thomas blushed. "I didn't do it on my own. I had help from a good friend."

"...Sayuko?" Robbie asked.

"That's right. ...How did you know that?"

Robbie released himself from Thomas, as did Kim. "...Dawson told me and Kim about her. That Melissa was making her kill just so her brother, who's being held hostage, would be saved." He shook his head. "It's horrible."

"Yeah," Thomas said. "Melissa messed up a lot of lives, but thankfully, it's over now."

Thomas heard the sound of someone tapping on the glass jar to his side. He turned, and saw Dawson standing at Melissa's desk.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Dawson said. "I usually hate small women scenarios when large men are involved, but you had it comin'."

"Be careful," Thomas said. "I don't want her to be killed."

"...Why not?" said Jenna. "She definately deserves it and more."

"Because her family wouldn't like it. Her mother, especially."

Dawson quickly turned towards Thomas. "Her mother's alive?!"

"Yep. Just shrunken. Along with Melissa's sister. They're in the basement. ...With Bruce."

"What?!" Dawson exclaimed. "So Bruce was working with Melissa all along?!"

"I guess so." Thomas shrugged.

"...Bastard," Dawson muttered.

"Thomas," Shawn called. "Did you want to ask me something?"

"Oh yeah," Thomas said. "Where's Gloria?"

At that moment, Shawn, Dawson, Jenna, and Carlos became eerily quiet and melancholic. Or, in the case of Carlos, more quiet than he was before.

Noticing the change in the air around them, Thomas looked at each four of them. Suddenly, his heart sank. "...Don't tell me-"

"She's dead!" Melissa yelled out. "I killed that wetback bitch!"

Thomas, as well as everyone else in the room, turned towards the jar on Melissa's desk. Melissa was sitting down, with her legs crossed, though Thomas swore that he could see the tiny woman smirking inside.

"Why?" Thomas said in disbelief. "How?!"

"'Cause I hated that bitch!" Melissa answered. "As for how..." She brought up her index finger on her left hand, and her index and middle fingers on her right hand. With her right hand, she started to open and close the fingers as if they were a pair of scissors. She moved the "blades" to the tip of her left index finger, and closed them on it.

"...You heartless..." Thomas covered his eyes with his right hand. Was Melissa telling the truth? Had Gloria become yet another victim in her mad game? He wanted to believe that this was just another trick, but did Melissa have any reason to lie at this point?

"Thomas," Carlos called as he stepped closer to Thomas. "Did you have any part in her death?"

Thomas was shocked to hear this, from Carlos of all people. "What?! Of course not!!"

"Then how did she end up dead, but you getting away?"

"It was part of the plan we came up with!" Thomas took the glasses off of his face, and wiped his eyes. "Gloria told me to get Sayuko's attention, since she knows me, while she would distract Melissa. She was hoping to be put in there with you all!"

"Well, that didn't happen, did it?!" Carlos snapped. "She's dead!"

"Carlos, get ahold of yourself!" Shawn said. "Thomas said that he had nothing to do with Gloria's death! ...And I believe him."

Carlos grunted. "You disappoint me, Shawn." He then addressed Thomas once more. "You, too." He then walked out of the bedroom, and then down the stairs in the hallway.

Silence hung over the room for nearly a minute, though especially taking a bigger effect on those who knew Gloria. Thomas tried to wrap his mind around the idea of Gloria being dead, that his closest ally in this place was no longer walking among them. He had spent so much time worrying about her especially, but had it all been for naught?

"...So, who wants to get something decent to eat?" Dawson suddenly asked. "I bet Melissa is loaded with some good food."

"I'll go, I guess," Jenna said.

"Count me in as well," said the older woman.

"What about you guys?" Dawson turned towards Thomas, Robbie, and Kim.

Thomas shook his head. "No. I'm going to wait up here for Sayuko."

Robbie and Kim both shook their heads.

"I think I'll stay here as well," Shawn said.

Dawson shrugged. "Suit yourselves." With that, he, accompanied with Jenna and the older woman, walked out of the bedroom and also made their way downstairs.

As Thomas watched the three disappear from his sight, he felt someone grab his left arm. He looked, and saw Kim examining the area where he had been bitten by Melissa.

"What happened here?" Kim asked.

"Melissa and I got into a little spat earlier," Thomas answered.

Kim looked Thomas in the face. "You didn't let her beat you, did you?" she asked slyly.

Thomas smirked. "Of course not."

"Good," Kim said, before smiling. "You need a band-aid or something. Maybe even some alcohol."

"I'll be fine." Thomas pulled his arm away from her grip.

"So," Robbie said. "How long have you been with Sayuko?"

"Three weeks," Thomas answered. "But those were some of the best weeks of my life."

"Why?"

"Because I got to learn more about her. ...I bonded with her, I guess."

"...Oh." A look of realization appeared on Robbie's face. "OOOOHHHHHH!! I get it!" He nudged Thomas with his elbow twice, and winked.

Thomas knew exactly what Robbie was thinking. "No. Not yet, at least. But now that I'm big again, I guess I can move forward."

"Uh-huh." Robbie looked out towards the bedroom door and into the hallway. "Well, speak of the devil."

Thomas looked into the hallway, and saw Sayuko approaching the room, with a hacksaw in her right hand. As she walked into the room, a surprised expression appeared on her face as she looked towards Robbie.

"Oh!" She said. "Robbie! You're here?"

"Yeah," Robbie answered. "She got us yesterday."

"Oh...Well, I'm glad that you're safe, too." She looked towards Kim. "Nice to meet you," she greeted with a smile.

"Same here, Sayuko," Kim responded, with a smile of her own. "My name is Kim."

"Kim... How did you know my name?"

"Those two were just talking about you." Kim pointed her thumb towards Thomas and Robbie.

"Sayu," Thomas called. "I see you found the saw we needed."

"Yes," Sayuko answered. "It was hidden, but I asked Melissa's mother in the basement about it. ...She's such a nice woman. How dare Melissa do that to her?"

"Yeah, she is. ...Even though I do question her judgement in men. Did you see Bruce down there?"

"I believe so."

"Of course." Thomas knew that, after rescuing Taro, they would have to rescue Mrs. Cruz and Rebecca, and, unfortunately, Bruce as well. Bruce was one person that he would feel better NOT restoring.

Sayuko headed for the cabinet, though, as she passed him, Thomas grabbed ahold of her right wrist.

"I'll do it," Thomas said, grabbing the saw out of her hand.

She nodded. "Okay, Thoma-kun."

As she backed away from Thomas, he heard snickers from both Robbie and Kim. This was their first time hearing the nickname that Sayuko had come up for for him, and they apparently found it amusing.

"Robbie," Thomas called. "If you're done laughing, come help me with this."

"...Alright." Robbie joined Thomas, before the two walked to the chained cabinet. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hold out the chain," Thomas commanded. "I'm going to saw through it."

Robbie grabbed the chain by the lock, and pulled it out towards him. Then, Thomas brought the rugged blade onto the chain, and began to move his arm back and forth as he started to saw into the hard steel chain links.

For several minutes, the sound of the sawing filled the room, and Thomas was barely halfway through the steel. He knew that cutting through it would not be a fast and easy task, so he had no choice but to keep at this until he finally broke through. He looked behind him, and saw Sayuko, Kim, and Shawn watching him expectantly. He also glanced towards Melissa's desk and the jar that sat upon it, and saw that she had her head turned away from the cabinet, with her arms folded.

Minutes later still, sweat began to appear in beads on his forehead, and his right arm started to become sore, but he was finally nearly through the metal chain. He put the last of the strength of his right arm into the last few strokes, before the spot on the chain that he sawed through seperated. Robbie pulled the chain from around the cabinet, while Thomas dropped the saw to the floor.

Sayuko then rushed to the cabinet, and opened the doors. She let out a deep sigh of relief, and covered her mouth with her hands, as she looked inside and stared at the man inside; her brother Taro. Overcome with emotions, she started to speak with her brother in Japanese, and Thomas could hear Taro's reponses, also in Japanese. During the conversation the two had, Thomas heard his name come up at least once.

Then, she reached in, and pulled Taro out of the hamster cage. She carried him to Melissa's bed, and set him down on it. She then grabbed the Shrink Ray off of the bed, and powered it on, before pulling the trigger and firing it at him. Taro was bathed in a blue light, before he started to increase in size.

Seconds later, his growth had completed, and Thomas was finally able to get a clear look at the brother that Sayuko looked so highly up to. Sitting on Melissa's bed, he had dark brown hair, a brown button-down shirt that was stained with dirt, black pants that also seemed to be as dirty, and black sneakers. As he stood up, Thomas estimated that he must be about 5-foot-10.

Sayuko switched off the Shrink Ray, tossed it to Melissa's bed, and then embraced Taro in a loving hug as she started to cry. Taro wrapped his arms around her, and gave her a hug of his own, before he said something to her in Japanese.

"Loving family moment there," Robbie said as he watched the siblings. "But I'm glad that those two are finally reunited."

"Yeah," Thomas responded. "It was worth it. ...How's my mom doing?"

Robbie turned towards Thomas. "She's hanging in there, but she lost it a few times. She'll be estatic to see you again."

"I bet she will. I bet all of them will... Mom, Dad, Monica, and Kyle. Kyle especially."

"Yeah. The little brat," Robbie said in a joking tone.

"Hey," Thomas responded, also in a jest.

Taro and Sayuko released each other from their embraced, and turned their attention towards Thomas.

"So... You're Thomas," Taro said. "My sister's told me a lot about you."

"And she's said quite a bit about you, too," Thomas responded.

Taro smiled. "I'm sure she did." He stepped forwards and held out his right hand. "Thank you for watching over her, and for helping make this day possible."

Thomas stretched out his own right hand and grabbed Taro's, before the two gave each other a firm handshake. "You're welcome. She's a really nice girl, and I wanted to do whatever I could for her."

The two pulled their hands back.

Taro looked towards Melissa on her desk. "I heard what was going on out here," he said. "I don't know what you said to upset sayuko that much, but you deserved what you got. In fact, I think you got off easy."

"Fuck you!" Melissa shouted out. "I was going to shrink Sayuko, anyway! At least you two would have been reunited!"

"Well, thank God we did this today," Thomas said, "and not waited any later. Wouldn't you agree, Sayuko?"

Sayuko nodded.

Shawn walked towards the door. He had not said a word since the others left the room, instead observing what was going on inside of the bedroom.

"So, what do we do now?" Shawn asked. "I guess we're done up here."

"...We get Melissa's family," Sayuko answered. "And that Bruce man."

Thomas sighed. "I really don't want to restore him. I don't trust him around Melissa while she's like that."

"True," Shawn said. "He may try to go after her if we let either of them out of our sights."

Thomas turned towards Sayuko. "Sayu. You bring down the Shrink Ray." He then turned to Kim. "Kim, you bring Melissa to the living room. We'll keep our eyes on both downstairs."

"Okay," Kim said, before heading to the desk and picking Melissa's jar off of it.

Thomas then headed out of the bedroom, followed by his companions behind him.

This rescue mission was nearly over, but there were still some unfinished business. Mainly with Bruce. It was not just around Melissa that he didn't trust him; he had no trust in him at all. He hoped to talk some sense into Claudia, and hoped that she was smart enough to know that Bruce was not exactly the best kind of man that she should have around the house.

And, of course, there were several things that he had to talk to Bruce about. His flawed rules, his unwillingness to keep his promise to the Refugees, and his overall terrible personality.

There would be one final confrontation before this day was at its end.