The Dangers Of Daring Officer Dolly

Chapter 21. "Milk does a body good"

by Skytower

Prudence knew that what she was doing was wrong, but every time she tried to stop what she was doing the thought swept through her mind; 'You must obey', and when that happened all of her other thoughts were simply drowned. It was a constant battle that she was constantly loosing. The command to obey was like a song she couldn't get out of her head.

She was obeying now, walking-running really-across a rocky slope as the sun was starting to dip toward the horizon. Instead of the gray dress Prudence had been forced to wear for the past few days she was wearing a pair of black cargo pants and a black T-shirt with the words "Die Orc" printed in red on the chest. Prudence ran looking back over her shoulder as if she expected to be chased. Again, it was part of what she had been told to do.

She came around the slope and stopped as a solid force slammed into her. Prudence was knocked to the ground and cried out as the rocks bit into her back.

"Pru?"

Prudence looked up and saw a multi-colored mist approaching her. The mist resolved itself as it came closer and took the form of a beautiful woman. She was still hard to see because the mist only partially seemed to form. Prudence knew that the mist was part illusion and part real. Underneath it all was a woman Prudence called 'Aunt Mary', a woman who had helped Prudence pick out her prom dress.

'You must obey.' Ran the thought in her mind and Prudence started to follow her instructions.

"Aunt Mary!" Prudence shouted leaping up and hugging her. "Aunt Mary it's you!"

The mist fully formed into a woman with long black hair that was streaked with scarlet and gold. Her face was half covered by a white mask and the eyes of that mask were covered over with blue. Ms. Dream's body was lithe and covered with a light blue body stalking. She wore a long cape of translucent fabric that gave off wave after shifting wave of light from every color of the rainbow. Ms. Dream studied Prudence closely and Prudence knew that her mind was being read. It wasn't being read too deeply, Ms. Dream couldn't do that unless a person was asleep. Prudence hoped that Ms. Dream could see deep enough into her mind to hear the obey command, but she didn't.

"Prudence!" Ms. Dream said hugging her back. "Oh god I'm glad to see you."

"What's going on?" Prudence demanded. "I wake up in a cell with Teen Force and Aunt Sandy is… is like insane or something!"

"We don't know what's wrong with Sandy." Ms. Dream said. She took Prudence's hand and turned away, starting to pull Prudence along with her. "Come on, I have to get you safe."

As soon as she turned away Prudence reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a black cloth pad with a little plastic bubble on it. The two of them barely took two steps before Prudence reached from behind Ms. Dream and placed the cloth over her nose and mouth. In the same motion Prudence pulled back and squeezed the bubble. Ms. Dream staggered as the chloroform hit her. The cloth had been soaked in it and the little bubble had been filled with more, when Prudence had squeezed it the numbing vapor was forced into Ms. Dreams nostrils and into her lungs.

Prudence held on and fell to the ground with her as Ms. Dream fought against the stuff. She flailed away weakly at Prudence's grip but the chloroform was already dulling her senses. With her last bit of strength Ms. Dream twisted around, looked straight into Prudence's eyes and gave a tremendous mental push.

Ms. Dream's body sagged limply as the chloroform finally completed its task. But Prudence barely felt it anymore. In her mind the message to obey was suddenly drowned out by static. A white noise filled her head and Prudence could barely remember her own name. Only one instinct could be heard through all of the noise: Move.

Prudence got up and staggered away. Behind her Ms. Dream didn't stir.

All of her life Merry McCormack had used physical exercise as a way to handle her emotional problems. The more troubled she was, the harder she worked out. Even Merry had to admit that it seldom worked. Too often she simply worked out until she dropped into an exhausted sleep, had nightmares and woke up feeling worse than before.

But at least the physical work helped to take her mind off of her confusion in the short run. Usually. But not this time. Merry jogged silently through the apple orchard, taking more care as the sun set and the light faded. Again her feet were sore and so was her chest because Merry was still naked.

Merry stopped to lean against a tree and listen for any sign of trouble. She was at her normal height once more.

"You'd think a goddess would have a spare dress or something." Merry whispered rubbing her chest.

The Group didn't comment on that and Merry was grateful. They would probably have pointed out that nudity didn't really bother her, not any more. Merry could count on one hand the missions that she had gone on where she had managed to stay clothed for the duration. What was bothering her was that Ida had picked up her shrunken body and played with it as if Merry was a doll. And Merry had not only responded sexually she had then sucked milk from both of the goddess's breasts. The taste still haunted Merry and so did the feel of the goddess's fingers between Merry's legs.

Convinced that there was no one following or looking for her Merry started to move again. The early evening was turning to night and she had to move carefully as the only light was from the stars. There was a chill in the air and the grass was cold under her feet. There were scents in the night air that were not there in the day. Scents of animals and of the apple trees themselves. Merry knew that before the night was out a dampness would spread through the air.

I'm not gay, Merry told herself and the denial sounded hollow to her now. Once it had sounded firm and Merry had spoken it aloud too many women. But that was before her body had been altered by The Group. Before that Merry had been able to back up her denial with physical force. Being six feet one inch gave her an advantage. But since then many women had found her when she was only twelve inches tall, far too small to fight back. And each time Merry had been captured and fondled her body had responded. At first Merry had told herself that it was because of the process that had been used to alter her body. 'Experience resonance' The Group had called it. But the more it happened-the more she responded not only physically but emotionally-the more false that excuse sounded. And now Merry had been made love to by a goddess. And Merry could not deny even to herself that she hadn't wanted it to stop. She had wanted nothing more than to lay in Ida's lap and let the goddess play with her forever. Even now while she was running nude through the forest the very idea of Ida's hands on her body sent a thrill through Merry.

But she was only doing it to get me to drink her milk so I could handle the Ax of Lenin safely, Merry thought. But damn it… Goddess I want her to do it again!

Merry nearly ran into a low-lying branch and ducked only at the last second. She stopped and rested again. The sounds of the orchard at night reached her, but Merry heard something else as well. An electrical humming mixed with a pitiful moan.

"I'm getting close." Merry said. As usual it was the prospect of danger that truly forced her confusion out of her mind.

{Move carefully, we'll let you know if we see or hear anything you do not.}

Merry started to move again. This time she didn’t break into a jog, only walked quickly. The mental message gave her a lot of comfort. The Group was with her, seeing what she saw, hearing what she heard.

After a few minutes Merry broke out of the orchard and found herself looking at the valley wall. She quickly ducked back behind a tree, grateful now for the darkness. Ahead of her was a barren stretch of Earth. The ground was gray and rocky, looking more like the surface of a dead moon than a live planet. Fifty feet or so from the edge of the orchard was a giant dome made of constantly shifting lasers. Merry studied it carefully. The dome rose to about twenty feet into the air. There was a ring on top and a ring on the bottom. It was not so much a dome she saw now, but a cylinder with laser walls. The lasers were thin and turned on and off in a random pattern at random intervals. They also shifted angles. The result was an angry looking net of laser energy. Inside the ring of lasers were dead, or at least dead looking, men and women in what was left of uniforms.

"Lasers and zombies?" Merry hissed and sagged against the tree. "Hell that's just overkill! Zombies won't bother anyone who can get through the damn lasers! What the hell were they thinking?"

{We can get you through the lasers.}

{The pattern they are shifting in is not truly random.}

{There is a mathematical basis to it.}

{So, how do you plan to deal with the zombies?}

"Ahmmm…" Merry looked at the living dead. They were shambling around, bumping into each other and falling to the ground, only to get up again. "Let me think about it for a bit."

{Do so.}

{But keep watching the lasers so we can find the pattern.}

Merry sat so that her back was against the tree and looked at the laser fence. A quick count told her that there were twelve zombies.

O.K. Merry thought. Twelve of them and one of me and I'm naked. If I had the ax I could chop'em up, but I have to get through them to get the ax.

Merry sighed and started to run through all of the zombie movies she had seen. Hopefully there was an idea in at least one of them.

Sandy had been waiting twenty minutes. The sun was going down and the light was going. The last thing she wanted to do was face either Miss Shadow or Ms. Dream in the dark. But Prudence hadn't returned yet. If Prudence had failed that meant that she might be free of the mind control. If that were the case there could be trouble. Sandy had never talked about all of her plans in front of the helpless teen, but Prudence could tell a lot of what she had seen.

Cursing silently Sandy got out of the car and pulled on a weapons harness. The harness consisted of a belt and two straps that crisscrossed her breasts and ran down her back. Multiple pockets in the harness held fifty-seven different types of weapons, from smoke bombs to real ones. Around her hip Sandy slung a gun belt and pulled a blaster out of the car. The blaster was a particle beam weapon that could blast a whole through a tank or it could be used as a laser scalpel.

With her weapons set Sandy set off at a silent run along the rise. It had been easy to find Miss Shadow and Ms. Dream with a simple pair of binoculars, but getting close to them safely would have been impossible. Sandy knew how the two women would work. Miss Shadow was the true magic spell caster, Ms. Dream the telepath/telekinetic/dream walker. Ms. Dream's forcefields would keep them safe from all but an all out attack, and Sandy didn't have the manpower for that. Two or three giants might have battled through the forcefield, but the giants might have just killed the heroines outright. Sandy didn't want them dying quickly. She didn't mind them dying, but not quickly.

Sandy came over the rise slowly with her gun drawn. In the sunset light she could see Ms. Dream lying on the ground. Fifty yards from that sitting in front of an obelisk was Miss Shadow. Prudence was gone.

Moving slowly and quietly Sandy crawled over to Ms. Dream. The heroine was asleep; the chloroform mask still stuck to her face. Sandy holstered her blaster and then carefully pulled Ms. Dream's cloak off of her body. Ms. Dream's powers worked without it, but not as well. Sandy folded the cloak and put it aside. Ms. Dream, when she wasn't wearing mist and her powers weren't re-shaping her clothing into a body stalking, wore a pair of knee length blue shorts and a blue halter top with a pair of blue slippers. Sandy pulled off the heroines clothing quickly and then the red bra and panties Ms. Dream was wearing. It only took her a few minutes to check for hidden devices and there were none. Satisfied Sandy pulled a black bondage hood out of her harness and placed it over Ms. Dream's head. She laced it tightly and then pressed two small studs located at the neck. Ms. Dream's body twitched once and then relaxed. Sandy relaxed as well. The hood would electronically send a signal into Ms. Dream's brain, numbing her mind and nullifying her power. Just to be safe Sandy took some strong cord out of her harness and wrapped Ms. Dream up in a tight hog-tie.

Once that was done Sandy relaxed and stood up. Picking up the chloroform mask she stuffed it into a pocket of her harness and looked over at Miss Shadow. In the quickly dimming light the black woman was hard to see. Only her scarlet hair was really visible. Sandy frowned and pulled a small ball out of her harness. Miss Shadow sat facing the obelisk her arms folded. She was spell casting but Sandy knew both from her own experience and from the files she had read that Miss Shadow was not defenseless. She would have other guardians beside Ms. Dream. Sandy also knew that Miss Shadow was even aware of what was going on, but could not break the spell casting she was doing.

Sandy walked forward silently and when she was within ten feet of the witch let the ball fall from her hand. The night was fast approaching and small shapes were moving around her in the darkness. Sandy crouched and made ready to spring.

A rock hit her in the head and Sandy staggered back off balance. Something grabbed on to her leg and something else grabbed onto her other leg. Sandy found her legs tangled up in something and fell back. She tried to roll with the fall but more things jumped onto her and threw her off balance. Sandy rolled across the ground and more and more of the things jumped onto her. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed at them blindly. What ever they were they bit and tore at her. More small rocks hit her body and hard small clubs as well.

The battle went on only for a minute before the flare bomb that Sandy had dropped went off. Sandy was ready for it and had shut her eyes tightly. Her attackers weren't ready for it. When she opened her eyes Sandy saw a dozen little Miss Shadows', each no more than two feet tall. They were naked and each carried a club. She grabbed one and used it as a weapon against the others. For the next few minutes Sandy battled wildly against the little creatures. Though small they were savage and the only way to kill them was by bashing their heads against rocks. Each time she did the small creature turned to smoke and vanished. But they were dedicated and vicious fighters and they knew where to hurt her. Time and again Sandy climbed to her feet only to have them bite or hit at her ankles. Once down on the ground they climbed over her body beating at her face with their clubs. Sandy rolled sideways to get away from them but they kept coming. But while there were a lot of them their numbers weren't infinite. After a while Sandy was able to scramble away from the few who were left and back up against a rock. They rushed at her but Sandy pulled out her blaster and with only a few shots apiece was able to pick off their heads.

Sandy had killed the last of them when she saw the obelisk start to glow. Ignoring the pain from her wounds she scrambled over to Miss Shadow and slammed the chloroform mask over her face. The glow faded as Miss Shadow's spell was disrupted and the witch struggled wildly as she was knocked out. But all her concentration had been on the spell. Sandy held the mask over the woman's face for a good five minutes before she let go. Miss Shadow slumped to the ground and Sandy took a deep breath. Then she reached down and pulled the dark cloak off of Miss Shadow's body.

"You two are so much alike I'd swear you were lovers if I didn't know better." Sandy said as she folded up the cloak and put it aside. The cloak was an ancient mystical artifact, passed down from one generation of leaders of the Legion of Mystics to the other. It upped Miss Shadow's powers by a factor of ten at least. Underneath the cloak Miss Shadow wore tight black pants, black boots and a loose red blouse. Sandy undressed her quickly, putting the clothing through the same scan that she had used on Ms. Dreams clothing. Unlike Ms. Dream Miss Shadow didn't use underwear. When nothing showed up Sandy relaxed a bit.

It was nearly pitch dark as Sandy put a bondage hood with a brain scrambler onto Miss Shadow and turned it on. Like Ms. Dream Miss Shadow twitched for a moment and then lay still. Sandy hogtied her as she had Ms. Dream and carried them both to her car. She dumped them into the back seat and used the seatbelts to secure the helpless heroines. She dumped their cloaks into the front seat but left their other clothing where it lay. Then Sandy ate a golden apple to cure her wounds. Worry nagged at her. Prudence was still out there, but in what shape?

"Can't take the chance." Sandy said getting into the car. She started it and then turned on the night vision system. It was going to take an effort to find her, but Sandy knew that a loose end had doomed more than one foe of Force Group J. Besides she had business in the orchard.

Merry stood in front of the laser fence and studied the inside. Beyond the fence was a four-foot wide ring of water. There was another four-foot wide ring of water surrounding a heavily sculptured column in the center of the circle. Between them was at least twenty feet of barren ground that was filled with shuffling zombies.

"Well that explains why they don't stumble into the laser field." Merry said. She had an armful of golden apples and taking one tossed it through the lasers. The beams cut the apple into sections and the sections landed on the ground. So far the zombies weren't paying any attention to her. "Zombies can't handle water."

{The big question is will they notice you at twelve inches tall?}

"Hopefully if they do you can grow me and I'll use the apples." Merry said. "Zombies are unholy, the apples are holy, if I shove them into the zombie's mouths they should die. Again."

The Group didn't comment on the number of holes in Merry's idea. There was no way to know if she was right unless she actually tried it. But to try it Merry was going to have to be full sized and naked while battling twelve zombies. Close up Merry saw that the zombies were all recently dead, most of them by bullet wound. They all wore the gray and black uniform of the Peoples Army of Kromania. Merry really didn't want to know what happened to the rest of the Kromanian army.

When Merry had thrown in all of the apples she stood back and waited. After a moment The Group shrunk her and Merry was staring at a wall of hissing red beams of light. Merry was used to the size change by now, but this change in perspective was enough to chill her. Beyond the red wall of death were walking dead giants.

I don't fail, Merry thought. I never have and I won't now.

"Tell me when." She said.

{Take two steps forward.}

Merry took the two steps and came within an inch of the lasers. From her smaller height the beams looked as thick as her arms. She could see the faint ripple of heat in the air after they had passed by. The tinge of burnt ozone, like the inside of dryer after it has just shut off, filled the air around her.

{Get ready.}

Merry crouched down. One second off and she could loose an arm or a leg or be cut in half.

{Jump now.}

Merry jumped using every bit of strength in her legs. For a split second she thought the timing was off and she was going to loose a foot. But it passed and Merry hit the water with a belly-flopping splash. For a moment she sank but then Merry stood up. The water was up to her neck.

"O.K." Merry said spitting out water. "That's part one."

Merry walked slowly to the other edge of the water. The tank that held the water had square bottoms and she had to pull herself up onto the edge. She sat there and looked up. So far none of the zombies seemed to have noticed her. Merry swung her legs over the side and slid down to the ground. Now that she was inside the laser fence Merry could smell the stench of death from the zombies. She forced herself not to wretch but could not stop the chill that went through her body. The bitter night air played over her wet skin like an ice-cold blast and Merry shivered. Her hair was wet and water dripped down her face. Forcing it all from her mind Merry took a step. Then another.

Still the zombies did not notice her.

Merry started to walk. She walked slowly, stopping when one zombie nearly stepped on her. She picked her way through the giant feet and pieces of apples that littered the way. Merry was starting to think that she was going to make it when a giant hand reached from behind her and picked her up. Cold dead fingers closed around Merry's body. They pinned her arms to her side and felt like wet sandpaper against her skin.

"Don't grow me yet!" Merry called out.

The zombie brought her up to its face and looked at her. Merry wasn't sure at first how he was looking at her since there were no eyes in his eye sockets. There was no breath in his body, no movement of his face; nothing to indicate he was alive beyond the fact that he had picked her up. But then Merry saw it. Two small flames, no bigger than the flame of a cigarette lighter. They flickered in the creature's empty skull. Merry realized that there was intelligence still in the decaying body. A shadow, an echo of what once was. She could sense the soul screaming in pain. But what ever was there wasn't enough. After a few minutes the zombie put her down.

{How did you know?}

Merry sat for a moment and trembled. She had to force her self to breathe.

"They had to leave something in the zombie to keep the body going. Just enough to run it on instinct." Merry forced herself to stand up. "Instinct in a normal person doesn't know about twelve inch tall women. All that thing saw was a small creature moving. I could have been a squirrel or a bird to it. I guessed that even if what was left did see me, the real me, it wouldn't do anything. But if I grew I'd be a threat they'd all react to."

{You were outside of its command parameters.}

"That and maybe part of it doesn't want to stop me."

{Zombies are not happy creatures.}

"I don't think the dead are ever happy."

Merry started to walk again. No other zombies seemed to notice her. It was only a few minutes walk to get to the inner circle. Another ring of water surrounded a column that was five feet high and at least two feet wide. It was carved from red stone and snakes carved from black stone were coiled along its length.

{These giants are incredibly over dramatic.}

{Zombie and snakes?}

{All that is really missing is a thunder and lightning storm.}

{If it were not for Miss Sommerset I do not believe that these creatures would stand a chance.}

Merry slipped into the water. It was colder than the outer ring but clear. It still came up to her neck and she carefully walked to the other side. Pulling herself out of the water Merry sat on the edge for a moment and looked carefully at the ground and the column.

"I don't see any traps." She said.

{Nor do we.}

Slowly Merry lowered herself to the ground. It was colder under her feet than the ground on the other side of the water. After a few seconds she moved over the column.

"At least all these snakes will make it easier to climb." Merry said reaching for one of them. Only the fact that there was a sudden shifting in the air gave Merry any warning. Still she was alert and scared; those two factors combined to have her jump backward even before she realized what had happened. One of the snakes had come alive and Merry only just got her body out of the reach of its snapping fangs.

"Hell!" Merry shouted backing up against the water.

The snake glared at her but did not uncoil itself from the column. Merry looked closely and saw that only the front part of its body was alive, the rest was stone.

"Talk about overkill." Merry said as her heart stopped pounding in her ears.

{They planned well.}

{We could grow you to full size.}

"No, wait." Merry said. "They didn't expect anyone like me, I'd bet those snakes could take apart anyone at normal height."

{At your present height they will swallow you whole.}

"Yea." Merry said. She watched as the snake slowly reverted to stone. "But those fangs are probably poisoned, so they'd take out the giants too. They planned against Asguardians finding this, so there's gotta be traps for normal sized people."

Merry looked at the snakes closely, studying each one. She noticed something.

"The scales are different on some of them." Merry said. She started to walk around the column. After two circuits Merry stopped. "The scales on the snakes on this side are pointing opposite from the scales on the snakes on the other three sides."

With body tensed Merry slowly approached the snakes. They stayed stone. With each step she took Merry was ready to jump back. It could be a trap, a trap hidden in plain sight meant to fool a too-clever thief. Or it could be the only way to approach the column without being bitten. There was no clear path up to the circle of lasers. But then maybe the giants had taken the column from someplace else; someplace where there was a clear path.

Merry was only a few inches from the carved snakes. Slowly she reached out and touched it with her fingertips. Nothing happened.

"Careful." Merry told herself. "Don't be the Coyote."

Expecting some form of attack Merry pressed her hand against the snake. She held it there for a full minute and nothing happened.

"Well." Merry looked up. All of the snakes scales were pointed in the same direction of the one she was in front of. "Like Floyd said 'Ain't nothin to it but to do it.'"

Merry started to climb.

Prudence had stumbled along blindly while the white noise filled her head. Snatches of her life filled the young woman's mind, each scene lasting only a minute and then fading into the general noise. Prudence might have gone on walking for days if she hadn't hit her head on the branch. She staggered back a few feet and then fell flat on her face.

As she lay on the ground the noise faded and Prudence was able to think again. And she was able to remember. Tears soaked the ground under her as Prudence remembered it all. Aunt Sandy-her Aunt Sandy who Prudence had told her secrets too, who Prudence had given Christmas and Birthday presents too-giving Prudence to the giants. They had taken her will away. Reduced her to a puppet. But worst of all was her father. Yelling, screaming, hitting her for something that wasn't her fault. Something she hadn't even known about.

"What did you do to me mom?" Prudence whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

There were a lot of answers to that and Prudence knew them all. The answers came from a lifetime spent living with superheroes. What other young women may have balked at or rebelled against Prudence understood. She understood what and why her mother had done what she had done, and Prudence knew where the true fault lay.

"Dad you rotten…" Prudence said sitting up. "I am your daughter! I'll always be your daughter! But you'll never be my father again!"

Using the apple tree to lever herself to her feet Prudence stood up and looked around. The night was dark but the stars were giving off enough light to see. She started to move, choosing a direction at random. There was no goal to her direction; her mind was still too fuzzy for that, it was just better to walk, to do something than to sit under the tree and cry.

There were times it was brought home to Merry McCormick just how naked she was on her missions. This was one of those times. Who ever had sculpted the column had paid particular detail to the snakes. Right down to the texture of their scales. The icy wind whistled around the column, freezing the stone and Merry's body. The wind pushed itself into the deepest parts of Merry and each time she put her foot on the stone or grabbed it with her hand it was as if she were touching rough ice. Worse still the wind gusted every now and then forcing her to press her body against the carvings. Merry clenched her teeth hard to keep from chattering and was thankful that the wind did not carry the stench of the zombies with it. She climbed from snake to snake, moving steadily up the carving until she felt her hand grab the smooth rim. Merry pulled her hand back and rested a moment.

"I'm going to peek up over the top." Merry whispered in a voice that she couldn't keep from sounding weak. "Just for a second. Let me know if you see anything I should know about."

Merry grasped the edge of the column and pulled herself up. She topped it only for a moment or two and then let her head drop down again.

{Nothing except a body.}

{You were expecting a trap or a guardian?}

"Something like that." Merry said.

She climbed over the top and lay on the flat surface of the column. After a few minutes of rest Merry sat up and looked. It was almost anti-climatic. The ax lay a few feet away from her. A giant sized double bladed ax with a wooden handle and a leather thong. There were only a few runes carved into the blade. Next to the ax was the shrunken withered-mummified really- body of the Troll.

"What happened to him?" Merry wondered aloud.

{If the legends we have looked up are correct the ax devoured his soul.}

{He must have used it for too long.}

{A lesson we trust is not lost on you.}

"Ida's power should protect me." Merry said walking over to the ax.

{So it should.}

{Nice to have a goddess on your side.}

Our side, Merry thought.

"I won't need to grow. Ida said the ax would match my height once I mastered it." Merry reached over and placed her hand over the ax handle. "I just have to master it."

Merry grabbed the handle of the ax and the world seemed to vanish around her. She was standing in an enormous hall. A demon dressed in fine robes sat on a throne. He was tall and broad with two human arms and two arms that resembled the tentacles of an octopus. At his feet lay the ax. Around him wafted the ghost of hundreds of beings. Human, demon, giant, centaurs, Cyclops… it was a range of species from all times and worlds. Merry recognized the Troll moaning as he drifted in the air. The demon smiled when he saw Merry and his sharp teeth dripped with acid.

"You wish to wield me." He said in a voice that was both harsh and seductive. His face, aside from the acid tipped teeth, was quite handsome.

"I don't 'wish to'." Merry said firmly. She started to walk forward. "I'm going too."

"Yours is a sweet soul." The demon said. "I will enjoy it."

He leaped out of the throne and attacked. It was a clumsy attack and Merry easily side stepped him and threw him to the ground. When he started to rise she kicked him in the face.

"Sweet soul." The demon said lying on the floor. He smiled. "I seldom win the first battle sweet one but I never loose the last."

"I'm not going to hold onto to you that long." Merry said. She bent down and picked up the ax.

The world reformed around Merry with the demon's laughter echoing in her ears. She found the ax in her hand, now shrunk to her size.

{Well that was quite a scare.}

{Your vital signs dropped right off the screen for a moment.}

"I was in the ax." Merry said. "I had to battle a demon to get it." She looked at the ax. It felt good in her hand, but it was cold as well. "The longer I wield it the more likely my soul will be trapped in it. That's what happened to the Troll. I saw him in there."

{We think that you should move quickly then.}

"Right." Merry walked over to the edge and groaned. "Oh great! Now I get to climb down this thing holding an ax."

Sighing from frustration Merry slipped the thong of the ax onto her ankle and started to climb down.

The night was getting colder and Prudence was feeling it. She wore no bra under her thin T-shirt and no panties under her jeans. Prudence angered as she remembered Sandy telling her what to wear. The anger warmed her for a moment but no more than that. The moon was starting to rise and she was grateful for more light. But as the moon rose the light caused strange and grim shadows to grow. The shadows matched well with the icy wind.

A sound got her attention and Prudence started to run. Sandy's flying car was close by. Even if she couldn’t trap Prudence's mind again Prudence had no illusions about wining over Sandy in a physical fight. Prudence started to run faster. At first she ran carefully but as the car came closer Prudence started to run faster. Fear began to drive the young woman more and more. She stumbled, fell, tore her clothes and skin but kept going. Through the trees Prudence saw a light. It was from a fire and against all reason she ran toward it. It was a dumb move given her current situation. The light most likely came from a giant's fire or one of Sandy's operatives, or even Sandy herself. But Prudence was nearly hysterical with fright. A mortal dread had taken hold of her. She wasn't sure why or how but Prudence knew that if she did not escape her Aunt Sandy then she would die.

Prudence burst out of the trees and ran toward the fire. It was blazing in front of a small cottage. A chained woman wearing a green cloak sat next to the fire gazing into it. She looked up as Prudence ran toward her.

"Help!" Prudence shouted, stumbling. "Please! Help… she'll kill me!"

"Be at ease child." The woman said grabbing Prudence before she fell into the fire. "Be at ease. You are safe with me."

Prudence was about to tell the woman everything when she heard the whine of air-brakes behind her. Prudence spun around to see her Aunt Sandy nearly tip her flying car end over end as she stopped it. With one hand Sandy got the car under control. With the other she leveled a blaster at Prudence and fired. Prudence felt the beam hit her chest, felt an instant of tremendous pain and felt herself falling. She never felt herself hit the ground.

The moment Merry climbed out of the water the zombies attacked. They did not shout or point; there was no rallying cry. They all just changed direction at the same time and came toward her.

"I need to grow!" Merry shouted as the first one reached down for her.

She grew to full size and the ax grew with her. Merry brought it up and sliced the arm off of the zombie. It reached for her with its other arm.

"The head Merry, go for the head!" Merry hissed at herself. But by then there was no room to swing the ax. The zombies swarmed over her grabbing for any part of her body they could reach. Stone cold hands grabbed her arms and legs. More hands grabbed her hair and face. Merry went down under their weight and they started to tear at her skin.

Merry forced herself to go from on her knees to flat on the ground. Then she grabbed one of the zombie's legs and pushed him over into the water. A geyser of steam exploded from the water as the un-dead creature's body exploded. The geyser sprayed some of the other zombies and they fell back. Merry stood up and swung the ax at the same time. She had never handled an ax before but swinging it like a baseball bat seemed to work. First one, then another and then another head fell to the ground. Once the head was gone the Zombie simply fell over and twitched. But in her mind Merry could hear the demon of the ax laughing. With each undead kill the ax became a little colder in her hands. She knew that what remained of the zombie's souls were being added to the demons hoard.

One of the zombies grabbed her from behind, groping her breasts. Another without legs grabbed Merry's legs and tried to climb her. It's hand closed on her pussy and Merry fiercely kicked it away. Merry shifted her weight and threw the other zombie into the water generating another geyser. Then she spun around and realized that all of the other zombies were in pieces.

Out of breath Merry sank to her knees and tried to throw up. She had never felt as revolted as she did now. Merry had been groped and mauled before but never by the dead. Their hands had been everywhere on her body. Her skin crawled and her muscles shuddered. In the back of her mind the demon of the ax laughed.

"I need a shower." Merry gasped the words out. "In acid!"

{Once this is over you are going to go on a vacation of some sort.}

"Just a shower." Merry said standing up. "I never even got to use the damn apples!

Suddenly she froze and looked to the east. Into her mind, drowning out the voice of the demon another voice called to her.

"Ida needs me." Merry said.

{We heard.}

Merry found that she was shrunk once more. But she felt better. It had only taken the voice of the goddess to push out her revulsion. Hefting the ax Merry walked toward the laser fence.

In her life Sandy Sommerset had gotten a lot of people mad at her. But none of them ever matched the pure fury that she saw in Ida's eyes as she blew a hole through Prudence's chest. Ida caught the young girl as she fell and gently rested her on the ground. Prudence didn't stir as Ida kissed her lips. Then the goddess took off her cloak and laid it over the body.

"You would dare." Ida said turning to Sandy and the fire in her eyes was far too intense for any mortal to look at. "I gave this child my protection, accepted her to my presence and you would dare violate my trust!"

"Yep." Sandy said. She was taking care not to look directly into Ida's eyes or get too close to the angry goddess. "I might not have, but it looked like Prudence there was going to tell you all about me and what she knew about my plans. Couldn't have that."

"So at last I meet the true architect of all of this pain." Ida said. "The betrayer of trusts beyond number. Your deeds are truly foul woman."

"Not beyond number." Sandy said. "And the Nephilim/Dark Elf alliance was well into its second year when I came along. All I did was steer them in a different direction. Besides I know my history, the people who worshiped you did the same things I'm doing now. I'm no worse than they were."

"And the people you betrayed? This child was the daughter of your best friend was she not?"

"Lucy Rothschild's no friend of mine." Sandy said letting anger creep into her voice for the first time. "She never was, I was just there, handy. She betrayed me long before I betrayed her."

"And the two you hold captive?"

"The last of Force Group J." Sandy said. "They were trying something that might have worked, might have gotten the orchard back to Asguard. I stopped them."

"You stopped them and you killed Prudence." Ida said. "Now will you stand and gloat?"

"Nope." Sandy said. "Truth is I was coming to see you anyway. I've cut off your last hope of rescue my lady goddess. Force Group J is crippled. Goddess of Justice is helpless. On Asguard your kin will not last much longer without the apples. Your only hope, your only way out is to deal with me now."

"And what do you want?" Ida asked with scorn. "Power? Wealth? A kingdom? Do you wish godhood? Immortality?"

"Immortal?" Sandy spat the word with a harsh and bitter laugh. "My lady goddess if all goes as I've planned this night I won't live to see the dawn."

The closer Merry got to Ida's cottage the more she felt the goddess's desperation. The more she felt it the harder Merry ran. She ignored the branches that scratched her nude body and barely avoided the trees that loomed up in her path. Her mind was consumed with reaching Ida as quickly as she could. When she burst through the trees she found the goddess kneeling next to a fire.

"Wha…" Merry tried and failed to get the question out. She fell to her knees gasping for air and dropped the ax to the ground.

Ida pulled back her cloak and Merry saw Prudence lying on the ground. There was a gaping, bleeding hole in her chest just between the breasts.

"What happened?" Merry asked. The wound didn't bother her she'd seen many like it.

"Prudence ran to me and asked me to help her." Ida said her voice betraying strain and frustration. "I said I would yet in the next moment I allowed her to be cut down."

"Who did it?"

"Sandy." Ida said. "Merry it has been ages since I talked with mortals. You and The Group surprised me. Sandy shocked me."

"So Sandy killed her." Merry said.

"She's not dead." Ida said. "In the few moments after her death I bound her spirit to her body until such time as I let it go. But I can not leave her side and I can not keep her body alive much longer. Go into my house. Hurry. In the bedroom you will find a chest filled with diamonds, bring the largest of them to me."

Merry stood up and stumbled slightly as she went toward the cottage door. The run from the laser fence had been hard. Merry's legs were aching and her arm was sore from the ax. Opening the door Merry entered and found herself in a wide friendly room. There were chairs heaped high with furs and a large table stained from centuries of drink and gouged in places by weapons. On the walls were shields and swords and axes. A kitchen lay to her left and to her right was a closed door. Merry went through the closed door and into a small room with a large bed. The bed was heaped with the same furs as the living room. There was a large wardrobe to one side of the room and beside it a large chest. Merry knelt in front of the chest and opened it. For a moment the glare blinded her and when her eyes cleared Merry saw riches. There were not only diamonds in the chest, but gold and silver bars and so many different types of gem stones that Merry couldn't count them all.

{And I thought our vault was impressive.}

{We're paupers compared to her.}

{Well she is immortal, all you really need when you are immortal is patience.}

{Merry the diamond.}

Merry blinked and shook her head. It only took a few seconds to find the right diamond. It was as big as her fist and glowed with a pulsating blue light. It was warm in Merry's hand as she picked it up and carried it outside.

"This is a heartstone." Ida said taking it from her.

"You just happened to have one?" Merry asked with a bit of skepticism.

Ida looked sharply at her and Merry stepped back.

"Sorry."

"I have many." Ida said. "But this one I keep near my bed for sentimental reasons."

{Might be better not to ask.}

"Can that really save her?" Merry asked coming closer and kneeling down.

"This will beat long after the rest of her body is dust and will give her great strength, if I have enough power left to place it and heal her." Ida said. She ripped off Prudence's T-shirt and tossed it away. Then she placed the diamond over the hole in Prudence's chest and slowly forced it inside of the young girl's body. As used to wounds as she was Merry's stomach jumped a bit at the sight. "But I'm nearly spent from holding her soul here, it is lucky for her that Hela is far to busy gathering the souls of gods to care for one mortal."

Ida pulled her hand out of Prudence's chest and wiped the blood off on her cloak. Prudence started to breathe again but the breath was cut of by a fit of coughing. Her body went into spasms and Merry instinctively reached out and held her down. More blood started to poor from the wound in her chest.

"What about an apple?" Merry asked.

"She is too far gone." Ida said. She rested her hand over Prudence's still open wound and started to chant. Merry watched the flow of blood slow, then stop and then start again. Ida's chant broke off as her voice turned thin and then hoarse.

"How about an apple for you?" Merry asked.

"There is no time." Ida said. "I spent too much of my strength on you Merry."

"So take it back." Merry said.

"I can not take, but you can give. But if you do the time you will be able to wield the ax will be much shorter. Perchance too short."

"It's my soul." Merry said. "I'll take the chance."

"It is your soul, but the task you face is great. What if you fail and the ax takes you? The giants will win."

"So they win for now." Merry said. "Someone else'll beat 'em later. Look I'm not going to skip this on the off chance that the giants will win. That's possible no matter what I do, this is real, this is a kid who deserves a hell of a lot better than having her life end now!"

"You do not know her."

"I know enough!" Merry shouted. "I know I don't make that sort of choice, if I'm damned I'm damned and I'll take whatever comes! She's here, she's now and that it as far as I care!"

"Tremont, Molly, Deborah, Delilah?" Ida called. "How do you speak on this?"

{We trust her instincts.}

{Officer Dolly has not failed us before.}

{Despite occasions such as this.}

{We will accept the risk.}

Inwardly Merry breathed a sigh of relieve. The Group didn't always look favorably on her noble impulses and more than once had punished her for them. But she had never failed them and Merry knew that counted for a lot.

"Well said." Ida smiled and if there was a glint of something else in her eyes Merry couldn’t be sure. "But this will also bind Merry to Prudence in a way that can not be explained. It will draw her closer to Force Group J, a concept I know you will not like."

{Unavoidable.}

{Twice now Merry has been drawn into that world.}

{If you give someone super powers they will get into these sorts of situations. Super powered beings tend to be magnets toward each other.}

{Our plans are flexible enough to absorb this.}

{From the moment Merry first came into contact with Goddess of Justice we realized that she would be drawn into the superhero world faster than we first planned.}

{So we adjusted our plans.}

{That is why we were not completely surprised when Merry was dragged into that plant.}

{Besides we move in the world of subtlety and politics. The mindless bashing of Force Group J can not really touch us.}

"Understand this then Merry McCormick" Ida said "you will not only give her what I have given you, you will give of yourself as well. Your spirit must fuel hers for a time and that is dangerous for you may loose too much of your own fire."

"I got fire?" Merry asked. "Forget it." She said before Ida could answer her. "Fire, spirit… whatever. Tell me what to do."

"You must give the way I gave." Ida said.

"Oh yeah. Great. Figures." Merry bent over Prudence's mouth and guided her breast against it. "Nothing as simple as a blood transfusion for me." While she was doing that Ida placed her hand over Prudence's chest and began to chant. After a few minutes Merry felt Prudence begin to suck. As she did so Merry felt her breast grow warm and heavy. It was the strangest feeling. Merry had expected it to feel like breathing hard for some reason. She had expected giving milk from her breast to feel as if she was blowing up a balloon. But this felt nothing like that. Her breast was warm and heavy, but there was no pain or real discomfort. But Merry did feel more and more tired as Prudence sucked more and more. It was a weariness of body and spirit that at the same time brought her a feeling of joy.

Is this what it's like to have a baby, Merry wondered. I've never felt this connected to anyone before… so needed.

Prudence paused for a moment and Merry instinctively moved so that the young woman could drink from her other breast.

But I'll never be a mother, Merry told herself. The more Prudence drank the more of the joy left. Not with the life I lead. I'll die on some mission or alone, retired once The Group is ruling the world. I'll have myself and maybe some DVD's. Merry felt her mind wandering and her body felt remote, almost like she was falling asleep. Distantly she was aware of Ida's chanting reaching a crescendo.

She is so powerful, Merry thought. A goddess. More powerful than The Group. I serve them, I serve her, I serve and protect… I serve alone. Always alone. I should think the word in capitol letters. ALONE. I live alone, I'll die alone… maybe I'll die now. Ida can bury me under and apple tree. I'll serve her that way, help keep the orchard growing. That's me, Loyal Merry. I'm so loyal, like a dog, is that what I…

"Enough Merry!" Ida said tearing Merry away from Prudence. Merry fell back onto the ground and cried. Ida leaned over her and gently stroked Merry's forhead. "I warned you. Your heart is not so vast that you can give all of it away."

Merry tried to talk but her voice wouldn’t work. At last she managed to get some words out.

"Doesn't matter." Merry croaked. "I'm a tool, a lackey, a dog… They can find someone else… there's always someone… someone better… Prudence has someone, her mother. Not me. I'm alone and alone people don't count."

Ida bent down and pressed her face against Merry's. Through the bars of the cage she kissed the prone woman. It was not a sensual kiss, but it was a kiss that seemed to fill Merry's soul. Ida sat up and Merry took a deep breath as the dark veil lifted from her mind.

"I do not kiss lackeys, or dogs Merry." Ida said. "You are a servant to The Group, but never forget that you are also a woman. You may give up your life if you wish, but it is not worthless. And to be alone is a choice you have made and one that you can change. Do not use it as an excuse to embrace death."

Merry looked away from her but Ida took Merry's chin and forced her to look back.

"I have lived for longer than you can imagine Merry. Too many warriors have I seen tread the path you are on. Their names are sung in song and carved in rock and they died weeping in cold lonely places of their own making. Your heart is vast Merry. Open it."

"That's… that's easy to say." Merry said trying to force her mind away from the depression she had been reveling in. "For a goddess. But I'm just a woman. I'm doing the adventuring bit now, I'm serving them. But come Monday morning when I'm just a cop again…"

"If Monday's are a problem then you best take a lover on Sunday night and not stir from the bed till Tuesday."

Merry laughed at the joke and found a little bit more of her depression lifting.

"Merry open your heart or you will end up like Sandy." Ida said. "She has served this world well, though this world will never know it, but in serving she has twisted her soul, perchance beyond all hope."

"I'm… I'm scared." Merry said in a voice barely above a whisper. "You can't know…"

"I know." Ida said. "Do you think in an immortal life I have not loved and lost? Been betrayed? That my heart has not been torn from my breast and crushed before my eyes?"

"The Group…"

{Don't blame us.}

"They will not stop you from loving." Ida said. "Only you will stop you from loving."

Merry took a deep breath and let it out.

"After this is over I'll think about it." She said.

"Well enough." Ida said. She placed a hand on Merry's breast. This will be sore for a while."

"I don't have a body part that isn't sore right now." Merry said with a rueful smile. She took Ida's offered hand and the Goddess helped her to sit up. Merry looked down at herself. Her breasts had never been small but now they were at least twice their normal size and their weight dragged her forward. They actually reached down to her legs and her nipples-always large-were larger and drops of milk still fell from them.

"Ah! Goddess! Feels like I got a couple of gallons left in them." Merry said cradling her breasts. She lifted them up and let them fall. They bounced against her body and ripples went through them. "I could probably fill a reservoir! Sure she's full?"

Prudence lay on the ground breathing normally. On her chest where the wound had been was a strangely shaped letter 'B'. It was made only from sharp blue lines and looked like a tattoo.

"Strange scar." Merry said.

"It is no scar." Ida said. She reached over and nearly touched the letter but drew back. "It is called, in your tongue perhaps, 'Berkana', that means beloved. There was a reason you see I kept that particular heartstone near to my bed. But he would not have wanted me to mourn eternally."

Merry was going to say something but held back. There was something in the goddess tone that forestalled questions. For a moment Merry wasn't seeing a goddess, Ida was merely a woman remembering a private grief. It only lasted a moment and then Ida looked up. She gave a slight twist to her hand and an elegant crystal bottle appeared. It was large and had a long neck that ended in a globe.

"Come here." Ida said. "And lean forward."

Merry did as she was told. Ida reached out and took one of Merry's breasts and placed her nipple onto the head of the bottle.

"Oh…" Merry couldn't think of anything to say. The bottle took hold of her nipple and sucked at it the same way Prudence had done. Merry felt her self being milked and she could barely deal with the emotions that arose with in her. Physically it felt good, but beyond the fact that it felt good Merry couldn't really describe it.

It took a while for her breast to run dry and Ida shifted the bottle to her other breast. Merry was sure that the bottle was magic because she was sure that her breasts had put out at least ten gallons. But the bottle seemed to take all that she could give. When it was finally done Ida twisted her hand again and the bottle vanished.

"There will come a time when your milk will be more treasured than gold." Ida said.

"Huh." Merry looked down at her breast. They were still at least twice as large but now they were flat and felt heavier. "My breasts! They're… they're…"

"Go and take two bites out of an apple." Ida said gently. "That will return your breasts to normal. But mind you only two bites."

Merry stood up and her face turned red as her breasts swayed like pendulums throwing her off balance.

"It better work or I'm going to need a crane to get these things into a bra."

…To be concluded.

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