The Dangers of Daring Officer Dolly

Chapter 19. "Joker in the Womb"

by Skytower

There had been a time in Merry McCormicks life when strange things had intrigued her. In her youth she had devoured tales of the occult, good and bad horror movies. As her life as a police officer had taken over that interest had waned. Law books and case histories had replaced lurid horror magazines. But since being captured and altered by The Group her interest had revived. Part of the reason for that revival was Merry's instinct for survival. It became apparent to her early on that being shrunk in size meant that she would have to face the strange and unusual. Movies were good practice and with The Group paying for her DVD's there was no real limit to what she could watch.

But that didn't mean she was ready when a giant plant appeared from nowhere and attacked. Merry had been in Hawk Hill mall walking past a florist shop. The first hint she had of the danger was a fierce pain in her stomach. She had doubled over and that is when the vines had reached out and wrapped themselves around her body. The vines had thorns and she felt them dig into her skin and tear her uniform. Merry fought back despite the pain. The more Merry fought the more vines appeared. It only took a few seconds for them to drag her into the florist shop and into the maw of a large plant that looked very much like the man-eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors.

The jaws of the plant snapped shut and took any light away from Merry's world. Not that any darkness stopped or even slowed down her struggles. She bit and pulled and tore at the vines with every part of her body. Revulsion filled her and Merry nearly threw up. The vines tasted like broccoli dipped in sour cream. A sickly-sweet liquid started to fill the mouth of the plant and soon Merry was into it over her head. Where the liquid touched her skin it burned. She clenched her mouth shut but the liquid flowed into her nose. It stung her eyes and she squeezed them shut. If filled her ears until Merry could only hear an echo of her own heartbeat. Merry continued her struggle but her body could only do so much without air. Involuntarily Merry exhaled and her body betrayed her by trying to inhale. Merry choked and gagged but did not give up. Even as agony wracked her body as her limbs seemed to dissolve into the plant Merry continued to fight. At some point in the fight Merry realized that her body just wasn't there anymore. Only Merry's sense of awareness, of the fact that she was still alive was still with her. Her body was gone.

Then it was back again. With the same pain that had been with her as it dissolved only worse. This time the liquid did not burn, it froze. Merry had no idea what had happened but when she realized that her arms and hands were back she struck out once again. Her fingers hit the wall of the plant and Merry dug in. She clawed at the walls of the plant with her fingernails even as her limbs started to go numb. Suddenly she felt a weakness in the plant wall. With the last shred of strength that nature gives all of her desperate children Merry tore at the spot and was rewarded when her fingers poked through it. The liquid that Merry was drowning in flowed out of the plant and Merry dove at the tear. She forced her head through it and choked and coughed, drawing in breath after painful breath. The plant seemed to collapse at that point and Merry fell heavily to the floor. On her hands and knees she struggled to figure out where she was. She kicked and scrambled to get away from the plant. Merry knew that she was not in the mall anymore. The air was different, colder and the light was brighter.

Someone was coming toward her. If they were saying something Merry couldn't hear it with the liquid still in her ears. With an instinct that would have made any warrior proud Merry reacted. Her leg shot out and caught the person in the stomach and when she (and Merry knew from the way her foot hit that it was a woman) doubled over Merry hit her three times in the neck. The woman fell like a stone and Merry took another moment to wretch more of the liquid out of her lungs. The stuff had been hard going down and it was hard coming up. It burned and her throat felt raw and her mouth tasted sour. Merry's skin felt like she had the worst sunburn ever. But even all of this did not dim her senses completely. Merry saw something shaped like a club coming toward her head and she ducked away. It came again and she rolled away.

By now Merry's eyes were starting to focus once more. She was in a room filled with plants. A man dressed in a dark business suit and a black cloak had his arm raised. From the arm extended a solid mass of what looked like black oil. Merry reached blindly around her and her hand closed on a nozzle. Looking down she saw a fire hose next to her. Merry grabbed the hose and pulled the lever handle as far as it would go. Water blasted out of the nozzle and hit the man. The force of it nearly lifted Merry off of the floor but she braced herself. The man reformed his club into a shield and braced himself against the floor. More darkness flowed from his other arm and moved across the floor toward Merry. Shifting her aim Merry angled the water flow at the lights above the man. They hung from the ceiling by rods and swayed back and forth as the water hit them. The man saw what she was doing and rolled out of the way just as one of the lights broke free from its rod and swung down on him. He came to his feet smoothly and Merry started to aim the water at him again when the flow shut off.

Not bothering to curse Merry scrambled backward on her hands searching for another weapon. Her hand closed on the blade of a shovel and Merry rolled backward and stood up, holding the shovel ready.

"Stand down!" Someone shouted.

Merry hesitated at the almost-familiar voice. She blinked and risked wiping the last of the liquid out of her eyes with her wrist. The room focused completely. It was a hot room, with sun lamps and rows of potted plants. A nude woman with green skin and short green hair lay on the floor by the remains of the plant Merry had torn her way out of. Standing over her was the man with the black cloak. Beside him stood a short woman with brown hair. She was wearing a sensible business suit, knee-length gray skirt and coat over a white shirt with a gray tie.

"Stand at ease Mystery Woman." She ordered holding both her hands up. "You are in no danger here."

"Like… Like hell I'm not." Merry coughed out the words as she dropped the shovel. She looked down at herself. Her uniform had been all but dissolved by the liquid that still clung to her. It was a dull brown color and was quickly drying. Her gun, badge and handcuffs were shapeless lumps of metal. Her shoes were nothing but black paste on her feet. Beneath the remains of the uniform her blue Victoria's secret underwear was all that kept her from full nudity and that was starting to go as well. Her skin still hurt like hell but the pain was starting to fade.

"You are safe." Lucy said.

"Yea Lucy." Merry said not bothering to hide her anger. She spat a little more of the liquid out of her mouth. "I'm real safe now that I've been eaten!"

"She's alive." The man in the black cloak said spreading a green cloak over the nude woman. He favored Merry with an accusative look.

"I was just swallowed whole by a plant Grim." Merry said recognizing him. "Be thankful you're both more than just a little wet."

"I understand your anger." Lucy said. "But you must be calm and listen to me."

{Merry you are in the Pyramid of Captain Pharaoh. Be on guard, we will not talk to you unless absolutely necessary.}

Merry didn't acknowledge the mental communication but it calmed her. If The Group was still with her then Merry felt safer.

"You made me a promise." Merry said again spitting more of the liquid out of her mouth.

"I did and I have kept it until now." Lucy said.

"Since when does the sworn word of Goddess of Justice first chosen of Athena come with a time limit?" Merry demanded. Pain in her stomach doubled her over and Merry threw up more of the liquid.

"My personal honor can not be held against the survival of two worlds." Lucy said calmly as she walked over to Merry. "When you hear me out you will understand."

"Talk away." Merry said climbing to her feet as the pain left her. She took a step forward and what was left of her uniform crumbled to dust. Her underwear started to dry and crack too. The liquid was forming into solid strips on her skin. "But hit me with that hose before this stuff stops burning through my clothes and starts with my skin!"

"The substance is harmless. But let me show you a place to clean and dress and then I will explain." Lucy said. "Take her to the hospital." She said to Grim.

Merry kept far away from the man as she followed Lucy out of the room. But Merry matched the dark angry look he gave her with one of her own and spit as she walked out of the room.

The corridor was warm but not well lit. The light brown walls leaned in forming a triangle over the white floor. They looked like stone and when Merry felt one it was rough like stone, but Merry doubted the walls were made of stone. It was also a place of age, of immense, perhaps incalculable age. She noted the black scorch marks on the walls and floor. Recessed lights were set into the ceiling and many of them were blinking on and off or were completely out.

"Do you know where you are?" Lucy asked.

"The Pyramid." Merry said coldly. "Looks like there's been a battle."

"There has." Lucy said. "We lost."

They stopped at a doorway that led to a small room with a marble bath sunk into the floor.

"Bathe, but please do so quickly." Lucy said.

Merry stepped into the room and looked around. It was a larger place than it looked from the outside. On a far wall were benches and pegs above them. A few white robes hung from the pegs. The room was white marble and Egyptian murals covered the walls. They showed queens and kings bathing. The place reeked of honor and civility. Merry felt like a slave girl who had trespassed into the royal boudoir. She got into the bath and the water felt cold against her skin. The rest of her uniform and her underwear dissolved into a thick gooey slime and flowed sluggishly down the drain.

Good, Merry thought. No badge, no way to ID me. Merry wasn't sure how she felt; anger and fear mixed wildly in her mind.

"This isn't about Sebastion or Duchess Sidonia is it?" Merry asked. She used a washcloth next to the tub to get the rest of the plant liquid off of her body. It was stubborn in a few places, almost like pine tar and Merry had to scrub hard. It pulled at the hair on her arms and legs and especially stung as Merry pulled it away from the hair between her legs. The stuff was like dried honey.

"You are guilty of those murders yes." Lucy said. She waited at the doorway. For the first time Merry really looked at her. Her brown hair was worn to her shoulders and cut in bangs on her forehead. There was strength in the round face and brown eyes. A deep strength, more than Merry felt she had herself. But that strength was compromised by the strain on Lucy's face. A tightening of the soft eyes, a slight weariness in the way she carried her slender figure, all of that betrayed a deep fatigue. "And despite my promise had we met somewhere in the world I would have taken you to the proper authorities."

Merry dunked her head and came up quickly. The stuff stuck to her hair and she had to jerk it free. A mass of blonde hair soon filled the water around her.

"What authorities are proper for killing a were-wolf and an immortal sorceress?" Merry asked rinsing her hair again. Tears stung her eyes as she pulled out more of her own hair.

"The charter that was granted to Force Group J by the United Nations allows us to try, convict and sentence such beings." Lucy said.

"That would have been one hell of a trial." Merry said getting out of the bath. Some of the stuff was still in her hair but nothing short of a pair of scissors would get it out. "Could we have mentioned the rapes and the torture? How about what he did to the Power Sisters?" She walked over to the robes. A mirror stood next to them and Merry glanced quickly at herself. Amazingly the trip through the plant had left no wounds on her body. Merry was stunned at that as she remembered the thorns on the vines that had grabbed her. As she watched the slime still in her hair evaporated. Merry stood one inch over size feet and her breasts were large and her hips were wide. Her body was solid muscle. But she was only hours from being pulled out of a regenerative bath and the trip through the plant had done her no favors. Her hair was a mass of tangles and her skin was white and pale. Quickly Merry put a robe on and turned away from the mirror. She had no idea if there was a hidden camera behind it, something she had encountered more than once in her life. But paranoia was starting to take hold. Even with magic there should have been no way for Force Group J to find her. Merry had been sure that after her escape from Count Intellect's castle she wouldn't be important enough for anyone to try and find her.

The robe was a bit small for her and a lot shorter than she liked. It barely went past her thighs. It was also made of silk and Merry knew that in the right lighting it would be translucent.

"What happened to Count Intellect?" Merry asked wondering if the vampire was still alive somehow.

"He fled into the dawn and it consumed him."

"So no trial for you or the Power Sisters?"

"It was done in combat." Lucy said. "Your killings were done after your foes were helpless."

"No they weren't." Merry said tightening her belt with a jerk. "We had maybe five minutes before Sebastion healed, less than that with Sidonia." She walked over to Lucy and looked down at her. "Maybe you like being tortured and raped but I don't."

"You killed in anger, with hate." Lucy said. "That was not Justice. Justice may be pursued with passion but not meted out with passion."

"So I don't kill them, they recover, catch us and torture us again. Where is the justice in that?"

"I have never said that seeking Justice is not without risk." Lucy said.

"No kidding." Merry said.

"For the moment that is behind us Mystery Woman." Lucy said. "You are not here on that matter."

"Lucy is she ready yet?" A thin, whiny voice asked from the hallway.

Merry looked up and saw a tall reed-thin man standing in the doorway. He had dusky gray skin and that skin stood out starkly against his bright red pants, coat and tie. The man's hair was jet black and worn as a crew cut.

"She is." Lucy said. "Mystery Woman this is Timidious."

"Hey." Merry said blandly trying to ignore the fact that she was facing a stranger in a robe that barely hid her body.

"Greetings." Timidious said bowing gallantly. His eyes locked on hers as he came out of the bow.

{Merry look out, he is trying to read your mind.}

Merry quickly reached up and took hold of her robe, pulling it open in the same move and exposing her breasts. The move worked as it had worked on men since she had reached maturity. Timidious broke eye contact and stared at her chest. While he was doing that Merry's leg came up and she kicked him in the groin. With a strangled groan the tall man sank to his knees while holding his crotch.

"Anyone tries to read my mind again" Merry said pulling her robe shut, "and I'll rip off their balls and shove'em down their throats!"

She took a step toward the groaning man but Lucy took hold of her arm.

"You've made your point." Lucy said calmly. Bending down she helped Timidious to stand up. "Come, we have little time left."

So this is Force Group J, Merry wondered as she walked with Lucy and Timidious down the corridor. Comic books for real, but not so tough. I took two of them out and I'm not even in top form. And this corridor… They've been attacked and she said they lost. I can't get cocky, I've been lucky so far, they need me for something.

"You didn't have to do that." Timidious whined.

"You wanted to look at'em anyway." Merry said. "Try to read my mind again and they'll be the last thing you ever see."

"We did not bring you here for a battle." Lucy said. "But our suspicion has a cause."

"I like my privacy." Merry said coldly.

They came to a doorway, the place didn’t seem to have any doors, and walked through it. Inside a large round table was set in the center of a darkened room. A well of light illuminated the table and the people seated at it. It took an effort for Merry not to pause or gape. She did notice that the air was fresher in the room.

This is like walking into a meeting of the JLA or the Avengers, Merry thought. Real superheroes! When I was fifteen I would have killed for this. I would have killed for this when I was twenty. Three years ago even. Now… They don't know it but I'm the enemy. The Group is taking over the world and I'm helping them. Or don't they know it? Why am I here?

The man seated directly opposite the door was a tall solidly built god. The impression Merry got from him was muscles and more muscles. He rose as they walked in. He was wearing a white knee length loincloth with a gold belt and on his head was a helmet shaped like an eagle. His hairless chest was the male equivalent of Merry's. Broad, strong and from what Merry had read; bulletproof. He wore nothing else except sandals. His face was that of a hero, with a straight nose, strong jaw and bright blue eyes. On his right was a black woman with scarlet hair who wore a black dress. Merry had trouble seeing the woman clearly; part of her body seemed to shift in and out of the light. Beside her sat a woman who seemed to be formed from-or wore- multi-colored mist. Her body was hidden behind the mist and even her face was hard for Merry to make out. To his left sat The Grim and next him sat the green woman. She was now wearing a green corset and panties. Merry knew their names and some of their abilities. Captain Pharaoh, Miss Shadow, Ms. Dream, The Grim and Green Dream. There were empty seats at the table, more than three empty seats.

"You know who we are?" Asked Captain Pharaoh in a voice so full of bass that Merry was surprised the floor didn't shake.

"I know the names." Merry said. She stopped a few feet away as Lucy and Timidious sat down. "I know a few of you are missing. I know you had a battle. What I don't know is why the hell I'm here."

Being mad is the best way not to be scared. On her best day with all the luck of her life Merry knew she couldn't defeat everyone in the room. She could barely handle any one of them without the advantage of surprise. If they read her mind and she couldn't stop them that would mean she would have failed The Group. Merry knew it could happen and she dreaded that day.

"We need you." Captain Pharaoh said.

"Me?" Merry couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. "You people can knock planets out of the way. Why do you need me?" She looked darkly at Lucy. "Especially when you're not supposed to know I exist."

"All will be explained." Captain Pharaoh said. He gestured toward an empty chair. "Please sit."

Merry sat down in the chair closest to the doorway. All eyes were on her and she did her best to return the stares blankly. The chair looked like stone but it didn't feel like stone. It was gray and high-backed. Merry made sure to keep to the edge of her seat and not to put her arms and legs too close. To be caught in a chair trap now would be humiliating.

"If you know who we are you know what we do." Captain Pharaoh said sitting as well. There were deep lines of strain on his face as well. "We protect this planet. Three weeks ago we were alerted to a new menace. A dimensional invasion from Asguard. We gathered as many of Force Group J as we could, as well as many of the independents and traveled to that dimension. We hoped to stop it on the other side of the dimensional wall and minimize the danger to the people of Earth." His shoulders sagged and for the first time Merry heard the pain and strain in his voice. "But there was no invasion. We… I, allowed myself to lead Force Group J into a trap."

"It's no use telling him not to blame himself." The Grim said as Lucy started to talk. He looked at Merry. "The Captain tends to believe he can know all and kicks himself when he can't."

"We were betrayed." Lucy said.

"Oh we were more than betrayed." Timidious said.

"By someone in Force Group J." Merry said. "Who?"

"This man." Captain Pharaoh said.

He didn't move or touch any controls but a holographic image appeared on the table. It showed a cross between a gorilla and a gargoyle. The being was dressed in plate armor and carried a large ax.

"The Troll." Captain Pharaoh went on. Another image appeared. This was a razor thin woman in a blue jumpsuit. She had black hair with streaks of gray in it. "Sandy Sommerset. In charge of the historical records section of the Earth Intelligence Agency."

"Our historian." The Grim said coldly.

"These two worked on our side of the dimensional plot." Captain Pharaoh said. Sommerset used her position as Historian to gain complete knowledge of our powers and weaknesses. The Troll aided her and manipulated us into believing that the invasion was coming."

"Why?" Merry asked.

"We don't really know. At least on Sandy's part." Lucy said. "She's never shown any sign of betrayal or any ill feelings toward any of us. Her mind has not been enslaved."

"She was our friend." Green Dream said sadly. Her voice had a childlike quality to it.

"The Troll's reasons are simple. He wanted me." Ms. Dream said. "He has for years. The more I rejected him the more angry he became."

"It wasn't only against us." Lucy said. "As historian Sandy had access to the records going back to the founding of Force Group J. She sold those records to International Crime Enterprises." Lucy's voice broke for a moment but she continued. "As well as to many other smaller crime syndicates. Those who retired are now facing old foes that know who they are and where they are. Those who have not yet retired are facing the same. We've already lost contact with The Stunner, Lethal Lizzy and others. I fear dark vengeance is running wild. Their weaknesses known heroes and heroines are vanishing throughout the globe."

"Who was on the other side of the conspiracy?" Merry asked.

Another hologram appeared on the board. This was of a giant if Merry could judge by the scale set by the Troll and Sandy. He stood twice their height. Massively muscled the creature wore a set of plate armor and carried a double bladed ax. His hands were larger than they should have been, even for his large body. His head was large with an extended jawbone and small ears. His hair was black and cut short.

"This is Anoc." Captain Pharaoh said. "He leads a race of giants called The Nephilim."

"He's not as good looking as his picture." Merry said.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Lamont La'Tucile did a whole series of pictures of giants." Merry said. "John Karby used them for some of his Lost Earth series."

"Fiction." Grim said dismissively.

"In the forward to his book Lamont claimed he met them." Merry said. "Don't you guys keep up with scifi?"

"That was part of Sandy's job." Lucy said. "Tell me, when was this work produced?"

"88 I think."

"1988?" Grim demanded. "1888?"

"1988." Merry said. "So I guess the Nephilim are the supervillains? So what? You've handled giants before."

"This is not a battle that can be won purely by force." Captain Pharaoh said. "Not now at least."

"What more do you know about the Nephilim?" Grim demanded.

"They were race of giants that were born when angels from heaven mated with human women."

"Have you met them?" asked Grim. "What more do you know?"

Merry bristled at the suspicion in his voice.

"I don't know them." Merry said coldly. "I'm not sure I'd tell you if I did."

"We must know." Timidious said.

"You're balls friend!" Merry growled starting to stand up. "You ready to loose them?"

"Timidious, Grim." Lucy said with a warning tone. She turned back to Merry. "If you know more please tell us. Two worlds are at stake here."

"And if I don't tell you will Timidious try to steal the info from my mind?" Merry demanded.

"Control your anger Mystery Woman." Lucy said coldly. "Far more than wounded pride and hurt feelings are at stake."

"They were actually a worse race than man." Merry said after a moment. "At least twice as large and three times as hungry. Some legends say that they made the Earth so bad that god sent the flood to kill them and everyone except Noah. Goliath of David and Goliath was said to be one of them."

"All this we know already." Grim snapped.

"Good for you." Merry replied coldly. "Did you know that after the great flood there was rumored to be a group of humans who survived? First by riding on the back of a swimming Nephilim and then, when the waters receded and they reached some land they tied him up so that he couldn't eat them, but then when they couldn't find any food they started eating him. With his last breath he cursed them. Because they ate his flesh they were cursed to become monsters. Giant, unstoppable monsters who live in the remotest corners of the planet. We've seen a few in this century, Goranta and Redona." Merry looked at Captain Pharaoh. "You fought one."

"I did?"

"About ten stories high, walked on eight legs, green and liked to eat people. Five years ago I think."

"That creature?" Captain Pharaoh mused. "I thought him a creation of Dr. Conquest."

"How do you know this?" Grim asked.

"Because I know it." Merry said. She couldn't tell them the truth. She had once worked undercover at a strip joint and listened to the drunken ramblings of a former hood that had worked for Dr. Conquest. Merry had never put it into the report and he had died later that night in the middle of a shootout.

"Grim." Captain Pharaoh said and his voice held a warning too.

"After what's happened we are pinning our hopes on someone we don't know." Grim said.

"I know her." Lucy said.

"And for your information 'her' isn't ready to be pinned." Merry snapped. She looked at Lucy and Captain Pharaoh. "Who else was involved?"

"How do you know someone else was?" asked Grim.

"You just told me." Merry snapped again.

"There was another group involved." Captain Pharaoh said. "A group of dark elves from the Asguardian dimension."

"Your dealing with the whole Norse Pantheon aren't you?" Merry asked.

"They are not gods." Lucy said. "Merely dimensional travelers who stopped here for a time. The dimensions are close enough to allow travel."

"We do not know how the alliance was formed." Captain Pharaoh said. "But it was formed. When Force Group J entered the Asguardian dimension we were seen as invaders. They responded and while that battle was going on a group of the Dark Elves and the Nephilim attacked Asguard from another direction. They battled their way into the city and captured the orchard where the golden apples are grown."

"Ambrosia, the food of the gods." Merry said.

"You do know a lot." Grim accused.

"Nobody else here watches Xena Warrior Princess?" Merry demanded.

"The orchard and Ida, keeper of the orchard, were transported to Earth." Captain Pharaoh went on. "Into the country of Kromania near the Black Sea. At the same time a group of Nephilim climbed out of the Black Sea and overpowered the Kromanian Government. They now hold the country."

"Only when the orchard was transported did we and the Asguardian's realize that we had both been tricked." Miss Shadow said speaking up for the first time. Her voice had a tone like wind chimes. "The Asguardian's rushed back to their city but were too late, and the portal that Force Group J used was smashed from this side of the dimensional barrier."

"Because of my pregnancy I was left here along with Teen Force." Lucy said.

"Esmerelda?" Merry said and for the first time her voice caught a bit in her throat.

"Yes, we took her in as you knew we would." Lucy said. "She was here and she fought with us, and fought well, you may be proud of her, when a strike force from the E.I.A. attacked us."

"The Earth Intelligence Agency attacked you?" Merry asked.

"A disguised group of mercenaries led by Sandy." Lucy corrected. "Before we knew what was going on they were on us. In the confusion the Troll returned through the dimensional door and destroyed it. With his help Sandy and her men captured Teen Force."

"What about you?"

"The Troll did not use his own ax." Lucy said. "He carried an enchanted weapon with him. My spirit was sundered from the body of Goddess of Justice."

"But you are Goddess of Justice." Merry said.

"I know. The ax that Troll used caused me to be cast out of her body. Without my spirit to drive her the body of Goddess of Justice was lead out like a tamed pet. I was struck unconscious and when I awakened Teen Force was gone."

"Wait a minute, she's… you're still pregnant." Merry said. "Aren't you? It hasn't been that long."

Lucy shook her head.

"Because I became pregnant as Goddess of Justice I could not return to my human form until after the birth. I am, or was, one month from that time."

"The Nephilim hold Teen Force, Ida and the Golden Apples and Lucy's husband and daughter hostage." Captain Pharoah said. "They will all die if we move against them. Even so Lucy took a risk and partially repaired the dimensional transporter to bring a few of us back."

"That was one hell of a good plan." Merry commented.

"You admire it?" Grim asked.

Merry shrugged.

"It worked."

"But for you." Lucy said.

"Come again?"

"Sandy knows us all." Captain Pharaoh said. "She knows who we really are, where we all live. She knows everything about all of us and all of the super powered beings that operate outside of Force Group J. Even the lowest of the independents. There is no superhero or supervillain that is not in the files of the E.I.A. But no one knows about you Mystery Woman. Even we did not know about you until Lucy came up with her plan."

"Since that time we have been trying to find you." Ms. Dream said. "When we received word that Goddess of Justice was being held in Count Intellect's castle we recorded that message. But it left no clues on how to find you." Her voice had an odd echo to it, as if it were coming from two speakers set far apart. "With my spells I searched dreams the world over and I think I came close but somehow you hid from me."

"Yea." Merry said harshly. "That explains why I've been a nervous wreck for the past two weeks. Do you have any idea the hell you've put me through? I've been having nightmares every time I closed my eyes!"

"You had no reason to hide from me." Ms. Dream said calmly. "I sense torment in you, but you are not evil."

"I like my privacy." Merry said coldly. "How the hell did you do it anyway? You'd need something of mine for that sort of spell and I went into Count Intellect's castle naked and I left that way."

"You left this behind." Lucy said. She reached into a pocket of her skirt and pulled out a small plastic bag with a few blonde hairs in it. "They were in your cage."

"You bi…" Merry glared at her and almost jumped out of her seat. "When did you get those?"

"After I accepted Esmerelda." Lucy said. She was still calm despite Merry's anger and that composure was getting on Merry's nerves. "I can not stand an un-solved puzzle Mystery Woman. You were too many contradictions for me to stomach. You taunted me while I was bound. Not only taunted me but reveled in some of my torture. Yet I heard from Esmerelda how you risked your life to safe a stranger. You killed with skill and planning, with no remorse yet you rejected Esmerelda who would have been your slave. Somehow you resisted Count Intellect's and Duchess Sidonia's mind probes. As Miss Shadow mentioned you managed to get a message to Force Group J that could not be traced. You did this while you were still in his castle. Finally you fled Count Intellect's castle in a ship we could not trace. A ship that eluded the castles considerable defenses. So while I did not mention you in any report or to any living person I was not content to let the matter lie. I searched where you had been, hoping to find some clue. I found only the hairs. I kept them in secret until we needed them."

"You got a strange way of keeping your word lady." Merry snarled. She turned to the Green Dream. "So when you couldn't find my mind you dragged me here through a plant?"

"And you killed her." The green woman said sadly.

"She ATE me!" Merry yelled slamming her hand down on the table. "I was walking along and vines with thorns on them pulled me into a giant plant and tore me apart and then put me back together! No warning, no nothing! The nightmares were fun compared to that!"

"It was the only way." Lucy said as Green Dream shrank from Merry's anger. She huddled against Grim who glared at Merry. "I first searched for your image through all the databases of the world, then your genetic code using the hair. Only when all of that failed did I turn to Ms. Dream and only when she and I both agreed that you were deliberately hiding did I ask for Green Dream's help. We were running out of time and very desperate. Green Dream cost herself much when she used that spell."

"O.K." Merry said forcing herself to calm down. "Alright. I'm here, nothing can be done about that now. Now why the hell am I here? I can shrink. That's it. I'm barely a blip on the radar screen power-wise. What can I do?"

"You can help." Lucy said.

"And if I don't?"

"Worlds will end." Captain Pharaoh said.

"As in 'end' or just change leadership?" Merry demanded. "The sun still gonna come up tomorrow?"

"Do you wish to live under the Nephilim?" Lucy asked.

"Of course not." Merry snapped. "But stop telling me that worlds will end when you're just talking about a change in management."

"Will you help us?" Lucy asked flatly.

{Yes. We can hardly rule the world if the Nephilim destroy it first.}

{To explain, there is a legend that says that if the Nephilim come to power once more God will send another flood.}

{Help them Dolly.}

{Their cause is our cause for the moment.}

"I'll help." Merry said. "But after it's over you let me go, you don't call, you don't search and you don't tell anyone about me. No reports mention me. The E.I.A. doesn't hear about me. I lead a quiet life and I like it that way. Oh, and I get a pass for killing Sebastion and Sidonia just in case we run into each other again someday."

"You killed Duchess Sidonia?" Miss Shadow asked.

"I only told them of your existence." Lucy said when Merry looked at her. "Not of your crimes."

"Well thanks." Merry said sarcastically.

"She killed Sidonia?" Ms. Dream asked.

"Yea, I killed her ok?" Merry said. "So what?"

"She was one of the most powerful witches ever to live." Miss Shadow said. "My teachers, the Legion of Mystics failed to defeat her."

Merry shrugged and felt suddenly embarrassed.

"Then we know she is capable." Grim said. "But is she trustworthy? How can we know that?"

"You don't know that." Merry said coldly. "What you know is that I'm all you got." She looked sharply at Timidious. "So far my question is why should I trust any of you?"

"We are Force Group J." Captain Pharaoh said and his anger made the pyramid shake. "Our honor…"

"Is as flexible as hers!" Merry shouted back at him as she pointed at Lucy.

"Enough!" Lucy shouted and for a moment she sounded like Goddess of Justice. She gave the power of her voice and anger a moment to calm them all and then went on.

"Mystery Woman we do need you. And I am willing to trust you, trust you in a way that I have trusted no woman or man in my entire life. I know you are scared, I know that you feel we have wronged you. All that does not matter. It is your choice to trust me or not. Not us, not Force Group J, but me."

Merry took a deep breath and looked at them all. They didn't trust her, even Lucy despite what she had just said. They couldn't trust an outsider so soon after the Troll and Sommerset betrayed them. But they were desperate.

Play along, Merry told herself, and slip away when it's done. Just like last time.

"There's another legend about the Nephilim." Merry said, a little amazed and ashamed at her own duplicity. If they weren't going to trust her then she desperately needed a way to make sure that they could not do without her. That they would believe she was on their side. "If they ever achieve dominion over the Earth and man then God is supposed to send another flood."

"So we need each other to survive." The Grim said.

"Yes." Merry nodded.

The tension in the room relaxed a little bit and Merry hoped that she had struck the right cord with them.

"Tell me the rest." Merry asked and then added in a softer voice. "Please."

"There are a number of actions in play at the moment." Captain Pharaoh said. "In the Asguardian dimension what is left of Force Group J there is helping the Asguardian's against the Dark Elves. We do not know how long they can hold out. On Earth the Nephilim have consolidated their hold on the country and are using the population to build a new city. Granite Girl is being forced to help them."

"What about a conventional strike?" Merry asked. "Doesn’t anyone have a couple of spare F-15s' or something?"

"That is another part of the problem." Captain Pharaoh said. "Sandy Sommerset planned this well. Once the Nephilim routed the Kromanian army and killed President for life Kromankin they sent an envoy to the United Nations requesting that their sovereignty of Kromania be recognized. The envoy produced historical text that backed them up and a number of countries supported them."

"The apples." Merry said cynically.

"I'm afraid so." Lucy said. "The golden apples are quite literally a wonder drug. There is almost nothing they can not cure. That is a very attractive bribe. The usual countries are rushing to their defense. The Nephilim are using the apples to cure the people of Kromania, and their rule is so benevolent that no opposition has formed."

Merry leaned back in her seat.

"This was a great plan." She said.

"No military action can be taken until a U.N. investigating committee goes to Kromania and reports back." Captain Pharaoh said. "By which time the Asguardians' will be dead and the orchard containing the golden apples will be locked permanently into this dimension. We doubt the benevolent rule will extend beyond that point in time."

"Force Group J can not act in a U.N. recognized sovereign country." Lucy said. "Not even to rescue our own members."

"So what is your plan?" Merry asked.

"The key to everything is the orchard." Captain Pharaoh said. "If that is transported back to Asguard the U.N. support will fall apart and military strikes can be ordered. If the orchard is sent back to Asguard the Asguardians will be able to defeat the Dark Elves."

"How do you return the orchard?" Merry asked.

A 3-D construct appeared on the table. It showed a large circular valley with a river running through it. The apple trees were scattered over much of the valley. After a moment the map pulled back and showed that the valley was in the middle of a vast plain of desert. Merry could see buildings that were half built at the mouth of the valley. The valley was an almost exact circle.

"There are four totems around this valley." Captain Pharaoh said. For obelisks appeared. Each was dark stone with blood red runes. "They are anchoring the orchard in this dimension. Destroy any one of them and they orchard will snap back to Asguard."

"So the totems will be heavily guarded." Merry said.

"Yes." Lucy said. "And no. They are guarded but the Nephilim do not wish to call attention to them. We do not think that they know that we know what the totems actually do. We know because some of the Nephilim captured by the Asguard talked."

"Get in, knock one of them out then." Merry said. "Go in as part of the U.N. team?"

The group around the table exchanged looks of surprise.

"I didn't realize we were that obvious." Ms. Dream said.

"I did." Lucy said. "But I will take the risk."

"Without the power of Goddess of Justice you will be helpless." Ms. Dream said.

"We've discussed this already." Lucy said. "I'm going." She looked at Merry.

"I will join the U.N. team and we will be taken to the new city of the Nephilim. Ms. Dream will alter my appearance but even so I'm likely to be caught. But even if I am you will not be."

"I'll ride in your pocket or something?" Merry asked.

"No. I will be searched. My bags will be searched. There is only one place in my body where you might go un-noticed."

"In?"

"I want you to shrink down to your lowest possible height." Lucy said standing up. "Then Green Dream will encase you in a cocoon and I will place you here." She placed a hand on her stomach. "In my womb. If I am not captured I will remove you and together we can free Teen Force and destroy the totem. If I am captured you will emerge on your own and, if you can, free me, if not then you will free them."

Merry felt her jaw drop open and her brain stop working. For nearly a minute she tried to accept what Lucy wanted her to do. When she spoke her voice was barely audible.

"You want me to… to travel inside you? Inside your… inside your…"

"It is the place least likely to be searched." Lucy said.

"So I'm going to shrink down and you're going to stick me in there." Merry said.

"After Green Dream has sealed you into a cocoon so that you will be able to survive." Lucy said. "I meant what I said about trusting you Mystery Woman. If you plan any sort of treachery I will be helpless to stop it."

"What kind of cocoon?" Merry asked turning to Green Dream.

Green Dream faced her and Merry saw a tinge of fear on the woman's face. Absent the green hue on her skin Green Dream was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. She had a high strong forehead, finely arched eyebrows and a strong aquiline nose. Her mouth was delicate and the shape of her head was that of a heart. There was something young, childlike about her. The way she held her head; tilted in curiosity and fear at the same time. In a way Green Dream reminded Merry of Molly. Her figure was as strong as her face with wide shoulders and long limbs.

"There is an insect called the trianta." Green Dream said. For the first time Merry noticed that her voice had a low, dusky tone to it. "Not one from this planet. When it senses a storm coming the trianta consumes its young and places it into an egg. It then excretes the egg from its body. It then puts the egg into a plant so that the offspring will survive. The case acts as both a cocoon and it also extends life by slowing down all bodily functions."

"I'm going to shrink down, be wrapped up… be eaten by a bug, who's gonna put me into an egg… lay me… then I'm going to be stuffed up Lucy's pussy?" Merry's voice was calm but only because her mind had reached the limits of its in-credulity.

"Yes." Lucy said. "Tiny Titania is dead, her tech destroyed. Sandy does not know of any other person with the capability to shrink and grow. It is the one chance we have."

"If you were impressed by the other sides plan you should be impressed by ours as well." The Grim said.

{We know this is asking much of you Dolly but the plan is sound.}

{We of course will make plans of our own to back you up.}

For the first time since The Group had taken her Merry found herself seriously contemplating suicide. It was a fleeting thought and she pushed it away as quickly as she thought it, but it was there. She'd have to do it. Not only because the world did need her to do it but also because The Group told her to do it. And Merry had no idea if she would have done it for the world alone.

"How… how small do I have to get?" Merry asked.

"At least four inches." Lucy said. She was watching Merry closely, in fact they all were.

{Tell them you can do three inches but no more.}

"I can do that." Merry said swallowing her fear with a fantastic effort. "You're lucky, my limits three."

"Unless it is broken open the egg will last nearly a day." Green Dream said. "At the end of that time it will start to decay and you will be free."

"If that happens and I haven't freed you please," Lucy said with a slight smile "tread carefully."

"Cute." Merry said but she did not smile. "So while I'm doing that what's plans b and c?"

"While you and Lucy are infiltrating the Nephilim city Grim, Green Dream, Miss Shadow and Ms. Dream will try to save as many of the independents as they can." Captain Pharaoh said. "With luck Sandy will think that we are trying to gather allies. I have to stay here and use my life force to repair the pyramid."

"That's it?" Merry looked at them all. "You're pinning your hopes on me and Lucy?"

"Lucy has never failed us before." Green Dream said.

Merry buried her face in her hands and growled. She remembered Lucy bound and tortured in Count Intellect's dungeon. She had spouted the same fortune-cookie faith in justice. But she had broken at the end and begged. Heroine or no Merry knew that it was her own killing of Sebastion and Sidonia that had allowed Lucy to escape.

"If you have another plan Mystery Woman please tell us." Lucy said. "We have considered things carefully and this is not the first desperate situation we have ever faced."

{We are curious as well Dolly.}

Merry sat up straight and looked at the display on the table. Unbidden to her mind came the voice of Cherry, an old friend from her D&D days. 'First rule of a dungeon crawl, have a plan c and then have a plan d, and make sure d is crazier than c and if you have to have a plan e make sure it's suicidal cause if it doesn't work you won't want to live anyway.'

"Think outside of the dice." Merry said to herself. She looked at the display and leaned over and looked at it more closely. The valley was artificial, at least she guessed it was. There was no way the Nephilim would have had the luck to find a perfect size valley.

"Is there more than one way to put the orchard back?" She asked.

"Not that we know of." Captain Pharaoh said. He looked at Miss Shadow.

"No." She shook her head. "I have studied the spell for days now. Unless we are willing to sacrifice willing virgins to the dark gods there is no way."

"But you know the spell." Merry said.

"Yes."

"So what if you set up some tokens outside Kromania and zapped the whole country to Asguard? Could you do that? I mean it'd still be a battle but I think the Asguardians could handle it."

Miss Shadow was quiet for a few minutes and her face became a mask of deep concentration.

"Not the whole country." Lucy said. "But if the totems were set up around the valley could it be done?"

"Yes." Miss Shadow said. She looked at Merry with new respect. "Yes, with the Legion of Mystics I could do it. But there would be some dimensional chaos, and we'd need time to perform the spell. At least a half hour."

"They would also be in the open." Grim said. "Easily seen."

"Look at that terrain." Merry said pointing to the table. "Plenty of places to hide and the Nephilim should be busy with Teen Force by then."

"If you and Lucy succeed."

"You had a lot more faith a few minutes ago." Merry said glaring at Grim.

"Our plans were already set."

"Meaning you don't trust my plan or you don't trust me?"

"No."

"I do." Captain Pharaoh said.

"As do I." Lucy echoed. "And I trust you Mystery Woman."

Merry tried to ignore the twinge of guilt that she felt as Lucy said that.

I can't be trusted, Merry thought. I work for them.

"We also do not have any more time." Miss Shadow said. "Lucy must join the U.N. team in three hours if the deception is to have a chance."

"We will do this then." Captain Pharaoh said standing up. "And may all the gods of light aid us."

Merry followed Green Dream and Lucy into a room full of terrariums. It was a large room too, untouched by the battle. A thousand different scents assaulted Merry the moment she walked through the doorway. Warm and cool drafts of air mixed to give the impression of constant teeming life.

"Wait." Merry said at the entrance. "I have to ask you something."

"Esmerelda was fitting in well." Lucy said. "Not at first, at first she was confused, overly compliant. It was all I could do to keep her from serving us all. Gradually, with help from Granite Girl and the others in Teen Force that stopped. She is on her way to becoming her own person."

"Thanks." Merry said letting a rare contentment sweep over her for a moment. "How did you know I was going to ask about her?"

"I'm a mother too." Lucy said.

Merry had no answer to that and stepped into the room.

"I don't want you to hurt Mrs. Jeepers." Green Dream said as she led them over to a specific terrarium.

"I'll be four inches tall." Merry said. "And I wouldn't have hurt that last plant if I'd had some warning."

"How could we have given you warning?" Lucy asked.

"Couldn't the plant have said something before it grabbed me?"

"Plants can't talk to mundanes like you." Green Dream sniffed.

"O.K., let's move past that and get this over with." Merry said. She looked into the terrarium. It was filled with multicolored rocks and a few miniature trees. "Where's the bug?"

"Mrs. Jeepers ain't just a bug." Green Dream said defensively. She reached into the terrarium. "She's over one thousand Earth years old and has had millions of children."

Merry was about to reply when Lucy put a hand on her shoulder. A quick shake of her head told Merry to be quiet.

Green Dream pulled her hand out of the terrarium and in her palm was a pile of dull green rocks.

"This is Mrs. Jeepers." Green Dream said proudly.

The rocks started to move and Merry jumped back a step.

"Don't scare her." Green Dream scolded.

Merry looked more closely at the object in Green Dream's hand. She wasn't ready to call it a life form yet. It was nearly as long as Green Dream's hand. A collection of green rocks that vaguely had the shape of a soda bottle. There were no eyes that she could see but Merry could see caterpillar-like legs on some of the rocks.

"You sure four inches is going to be small enough?" Merry asked.

Green Dream nodded.

"It may be a bit uncomfortable but I can handle it." Lucy said.

"Alright." Merry shuddered but somehow pushed her way through the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She took off her robe and handed it to Lucy.

I'll never go through one of these things with clothes on, Merry thought to herself.

"Do me a favor have something for me to wear when I get out of this thing." Merry said.

"I'll try." Lucy said.

"Four inches then." Merry said.

There was no mental feedback from The Group but Merry knew they were listening and watching. There was a wrenching tear at Merry's senses and when it was over she was standing on the floor at Lucy and Green Dream's feet. Lucy bent down and used her fingers to brush Merry into the palm of her hand.

"You can struggle a little bit but don't go crazy." Green Dream said.

"How do you define crazy?" Merry asked. "I'm about to be eaten alive!"

Lucy put Merry into the terrarium and Green Dream put Mr. Jeepers down next to her. Close up Merry saw that the pile of rocks was actually alive. What she had mistaken for caterpillar feet were actually eyes on stalks. The creature moved toward her and for a moment Merry was transfixed. There were millions and millions of tiny strands linking each rock to the next and together they formed a body. It moved like a snake. It didn't rumble as it moved but there was a slight scraping sound. Merry nearly bolted as it came toward her.

"Lay down." Lucy said.

"Head first or feet first?" Merry whispered to herself. She didn't speak in a normal voice because Merry was terrified and the age old instinct to speak quietly in the face of danger was strong in her. "What's the best way to get eaten? Shouldn't they add salt?"

Merry lay down on the rocks and did her best not to move. Arms held rigidly by her side she watched as the pile of sentient rocks moved toward her. In every horror movie Merry had ever seen it was at this point that the heroine was either rescued or the bit player was killed. The giant ants in the movie 'Them!' sprang into her mind.

Mrs. Jeepers grew larger as she came nearer to Merry. The rocks pulled apart from one another and she watched as an opening appeared between them. Strings flew out of the opening and took hold of her ankles. They had a feathery feel to them, more like silk than cotton. With her ankles secured Mrs. Jeepers slowly pulled Merry's body into hers. To Merry it was a sadistically slow process. It seemed like minutes before her legs were consumed and when the bug reached her thighs it paused for a time while the stings wove themselves in and out of her pubic hair. Merry wasn't sure what it was doing and she was afraid to ask. Merry got her answer when Mrs. Jeepers pulled her body up by her pubic hair and dragged more of her into its mouth.

Merry screamed and only by hugging her arms to her chest and digging her fingers into her arms could she keep from struggling. The smell was reaching her now. It was the smell of a seashell picked up at low tied. Merry looked up and saw that Green Dream and Lucy were looking down at her with concern.

"Do not fear." Lucy said.

"That is the dumbest thing anyone's ever said to me." Merry whispered.

Merry squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the bug move more and more up her body. As the creature moved past her stomach Merry felt her legs go numb. Suddenly she couldn't move her arms. She opened her eyes and saw that the bug had consumed her body up to her neck. The smell was overpowering now. She felt something slimey brush against her lips. Merry bit her lip to keep from screaming as her head was drawn into the thing's mouth.

All the feeling in her body died. Merry felt a fog descending over her mind, eating away at her consciousness. She fought it with blind instinct but knew it was a fight she could not win. In the end the darkness of sleep was a haven she welcomed.

…To be continued.

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