Dangers of Daring Officer Dolly

Chapter 24. "Chaos and Capture"

by Skytower

There was a downside to having adventures. Merry had never guessed that when she was growing up. The books and the movies and the TV shows had taught her to expect danger, combat and all sorts of desperate situations. It had taken a career as a police officer to teach Merry that the action was the easy part. The hard part was the waiting. You couldn't stay anxious or angry for hours on end. You couldn't keep your whole body tensed and ready for action for hours on end. There were times when you just had to sit and wait.

Merry wasn't sitting. She was lying on a lit fluorescent bulb. She had made her way into the crawl space between the roof and the ceiling. Then she had walked along the insulated ceiling tiles until she had reached the light fixture. The fixture was round and recessed into the ceiling. Inside of it were two rectangular super energy saver light bulbs. The bulbs were in a dome and beneath them was a plastic diffuser plate. The plate was honeycombed and seeing through it was easy. Merry had crawled along the metal and then climbed around the edge and squeezed herself between the bulb and the metal dome behind it. Once there she had wrapped her legs around the light bulb and settled down to wait. The bulb wasn't that warm and her suit took much of the heat anyway. The constant low level vibration of the light as it pressed up against her pussy was only a little distracting. The helmet allowed her to smell the slightly dry heat the bulb gave off but Merry didn't mind. The suit turned as white as the bulb, a chameleon-like ability that Merry reveled in. So many times in the past she had been forced to hide in garbage piles, laundry hampers and one or two times potted plants and compost heaps. She had once stayed mostly submerged for nearly an hour in a litter box. The suit would change all of that in future missions. It was also nice to be above the floor level for a change. Merry had chosen a light fixture near the back of the stage. From where she was it would be a simple matter to leave the light fixture and climb down the curtain that covered the back wall. Her vantage point also allowed her to see nearly the entire auditorium.

The auditorium filled the top floor of the building. It was a square in the buildings octagonal shape. At one end was a stage and a backstage area separated by a curtain. In front of the stage, divided into four squares, were four sets of seats. Each set was filled with 8 rows and columns of chairs. Around the seats were dark walls and beyond them were the corridors and glass windows. Behind the stage were two sets of fire stairs and one elevator. In the corridor were two more elevators. The floor sloped up from the stage to the exit.

Time passed and Merry tried to relax. Images of Simone kept floating into her mind. By any definition their relationship was strange.

By any definition my life is strange, Merry thought. But she couldn't deny that being with Simone made her happy. Not just the sex, it was Simone herself. Merry knew she tended to take things too seriously, too far at times. Simone had a way of pointing that out to her, but gently. Like the bondage. There had been no explicit order, but the way she had explained it to Merry had left it impossible for Merry to say no. And she had enjoyed herself. She hadn't been scared for one instant, and Merry had been tied up enough times that she should have been scared.

But when all was said and done Simone was a woman. And so was Merry. Merry was also a cop and the squad room wasn't the sort of place that welcomed gays of either sex. Merry had heard the jokes, the snide comments, the revulsion from some and the lust from others. She cringed when she thought that any of that could be directed at her. She was already viewed as a 'strange chick', by some of her fellow officers. They respected her abilities but Merry had kept her personal life apart from them.

So far she had kept her affair with Simone private, but that and her absences because of her responsibilities to The Group was putting even more distance between Merry and the rest of the force. Simone was dropping a few hints that Merry might be happier just working for The Group, but Merry didn't want that. She needed the anchor of her job to balance out the crazy things she had to do.

But Merry wasn't sure how long she could keep it up. Her time had been divided between The Group and her job. A weekend, a few days here and there could be covered up. But now her time was divided between The Group, her job and Simone. The more time she spent with Simone the more time Merry wanted to spend with her. But how long could she spend with Simone around town, because it wasn't just nights they spent together, before someone put things together? Simone had never been careful about who knew that she was free thinking sexually. She never had to worry really. Simone was from one of the towns founding families, her companies employed a good deal of the town, her largess allowed a hospital and a recreation center to stay open.

But I'm just a cop, Merry thought. And if I become known as a gay cop…

{Just to let you know, Thunderbird 2 is approaching.}

Merry felt a knot harden in her stomach. The thought of Simone getting hurt tore at her.

Please Goddess let it go smooth, Merry pleaded silently. She can't be hurt, she just can't. Not now.

A man came into the room and Merry tensed. He was dressed in a standard Harvard workman's uniform, jeans and a crimson shirt with the Harvard logo on it. But he carried a small box that reminded Merry of a tri-corder. Slowly he panned it around the room.

{Security sweep.}

{The suit will not show up.}

Merry relaxed only a little. The mental communication was from The Group and they were never wrong. But Merry wasn't taking any chances. This wasn't a home or an office mission against un-knowing occupants. This was a mission against a criminal organization that had been in existence for at least 80 years. Caution was called for.

The man finished his sweep and left. A few minutes later he came in and did it again. For the next hour or so he came in at random intervals and scanned the room. A mini-camera was put into the heating vent. The man used a remote control with a small tv screen in it and searched the entire HVAC system.

{That is one to you Dolly.}

When the search was done the man set a control on the remote and then spoke into a radio.

"ICE 067 reporting. Room is clear. Security bot patrolling vent."

"We are arriving now."

A few minutes later the doors to the auditorium opened and a woman strapped to a two-wheeled hand truck was pushed into the room. Merry recognized her immediately. It was Lady Goth. Naked and helpless. Beside her walked a proud, but very small young woman. She was no more than four and one half-feet tall. She had black hair that was worn down to her knees and a sharply angled face that seemed to have as its focal point the tip of her nose. Her eyes were actually red, no pupils, just solid red field that glowed softly. She wore a bulky suit of black plate armor that stood out starkly against her pale white skin.

{Little Darkness.}

{So much for being a lackey to the evil villainess.}

{This could work in our favor.}

{Yes. She could not have done this without ICE approval. If we rescue Lady Goth she may tell us everything.}

"I wouldn't trust her." Merry said.

{Nor will we.}

{But we can use her.}

{She obviously has not treated her former mistress very well.}

That was an understatement. Lady Goth was black and blue on her arms and legs, her stomach bore the marks of a whip and one eye was swollen shut. Beneath it all she was not an ugly woman. She was just past fifty if Merry's information was right. Her skin was pale and her breasts sagged, but there was still muscle beneath the skin. Lady Goth had been handsome once. Before the scar that started under her left eye, ran across her nose and around her mouth and ended in the center of her chin. No one knew where the scar came from. But beneath the scar were a strong jaw, high cheekbones and a proud forehead. Her gray eye stared with hatred at the room. Her black hair had been formed into a ponytail and was wrapped around her throat. A ring gag kept her mouth open but she didn't try to speak. As they moved her under Merry she saw a tattoo between her breast. The words "Ms. Dream" were written in red in a large black heart.

The person wheeling the captive villainess as a tall man built broad and strong. He wore a black T-shirt and black pants and a white hood that completely covered his face except his black eyes.

{That is not an ICE operative.}

{Looks like Little Darkness had help.}

{She'd have too.}

{Lady Goth is quite skilled at hand to hand.}

Behind them both came a medium sized man in a blue business suit. He was almost a non-entity compared to Little Darkness, Lady Goth and the hired muscle. Bald, thin and wearing dark glasses he could have easily been lost in a crowd. But on his lapel was a diamond and inside that was the logo for ICE security.

"Keep her behind the curtain until I call for her." Little Darkness told the man in the hood. He nodded and wheeled Lady Goth toward the stage.

"How many are coming?" She demanded.

The man with the glasses took them off and regarded her coldly.

"Five." He said. "Professor Forsythe, Professor Margaret, a grad student named Abby Adams, Professor Horatio and her assistant Cornelia Evans."

"Great." Little Darkness smiled. "I hope that Professor Margaret gets her, I'd love to see that old bitch run through the mazes."

"You had better hope that they are satisfied." The man said. "They expect six shrunken women well trained in docility, not one and a few vials of the potion."

"I…" Little Darkness started to explode but he stopped her with a raised hand.

"You successfully beat Lady Goth at her own game. You got her for us after she got a bit too rebellious. But ICE gratitude stops when the money does. Lady Goth made millions for us. You took her down but in the process you lost six girls who were each valued at one hundred thousand dollars. If you make one cent less you'll loose your status and you'll be put on ICE's disposal list. I'm letting you do this tonight because Lady Goth is being made an example of. A brief loss of profit will be acceptable. That is all."

The Banality of Evil, Merry thought. The man didn't see anything but his job. He knew it was evil but he didn't care. But his tone, a dead matter-of-fact monotone that would have been more appropriate coming out of a machine than a man, chilled her. It chilled Little Darkness too if Merry could judge by the way her body stiffened.

"I'll make more for ICE than she ever did." Little Darkness said. "She made you six girls every six months, I'll double that."

{Interesting ratio.}

{Were our numbers in error?}

{Our information may have been.}

"See that you do." The man said. "And impress upon Lady Goth again that if she has plans of escape and vengeance she had best forget them. She is now on the ICE enemies' list. Hellspite has been assigned to execute her if she attempts anything."

Merry felt a stab of fear at the name and Little Darkness looked around nervously.

"He isn't here?" She asked.

"No."

"I'll go tell her then." Little Darkness said. She turned quickly and hurried up to the stage. The man watched her for a moment and then turned and walked toward the exit.

{Do not worry Merry.}

{If Hellspite were anywhere near you we would warn you and get Thunderbird 2 out of there.}

Merry relaxed a bit. Hellspite was a demon, or so his reputation said. Some of the things he had done actually made Merry physically ill, and he was particularly cruel to women. He had fought both Captain Pharaoh and Goddess of Justice to a standstill.

A cry of pain coming from behind the curtain made Merry's head snap around. It was followed by Little Darkness laughing.

This is not going to be a fun night, Merry thought.

It was raining. Simone didn't like that and she knew that Lizzie and Jessie didn't like it either. It had been raining the last time they had flown Thunderbird 2 and they had crashed rather spectacularly then. Simone was sitting in the pilots seat, Lizzie beside her and Jessie a little behind both of them. They were all was staring at a display mounted above the windshield that showed them what Merry was seeing.

"I can't believe she's sitting on a light bulb." Lizzie said. She was dressed simply in pair of dark pants and a loose fitting blouse.

"It's the safest place dear, who stares at a light bulb?"

"Milady if we go after Lady Goth… what do we do?" Jessie asked. She was wearing the same thing as Lizzie. "She's a supervillain."

"Merry will take care of her if it comes to that." Simone said hearing the fear in Jessie's voice. Simone was wearing a purple robe.

"Harvard." Simone said turning Thunderbird 2 so that they could look over the river at Cambridge. "It's an interesting place you know."

"Did you go there?"

"For a semester." Simone said. She didn’t tell them about the weeks at the Harvard Medical school, when she had promised just about any professor or doctor whom would listen to her just about any amount of money if they could only cure her. She remembered how shamelessly she had begged. They had taken her money; they had all taken her money. Then they had all told her the same thing. Dead in a year at the most. No amount of tears or gold would save her.

And to think, Simone thought, all that time the miracle cure was living right next door. Goddess that was only two years ago. Two years. It seems like a lifetime. Now I have Dollopolis and Merry and Lizzie…

Simone stopped mid-thought and glanced at Lizzie.

So that's it, Simone realized. That's why she's been so bad lately. I've been spending all my time in bed with Merry. Oh dear, what am I going to do about this? Merry's not ready for another person, especially not Lizzie, and if I show Lizzie affection… will Merry be jealous? There's a scene I don't want. I've named them Knights, I guess that means that Merry is Knight and consort, and I'll have to look up some sort of official title. Jessie and Lizzie got a boost from knowing how to fly, they got a bigger boost when I called them knights, but do they have what it takes to really be a knight? I'm starting from the ground up, Merry's a perfect foundation, but can I add these two to that foundation? If Dollopolis is going to be what I want it to be I need that foundation.

Simone was very careful not to let her thoughts show on her face. She was convinced that Lizzie and Jessie had more potential than they realized, more than even The Group knew. She just had to push the girls into realizing it. They might never be as good as Merry, but they were meant for more than being Dollopolis's handymen.

When this is over I've got to get Merry to start training them, Simone thought. That's all they really need, I think, I hope. Goddess if I'm wrong…

"People are showing up." Lizzie said.

Simone looked at the screen, thankful for the interruption. She'd think about it all later.

The first to arrive was a short, bulky man with a balding head. He wore an expensive business suit and walked with a cane, but the limp he affected was false. Simone could tell that right away. The man had deep set eyes and a goatee. Something about him made Simone hate him immediately.

"Professor Artimus Forsythe." Lizzie said reading the name that appeared under him as he walked. She kept reading as the words scrolled up. "Age forty seven, un-married…"

"There's a shock." Jessie snorted. "He looks like a beachball."

"He's rich." Lizzie said. "Two million in the bank and three houses."

"So he can afford this." Simone said. "But I'd bet a million that his cane is a weapon of some sort."

{You'd be right, it's a stun blaster.}

{We have informed Merry.}

The Professor marched to the front of the auditorium as if he owned it. He sat down and stared coldly at the stage.

The next person to walk in was a woman. For a moment the display shook but then it steadied down.

"Professor Bou… bodic…" Lizzie tried and failed to pronounce the name.

"Professor Boudicia Margaret." Simone said. "The name comes from an old English queen who fought against the Romans."

"She doesn’t look that old." Jessie said.

"She's fifty-five." Lizzie read. "Been married ten times!"

"Wow!"

"Four husbands died and three vanished." Lizzie said.

"What about the other three?"

"Mental institutions." Lizzie read.

"Quite a rogues gallery assembling in there." Simone said.

The woman was tall and walked with an imperious arrogance that a queen might have envied. Her face was a mixture of a strong jaw, high cheekbones and iron gray hair. The hair was worn loosely and cracked about the black wool sweater she was wearing. Only her eyes took something away from her face. They were blue and watery, softening her face. The woman wore a black skirt to go with her sweater. She walked down the isle and sat next to Professor Forsythe.

"Still in need of more?" Professor Forsythe asked.

"We can hear them?" Jessie asked.

"If Merry can we can." Simone said.

"So do you or you wouldn't be here." Professor Margaret said.

"I'm still willing to take your throwaways."

"I don't have any throwaways." Professor Margaret said.

"Just escapees." Professor Forsythe laughed.

Professor Margaret may have been ready with a comeback but they both looked to the back of the room. Another two people had come in. The first was a tall-a very tall woman-Simone guessed her height as six feet five inches. She was Indian and wore a flowing flowery garment that covered her completely and formed a hood over her head. A dark jewel was set into her forehead. Her face was puffy with age but the brown eyes didn't match the face.

"Ms. Dream." Lizzie read.

"Not a bad disguise." Simone said.

Beside her was a small black woman with a large afro. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a picture of the statue of liberty on it.

"Terrific Titania?" Lizzie read.

"Prudence Rothschild." Simone said.

"Oh." Lizzie and Jessie said together.

Simone hid a smile. She had told everyone in Dollopolis about Merry's adventures. It had helped her reputation quite a bit, especially the way Simone had told the story. Simone knew that every community needed legends and Merry's exploits were too handy to ignore. She was thinking of having Jessie and Lizzie create some tapestries about them.

"Does she know who they really are milady?" Jessie asked.

"Oh yes." Simone said. "She knows."

The next person to come in didn't fit with the rest of them at all. She wasn't tall, dressed simply in a dark blue dress and only carried a purse. Her face was round under very straight brown hair. The hair matched her eyes.

"Abigail Adams?" Lizzie read. "Who's she?"

"Graduate student doing post-doctoral work in European pre-history?" Simone read.

"There's stuff that happened before history?" Jessie asked.

"Before recorded history." Simone said.

"Oh. What has she got to do with shrunken women milady?"

"I'd guess that either she wants one or she wants to be one." Simone said.

"Doesn't look like she's going to have a choice either way milady." Lizzie said.

Simone had to agree. As the young woman walked down the isle a balding man in a business suit came up behind her and pressed a white cloth against her face. The young woman's eyes went wide and she struggled but only briefly. Once she was down another, larger man came from behind the curtain. They talked briefly in tones so low that they could not be heard. Then the big man picked up the girl and carried her onto the stage and back behind the curtain.

"Man did she picked the wrong party to crash." Lizzie said.

"What do we do now milady?" Lizzie asked.

"We wait." Simone said.

"At least it stopped raining." Lizzie said.

Merry hadn't moved when the man from ICE had grabbed Abigail Adams. There was nothing she could do. She watched as the large man took the young woman back stage. From behind the curtain Merry heard Little Darkness laugh.

"Do we know why she was here?" Merry whispered.

{No.}

"Ladies and gentlemen." Little Darkness called. She stepped out from behind the curtain and smiled. There was no real response that Merry could see. "I know you expected Lady Goth here tonight and here she is!"

Little Darkness swept her arm across the stage in a grand gesture and Lady Goth was wheeled out onto the stage. The villainess flushed red and tried to turn her head away. The response was subdued. Professor Forsythe and Professor Margaret both snorted and clapped their hands. Ms. Dream and Prudence sat stiffly in their seats.

"Now I want you to know that my taking over of Lady Goth's operation will not slow down the delivery of shrunken women. At least not after tonight. Tonight there will only be two shrunken women for sale."

The professors' faces tightened into identical frowns.

"But Lady Goth is going to be one of them." Little Darkness said quickly. The frowns relaxed and she went on. "And as a companion we have Abigail Adams, history student."

The big man left Lady Goth and stepped back stage. When he stepped out again he was carrying a bound and struggling Abigail. Her wrist had been tied behind her back with rope and her ankles tied together. A strip of tape covered her mouth.

"She actually wants to be shrunk." Little Darkness said. "So she'll be having fun tonight."

Abigail squirmed on the floor with the frustrated energy of pure anger. Merry could see her face and she didn’t spot any fear there. She doubted that Abigail had wanted to be shrunk.

"Another improvement" Little Darkness went on "is the shrinking formulae itself." The man from ICE walked on stage and handed her a small blue box. Little Darkness opened the box and showed it to the audience. Inside were six small ornamental perfume bottles. Three of them were filled with a blue liquid and three of them were filled with a green liquid. "You don’t have to get them to drink it anymore."

Little Darkness picked up one of the green bottles and walked over to Lady Goth.

"La mi gu ya ittl itch!" Lady Goth managed to say through the ring gag.

"The green formulae will work within one minute." Little Darkness said. She sprayed Lady Goth's in the face. Then Little Darkness pulled the ring gag out of her mouth.

The result was instantaneous and painful. Her face contorted in agony Lady Goth screamed and then started to shrink. Her body convulsed as she became smaller and smaller. There was no magical glow or any other effect. She was simply shrinking. In less than a minute Lady Goth was lying on the floor of the stage.

Smiling Little Darkness picked up her former mistress and held her up for all to see. Lady Goth moved sluggishly in Little Darkness's hand.

"And it's permanent." Little Darkness said. She walked to the edge of the stage and handed Lady Goth to Professor Forsythe. "Wouldn't she be a help to either you or Professor Margaret?" Little Darkness almost purred out the question and her self-satisfaction nearly made Merry sick.

"Training her would be difficult." Professor Forsythe said handing Lady Goth to Professor Margaret. "And she is too old for me."

"But not for me." Professor Margaret said. She smiled and her hands roamed over the now doll-sized villainess. "So very rewarding. Evil tamed is far more appealing then good trained. There are many insights I could gain while she learned how to abandon her evil ways and be more passive."

"And you have other options." Little Darkness said. She walked over and picked up a bottle of the blue shrinking potion. Then she walked over to where Abigail was struggling like a snake to get away. Little Darkness turned Abigail over onto her back and then sprayed her in the face. Nothing happened.

"I know it doesn't look like it, but Abigail will be about two feet tall in six hours."

"Too tall." Professor Forsythe said.

"She'll also be as dumb as a doorknob." Little Darkness said. "Her mind will be reduced to operating on the level of a five year old and most of her memories will be gone."

"Oh that is intriguing." Professor Margaret said.

"Very." Professor Forsythe said. "I know a few people in my department who could do with such reduction. But it has always been too dangerous to try and take them when they were full sized and they would never drink or eat with me."

"And my studies would gain much, without the danger of being found taking a child." Professor Margaret said. "I've often thought that before, but people guard them so well these days."

"So can we start the bidding?" Little Darkness asked walking over to the box.

"Milady we have a biggle approaching." Jessie said looking at a screen mounted to her right.

"A 'biggle'?"

"One of those U.F.O things."

"That's a boggle." Lizzie said.

"No, it's called a Boggie." Simone said. "As in Humphrey."

"Who?" Lizzie and Jessie asked together.

{Explain later.}

{For now Simone have Lizzie and Jessie get ready with the weapons.}

{The auction is about to be interrupted.}

{Merry you are about to have a visitor.}

{Brace yourself and be prepared to move.}

{This will be a battle.}

{Most likely between ICE security and who ever is about to charge in.}

"What should I do?" Merry asked.

{First priority: get the potions.}

{Or if you can Lady Goth.}

{Above all do not interfere.}

{No matter who gets involved.}

Merry understood. No matter what she wasn't going to be able to help Prudence or Ms. Dream this time.

Merry was the only one who knew that something was going to happen. Even so she was stunned as the wall on the left side of the room exploded. The blast was more remarkable for what it didn't do. Merry felt the shock wave as it passed her, but it carried no debris and there was no sound. The wall just disintegrated into dust. The lights flickered and went out but emergency lights came on immediately. They were a lot dimmer but there was enough light to see by.

Merry crawled out of the light fixture and along the ceiling until she came to the curtain. Then she risked looking around. The room was in total chaos. A tall black man wearing a black suit and cape was fighting with the big man with the white hood. Prudence had grown to at least twelve feet tall and was fighting three ICE security men. Ms. Dream was struggling with Little Darkness. On the stage Abigail tossed and squirmed as debris from the battle landed near her. Professor Margaret was down and out and Professor Forsythe had grabbed the shrinking potions and was heading toward the door.

"Where are you?" Merry asked quietly. She looked carefully, ignoring the battle as best she could. A tug on the curtain gave Merry the answer. She looked down and saw Lady Goth tangled in the curtain string. A second later Merry's view was cut off as the man in the hood was thrown through the back wall. He took most of the curtain with him and Merry was left dangling in mid-air above the stage. She watched as the man in black jumped onto the stage and grabbed Lady Goth. The man whirled and then leapt into the air and started to fly off.

Merry didn't hesitate. She let go of what was left of the curtain and fell onto his back. Grabbing his cape near the neck Merry hung onto it as he flew out of the window. Merry saw the man throw something behind them and braced herself as another explosion went off.

"Is she nuts?" Jessie demanded as Merry dropped onto the man in black's back.

"Well she obviously can't get to the potions." Simone said keeping her voice calm with an effort. "Her second choice was to get Lady Goth."

"I got him lined up milady." Lizzie said.

"Lizzie don't shoot! The man is four stories up!"

On the screen angry red force beams started to play around the flying black man.

"LIZZIE!" Simone shouted.

"It wasn't me milady!" Lizzie shouted back. "I swear!"

"Three more bobbies!" Jessie said.

Simone looked and saw that three men on what looked like flying motorcycles were attacking the man in black.

"Sorry Lizzie." Simone said.

"What do we do milady?" Lizzie asked.

"We wait." Simone said keeping the strain out of her voice. "We go wading into a fire fight and we might not get out of it alive. Merry's a big girl, she can handle herself."

The obvious lie came easily to her but Simone found herself gripping the control stick so hard her knuckles were white.

Merry had never been afraid of heights. She really wasn't afraid of them now either. Falling from a height of four stories up meant little when you were in danger of being cut in half by laser beams. At least her memory had finally identified the man on whose back she was riding: The Thief. A former foe of the Power Sisters who had been doing freelance assassinations in the third world the last time Merry had seen him mentioned in the newspapers. She had no idea why he'd decided to grab Lady Goth. It was question she'd get answered later. For the moment Merry kept a death-grip on his cape.

The ICE security flyers had surrounded him. The beams they were using cut across his body and Merry heard him grunt in pain. His arm moved and something flew out. One of the flyers exploded in a silent flare of flame and color. More beams cut across the Thief and one nearly hit her. Merry held on and tried to look around her. They had moved far from Hill Hall and were over a railroad yard. The rain that had stopped started again. Merry's suit let her 'feel' the cold water. It wasn't a heavy rain and it worked in the Thief's favor. Merry didn't know how he was flying but it was obvious the rain was messing up the ICE flyers targeting systems. They were missing and with some shots not even coming close.

But they are keeping you over the yard, Merry thought suddenly. As much as she was able to through the chaos of the flight Merry looked down. She saw a glimpse of a black van with the rear door open.

"Can I survive if I fall from up here?" Merry asked.

{Maybe.}

"Good enough!" Merry shouted and let go. The wind caught her and she flew off of his body.

The beam from the blaster built into the back of the van hit the Thief a few seconds after Merry let go. He screamed in pain, fell and exploded. It was his exploding body that saved her. The shockwave rose up and caught Merry's body as it fell, slowing her enough so that she could turn a free fall into a long slide. Merry hit the ground hard and rolled until she came to rest against a railroad track. Dazed she saw the Thief struggle to his feet and leap into the air. His suit was partially torn but there wasn't a mark on his body.

"Tough guy." Merry said.

{He does not have Lady Goth.}

Merry struggled to her feet.

{She is the key.}

{The simplest way to find out what we need to know is through her.}

{It will not be easy.}

"With what you can do to a person?" Merry asked.

{She is not an ordinary person.}

{From the age of fourteen Lady Goth has been involved with supervillains.}

{Her mother was Deadly Dagger, her father was Mr. Blood.}

{Her brain does not work normally.}

"Then we can use that against her." Merry said.

{Really?}

"I have an idea." Merry said.

{We'll let you try it then.}

{Capture her and proceed.}

"I'll find her." Merry looked around her. She was standing in a railroad yard. Around her were trains and freight cars the size of small buildings. Puddles of mixed oil and water pocketed the yard, the size of small ponds and lakes. The place had sickly yellow pale cast upon it from the few streetlights that were working. Rain pelted her and obscured the yard.

"It may take me a while." Merry said. "What about Thunderbird 2?"

{They are busy.}

"Dive!" Jessie shouted and Simone put the craft into a steep dive to avoid the car that had come sailing through the air at them.

Simone marveled at the battle that was on the screen and beyond the windshield. Prudence had grown to twenty feet tall and was fighting against half a dozen ICE flyers. At her feet Ms. Dream was shifting in and out of invisibility as she telekinetically blocked force beams and tackled ICE agents.

"Aren't there any cops in this town!" Lizzie shouted.

"Hang on girls!" Simone shouted as Prudence picked up another car. She poured on the power and turned Thunderbird 2 around. Nearly at street level she skimmed the craft along until they came to a corner. Then Simone pulled up and Thunderbird 2 rose into the air and then turned around. Simone had stopped them a few blocks from the battle. They could see Hill hall and beyond.

"There are the cops." Lizzie said pointing at the street.

"They're coming over the bridge too." Jessie said.

"Whoa!" Lizzie said.

On the screen more ICE flyers were attacking the police cars both on the street and on the bridge.

{This is not a normal ICE operation.}

{They usually cut and run if this sort of thing happens.}

{It has to be the intervention of superheroes and supervillains.}

{I wouldn't want to be the one in charge of this operation when it becomes time to explain all of this to an ICE supervisor.}

"Wow!" Lizzie said.

Simone looked and had to agree with her. Prudence had grown to over thirty feet tall and was swiping at the ICE flyers. A look of near hysterical rage was plastered over her face. She staggered and tripped as she chased them, crushing cars and tearing up the streetlights. Simone could see her clearly now on the display screen. Prudence's costume was a gold halter top with a green letter 'T" above each breast. She wore a pair of running shorts that were the same color and had another letter 'T' between her legs. She also wore gold boots and a gold half mask.

"That is the ugliest costume I've ever seen." Lizzie said.

"She's coming this way!" Simone said and started the ship moving again. Simone took the ship back to street level and zipped around the corner. She moved over an open field and then saw the Harvard Stadium across the street.

Perfect, Simone thought. Harvard Stadium had been built along the lines of a Roman coliseum. Oval in shape the walls of the stadium were a series of small arched doorways. She slammed the throttle open and Thunderbird 2 climbed up and over the stone walls of the stadium and then Simone dived down a few feet and leveled the craft off. Then she turned the ship around and guided it so that they could see through one of the arches.

Prudence had stumbled from the street onto the athletic field that was across the street from the stadium. With nothing to throw and nowhere to hide all she could do was grab at the flyers. The rain had made the ground muddy and she slipped a couple of times. It also plastered her short brown hair and her costume to her body. She flailed at the flyers like a maddened bear swiping at bees.

"Milady?" Lizzie asked. Simone looked over and saw that Lizzie had her fingers on the firing buttons.

"No." Simone said.

"But…" Lizzie hesitated. "It's what Merry would do isn't it? We're knights too… aren't we?"

"No dear." Simone said gently. Lizzie was scared and uncertain. Simone guessed that Lizzie was scared that Simone would say yes and scared that she would say no. "You and your sister are knights, but Knights of Dollopolis. Prudence is not one of us."

On the screen she saw a close up of Prudence's face. Pain had eaten its way through the rage and fear was beginning to set in. Her brown eyes were looking everywhere at once for a way out.

"But she's in trouble." Jessie said with the same sort of uncertainty in her voice. "Merry helped her."

"Merry saved her life and the rest of their lives." Simone said. "But remember what happened afterwards? Ms. Dream tried to read her mind."

"But…"

"No Lizzie, we can not risk Dollopolis being discovered. Especially by ICE. You heard tonight what they would do if they captured more shrunken women. Prudence put the mask on, she's got to take her chances."

"But she's loosing milady." Lizzie said.

"Yes she is." Simone said looking at the screen again. "But if we get caught what happens to Dollopolis?"

"And us." Jessie pointed out.

"Exactly." Simone said.

Lizzie was still torn and Simone was grateful for it. It meant that she had awakened in the young woman the realization that life was more than being selfish.

"If we had a clear shot…"

"Remember what I told you Lizzie?" Simone said, hoping The Group would not step in. This a was a delicate point in Lizzie's life. "Merry chose her fights very carefully in Count Intellect's castle. She didn't move until she had a firm plan in her mind. You have to think, then act."

"Yes milady." Lizzie said. She pulled her fingers back from the firing controls and her gaze became thoughtful.

On the screen the fight was nearly over. Simone could see it in Prudence's eyes. The beams that hit her were taking their toll and the heroine's eyes were glassy with shock. Prudence staggered and fell to her knees. The flyers pressed their advantage and two beams hit her at once. Prudence fell to the ground and all four flyers hit her simultaneously. Her body glowed red for a moment and then she slumped to the ground unconscious. After a moment her body shrunk to its normal size and then shrunk even more. By the time the flyers reached her Prudence was no taller than Simone.

{Now that is interesting.}

{A side effect?}

{Something worth knowing about.}

{Too late to help her now.}

"We could get her." Lizzie said anxiously.

{No you can't.}

{That is not a fighter you are in.}

{And more ICE forces, as well as the police are on the way.}

{For now fly over them and vent some of the steam from Thunderbird 2's main reactor.}

{We might be able to track the radiation that covers them.}

"How much should we release?" Simone said pulling Thunderbird 2 up and moving slowly toward the field.

{Thirty seconds worth.}

{Then you can go and pick up Merry.}

"How is she doing?" Simone asked.

{She is working on something.}

Merry moved through the railroad yard carefully. The rain had abruptly stopped again, giving her increased visibility. She moved along the tracks first, keeping close to them in case she had to duck down into the shadows. But after the Thief had flown off the ICE agents had followed him.

Merry saw something out of the corner of her eye and looked carefully. The small naked form of Lady Goth was creeping across the sidewalk toward the street. Abandoning her cover Merry ran toward her. Merry couldn't imagine why Lady Goth was heading toward the street, at twelve inches tall a car wouldn't even notice if it ran her down. That question was answered when she saw the woman start to climb the tire on a jeep. All she had to do was hide in the back under something and Lady Goth would get a free ticket out of the danger zone. What she planned to do beyond that Merry couldn't say.

Doesn't matter, Merry thought. She isn't going anywhere. Merry reached the car, grabbed Lady Goth's ankle and pulled her off of the tire.

Lady Goth screamed as she fell back onto the sidewalk, but she rolled backward and came up ready to fight. Her eyes widened as she saw Merry. Merry could guess why. With her multifaceted crystal helmet and gray skin suit she must have looked like a robot.

"What the he…" Lady Goth started but Merry interrupted her with a side sweep kick that Lady Goth blocked. "Who the…" Again Merry interrupted her, this time with a punch that connected to her stomach.

Lady Goth wasted no more time on questions. She struck out with a fury that Merry had been expecting. Merry dodged backward and then kept dodging as more and more blows were aimed at her. Lady Goth was every bit the martial artist Merry had expected. But she was also fresh from getting shrunk, flown through the air in a man's fist and caught in an explosion. As Merry expected the furious assault only lasted a few minutes. Soon Lady Goth was breathing hard and her body was shaking.

"Who in the nine hells are you?" Lady Goth demanded.

This time Merry's kick got through her guard and hit her in the side. Lady Goth staggered and then charged at Merry with a screech that was as tired as she was. Merry let her come, confident that she could wrestle the other shrunken woman into submission. Lady Goth bowled into her and drove them both backward. Merry fell back and they rolled across the sidewalk. Lady Goth struggled fiercely but like many martial artist she wasn't very good at wrestling. Merry concentrated on holding the woman's arms and getting on top of her. She didn't realize how close to the curb they were until they fell off. Merry landed on top of her but Lady Goth bucked furiously and rolled them back toward the curb. It was then that Merry realized that they had fallen onto a sewer grate. It was an iron grate that sloped to a large opening near the curb. Unable to stop the roll Lady Goth had started Merry could do nothing but hold on as they fell into the storm drain.

Damn idiot! Merry swore at herself as they fell. Thought you had it all planned out! Find her, wear her down, put her to sleep!

All of this went through Merry's mind in the few seconds it took for them both to fall the length of the sewer and hit the water. Merry's suit allowed her to 'feel' the water and she had never felt anything more disgusting. It was a combination of oil, dirt and stuff she couldn't identify. In the dim yellow light cast by the streetlight above the sewer the water looked like coffee. Merry was grateful she had the suit on, she didn't have to take a deep breath as they both went under. The smells that her suit allowed her to experience was far more than enough to make her stomach roil. Lady Goth kicked away from her and they both surfaced at the same time.

"Who are you?" Lady Goth shouted as she spat out water and tried to clear her eyes.

Merry ignored the question and looked around. The sewer was a large circular pit, about four feet wide. From the surface where they were to the grate was five feet. Two feet above the surface of the water was a wide opening into the sewer main. The idea was that the water would only flow into the sewer main once it reached high enough, otherwise it would slowly seep into the ground water from the pit.

"I want to know who you are!" Lady Goth screamed and swam toward her.

Merry met her charge and wrapped her legs around the other woman's legs and then pinned Lady Goth's arms to her side with a bear hug. Then Merry just let them sink.

Lady Goth struggled wildly, then desperately, then with a grim resolve. None of it did her any good. Merry didn't have to breathe, Lady Goth did. After a few minutes Lady Goth's struggles were reduced to weak twitches from her limbs. Merry released Lady Goth's legs and then pushed them both up to the surface. Lady Goth surfaced sputtering and choking. Merry held her from behind and dragged her over to the wall.

{Impressive.}

"Not really." Merry said. "I didn't mean to fall down a sewer."

{Don't worry, we'll have Simone come by with some ropes.}

"I can wait." Merry said. She looked around and saw a sneaker floating around in the water. "You want information and this is a good place to get it."

Merry swam over to the sneaker. It was a worn Converse HighTop and the laces were still in it. Merry momentarily let go of the semi-conscious Lady Goth and grabbed the sneaker. Pushing it under the water she dove and grabbed Lady Goth's legs. Dragging the weakly struggling Lady Goth over to the sneaker, Merry managed to push Lady Goth's legs into the sneaker. With a kick Merry pushed them both up to the surface. Lady Goth was half in the sneaker double over onto the tongue. Merry pushed her back and further down into it. When Lady Goth was up to her armpits Merry took her arms and stuffed them into the laces. Once that was done Merry tied Lady Goth's wrists together with the laces and then looped what was left of the laces around the top of the sneaker and pulled them tight. Lady Goth's torso stuck out of the sneaker, her arms were both entwined in its laces and her wrists were tied securely. The tongue of the sneaker pushed her breasts up like a bra. Merry dragged the sneaker over to the wall and splashed some of the foul water into Lady Goth's face.

Lady Goth spat out some of the water and a slow glare lit her eyes as they cleared.

"Who are you?" She whispered. Her voice was mixed with hate and fear.

"I'm the first knight of the Duchy of Dollopolis." Merry said. Her voice was as hard as it had ever been. Fueling it was the image of two bodies in a drop ceiling. "I'm justice for what you have done."

"You're one of them." Lady Goth spat out in disgust. "One of Goddess of Justice's bunch."

"No I'm not." Merry said. She took hold of the sneaker and tipped it so that Lady Goth was dipped into the water for a few seconds. When she righted the shoe Lady Goth spat out more water. This time there was a little more fear in her eyes.

"I'm a Knight of Dollopolis." Merry said, putting as much as she could into the title. "And you are guilty of crimes against my kind. In a short time the Duchess will be here, you'll be judged them. In the meantime I want answers from you."

{You never cease to amazed us Dolly.}

{You are a born role player.}

Merry was a little surprised herself. But it was as if she was talking to Goddess of Justice or some other superhero. Merry knew what could happen if Dollopolis and the Group were ever discovered; she knew and she dreaded it. So ever since her second encounter with Goddess of Justice, and her first encounter with Force Group J, Merry had spent time lying to herself. She had constructed an intricate fantasy, basing it around Dollopolis. Merry had avoided going into the duchy, there was always a chance she could encounter a telepath and involuntarily betray them. That fantasy, part real, part dream, had occupied Merry in the times just before she went to sleep. She had not told anyone about it, not Simone and not the Group. But now she was able to bring elements of it to her mind and use them.

"What crimes?" Lady Goth demanded.

Merry tipped the sneaker again, held her under for a ten count and then righted it.

"Tell me where the island is. Tell me what plant was used to make the potions. Tell me or drown."

Lady Goth opened her mouth but Merry dunked her again before she could say anything. This time she held the villainess under for a slow count to thirty.

"Tell me." Merry demanded harshly. "Or die and I'll find out from the next ICE agent I capture."

"No one but I knows where the island is." Lady Goth said proudly.

"Little Darkness knows." Merry said. Again she flipped the sneaker. This time Merry counted slowly up to forty before righting it. "Lie again and I'll drag you to a rats lair and let him take care of you."

Lady Goth sputtered and coughed but she looked at Merry with respect.

"We can make a deal." Lady Goth said. "Give me Little Darkness on a plate and I'll tell you what ever you want to know."

{Predictable.}

{Could we trust her?}

{Her history suggest a twisted honor code.}

{She could be useful to us.}

Merry flipped Lady Goth over again.

"She could be deadly too you." Merry said.

{Not if we handle this the right way.}

{Raise her Officer Dolly.}

Merry flipped the sneaker again.

"What was that for!" Lady Goth demanded.

"I wanted to do it." Merry said. "By the laws of Dollopolis I've beaten you, taken you. Only the fact that I am not acting alone allows you to live beyond tonight. Were it to me I would let the rats have you. I would drag you to their lair and laugh as their young feasted on your still living body."

{Tell her that you will let the Duchess decide her fate.}

"But I am not on my own. The Duchess will be here soon." Merry said. "She will decide if you live or die or die painfully."

It worked. Lady Goth's eyes showed true fear. A policeman or a superhero she would have laughed at, but Merry was playing the part of an amazon warrior from a place that had its own laws. Lady Goth had no idea what those laws were, but the concept that Merry was making it up would never occur to her. She had grown up among supervillains, superheroes. Lost cities and hidden societies were common things to her.

So she looked at Merry and was scared. The fact that she couldn't see Merry's face helped quite a bit.

"If I talk?" Lady Goth asked.

"You will talk." Merry answered. "Or I will drag you to the ant pits and cover your chest with honey before I throw you in."

"Man she's cold." Jessie said as Simone brought Thunderbird 2 down near the sewer.

"It's mostly just an act." Simone said.

"Are you sure milady?" Lizzie asked.

"Yes." Simone said and tried to sound like she was.

She guided Thunderbird 2 into the railroad yard and set the craft down between a pair of oil drums. Then she turned toward them. Lizzie and Jessie looked at her and Simone suddenly realized how much authority she had over them. Both of them were waiting for her to tell them what to do and how to do it. The full range of their trust struck her like a physical force and Simone desperately reached into herself to find the confidence she needed to speak.

"Right girls, this is serious. That woman Merry has tied up down there is a villainess. She's done things that you can't imagine and she'd like nothing better than to do those things to us. So from this point on it is a very grave situation. Don't call Merry by her name, call her 'first knight' and I'll call you 'second' and 'third' knights. Anything this woman finds out about us, even our names can be a weapon she can use against us."

Lizzie and Jessie looked at each other and then back to her.

"We're ready milady." They said.

"Shut up or I'll gag you." Merry said. Lady Goth had been nervously asking questions and making promises.

"I just want to know who the hell you are and how you found me." Lady Goth said.

"Bodies." Merry said coldly. "I found bodies and I followed them."

"I didn't kill them."

"You shrunk them." Merry said. "What ever pain they suffered after that you'll pay for."

"You are one of her bunch aren't you?" Lady Goth said. "Tell me how is my love?"

"What?"

"Ms. Dream. Does she talk about me?"

"The last time I saw Ms. Dream I broke her arm." Merry said.

"Hummmmmm!" Lady Goth said smiling. "Foreplay!"

The shockwave hit Merry at that moment, a wave of pain and fear that swamped over her mind and drowned it.

"Here it is." Simone said looking down at the grate.

"We should be able to just lower the ropes." Jessie said.

Simone was about to say something but a flying body interrupted her. Ms. Dream sailed over the jeep and landed hard on the sidewalk. She landed on top of Simone and rolled off of her. Her arms flailed out as she fell and hit Lizzie and Jessie sending them flying against a streetlight. Simone was dazed but still conscious as Professor Forsythe and Professor Boudicia ran around the car. Both were carrying futuristic style blasters. Simone saw Ms. Dream start to rise but both guns fired at once. Twin beams of angry red energy hit the heroine. She screamed and that scream radiated out from her with the force of a small bomb. Simone managed to scream herself before blacking out.

Lizzie woke up with a headache that rapidly faded. She didn't know where she was. Sensations came into her mind one at a time. The first was that she was lying on her back on something cool and hard. Then her mind recognized the mixed scents of coffee and cigarette smoke. For an instant Lizzie thought she was home, her old home with a father who lived on coffee and cigarettes. Then her memories came flooding back. She couldn't be in Dollopolis, or with the Giants. They didn't drink coffee or smoke.

Lizzie opened her eyes. She was on a table. Above her was a plain white ceiling that was lined with florescent bulbs. Lizzie sat up and looked around. On the table was a large board with a small door in it. The door was made from crisscrossed metal bars. Beyond the bars Lizzie saw a corridor. Lizzie was naked. Beside her was another nude shrunken woman. She was taller than Lizzie by about an inch. Her body was slim, with the skin stretched over taunt muscles. The woman's breasts were larger than they should have been for her body, with bright pink nipples and the hair between her legs was an oversized bush of black that matched the long hair on her head. The woman blinked her eyes and sat up. She gazed at Lizzie with an incredible, almost threatening intensity.

"Don't bother to try and read her mind Ms. Dream." Professor Margaret said.

{Lizzie, stay calm.}

{We know where you are.}

Lizzie swallowed her fear.

{Simone and Jessie are alive.}

{They are in a similar situation.}

{Simone tells us to remind you that you are a Knight of Dollopolis now. Be brave.}

Lizzie realized that Ms. Dream was still staring at her. Lizzie stared back until Ms. Dream looked away.

"I told you." Professor Margaret said, taking a sip from her coffee. She was wearing a sensible white shirt and lab coat. Lizzie didn’t like the look in the woman's blue eyes. "Your tiny little brain doesn't have the power your full size one does."

"What are you planning?" Ms. Dream asked. Lizzie was surprised at her attitude. There was anger in Ms. Dream's voice. Lizzie could have told her that anger didn't go down well with giants.

"I have in mind a study of relationships under fear and the ability of two complete strangers to work toward a common goal."

Professor Margaret picked Lizzie up and ran her hands over Lizzie's nude body. Lizzie didn't protest; this had been done to her many times. Professor Margaret was a little rougher than the Giant's though not by much. Ms. Dream looked on angrily.

"You were trained weren't you?" Professor Margaret said. "I had a feeling that ICE was holding out on us last night. That Little Darkness is a snip of a bitch, most likely has some deep routed mother/father figure problems."

Lizzie didn't say anything even as the woman turned her over onto her stomach and gently probed her little finger between the cheeks of Lizzie's butte.

"You sick pervert!" Ms. Dream snarled.

Professor Margaret dropped Lizzie and picked up Ms. Dream.

You're going to get it now, Lizzie thought.

Lizzie was right. Ms. Dream was held up by her wrist and spanked hard. Professor Margaret smiled and licked her lips as she spanked the heroine. Ms. Dream screamed and wildly kicked her legs to no avail. After a while the Professor turned Ms. Deam upsidedown and held her by the legs and spanked her. When Ms. Dream's screamed turned to sobs and she started to cry Professor Margaret stopped. Then Professor Margaret reached under the table and Lizzie heard the sound of a draw being opened. Professor Margaret set Ms. Dream down and then put two small bottles on the desktop. She unscrewed the top of the bottle on the left and pulled out an eyedropper.

"Do you know what these chemicals are?" Professor Margaret asked.

Lizzie looked at the writing on the bottles. The words were English but she had no idea what they said. She shook her head.

{The one on the right is an anesthetic, a bit like novocaine, but more exotic.}

{The one on the left is a radioactive chemical used to map the bloodstream.}

Professor Margaret reached over and pushed Ms. Dream down, then rolled the shrunken woman onto her stomach. Ms. Dream struggled but all it took was a hand pressing on her back to hold the heroine down. Then the professor took the eyedropper and forced it between the cheeks of Ms. Dream's ass.

Ms. Dream screeched and flailed her legs about wildly. She beat her fist on the tabletop. Lizzie could tell that she was clenching as well. Lizzie knew it wouldn't do her any good. Slowly-and with a smile on her face that made Lizzie's stomach churn-professor Margaret pushed and teased the eyedropper into the helpless heroine. Then she squeezed the bulb and Ms. Dream screamed out in frustration and rage. Professor Margaret pulled the eyedropper out of her and Ms. Dream rolled over and gave the woman a look of pure hate.

But it wasn't over yet. Professor Margaret unscrewed the other bottle and pulled out another eyedropper.

"Open your mouth." Professor Margaret ordered as she moved the eyedropper toward Ms. Dream.

Ms. Dream opened her mouth and started to curse the woman. Professor Margaret reached over and took hold of Ms. Dream's head. Ms. Dream reached up and tried to free herself, then she tried to fight off the eyedropper but it was no use. When she refused to open her mouth Professor Margaret squeezed her head and Ms. Dream opened her mouth to scream. The scream was cut short as the eyedropper was stuffed into Ms. Dream's mouth and emptied.

Professor Margaret let her go and Ms. Dream dropped to the table coughing and spitting.

{Lizzie, she thinks you are an ICE shrunken woman that somehow got away from ICE last night.}

{Your docile behavior will help re-enforce that idea.}

{We know it will be hard, but play along with her.}

{Trust us when we say that what ever pain she inflicts on you will be nothing to what we will do to her.}

"You aren't going to give me any trouble are you?" Professor Margaret said picking up Lizzie. Lizzie shook her head no and Professor Margaret placed her on the table on her stomach.

Lizzie couldn't help but cry out as the eyedropper was pushed inside of her. She had been taken this way before, but only by a man. There was more than discomfort as the plastic was pushed into her anus; there was a feeling of helplessness and a vast impotent rage. Tears ran down Lizzie's face as the chemical was pumped inside of her.

"I'm the Third Knight of Dollopolis!" Lizzie whispered harshly to herself. "I can take this!"

The words helped. Lizzie was surprised at that, but the words helped. They let her imagine that it was someone else being held down and violated. This other being seemed to have strength that Lizzie lacked.

Professor Margaret rolled Lizzie onto her back and held he other eyedropper over her mouth. Lizzie obediently opened her mouth and swallowed. The liquid burned its way down her throat and Lizzie tried to cry out, but failed as the stuff numbed her vocal cords.

"Now for the test." Professor Margaret said. She placed palm pilot onto the desk and turned it on. There was a split screen on the device. On one side was Abigail. She was naked and chained to a wall by her neck. Her eyes were filled with fear and confusion. The other side of the screen showed a strange looking young woman. She had short pink hair, pointed ears and eyes. She wore a black halter-top and a short black skirt. In each of her hands was a knife. The young woman's eyes were pink like her hair, and there was madness in them. She stood in a room and sniffed the air and played with her knives.

"This is Abigail, you might recognize her from last night. The potion did its work. She's two feet tall and has absolutely no understanding of what is going on. Her mind is operating on an extremely low mental level. She's chained up in the center of the maze. The other young woman is Penny Pizza the Pixie. She's been told that the person who cut off her wings is in the maze somewhere. Penny wants revenge. Now what I hope to see from you two is a co-operative spirit." Professor Margaret pointed toward the door. "You are to go through that door and enter the maze. I'll then let Penny into the maze. My theory is that without speech you two will learn to communicate, develop a sign and body language sophisticated enough to save you both and Abigail. Not only from Penny but from the other beasts and traps I have put into the maze. I'm betting that you can do this in three hours, which is all the time you have before Penny finds you or Abigail."

Ms. Dream looked at her with a mixture of astonishment and hate. Prudence simply shrugged. The Giants had run her and Lizzie through mazes before. They'd just never under threat of death.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you through the radioactive chemicals that I put into your bodies." Professor Margaret said. She lifted them up and let them look at the maze. The scale of the place stunned Lizzie. The maze had to be at least 50 feet square. Above it was cameras attached to robotic arms. Professor Margaret laughed and the laugh was an annoying twitter that made Lizzie's blood boil. "I'm going to be thrilled to study the language you come up with."

Ms. Dream extended her middle finger in a universal sign of contempt and Professor Margaret laughed at her. Then she pointed toward the door to the maze.

"Three hours, get moving."

What is it about these missions, Simone thought as she woke up. Giants keep falling on me.

The first thing that hit Simone as she woke up was the smell of cedar. It saturated he air. She was naked, lying on cedar chips. There was a sharp pain her leg, but she could move it so it wasn't broken.

Simone opened her eyes. Above her were the crisscrossing metal bars of a cage. She started to sit up.

"Easy." Said a male voice beside her.

Simone blushed scarlet and then blushed even more when she looked at him. The man was no taller than she was and he too was nude. He had pair of wide shoulders, strong legs and washboard stomach. His face matched his body. He had a square jaw and deep gray eyes. Or eye. His left eye was milky white, with no pupil.

"Are you all right milady?" Jessie said sitting next to her. She was naked too.

"I'm hurt but I'll live." Simone said. "Where are we?"

"In hell." The man said.

"Don't be so dramatic Brent."

Simone looked over to see a woman sitting on an exercise wheel. Deep brown eyes looked at Simone and she had no problem making the connection.

"Abigail?" Simone asked.

"No." Brent said. "That's my wife Daisy."

"What do you know about Abigail?" Daisy asked anxiously. She tried to stand and fell back. Brent was instantly at his wife's side and Jessie helped Simone hobble over to them.

Close up Simone realized her mistake. Abigail's face had been rounder, younger. Daisy was a woman with a full body where Abigail's figure had been a little slimmer. Also Daisy was pregnant. Her belly swelled and her breasts hung over it. One look told Simone that the pregnancy wasn't going well. The woman's skin had an un-healthy gray to it and the way she gasped for air didn't signal good health. Her left eye was in the same condition as Brent's was. Simone let Brent steady Daisy for a moment before she spoke.

"If her name was Abigail Adams I saw her earlier tonight." Simone said.

"Is she shrunk?" Daisy demanded.

"I don't know." Simone said.

"Where are we?" Jessie asked.

Simone looked around. They were in a laboratory. It was a large one, with row after row of cages. Some of them were filled with animals. In the center of the room was a table filled with chemical equipment. Their cage rested on a table by a window. In the window the twilight seemed to mock them somehow. The cage was a large one, two feet high and three feet wide. The bottom was covered in cedar. There was a gerbil water bottle attached to the bars and some dry food in a plate by it.

"Hell." Brent said again bitterly. Daisy put her hand on his shoulder and he steadied himself.

"This is the laboratory." Daisy said. "The man who owns it is named Professor Artimus Forsythe."

"We used to be his decorators." Brent said. "One night he invited us to dinner…"

"We woke up like this." Daisy said. "That was about a five months ago."

"Why did he do it?" Simone asked.

"Money." Brent said. "Professor Forsythe is rich, really, really rich. But not rich enough."

"Who are you?" Daisy asked.

"Ah, sorry." Simone said.

{Tell these two your real name and title, and Jessie's as well.}

{They are no threat and this is not time for dissembling.}

{But do not tell them about us.}

{We know what is going on. Lizzie is alive and in a similar situation to you.}

{When Merry wakes up things will change.}

"Ahm…" Simone stumbled for a bit as the mental communication reached her. The look on Jessie's face told Simone that it had reached both of them.

"I am Duchess Simone of Dollopolis." Simone said. "This is Jessie, my second knight."

"What?" Brent and Daisy asked together.

"You weren't shrunk by Professor Forsythe." Daisy said.

"Not at all." Simone replied. "And if I could get out of this bloody cage I could grow to my normal size and get us all out of here."

"Why can't you grow milady?" Jessie asked.

"Because I'd crush all of you if I did." Simone said.

"You can grow?" Brent demanded.

"Yes. But it's a long story. What is Professor Forsythe plan on doing with us?"

Brent stumbled over some words and then looked away, his face red. Simone saw his fists clench and unclench.

"He needs you to…" Daisy stumbled as well but took a deep breath and charged on. "He needs you to make love to my husband and get pregnant."

"What?" Jessie blurted out before Simone could.

"Do you know how hard it is to get a product to market?" Daisy asked. "How many years before you can safely test something humans? How many animal rights groups you have to battle to test anything at all? Professor Forsythe's way around all of that is to have a race of human that won't be noticed. Small humans that can used for product testing, new medicines…"

"The bastard turned us into lab rats." Brent said savagely. "Testing stuff on us will give him decades over the competition."

"You got pregnant after you were shrunk?" Jessie said.

Daisy nodded.

"It's not going well." She said. "I can feel it, everyday, something's wrong."

"But won't the same thing happen to us if we…" Jessie trailed off.

"Probably." Brent said. "But he figures if he keeps trying one woman might survive."

Suddenly Simone realized that her fears about becoming a tyrant would never come to pass. She could never be truly evil. She'd seen it now, more evil than even her brother and his girl friend. More evil than anything she had ever imagined.

"We don't have much time." Brent said. "You've been out the whole day."

"Lizzie?" Jessie called looking around suddenly.

"Who?"

"My third knight." Simone said.

{She is just waking up.}

{And in a similar situation with Ms. Dream.}

"Tell her she is my knight and to be brave." Simone said quietly.

"What?" Brent asked.

"Nothing." Simone said. "Again, it's a long story."

Brent shrugged.

"Don't worry dear." Simone said turning to Jessie. "Lizzie is alive. She's not out of danger, but she's alive."

Jessie nodded.

"It's nearly six." Daisy said. "Professor Forsythe is going to come in with dinner." She gestured toward the chair in front of the table. "He's going to sit there and tell Brent to make love to you. Both of you."

"No way in hell!" Jessie shouted.

"Way." Brent said pointing to his eye. "If I don't do it he'll use a laser pointer to burn out my other eye like he did this one. Then he'll drop me into Boston Common and find another guy."

"If you resist he'll do the same to you." Daisy said. She gestured to her own eye. "He likes doing it."

"Milady!" Jessie pleaded.

"Don't worry second knight." Simone said putting emphasis on Jessie's new title. She stood up and ignored the pain in her leg so that she could look down on Jessie. "Remember, the first knight is still out there."

"Oh yea!" Jessie said perking up. "I'd love for her to get hold of this guy."

"We have help coming." Simone said to Daisy and Brent.

"If it doesn't get here in the next ten minutes then I won't have a choice." Brent said grimly. "I'm sorry but…"

{Merry is just now waking up.}

{She can not reach you in time.}

{Also we have to make a choice.}

{Whom should she help first?}

Simone looked at Daisy and then at Jessie. Desperately she reached inside herself for an answer.

Merry woke up from a dead sleep and cursed Ms. Dream. She knew that the psychic cry for help had come from the heroine, just as she knew that it had been too strong for a shrunken woman to receive.

{Welcome back.}

Merry looked around. She was still in the storm drain. If not for her suit she would have drowned. Lady Goth was slumped in her sneaker.

"How long have I been out?" Merry asked. She saw a bit of auburn in the sky beyond the sewer grate.

{Hours.}

{It is now evening of the following day.}

"Simone? Lizzie? Jessie?"

{Captured.}

{Lizzie and Ms. Dream by Professor Margaret.}

{Simone and Jessie by Professor Forsythe.}

{Not to put too much of a strain on you Dolly but you had better get moving.}

{Lizzie is in danger, but so are Simone and Jessie.}

"Tell me as I climb." Merry said swimming over to the wall.

{What about Lady Goth?}

Merry looked back. The villainess was still unconscious and the sneaker was starting to sink. Merry swam over to Lady Goth and freed her. She held Lady Goth's head out of the water by her hair and with her other hand Merry yanked the lace out of the sneaker. Once that was done she wrapped it around Lady Goth's body. When she was done Lady Goth was nearly cocooned in the sneaker lace. Merry tied what was left of the lace around her stomach.

"She ain't that heavy." Merry said starting to climb.

…To be continued.

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