"Anything wrong, chief?" said Scott, turning his thoughts away from merging with various articles of his wife's clothing long enough to notice his boss' concern.
"Don't think so. Just a bit of a spike in activity in the upper midwest."
"Huh. Sarah and I weren't really parrying or anything there, you know...."
"Don't make me go God-teacher on the bit, Scott. I know you two rapscallions were just engaging in a GTS version of a PDA. Which reminds me, when exactly are you planning on settling down into a boring, staid marriage?"
"Right after Proteus strips us of our powers," said Sarah, matter-of-factly.
"Last week it was Gaia," teased Scott.
"Really, Sarah, you need some internal consistency. You had told me it was Loki."
"Truthfully, if Gaia, Loki, or Proteus show up and want to strip me of my powers, they can have them. Though it will destroy my dream of being Inch High Attorney at Law."
Scott smiled. "I think I speak for men everywhere when I say I'd prefer Attack of the Fifty Foot Lawyer."
"Okay, you two, get a room. Sheesh. Anyhow, I don't think it's anything to be concerned about. It's not even close to New York levels. Probably just a blip. We'd best monitor it, though. That's an order."
At this, Scott sobered up. "Aye, sir. Sarah and I will track it."
"Do more than that. Focus in on it. Give me vitals."
At this, Scott and Sarah closed their eyes for a second, and reached out for the anomaly. "Nothing tangible," said Sarah, presently. "But whatever it is, it's wielding significant power."
"Adept levels?" asked Jake, concerned.
"Negative," said Scott. "But strong. Stronger than you, I'd wager. Could be an artifact of some sort. I'm not getting a clear sense of conscious will directing it."
"Do you have a location?"
"Just a sense of a lake. That could be anywhere in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan."
"All right," said D.X., satisfied. "You two can come back in now. We're just going to keep an eye on this for now. If anything spikes, we'll go to a higher alert level, and story time will have to end." The two nodded. "Of course, sir," said Sarah.
"But for now, where was I? Oh yes. The happiest time of my life--before I met Teri, that is."
* * *
All in all, I wasn't sure I enjoyed being 1/4 inch tall.
Liz had decided that it would be the best way for me to accompany her--she told me she didn't fell safe with me tied into her hair, but she wanted me someplace where she could hear me.
I think it was lonely for her. I think she just needed someone to confide in, to confess to, to share the experience with.
She wanted to keep her secret, so who better than me? Heck, it wasn't like I was going anywhere--and I sure as heck couldn't tell anyone.
I sat in her ear canal, listening to the steady whoosh of blood all about me. It scared me to be this small.
"HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP IN THERE, LITTLE ONE?"
Little One. She'd taken to calling me that over the past few days. I didn't mind; if anything, I kind of liked it.
"Okay, I guess," I said, holding tight as best I could.
"CLARIS," she said, softly. She was quiet a few moments, before saying, "OH, MAN, I THOUGHT I GOT ALL THE WAX OUT OF THERE."
I chuckled. "I thought it looked good. I shudder to think what you'd find in my ear if you were in it."
"YEAH. BUT IF YOU KNEW HOW MANY Q-TIPS I WENT THROUGH TRYING TO GET IT NICE FOR...."
She trailed off there, and I felt the heat in her ear rise with her blush.
"I think it looks great, Liz," I said, and immediately winced. I knew I was blushing as deeply as she.
Neither of us said anything for a few moments, until Liz finally spoke.
"WELL," she said, "THAT WAS AWKWARD."
I laughed out loud; so did she. We walked on in silence for a while--that is to say, she walked on, and I rode.
After a while, she said softly, "YOU KNOW THAT I CARE FOR YOU, JAKE, DON'T YOU?"
"I know," I said.
"AND YOU KNOW THAT IT ISN'T THAT I DON'T WANT TO RESTORE YOU, RIGHT? YOU KNOW I JUST CAN'T TAKE THE CHANCE. NOT YET. MAYBE SOMEDAY, BUT...WELL, I MEAN, YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY, DON'T YOU?"
"You know I'd never betray you," I said. "You know I'd protect your secret, no matter what."
"I KNOW, JAKE. I KNOW. BUT...I JUST CAN'T RESTORE YOU. NOT YET. BUT...BUT I PROMISE YOU I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU. I'LL PROTECT YOU, NO MATTER WHAT."
I leaned back. I wanted her to restore me. I wanted to be back to normal.
But what had normal ever gotten me? Two dead parents and a dead sister, and a bunch of soi-disant friends who couldn't understand why I didn't want my parents' home turned into a party pad for my senior year. (Well, except for Teri. She'd understood.)
So here I was, in the ear of a beautiful woman who had just sworn to protect me, and maybe, someday, restore me to my right size.
It was good enough for the moment.
"I understand, Liz, and it's okay," I said. "I like being with you. I care for you, too."
I felt the heat of her blushing again. "YOU DON'T DESERVE THIS, JAKE. I'M SORRY."
"It's the best thing that ever happened to me," I said. And I knew, in my heart, it was true.
"YOU'RE SO SW--WAIT A SEC. CLARIS....OH, YOU SON OF A BITCH. OKAY, JAKE, IT'S GO TIME."
And suddenly, the leisurely walk became a full-out sprint. It was all I could do to stay safely in her ear canal.
"What's up?" I asked, bouncing violently.
"SEXUAL ASSAULT. TWO GUYS, ONE GIRL. SHE WANTS OUT OF THE ROOM, THEY'RE NOT LETTING HER GO."
"Where at?"
"THE LANGDON. THIRD FLOOR. WE'LL HAVE TO GET PAST THE GUARD. WAIT...NO, WE WON'T--ASSUMING THIS GOES RIGHT. TRANSPORT...."
* * *
It wasn't a fair fight. Of course, fights between mere mortals and superheroines rarely are.
Sarah dropped right into the room, as the woman was trying desperately to kick her way out of the fatter guy's grasp.
"OH, SO SAD. TWO OF YOU BOYS AND ONLY ONE GIRL. WELL, I GUESS I BRING IT BACK TO EVEN, DON'T I?"
The fat man dropped the girl on the floor. She hit her ass hard, but quickly bounced up and backed away.
"What the Fuck is going on here? How did you get in?"
"I JUST DROPPED BY. IT SEEMED LIKE A PARTY IN HERE. SO, SWEETIE, WAS IT A PARTY?"
"I just went back to their room. They said they were going to give me some pot," said the woman.
"OH, NEVER TRUST RANDOM BOYS WHO SAY THEY'LL GIVE YOU POT IF YOU JUST COME BACK TO THEIR ROOM, DEARIE. YOU MUST BE A FRESHMAN."
"Actually, I'm in High School. I'm just here visiting my sister."
I felt the heat in Liz' ear spike. "FUCKING HIGH SCHOOL? YOU TWO DUMB SHITS DON'T EVEN HAVE THE COMMON DECENCY TO ASSAULT AN ADULT, YOU HAVE TO GO AFTER A KID? OH, THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN. OH, JACOB, DARLING, WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO TO THESE TWO?"
"Fuck that, Dan. Let's get her!"
"SORRY, LOVE, NO TIME...MORPHEUS MORPHEUS! OH, HELL, I RUSHED IT A BIT. MORPHEUS...THERE. PERFECT. THESE, MY DEAR GIRL, ARE FOR YOU. BE MORE CAREFUL NEXT TIME." "What are you?" asked the perplexed secondary student.
"I AM THE COED," said Liz. "TRANSPORT."
With that, we were gone.
* * *
Alicia studied the gift of the woman for several minutes. Could she have possibly seen what she thought she'd seen? Her two attackers had disappeared, and in their place....
No, it was impossible.
She studied the gift some more.
Maybe it was impossible. But it sure seemed real. And if that woman had done what Alicia thought she had done....
A smile played out over the high school junior's face as she thought. She hoped this meant what she thought.
* * *
Dan woke up stunned. What the fuck had just happened? He and Damien had just been having some fun with the girl. They weren't really gonna rape her. Well, yeah, he had to admit, maybe they were. But she was a high school student. Didn't she want to score with some older guys?
He tried to call out to Damien, but found he couldn't speak. He tried to get up, but he couldn't. In fact, he felt completely different, completely changed.
Then, suddenly, the pretty high school girl lifted him up with one hand. No, wait, that wasn't possible. But it so was. She was enormous, and she was holding him in one hand, and a tennis shoe in the other hand. A wicked grin played out over her face as she dropped him to the ground.
He landed with a thud on the ground, and a mental groan. He saw her slide onto the bed, and take her socks off.
Then she advanced her foot on him, and slipped it inside him.
It stank. It tasted foul. And when she rose up and put her weight upon him, it hurt.
It hurt like Hell.
* * *
They would become Alicia's favorite pair of shoes. She wore them constantly. She ran in them, she jogged in them, she slogged through the mud in them. They were the most comfortable pair of shoes she'd ever owned.
And at night, when she was sure nobody could hear her, she'd whisper to them, "Hey boys, I hope you enjoy your fate. I hope you enjoy my sweaty, stinky feet. I hope you enjoy every miserable footfall. We'll play again tomorrow." And every night, she'd go to bed smiling.
The shoes sat there, expressionless. Inside the left one, Dan swore, each night, that he'd figure a way out of this horrible world he'd landed in, but each sunrise brought her feet back. Damien was more sanguine. He greeted his goddess each morning with a prayer, each footfall with a cry of thank you, each fleck of dirt from her sole with reverence. He was surely insane. But he was happier than his once and current roommate. Happier by far.
* * *
"Shoes?"
"IT WAS A SUDDEN INSPIRATION. SORRY I COULDN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO PICK, THOUGH."
"Oh, that's okay. Frankly, I think you were probably a little more creative than I would've been."
We were back in her dorm room, talking giddily about The Coed's latest triumph. I was back at four inches tall, and I was sitting cros-legged on her desk as she leaned back, looking down at me with a satisfied smile.
"OH, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT. I BET IF I'D GIVEN YOU SOME TIME, YOU WOULD'VE COME UP WITH SOMETHING PRETTY DEVIOUS."
"Well," I said, standing up and stretching, "I did have an idea...."
"REALLY? DO TELL." She sipped her enormous vodka coke, and smiled broadly enough to show me she was getting a little bit tipsy.
I had no doubt that I was buzzed; Liz had been kind enough to pour me a thimblefull of vodka. I had what amounted to a bucketfull of liquor in front of me. I hadn't put much of a dent into it, but I was but a freshman. I didn't have any tolerance at all.
I was a really cheap date.
"Well," I said, responding to her earlier query, "I was kinda thinking along the lines of tampons."
Liz gasped, then broke into howls of laughter. "YOU SEE? I TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAD A WICKED MIND. THAT'S A GOOD ONE! HMMM...PUT 'EM IN A TRUCK STOP VENDING MACHINE, LET 'EM WAIT A GOOD LONG TIME NOT KNOWING WHAT'S HAPPENED TO THEM UNTIL...IT'S A HEAVY DAY!" At this, she broke out laughing again. So did I.
When I finally regained my composure, I said, "I like it, but I'd put 'em in a high school. I mean, they wanted teen pussy so much...."
Liz smiled wider. "POETIC JUSTICE. I LIKE IT! I'M TOTALLY USING THAT ONE." She sipped her drink, and mused, "THIS IS SUCH A DESTRUCTIVE POWER. I WISH THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT I COULD DO WITH IT THAT WAS...I DON'T KNOW...FUN."
"Oh, I don't know about that. I can think of a few fun things."
"OH REALLY? LIKE WHAT?"
"Well...."
"'WELL' WHAT?"
For the second time that day, I was blushing. "Um...uh...erm...." I stammered, struggling to come up with a nonsexual "fun." Liz stared for a bit, waiting for me to answer. Then, suddenly, her eyes got very, very, very wide.
"OH," she said. Then, for good measure, "OH."
There was a pause that seemed to last forever.
Then, slowly, a smile began to creep across her face.
She looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying, gently, "WELL. THAT REALLY MIGHT BE FUN.
"I'M GAME IF YOU ARE, LITTLE ONE."
* * *
Meanwhile....
* * *
"Whoa there! Hold up there D.X. The story was just getting good, and you throw in a 'meanwhile'?"
Jake just stared for a second, before saying, simply, "Sarah, glad as I am that you're finally enjoying the story, there really is a method to my madness beyond titilating you two."
Sarah blushed. "Sorry, D.X. You're right. And it is a good story. Really."
Jake chuckled. "Sarah, can't you tell I'm just harassing you? I know when a story's getting good--and this one is. Just one aside, and then the good stuff, okay?"
Sarah smiled her adorable smile, and said, "You're the best, boss. I promise I'll be good."
Jake leaned back. "So, where was I?"
"Meanwhile," said Scott, helpfully.
"Ah, yes. Meanwhile."
* * *
Meanwhile, across town, Ronnie Ceres was ecstatic.
It was GTS at work. She had sensed it. She felt the boys transform, felt their delightful pain.
But what had been so amazing was that when The Coed left, the boys stayed shoes. They stayed what they had become.
It was a truth the League had found. Transformations were impermanent. If the transformed party didn't believe in GTS, they would return to their forms later. GTS was a temporary phenomenon--unless the transformed subject believed.
But this--this had been permanent. Why? Did this woman have more power than others? Or was it something else?
She was meditating on this, now, waiting for her next move. This was it. This was their chance.
* * *
D.X. leaned back, and smiled.
"Okay, time for the good stuff?" asked Scott.
D.X. smiled wider.
"So anyhow, I have to see a man about a horse. You two grab a coke or something."
Scott and Sarah immediately groaned. "You're just going to leave us hanging?" asked Scott.
"Not for long," said D.X. "Not for long."