Tales of Carion Mansion

Chapter 22

Of Ants and Robots

Underneath it all was the remains of a pagan temple and the place where a crashed UFO had lain for years undisturbed. The UFO had been shaken by the building of the gym and it’s inhabitants had fixed the ship and left, leaving behind an elaborate tunnel system, some odds and ends of technology, and one wear-mouse who had known them.

And who, Elvira thought rather crossly, kept using the tunnels (or the "Subway" as they had named them) as a second home. In truth Elvira couldn’t really blame Calliope, living with Jeremy and Helga Carion couldn’t have been easy. Still where else would a tiny mouse girl live? Her aunt was Aunt Petunia’s slave and her parents were lost in pre-history. Elvira had no idea when the time machine would be fixed.

Elvira opened the saddlebag compartment of her moped and pulled out a fanny pack. Experience had taught her to carry a few things at all times. The fanny pack held a bag of M&M’s, a flashlight, a small hockey stick and a set of Malibu Stacy gym cloths.

All of this flashed through Elvira’s mind for a full second before she spotted the cage in Timothy’s hand. Crumpled in a heap was Calliope.

"You shouldn’t have fought so hard." Timothy said, holding the cage up to his face. "All they wanted was the suit."

"Oh great." Elvira hissed. Scrambling across the roof she climbed down and sprinted down the street to her moped. She reached it just as Timothy and the rat creatures vanished behind the trees. Kicking the moped into gear Elvira followed them.

An hour later Elvira slowed her bike to a stop and pulled in behind a copse of trees. A half-mile down the road was a set of concrete block buildings surrounded by an electric fence. It didn’t really surprise her. The "secret military base" was the only thing in the direction Timothy and his friends had been heading. She watched as he carried Calliope into one building while the suit was taken into an aircraft hanger. A full moon hung over the place, making the buildings look pale, almost ghostly. Around her the nighttime sounds of the forest hid whatever sounds came from the base.

"Great." Elvira whispered. The military base was the worse kept secret in town, everyone new about it. Nestled beside Heavenly Swamp the base had been built in the 50’s and abandoned, then revived a few years back. No one actually knew what went on, but enough strange lights had been seen in the sky near it to give the impression it was an "Area 51" set up. Up until a few months ago the place had caused periodic power failures. That had stopped when they had blown the power during the Superbowl. After that the mayor had threatened to complain to the White House if they didn’t fix what ever was causing it. No one in town had ever been in the base as far as Elvira knew. The troops supposedly stationed there stayed there.

"Well, time to have a look." Elvira said, starting to put some branches on the moped to hide it.

Cautiously Elvira crept toward the fence, keeping in the shadows as much as possible. She briefly considered going back to the mansion for help, but Mindy was in no shape for this sort of thing, and the twins were way to young. The woods ended ten feet from the fence and Elvira crouched behind a small blue pine tree. No way to climb it, not without a rubber suit anyway, no way to dig under it, the base was concrete for five feet in either direction. That left only one way in.

Damn it, she thought, beginning to unbutton her blouse. Irritated she threw it to the ground and pulled of her bra, the cool night air raising goose bumps on her exposed skin. Her oversized nipples stiffened as a cold breeze caught and caressed them. Sitting down she pulled off her sneaker and socks, pushing the socks into the sneakers. Taking the fannypack off she laid it on the ground and then unbuckled her pants and pulled them down. Her underwear was the last to go and the nude young woman shivered in the cool air. Pine needles bit into her feet, and Elvira almost fell when she stepped onto a pinecone and it stuck to her instep. Grabbing the tree for balance she threw the cone away and then picked up her cloths. She took an M&M out of the pack and then stuffed the pack into her pants. Her sneakers and shirt went in next and Elvira was reaching for her bra and underwear when she saw them.

"Oh hell." Elvira said.

The first wolf was clearly the alpha male. He moved with a grace that few dogs could have matched and his white eyes matched the ethereal glow the moon cast over the night. Three other wolves followed him, one a little smaller, the other two very young. They were a young family out on a hunt, Elvira guessed. One of the many that had been re-introduced to the forest. Left to find food on their own. And here was a tasty young human, already unwrapped and ready for seasoning. Slowly she backed up, and just as slowly they followed her. It could have been a scene from the earliest time of man, when he faced nature alone and naked. When Elvira felt her feet on the concrete she backhanded her bundle of cloths over the fence. The two adults watched her with amused interest while the two pups were having a tug of war with her bra. Elvira kept backing up, making no sudden movements and keeping her eyes on the ground in front of the wolves. Now was no time to challenge them. When she got near enough to the fence to hear the humming of the electricity through the wires the young woman put the M&M into her mouth and bit down.

As soon as Elvira tasted the chocolate her world changed. Her body was enveloped in a cold chill, then a hot rush. The world around her turned into a collection of light and dark shapes as her eyes struggled to focus. An orgasmic feeling cascaded through her body and when it faded she was lying on the concrete.

Elvira looked up, but stayed completely still as the confused wolves walked toward the fence. Each of them was now the size of an 18 wheeled truck, and their yellow/white teeth reminded Elvira of highway supports. In all the times she had been shrunk Elvira hadn’t yet encountered a dog or cat, but now she’d make a point to avoid them. The wolves sniffed around, being careful not to come too close to the fence. When they were distracted by the pups, who had finally managed to tear her bra apart and were now fighting over her underwear, Elvira jumped up and ran to the fence, jumping through the links. She landed in a roll-over and looked back. Confused the wolves were mulling around, looking for her, but they weren’t going near the fence. Elvira sighed as she stood up and looked for her cloths. Then flattened herself to the ground again as the sound of wings reached her ears. The owl missed her and Elvira froze as it swung around for another pass. Then her world changed once more and she found herself at full height, looking at an astonished and suddenly frightened owl. It hooted indignantly at her as it flew off.

"That’ll teach ya." Elvira said, laying back on the grass and trying to steady her breathing. In one way she could sympathize, the owl had been expecting a 12 inch tall meal, not a 5 foot 5 inch young woman with wide hips, small breast with large nipples and shoulder length brown hair. "I wonder what else’ll try to eat me tonight." She groaned, rolling over and reaching for her cloths. From the other side of the fence the wolves watched silently. "Go away." She hissed, feeling a blush come to her face. It was ridiculous of course, but she was naked, and they were staring.

Shrugging the feelings of embarrassment off Elvira picked up her cloths and quickly put her shirt on. Luckily she had become experienced enough to know that one M&M was worth about 2 to 5 minutes of shrinkage. It was the Hershey Kisses that kept her small for hours.

"Halt!"

Elvira froze and looked around, not ten feet away from her Timothy hovered fifteen feet above the ground, his gun drawn and leveled at her.

"Elvira?" He asked, suddenly recognizing her. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking at you." Elvira replied. He was in the same suit she had seen him in earlier. It was a garish assemblage of colors, red boots, orange pants, green shirt, his left glove yellow, his right glove red, and a blue circle with a black star on it covering his chest. A silver belt, glowing white seemed to be keeping him in the air. That the whole outfit was made of skintight material was the last affront to fashion. "And trying not to laugh."

"Turn around and put your hands against the wall." Timothy said, his face turning red.

"No."

He aimed at the wall and fired, causing a red beam to lance across the distance and a four-foot section of the wall to glow red and dissolve. For a moment Elvira just looked at it, then back at him. Then she turned and faced the wall.

"Hands on the wall." He repeated.

"Where’d you get the pop gun and the outfit?" Elvira asked, putting her hands slightly above her and on the wall.

"I’m part of a project." He said, from his voice Elvira could tell he had landed. She stiffened as he began to pat down her leg. "What are you doing here?"

Instead of answering Elvira planted both hands against the wall, gave a short jump and mule kicked him in the chest. Then she fell back on top of him, rolling off and grabbing his gun hand at the same time. A quick twist of his wrist caused Timothy to drop the gun and Elvira rolled up, pointing it at him.

"There’s a reason they tell people to spread their legs out before they search them." She said. "You haven’t been paying attention to NYPD Blue have you? Now what’s going on here? Where is Calliope and what are those ant things?"

"You know about the aliens?"

"Yea, I saw them hauling Calliope’s robot suit."

"No, not the Nobilians, the mouse aliens. Calliope’s their queen."

Elvira laughed, she couldn’t help it.

"Calliope’s a were-mouse you idiot. She’s not queen of anything. Now what about the ants?"

"Nobilians." Timothy said, standing up and brushing at his costume. "They’re here to help us."

"Help us do what?"

"The Spideareans." Timothy said.

"The spider men? Aliens? Well, maybe… but they’re not a threat."

"They are!" Timothy insisted. "And now that we’ve captured the mouse creatures queen we can finally defeat them."

"We?"

Almost as soon as she said the word Elvira regretted it. It was a straight line, and a deadly one at that. She dodged sideways a second to late and felt a stab of pain slam into her back. For a few seconds she felt a thousand red-hot pokers rammed into her head. Then she felt nothing.

Elvira woke with her arms and neck aching. She was standing, with her arms pulled up above her head and fastened with heavy metal chains. Cold, icy metal chains. Her fingers felt numb from the metal pressing into her wrist. Opening her eyes Elvira looked around, straightening her legs at the same time. She was in a cell, one of four. There was a sink, toilet and bunk, as well as four more sets of manacles on the wall. The bars in the cell were spaced too close together to squeeze through even if she had been free. The cells were two to each side of the room, with a corridor between them. A table with her fannypack on it sat in the corridor. A small window was set into the door, but from her angle Evlira couldn’t see anything through it.

"Oh yea, I love spending my Friday nights like this." Elvira whispered, standing and lifting her arms to take some of the strain from them.

"Glad to see your awake, traitor!" Timothy said walking into the room. Behind him a fat woman wearing a black dress and walking with a cane peered at her. She had a big, beefy face with small blue eyes and dark black hair. Around her neck was a gold necklace with a blue diamond.

"Ok, start explaining Timothy." Elvira said.

"Hah." The old woman spat, her dry voice crackling with contempt. "You make demands of us?"

"You bet Broomhilda. What is going on?"

"Her name is Mrs. Vincent." Timothy said. "And she’s the reason the aliens you’re helping haven’t conquered the planet."

"Really."

"I am the director of the place." Mrs.Vincent said. "Charged by the President himself with protecting our planet."

"From a bunch of spiders?"

"And their allies." Mrs. Vincent said. "For nearly a year now Timothy and I along with the Nobilians have been fighting them, foiling their plots. Up until last week our victory seemed far away, we were winning but slowly. But now, thanks to Timothy’s sharp eye we have the means to destroy them once and for all."

"What is she talking about?" Elvira looked at him. "Is she talking about Calliope?"

"I saw her." Timothy said, a slight flush on his face. "I saw her getting out of her robot suit, that’s when I realized she was in league with them."

"You saw her getting out of the suit?" Elvira asked. "The only place Calliope gets out of that suit is either home or the girls locker room in school." His face became redder as she talked. "So, either you’ve been using a telescope on Carion Mansion, or they’ve re-opened the peephole in the girls shower."

"I told him to do it." Mrs. Vincent said. "I guessed that one of the girls in the school was not as she appeared."

"So how long did you have to look?"

"It doesn’t matter." Timothy said, looking away.

"How long?"

"Six months." Mrs. Vincent said as he looked away.

"Well, there’s devotion to duty."

"His devotion was rewarded." Mrs. Vincent said.

"I bet. You get any pictures?"

"Because of him we were able to capture the mouse queen," Mrs. Vincent said, as Timothy looked away again, "and we have her suit. With the power core from her suit we have finished our ultimate weapon years ahead of time."

"Ultimate weapon?"

"A giant robot." Timothy said. "Tonight I’m going to pilot it and destroy the aliens once and for all."

"What aliens?" Elvira demanded exasperated.

"They ones you baby-sit." Mrs. Vincent said. "Carion Mansion is to be destroyed."

Elvira laughed.

"You think we can’t do it?" Timothy demanded, striding to her cell.

"I think Superman would have trouble doing it." Elvira said.

"This would have been true last night." Mrs. Vincent said. "But thanks to Timothy and our brave Nobilian friends it is not true anymore. With the power core from the human suit, and the access codes from the suits computer, we can disable the defenses and destroy Carion Mansion."

"And all the aliens inside." Timothy said.

They could do it, Elvira realized. She knew that Carion Mansion had some heavy-duty weapons around it. Jeremy and Helga had often taken great joy and pride in showing them to her, and were often disappointed when she didn’t let them demonstrate the weapons on passing cars. Calliope’s human suit had to have special passwords so she wouldn’t be blown up as soon as she got in range.

"Timothy think about this for a moment." Elvira said, giving him a hard look. "Do you really think she’s on the level?"

"Why wouldn’t she be?"

"Why! Timothy think, use that tiny peanut in your skull for a moment. The government builds a robot for use against supposed alien invaders. Who do they choose to pilot it? Astronauts? Some top gun hot shot? Anyone with combat experience? No, they go to a high school kid. Come on, you can’t buy that."

"Despite his youth Timothy has impressed me many times." Mrs. Vincent said. "I have faith in him."

"Great, my tax dollars at work." Elvira looked at Timothy and he straightened his shoulders and gave her a defiant glare.

"So what happens to me?" Elvira asked.

"You will be put on trial." Timothy said. "After the battle. With luck you’ll just get prison."

"Luck?"

"It is better than you deserve." Mrs. Vincent said. "For now, you may hang there and wait until we have destroyed the aliens."

Elvira looked around the cell for a moment.

"Well if I’m just going to hang here can you give me something to eat? I’ve got some M&M’s in my pack."

Timothy looked at Mrs. Vincent and after a moment she nodded. Reaching into the pack he pulled out the M&M’s and the Supergirl outfit.

"Still playing with dolls Elvira? The guys in the locker wouldn’t believe it."

"Since when do the rest of them let you into the boys locker room Whitey?" Elvira snapped.

Timothy turned pale for a moment, then red.

"You want these?" He said, holding up a handfull of the M&M’s. He threw them at her. "Take em."

Elvira snapped at the candies as they hit her face, but missed them. She saw the Supergirl outfit fall to the floor. Timothy gave a short laugh and stalked out.

"Such a sensitive boy." Mrs. Vincent said, smiling.

"And dumb too." Elvira said. "You going to tell me what’s really going on?"

"Later." Mrs. Vincent said. Smiling she started toward the door. "When it’s all over."

"Amazing." Elvira hissed, struggling to get her sneakers off. "A bad guy that doesn’t boast."

An hour later Elvira missed her 32cnd M&M as it bounced off her forehead and dropped into her blouse. There were now 20 or so of them, bunched up just above her belt. And no more on the floor, except a few out of her reach. Elvira growled and bent her head down to her chin. She bounced up and down a few times and after a few misses grabbed the neck of her blouse with her teeth. Elvira pulled and twisted, pulling in her stomach as far as she could. The fabric tasted like a gag in her mouth, and she couldn’t stop the drooling, but it worked. The bottom of her blouse pulled out of her pants and M&M’s fell to the floor, some catching in the cuff of her pants.

Sighing she spat out the blouse and sagged for a moment. It had taken her nearly fifteen minutes to get her sneakers and socks off, and she’d spent nearly as much time learning how to grab M&M’s with her toes. Her ankles were sore from trying to flip the candies up to her mouth.

"Every kid in town can put a Hershey into my mouth from across the room." Elvira swore. "They can do it, I can do it."

Taking a deep breath Elvira grabbed hold of the manacles and lifted her legs up. When she was in a sitting position Elvira gave a quick flick of her feet and launched the M&M into the air. It sailed toward her open mouth, and her tongue snaked out as far as she could make it go, trying to form a runway for it. Her entire body quivered and tensed as she fought to keep it still. The M&M sailed through the air bounced off of her tongue into the back of her throat.

Elvira swallowed with a feeling of triumph and waited her body sagging with relieve. For a few minutes nothing happened, worrying the teenager. Then the familiar orgasmic feeling hit her and a few seconds later she was lying in the pile her cloths had formed.

"Oh yea." She whispered a bit breathlessly. "The candy coating had to melt."

Getting up she walked between the bars and out of the cell. A few minutes later the effect of the chocolate wore off and she grew once more.

Elvira leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Then she went over to the door and looked through the small window. A small lab lay beyond the door. Elvira could see tables with computers and chemical equipment set up. The computers were in screen saver modes, an anime scheme played endlessly on them. Giant robots fought each other endlessly.

Another mark against them, Elvira thought, they don’t use macs.

Satisfied that no one was around Elvira went back to the cell and reached out for her cloths. They were out of reach. She could reach a few of them M&M’s, but not the cloths.

"Think El, don’t just act." She said aloud, echoing Mindy’s oft given advice. She took another deep breath and looked at the door. Leaning down she saw a smaller door set into the corner, big enough for the ant creatures to come through. Taking the small hockey stick out of the fanny pack she pushed and the door swung easily. Going over to the cell she grabbed a handful of the M&M’s and popped four of them into her mouth. Again the orgasmic feeling took her and when it left she lay on the floor, gazing for a few moments at the great chasm the room had become.

"Hookers don’t cum this often." Elvira muttered, struggling into the Supergirl suit.

Elvira peered cautiously around the corner as she opened the door. The floor before her was solid black, with tiles that were as large as the rug in her living room. Tables as tall as buildings were spaced evenly, and above her, seemingly as high as the moon was the to the Earth, fluorescent lights lit the place blandly. She walked out, sticking to the wall. Cautiously she walked around the room, keeping the hockey stick ready. As usual the Guenivere-sewed costume fit, and Elvira had no doubt her sister, if she was there, would pick her up and fly her around the room while making wind noises. Elvira was almost glad to be facing some demented megalomaniac instead.

She became aware of a sound and froze every sense alert. It was music, sort of. She turned until she found the source, then walked over to one of the tables. It was definitely music, but not a radio, and with no instruments. A ladder, obviously made for the ant creatures, straddled one of the table legs.

"Wear off already." Elvira hissed, hoping the chocolate would wear off and let her grow. It had to have eight minutes, she was sure of it. But nothing happened. "Oh hell." She said and started to climb. If she grew mid climb she’d simply jump off, but the outfit would be shredded. Elvira had learned to strip out of a costume in seconds if she felt a growth spurt coming.

About half way up Elvira recognized Calliope’s voice, and realized it wasn’t the only one. The song they were singing was a Beatles tune, "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite."

Peering over the edge of the table Elvira saw what looked like a P.O.W. camp. Cages were arranged in the center of the table, some empty, some holding the rat-like creatures that the spider men used to fly around the city and some holding dead spider men. Elvria’s stomach turned as she saw that some of the rats, and some of the spider men had been dissected. In a cage near the center of the table Calliope, along with four spider men huddled around a small bottle cap. There were no guards in sight. Calliope was tapping out the beat to the song on the bottle cap. Two ant creatures with swords stalked up and down the center of the table.

Sword against hockey stick, Elvira thought, looking at them closely. The ant creatures bodies were divided into four semi-ball like segments. Two legs came out of each of the segments, all ending in paw-like feet. Arms grew out of the second segment. They reached over the head for about a half-inch ahead of the face. The arms ended in three finger and a thumb claws. The faces were almost human like, with human eyes, a human nose and mouth, but the mouth had neither tooth nor tongue, instead a small hand could be seen in it.

"Wrong rhythm." Calliope corrected one of the spider men. She tapped out on the bottle cap. "Like that, ok John."

Looking around the table Elvira saw a beaker filled with a white bubbling white liquid. It was just close enough to her, and Calliope was distracting the ant creatures. The beaker wasn’t marked, but it stood on a Bunsen burner and the flame was on low.

Hoping it was acid Elvira crept over to the beaker and pressed the but end of her hockey stick against it. She was just getting ready to tip it over when Calliope saw her.

"Supergirl?" the wear-mouse shouted, alerting the ant creatures.

With a grunt Elvira tipped the beaker over, causing the white liquid to flood the tabletop. It affected the ant creatures not at all. They charged swords ready and Elvira was stuck on the edge of the table. She dived behind the Bunsen burner, forcing them to split up. They came at her from each side and Elvira swung her stick, parrying one sword even as she ducked under the other. She kicked out, missing and falling on her back. Both swords swung down at her with eye blurring speed and she managed to catch both of them with her stick. For a few moments there was a contest of strength. Elvira lost as the sticks started to come closer. Desperately she reached out with her legs, grabbing the burner and desperately turning it over. It worked, the burner tipped over onto one of the ant creatures, the flame going out instantly due to it’s safety cap. With one of her foes occupied Elvira rolled out from under the others sword and swung her stick, catching the creatures arm near the joint on it’s back. It backed away, the arm hanging uselessly and Elvira rolled into a summersault just as the second ant creature swung at her from behind.

For a moment they stood there, taking each other’s measure. Slowly Elvira backed up. For each step she took the ant creatures took a step.

"Elvira is that you?" Calliope called.

"Now’s not a good time Calliope." Elvira answered. Again she was being forced to the end of the table, and the injured ant’s arm was starting to twitch.

"Get us out of here!" Calliope called again. "The spider men can handle them."

"Great idea." Elvira said. "Just tell these two to step back so I can get to the cage."

"Yea?"

"A tip. When someone is trying to sneak past guards to rescue you DON’T SHOUT AT THEM!"

"Arch demon!" One of the spider men shouted.

"God killer!" Another called.

"Young one eater!" The third one whispered.

"Pretty." The fourth spider man said, causing the others to look at him like he had just lost his head. Then they scurried to the back of the cage and huddled together, trying to form themselves into a ball.

"I thought you were Supergirl." Calliope said.

"She’s a blonde." Elvira pointed out, sighing. "You ok?"

Close up Calliope didn’t look as chipper as she sounded. Out of her human suit Calliope McCoy was a cross between a Disney character and an Anime character. Her shoulder length black hair barely covered large mouse-like ears. She had a long thin tail, slanted Asian eyes, cute little snout of a nose, but with no fur covering the rest of her body. The rest of her body was human, with small pert breast and a sharply defined V of black hair between her legs. Now her body was covered with scrapes and bruises. One of her legs was wrapped in webbing, but Elvira could see a large bloodstain. One of her eyes was swollen shut and her nose was bloody.

"I’m hurt." Calliope said. "I tried to fight, but there were so many of them…"

"It’s ok. Let me get you out of her and back to the mansion."

"You bet." Calliope nodded. "But can we take the guys too?"

"The guys?"

"This is Grongo." Calliope said, gesturing at the spider man who had called Elvira pretty. Close up Elvira was reminded of a puppy dog. He had the same Cro-Magnon facial features as the others, but his eyes were open and friendly.

"Hi." He said.

"Over there are John, Paul and George." Calliope said. "They were captured a few months ago when they were trying to catch me and Mindy and Jack and Jill. But they’re sorry now. Besides…"

"They’re coming if they want to or not." Elvira said cutting her off. "You’re in no shape to run and I don’t know how to ride one of those rat things." She took hold of the cage.

"Don’t!" Calliope called, but it was a second to late. Elvira felt a shock go through her body and was thrown back into a coffee cup. Still hot coffee splashed over her, stinging her body. Yelling she rolled away from the searing liquid.

"It’s electrified." Calliope called.

"Oh." Elvira stood up, her whole body tingling.

"Sorry."

"Not your fault." Elvira said, pulling her cape off she wiped her face with it.

"Don’t let her in." One of the spider men said, bravely coming up behind Calliope. One by one the others followed.

"She will eat us."

"Grind our bones."

"She pretty." The fourth one said again, once more earning harsh stares.

"John don’t worry, she’s a friend."

"She beat the goddess." John said.

"Tied her up in her own web." George added.

"Tickled her." Paul added.

"Went down on her." Grongo finished, smiling.

"What?" Elvira snapped, looking at him.

"Yea, they’ve been telling me all about it." Calliope said. "You left a lot out of the story you told me. You and Aunt Petunia?"

"Editorial license." Elvira said. Using her hockey stick she levered the clasp on the cage door and opened it. "We’ll talk about it later, right now Timothy and Mrs. Vincent are going to attack Carion Mansion with a giant robot." She glanced over to where the rats were caged. "I’ll get you out of here, you warn Jeremy and Helga, meanwhile I slow down the robot."

Calliope limped out of the cage, helped and followed by Grongo. John, Paul and George hung back and stared fearfully at Elvira for a moment, then crept past her and headed for the rats.

"Are they really going to attack the mansion?" Calliope asked.

"Maybe." Elvira said. "There’s a lot going on here we don’t know about. Suddenly a shot of pain lanced through her stomach. Elvira doubled over, coughing. Her arms and legs felt like they were on fire.

"Elvira!" Calliope shouted, rushing over to her.

"I’m starting to grow." Elvira gasped out. "But it’s different this time. Get out of here, I’ll be ok."

"Are you… Whoa!" Calliope jumped back as Elvira shuddered and was suddenly twice her height.

"Go!" Elvira croaked.

The next few minutes were a sea of confusion and pain for the young woman. She had never felt pain while growing, but now Elvira felt as if her body was tearing itself apart. It might have lasted only a few minutes, in fact she was sure of it, but it was a few minutes of searing pain. When it was over Elvira lay naked on the desk, the cages and drawings scattered over the room. Calliope and the Spider men hovered above her.

"Are you allright?" Calliope asked.

"Why am I always being asked that." Elvira whispered, trying to catch her breath. Her brain reached out to the rest of her body, as if surprised it was still there. After a few moments Elvira felt fine, except for a lingering muscle spasm in her stomach. "I’ll be fine, you get going."

"We’ll go as fast as we can." Calliope called as they flew out of an open window.

"Great." Elvira said, watching them go and waiting for her breath to come back. "I was going to tell you to take you time, but…"

A little while later Elvira carefully started to climb the wall of the air craft hanger. The hanger was a Quonset hut, a half tube sticking out of the ground made of a steal frame and fiberglass panels. She climbed slowly, digging her fingers into the edge of the panels and hoping her sneakers wouldn’t slip. After Calliope had gone Elvira had passed out. She had woken to an aching, sweating body. Why she was feeling so wiped out Elvira had no idea, it could have been that the nanites were breaking down, or maybe she had simply shrunk too much in one night. Jeremy could explain it. If she could make sure he lived through the night. She had put the ant creature guards into one of the cages, then searched the desk. Finding the keys to the cell she had gotten her cloths back and then crept to the hanger. The night air was making her feel better, but Elvira didn’t fool herself into thinking she was ok. She just kept telling herself it was something that could be fixed, and tried to ignore the fear that it wasn’t.

The further up Elvira climbed the easier it became as the curve of the hut evened out. Getting to the top she crawled over to a skylight and looked in.

There was a robot all right. 25 feet in height, painted in the same garish colors as Timothy. Human shaped it had obviously been salvaged from the battle between it and the giant turtle. She could see weld seams where some of the original metal had been blown off. The turtle hadn’t left much to begin with, and Calliope’s alien friends had taken most of the internal components. What was left was almost a monster truck with a fresh paint job.

She saw the ant creatures easing something into the robots open chest cavity. Most likely Calliope’s human suit power core. Elvira had seen the battle, most of the town had really, gathering on rooftops to witness it, cheer, drink and eat. She’d won 50 dollars from Mindy betting on the turtle. The turtle had won and flown away, and during the night Calliope and her friends had worked, during the next day it was the military’s turn. Or so everyone had thought. In truth most of the town slept through what ever happened next, someone had just seen a military truck go by and spread the word.

The ant creatures moved about the machine like the insects they were, forming living tools when needed. Elvira opened the skylight and slipped in, balancing on the steel beams. The she spotted an industrial crane in the middle of the roof. It was directly over the robots open chest cavity. A few seconds of looking spotted the control cabin. As silently as possible she began to creep toward it.

The beams were coated with dust and grime and old grease. Elvira moved carefully, afraid both of falling and of pushing some of it off into the organized work bellow. Getting to the control cabin she climbed onto it and rested for a moment. That was when she heard Mrs. Vincent and Timothy.

"Stupid dolt!" Mrs. Vincent shouted, the sound of a slap following her words. Elvira peered over to see him fly back from a blow. Mrs. Vincent wearing a black flight suit hit him again, knocking him to the ground. Almost at once a crowd of ant creatures surrounded him, tying him with cables.

"Why?" Timothy asked, the tone of his voice demanding far more than a simple answer.

"Because you idiot, I not going to simply destroy Carion Mansion, I’m going to wipe this misbegotten town off the map!"

"Mrs. Vincent…" Timothy pleaded, but she kicked him in the ribs.

"My name is Benita Karloff!"

"So?" Timothy asked, even more perplexed than before.

"My husband was Boris Karloff."

"The actor?"

Not the actor you idiot, Elvira thought, slipping into the control cabin. She closed the door and locked it.

"The Mayor your grandfather murdered!" Benita shouted, kicking him again. "He led the mob that lynched my husband! And now I shall have my revenge!"

"But he’s dead." Timothy protested. "He died of cancer before I was born."

"He cheated me, and your father cheated me when he died, but you live. For now." She added.

"Oh wonderful." Elvira hissed looking at the controls for the crane. The bridge of the Enterprise would have been easier to figure out. "Keep her talking Timothy."

"Your going to attack the town because of something that happened in World War 2? That’s crazy!"

"I am crazy!" she screeched. "For 30 years I was kept locked up in an asylum, so that your families sin could not be exposed to the world. My mind was lost in that sea of bedlam." She became suddenly calm and bent down to him. "But in that place I met a man. He was a scientist, one of the Nazi’s that had made it out after the war. He had a new name, but I knew him from the old company. I found love once more, and we turned hell into heaven." She gazed beyond Timothy for a moment, very quiet. "He was brilliant. He was far beyond the petty minds that feared and hunted him. He loved me, and my quest for vengeance became his. We came here, dug out under this old base until we found it’s hidden lab. With that lab we made the ant creatures, mindless slaves to our whims."

"What happened to him?"

"Dumb question." Elvira whispered, finally locating the "on" switch. She started to look for the crane release switch.

"He died." Benita said. "Just last year. I was the only one at the funeral. I couldn’t even put his true name on the gravestone. He died before he left me the final key to my vengeance. A virus that would kill everyone!" Her voice choked and Benita stopped for a few moments. Then went one.

"I was lost, until last year. Until you came into my life. I was going to breed the ant creatures, turn them into an unstoppable army. But the spider creatures were too strong, they kept killing my ants as fast as I could breed them. You came up with the idea of killing them with sickness, you were the one who deciphered my late husbands notes. We’ve been slaughtering the spiders ever since."

"When did he become good enough to figure out how to make viruses?" Elvira wondered. She had sat next to Timothy in chemistry class and together they had started a fire. Then again she suddenly realized it explained a few things about his behavior in the past year. Unexpected absences, strange injuries, it all added up.

"Even then it would have taken years, but then that robot came, and lost that fight."

"If we get out of this alive I’m going to kill him." Elvira whispered. She found the release lever and turned the key on the control panel. Lights came on, motor’s whined into action. No one on the factory floor seemed to notice.

"Now, thanks to you I can tear this town apart with my own hands." Benita said. She turned and looked at the robot.

Elvira pulled the release lever and released the crane. The heavy metal hook crashed down into the open chest plate. Sparks flew and Benita howled like a wounded banshee. Elvira pulled the hook up and dropped it again. By the third time a swarm of ant creatures was prying the door to the control room open. Elvira let the crane release one more time, shut the thing down and glanced at the door. It was slowly being pried open and some angry mutterings could be heard behind it. Grabbing one of the control sticks Elvira unscrewed it and used it as a spear to break the window. It cracked on the third thrust and she pushed through it, then climbed out and on top of the control cabin. Glancing over Elvira’s stomach sank a bit. A swarm of ant creatures surrounded the cabin, working as one they had pulled the door off of its hinges. Reaching up she climbed onto the support beam and began to work her way toward the skylight. The ant creatures were stymied for a moment, crawling around the cabin looking for her, but at a shout from Benita a few of them leapt to the beam and began to pursue her.

Elvira woke to a very familiar feeling. She was tied up and her body ached. Opening her eyes she saw the robot, ant creatures swarming over it. She was tied securely with her arms crossed behind her back and her ankles tied tightly together.

"Good, your awake." Benita said, kicking her in the ribs. Pain exploded in her side and Elvira couldn’t prevent the gasp from escaping her body. "I was afraid you would sleep through your towns destruction."

Elvira said nothing, feeling the ropes with her fingers, searching for the knots.

"Speak up!" Benita commanded, readying another kick.

"And say what?" Elvira asked, ready to roll away from her. "I was listening when you were bragging to Timothy, I got the whole story."

"Good." Benita said, kicking her again. "So you and he can just lay there and watch as I destroy your town."

"You didn’t do enough damage to the robot." Timothy said.

"Shut up." Elvira snarled, forcing herself to sit up. "At least I wasn’t helping her for the past year."

Timothy stayed quiet and out of the corner of her eye Elvira saw tears running down his face. Inside Elvira knew she’d apologize to him later, she’d been duped enough times by aliens after all, but at the moment all she could think of was her mother and sister being trampled. Desperately she tensed and un-tensed the muscles in her arms trying to loosen the ropes. Benita noticed her efforts and a sick smile came to her face. She drew her leg back for another kick but stopped when something slammed into her face.

"What…!" she started to say stumbling back. She waved at her face, but by that time Mindy was hovering over Elvira.

"Stay tight El, I brought help." Mindy said.

With a roar that could have been a thousand angry crickets’ spider men erupted into the hanger. They dropped from the skylight, flew in on winged rats or charged in through half open doors. The battle was quickly joined on all fronts and Benita looked truly scared for a moment. Then her face turned red with anger. With an in-articulate growl she leapt up and ran to the robot, crushing spider and ant men alike.

"Roll over." Mindy ordered.

"What kept you?" Elvira demanded, rolling over.

"You think it’s easy to assemble an army?" Mindy said. "The spider men have been sick most of the year."

"Yea, I heard." Elvira said, glaring at Timothy who was staring at Mindy.

"Now hold still, Jeremy gave me a sonic knife."

"You’ve got a knife?" Elvira asked, freezing.

"What you think I’m strong enough to untie you at this height? Of course I have a knife."

Elvira felt a slight hum run up her arms and then they were free. She rolled over and Mindy flew to the ropes on her legs. She held a short metal rod in her hand that sprouted a blue beam from it.

"It looks like a mini-light saber." Elvira said.

"That’s what I said."

"Crom!" Timothy whispered, looking at the fairy. "Mindy?"

"Stop her from getting into that robot!" Elvira shouted as Benita climbed into the giant robot’s head. She closed the hatch just as a dozen spider men shot their arrows. A few seconds later the lights on the robots face flashed red and it sat up.

"Scatter!" Elvira screamed.

At command the ant creatures were suddenly left with no one to fight. The spider men, seeing the robot and hearing Elvira’s command ran for every dark corner or cubbyhole in the hanger. But Benita didn’t even pause. She sat up, then stood up, tearing away the fiberglass skin of the building. It gave with a skin crawling shriek and the robot ploughed through and stomped of into the night.

"Damn!" Elvira swore, rushing to the whole.

"Don’t worry El." Mindy said, flying over to her. "Jeremy and Helga have the mansion defenses all ready for her."

"That’d be great if she was going for the mansion." Elvira snapped. "But she’s going to take out the town!"

"Why? Who is she?"

"Benita Karloff." Elvira said. "Cut Timothy loose will ya?"

"The actor?" Mindy said, darting over to Timothy.

"No, the mayor, the old one." Elvira said, looking around. With the robot gone the battle between the spider men and the ant creatures had started once more. "Remember, we heard about her in school?"

"That’s you Mindy?" Timothy stared at her, his mouth open.

"Yea it’s her." Elvira said. "Come on Timothy get that thing in your skull working, we gotta stop her."

"Not if I can help it." Elvira said, taking his hand. "Come on."

"What can we do?" Timothy demanded.

"El you can’t be serious!" Mindy shouted. "I mean come on, your good but that things made of metal! Weren’t you awake during Godzilla versus Mecha-Godzilla?"

"We don’t have a choice." Elvira said, dragging Timothy out to the field that bordered the hanger. "I can slow her down, you get to Jeremy and Helga and tell them to rig up a death ray or something. She started to unbutton her blouse.

"What are you doing?" Timothy asked, staring at her.

"Giving you a present for being such an idiot." Elvira said. "Look Timothy I don’t have time to explain, but I have to reach an orgasm, a big one. How experienced are you at sex?"

"Sex!?" Timothy took a step backward, but his eyes never left Elvira’s now exposed chest.

"It’s very simply dear boy." Aunt Petunia said, appearing next to them on a flying rat. "Elvira has a very strange condition, when tickled she shrinks, when sexually stimulated she grows. She plans to grow very large and fight that robot you so doltishly helped create. So take off your cloths, we don’t have much time."

"Ah!" Timothy said, looking for a moment like he was going to faint. "I’ve never, I mean, not with…"

"We’re not gonna do it!" Elvira snapped, now completely naked and shivering slightly in the cool air. "Just get me hot." She stepped forward and Timothy took a step back.

"But in school everyone says you and Mindy…"

"Who says that?" Mindy exclaimed, flying to hover between them. "I bet it was Lisa Douglas wasn’t it? I hey…!" The fairy squealed slightly as Elvira grabbed her legs and pulled her away from him.

"The mansion Mindy!" Elvira ordered. "GO!"

"This isn’t over!" Mindy shouted as she flew off.

"It’s real simple Tim." Elvira said, putting her hands on his shoulders. She took a deep breath and drew him close. "We start with a kiss."

For a few moments it was like kissing a relative, then Timothy’s own instincts started to take over and he kissed back. Elvira kept her eyes closed and willed him to be the lover she needed. Trouble was there was no way Timothy could be the UnderTaker, her favorite wrestler, or Worf her favorite character on Star Trek.

Elvira opened her eyes and saw the startled look in Timothy’s when she tried to push her tongue into his mouth. For a moment she felt a brief wave of sympathy.

"I’ll try." He said, swallowing.

"I’m not torturing you I’m kissing you, you idiot!" Elvira shouted, kissing him hard again.

Timothy opened his mouth and their tongues met. Elvira felt a slight static shock as semi-familiar feelings began to flow through her body. She hadn’t dared do this, or even think of doing this with anyone since Teddy Hinkle. They had been making out and Elvira had grown, knocking him into a tree. After that Elvira realized that any sex she ever had would have to be done when she was shrunk. Even hot dreams were a danger and she had always slept with Jeremy’s watch. It had made dating nearly impossible, and the young woman realized just how much her sudden coldness had contributed to her and Mindy’s undeserved reputation. It was something she was going to have to work on.

Timothy’s tongue was starting to explore her teeth and Elvira pushed thoughts of her reputation out of her mind. Desperately Elvira thought of everything erotic she could drawing the fantasies from deep within her spirit.

After a few moments Elvira pulled her mouth away from Timothy’s and slowly guided him down toward her chest.

"Go slowly dear boy." Aunt Petunia whispered in his ear. It was just loud enough for Elvira hear. "Savor her body, revel in it."

If she starts to sing I’ll crush her, Elvira thought, I swear I’ll crush her.

It was working though, Timothy paused on the way to her chest to kiss the hollow of her neck, while his hands reached behind and started to massage her ass. Elvira’s body responded, she could feel her breast grow warm and her oversized nipples grow stiff. Her stomach tightened. Carefully she drew Timothy down until they were both on their knees. Then she took his head and guided him to her breast. Timothy took one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking on it like it was a lollypop. With his free hand he reached between Elvira’s legs, starting to probe for an opening.

"Don’t just suck, lick, roll the tongue." Aunt Petunia whispered. "Nibble, but not to hard."

In the back of her mind Elvira was turning bright red with embarrassment, but she ignored that part of her. Her mother and sister were in the path of that robot, and no one touched them and lived.

She gasped, her eyes opening as Timothy found the entrance between her legs and his fingers slipped into it. Elvira saw everything in sharp clarity; her every sense came alive at the same moment. She felt the moonlight on her skin, felt it’s subtle gravitational effect on her body. A cool breeze ran over her, the individual grasses beneath her body scrapped against her skin or poked her body. To her ears came the howling of the wolves she had met earlier, their faint footfalls as they hunted, their passion as they mated. She lay back, surrendering to the feelings that were bubbling with in her. As she did she guided Timothy down between her legs, replacing his tongue with her own fingers.

"Ah…" Timothy’s voice was a harsh whisper as he confronted her vagina.

"Use your thumbs to pry the lips apart." Aunt Petunia whispered, "and drink of the ambrosia within."

Elvira moaned as he followed instructions. She cupped her own breast, kneading them as she pinched her nipples between her fingers. She could feel the explosion building within her body, feel her head pound as a roar built in her ears. It was like standing on the cliffs above the sea, during the wildest storm nature ever brewed.

"Now, what you need to find…"

Aunt Petunia’s last words were lost as Timothy’s tongue found Elvira’s clitoris. She her entire body stiffened, still as stone for a few moments, then her heart seemed to triple it’s speed. Waves of power cascaded outward from her sex, making the young woman feel every cell of her body. Every nerve transmitted ten times the information that it ever had and Elvira screamed as she tried to take it all in.

Then it was over and Elvira took deep breaths, calming herself down. She sat up and looked at Timothy who had been thrown backward by her growth.

"At least…" Elvira gasped. "At least… at least you didn’t get stuck inside." She said, standing up. "Get him to the mansion Aunt Petunia, maybe can help Jeremy and Helga."

Naked and gigantic Elvira started stumbling after the robot. Then she stopped and looked back.

"Timothy, what sort of weapons does that thing have?"

"None!" Timothy shouted looking up at her with awe. "We were never able to fix them!"

"Good."

Elvira had never stayed gigantic for very long, 15 minutes was her last record and she’d forgotten how hard it could be. At normal height she could step over or around things unconsciously, barely noticing them. But now at 25 or 30 feet the world was more cumbersome. She had to step over the fence carefully, watch out for cars as she walked. Her view was now super-panoramic, and it was hard to adjust. Up ahead she focused on Benita, heading northeast toward the town. It looked like she was going to climb Sunshine Hill and charge in. If Elvira read the woman right Benita was so hot for vengeance she’d stand at the top and gaze for a while, letting the sun come up.

Well this is gonna be over by sunup lady, Elvira thought, that I promise you. Elvira was well aware that she was nude, and she had already streaked through the town once in her life.

Shaking the thoughts from her mind Elvira headed east into Heavenly Swamp.

Benita Dragonmiloff Karloff looked at the mansion. It had been the scene of great parties once, in the 20’s. Back when her husband had ruled the town and it’s people with an iron hand hidden in a velvet glove. Elizabeth Douglas had been her constant companion then, until those foolish newsmen had started spreading lies about her homeland. In two years her place in society evaporated, her parties became dustbowls, her invitations to other parties became "lost", "misplaced" and "We didn’t think you would want to come, what with all the papers are saying."

It was this last that truly burned in her mind and soul. As if she were responsible for what was happening on the other side of the Atlantic. But the true hell came to her and Boris after Pearl Harbor. She remembered that day, the masked mob breaking into his office, hanging her husband from the crystal chandelier, rampaging through his personal files, (and co-incidentally destroying all the financial records that would have sent most of them to prison). Even as that was happening another masked mob had broken into her house, catching Benita in her weekly "massage" session with dear sweet Micheal. No police had come to her servants frantic calls, and the pictures, those horrible horrible pictures…

In a week it was over, she went from wealthy society dame to asylum inmate. Should she ever breathe a word those pictures would be published. Her with a colored man… Even after all this time Benita shuddered. But even though she could not see faces she could hear voices. And there was no voice better known to her than Elizebeth Douglas. Her "friend".

Elizebeth was long dead of course, Benita had dug up the grave her self to dump the body into Heavenly Swamp. But that had been a pale vengeance. Benita raised the robots arm and smashed it into the front of the house. The balcony, bedroom and hallway smashed into splinters and Benita howled with glee. Carefully she parted the rubble, looking for bodies. But there were none. A quick scan with the robot’s sensors showed no life signs. Benita’s howl of glee turned into a roar of frustration. So loud that she didn’t pay attention when the early warning alert sounded.

Ok, just like they do it on tv, Elvira thought, grabbing the robots legs. With a heave that Elvira felt with every muscle in her body she lifted the metal creature up and over the Douglas mansion. She watched as it rolled down the hill and into the swamp. For a few moments it lay there, then it’s eyes glowed red.

"Bring it on lady!" Elvira said, with far more confidence than she felt. The eyes glowed more brightly and Elvira ducked, warned by many years of watching giant robot cartoons. The laser beams sliced through the Douglas mansion with ease, vaporizing wood and metal.

"No weapons!" Elvira hissed. "He said no weapons!"

The lasers stopped and she heard the robot coming up the hill. Elvira tensed, bringing her legs up into a crouch. There was no sense in running while that thing had lasers, she was far too big a target to miss a second time. So she waited. But even as she drew in a breath for the leap that would take her into battle Elvira felt her stomach cramp up, the strength go out of her legs. With an anguished cry she fell on her side, her body convulsing with pain.

Benita came over the hill and looked at her, stepping around the remains of the mansion. Her first kick caught Elvira off guard, smashing into her side. Elvira’s body spasm in agony as the second kick followed the first. Then the robot bent down and it’s metal hand closed on hers, dragging up, twisting her arm as the eyes glowed once more.

Pain or no Elvira wasn’t ready to be fried. With a lurch she grabbed the robot around the middle and pushed it into the Douglas mansion. They wrestled Benita unable to get a clear shot with her eye lasers and Elvira beginning to recover as the cramps faded. In the process the mansion was leveled, but neither of the combatants cared. Elvira freed her wrist and reached into the debris, grabbing a pipe and smashing it into the eye of the robot. Sparks flew, connections crackled with fury as the second eye stopped glowing as well. With a howl of rage that sounded through the metal walls of the robots’ skin Benita counter-attacked. She brought the robots legs up, hitting Elvira in the back of the neck and followed that up with punches into the young woman’s stomach and breast. The blows took their toll and Elvira rolled off the robot, but it caught her ankle and twisted, sending her onto her stomach. Even as Elvira started to get up tons of metal landed on her back, slamming her into the ground. Again and again the robot lifted itself into the air and slammed into her back. When it finally stopped Elvira could barely move, her breath coming in ragged gasped. She was completely unprepared for what happened next. The first spank shocked more than hurt her. By the 50^th hit on her ass she was mad, but each spank was followed by another hit to the back of her head, stunning her. Finally Benita stopped, stood up and kicked Elvira in the ribs until she rolled down the hill and into the swamp.

Elvira lay in the muck, grateful at least for the cold water easing her abused but. Her head reeled and the trees she had landed on poked into her body. Without a word the robot raised it’s arm, the hand pointing at her.

"Great!" Elvira said, struggling to get her body working. "She’s got missiles too."

She watched as the fingers of the hand dropped away, revealing four holes. The nose of a missile appeared in each of the holes. There was a flash of light inside the holes, followed by smoke, and the missiles dropped out of the holes to land harmlessly on the ground. Elvira breathed a sigh of relieve and let herself fall back into the water. When she looked back the robot had turned away and was looking toward the town once more.

"Mom, Guen!" Elvira hissed as she struggled out of the muck. She started to crawl up the hill, ignoring the pain. She was halfway up when the robot turned again. One eye glowed and Elvira flattened herself just as it fired. She looked up, seeing it adjust it’s aim. There was no place to hide, no place to roll too. Anger surged through her body, washing away the pain and she stumbled to her feet and lurched up the hill. At first she thought Benita was just waiting for her to get close, then Elvira realized the eye had stopped glowing. With a yell of pure delight she ploughed into the robot with her shoulder, feeling the pain as she made contact. The robot shook, tottered and then fell back, destroying what was left of the Douglas mansion. Elvira knelt down, struggling to get enough breath into her body just to stay conscious. The robot lay unmoving. It’s face started to open.

"Uh-uh." Elvira said, grabbing a section of wall. She slammed it into the face, just as her body started to go numb. It happened faster than she could even realize. One moment she was kneeling over the robot, the next blackness surrounded her.

Puzzled Elvira stood up, looking around. Douglas Mansion was rubble, the robot lay motionless, but she was normal sized again. Aching, bleeding bruised and battered, but normal size. Slowly she became aware of her surroundings. The sun was coming up, and sirens were heading her way. A cool breeze reminded Elvira she was naked and she quickly stumbled down the hill, hoping Guenivere hadn’t switched the emergency cloths she had in her moped.

The end.

But what of the ant creatures? Will they keep fighting the spider men? What of Timothy, who knows Elvira and Mindy’s secret? And let’s not forget that Elvira still has to retrieve that tape of Mindy in the shower and make sure Calliope’s human suit isn’t found. But all this waits for the next chapter.

Tune in.