The Subject Pt. 02

"... And guess where I ended up?"

Cassie had no idea what the crazy broad was talking about. She considered that her experiences in a micro cosmos had driven Willover mad. Or, madder, considering she didn't seem to be wrapped to tight in the end the last time they had seen one another. Cassie merely shrugged.

Willover chuckled, "Why I FOUND myself coursing through the electro-magnetic field of an energy transmission interface, operated by my DEAR FRIEND, Tanya Vale, silly." Cassie's mind swam with the information. She glanced over at Tanya, still lying like an unstrung marionette in the center of the cage. Her eyes were glassed over, totally vacant.

Oh, God... it was Tanya's energy transmission experiments that had led Willover's disembodied consciousness back! Cassie quickly deduced that the reason Tanya had been losing so much of the original power in the transmission was that some of it was bleeding into sub-space. Willover, in a form of energy that was able to move freely in this space, simply rode the wave back to its point of origin.

"Once I discovered where I was, it was a simple task to modulate the frequency of my energies to match those of her assistant and TA DAAA!" She put her arms out, gave a simple turn, like a girl showing off a new dress. "I blended with her electromagnetic field so smoothly that she never even knew I was there." Willover, within Rita's body, smiled but it quickly faded, "My immediate plan was to simply kill the lil'bitch," Willover glared at the catatonic woman behind Cassie. "But when I found the location of a SHRINKING DEVICE in this girl's memories, I decided on another form of payback."

"So you shrank us." Cassie sneered. "Now, I suppose you're going to sell us to that Japanese company that you were inCAHOOTS with?"

Willover didn't smile or answer... just stared. That look scared Cassie worse than if she had confirmed her allegation. Obviously, the memories of her failed attempt to market miniature slaves to Japanese investors didn't sit well with her, because a moment later her hand flashed out and she snagged the wire handle at the top of the cage, jerking it off the table violently.

Cassie was thrown hard to one side of the cage as it swung into the air. Dazed, she was barely able to crawl to where Tanya lay, fighting the increasing momentum, as their demented warden carried their prison briskly up a set of stairs. Cassie was just able to lay herself across Tanya's prone body in an effort to protect her from the violent movements of the cage when suddenly it crashed to rest, jarring them and some of the wood chips momentarily into the air.

A bit disoriented, Cassie looked liked a little mouse as she looked about the new environment. From the décor made mostly of Beatles memorabilia, she guessed that they were in the kitchen of Rita's apartment, the cage resting on the counter near the refrigerator.

Cassie's body ached from the short but violent journey, but she was able to sit up just in time to be brushed aside by the giant hand that had invaded their wire-frame cell. She could only watch in horror as Willover's hand enveloped Tanya's tiny catatonic body, so small now that she was completely blotted from view by the giantess' closed fist.

"I never intended for her to break so quickly..." Willover spoke, staring into the palm of her hand at the tiny woman lying there. "...I had such wonderful plans..." She fell silent, then.

Cassie knew then, from the look in Willover's eyes that whatever she had experienced in the microverse had, indeed driven her mad. Her eyes were distant, yet still intensely focused on the form of Tanya, helplessly lost in the palm of her hand.

Her voice was low, as if she were speaking to herself. "This... lil'NOBODY took everything away from me..." She said. "First my research... my invention..." She swallowed hard and her brow furrowed as she glared down at Tanya. "...And then she tookME away." she scowled finally, as she looked over at the woman in the cage, her cold eyes impaling Cassie, who was frozen in a fog of fear and confusion.

Willover trembled, as if shaking off a ghost. "...No matter..." She said, clearly fighting the insanity that threatened to imprison her. "...IHAVE been in contact with the Kanooga Corporation, yes... Fortunately, Mr. Yashika is quite the forgiving man, given that I was able to promise him something much better than a handful of miniature exploding coeds this time." She left the cryptic statement to die in the air without further explanation, and returned her attention to the tiny creature splayed across her palm.

Cassandra shrugged, "OH, Tanya..." she sighed. "You always were a weakling, weren't you?" Cassie's eyes followed Willover as she crossed the room. "One little setback..." she giggled coldly at her own double-entendre, "...and you turn into a useless pieceGARBAGE." She was now standing in front of the sink. Her hand lowered into the basin, while the empty one turned on the tap. "WELL... I guess I should just wash my hands of you, then, SHOULDN'T I?"

Cassie crawled though the chips and sat up holding the cage bars for support. She was unable to see what was happening, for Willover had her back to her now. However, hearing the rushing water, she could imagine Tanya's tiny body being flushed out of her palm into the huge drain below... and worse, she could hear the cold words of Willover's revenge.

"SEE what happens when you tangle with me, little girl?" She sneered into the basin, "Your FUTURE... your LIFE..." She shook her head, "...ALL down the drain."

There was a moment of silence with just the water running and then she laughed... a high-pitched, insane laugh that pierced Cassie's heart to the core.

The water shut off, and Willover turned around, rolling a dishtowel across her wet hand. "There." She smiled at her captive, and a million thoughts flooded through Cassie's head. She wanted to beg, threaten, kill, promise, vow, destroy or plead with Willover...ANYTHING to get her to somehow save Tanya from her fate.

Cass opened her mouth, still not sure, what she would say, but the words were cut short by Willover, who snapped her fingers with a flourished,"OOPS!" She turned, "IALMOST forgot...!" Her hand shot out, and her finger hooked a small electrical switch on the wall behind the sink. She winked at the little woman whose knuckles were bright white from gripping the bars so tightly, her eyes glued to the finger nestled under the toggle and then Cassandra flipped it upward.

The room around Cassie became gray as the warmth hemorrhaged out of the universe, and an icy hardness replaced the soft colors and sounds that used to be her world. She was drowning in the sound of her own heart stopping... disconnected from reality. Yet, she was still aware of the sound of Willover's hellish laughter, the sound of the scream ripping through her own throat and, above all...

The grinding sound of the garbage disposal running beneath the sink...

Chapter Seven

Cassie woke with a start, a gasp still trapped in her throat. She sat bolt upright in the bed, her surroundings swimming into reality around her. The air of the bedroom was cool against her skin, moistened with a sheen of sweat. She could still hear the sound of that laughter echoing in her head.

"Cass?!?" Tanya's groggy voice called out from the darkness beside her. "You okay, hon?"

Cassie put out her hand to feel the warm reassurance of Tanya's cheek against her palm. She let herself be led down to the woman's face, which she then kissed lightly. "I'm... I'm fine..." She said, her heart slowing to normal. "...Just a bad dream."

She felt Tanya's hand brush her cheek, fluidly sifting through her hair, slowly and gently. "You want to talk about it?" Tanya asked. She was now coming into focus, the soft light of the crescent moon filling the room with its silver shine.

"NO. I... I'd rather not." Cass muttered, and kissed Tanya's mouth, her lips just brushing her lover's, soft as the whisper of a butterfly wing. "I just want to forget the whole thing."

"Mmmm...." Tanya cooed beneath her, shifting her body closer to Cassie. Cassie could feel the heat of their bare flesh coming together, igniting a flame. "Maybe I can give you something to take your mind off of it."

It wasn't hard for Tanya to erase the dream from Cassie's mind, try as it may to encroach on her growing bliss. Tanya's mouth found Cassie's, their tongues fluttering softly over one another's like flower petals blown by a soft breeze. Cassie sighed as Tanya's gentle touch glided over her flesh, her fingertips barely touching the warming skin of her lower back, then traveling down to trace the roundness of her buttocks.

Softly, with the slightest pressure of her fingers, Tanya directed Cassie to climb atop her, to lay there in a kiss that seemed to last forever, their bellies pressed against one another, Cassie's breasts laying heavily atop Tanya's, the heat of their loins mingling in the air between them.

Tanya's fingers still explored the landscape of Cassie's body, so softly as to almost be a tickle, she followed the crease of her ass, slid downward along the crevasse between her buttocks, and skimmed over the hot swelling lips of her vagina causing Cassie to gasp into Tanya's mouth.

Gentle though it was, Tanya's touch was having an anything but gentle effect on Cassie. Heat was building in her stomach, behind her heart like a magnesium flame. The crimson-haired beauty slid her hand between their joined bellies, letting it glide through the soft down of Tanya's pubic fur, until it found purchase in the warm flesh at her center. Her fingers opened the soft lips of the little blonde's womanhood, delighted to find the increasing moisture trapped there. The heat inside her was incredible, and added to the fire burning within Cassie.

With her hand still entangled in Tanya's burning loins, Cassie broke their kiss and slid down the terrain of Tanya's body, her mouth blazing a trail of kisses to Tanya's nipple. Cassie's tongue encircled the small bulb of flesh, once... twice... three times. Each circle bringing forth a deeper and more heartfelt sigh of delight from her lover. Slowly Tanya's nipple stiffened and expanded in Cassie's mouth.

Cassie, lost in the pleasure of her lover's delight, did the next thing that came naturally to her; she began to shrink. Cassie thrilled at the sensation of that swollen nubbin expanding in her mouth as she dwindled smaller, savoring the sweet taste of Tanya's flesh. She felt her body slipping downward as she shrank towards her own center of gravity, and her hands sought and found purchase in the soft, smooth skin of Tanya's breast. She held herself centered there, her face hovering over the hard pebble of skin that expanded beneath her lips.

The sensation of shrinking was almost climactic in itself, and Cassie moaned as she bit down harder on Tanya's engorged nipple, now slightly larger than a grape in her small mouth. She willed herself to shrink even smaller and pure ecstasy rippled along every nerve at the feeling of her skin dwindling against that of her lover's.

Cassie's knee rose along the line traced by her receding leg upward along the inside of Tanya's open thigh until it met the warmth of her vaginal cleft. There, she pressed her knee down firmly until the lips of Tanya's wet opening parted at the pressure. Tanya's eyes flared as she gasped beneath her; Cassie pressed harder, feeling the moisture of her lover build at the touch of her flesh.

Cassie was little more than 2 feet tall now, her body stretched out across Tanya's in a delicate reach, her lips firmly encamped on the larger woman's distended nipple, a tender morsel as large as a peach pit in her shrunken mouth. She felt Tanya's fingers resting against her head, ever so gently coaxing her to suckle harder, and she gladly acquiesced, her tongue lolling around the firm skin of Tanya's areola.

Tanya's finger followed the crease of Cassie's spine downward, softly pressing Cassie into the softness of her belly. Cassie sighed, her breath hot against Tanya's breast as she felt her lover's finger track further, over the swell of her now small buttocks, tickling gently along the crease between, and smoothly slipping into the hot breach of Cassie's tiny pussy.

Cassie heard herself cry out softly, her teeth involuntarily biting down on Tanya's nipple. Tanya's finger was exquisite in the miniature opening, filling her completely as if it were made just for that purpose.

Cass began to rock slowly, allowing her vagina to slide up and down Tanya's welcomed finger, making sure that her own knee was firmly imbedded in the hot opening of her lover. She could feel every fiber of every nerve in her body tingling. The feeling of Tanya's skin on hers as she rubbed herself against the larger woman, the feeling of her knee opening Tanya and stroking the hot, swelling knob of her clitoris, and the overwhelming sensation of her lover's finger filling her own shrunken womanhood... it... it was...

Cassie felt the waves of orgasm threatening to sweep her away into oblivion, and she allowed them to. Half conscious of the world around her, her blood pounding through her body, she knew that she was shrinking herself again, and bathed in the glorious feeling that it created within her. Tanya's finger swelled in her dwindling hole, sliding from her at the last second as she shrank.

Cassie felt the landscape of Tanya's body shift beneath her as she shrank. The mounds of Cassie's breasts became hillocks, the soft dimples of her abdominal muscles swelled to wide trenches. She slid lower, shrinking toward the pull of gravity, the soft mound of pubic fur sprouting into a thick golden tangle as she slid through it, shrinking ever smaller until she was staring up into the opening of Tanya's swollen vagina, towering before her tiny eyes like a castle gate.

Cassie rose to embrace her woman, to throw herself into that opening, she wanted to be inside her, be a part of her, the two of them becoming one flesh...

A sudden harsh wind knocked her backwards into darkness, and she was instead, embraced by the cold stone that she found herself curled against. The refuge of her dream was replaced by the prison of her reality.

She wearily peered out of the hole in the wall into the dimming light of early evening. The chipping concrete of the ancient building had provided enough shelter from the rain, and now it was time to move onward again.

She paused for a moment, however, to allow the fading image of Tanya to fill her minds' eye one last time. Tears wet her cheeks, and she whispered her eternal devotion to her dead lover before gathering herself up to meet the challenges of a new evening.

The rainstorm that she had sought shelter from in the small hole of the building's foundation had provided for her immediate needs. For one, she could drink from the puddles of water in the alley, some of them a few inches deep, and therefore deep enough for her to bathe her tiny body in. Secondly, the rain had forced the earthworms to the surface in an attempt to escape drowning. Some of them certainly would still be writhing on the unyielding pavement, and she would be able to eat.

It took her two days after her escape from Willover's clutches to get hungry enough to eat the only food that nature could provide for her, and after that, it no longer bothered her to feast on the cold and slimy flesh of the invertebrate. Worms were easily killed with the knife that she had fashioned from a piece of glass, and their simple cell structure was easily taken in by her much-diminished digestive system.

Wrapping the discarded handkerchief tightly around her naked body (she was acutely aware that with her reduced size she had an increased loss of body heat) Cassie set out into the alley to search for food. She searched with an immediate purpose amidst the towering skyscrapers of garbage cans and cardboard boxes. She knew that once her hunger was fulfilled, however, her purpose would be more vague.

She had huddled in despair for an eternity inside that cage Willover imprisoned her and Tanya in, only dimly aware that the woman had left shortly after she had killed Tanya. Her mind was numb, her body cold. She thought for a long while that she must be dead, and that this was her own personal form of Hell.

After a long while, she felt a glimmer of light at the back of her mind, pushing at her. She stood up, entranced by the feeling of purpose, and walked out through the bars of the cage, shrinking herself as nonchalantly as one would change one's clothing. By the time she reached the edge of the counter, she was less than a sixteenth of an inch tall, smaller now than she had ever dared to become, yet for the life of her, she didn't feel afraid of the alien world growing around her.

She stepped off the edge of the counter into the empty air, and almost as a surprise to herself, shrank smaller still until she was so tiny that the eddies and currents of cool and warm air mixing in the room, imperceptible to a normal person, bore her like a feather in a breeze. She was carried through the room on those soothing currents of air until, almost instinctively, she began to grow.

Slowly, she gained enough mass to allow gravity to pull her gently to the floor, where she landed and regained her full size of ten inches almost simultaneously. From there, it was only a matter of shrinking under the door, and she was free. So easy...

But freedom came at a price. Being alone in a world that had outgrown her, she couldn't think of what to do next, and so she began to wander, the sense of purpose still nudging her on. She considered shrinking again to ride on the winds of the city, or perhaps only small enough to stowaway in the pant cuff of a passerby... but to where? She had no place to go, no one she could turn to, no plan.

Tanya was always the one with the plans. Tanya always had a solution for their problems. She relied on her to be the logical one, she realized, but in her efforts to distance herself from the coldness of Cassandra Willover, Cassie realized that she had also distanced herself from the strength that was inborn in the woman. She was weak, and helpless, and utterly alone...and the only thing that kept her from lying down on the ground and letting the affects of the shrink ray reduce her to beyond nothing was the nagging feeling at the back of her mind... Her purpose.

She was going to KILL Cassandra Willover.

This time she would be sure to follow through. It was Tanya's love for all humanity that convinced Cassie that killing the woman was wrong the first time. But that was then... By killing Tanya, Willover succeeded in destroyed ALL that Cassie had ever loved and Cass was going to DESTROY HER...

She was going to CUT whatever demon it was out of Rita, that stinking essence that was Willover and was going to spit in the woman's blank and lifeless eye, if it was the last thing she ever did. Of course, she didn't know how she would accomplish this feat, which was becoming more improbably with each passing day, as she already knew that she was much smaller than what she was when she had escaped the cage.

In the five days that she had been on her own, she had felt herself twice shrink, involuntarily. The sensation was not the pleasurable one that she knew, but a feeling akin to being crushed... forced into a smaller body. She judged that she was around eight inches tall now, and that the shrinking was happening at random, perhaps a side effect of the nanites within her body that were programmed to keep her electromagnetic field in stasis.

Wrapped in a torn handkerchief and wielding a scabbard made from a piece of soda bottle, she had a mental image of herself as a miniature Boris Vallejo model as she set out down the alley way to fulfill her dream of vengeance. She didn't bother to wonder how she would accomplish it.