The Dangers of Daring Officer Dolly

Chapter 9. "Games and Training"

by Skytower

Lizzie Brihallow was dumped roughly onto the ground. Jessie, her twin sister, was dropped just as roughly. Neither of them complained. Both of them were too scared to complain. They had spent the past few days in a laboratory located somewhere in the desert. Placed in a glass terrarium they had seen the Giant’s work on machinery so complex Lizzie doubted that it came from Earth. The Giant’s were searching for Merry McCormick, their operative and that search was not going well. Every so often Delilah Pennytorch, perhaps the most dangerous of the Giant’s had glared at the twins. Lizzie had wanted to protest that they had nothing to do with burying Merry alive, but she knew it would not do any good. Deborah, her twin sister Delilah, their cousin Tremont and their friend Molly, were the ones who had shrunk Lizzie, Jessie and Mike. Since then any rights the trio had once enjoyed were gone.

The terrarium was not large, even for teenagers shrunk to only twelve inches tall. It was full of dirty sand and it stank of reptiles. With nothing else to do Lizzie and Jessie had sat on the sand and watched the Giant’s work. A gerbil dribble glass gave them water and every so often one of the Giants would toss a food disk into the tank. Other than that they were ignored or glared at. Lizzie wasn’t sure how long the work went on, she knew that both she and her sister slept a few times. The Giant’s didn’t seem to sleep. They worked at the machines, calling out figures and names to each other. It looked to Lizzie like they were ancient sorcerers chanting some arcane spell. When Lizzie awoke the last time the Giant’s were done working. The machines were dark and silent. They sat around a table and talked. There seemed to be an air of depression around them all. Depression and anger.

"Well that is that." Deborah said.

"She didn’t fail us." Molly pointed out. "I think that would have made her happy."

"She was always so keen to please us." Tremont said. "And she never did fail including a few times I thought she would. But I guess the numbers finally caught up with her."

"It wasn’t the numbers." Delilah said coldly turning her gazed toward the terrarium. Jessie grabbed her sisters hand and they drew closer together. "Had she completed the job earlier the fight would not have involved us. Had she not been delayed there would have been no problems."

"Well I suggest we postpone the next phase of the project." Tremont said. "Force Group J will be crawling all over the Deep Pit. Even at their size Mike, Jessie and Lizzie will be found."

"Or call attention to themselves deliberately." Delilah said. "We’ll return home and wait for developments."

She walked over to the terrarium and looked at Jessie and Lizzie. Delilah’s pale blue eyes looked even colder than usual.

"We will also decide upon punishments then." Deborah said coming up to stand beside her sister. Then they had each picked up a shrunken teen and pressed a sweet smelling cloth against their bodies. Lizzie had blacked out almost instantly.

Lizzie watched as Delilah left them. Once she was no longer in sight Lizzie stood up and looked around. They were in Dollopolis. In the center of a large room sat a table and on that table was a small town made up of dollhouses. The table was bordered by a tank of water filled with dangerous fish

"Home." Jessie said standing up.

"It’s the closest we got anyway." Lizzie said.

In truth it was better than they had ever had. Dollopolis had been created by the Giants to hold up to forty people. It was, to the shrunken girls anyway, a vast empty town full of different types of houses, an athletic field, a lake and even a drive in movie, or what looked like one. Since Lizzie, Jessie and Mike had been the town’s first inhabitants they had been given the choice of living in whatever house they had wanted to live in.

But now Mike was gone and despite the fact that he was the cause of their troubles, in fact the cause of them being shrunk in the first place, Lizzie missed him. He was a male and for a while had been their protector. Lizzie had felt safe with him, despite all of his faults. Lizzie looked at the sun lamp that gave Dollopolis a day and night cycle. It was mounted to a track on the ceiling and synchronized to the sun outside. At the moment it was moving toward the far side of the room. Night was coming.

"Come on, it’s getting dark." Lizzie said. She started up the road toward their house.

"They know it’s not our fault." Jessie said trailing after her sister. She was speaking almost too herself. "We didn’t do it, he did it."

Lizzie said nothing. There was nothing to say. The unspoken rule as the Giants had laid it down was that if one was guilty they all were guilty. Usually the punishment was simply for all of them to be put into the stocks on the athletic field. Once secured the Giant’s would either ignore them or play with them sexually, depending upon their mood. But there was a far harsher punishment. A punishment that chilled the blood in Lizzie’s veins. She shifted uncomfortably. They had to make their own clothes and the only material in Dollopolis was a rough yellow cloth. Lizzie and Jessie had made some simple coveralls but after weeks of digging a tunnel through the dirt the fabric was worn and torn. Suddenly Lizzie shifted direction and began to pull at her clothes.

"Where you going?" Jessie asked following her.

"The lake." Lizzie said. She pulled out of her clothes and left them on the ground.

"Hey…"

"It doesn’t matter." Lizzie said. "Mike ain’t around anymore, I don’t know what they’re gonna do to him but I don’t think he’s coming back."

"I guess." Jessie said. She started to struggle out of her coveralls. Sex between the girls and Mike had been forbidden and after an extreme punishment both Lizzie and Jessie had made sure that they were always covered so that Mike would not get ideas. Mike didn’t learn too quickly and the rule of one guilty-all guilty was one he usually liked to ignore.

The lake was set near the center of Dollopolis. Large and irregularly shaped it was bounded by numerous houses. Not real houses, dollhouses that were open on one side but looked like real houses from the other. Lizzie and Jessie lived in a large Victorian on the other side of the lake. She walked into the warm water and started to swim. The lake was a well made simulation, right down to the sand Lizzie felt beneath her toes.

"You gonna swim all the way?" Jessie called.

"Why not?" Lizzie turned over and floated. "We’re in good enough shape now."

Jessie shrugged and followed her into the water. It was true enough. The Giants had ordered them to dig a tunnel under a secret military base. For nearly two months the girls had labored up to twelve hours a day with pick and shovel. Lizzie and Jessie had always been skinny, but now they were lean and tough. Their dark hair had grown past their shoulders. Jessie and Lizzie were identical enough to be called twins but there were some differences. Jessie’s nose was a little smaller, though still slim and pointed. Lizzie’s chin wasn’t as pointed but her nose was a little larger. Bright red nipples highlighted their small breasts. They had only sparse tufts of hair between their legs.

As Lizzie had guessed swimming across the lake wasn’t really a problem and more importantly it washed away the last of the desert grit from her body. She could have had a hot bath in their house but Lizzie wanted some time to think. She was worried. And after all the time in the hot desert the cool water was refreshing. She waited for her sister to make it and then they both walked up to the house.

"Do you think she’s really dead?" Jessie asked when they walked into the bedroom. The house held many rooms but Lizzie and Jessie had so far furnished only one. At first they had slept together in a queen-sized bed. After a month had passed they had realized that one of the reasons Tremont was often watching them in the morning was that in the night they huddled against each other. Tremont was a voyeur and freely admitted that he enjoyed watching two young nude women in bed together. They didn’t even have to do anything just the sight of them satisfied him. Hoping they would not make him mad Lizzie and Jessie had moved the queen-sized bed to another room and built a set of bunk beds.

It wasn’t that the sisters were concerned about modesty. They had spent the first week in Dollopolis naked and had been handled and fondled by all of the Giants many times. It was the way that Tremont gazed at them. There was something nearly unhealthy in his eyes; something that scared them. After they had built the beds the number of times they woke up to see Tremont standing next to the house had dropped off.

"They act like she is." Lizzie said. "She always seemed too tough to die to me."

"What now then?" Jessie asked. "What’ll they do with us?

"Hell if I know." Lizzie said, not willing to admit that what would happen to them was one of the things she was worried about. Lizzie was the older sister, or had been appointed the eldest by their father. She often tried to keep Jessie from harm.

The sunlamp reached a certain point and shut off plunging the house into darkness. The houses didn’t have working lights.

"Let’s get some sleep." Lizzie said. "First time in months we’re in a bed I want to make the most of it."

"I wouldn’t want to be Mike." Jessie said.

"Me neither."

The next morning dawned with no one watching them. Lizzie and Jessie woke, ate a breakfast consisting of a protein shake and a piece of bread and then just sat in the kitchen.

"What should we do?" Jessie asked after they washed the dishes.

"I don’t know." Lizzie said.

That was to be their greatest problem over the next few days. For months the two sisters had been living carefully scheduled lives. From the moment they woke up to the time they went back to sleep the Giants had filled their days with activities. They had gone to the schoolhouse in Dollopolis and learned carpentry, sewing and other skills. While they were in the desert work had been the order of the day, with few breaks and no other activities. But now the Giants seemed to have forgotten about them. For the first few days they hung around the house and ate and slept. It would have been a holiday but there were no books, no tv and no radio. Together the two girls made some half-hearted attempts at finishing some of the furniture they needed for the other rooms, but gave up after the second day. There seemed to be no point. They didn’t bother to get dressed again either. The fabric had never been very comfortable to begin with and now clothing seemed meaningless. They swam in the lake and sang to each other, but without music the rap and hip-hop songs they knew didn’t sound right.

After a few days, more out of boredom than for any other reason, they walked down to the schoolhouse. The blackboard/monitor screen was dark. They sat in the classroom for a while but nothing happened.

"This blows." Jessie said. "Do you think they forgot about us?"

"I hope not." Lizzie said.

"My God! What about food?" Jessie asked suddenly. "We only got a little bit left in the house."

"Let’s go to the drop off point." Lizzie said.

The drop of point was in the middle of the athletic field on the other side of the lake from their house. At times the Giants just left boxes of supplies there for them. When Lizzie and Jessie got there only one box was on the field. It held yards of soft black fabric.

"Now what?" Jessie asked.

"They gotta feed us." Lizzie said.

"Says who?"

"I don’t think they’ll let us starve." Lizzie said. "But they may be busy or something."

"Great. I love being a pet." Jessie said giving the box a kick.

"Well at least we got some new cloth." Lizzie said feeling the fabric. "Soft too."

"We got three loaves of bread left and four shakes." Jessie said.

"Yea I can count." Lizzie snapped.

"Sorry." Jessie said turning away.

"It’s ok." Lizzie stood up and looked around. But there was no sign of any movement.

"Hey." She said clapping her hands. "You know what?" Lizzie picked up the black cloth. "I’m tired of being naked."

"Me too." Jessie said brightening.

For a while the girls threw their energy into making clothes. Tight short skirts, bustiers, capes and cloaks. They used the red thread and the tough yellow cloth for decorations and came up with yellow and black Goth fashions. All the while they kept eating only when they were very hungry. They were both worried and both trying not to show it. But when they were down to one loaf and one shake Lizzie realized they had to do something.

"We’re dead." Jessie said. She was wearing a square cut tunic with red shapes sewn into the yellow trim. It reached to her knees and was belted at the waist with a tied-off yellow strip. "They forgot about us."

"We can’t just sit here." Lizzie said. She was wearing a round cut tunic but it had the same red designs sewn into the yellow hem. Her skirt went down past her knees. "Maybe there’s food someplace else."

"Where?"

"Well we haven’t looked around since that first day." Lizzie said. "They never let us have time. Let’s go see if there is anything next to that drive in."

Jessie shrugged, hiding her fear.

"Well I guess we can wear the cloaks." She smiled. "The Black Stalkers walk again."

"Let mortal men fear." Lizzie finished smiling back. It was a game they had played when they were younger, before they met Mike. At that time the only safe place for the sisters was walking the streets at night, far away from their drunken father. Oversized overcoats stolen from a store had kept them safe and anonymous. To keep themselves brave they had imagined that they were witches or vampires seeking prey.

A little while later wearing dark hooded cloaks and carrying what little food was left the sisters headed away from their house. Beyond the lake and the athletic field were more houses and beyond them a hill and to one side of that hill, and a little further, were what looked like the screens of a drive in movie. Once they got past the houses the woods became thicker. By now both sisters were again used to the silence of Dollopolis. In the desert there had been constant noise day and night. Noise from the wind, insects and small animals. None of them existed in Dollopolis. The pine trees and other bushes seemed real, but nothing lived in them.

Jessie started to sing as they walked. Not the rap songs they both knew but an older one.

"Where’s that from?" Lizzie asked.

"You remember Ms. Free?"

"The hippie fossil?" Lizzie remembered when they had been younger, before their mother had fled, she had worked as a waitress in a coffeehouse. The place had been run by an old woman, a former hippie who had never abandoned the summer of love. She also fancied herself a pagan and it was from her that Lizzie and Jessie had picked up many of their Gothic inclinations. They had called her: ‘Aunt Flower’, until her mother was caught pocketing money from the cash register. Then, still at an age when their mother had their loyalty, both girls had called her: ‘hippie fossil’ as the police arrested their mother. Lizzie remembered everyone crying that day.

"Ms. Free. Yea."

"I think I do."

Lizzie joined in and both girls sang as they walked. It was late into the evening when they climbed over a rise and looked down.

"Too weird." Jessie said.

"Way too weird." Lizzie agreed.

There was an open door theatre with a large screen set up in front of five rows of seats. The seats were filled with what looked like dolls. But behind the screen, looking down at the dolls was a model of Godzilla. Behind Godzilla was a small group of buildings that looked like they were made of brick.

"What the hell is this place?" Lizzie demanded.

"Maybe they just stuck a model there." Jessie said.

"Well if they got food anywhere they got it in those buildings." Lizzie said.

"Let’s go." Jessie said.

"Wait a minute." Lizzie said. "Look at that thing, it’ll stomp us."

"It’s a model."

"What if it isn’t?"

"I’m hungry." Jessie cried out. "That’s the only place that there might be food. I say we chance it."

Lizzie looked at Godzilla. The creature looked to be at least three feet tall; three times their own size. But it didn’t move.

"Ok." Lizzie said. "Let’s try."

The closer they got to Godzilla the less comfortable Lizzie felt. They worked their way down the rise and into the drive in complex. The closer they got the more they were able to make out the dolls. But they weren’t really dolls. They were robots.

"This goes beyond weird." Jessie said standing next to one of them.

The robots were all in various stages of completion and design. Some were only metal skeletons with their electronics exposed. Others were done and had a denim-like fabric stretched over their bodies. None of them looked remotely human except that they had two arms, two legs and a few had heads. The faces were crudely painted or drawn with crayons or ballpoint pens. The bodies were bulky, square blocks or segments welded together, but none really in proportion to each other. One robot had large legs but small arms; another had one large arm and one small one. Different colored gears and wheels could be seen in the ones that had no skin.

"I guess before they knew how to shrink people they fooled around with robots." Lizzie said.

"Think they ever worked?" Jessie asked giving one of them a push. It tipped over.

"Guess not." Lizzie said. "Come on."

She had taken two steps when something beeped. Jessie screamed and Lizzie turned to see that one of the robots had grabbed her sister.

"Get off!" Jessie screamed. The robot had no head but its arms were working fine. It had thrown both of them around her chest, pinning her arms.

Lizzie started to go toward them only to trip. She looked down and saw that the robot that Jessie had tipped over had a firm grip on her ankle. Instinctively she kicked at its head. The head snapped off easily but the grip on her ankle remained firm. Lizzie started to get up only to have another robot come alive and join the first. It grabbed her other ankle. Two more had piled on Jessie and pushed her off balance. She tottered and fell. Around them the rest of the robots staggered and then started to move. Lizzie’s ears were suddenly full of the whirring sound of servomotors and clacking gears.

"Get off!" Jessie shouted again. Lizzie saw her sister give an enormous wrench of her entire body and break free. The robots grip remained on her cloak and it ripped free.

Lizzie kept kicking and managed to get her legs free, but one of the robots grabbed her skirt. She pulled away and it came off. With the robot off balance from that Lizzie was able to scramble away from them. Jessie had also freed herself and the two sisters managed to get to their feet in time to meet a charging line of robots. There was no time to run and the sisters found themselves at the bottom of a pile of half assembled humanoids. Hands that were mostly just skeletal metal grabbed at them and soon Lizzie and Jessie were left wearing nothing but the tattered remains of their cloaks. Red marks and bruises were soon competing for space on their bodies.

But while the robots were stronger than the sisters were they were not as fast. Lizzie tried to move and for a time managed to keep on her feet. But it seemed that nothing she or Jessie could do would stop the attack. The robots did not feel pain and despite their decrepit looks they were well put together. Lizzie went down on one knee as one of them grabbed her hair and pulled her back. She twisted around furiously and punched her robot in the stomach. Lizzie’s hand went right through the automaton’s skin and she felt a few electric shocks as her hand brushed up against the circuitry. Her fist made contact with something solid and Lizzie felt it give way. Instantly the robot stopped moving. Instinctively Lizzie grabbed what ever it was and pulled it out of the robots body. A round cylinder, black with a copper top broke free from the body trailing wires. With a tug Lizzie pulled it the rest of the way, snapping the wires.

"Jessie pull out their batteries!" Lizzie shouted. She used the Duracell as a club to knock down the next robot to come at her. Tearing away it’s denim skin Lizzie saw another battery and grabbed hold of it. It came loose easily and the robot stopped moving. The next few minutes were a crazy quilt chaotic battle. Lizzie quickly found that the best way to kill the robots was to knock off its head, if it had one, and rip into the stomach to get to the battery. Most of them had only AA sizes, but the stronger ones used nine-volt batteries. The sisters fought back to back, never giving an inch. When the last robot finally went down Lizzie and Jessie collapsed to the floor next to it.

"Who the hell built these things?" Jessie said throwing away an arm she had been using for a club.

"Actually I did." Molly said. "They were experimental prototypes I built when I was three."

"Three?" Lizzie gasped.

Delilah appeared beside Molly and the look she gave Lizzie could have melted stone.

"I’m… I’m sorry mistress." Lizzie said.

Delilah said nothing as Molly cleared away the robots. Lizzie and Jessie sat silently and tried not to look at her. After the robots were gone Deborah and Tremont appeared. They stood around the table that held Dollopolis and Lizzie cringed. The four of them towered over the sisters, the trees and worse the Godzilla model behind the drive in screen. It seemed somehow wrong that the monster was shorter than the humans were.

"Take a seat." Delilah ordered.

Lizzie and Jessie scrambled for chairs and sat down.

"Our Officer Dolly, Merry McCormick is dead." Deborah said.

A look passed over their faces as Deborah spoke the words. Lizzie couldn’t be sure what the expression was. It could have been grief, or just irritation.

"We have concluded that you didn’t have anything to do with her death." Molly said.

"Therefore you will not be punished." Tremont said.

"Mike is being punished." Delilah said. The tone of her voice chilled Lizzie. "You will see him again, but not in Dollopolis."

"With Merry dead our plans have to change." Deborah said. "Or rather the implementation of those plans. You two will have to take over for her."

"Or we’ll have to find someone else." Delilah said.

Lizzie raised her hand and Deborah nodded.

"Then this was a test mistress?"

"Yes. And you passed." Deborah said.

"Barely." Delilah added. "You spent more time making yourselves new outfits than trying to find a new food source."

"But you passed." Molly said.

"So in a few days you are going to pick up where Merry left off." Tremont said. "You two are going to go on a mission."

Lizzie raised her hand again and Deborah nodded.

"Mistress, what sort of mission?"

"A simple one." Tremont said. "It would have been routine for Officer Dolly."

"For you two it will be a challenge and a test." Deborah said.

Jessie raised her hand and Deborah nodded again.

"Mistress do we get anything if we pull this off?"

"You are not part of a street gang." Delilah said coldly. She leaned closer to them. "We order, you follow those orders. Expect no rewards."

"Yes Mistress." Lizzie and Jessie said.

Deborah reached over and picked Lizzie up while Molly reached over and picked up Jessie. Lizzie was grateful to stay as far away from Delilah as she could.

"Not that we might not toss you a little something." Deborah said. "We did that with Merry after all."

"But she really worked at serving us." Molly said.

"For now you two will go back to your house and eat and rest." Tremont said. "Tomorrow we start training you."

Merry McCormick had decided that the recipe for gruel was as follows: Grind up an old vcr manual, mix it with three day old coffee, boil it for a day or two, throw in rotten fruit and sour milk for seasoning and then serve. The truly disturbing thing was that Merry found she actually enjoyed it. The taste was… thrilling for want of a better word.

"I wonder what else I used to like?" Merry asked herself. She heard a cough and looked up to see Goddess of Justice spit the food out of her mouth.

Merry was sitting cross-legged on the dungeon floor. In front of her was a small metal cap with a little bit of the gray stuff in it. No spoon had been provided so she was eating the gruel with her hand. Looking up she saw Esmerelda spoon feeding Goddess of Justice. It was an impressive sight for the six-inch tall woman. Goddess of Justice was seven feet tall and built to those proportions. Merry’s view of her magnificent body was one few got to see.

"You must eat." Esmerelda said. She was standing beside the torture rack that held Goddess of Justice prisoner. Esmerelda was still human and was wearing a simple blue dress that fell to her knees. "My mistress will be displeased if you are not strong enough to torture."

"I care not for your mistress." Goddess of Justice said sternly. "And when I am free she will suffer justice."

"Maybe she’s thirsty." Merry called out. She felt a perverse joy as Esmerelda took a baby bottle from the table next to the rack and forced the nib into the heroine’s mouth. Goddess of Justice growled but drank, sucking at the bottle for a few moments.

"I begin to wonder Mystery Woman if you are truly good." Goddess of Justice said after the bottle was pulled away.

"It got the taste out of your mouth didn’t it?" Merry demanded. "And will you stop spouting off like that?" Merry changed her voice to an imitation of the bound heroine’s deeper tone; "She will suffer justice." Then Merry switched back to her own voice. "Save that for when you’re actually free."

"Do you doubt that I will get free?"

"What’s your track record so far? Two attempts and two failures. Give it up already."

"Justice does not give up."

"Justice is an idiot." Merry snapped. "Face facts, they got you. Tell’em enough to make’em happy and hope for the best."

"I do not give in to evil."

Merry threw her hands up in frustration.

"So what happens the next time you try to escape? The last time a mushroom raped you. What’s the point?"

"My body is bound, my spirit is free." Goddess of Justice said.

"For now." Merry said. "Count Intellect is wearing you down. Last night you gave him the communications frequency for the Pyramid."

"So your way would be to just give up? To betray my friends?"

"He’s gonna get it out of you anyway." Merry said. "Look what he did to Alpha and Beta."

"To give in to evil is to betray the cause of justice."

"Will you stop talking like a fortune cookie!" Merry shouted. "You win, he wins what is the difference? I still gotta pay taxes, the worlds still a mess."

"I have nothing to do with taxes." Goddess of Justice said. "But if Count Intellect wins the world will be plunged into the dark ages."

"Oh, yea right, like every government in the world is going say;’ Hey, he defeated Force Group J, we better disband the army and surrender. They’ll nuke this place before that happens."

"You understand very little of this situation." Goddess of Justice said. "Count Intellect is evil, he must be defeated or men will never be free. Do you think armies will stop him?"

"Yea!" Merry cried. "I do. I think a couple of F-15’s will turn this place into rubble while he’s still getting out of his coffin. And what do you mean by free? No ones really free."

"I am free."

"Then walk out that door." Merry challenged.

Goddess of Justice sighed.

"If I were to tell him what he wants to know," she said patiently, "he will command the Pyramid. With that he can lay waste to entire cities."

"He doesn’t need the pyramid for that." Merry said. "He’s a vampire, he can summon storms to do that. Look I’m not sure of much, but I do know that you’re here, he’s torturing you and you are breaking. Why put yourself through that?"

"Because I believe that in the end you must stand true to what you believe, and I believe that good will conquer evil. I believe that evil must be fought. That freedom must be achieved what ever the sacrifice."

They fell silent for a time and Esmerelda started to feed Goddess of Justice again. Merry finished her gruel and licked the cap.

"What’s freedom mean?" She asked bitterly. "I think I was free before this and the only thing I remember about it was that it was disappointing."

"Freedom can be hard." Goddess of Justice said. "But it is worth the price."

Merry sighed and put the cap down.

"Well that’s good for you, and maybe me, I don’t know, I doubt it, but what about someone like Esmerelda?"

"She will be free."

"The hell she will." Merry said. "Esmerelda." She called. "What if Goddess of Justice defeats your mistress?"

"My mistress does not loose." Esmerelda said using a sponge to wash some gruel off of Goddess of Justice’s breast.

"But what if she does? Just imagine it for a minute."

Esmerelda paused and put the sponge down. Her scared face grew calm and then she shrugged. "I would serve my new mistress."

"You would be free." Goddess of Justice said.

"I am made to serve." Esmerelda said. "I know only to serve."

"See?" Merry said. "You say good will win, Count Intellect says evil will win, people like me and Esmerelda we’re scurrying around your feet just trying to stay alive. Win or loose, it doesn’t matter that much to us."

"You would not take me as a servant?" Esmerelda asked Goddess of Justice. "Why not? I can cook and clean and sew, when the full moon is upon me I am a fierce guard." She stopped and looked away. "Oh, I had forgotten. I attacked you."

"It’s not that Esmerelda, I don’t take servants." Goddess of Justice said. "What I want to do I do for myself. You could do the same thing Esmerelda. Live for yourself."

"Why would I do that? What function could I serve beyond serving others?"

"Haven’t you ever wanted anything?" Goddess of Justice asked.

"To better serve my mistress." Esmerelda said. "My life is to serve and to serve is my life."

"See freedom won’t work for her." Merry said. "Some people need direction in their lives."

"Like you?" Goddess of Justice demanded.

"Yea like… me." Merry said. Her voice trailed off and she looked at her nearly finished gruel. "I’m not sure, but I think I got a lot more in common with Esmerelda than I have with you."

"We are both servants?" Esmerelda asked. She looked at Merry and then bent down, moving so close to the shrunken woman that her face filled Merry’s field of vision. "But you do not serve my mistress."

"That could change."

They all looked up to see Count Intellect standing in the doorway of the dungeon. He sauntered into the chamber and walked over to the fire pit. Esmerelda stood up and went back over to Goddess of Justice.

"Take the mystery woman and stand over there." Count Intellect said, pointing to the doorway.

Esmerelda picked Merry up and stood in the doorway. She put Merry into the pocket of her skirt and Merry was surprised at how soft the fabric was.

Count Intellect walked over to Goddess of Justice and un-strapped her legs from the rack. He easily avoided her kick and then savagely punched her in the stomach. Goddess of Justice gasped in pain as the air was forced out of her lungs. Count Intellect punched her two more times. Then he calmly un-strapped her wrist from the rack. Still stunned from the blows the heroine collapsed into his arms and he lowered her to the floor. Once there the Count chained her wrist together and then walked over and spun a wheel that lowered a chain from the ceiling. He walked back over to Goddess of Justice and stomped his foot into her stomach. Goddess of Justice doubled over in pain. Count Intellect took a bar from where it leaned against the wall and attached it to her ankles, forcing her legs at least five feet apart. Once that was secure he walked back to the wheel and spun it in the other direction. Goddess of Justice was pulled into the air and hung about five feet off of the ground.

"Did you know Goddess of Justice that the Roman’s were a very imaginative group." Count Intellect said. He grabbed the bar that spread her legs apart and pulled her over to the fire pit. Merry saw that the chain was on a track that allowed it to move anywhere in the dungeon. "One of their methods of execution was to suspend a person above an open flame and let them burn to death."

"You will not kill me." Goddess of Justice said. "You are having too much fun."

"Not unless I am careless." Count Intellect said. He pulled her down so that the bar was only a foot above the glowing coals. Then he took a vial of something from his pocket and tossed it onto the coals. They erupted in flame and Goddess of Justice screamed as the flames leapt up between her legs. Count Intellect laughed as he set Goddess of Justice swinging back and forth over the flame.

"Go take Mystery Woman to your mistress." Count Intellect said glancing at Esmerelda and Merry. Merry couldn’t take her eyes off of Goddess of Justice. Esmerelda bowed and left.

Lizzie hadn’t heard the expression: ‘Fly on the wall’ too often in her life. Those few times she had heard it, on tv or on the radio, hadn’t really caused her to think about it. It was just an expression after all. Unless of course you had been shrunk down to twelve inches in height, given a harness that included magnetic gloves and boots and ordered to crawl across a ceiling. Lizzie had never thought much about flies either, but she was beginning too.

After a solid nights sleep Lizzie and Jessie had been woken by Molly’s voice.

"Wake up." She said. "Time to begin your new life."

Not waiting for them to wake up she had lifted both girls out of their beds and set them down in the kitchen.

"Food!" Jessie exclaimed when she saw the table. It was not the normal dry cake and protein shake; instead coffee, apples and a slice of bread were waiting for them. The bread was a slice of normal sized bread, but the apple was proportional to their size.

"Real food!" Lizzie said and her mouth watered as the coffee aroma reached her. She hesitated before sitting down. Turning to Molly she raised her hand. After Molly nodded Lizzie asked: "Mistress, how… why…?"

"Why the new food?" Molly finished for her and Lizzie nodded. "Two reasons, one was that when we got you your bodies were pretty much filled with junk. I don’t think you two ate anything healthier than a Snickers bar in your entire lives. It interfered with the shrinking process. We had to make sure that all of the residual contaminants from that was purged out of your bodies. The protein shake and cake we’ve been feeding you have done that. But there is still some damage to your internal organs from the drugs and alcohol you abused. The coffee and the apple have been reconstructed genetically to help your bodies repair themselves. We only got the genetics right a few weeks ago and it took time for us to grow them. Eventually they’ll be some apple orchards in Dollopolis for you to take care of."

"Oh." Lizzie said.

"You are both lucky."

"We are?" Jessie asked quickly adding "Mistress?"

"We estimate you would have suffered irreversible damage in another year or two."

Slowly Lizzie sat down to eat. After a moment Jessie joined her. They ate silently and were a bit more subdued. Lizzie was torn between wanting to know what part of her body was damaged and not really wanting to know. Not for the first time her life before she was shrunk felt almost like a dream. Still it was a joy to have food she could taste. Lizzie and Jessie finished quickly.

"You can leave your nightgowns." Molly said. "You won’t need clothing today.

Jessie shrugged and slipped out of her nightgown and after a moment Lizzie did the same. From the black cloth they had fashioned ankle length nightgowns that tied in the front just under their breasts. Even though Molly had seen them nude hundreds of times Lizzie felt uncomfortable as the giant watched her undress. She felt no better when Molly picked them up and put the sisters into a cardboard box. Lizzie sat down with her back to the wall of the box. The strong dusty odor of paper and glue filled her nostrils.

"I feel like a gerbil." Lizzie whispered.

"What?" Jessie whispered.

"Mike was right, we’re being trained." Lizzie whispered back.

"I know." Jessie said. She slumped down next to her sister. "We can’t do nothing about it."

"I know." Lizzie said. "Still… Remember how it used to be?"

"It wasn’t so bad sometimes."

"You mean when dad wasn’t drunk."

"It was better than this."

"How?"

"We weren’t being trained." Jessie said.

"We weren’t anything." Lizzie said.

"You saying you like it now?" Jessie dug her fingers into the cardboard. "We’re bugs to them."

"What about what she said? About that irreversible stuff."

"You think she’s telling the truth?"

"They got no reason to lie to us." Lizzie said. "It’s not like we can say no when they tell us to do anything."

"So what, you think we’re better off now?"

"Yea I do." Lizzie said. "We got a house, we got food."

"We’re pets." Jessie said, but there was no great outrage in her voice.

"What do you think Mike thought of us? Or dad?" Lizzie said. "You know what I think? I think we got a chance here. The cop’s dead, we can take her place. It’ll be like James Bond stuff."

"Think so?"

"I think it’s the best chance we have." Lizzie said.

"I liked the coffee." Jessie admitted seeing her sisters logic. "And hey if that cop could do it we can do it."

"Damn right." Lizzie said.

When Molly took them out of the box Lizzie and Jessie found themselves in a room that was full of hardware. On one table was a long section of air conditioning duct. Set on another table was the wrong side of a plaster and wood ceiling. There was an outdoor drainpipe attached to a table and it ran all the way up to the ceiling, and the ceiling was at least fifteen feet high. Delilah and Deborah were waiting in the room. Both of them were wearing short white dresses and lab coats.

Lizzie couldn’t help cringing as Delilah lifted her and her sister out of the box and put them on one of the tables. Molly left the room without a word.

"Well today you start." Deborah said. She placed a tray onto the table. In it were two black vests with wires running to four small black disks. "Put these on."

Lizzie stepped into the tray and picked up the vest. What ever it was made off felt soft and cool, but warmed as she touched it. She felt it move under her fingers and realized that it was filled with something. Almost like a Ziploc bag that was half filled with water. She put it on and felt it adhere to her skin. Startled Lizzie pulled it away and it peeled away like a pair of wet pantyhose. She let the material fall back onto her skin. The front had a seam that was very much like a Ziploc bag. The vest fit comfortably but did not cover her much. The front closed just under her breasts. Bending down she pulled the metal disk onto her leg; it had a simple elastic strap.

"The disk go on your knees." Deborah said.

Lizzie let the disk settle into place and then put on the other one. Then she picked up the other disks and held them in her hand. The disk was attached to a solid bar with a thumb switch on one end. Jessie had put hers on as well.

"To explain." Delilah said. "What you are wearing are batteries and magnets. They will allow you to climb up metal surfaces, any metal surfaces, even non-magnetic surfaces."

Lizzie raised her hand and Delilah nodded.

"Like bugs mistress?"

"Very much so." Delilah said. "The technique is simple. You crawl on all fours, alternating the switches."

"Um…?" Jessie asked.

"Get down on your hands and knees." Deborah said. Slowly Lizzie and Jessie did so. "Now press the switch on your left hand." Lizzie tensed herself and pressed her switch. Nothing seemed to happen.

"Right now," Deborah said, "the magnets in your left hand and right knee are working. Move your right and your left knee forward and then press the switch on your right hand."

Lizzie did as she was told but again didn’t feel anything happening.

"Now by alternating left and right switches and leg movements you will be able to climb just about any surface." Deborah reached over and picked up Jessie. Carrying her over to a piece of sheet metal that was set vertically at the end of the table she pressed the shrunken woman against it.

"Press the buttons." Deborah ordered.

Jessie did so and Deborah let go of her. Lizzie stared at her sister. Jessie didn’t even slip. She was about four feet above the surface of the table.

"Now release one of the buttons and move your arm and leg up." Deborah ordered.

Jessie let go of one switch and started to move her arm, but her leg came free of the sheet metal and threw her off balance. For a moment she clung to the wall but then Jessie lost her grip on the other switch. She screamed as she fell but Deborah was quick and caught her easily.

"This is going to take some practice." Delilah said.

By the end of the afternoon Lizzie and Jessie had gotten to the point where they could climb, very slowly, up the sheet metal. Lizzie could tell that Delilah was no pleased with their progress. There was a tightening around her mouth and a narrowing of the giant’s eyes whenever Lizzie or Jessie slipped.

It wasn’t as easy as it looked like it should be. Lizzie wanted to shout that but kept quiet. It should have been easy, but for some reason it wasn’t. It was like climbing a rope or running backwards, things that sounded simple but turned out to be very hard. It got worse when, after reaching the top of the sheet metal, Deborah ordered them to go down face first. That was when Lizzie truly began to feel like a fly. Every instinct screamed at her that she was going to fall and that she wasn’t holding onto anything. She managed to turn around but facing downward made her stomach lurch. It made Jessie throw up.

"Lovely." Delilah said. She wiped away the vomit with a sponge while Deborah pulled Lizzie and Jessie off of the metal and placed them on the table.

Lizzie’s head swam and she laid back breathing heavily.

"Well they are learning." Deborah said.

"Their learning curve is flat line." Delilah said. "We should consider the alternate plan."

"Impossible." Deborah said. "The candidate could never be trained in time."

"Can they?" Delilah asked indicating Lizzie and Jessie.

"I think so." Deborah said.

By this time Lizzie had managed to sit up and stumble over to Jessie. Her sister was pale and sweating. Lizzie turned around and raised her hand.

"Go ahead." Deborah said.

"Mistress we’ve never been good with heights." Lizzie said. "And… and we’re scared. What happens if the battery on this thing runs out?"

"The battery can’t run down as long as you’re alive and sweating." Deborah said. "The organism in the vest feeds off of your sweat, it eats the salt and as a waste product produces electricity."

Jessie sat up with a scared look on her face.

"We’re wearing live things? Mistress." She added seeing the look in Delilah’s eyes.

"Yes, something I cooked up." Deborah said. "Battery power has been a limiting factor in past missions."

Deborah reached over and picked Jessie up. She held her upright and looked closely at the shrunken woman.

"You are pale." Deborah said. "So you have always had a problem with heights?"

"Yes mistress." Jessie said.

"Well if they can’t handle heights they are useless to us as field operatives." Delilah said.

"Unless I fix them." Deborah said.

"Fix us mistress?" Lizzie asked.

"If you make a mistake in surgery we loose them both." Delilah said.

"Surgery?" Jessie yelped in fright.

"Hush." Deborah said putting her down.

"Mistress we can do this!" Lizzie shouted hugging her sister protectively. "We just need to practice some more… and the magnets…"

"What about them?" Delilah asked.

"We don’t know if they’re on or off." Lizzie said trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. "We don’t hear a click, we don’t feel a hum… so we… aren’t sure."

"It’d be better if we had something like that mistress." Jessie added as Lizzie trailed off.

Deborah looked at Delilah.

"What do you think?"

"It will be simple enough to add and far safer than brain surgery." Delilah said. "I’m willing to try it and give them another chance."

"Tomorrow then." Deborah said. She turned to Lizzie and Jessie. "Take off your vest, we’ll modify them and try this again tomorrow."

Gratefully the sisters pulled off their vest and put them back in the tray. Then Delilah picked them up and put them back into the box. On the way back to Dollopolis Lizzie and Jessie clung to each other for support.

"Anyway we got a house." Lizzie whispered.

"Ok, maybe I was wrong." Merry said when she and Esmerelda were halfway up the stairs. Goddess of Justice’s screams still followed them.

"About what?"

"It does kinda matter who wins." Merry said.

"My mistress will win."

"Maybe." Merry said. "But I get the feeling Goddess wouldn’t treat us as toys if we served her."

"Does our fate truly matter?" Esmerelda asked. Her tone of voice was curious, but strangely neutral and Merry wondered if the young woman had ever thought about herself except as a servant.

"It does to me." Merry said. "I get the feeling were bit players in this. Goddess down there, yea and Count Intellect too, they’re the main cast. We’re just the supporting cast. But that doesn’t mean we have to be doormats or NPC’s."

"What is an NPC?"

"I… I don’t know." Merry said after a pause. She hit her palm against her head. "I had it there for a minute but now its gone."

They climbed the stairs for a while longer and then Esmerelda spoke.

"I sense you are a servant, but not like me. I see much of my father in you."

Merry wanted to protest but by that time they had finished the climb up the stairs. They emerged into a hallway and for the first time Merry saw the castle servants. Her mouth dropped open. Were-wolves carried tables and chairs while women directed them. The women were all beautiful, but pale and thin. They were all vampires Merry realized. But they were not vampires as powerful as Count Intellect was. Their skin was like parchment stretched over bones and they all still wore the dresses they had been buried in. There were five of them and they shouted like harpies, at each other, at the were-wolves and anything and everything.

Esmerelda walked calmly through the throng and when they saw her carrying Merry everyone got out of their way. She ducked down further into the pocket. Merry wasn’t sure what her status was in the castle. She wasn’t actually a prisoner, but she wasn’t a guest either. At any rate she didn’t want to test whether or not the vampires considered her a snack.

Esmerelda walked into another set of stairs and climbed upward once more. It took a while but she emerged into a room that dazzled Merry. It wasn’t really a room, or at least she guessed that it hadn’t been originally designed as a room. They were at the top of one of the castle turrets. It was a cloudy night but by the light of many torches set along the walls Merry could see the outline of the castle. It was a circular castle, with at least five turrets. Beyond the light of the torches was just darkness. The room they walked into was encased in a gigantic glass globe. A deep black carpet lay on the floor. Duchess Sidonia and William W. Williamson were seated at a small table. Beside William stood Stephanie Strassman. The Duchess was striking in a dark gown that seemed to flow out of the carpet. William wore the white robes of a wizard from Lord of the Rings. He looked like a large white blob to Merry. Stephanie wore nothing except a collar. A leash dangled between her legs. William had just said something that made Sidonia laugh and Stephanie blush.

"Ah Mystery Woman." Sidonia said as Esmerelda walked over to them. "Just in time for our game of chess."

Merry looked at the table. On it was a large gold and black chess set. The chessboard was raised off of the table by a two-inch base. Into the base were carved glowing mystical symbols of red, black and yellow. The pieces seemed to have been carved from ivory and ebony. The workmanship was incredible. Each piece was a medieval figurine with features so detailed Merry could see the eyelashes on their faces. The black pieces were on Sidonia’s side. Merry noticed than an extra square stood behind the black king and another stood behind the white king.

"You ever play chess?" William asked.

"Not really." Merry said.

"But you know the basic rules." Sidonia said.

"Yea."

"Good." The Duchess turned to William. "She will be my piece and I assume that Stephanie shall be yours?"

"If you wouldn’t mind." William said.

"Come here." Sidonia commanded Stephanie. Stephanie walked over to her and Merry could see new welts all over her body. She guessed William had been teaching his new slave obedience. Merry struggled with her own feelings toward the woman. The anger and resentment were still there, still strong. That Stephanie was obviously miserable and terrified didn’t change Merry’s feelings at all.

"Kneel." Sidonia ordered. Stephanie obeyed and Duchess Sidonia placed a palm on her head. Then she chanted; a deep voice filled with sharp syllables. Not words as Merry knew words, but primal sounds. With her other hand Sidonia waved a complex pattern into the air. After a few minutes Stephanie turned transparent and faded away.

"Esmerelda." Sidonia ordered.

Esmerelda walked around her mistress and then bent down and picked Stephanie off of the floor. The dazed actress met Merry’s equally astonished and dazed eyes. Stephanie and Merry were now the same height.

"You want us to move the chess pieces around while you play?" Merry asked looking at Sidonia.

"Not at all." Sidonia said. She nodded at Esmerelda.

Merry was pulled out of Esmerelda’s pocket and placed on the blank square behind the black king. At the same time Stephanie was placed on the blank square behind the white king.

"White moves first." Duchess Sidonia said.

"Thank you." William said. Then he looked his newly shrunken slave.

"King’s Pawn." William said.

Stephanie screamed in horror but Merry kept silent. She simply watched as Stephanie’s body dissolved into black smoke. That smoke flowed across the board into the white king’s pawn. A change came over the figurine. Instead of being an inanimate object made of ivory it changed and became flesh. The process took only a few moments and Stephanie, now wearing the chain mail suit and holding the sword stood on the board.

"Advance two."

Stephanie marched forward two squares; her bearing and manor were purely martial. She came to attention when she reached the second square.

"That is a fairly standard opening." Duchess Sidonia said.

Merry sensed what was coming but she knew better than to try and run.

"I’m used to 3dimesional chess." William said shrugging.

"3dimensional chess was not even conceived of when I enchanted this board." Duchess Sidonia said. "Queen’s pawn."

Merry suddenly felt the magic take hold of her. Her legs went numb and a wind seemed to be blowing from beneath her. It was not a strong wind but her body seemed to have no strength left to hold itself together. She looked down and saw her limbs soften, then melt into white smoke. There was no pain. It was more like sinking into a warm tub in a steamy bathroom. Her vision faded and then went all at once, only to return a few moments later. But along with the vision was something else. Merry looked down at her body. She was expecting the chain mail suit and the sword. But there was something else. When Merry looked over the chessboard she saw it both as a chessboard and as a battlefield. She was filled with patriotic fever and a deep hatred for the white foes she was to face. Merry felt an overwhelming urge to charge across the board and dive into her foes. Beyond the board she could see William and Sidonia, but they seemed too large, to beyond reality to understand.

"Advance two." Duchess Sidonia said. To Merry’s ears that was a command from the gods. As Stephanie had done Merry marched across the board and came to attention. She looked over at Stephanie and saw her hatred mirrored in the other pawns eyes. Now that they were closer Merry could see that the change in the chess piece had been more extensively than she first thought. Stephanie wore a tight fitting corset of chain mail and a plate-mail skirt that came to her knees. Her helmet was Greek, with a key-whole opening for her face and a long flowing main of white hair behind her. Her skin was alabaster. Merry looked down at herself and found that she was wearing the same armor and her skin had been changed as well. It was now as deeply black as the square she stood on.

"King’s pawn take queen’s pawn." William said.

With a growl that would have done a Roman gladiator proud Stephanie attacked. Merry blocked her sword thrust. For a moment they stood locked eye to eye. Then Merry was pushed back and Stephanie charged again. Merry side stepped her charge and sliced at Stephanie’s leg. The blow cut deep but there was no blood. Instead it was as if Merry had chopped into a block of wood with an ax. Stephanie fell as her leg was wounded. Merry moved in with a savage downward thrust but Stephanie parried it with her own sword and then kicked Merry in the stomach. Merry staggered back and Stephanie started to rise, but her injured leg slowed her down. That gave time for Merry to recover and charge the other pawn. With a move that Merry knew instinctively she parried Stephanie’s sword thrust, blocking it and spinning around in a smooth motion that ended in Merry’s sword cutting off Stephanie’s head.

Stephanie the pawn dissolved into smoke and Merry triumphantly marched onto the conquered square. She lifted her sword high over her head and screamed her victory. Then the smoke took her away.

Merry blinked and found herself back on the square behind the black king. Merry fell to her knees gasping for air. For that short period of time she had been the pawn she had been a warrior in an army. That warrior would have gladly given his soul for his god. Merry’s soul had been slammed into his and then ripped out of it. He had a name, a family and a fierce devotion to his king. His last battle was against the forces of a witch. She looked and saw that the pawn was still on the board, standing over a fallen white pawn. William reached over and removed the downed white pawn.

"You’re pawn did not fight well." Sidonia said. "But mine did."

"It’s only the first move." William said.

"Then play on." Sidonia said.

"Queen’s pawn." William said and Stephanie faded into smoke and became the queen’s pawn. "Advance one square."

Stephanie marched into the square and came to attention.

"Queen’s witch." Sidonia said.

Merry was ready for the smoke this time. She didn’t resist as her body was dissolved and her soul thrust into a new one. But this one was different. Instead of being a lowly pawn Merry was a witch. She supposed that on other boards the piece would have been called a bishop, but not on this board. This was one of the witches who had marched with the army against the forces of Sidonia, and had lost.

Merry’s soul screamed with power as the enchantment took hold of her. Her long dress-cut wide and low in the front to highlight her cleavage- was as black as midnight and her thoughts matched it. She hungered for pain. Gazing out at the board Merry saw the white pieces and licked her lips.

"Advance left three spaces." Sidonia ordered.

Merry gathered her power around her body and flew across the board, coming to rest just one diagonal square behind the pawn she had been just a turn before.

"King’s knight’s pawn." William said. The pawn that Stephanie had been stiffened as the white smoke was drained from it. The smoke flowed across the board and seeped into the pawn in front of the knight.

"Advance two spaces." William ordered.

Stephanie marched out the white square that was diagonally ahead of Merry and Merry laughed. A miserable pawn against her. Her hands itched for the order to attack.

"Queen’s witch" Sidonia ordered "attack."

With a cry of pure pleasure Merry flew to the pawn and dark eldritch energy erupted from her hands. She grabbed Stephanie by the throat and cackled insanely as the energy and lack of air competed to see which would kill the pawn first. Stephanie struggled and pleas for mercy were on her lips but Merry laughed at both. There was a final crack as Stephanie’s neck broke and she fell limply to the board. Merry kicked her body out of the way and claimed the square.

"Queen." William ordered. "Attack and destroy the black queen’s black witch.

For the first time as a witch Merry felt fear. She saw the terrible white queen fly across the board. Stephanie’s body was draped with gossamer robes and a crown of ivory was upon her head. Even before she reached the board Merry struck out with bolts of dark energy but they only slowed Stephanie’s approach. She cast them aside with one hand and suddenly Merry found herself grappling with the White Queen.

Merry fought desperately, her hands glowed with power and her body trembled with rage. She landed blow after blow against the queen but none of them did any good. Stephanie stunned her with a slap across the face and then she took hold of Merry’s dark gown. With a savagery that surprised Merry the White Queen pulled the gown from her body and as it left Merry felt her powers fade. She staggered and the queen swept Merry’s legs out from under her. Merry fell to the ground and the White Queen kicked her viciously in the stomach. Gasping from the pain Merry tried to stand but Stephanie was on her. The White Queen sat on her, pinning Merry’s arms to her side and closing her hands around Merry’s throat. Merry kicked and struggled but it was no use. All too quickly her vision faded to gray and she felt the end coming. Her last sight as a witch was the White Queen’s pain haunted eyes.

Merry’s body reformed around her and she managed somehow to stay standing. But her reprieve only lasted a moment.

"King’s knight." Sidonia ordered. "Advance to the left."

Merry felt her body dissolve and reform, only this time she was a knight. Merry had never ridden a horse in her life. For the first time she felt a power between her legs that was not man nor was it a vibrator. A living breathing mountain of power was under her and she reveled in it. She rode a magnificent black mare. Her armor was plate and her helmet had only a small opening to look out upon the world. Merry felt the knight’s valor and his selflessness; the nobility of his spirit awed her. But it also met the evil that drove her enchantment and was defeated. Once again Merry felt the lust for battle and blood take her soul.

The horse leaped at her command, over the line of pawns and settled on the black square. Merry realized that she was within one move of striking the queen. Her mount sensed her thirst for vengeance and pawed the ground.

"Queen move one space to the left."

Merry growled and her mount danced a bit as she realized that the queen was safe from her now even if Sidonia ordered her to attack.

"Queen." Sidonia said.

Merry felt her body ripped apart and her spirit thrown into another body. But this was a body of power. Merry had thought the witch was powerful, but now she realized how little power the witch had. She was queen, she was Sidonia herself and the evil and the power of the Black Queen consumed Merry’s mind.

"Advance four spaces."

Merry glided out onto the chessboard and felt it shake beneath her. She moved regally and saw for the first time how far removed she was from the other pieces. None of them could touch her. None of them mattered. She settled in front of the White Queen’s pawn and saw a sniveling bug, waiting to be crushed. Across from her own loyal pawn Merry saw the White Queen herself. A hiss of hate escaped her.

"King’s Knight." William ordered. "Advance to the left."

Merry looked past the now statue-like White Queen and saw the white knight leap over the pawns and come to rest on a black square. She was in jeopardy and that sent a wave of fear coursing through the Black Queen. Merry realized at that moment that for all her power and bluster Sidonia was a coward.

"Black Queen, move to the right two spaces."

Merry glided across the squares. Looking around from her new position the enchanted shrunken woman realized that the King lay before her unprotected. A wave of lust built in Merry and she had a hard time controlling herself.

"Queen’s knight protect." William called out.

Merry cursed as the knight leapt past the pawns and stood before the king. Twin forces competed in her soul, lust to corrupt the knight and fear of the knight’s purity.

"King’s pawn advance two spaces." Sidonia ordered.

Merry felt tears well up in her eyes as her spirit entered the body of the pawn. She had been so powerful mere moments before and now she was so helpless. Still she marched across the board and came to attention. Then she saw that the white queen was only a statue. Merry tensed with her sword and realized that if she struck first she would win.

What a glorious feeling that would be, Merry/Pawn felt, to kill a queen.

"Queen advance one square." William ordered.

Suddenly the statue that had been the queen came to life and Merry felt her soul quake with fear. For the first time she saw Stephanie as a force she could never hope to overcome. Her sword seemed a pitiful weapon against the power of the queen.

"King’s witch advance three squares to the right."

Merry felt her dark soul fill with joy as she flew across the board and landed next to the all-powerful queen.

Lizzie woke up from a nightmare and desperately groped for her sister. She wasn’t surprised when she found Jessie curled up next to her. It was still dark out.

"You awake." Jessie asked.

"I am now." Lizzie said.

"We are so dead today."

"Don’t say that." Lizzie said.

"She wants to poke around in my head!" Jessie shuddered and drew closer to her sister. "My heads too small for her to go poking around in it!"

"She won’t do that if we do well." Lizzie said.

"We ain’t gonna do well." Jessie said.

The lights came on and both girls looked around. No one was waiting for them.

{Modifications to the vest will take another hour.} The voice appeared in their minds. {You have that amount of free time. Food is waiting in the kitchen.}

"Better eats today." Lizzie said. Aside from the food of yesterday the giants had added oranges and bananas.

"Why can’t we do this?" Jessie said taking a banana. "We ain’t so high up."

"We’re tiny." Lizzie said. "It doesn’t have to be high."

"But we’re strong. I didn’t have any trouble holding onto to that magnet yesterday. I just couldn’t get my arms and legs to move right."

"Mmmm." Lizzie said drinking the coffee. "Me neither. But we gotta do better."

"How?"

"When you’re climbing think of it like swimming." Lizzie said. "And think of what we can get if we get this done."

"What?"

"I don’t know. Maybe some jewelry. A TV."

"I’m horny." Jessie said after a few minutes.

"We ain’t gonna get that."

"Maybe they’d let us grow and go out for a night." Jessie said.

"I doubt it." Lizzie said. "But I know one thing, if we don’t do this right they might really decide we aren’t worth nothing. We’d get stuck digging tunnels for the rest of our lives."

"Swimming." Jessie said. "Worth a try."

"The hair too." Lizzie said running her fingers through her hair. "Let’s braid it so it doesn’t get in our face."

"We can do this." Jessie said.

"We can do this." Lizzie repeated.

There was more hope than promise in their voices but neither sister was going to admit it.

The game had taken hours. Merry and Stephanie moved from chess piece to chess piece, body to body and soul to soul. Merry’s emotions and her very identity were shaped by the pieces she inhabited. Those few times when she was herself on the blank square behind the king were rare. Her mind was pulled and stretched like taffy. Every chess piece was a soul that Sidonia had captured or bartered for. They were all trapped in a timeless hell of un-life, unable to move unless some living soul was grafted onto theirs. Some were Sidonia’s deadliest enemies, or had been, others were her faithful servants, or had been.

Sometimes she won the battles, even if the other piece was more powerful than she was or had the attack initiative. If the battle was between two pieces of equal strength-say a pawn to a pawn- Merry usually won. She fought far better than Stephanie did. But if the pawn came up against a knight or a witch or the queen Merry could do very little. She died violently, painfully and a few times begging for mercy. That shamed her and Merry cried when it happened. But she feared death no less as a chess piece than she did as a human.

At last the game had come down to just a few pieces. Sidonia had her queen, her queen’s witch and a pawn. William had his queen, his king’s knight and nothing else.

Merry was the queen when the king’s knight killed her. She screamed as Stephanie’s lance pierced her dark heart and for once Merry was sure that Stephanie smiled at the kill.

"Pawn kill the knight." Sidonia ordered.

Merry leapt onto the back of the horse and brought Stephanie down to the board. With a savage thrust she planted her sword in Stephanie’s heart, piercing her armor.

"Payback!" Merry snarled as Stephanie died.

"Queen kill that pawn." William ordered.

Merry whirled her sword held high as Stephanie in the body of the queen flew through the air toward her. There was no chance and once again, as she had done countless times that day, Merry died.

"Black king" Sidonia ordered, "take the queen."

For the first time Merry found herself in the king’s body. But this time was far different. As a pawn, as a witch or the queen, even as the rook Merry had been in a female body. Not this time. This time she was a man. She felt as the king would feel; she felt his dark hate and rage. In one step Merry was on the white queen and with one blow Merry knocked Stephanie to the board. Stephanie managed to block a portion of the blow, but in the process Merry ripped away part of her gown. She lay on the board with one of her breasts exposed. For the first time in her life Merry was on the other side. She felt the horrible wave of lust swamp her mind. She felt the penis grow stiff between her legs, felt it’s awkward weight suddenly pull her off balance. She was on top of Stephanie before the white queen could recover. Merry felt an unreasoning, unholy joy fill her body. The Black King tore Stephanie’s gossamer robes apart even as he/Merry tore at her own robes. Stephanie tried to fight back but her struggles barely made a ripple against Merry’s attack. Merry slammed her fist against Stephanie’s face and then forced open her legs. It was only when Merry had thrust inside the White Queen did some measure of sanity return to her. She saw herself in Stephanie’s eyes and even as she was powerless to overcome the male lust completely Merry was strong enough to pull back a little. But she did not have the strength to stop. Luckily she also did not have the endurance to last very long.

When it was over Merry stood over the fallen White Queen and watched as Stephanie’s soul fled from the chess piece. A moment later Merry felt her own soul ripped from the Black King’s body. Her own body reformed around her. She was standing on the blank square behind the king’s square. Across from her Stephanie was standing and crying. Merry felt the bitter salt from her own tears stain her face.

"Stalemate." Sidonia said.

"Good game." William said.

"A good time to end it." Sidonia said. "I have things I must do before the next dawn. Shall I return Stephanie to her normal size?"

William picked up the shrunken actress and ran his hands over her body.

"I’d like to keep her this way for today, if you don’t mind."

"Not at all. Esmerelda." Esmerelda stepped forward. Sidonia picked up Merry and started to hand the shrunken woman too her. "Take Mystery Woman back to the dungeon, I’m sure Mathew has finished by now."

Esmerelda reached for her and Merry blacked out.

The vest did not feel as alien to her this time. Lizzie put it on and slipped the disks onto her knees and then picked up the ones for her hands. All of the giants were in the room. Tremont was wearing a dark T-shirt and pants. His gaze never strayed far from the semi-nude sisters. Deborah, Delilah and Molly wore the same clothes as they had yesterday.

"We have modified the suits." Deborah said. "Now when you press he right button you will get an mental confirmation of the magnets status. Try it."

Lizzie pressed the right button on her disk.

{Right hand and left leg magnets are on.}

Lizzie gave a little scream and released the button.

{Right hand and left leg magnets are off.}

"Wow!" Jessie said. She looked at her sister and her face was a mask of amazement. "That sounded… it sort’a sounded like me."

"Me too." Lizzie said.

"Thoughts are internal bio-chemical reactions." Tremont said. "They don’t really have a voice, but your mind interprets them as having a voice."

"Science class later." Delilah said. She picked up the shrunken girls and placed them next to the sheet metal. "Climb."

Lizzie and Jessie looked at each other and then placed their disks on the metal. Lizzie pushed the buttons on her disks.

{All magnets are on.}

It was re-assuring to hear the voice. Lizzie moved her knees against the metal and felt the tug of the magnets.

"Just like swimming." Lizzie whispered to Jessie. Jessie nodded.

Taking a deep breath both of them started to climb. A few minutes later they had made it to the top of the sheet metal with neither of them falling off.

"We did it!" Lizzie shouted.

"We did it!" Jessie shouted and raised her arms in victory.

Lizzie started to shout a warning as her sister started to fall but Deborah grabbed Jessie and pushed her back against the metal.

"It’s a start." Deborah said.

"Don’t get cocky." Delilah added.

When Merry woke up she was on her brick again, once more taped to it. The dungeon was silent save for a few groans from Goddess of Justice. Merry sat up and looked over at her.

Goddess of Justice was strapped into a frame that held her arms and legs painfully behind her. A solid bar in the small of her back pushed the heroine’s stomach forward. Her head was encased in a solid gold mask that had no eyes or mouth. Set in front of her was a strange machine. It worked like a clock; Merry could see the gears and levers. It had two wheels with small leather strips on them. The wheels moved smoothly and the strips whipped Goddess of Justice’s nipples. They only reached as far as the tips of the nipples, never touching any other part of the breast. They did not seem to be hitting her hard but the abuse was constant. Or so Merry guessed. As she watched the wheels at Goddess of Justice’s chest pulled back while at the same time a slightly larger wheel moved forward. It had the same leather strips and this time they beat against the helpless heroine’s vagina.

A clockwork torture, Merry thought. The sound of the machine was loud. A constant clacking and grinding of gears combined with the sounds of springs contracting and releasing.

Merry pulled the tape off of the lower half of her body. The chess game had settled it for her. She may not be the heroine-or even serve on the side of good- at least not fully, but there was no way in hell she served someone like Duchess Sidonia. Merry stood up and carefully stepped off of the brick. The air was still in the dungeon and that made it easier to walk across the bar under her feet. She rigidly controlled her breathing and did not look down. When she reached the bar that ran horizontally Merry hugged it and took a deep breath. Then she began to climb. With her arms and legs holding the bar in a great bear hug Merry inched her way up the metal. It took a while and Merry knew that she was taking a chance, but after the chess game Merry knew that she had to take a chance. The bar was smooth, but still her skin was scraped as she climbed. Merry ignored the pain.

The bar curved as she climbed it, joining the other bars in an iron circle at the top of the cage. Merry climbed onto it and then started to climb the chain. It was harder to climb the chain since there was little light this close to the ceiling and the air got progressively worse. But Merry persisted. She reached the wheel where the chain went through it and climbed hand over hand along the length of the chain to the wall. Then she climbed down the chain to the wheel that rose and lowered the cage. She jumped from the wheel to the dungeon floor.

Merry took a deep breath and rested for a minute. Then she headed toward the alcove that was the entrance to the rest of the dungeon.

Lizzie and Jessie were walking down the air conditioning duct. Between them they carried a large plastic bag filled with water. The bag had straps but the sisters had found that carrying it in their arms was easier. They had been practicing in it for days but Lizzie was still disconcerted about the size of the duct. It was a rectangular metal chamber that was twice her size, yet it seemed small and cramped. Sound echoed strangely in the duct making Lizzie think that she and her sister were making horrible amounts of noise. In reality they weren’t, the giants would have told them if they were.

Lizzie shuddered slightly at the thought of the giants. After days of practice Lizzie and Jessie were still not completely satisfying them. Any mistake however slight was met with a patient re-explaining of how not to make it. In her life Lizzie had gotten used to being treated like an idiot, but the giants took it one step further. They treated her like a baby. Delilah especially seemed to think that Lizzie needed to be told what the color blue looked like.

Lizzie stopped suddenly and behind her Jessie kept going for a step. The bag sloshed between them. Lizzie closed her eyes and let her ears do the searching.

There it was. A slight sound. A whisper. By now Lizzie had gotten used to the sounds in the duct. This wasn’t one of them.

"Climb!" She whispered harshly to her sister.

Lizzie slung the strap to the bag over her shoulder and Jessie did the same. Then they went over to the wall of the duct and started to climb. That at least had become easier. They were still slow climbers but they could climb with out falling. They climbed now all the way up to the top and then waited. After a few minutes Lizzie saw the rat coming toward them. She swallowed and hoped that Jessie wouldn’t scream. The rat was as big as a horse. Black fur and black eyes contrasted with sharp yellow teeth. It ambled down the duct until it came to the spot where the girls had started to climb. After a bit of sniffing the rat raised itself up on it’s hind legs and sniffed in their direction. Lizzie and Jessie stayed still and silent. After a few minutes of sniffing the rat dropped back on all fours and ambled down the duct again.

Suddenly the duct was opened and a hand reached in and picked up the rat. A few moments later another set of hands reached in and plucked Lizzie and Jessie off of the metal.

"Very good." Deborah putting them on the lab table. Molly put the rat into a cage and placed it on a table on the far side of the room.

"Merry most likely would have battled the rat." Tremont said. "But their passive solution worked as well."

"That is because Mike wasn’t hungry." Delilah said. "If he had been he might had tried jumping up. I don’t think they could have defeated him."

"I don’t think there are any rats in the Stronghollow mansion." Molly said.

"And if there are they are most likely well fed." Deborah said.

Lizzie raised her hand.

"Yes Lizzie?" Deborah asked.

"Mike, mistress?"

"A naming co-incidence." Deborah said.

"Good guess though." Delilah said.

"Well are we ready?" Deborah asked.

"We have no more time." Delilah said. "We have to be ready and hope for the best."

"Agreed." Tremont said.

"I think they can do it." Molly said.

"As do I." Deborah said. She looked down at Lizzie and Jessie. "Take off your suits."

Lizzie shrugged out of her climbing suit and Jessie did the same. They no longer had any embarrassment about their nudity. Deborah picked them up and put them back into the cardboard box. Lizzie and Jessie slumped next to each other as they were carried. The days had rolled into one another. They had been days of constant practice in wall climbing and testing of how the girls would react to emergencies like the rat. Lizzie wasn’t sure what they were going to be asked-or told- to do, but she was feeling confident.

"We can do it." She whispered to Jessie.

"Damn right." Jessie whispered back.

They high-fived each other and then clasped hands.

Merry found the door to Mademoiselle Liberty’s room without any problem. She crawled under the door and looked around. Merry had come in the middle of the murder. Liberty’s dress had been torn to rags by the three small doppelgangers. Merry watched as one of them climbed onto her chest and said something to her. It was in French but to Merry it sounded like gloating. The other two tossed the rope around her neck. Liberty struggled; pulling at her chains even though she knew it was hopeless. Merry watched as she died. Then the air seemed to vibrate and Mademoiselle Liberty was alive and whole again. She watched as the three little Libertys’ walked toward her.

Merry didn’t bother watching. She ran around the edge of the room, keeping Liberty’s body between her and the demons. On the way to Liberty’s cell Merry had planned the fight and gone over it and over it in her mind. Now she put that plan into action. She leaped over Liberty’s head and tackled the first little Liberty. Merry’s charge caught the creature completely off balance and they fell to the floor. As they wrestled Merry got a choke hold on the disguised demon. It struggled wildly but briefly before she was able to apply enough pressure. There was a horrible cracking sound that would echo in Merry’s ears for the rest of her life; then the demon died.

Merry rolled away from the other two, holding the lifeless body of the demon as she did so. Then she sat up and faced the other two copies. Their faces were contorted in rage. One of them charged her and the other threw a knife. Merry lifted the dead demon off of the floor and let it take the knife, and then she tossed it at the charging demon. They went down in a tangle and she moved quickly. Merry ran past the demon that was struggling to get the dead weight of her fellow off of her body and climbed up Liberty’s blouse. Merry made it to the top and turned in time to see both of the remaining demons start to climb. Merry let them get close and then leaped over them to the floor and ran toward the corpse of the first demon she had killed. She made it and pulled the knife from its body. Then she turned to face them.

Howling with fury that would make a harpy blush the two demons charged her. They came side by side as Merry hoped they would. She waited, standing behind the body of the fallen demon. When they reached it she moved. One of the Libertys’ had to leap over the corpse. That was Merry’s chance. It was in the air and slightly off balance. Merry leaped to meet them, throwing her body prone and holding the knife ready. The demon with the knife missed her, aiming too low as Merry leaped and plunged her knife into it’s throat. Her knee made contact with the other demon’s face and she felt a crunch as its nose was broken. They all went down into a pile and Merry desperately scrambled to get a hold on the last demon. For a few minutes they wrestled but Merry still had hold of her knife. She used it to stab the demon in the eye when it reached for her throat.

With the three demons dead Merry pulled herself up and stumbled over to Mademoiselle Liberty. The woman had watched it all silently. Now as Merry came toward her she spoke something in French and lay still.

Shocked Merry halted. Something told her that Mademoiselle Liberty was not asleep. Stumbling over to the bound woman Merry climbed onto her chest and burrowed under Liberty’s dress. She put her ear to the woman’s breast and listened. Nothing.

"Dead!" Merry whispered. "I don’t need you dead! I need you alive and getting me the hell out of here! What the hell are you doing dying on me!"

Merry kicked Liberty’s breast and then turned and ran. She had to make it back to her cage before anyone noticed she was gone. Her only hope was that no one would notice the battle and Mademoiselle Liberty’s sudden death. Beyond that Merry had to find a way to free Goddess of Justice or escape herself. If she didn’t come up with a plan soon…

Merry used the fear of that un-finished thought to help her to run faster.

…to be continued.

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