Chapter 18 - New Taaj
Beth stood dumbfounded for a moment at what her mother just said. “Home ...” The spaceship, the alien planet … all of it. Was it true? She dared not even ask. If it was her whole world had turned upside down. Worse, it meant that Lucy and Faye had betrayed her … it meant her mother had betrayed her … it meant her dear sister had betrayed her … it meant she herself betrayed all the girls she had helped to “rescue”. Sure she had saved them from the “Doll Collector” … only to be delivered as sex slaves to some alien race. Sarah was right all along. What had she done? “What do you mean to do with us?” was all she finally asked nervously.
“Oh Beth, you have nothing to fear. The Taajians treat us like queens. In fact, I am the queen. You'll be a princess, like Cindy here.”
“What if I refuse to go. What if I demand that you release all of us,” Beth said defiantly.
Yvonne just smiled. “And where would we 'release' them? Some of them have been missing for nearly seven years. Do you think we could just drop them off back in Houston and let your father sort it out?”
“He doesn't live in Houston anymore ...” Beth said angrily reminding her mother on how much she missed out on these passed seven years.
“Regardless of where he lives, there's no realistic way we can get them all home. Do you think this ship is like Santa's sleigh and we can just go around the world dropping them off at their old homes and leave with no questions asked? Don't be naive, Beth. I used to think the same way. But there's no going home. New Taaj is our home now, and it's a much better home than the one you're used to, and I'm sure all the women you've rescued would agree.”
“Well, shouldn't we give them a choice? If you kidnap them you're no better than the Doll Collector!”
Yvonne looked hurt at that last remark. “We don't intend on kidnapping anyone,” Cindy reassured taking up where her mother left off, “everyone will have a choice, but first they have to know exactly what that choice is. We'll bring them all to New Taaj so they can see the life we're building … the life they will have a chance to be a part of, then they can choose to stay or leave.”
“Will I have that choice?” Beth asked nearly in tears. Here she was, reunited with her mother and sister for the first time in seven years and she already wanted to run away from them.
“Of course you will,” Yvonne answered after a long pause. She seemed to take a moment to look at Cindy for approval, which seemed a bit strange considering she was her mother and the “queen” of this alien colony. Cindy's expression didn't seem to grant or deny permission, all Cindy did was look into Beth's eyes.
“Now go back and reassure your friends that everything will be alright,” Cindy said without breaking eye contact, “Tell them we're just taking you all to a safe place for awhile until we're sure we have the doll collector's minions under control. Even though we may have captured the Doll Collector herself, her network ran pretty deep, we don't want to risk you getting captured again until we find out how to free you all from her polyphylon. We need to pilot the shuttle,” she said before turning her attention back to her controls.
Beth stood for a moment in disbelief. Cindy wanted her to convince the others to go along with this? Was this the same Cindy? She could always trust her in the past. But now? She walked back to the lab section of the shuttle slowly wondering what she was going to say to the others. Should she try to convince them to trust her mother and sister? Did she trust them? She suddenly felt very unsure of herself.
By the time she got back to the lab, the other girls were starting to suspect something was up. “How high are we going?” Gwen asked as she looked nervously out the window.
“My ears are popping terribly,” Sarah said yawning.
“I knew it! They're taking us into space!” Sarah finally said. “We'll be their tickle slaves!”
“Calm down Sarah, you're not going to become a slave,” Lucy reassured.
“You betrayed us, you bitch! I told them not to trust you!” Sarah said ready to punch Lucy in the face. Lucy backed away trying her best to calm Sarah.
“Beth! Did you see your mother and sister? Tell her the truth!” Lucy said when she noticed that Beth had entered from the cockpit.
“You knew all along didn't you?” Beth asked. “You knew my mother and sister were here and you didn't tell me!”
“I didn't know! I only found out in the mansion when we communicated with your sister! You have to trust me, we ---"
"Why should I ever trust you?!"
"Because you have no choice," Yvonne said from behind her, "you can all come along quietly and maybe we'll let you go back at a later time, or you can resist and we'll force you to stay with us."
"Mom!" Beth shouted back angrily with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe her own mother and sister had betrayed her, after she spent all those years trying to find them.
"Quiet Beth! You have no idea what we've been through or what's at stake. We have children to protect!"
"So you betray your old child to protect your new ones?"
"If you act as if we're your enemy you'll be treated as such!" Yvonne said producing a shrinker from her uniform. Beth suddenly couldn't move. "I'm going to have to put you in time out until you agree to help us build new Taaj."
"Mom ... how could you ..." was all Beth could gasp as she collapsed to the floor. She lost consciousness.
Sarah expected to awaken strapped to some horrible torture device as she slowly lost consciousness. In her dream she imagined all sorts of probing hands tickling devices crawling up and down her skin. But that’s not what she woke up to ... That’s not what any of them woke up to ...
When they opened their eyes the first thing they saw was the heavens above in all its glory. A starry expanse stretching to infinity. The cloud of the milky could be seen so clearly that individual stars within could be made out. But the biggest surprise was seeing the very large blue planet on the horizon. There was no doubt about, it was Earth! For a moment Niesa wondered if she had died and entered an after life. She was still fully clothed in her Japanese dress and heels, and of course her black polyphylon pantyhose. It had not all been a dream. She was lying on a matt. She likened it to a yoga matt, but it was much softer and more comfortable. The other girls were lined up next to her. Some were just waking up and moving around, but most still asleep.
“Where are we?” Lisa was the first to ask as she sat up and looked around and was shocked at what she saw. They were in orbit of The Earth in some sort of domed city in space. They were lying in a courtyard surrounded by buildings. Some of them finished, most of them not. A statue of a woman towered above them. Beth immediately recognized it as a depiction of her mother. But other smaller statues were arranged along the sides of the courtyard. All women dressed in a similar triangle-shaped leotard, gloves and boots. They looked like space age superheroines. Beth immediately recognized Lucy and Faye as two of the woman after getting up to look around. Niesa was more interested in the vast city that was being built under the dome. It was all real. They really had been brought to another world … if you could call this domed city that.
Then she saw one of them. He appeared from one of the nearby buildings and walked towards the courtyard. The first thing Niesa noticed was his hair: spiky and green. He wore a polyphylon bodysuit, a dark grey one, but much thicker and much less sheer than the one that Beth, Lucy or Faye wore. He wore nothing else. “Welcome!” he said smiling as he approached, “Glad to see you are awake! My name is Tarl.” He looked uncannily human, and acted quite friendly, but his black eyes were unsettling to Niesa.
“Where are we?” she asked cautiously.
“New Taaj. This is our last colony, the only one left after original Taaj was destroyed in the battle of the Trafulites,” he said solemnly while holding his hand to his heart. “I’m sorry the queen is not here to greet you herself, she has many things to take care of, but she wanted to make it clear that you are not prisoners. You are free to go anywhere you like.
“I want to go home!” Sarah demanded.
“In time … for now enjoy our city. This is a world you can be a part of. And it’s the first of many worlds. You will be pioneers on a new and advanced civilization. Your meager world doesn’t hold a candle to what Taajians are capable of.”
Beth got her first real look around the dome like structure they were “guests” in and had to agree that he was right about that at least. They had all slept “outside” if such a concept of “outside” existed when you’re in a domed city. The weather was perfect, not too cold, not too hot, not too humid nor too dry. The sky was starry, but the dome was well lit, she could see into the distance. A city like no other stretched before her. Machines … or robotics of sort, were putting together new structures at a faster pace than any human could. The buildings themselves shimmered the same way polyphylon did. It looked unreal. The dome even housed a forest beyond the city area. Grassland areas and small lakes could be seen on the other side of the forest. It was an amazing sight to say the least. And to think this was all created in a dome floating in space!
Not too far in the distance she saw Cindy and Lucy approaching with two small children. Cindy stopped next to Tarl. She kissed him on the cheek and said something to him, but Beth couldn’t hear. Then Lucy took over for him. “I know you’re all confused, scared, maybe even a bit angry that you were brought here against your will,” she said, “I was too when I was first brought here, but then I realized what was at stake. The two children you see are Tera and Tollin. The first born of New Taaj. Beth, they are you niece and nephew.”
Beth shuddered and stared at them a long while. They were her older sister’s children … they were family … but they looked alien nonetheless. The black eyes. The boy had green and the girl had orange hair. She could see somewhat of a resemblance to Cindy in the girl’s face … but the black eyes were uncanny all the same. Still, the more she stared at the eyes the more she felt a strange empathy towards them.
“You’re not being swayed by this are you Beth?” Sarah whispered, “They’re evil, look at their eyes!”
“I am looking,” Niesa said, “The longer you look the more captivating they become ...”
“Lucy will bring you to the dining hall. There I encourage you to meet the Taajians and talk to them. Each one has a tale to tell. There you will be paired with a Taajian male of your choosing. Since there are far more Taajian males than females here it should be easy to find one you like. He will teach you all there is to know about our way of life, what role you can play, and how we can help you.”
“And if we refuse?” Sarah asked defiantly.
“You are free to do as you please,” Tarl said. “This is your world if you want it to be. But if you are still intent on leaving after one week we will take you, and anyone else who wants to leave, back home.”
“So we’re prisoners for a whole week!” Sarah complained.
“Calm down Sarah, it’s only one week,” Lisa said staring intently into Tarl’s eyes as he spoke.
“Lisa, don’t you remember what they did to us?”
“Yes, they tickled us. They seem rather harmless to me.”
Sarah just scoffed as the girls were led to the dining hall.
“Sarah,” Tera said approaching her, “Why don’t you come with me and have something to eat, I’m sure you’re hungry.”
Sarah was hungry, and something about the mature way the small child, probably no older than 7, came up to her and led her by the hand softened her defiance considerably.
The dining hall wasn’t a large building in comparison to some of the others. But the main room was immense. What looked to be hundreds of round tables for two were scattered about the room and there was still plenty of room to walk around and mingle. Most of the people in the dining hall were men, but Beth did see a few women here and there, most of whom were human. Three of them approached Beth to speak to her.
“Beth Turam! It must be! Oh I’ve heard so much about you!” one of the women said. Beth looked at her for a few minutes wondering if she had ever met her. She was a brunette with a black dress wearing what must have been a white bodystocking underneath. “Oh I’m sorry, my name is Dorothy. I was with your mother and sister when we were first brought here.”
“You! You were the one who called Cindy and told her to meet you at the hotel seven years ago. She trusted you! But she never returned and now ….”
“Yes,” Dorothy said putting a hand on Beth’s shoulder, “Lucy told us all to meet there … to figure out how to get the bodystocking off. But then your mother came and shrunk us all. She captured us and brought us here. Thank god she did! If it hadn’t been for her my little cuties would have never been born.”
“How can you thank her for capturing you?”
“I don’t think Dorothy’s thanking Yvonne directly, she’s just thankful that Yvonne’s actions brought us here,” another human woman said, this one wearing red dress and a sheer black bodystocking underneath. “And she’s right. Trust me this place is so much better than Earth. We’re treated like royalty here.”
“That’s what they keep saying ...” Beth answered skeptically as she watched her friends mingle with the Taajian men, some of them already seated together. She saw one of them pull a chair out and offer a seat to Tamara before she sat down. A perfect gentleman.
“Go on, talk to one of them. I like Truan the best. He’s so strong!”
“Silvia! You’re already married to Tragon,” Dorothy scolded tapping her on the arm.
“You’re so old fashioned Dorothy. Everyone knows New Taaj is polyandrous. We can have as many husbands as we want!”
One of the Taajian men approached her. Beth blushed when she looked into his eyes. Something about the way he looked at her made her very happy. “Don’t look away, I only want to talk. Here let me get you something to eat. My name’s Tryn, by the way.”
“I’m Beth,” she said not able to help herself as he escorted her to a very large and long buffet table. The variety of food available astonished Beth. Meats, fruits, vegetables and pastries from all over the world. Beth wondered how they managed to get it all here. She suddenly did feel very hungry, a feeling she hadn’t felt since putting on the bodystocking. She grabbed some tender steak and potatoes, one of her favorite meals from when she was a kid. The wine Tryn poured was more of a new addition. She wondered if it was a good idea to eat or drink anything here. But one look at Tryn’s friendly manner at pouring her glass convinced her that it was okay. They sat at a nearby table and Beth found she could not look away from his black eyes as he spoke to her.
“The truth is, we don’t need to eat or drink anything. That bodystocking you’re wearing sustains your life as long as you wear it. But it’s still nice to eat and drink, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it is,” Beth answered quite honestly as she took a bite of her juicy filet mignon. “But why am I hungry all of a sudden?”
“You’re hungry because you want to be hungry. You saw something you normally enjoy eating so your body, acting through the polyphylon allowed you to be hungry just this once, so you could better enjoy your meal. Astonishing material, is it not? And don’t worry, I know human women are worried about their weight, but you won’t gain a pound. Everything you eat is absorbed by the bodysuit and helps empower it and better sustain your youth and beauty.”
“Really? So that’s why I haven’t had to use the restroom this whole time!”
“Yes,” he laughed.
“Fascinating …” Beth said unable to resist caressing her thighs through her sheer bodystocking. She found herself getting lost in his black eyes again. She was definitely falling for him! And they had only spoken so briefly.
But her trance was interrupted by Faye who had approached her table with another very similar looking Japanese woman. “Hi Beth,” Faye said, “Sorry to interrupt you two, but my dumb sister here wanted to meet you.”
“Beth! My name is Jennifer!” the other woman said eagerly shaking her hand, “You don’t realize how famous you are around here. Not only the lost princess of New Taaj, but also the heroine who rescued all those poor girls from the doll collector! You’re a legend!”
“Oh, this is the lost princess?!” Trynn asked, “Forgive me your highness, I would have never presumed to approach you …”
“Seriously?” Beth asked looking at Faye who just rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, it’s not like she didn’t have help or anything,” Faye said annoyed, “If it weren’t for Lucy and me she wouldn’t have even gotten out of there!”
“While I appreciated your help back there, I’m pretty sure I could have escaped on my own, and avoided being brought here against my will!” Beth said angrily.
“You ungrateful little princess. You should be thanking us for reuniting you with your mother and sister. We’ve given you an opportunity most people could only dream of, and all you can do is complain. Look at your friends, they all love it here!” Faye gesturing towards the tables. It was true, they had all paired up with a Taajian man, even her best friend Niesa was staring longingly into a black eyed orange haired weirdo.
“Ok, I’ve had enough of this. I need to get out of here,” Beth said frustrated. She stood up abruptly and marched towards Niesa’s table. “Niesa, let’s get out of here. We need to talk.”
“Ok Beth, in a minute, me and Trone here are having a stimulating conversation. You wouldn’t believe what these people have been through,” Niesa said without breaking her gaze.
“I don’t care, let’s go,” Beth insisted pulling her away from the table.
“Wait my shoe!” Niesa said angrily as she was pulled right out of one of her white high heels, “Beth leave me alone! I want to be with Trone!” She said pulling herself away from Beth’s grip.
“Allow me,” Trone said getting up from his chair and kneeling at Niesa’s feet. He very gently replaced Niesa’s shoe giving her stocking foot a slight tickle as he did so. Niesa giggled flirtingly.
“Ugh!” Beth grunted in frustration before turning to leave. She passed Amanda, Lisa, Luvia, Tamara, even Penelope and Jasmine all deeply engaged in their “date”.
When she finally got outside she saw Sarah leaning against the wall of the building staring at the Earth. “I’m pretty sure we’re in orbit,” Sarah said pointing to their home planet.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. How far do you think we are?” Beth asked.
“Who knows. Does it matter?”
“I guess not. They’re all being hypnotized in there. Those black eyes. It’s turning them all into zombies. They’re never going to want to leave.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I left before they could influence me.”
“Fat chance of that! You’re the most stubborn person I know.”
“You’d be surprised. A part of me really does want to stay here believe it or not … get away from it all.”
“Me too … Faye was right. I should be more grateful to them for getting us out of the mansion and reuniting me with my mother and sister. This is all I’ve ever wanted since they first disappeared. For seven years I’ve dreamed of this moment. And now? It just feels all wrong …”
“That’s because your mission isn’t finished yet,” Sarah said turning to Beth, “They are prisoners just as much as we are. Only they’ve been brainwashed into thinking they’re not. You have to rescue them now.”
“You are right, Sarah. Our rescue mission hasn’t finished yet ...” Beth said staring at the very top of the dome. She noticed an airlock mechanism from which ships would dock to the dome. Small shuttles would fly people down to a landing platform below. It was at least 1000 inches high though. But at their size, an inch was more like a foot. None of the buildings reached that high. But it was the only way out.
Later that day, Lucy sat across from Sally, formerly the Doll Collector, in the shuttle they had landed in. Sally had been put into a white polyphylon bodystocking, one that was similar to the one she wore before she had been stripped of it back in the mansion and dressed in the standard female Taajian leotard and boots. She was tied to her chair facing lucy. The tables were turned, now she was at Lucy’s mercy. But she only stared at Lucy intently not giving away any hint of fear or malice. She was emotionless.
“We are willing to give you a second chance,” Lucy said, “to start a new life here. You’re more valuable to the colony alive than dead. But that’s only if you can show that you’re willing to cooperate,” Lucy said lifting Sally’s booted feet off the floor and onto her lap.
“Are you going to tickle me into compliance?” Sally asked starting to show some small hints of a nervousness.
“Let’s just say I’m going to do a bit more than that,” Lucy said slowly slipping off each of her boots, “I want to thank you for improving on the sheer sensitivity of polyphylon, our scientists have been studying what you have managed to do and have made some improvements of our own,” she said as she dragged her finger up her sole. Sally squealed helplessly. “This new bodystocking is softer, sheerer and even more tickly than even the one you invented … and it’s made from natural polyphylon … under OUR control.”
“What do you want me to do?” Sally asked, her resolve already breaking.
“Giving in so easily? Oh you’re no fun, I wanted to have some revenge,” Lucy said dancing her fingers against both of Sally’s helplessly twitching soles. Sally burst out laughing and nearly fell off her chair. “All I want is for you to understand that you are completely at our mercy. That ‘failsafe’ mechanism you put into your polyphylon hose, well it’s in the one you’re wearing as well. Your easily remove-able boots and ultra ticklish feet are the least of your worries … except that …” Lucy’s fingers danced up Sally’s wiggling toes. Sally was crying with laughter and was just about to pass out, “... except that one of the side effects of the ‘upgrades’ we made to this body stocking is that you can now be ‘tickled to death’. It wasn’t intentional, I assure you … well actually I’m not so sure that it wasn’t intentional, but in any case you DON’T want to cross us.”
“Ohohohahahahohkahahahay Juhahahust pleaheheeehehehease stohahahahop!” Sally begged.
“Do you promise to cooperate and contribute to the colony?”
“I prohahahahomise!” Sally screamed.
“Good,” Lucy said, “You may put your boots back on,” Lucy said untying her. “But you’re not allowed to join the others in the dining hall just yet. They don’t trust you. I don’t trust you. You’ll have to earn our trust to eat with us. Some community service is necessary first. I’m sure Tarl will have work for you do. Report to him quickly if you don’t want another punishment.”
“Yes ma’am,” Sally complied pulling her boots on.
She ran down the boarding ramp and past Beth who had been standing just outside the ship eavesdropping. “So you’re just letting her go?” Beth asked after Sally was out of earshot.
“Beth? Were you hiding out there the whole time?” Lucy asked surprised that she hadn’t noticed her before.
“After everything she’s done. The kidnapping ... the people she’s killed ... the torture she’s put so many girls through ... you’re just going to let her free on the condition she does ‘community service’?”, Beth asked accusingly as she walked into the ship to face Lucy. Sarah was right behind her.
“What would you have me do, kill her? This isn’t Earth, Beth. We need every woman alive and productive here. There’s a severe scarcity of fertile woman and we don’t have the means to keep people imprisoned,” Lucy said.
“And that’s how you justified kidnapping and keeping us here against our will,” Sarah said.
“We’re not keeping you here against your will, Sarah,” Lucy insisted, “You are free to leave if you don’t want to stay.”
“So, we’re in a spaceship. Take us home right now then,” Sarah demanded.
“Now? But you just got here. Don’t you want to get to know the place? I don’t think your friends want to leave yet,” Lucy argued.
“Well I want to leave now,” Beth insisted, “and so does Sarah. So take us home now.”
“Okay, if you insist … but you’re making a huge mistake,” Lucy said walking towards the exit.
“Where are you going?” Sarah asked.
“Well I have to get permission from the princess to take the ship out. Why don’t you wait in the dining hall in the meantime. Get to know some of the Taajians.”
“We’ll wait here, thank you,” Beth said smiling fakely.
“Okay … but it will be awhile,” Lucy said before leaving the ship, clearly uncomfortable with leaving the two of them unsupervised, but not wanting to appear mistrustful.
“They’re never going to take us home you know,” Sarah said after Lucy had left.
“Of course I know,” Beth said moving to the cockpit, “that’s why we have to figure out a way to fly the ship and get everyone out of here.”
“Do you think you can figure it out?” Sarah asked sitting next to Beth in the copilot seat, “she wouldn’t have left us alone here if we could fly this thing ourselves.”
“Well we have to try,” Beth said fiddling with all the buttons and knobs at the controls. But no matter what she did, the ship remained lifeless.
“I think you need a key,” Sarah said pointing to a large socket that looked like something key-like could fit into it.
Beth sighed defeatedly, but perked up when she noticed a compartment under the socket, “What’s this?” she asked as she opened it. Inside was not a key, but a wristwatch of some sort. Beth grabbed it and examined the controls. It only had one knob and light. When she turned it to the right she noticed a dim light emit from the light and the low staticy hum of white noise. The light seemed to brighten when she brought it closer to her body. “Well, if it’s a watch it does a poor job telling time,” Beth joked unable to find any sort of screen on the device.
“Beth is that you?” a familiar voice said through the white noise.
“Kevin?! You can hear me!” Beth said excited.
“Yes I can hear you … barely,” Kevin said. His voice came weakly through a lot of white noise. Beth stepped outside the ship but it still sounded as though there was a lot of interference. But she soon noticed that when she pressed the watch against her polyphylon the white noise died down. She quickly strapped the wristband on.
“How’s this?” Beth asked now talking into her “wristwatch communicator”.
“Much better,” Kevin said. “Where are you? I’ve been trying to get your signal for hours.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Beth said not knowing how to explain this.
“Are you on another planet?” Kevin asked quite matter of factly.
“Haha, close. I’m in some sort of dome encased space city that appears to be orbiting the Earth. How no astronomer has seen this thing is quite a mystery to me.”
“Oh, some have, in the pentagon at least there have been reports of disappearing and reappearing UFOs of late. But they’ve kept it secret. My guess is your alien friends have been using a cloaking device of sorts. If you ever watched Star Trek with me you’d know what that is. But you were always busy doing your own thing …”
“Kevin! The government knows about these aliens? How much do they know?” Beth interrupted excitedly.
“Very little actually. Just that they first started seeing those objects seven years ago, but didn’t really observe any major activity until recently. I suspect that’s where the polyphylon and this shrinking gadget I’m talking to you through came from. Did you find your mother and sister?”
“You amaze me, Kevin, how did you guess? Yes they are here. But they don’t want to leave! In fact I think they’re in charge of this place. The Taajians treat them like royalty. But I don’t trust them! I think they have all the women hypnotized. They have these strange black eyes that stare deep into your soul. I need to find a way to get them out of here.
“Hmm, Taajians? That’s an interesting name. I think there was an alien race called the Taajians on Babylon 5 … no that was the Tarjians. Black eyes you say? The telepaths on Babylon 5 would sometimes have their eyes go black when they were deep in the mind of the shadows … I wonder if it’s a similar …”
“Is he ever going to shut up about that tv show?” Sarah asked getting annoyed.
Beth shook her head. Kevin was normally very quiet and reserved, but once he got on the topic of science fiction television there was no shutting him up. She wanted to remind him that this is real life, not a tv show, but that argument never worked on him before … and with everything that had happened she was beginning to doubt the reality of her situation to begin with. She shook her head and rolled her eyes as he continued to ramble. But as her eyes passed over the top of the dome, she saw the airlock bay again suddenly had an idea. “Kevin, shut up for a moment, I just thought of something! Can you still change my size from there?”
“Hmm let me see. It shows here that you’re already as small as your going to get … but if I turn the knob the other way …”
Beth felt a pain course through her body. Her clothes tightened. “Aaarrgh! Not yet Kevin! We need to come up with a plan first.”
“What do you have in mind?” Sarah asked excited.
“We’ll get as many of them as we can in this shuttle, and then Kevin will grow me as large he can. I should be able to push it through the airlock. If I can grab my sister or Lucy or someone who can fly the ship, we can force them to fly the ship home.”
“But how will you get home if you’re not on the ship?”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll figure something out.”
Niesa couldn’t believe it. She was in love! “How could I let myself fall in love with an alien?” she asked herself as the two of them walked through the gardens of New Taaj. Most of the other girls were in the same situation, hopelessly falling in love with the Taajian they had paired with. Lisa was standing nearby with her new partner, Teft. Like Niesa, she was lost in his eyes. Niesa was about to kiss him when Beth interrupted her.
“Niesa, it’s time to go!” Beth demanded.
“What? Beth? What are you doing here? What do you mean?” Niesa asked somewhat annoyed.
“The shuttle is ready for us, get the other girls, we’re going home,” Beth insisted.
“I … uh,” Niesa looked into his eyes again, “I think I might stay a little longer.”
Beth suddenly had the urge to slap Niesa and away when she heard Sarah shout “Stop looking at him!” from nearby. Sarah grabbed Lisa by the arm and yanked her right out of her shoes. Lisa slipped on the floor in her stocking feet. “Sarah!” Lisa screamed, annoyed at her friend. “Why don’t you find your own partner and leave me alone!”
“Yes, leave us alone Beth,” Niesa agreed, “you should find a Taajian too, they’re very nice.”
“Can’t you listen to yourself? You sound like a brainwashed zombie!” Beth shouted.
“Beth, I’ve had enough of this,” a new voice said from behind, it was her mother and she had come with two guards! “If you’re not going to behave I’m going to have to punish you. Guards take her to her chambers.”
“So you’re going to send to my room?” Beth sneered as the guards grabbed her arms, “I’ve got news for you I’m not 12 years old anymore! A lot has changed since you abandoned me and dad!”
“You will stay in your room until you learn some respect, young lady!”
“That’s it, I’ve had it with this place! Kevin do it!”
Niesa was at first confused by Beth’s last remark. And then she saw the change. Gradual at first as the guards continued to pull Beth forward. But it became more difficult for them as Beth dragged her feet. Niesa watched Beth’s body tense up and her teeth clench. She looked to be in a great deal of pain. Her clothes tightened as she seemed to grow within them. The guards tried to pull her to her feet but found it very difficult as Beth’s size and weight had increased significantly. When she stood up again she was now a full head taller than both of them!
Beth’s yellow boots started to tear open as the feet within grew too large to be contained by them. Her green poison ivy tunic also started to rip apart at the seams. Niesa couldn’t help but think of the Batman villain transforming into she-hulk. The guards were also alarmed by her sudden change. They backed off watched in awe.
“Don’t just stand there, seize her!” Yvonne demanded trying to fiddle with her shrink ray. But she was having no success at reversing Beth’s growth. The guards moved in again, clearly not quite sure how to subdue her steadily growing frame. Beth’s face contorted as she tried to endure the intense pain. But the determined look in her eyes made it clear that she was not going to lose consciousness this time. Beth’s stocking clad toes emerged from her boots as they ripped open. Her green costume tore away as the guards tried to grab onto her. They found themselves holding the tattered remains of her Poison Ivy outfit as she shook their much smaller bodies off of her now 18 inch frame.
Everyone in the garden was panicking now and scrambling to get away from the angry giant. She was too big for the path now, and her feet had grown to crush the nearby flowerbed. Beth continued to grow … 30 inches … then 40 inches … 50 inches! Where would it end? She was towering over the dining hall now. Every step she took shook the dome. People fled from underneath her feet as she walked towards the dining hall. She crushed tiny bushes, then tiny trees and eventually even the garden shed just outside the hall with her green polyphylon clad feet.
Yvonne had given up trying to shrink her back down to size. It seemed she had no control over Beth’s bodystocking. She too was running away trying to escape her massive steps. But Beth was quick to catch her and scoop her up in her massive hand. “You’re not going anywhere, mother!” Beth’s loud voice boomed angrily. She had to be over 100 inches tall now, Niesa assessed. But she didn’t have time to stand around for long. Before she knew it Beth had turned her attention to her and her massive hand was coming toward her.
“Beth no!” was all Niesa could say before the massive hand reached out to grab her tiny body. Niesa tried to run, but tripped on her white high heels again. But instead of falling to the ground, she fell into Beth’s hand. She felt herself being lifted out of both of her shoes as she was brought eye level to Beth.
“I’m taking you to the ship whether you like it or not. You’ll thank me later,” Beth said with her giant booming voice. Niesa was frozen in fear. She was completely at Beth’s Mercy. The giant hand clutched her tightly. Her shoeless feet dangled helplessly in mid air. Soon, she was joined by Yvonne who was now being gripped in the same hand as Niesa. Beth was scooping up more girls with her free right hand and stuffing them into her left hand with Niesa and Yvonne.
Inside the dining hall the rumbling of Beth’s footsteps could be heard and the girls inside were starting to get nervous. “What’s going on out there?” Jennifer asked Faye who had just stormed in and shut the door.
“Beth’s gone crazy” Faye said panting, “She’s grown hundreds of feet tall and she’s just scooping us up left and right. She’s gone full Doll Collector. I knew that girl was bad news from the moment I met her.”
“What?! What does she plan to do with us?” Jen asked nervously.
“I don’t know, just, whatever you do, don’t go out there,” Faye said taking center stage in the hall, “Do you hear that girls. Don’t go outside for any reason. There’s a bit of an emergency, but don’t worry, we’ll have it under control soon enough. Men? Your queen needs you.”
At once all of the Taajian men stood up from their tables and headed for the exit. Christy looked at Amanda with concern. Both were sitting in the hall at separate tables but near each other. “What’s going on,” Christy asked after her man had left the table.
“No clue,” said Amanda, “but it looks serious. Maybe we should find Niesa and Beth.”
Christy scanned the room. Most of the couples had left the dining hall already. But Tamara, Gwen and Joyce were still there. No sign of Beth and Niesa though. “I don’t like this one bit,” she said standing up.
“Where are the rest of my friends?” Christy demanded of Dorothy who was standing nearby.
“Don’t worry about them, just stay calm and we’ll get through this.”
“I am calm, just tell me where they are.”
“They went to the gardens, but we’ll let them in if they come back. We’re safe here …”
Right when she said that the ceiling collapsed on top her of her. Christy nearly jumped out of her wooden clogs when she saw the giant fist that forced its way through and caused the collapse. “Move out of the way!” Amanda shouted as she pulled Christy out of her shoes just in time for another piece of ceiling to fall down.
“Shit!” Faye said reaching for her shrinking device, “listen ‘princess’ we don’t have much time here. Now would be a great time to figure out how to get control of this not so jolly green giant sister of yours!” she shouted into it as the giant hand used the newly created hole to rip the roof off the building.
“We’re working on it,” Cindy said through the communicator, “But someone hacked the control of her bodystocking. We’re having a hard time re-establishing a lock.”
“Well then figure something else out! Just hurry!” Faye screamed as the hand grabbed her.
“Where’s my sister!” Beth’s huge voice boomed as she brought Faye to her face.
“You have some nerve!” Faye yelled back with her tiny voice, “We save you and your friends life, bring you to our home and treat you like a princess … hell, we even gave the title of princess ... and this is the thanks we get?”
Beth was having none of it. She brought Faye to her mouth and opened wide. Faye screamed in terror a the girls below looked up and watched appalled. Was Beth actually going to eat Faye? Faye’s eyes clenched closed fearing the worst when she suddenly felt her right boot get yanked off her foot. She opened her eyes and looked down at her boot in Beth’s giant mouth. “The bitch just bit my boot off!” Faye said to herself. And soon the other boot followed suit. Beth had debooted Faye with her teeth! “You really have become the doll collector you freaky perv!” Faye yelled as Beth spit out her boots.
“You can stop this at any time if you just tell me where my sister is!” Beth demanded as she brought Faye’s silky stocking feet to her tongue.
“No not that!” Faye begged as the tip of Beth’s tongue tickled her smooth soles. “Hahahahaha! Stop! I’lll tehehehell you! She’s in the big tower hahahah! At the cehehehenter of the citeehehehehe!”
“Thank you Faye, maybe I’ll give you back your boots later. But for now you’ll have to stay in the ship with the others in your stocking feet,” Beth said as she forced Faye into the ship that she was holding with her other hand. Faye tumbled inside and joined the rest of the girls Beth had scooped up in her rampage.
Christy couldn’t believe it. She was using the ship they arrived in like a bucket and just tossing the girls she had captured in as if they were seashells to be gathered. Amanda was the next one to be grabbed. “Noooo! Beth let me go!” Amanda screamed as she was lifted out of her loose fitting Mary Janes.
“Sorry, Amanda, but this is the only way,” Beth said tossing her into the ship. Christy decided to make a run for the exit hoping she could find some cover on the other side of the wall. She was about to make it when Beth’s giant hand closed around her. “And where do you think you’re going, Christy, don’t you realize I’m trying to save you all from this weird hypnotic alien cuhuhuhahahahah!!!”
For some unknown reason Beth broke out in uncontrollable laughter she dropped Christy and began dancing around trying to keep her sheer stocking feet off the ground.
“They’re tickling her feet!” Gwen shouted as she watched Beth dance around from a large opening in the broken wall. It was probably the weirdest thing she had seen. The Taajian men were lined up in four different groups, each carrying a giant feather. They poked and prodded her soft shoeless feet and toes with them causing Beth to lose ticklish control. She danced and hopped trying to avoid the feathers as best she could, her feet crushing homes and small buildings in the process. Taajians, and Taajian children could be seen running for their lives as her giant stocking feet destroyed everything they stepped on, just to avoid the feathers.
“They’re making her do more damage to the city than she was before,” Joyce observed, “I don’t think they thought this through.”
“I think they just want to get her to drop the ship,” Tamara said joining them, “but she’s not letting go. That Beth is determined.”
“Yes, but we gotta help her! She’s trying to save us!” Sarah said just arriving.
“Your friend has gone mad, she needs to be subdued,” Jennifer said.
“You’re the ones who have gone mad! What made you think it was a good idea to stay here all this time and breed with aliens? They’re mind controlling you!” Sarah accused.
“Looks like we have another traitor here, your highness, at least she’s not 500 inches tall though,” Sylvia said speaking through her communicator. She had been sitting off to the side the whole time, barely noticeable, but she had been watching the whole thing. “Should we shut her down?”
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Cindy said back. “Let Lucy and I deal with my sister first. Call off the men though, they’re doing more harm than good.”
Beth nearly dropped the ship as she hopped from foot to foot trying to escape the vicious feathers, occasionally kicking over a building or stepping on Taajians who had scattered underneath. She wondered if she was stepping on some of the women she was trying to rescue but was too busy trying to escape the feathers to know for sure. But the tickling did eventually stop. The men had withdrawn … perhaps realizing they were causing her to do much more damage to the city and she hadn’t shrunken very much as a result of their tickling. On the contrary she had continued to grow to nearly 700 inches. She looked down at them angrily and kicked them away from her. “That’ll teach you to tickle my feet you stupid bugs!” she said. The men went flying, some crashing into the buildings, others landing in the water of the lake.
“Leave them alone!” a booming voice demanded from behind her. Beth turned to see her sister, Cindy … only she had grown. In fact she was now the same size as Beth. And standing next to her, also the same size, was Lucy. They weren’t naked like Beth though, over their bodystockings they were wearing giant boots, gloves, body armor and a helmet. They looked to be equipped for battle.
“Cindy!” Beth respond. “I was looking for you. We’re going back to Earth and you’re coming with me.”
“No one’s going anywhere,” she said seriously, “Now shrink yourself back and we can discuss this.”
“I’m not shrinking until you shrink first. We can discuss it in this ship on the way home.”
“Very well … Lucy?”
Lucy pulled a pistol from out of her armored suit and aimed it at Beth. Beth tried to dodge but it was too late, the bullet hit her right in the gut. But she felt no pain. The bullet bounced right off of her. “Hahaha, you just shot a regular gun at me? I thought you guys already knew this thing is bullet proof.”
“It’s bullet proof but not shrink proof,” Lucy said as she watched Beth lose several inches.
“Shit!” Beth said as soon as she realized she was shrinking. Lucy fired another shot. It bounced off her like the first, but she felt herself shrinking faster. “Kevin grow me faster!”
“Okay, but if I go too fast you may pass out,” Kevin warned.
Beth screamed in pain as she started to regain her lost height. Lucy continued to shoot her, but all it did was slow her growth, not reverse it. Suddenly, Beth’s head bumped against something. It took her moment to realize that she was now too tall for the dome. In fact her head was now level with the airlock bay. “Kevin stop!” she ordered. Thinking quickly, she closed the platform of the ship, and forced it into the launch bay. “It should be safe there until I finish dealing with Lucy!” Beth thought to herself as Lucy continued to fire shots at her. Beth was losing height rapidly as she charged at Lucy, bounding through the city and crushing buildings left and right. By the time she tackled Lucy they were near the same height again, but Beth still had the size advantage. The two giant women fell backwards onto a large factory. Bits and pieces of robotics scattered onto the ground around them.
The two women wrestled on the once beautiful city. As the larger opponent, Beth clearly had the advantage. With every punch and kick Lucy received her body got smaller and weaker. Cindy tore off Lucy’s helmet armor and boots, tickling her smaller and weaker body through the purple silky smooth polyphylon bodystocking. “Say uncle!” Beth demanded.
But before Lucy gave in, Beth was pulled off of her. Cindy had entered the fray! The two sisters went at it at once: clawing and punching and kicking, but it quickly became clear that this time Beth had lost any advantage she had when she was fighting Lucy. She felt herself getting smaller and weaker as Cindy continued to pound her. The punches soon turned to tickles as Beth’s much smaller frame clad only the very sheer green body stocking could no longer withstand, or break away from Cindy’s wicked fingers. “Keheheheevin! Grohohohow mehehehehee!” Beth shouted, but she soon realized she was no longer wearing her wristwatch.
“Oh no you don’t!” Cindy said tossing the wristband communicator aside “I’m the big sister not you!” The two combatants were now at the very edge of the dome. Beth was pressed against the glass wall that arched up over them. She did everything she could to keep Cindy’s wicked tickling fingers away from her and managed to grab each one of her wrists. But Cindy could still kick. And every one of those vicious knocks to her shins with Cindy’s large boots was enough for Beth to lose several inches.
But the last kick did not connect with Beth. Instead it connected with the glass wall that was behind her. In fact, it did more than connect with it, it connected TO it. Cindy’s massive boot had actually broken the glass and was now stuck part way through. “Oh shit!” Cindy said when she realized what she had done. Beth could see the cracks in the glass forming around the hole Cindy had just made, but neither of them felt the effects of decompression … until Cindy’s boot was sucked right off her foot exposing her panicking toes clad in her tan bodystocking. The boot had been sucked right out into space and the hole was now wide open. All of pieces of robotics and sections of buildings that were scattered on the ground quickly followed her boot out that same hole. Beth even saw a few Taajians get sucked out into space as well. As more debris crashed into the glass, it opened up wider until the hole was massive enough for both Cindy and Beth to get sucked out.
Beth felt no pain, just an intense cold as her body floated through space. Her bodystocking was still protecting her, even in the vacuum of space. But she felt herself shrink almost instantly. A wave of intense pleasure came over her and she lost consciousness. The last thing Beth remembered was seeing the dome shatter as millions of tiny particles, some of which she assumed were her minitiarized friends, were expelled into the heavens.
Beth awoke in a very familiar bed. Her head throbbed as as her eyes darted around the room. There it was … her old computer ... her bookshelf ... her posters on the wall. She was in her old bedroom in her father’s house! She was under the covers in her nightgown and quickly discovered that she was no longer wearing her green bodystocking! “You’re kidding me … was the whole thing a dream?”
She heard voices downstairs. It sounded like her father was talking to someone she could not recognize … then she heard her mother’s voice and quickly jumped out of bed. Beth opened her door and stood face to face with Niesa.
“Oh! You’re awake! Thank goodness you’re okay!” Niesa said. “I was about to check up on you.”
“What happened?” Beth asked suddenly realizing how weak and in pain she felt.
“Your mother saved you, believe it or not,” Niesa said taking her hand and leading her downstairs. “She found you floating in space and brought you into the ship. We also found Sarah. She woke up before you but is still recuperating. We couldn’t find anyone else, sadly.”
“So it wasn’t a dream,” Beth said under her breath noticing that Niesa was still wearing her black polyphylon hose under her dress. “What about Cindy?”
“We couldn’t find her … and there’s something else …”
“Beth!” Her father said when she came downstairs to the living area. He hugged her and offered her his seat. Sarah, Kevin and Vanessa were sitting on the couch across from her. “You were right all these years. Your mother and sister was alive this whole time! You’re mother’s standing right here and I still can’t believe it.” Her mother stood next to a man in a suit that she couldn’t recognize.
“Beth, I’m so glad you’re okay!” her mother said wiping a tear from her eyes. It was then that she noticed that her mother was in handcuffs.
“Who he?” Beth asked her father gesturing towards the stranger who seemed to have taken her mother into custody.
“That’s my boss Mr. Gadrin from the pentagon. Don’t worry you’re not under arrest, but they’re going to have to question you at some point.”
“Is mom under arrest?”
“She’s … a different case,” her father said hesitantly.
“You know they brainwashed her! They brainwashed all of them. She wasn’t acting of her own volition,” Beth said trying to defend her mother.
“We know about their persuasive powers ma’am,” Gadrin said.
“Then why is she in handcuffs? It wasn’t her fault! We need to rescue the others, they’re probably still out there! What about Cindy? She and my mom are the only ones able to fly the ship. Let my mother go so she can help us rescue the others!”
“And if she cooperates we will consider that. The same goes for Faye who is also in custody and being questioned. We have to be sure they won’t side with the aliens again,” Gadrin said.
It actually seemed like a very reasonable course of action, but Beth felt very restless. “How can we waste time on this while they’re still floating out there in space? If I survived it so can they!”
“We know Beth. We have probes searching as we speak … but we have reason to believe they were picked up by another ship, one that we’re unable to detect,” her father said.
“Who made it home?” Beth finally asked.
“Everyone you tossed into the ship,” Niesa answered. “Let’s see that was Lisa, Sarah, me, Luvia, Faye, Jasmine, Amanda and a several other girls we rescued from the mansion. They were taken home to recuperate, but are still on call for questioning.”
Beth’s mind raced. That meant Christy, Penelope, Tamara, Joyce, Gwen and her sister were still out there. Not to mention Cindy, Lucy, Dorothy, Sylvia, Jennifer and the hundred or so other girls they had “rescued” from The Doll Collector. The Doll Collector herself was still out there too … “We have to save the rest,” Beth determined. She got up to get dressed when she suddenly remembered she wasn’t wearing her green bodystocking anymore. “What happened to my bodysuit?”
“Your mother helped us figure out how to detach you from it using Kevin’s control device. Now we can all be detached! We had hoped that you would wake up more quickly if it was removed but I think it may have made things worse. Sarah recovered more quickly than you I think because we didn’t remove hers.”
“It’s the withdrawal symptoms,” Beth said rubbing her throbbing head. “I’m going to need mine back if we’re going to save the others.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Gadrin said tossing her a green plastic egg. “We have studied it and learned all we can from it and have even gained control of all the hosiery that the Doll Collector had manufactured. But we don’t have any people that know how to use it as well as you. We’re going to need volunteers like you to combat the alien threat and prevent other criminals, like the Doll Collector, from rising.”
“Volunteers?” Beth asked staring at the egg.
“Yes, volunteers for the Polyphylon Girls Squad,” Sarah said at last. “So far I’ve recruited Lisa, Niesa, Amanda and Vanessa. But we still need our squad leader.”
Beth cracked open her egg and pulled out her bodystocking smiling. “I better get dressed then.”
Epilogue
And so the Polyphylon Girl Squad officially formed at last! A team of size changing superheroines who made it their duty to protect the Earth from threats both on Earth and in Space.
They had many adventures and traveled throughout the Galaxy. Saving the innocent, and defeating evil. There were more run ins with The Doll Collector, a fiend whom they could never permanently. But the greatest threat was the evil mind controlling Taajian Empire, still under the leadership of Beth’s long lost sister, Queen Cindy.
As time went by, after each conflict, it seemed more apparent that the majority of women captured by the Taajians had assimilated to the Taajian way of life and there was no going back. But Beth never lost hope, even after every difficult battle they fought, that she could rescue them and bring even her sister to her side.
But those adventures are to be told in other stories … And I may not be the one to tell them … This story has officially ended.
The End
Mandrake
....
Yes it's finally finished. This story was 16 years in the making (I started the first version in 2001 believe it or not). I know the epilogue leaves it open for more adventures as that was the original plan. This whole story was actually just supposed to serve as the launching pad and origin story for a series of comics starring the Polyphylon Girl Squad - a team of Superheroines with special protective Hosiery that allows them to change size ... but also makes them way more ticklish!
But I'll be honest with you, since it took me so long just to finish this first origin story I don't have any plans to continue with more PG adventures, at least not in the near future. You may see short one-shot stories or comics from me years from now if I ever get the itch to revisit this universe, but don't expect another long story like this or for the adventures to ever officially "end". These are ongoing adventures from here on out and I want to encourage other writers and artists who enjoyed this story to create within this universe and continue the adventures if they so please. I'm giving the rest of the story to you guys now. 🙂
Beth stood dumbfounded for a moment at what her mother just said. “Home ...” The spaceship, the alien planet … all of it. Was it true? She dared not even ask. If it was her whole world had turned upside down. Worse, it meant that Lucy and Faye had betrayed her … it meant her mother had betrayed her … it meant her dear sister had betrayed her … it meant she herself betrayed all the girls she had helped to “rescue”. Sure she had saved them from the “Doll Collector” … only to be delivered as sex slaves to some alien race. Sarah was right all along. What had she done? “What do you mean to do with us?” was all she finally asked nervously.
“Oh Beth, you have nothing to fear. The Taajians treat us like queens. In fact, I am the queen. You'll be a princess, like Cindy here.”
“What if I refuse to go. What if I demand that you release all of us,” Beth said defiantly.
Yvonne just smiled. “And where would we 'release' them? Some of them have been missing for nearly seven years. Do you think we could just drop them off back in Houston and let your father sort it out?”
“He doesn't live in Houston anymore ...” Beth said angrily reminding her mother on how much she missed out on these passed seven years.
“Regardless of where he lives, there's no realistic way we can get them all home. Do you think this ship is like Santa's sleigh and we can just go around the world dropping them off at their old homes and leave with no questions asked? Don't be naive, Beth. I used to think the same way. But there's no going home. New Taaj is our home now, and it's a much better home than the one you're used to, and I'm sure all the women you've rescued would agree.”
“Well, shouldn't we give them a choice? If you kidnap them you're no better than the Doll Collector!”
Yvonne looked hurt at that last remark. “We don't intend on kidnapping anyone,” Cindy reassured taking up where her mother left off, “everyone will have a choice, but first they have to know exactly what that choice is. We'll bring them all to New Taaj so they can see the life we're building … the life they will have a chance to be a part of, then they can choose to stay or leave.”
“Will I have that choice?” Beth asked nearly in tears. Here she was, reunited with her mother and sister for the first time in seven years and she already wanted to run away from them.
“Of course you will,” Yvonne answered after a long pause. She seemed to take a moment to look at Cindy for approval, which seemed a bit strange considering she was her mother and the “queen” of this alien colony. Cindy's expression didn't seem to grant or deny permission, all Cindy did was look into Beth's eyes.
“Now go back and reassure your friends that everything will be alright,” Cindy said without breaking eye contact, “Tell them we're just taking you all to a safe place for awhile until we're sure we have the doll collector's minions under control. Even though we may have captured the Doll Collector herself, her network ran pretty deep, we don't want to risk you getting captured again until we find out how to free you all from her polyphylon. We need to pilot the shuttle,” she said before turning her attention back to her controls.
Beth stood for a moment in disbelief. Cindy wanted her to convince the others to go along with this? Was this the same Cindy? She could always trust her in the past. But now? She walked back to the lab section of the shuttle slowly wondering what she was going to say to the others. Should she try to convince them to trust her mother and sister? Did she trust them? She suddenly felt very unsure of herself.
By the time she got back to the lab, the other girls were starting to suspect something was up. “How high are we going?” Gwen asked as she looked nervously out the window.
“My ears are popping terribly,” Sarah said yawning.
“I knew it! They're taking us into space!” Sarah finally said. “We'll be their tickle slaves!”
“Calm down Sarah, you're not going to become a slave,” Lucy reassured.
“You betrayed us, you bitch! I told them not to trust you!” Sarah said ready to punch Lucy in the face. Lucy backed away trying her best to calm Sarah.
“Beth! Did you see your mother and sister? Tell her the truth!” Lucy said when she noticed that Beth had entered from the cockpit.
“You knew all along didn't you?” Beth asked. “You knew my mother and sister were here and you didn't tell me!”
“I didn't know! I only found out in the mansion when we communicated with your sister! You have to trust me, we ---"
"Why should I ever trust you?!"
"Because you have no choice," Yvonne said from behind her, "you can all come along quietly and maybe we'll let you go back at a later time, or you can resist and we'll force you to stay with us."
"Mom!" Beth shouted back angrily with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe her own mother and sister had betrayed her, after she spent all those years trying to find them.
"Quiet Beth! You have no idea what we've been through or what's at stake. We have children to protect!"
"So you betray your old child to protect your new ones?"
"If you act as if we're your enemy you'll be treated as such!" Yvonne said producing a shrinker from her uniform. Beth suddenly couldn't move. "I'm going to have to put you in time out until you agree to help us build new Taaj."
"Mom ... how could you ..." was all Beth could gasp as she collapsed to the floor. She lost consciousness.
Sarah expected to awaken strapped to some horrible torture device as she slowly lost consciousness. In her dream she imagined all sorts of probing hands tickling devices crawling up and down her skin. But that’s not what she woke up to ... That’s not what any of them woke up to ...
When they opened their eyes the first thing they saw was the heavens above in all its glory. A starry expanse stretching to infinity. The cloud of the milky could be seen so clearly that individual stars within could be made out. But the biggest surprise was seeing the very large blue planet on the horizon. There was no doubt about, it was Earth! For a moment Niesa wondered if she had died and entered an after life. She was still fully clothed in her Japanese dress and heels, and of course her black polyphylon pantyhose. It had not all been a dream. She was lying on a matt. She likened it to a yoga matt, but it was much softer and more comfortable. The other girls were lined up next to her. Some were just waking up and moving around, but most still asleep.
“Where are we?” Lisa was the first to ask as she sat up and looked around and was shocked at what she saw. They were in orbit of The Earth in some sort of domed city in space. They were lying in a courtyard surrounded by buildings. Some of them finished, most of them not. A statue of a woman towered above them. Beth immediately recognized it as a depiction of her mother. But other smaller statues were arranged along the sides of the courtyard. All women dressed in a similar triangle-shaped leotard, gloves and boots. They looked like space age superheroines. Beth immediately recognized Lucy and Faye as two of the woman after getting up to look around. Niesa was more interested in the vast city that was being built under the dome. It was all real. They really had been brought to another world … if you could call this domed city that.
Then she saw one of them. He appeared from one of the nearby buildings and walked towards the courtyard. The first thing Niesa noticed was his hair: spiky and green. He wore a polyphylon bodysuit, a dark grey one, but much thicker and much less sheer than the one that Beth, Lucy or Faye wore. He wore nothing else. “Welcome!” he said smiling as he approached, “Glad to see you are awake! My name is Tarl.” He looked uncannily human, and acted quite friendly, but his black eyes were unsettling to Niesa.
“Where are we?” she asked cautiously.
“New Taaj. This is our last colony, the only one left after original Taaj was destroyed in the battle of the Trafulites,” he said solemnly while holding his hand to his heart. “I’m sorry the queen is not here to greet you herself, she has many things to take care of, but she wanted to make it clear that you are not prisoners. You are free to go anywhere you like.
“I want to go home!” Sarah demanded.
“In time … for now enjoy our city. This is a world you can be a part of. And it’s the first of many worlds. You will be pioneers on a new and advanced civilization. Your meager world doesn’t hold a candle to what Taajians are capable of.”
Beth got her first real look around the dome like structure they were “guests” in and had to agree that he was right about that at least. They had all slept “outside” if such a concept of “outside” existed when you’re in a domed city. The weather was perfect, not too cold, not too hot, not too humid nor too dry. The sky was starry, but the dome was well lit, she could see into the distance. A city like no other stretched before her. Machines … or robotics of sort, were putting together new structures at a faster pace than any human could. The buildings themselves shimmered the same way polyphylon did. It looked unreal. The dome even housed a forest beyond the city area. Grassland areas and small lakes could be seen on the other side of the forest. It was an amazing sight to say the least. And to think this was all created in a dome floating in space!
Not too far in the distance she saw Cindy and Lucy approaching with two small children. Cindy stopped next to Tarl. She kissed him on the cheek and said something to him, but Beth couldn’t hear. Then Lucy took over for him. “I know you’re all confused, scared, maybe even a bit angry that you were brought here against your will,” she said, “I was too when I was first brought here, but then I realized what was at stake. The two children you see are Tera and Tollin. The first born of New Taaj. Beth, they are you niece and nephew.”
Beth shuddered and stared at them a long while. They were her older sister’s children … they were family … but they looked alien nonetheless. The black eyes. The boy had green and the girl had orange hair. She could see somewhat of a resemblance to Cindy in the girl’s face … but the black eyes were uncanny all the same. Still, the more she stared at the eyes the more she felt a strange empathy towards them.
“You’re not being swayed by this are you Beth?” Sarah whispered, “They’re evil, look at their eyes!”
“I am looking,” Niesa said, “The longer you look the more captivating they become ...”
“Lucy will bring you to the dining hall. There I encourage you to meet the Taajians and talk to them. Each one has a tale to tell. There you will be paired with a Taajian male of your choosing. Since there are far more Taajian males than females here it should be easy to find one you like. He will teach you all there is to know about our way of life, what role you can play, and how we can help you.”
“And if we refuse?” Sarah asked defiantly.
“You are free to do as you please,” Tarl said. “This is your world if you want it to be. But if you are still intent on leaving after one week we will take you, and anyone else who wants to leave, back home.”
“So we’re prisoners for a whole week!” Sarah complained.
“Calm down Sarah, it’s only one week,” Lisa said staring intently into Tarl’s eyes as he spoke.
“Lisa, don’t you remember what they did to us?”
“Yes, they tickled us. They seem rather harmless to me.”
Sarah just scoffed as the girls were led to the dining hall.
“Sarah,” Tera said approaching her, “Why don’t you come with me and have something to eat, I’m sure you’re hungry.”
Sarah was hungry, and something about the mature way the small child, probably no older than 7, came up to her and led her by the hand softened her defiance considerably.
The dining hall wasn’t a large building in comparison to some of the others. But the main room was immense. What looked to be hundreds of round tables for two were scattered about the room and there was still plenty of room to walk around and mingle. Most of the people in the dining hall were men, but Beth did see a few women here and there, most of whom were human. Three of them approached Beth to speak to her.
“Beth Turam! It must be! Oh I’ve heard so much about you!” one of the women said. Beth looked at her for a few minutes wondering if she had ever met her. She was a brunette with a black dress wearing what must have been a white bodystocking underneath. “Oh I’m sorry, my name is Dorothy. I was with your mother and sister when we were first brought here.”
“You! You were the one who called Cindy and told her to meet you at the hotel seven years ago. She trusted you! But she never returned and now ….”
“Yes,” Dorothy said putting a hand on Beth’s shoulder, “Lucy told us all to meet there … to figure out how to get the bodystocking off. But then your mother came and shrunk us all. She captured us and brought us here. Thank god she did! If it hadn’t been for her my little cuties would have never been born.”
“How can you thank her for capturing you?”
“I don’t think Dorothy’s thanking Yvonne directly, she’s just thankful that Yvonne’s actions brought us here,” another human woman said, this one wearing red dress and a sheer black bodystocking underneath. “And she’s right. Trust me this place is so much better than Earth. We’re treated like royalty here.”
“That’s what they keep saying ...” Beth answered skeptically as she watched her friends mingle with the Taajian men, some of them already seated together. She saw one of them pull a chair out and offer a seat to Tamara before she sat down. A perfect gentleman.
“Go on, talk to one of them. I like Truan the best. He’s so strong!”
“Silvia! You’re already married to Tragon,” Dorothy scolded tapping her on the arm.
“You’re so old fashioned Dorothy. Everyone knows New Taaj is polyandrous. We can have as many husbands as we want!”
One of the Taajian men approached her. Beth blushed when she looked into his eyes. Something about the way he looked at her made her very happy. “Don’t look away, I only want to talk. Here let me get you something to eat. My name’s Tryn, by the way.”
“I’m Beth,” she said not able to help herself as he escorted her to a very large and long buffet table. The variety of food available astonished Beth. Meats, fruits, vegetables and pastries from all over the world. Beth wondered how they managed to get it all here. She suddenly did feel very hungry, a feeling she hadn’t felt since putting on the bodystocking. She grabbed some tender steak and potatoes, one of her favorite meals from when she was a kid. The wine Tryn poured was more of a new addition. She wondered if it was a good idea to eat or drink anything here. But one look at Tryn’s friendly manner at pouring her glass convinced her that it was okay. They sat at a nearby table and Beth found she could not look away from his black eyes as he spoke to her.
“The truth is, we don’t need to eat or drink anything. That bodystocking you’re wearing sustains your life as long as you wear it. But it’s still nice to eat and drink, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it is,” Beth answered quite honestly as she took a bite of her juicy filet mignon. “But why am I hungry all of a sudden?”
“You’re hungry because you want to be hungry. You saw something you normally enjoy eating so your body, acting through the polyphylon allowed you to be hungry just this once, so you could better enjoy your meal. Astonishing material, is it not? And don’t worry, I know human women are worried about their weight, but you won’t gain a pound. Everything you eat is absorbed by the bodysuit and helps empower it and better sustain your youth and beauty.”
“Really? So that’s why I haven’t had to use the restroom this whole time!”
“Yes,” he laughed.
“Fascinating …” Beth said unable to resist caressing her thighs through her sheer bodystocking. She found herself getting lost in his black eyes again. She was definitely falling for him! And they had only spoken so briefly.
But her trance was interrupted by Faye who had approached her table with another very similar looking Japanese woman. “Hi Beth,” Faye said, “Sorry to interrupt you two, but my dumb sister here wanted to meet you.”
“Beth! My name is Jennifer!” the other woman said eagerly shaking her hand, “You don’t realize how famous you are around here. Not only the lost princess of New Taaj, but also the heroine who rescued all those poor girls from the doll collector! You’re a legend!”
“Oh, this is the lost princess?!” Trynn asked, “Forgive me your highness, I would have never presumed to approach you …”
“Seriously?” Beth asked looking at Faye who just rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, it’s not like she didn’t have help or anything,” Faye said annoyed, “If it weren’t for Lucy and me she wouldn’t have even gotten out of there!”
“While I appreciated your help back there, I’m pretty sure I could have escaped on my own, and avoided being brought here against my will!” Beth said angrily.
“You ungrateful little princess. You should be thanking us for reuniting you with your mother and sister. We’ve given you an opportunity most people could only dream of, and all you can do is complain. Look at your friends, they all love it here!” Faye gesturing towards the tables. It was true, they had all paired up with a Taajian man, even her best friend Niesa was staring longingly into a black eyed orange haired weirdo.
“Ok, I’ve had enough of this. I need to get out of here,” Beth said frustrated. She stood up abruptly and marched towards Niesa’s table. “Niesa, let’s get out of here. We need to talk.”
“Ok Beth, in a minute, me and Trone here are having a stimulating conversation. You wouldn’t believe what these people have been through,” Niesa said without breaking her gaze.
“I don’t care, let’s go,” Beth insisted pulling her away from the table.
“Wait my shoe!” Niesa said angrily as she was pulled right out of one of her white high heels, “Beth leave me alone! I want to be with Trone!” She said pulling herself away from Beth’s grip.
“Allow me,” Trone said getting up from his chair and kneeling at Niesa’s feet. He very gently replaced Niesa’s shoe giving her stocking foot a slight tickle as he did so. Niesa giggled flirtingly.
“Ugh!” Beth grunted in frustration before turning to leave. She passed Amanda, Lisa, Luvia, Tamara, even Penelope and Jasmine all deeply engaged in their “date”.
When she finally got outside she saw Sarah leaning against the wall of the building staring at the Earth. “I’m pretty sure we’re in orbit,” Sarah said pointing to their home planet.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. How far do you think we are?” Beth asked.
“Who knows. Does it matter?”
“I guess not. They’re all being hypnotized in there. Those black eyes. It’s turning them all into zombies. They’re never going to want to leave.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I left before they could influence me.”
“Fat chance of that! You’re the most stubborn person I know.”
“You’d be surprised. A part of me really does want to stay here believe it or not … get away from it all.”
“Me too … Faye was right. I should be more grateful to them for getting us out of the mansion and reuniting me with my mother and sister. This is all I’ve ever wanted since they first disappeared. For seven years I’ve dreamed of this moment. And now? It just feels all wrong …”
“That’s because your mission isn’t finished yet,” Sarah said turning to Beth, “They are prisoners just as much as we are. Only they’ve been brainwashed into thinking they’re not. You have to rescue them now.”
“You are right, Sarah. Our rescue mission hasn’t finished yet ...” Beth said staring at the very top of the dome. She noticed an airlock mechanism from which ships would dock to the dome. Small shuttles would fly people down to a landing platform below. It was at least 1000 inches high though. But at their size, an inch was more like a foot. None of the buildings reached that high. But it was the only way out.
Later that day, Lucy sat across from Sally, formerly the Doll Collector, in the shuttle they had landed in. Sally had been put into a white polyphylon bodystocking, one that was similar to the one she wore before she had been stripped of it back in the mansion and dressed in the standard female Taajian leotard and boots. She was tied to her chair facing lucy. The tables were turned, now she was at Lucy’s mercy. But she only stared at Lucy intently not giving away any hint of fear or malice. She was emotionless.
“We are willing to give you a second chance,” Lucy said, “to start a new life here. You’re more valuable to the colony alive than dead. But that’s only if you can show that you’re willing to cooperate,” Lucy said lifting Sally’s booted feet off the floor and onto her lap.
“Are you going to tickle me into compliance?” Sally asked starting to show some small hints of a nervousness.
“Let’s just say I’m going to do a bit more than that,” Lucy said slowly slipping off each of her boots, “I want to thank you for improving on the sheer sensitivity of polyphylon, our scientists have been studying what you have managed to do and have made some improvements of our own,” she said as she dragged her finger up her sole. Sally squealed helplessly. “This new bodystocking is softer, sheerer and even more tickly than even the one you invented … and it’s made from natural polyphylon … under OUR control.”
“What do you want me to do?” Sally asked, her resolve already breaking.
“Giving in so easily? Oh you’re no fun, I wanted to have some revenge,” Lucy said dancing her fingers against both of Sally’s helplessly twitching soles. Sally burst out laughing and nearly fell off her chair. “All I want is for you to understand that you are completely at our mercy. That ‘failsafe’ mechanism you put into your polyphylon hose, well it’s in the one you’re wearing as well. Your easily remove-able boots and ultra ticklish feet are the least of your worries … except that …” Lucy’s fingers danced up Sally’s wiggling toes. Sally was crying with laughter and was just about to pass out, “... except that one of the side effects of the ‘upgrades’ we made to this body stocking is that you can now be ‘tickled to death’. It wasn’t intentional, I assure you … well actually I’m not so sure that it wasn’t intentional, but in any case you DON’T want to cross us.”
“Ohohohahahahohkahahahay Juhahahust pleaheheeehehehease stohahahahop!” Sally begged.
“Do you promise to cooperate and contribute to the colony?”
“I prohahahahomise!” Sally screamed.
“Good,” Lucy said, “You may put your boots back on,” Lucy said untying her. “But you’re not allowed to join the others in the dining hall just yet. They don’t trust you. I don’t trust you. You’ll have to earn our trust to eat with us. Some community service is necessary first. I’m sure Tarl will have work for you do. Report to him quickly if you don’t want another punishment.”
“Yes ma’am,” Sally complied pulling her boots on.
She ran down the boarding ramp and past Beth who had been standing just outside the ship eavesdropping. “So you’re just letting her go?” Beth asked after Sally was out of earshot.
“Beth? Were you hiding out there the whole time?” Lucy asked surprised that she hadn’t noticed her before.
“After everything she’s done. The kidnapping ... the people she’s killed ... the torture she’s put so many girls through ... you’re just going to let her free on the condition she does ‘community service’?”, Beth asked accusingly as she walked into the ship to face Lucy. Sarah was right behind her.
“What would you have me do, kill her? This isn’t Earth, Beth. We need every woman alive and productive here. There’s a severe scarcity of fertile woman and we don’t have the means to keep people imprisoned,” Lucy said.
“And that’s how you justified kidnapping and keeping us here against our will,” Sarah said.
“We’re not keeping you here against your will, Sarah,” Lucy insisted, “You are free to leave if you don’t want to stay.”
“So, we’re in a spaceship. Take us home right now then,” Sarah demanded.
“Now? But you just got here. Don’t you want to get to know the place? I don’t think your friends want to leave yet,” Lucy argued.
“Well I want to leave now,” Beth insisted, “and so does Sarah. So take us home now.”
“Okay, if you insist … but you’re making a huge mistake,” Lucy said walking towards the exit.
“Where are you going?” Sarah asked.
“Well I have to get permission from the princess to take the ship out. Why don’t you wait in the dining hall in the meantime. Get to know some of the Taajians.”
“We’ll wait here, thank you,” Beth said smiling fakely.
“Okay … but it will be awhile,” Lucy said before leaving the ship, clearly uncomfortable with leaving the two of them unsupervised, but not wanting to appear mistrustful.
“They’re never going to take us home you know,” Sarah said after Lucy had left.
“Of course I know,” Beth said moving to the cockpit, “that’s why we have to figure out a way to fly the ship and get everyone out of here.”
“Do you think you can figure it out?” Sarah asked sitting next to Beth in the copilot seat, “she wouldn’t have left us alone here if we could fly this thing ourselves.”
“Well we have to try,” Beth said fiddling with all the buttons and knobs at the controls. But no matter what she did, the ship remained lifeless.
“I think you need a key,” Sarah said pointing to a large socket that looked like something key-like could fit into it.
Beth sighed defeatedly, but perked up when she noticed a compartment under the socket, “What’s this?” she asked as she opened it. Inside was not a key, but a wristwatch of some sort. Beth grabbed it and examined the controls. It only had one knob and light. When she turned it to the right she noticed a dim light emit from the light and the low staticy hum of white noise. The light seemed to brighten when she brought it closer to her body. “Well, if it’s a watch it does a poor job telling time,” Beth joked unable to find any sort of screen on the device.
“Beth is that you?” a familiar voice said through the white noise.
“Kevin?! You can hear me!” Beth said excited.
“Yes I can hear you … barely,” Kevin said. His voice came weakly through a lot of white noise. Beth stepped outside the ship but it still sounded as though there was a lot of interference. But she soon noticed that when she pressed the watch against her polyphylon the white noise died down. She quickly strapped the wristband on.
“How’s this?” Beth asked now talking into her “wristwatch communicator”.
“Much better,” Kevin said. “Where are you? I’ve been trying to get your signal for hours.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Beth said not knowing how to explain this.
“Are you on another planet?” Kevin asked quite matter of factly.
“Haha, close. I’m in some sort of dome encased space city that appears to be orbiting the Earth. How no astronomer has seen this thing is quite a mystery to me.”
“Oh, some have, in the pentagon at least there have been reports of disappearing and reappearing UFOs of late. But they’ve kept it secret. My guess is your alien friends have been using a cloaking device of sorts. If you ever watched Star Trek with me you’d know what that is. But you were always busy doing your own thing …”
“Kevin! The government knows about these aliens? How much do they know?” Beth interrupted excitedly.
“Very little actually. Just that they first started seeing those objects seven years ago, but didn’t really observe any major activity until recently. I suspect that’s where the polyphylon and this shrinking gadget I’m talking to you through came from. Did you find your mother and sister?”
“You amaze me, Kevin, how did you guess? Yes they are here. But they don’t want to leave! In fact I think they’re in charge of this place. The Taajians treat them like royalty. But I don’t trust them! I think they have all the women hypnotized. They have these strange black eyes that stare deep into your soul. I need to find a way to get them out of here.
“Hmm, Taajians? That’s an interesting name. I think there was an alien race called the Taajians on Babylon 5 … no that was the Tarjians. Black eyes you say? The telepaths on Babylon 5 would sometimes have their eyes go black when they were deep in the mind of the shadows … I wonder if it’s a similar …”
“Is he ever going to shut up about that tv show?” Sarah asked getting annoyed.
Beth shook her head. Kevin was normally very quiet and reserved, but once he got on the topic of science fiction television there was no shutting him up. She wanted to remind him that this is real life, not a tv show, but that argument never worked on him before … and with everything that had happened she was beginning to doubt the reality of her situation to begin with. She shook her head and rolled her eyes as he continued to ramble. But as her eyes passed over the top of the dome, she saw the airlock bay again suddenly had an idea. “Kevin, shut up for a moment, I just thought of something! Can you still change my size from there?”
“Hmm let me see. It shows here that you’re already as small as your going to get … but if I turn the knob the other way …”
Beth felt a pain course through her body. Her clothes tightened. “Aaarrgh! Not yet Kevin! We need to come up with a plan first.”
“What do you have in mind?” Sarah asked excited.
“We’ll get as many of them as we can in this shuttle, and then Kevin will grow me as large he can. I should be able to push it through the airlock. If I can grab my sister or Lucy or someone who can fly the ship, we can force them to fly the ship home.”
“But how will you get home if you’re not on the ship?”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll figure something out.”
Niesa couldn’t believe it. She was in love! “How could I let myself fall in love with an alien?” she asked herself as the two of them walked through the gardens of New Taaj. Most of the other girls were in the same situation, hopelessly falling in love with the Taajian they had paired with. Lisa was standing nearby with her new partner, Teft. Like Niesa, she was lost in his eyes. Niesa was about to kiss him when Beth interrupted her.
“Niesa, it’s time to go!” Beth demanded.
“What? Beth? What are you doing here? What do you mean?” Niesa asked somewhat annoyed.
“The shuttle is ready for us, get the other girls, we’re going home,” Beth insisted.
“I … uh,” Niesa looked into his eyes again, “I think I might stay a little longer.”
Beth suddenly had the urge to slap Niesa and away when she heard Sarah shout “Stop looking at him!” from nearby. Sarah grabbed Lisa by the arm and yanked her right out of her shoes. Lisa slipped on the floor in her stocking feet. “Sarah!” Lisa screamed, annoyed at her friend. “Why don’t you find your own partner and leave me alone!”
“Yes, leave us alone Beth,” Niesa agreed, “you should find a Taajian too, they’re very nice.”
“Can’t you listen to yourself? You sound like a brainwashed zombie!” Beth shouted.
“Beth, I’ve had enough of this,” a new voice said from behind, it was her mother and she had come with two guards! “If you’re not going to behave I’m going to have to punish you. Guards take her to her chambers.”
“So you’re going to send to my room?” Beth sneered as the guards grabbed her arms, “I’ve got news for you I’m not 12 years old anymore! A lot has changed since you abandoned me and dad!”
“You will stay in your room until you learn some respect, young lady!”
“That’s it, I’ve had it with this place! Kevin do it!”
Niesa was at first confused by Beth’s last remark. And then she saw the change. Gradual at first as the guards continued to pull Beth forward. But it became more difficult for them as Beth dragged her feet. Niesa watched Beth’s body tense up and her teeth clench. She looked to be in a great deal of pain. Her clothes tightened as she seemed to grow within them. The guards tried to pull her to her feet but found it very difficult as Beth’s size and weight had increased significantly. When she stood up again she was now a full head taller than both of them!
Beth’s yellow boots started to tear open as the feet within grew too large to be contained by them. Her green poison ivy tunic also started to rip apart at the seams. Niesa couldn’t help but think of the Batman villain transforming into she-hulk. The guards were also alarmed by her sudden change. They backed off watched in awe.
“Don’t just stand there, seize her!” Yvonne demanded trying to fiddle with her shrink ray. But she was having no success at reversing Beth’s growth. The guards moved in again, clearly not quite sure how to subdue her steadily growing frame. Beth’s face contorted as she tried to endure the intense pain. But the determined look in her eyes made it clear that she was not going to lose consciousness this time. Beth’s stocking clad toes emerged from her boots as they ripped open. Her green costume tore away as the guards tried to grab onto her. They found themselves holding the tattered remains of her Poison Ivy outfit as she shook their much smaller bodies off of her now 18 inch frame.
Everyone in the garden was panicking now and scrambling to get away from the angry giant. She was too big for the path now, and her feet had grown to crush the nearby flowerbed. Beth continued to grow … 30 inches … then 40 inches … 50 inches! Where would it end? She was towering over the dining hall now. Every step she took shook the dome. People fled from underneath her feet as she walked towards the dining hall. She crushed tiny bushes, then tiny trees and eventually even the garden shed just outside the hall with her green polyphylon clad feet.
Yvonne had given up trying to shrink her back down to size. It seemed she had no control over Beth’s bodystocking. She too was running away trying to escape her massive steps. But Beth was quick to catch her and scoop her up in her massive hand. “You’re not going anywhere, mother!” Beth’s loud voice boomed angrily. She had to be over 100 inches tall now, Niesa assessed. But she didn’t have time to stand around for long. Before she knew it Beth had turned her attention to her and her massive hand was coming toward her.
“Beth no!” was all Niesa could say before the massive hand reached out to grab her tiny body. Niesa tried to run, but tripped on her white high heels again. But instead of falling to the ground, she fell into Beth’s hand. She felt herself being lifted out of both of her shoes as she was brought eye level to Beth.
“I’m taking you to the ship whether you like it or not. You’ll thank me later,” Beth said with her giant booming voice. Niesa was frozen in fear. She was completely at Beth’s Mercy. The giant hand clutched her tightly. Her shoeless feet dangled helplessly in mid air. Soon, she was joined by Yvonne who was now being gripped in the same hand as Niesa. Beth was scooping up more girls with her free right hand and stuffing them into her left hand with Niesa and Yvonne.
Inside the dining hall the rumbling of Beth’s footsteps could be heard and the girls inside were starting to get nervous. “What’s going on out there?” Jennifer asked Faye who had just stormed in and shut the door.
“Beth’s gone crazy” Faye said panting, “She’s grown hundreds of feet tall and she’s just scooping us up left and right. She’s gone full Doll Collector. I knew that girl was bad news from the moment I met her.”
“What?! What does she plan to do with us?” Jen asked nervously.
“I don’t know, just, whatever you do, don’t go out there,” Faye said taking center stage in the hall, “Do you hear that girls. Don’t go outside for any reason. There’s a bit of an emergency, but don’t worry, we’ll have it under control soon enough. Men? Your queen needs you.”
At once all of the Taajian men stood up from their tables and headed for the exit. Christy looked at Amanda with concern. Both were sitting in the hall at separate tables but near each other. “What’s going on,” Christy asked after her man had left the table.
“No clue,” said Amanda, “but it looks serious. Maybe we should find Niesa and Beth.”
Christy scanned the room. Most of the couples had left the dining hall already. But Tamara, Gwen and Joyce were still there. No sign of Beth and Niesa though. “I don’t like this one bit,” she said standing up.
“Where are the rest of my friends?” Christy demanded of Dorothy who was standing nearby.
“Don’t worry about them, just stay calm and we’ll get through this.”
“I am calm, just tell me where they are.”
“They went to the gardens, but we’ll let them in if they come back. We’re safe here …”
Right when she said that the ceiling collapsed on top her of her. Christy nearly jumped out of her wooden clogs when she saw the giant fist that forced its way through and caused the collapse. “Move out of the way!” Amanda shouted as she pulled Christy out of her shoes just in time for another piece of ceiling to fall down.
“Shit!” Faye said reaching for her shrinking device, “listen ‘princess’ we don’t have much time here. Now would be a great time to figure out how to get control of this not so jolly green giant sister of yours!” she shouted into it as the giant hand used the newly created hole to rip the roof off the building.
“We’re working on it,” Cindy said through the communicator, “But someone hacked the control of her bodystocking. We’re having a hard time re-establishing a lock.”
“Well then figure something else out! Just hurry!” Faye screamed as the hand grabbed her.
“Where’s my sister!” Beth’s huge voice boomed as she brought Faye to her face.
“You have some nerve!” Faye yelled back with her tiny voice, “We save you and your friends life, bring you to our home and treat you like a princess … hell, we even gave the title of princess ... and this is the thanks we get?”
Beth was having none of it. She brought Faye to her mouth and opened wide. Faye screamed in terror a the girls below looked up and watched appalled. Was Beth actually going to eat Faye? Faye’s eyes clenched closed fearing the worst when she suddenly felt her right boot get yanked off her foot. She opened her eyes and looked down at her boot in Beth’s giant mouth. “The bitch just bit my boot off!” Faye said to herself. And soon the other boot followed suit. Beth had debooted Faye with her teeth! “You really have become the doll collector you freaky perv!” Faye yelled as Beth spit out her boots.
“You can stop this at any time if you just tell me where my sister is!” Beth demanded as she brought Faye’s silky stocking feet to her tongue.
“No not that!” Faye begged as the tip of Beth’s tongue tickled her smooth soles. “Hahahahaha! Stop! I’lll tehehehell you! She’s in the big tower hahahah! At the cehehehenter of the citeehehehehe!”
“Thank you Faye, maybe I’ll give you back your boots later. But for now you’ll have to stay in the ship with the others in your stocking feet,” Beth said as she forced Faye into the ship that she was holding with her other hand. Faye tumbled inside and joined the rest of the girls Beth had scooped up in her rampage.
Christy couldn’t believe it. She was using the ship they arrived in like a bucket and just tossing the girls she had captured in as if they were seashells to be gathered. Amanda was the next one to be grabbed. “Noooo! Beth let me go!” Amanda screamed as she was lifted out of her loose fitting Mary Janes.
“Sorry, Amanda, but this is the only way,” Beth said tossing her into the ship. Christy decided to make a run for the exit hoping she could find some cover on the other side of the wall. She was about to make it when Beth’s giant hand closed around her. “And where do you think you’re going, Christy, don’t you realize I’m trying to save you all from this weird hypnotic alien cuhuhuhahahahah!!!”
For some unknown reason Beth broke out in uncontrollable laughter she dropped Christy and began dancing around trying to keep her sheer stocking feet off the ground.
“They’re tickling her feet!” Gwen shouted as she watched Beth dance around from a large opening in the broken wall. It was probably the weirdest thing she had seen. The Taajian men were lined up in four different groups, each carrying a giant feather. They poked and prodded her soft shoeless feet and toes with them causing Beth to lose ticklish control. She danced and hopped trying to avoid the feathers as best she could, her feet crushing homes and small buildings in the process. Taajians, and Taajian children could be seen running for their lives as her giant stocking feet destroyed everything they stepped on, just to avoid the feathers.
“They’re making her do more damage to the city than she was before,” Joyce observed, “I don’t think they thought this through.”
“I think they just want to get her to drop the ship,” Tamara said joining them, “but she’s not letting go. That Beth is determined.”
“Yes, but we gotta help her! She’s trying to save us!” Sarah said just arriving.
“Your friend has gone mad, she needs to be subdued,” Jennifer said.
“You’re the ones who have gone mad! What made you think it was a good idea to stay here all this time and breed with aliens? They’re mind controlling you!” Sarah accused.
“Looks like we have another traitor here, your highness, at least she’s not 500 inches tall though,” Sylvia said speaking through her communicator. She had been sitting off to the side the whole time, barely noticeable, but she had been watching the whole thing. “Should we shut her down?”
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Cindy said back. “Let Lucy and I deal with my sister first. Call off the men though, they’re doing more harm than good.”
Beth nearly dropped the ship as she hopped from foot to foot trying to escape the vicious feathers, occasionally kicking over a building or stepping on Taajians who had scattered underneath. She wondered if she was stepping on some of the women she was trying to rescue but was too busy trying to escape the feathers to know for sure. But the tickling did eventually stop. The men had withdrawn … perhaps realizing they were causing her to do much more damage to the city and she hadn’t shrunken very much as a result of their tickling. On the contrary she had continued to grow to nearly 700 inches. She looked down at them angrily and kicked them away from her. “That’ll teach you to tickle my feet you stupid bugs!” she said. The men went flying, some crashing into the buildings, others landing in the water of the lake.
“Leave them alone!” a booming voice demanded from behind her. Beth turned to see her sister, Cindy … only she had grown. In fact she was now the same size as Beth. And standing next to her, also the same size, was Lucy. They weren’t naked like Beth though, over their bodystockings they were wearing giant boots, gloves, body armor and a helmet. They looked to be equipped for battle.
“Cindy!” Beth respond. “I was looking for you. We’re going back to Earth and you’re coming with me.”
“No one’s going anywhere,” she said seriously, “Now shrink yourself back and we can discuss this.”
“I’m not shrinking until you shrink first. We can discuss it in this ship on the way home.”
“Very well … Lucy?”
Lucy pulled a pistol from out of her armored suit and aimed it at Beth. Beth tried to dodge but it was too late, the bullet hit her right in the gut. But she felt no pain. The bullet bounced right off of her. “Hahaha, you just shot a regular gun at me? I thought you guys already knew this thing is bullet proof.”
“It’s bullet proof but not shrink proof,” Lucy said as she watched Beth lose several inches.
“Shit!” Beth said as soon as she realized she was shrinking. Lucy fired another shot. It bounced off her like the first, but she felt herself shrinking faster. “Kevin grow me faster!”
“Okay, but if I go too fast you may pass out,” Kevin warned.
Beth screamed in pain as she started to regain her lost height. Lucy continued to shoot her, but all it did was slow her growth, not reverse it. Suddenly, Beth’s head bumped against something. It took her moment to realize that she was now too tall for the dome. In fact her head was now level with the airlock bay. “Kevin stop!” she ordered. Thinking quickly, she closed the platform of the ship, and forced it into the launch bay. “It should be safe there until I finish dealing with Lucy!” Beth thought to herself as Lucy continued to fire shots at her. Beth was losing height rapidly as she charged at Lucy, bounding through the city and crushing buildings left and right. By the time she tackled Lucy they were near the same height again, but Beth still had the size advantage. The two giant women fell backwards onto a large factory. Bits and pieces of robotics scattered onto the ground around them.
The two women wrestled on the once beautiful city. As the larger opponent, Beth clearly had the advantage. With every punch and kick Lucy received her body got smaller and weaker. Cindy tore off Lucy’s helmet armor and boots, tickling her smaller and weaker body through the purple silky smooth polyphylon bodystocking. “Say uncle!” Beth demanded.
But before Lucy gave in, Beth was pulled off of her. Cindy had entered the fray! The two sisters went at it at once: clawing and punching and kicking, but it quickly became clear that this time Beth had lost any advantage she had when she was fighting Lucy. She felt herself getting smaller and weaker as Cindy continued to pound her. The punches soon turned to tickles as Beth’s much smaller frame clad only the very sheer green body stocking could no longer withstand, or break away from Cindy’s wicked fingers. “Keheheheevin! Grohohohow mehehehehee!” Beth shouted, but she soon realized she was no longer wearing her wristwatch.
“Oh no you don’t!” Cindy said tossing the wristband communicator aside “I’m the big sister not you!” The two combatants were now at the very edge of the dome. Beth was pressed against the glass wall that arched up over them. She did everything she could to keep Cindy’s wicked tickling fingers away from her and managed to grab each one of her wrists. But Cindy could still kick. And every one of those vicious knocks to her shins with Cindy’s large boots was enough for Beth to lose several inches.
But the last kick did not connect with Beth. Instead it connected with the glass wall that was behind her. In fact, it did more than connect with it, it connected TO it. Cindy’s massive boot had actually broken the glass and was now stuck part way through. “Oh shit!” Cindy said when she realized what she had done. Beth could see the cracks in the glass forming around the hole Cindy had just made, but neither of them felt the effects of decompression … until Cindy’s boot was sucked right off her foot exposing her panicking toes clad in her tan bodystocking. The boot had been sucked right out into space and the hole was now wide open. All of pieces of robotics and sections of buildings that were scattered on the ground quickly followed her boot out that same hole. Beth even saw a few Taajians get sucked out into space as well. As more debris crashed into the glass, it opened up wider until the hole was massive enough for both Cindy and Beth to get sucked out.
Beth felt no pain, just an intense cold as her body floated through space. Her bodystocking was still protecting her, even in the vacuum of space. But she felt herself shrink almost instantly. A wave of intense pleasure came over her and she lost consciousness. The last thing Beth remembered was seeing the dome shatter as millions of tiny particles, some of which she assumed were her minitiarized friends, were expelled into the heavens.
Beth awoke in a very familiar bed. Her head throbbed as as her eyes darted around the room. There it was … her old computer ... her bookshelf ... her posters on the wall. She was in her old bedroom in her father’s house! She was under the covers in her nightgown and quickly discovered that she was no longer wearing her green bodystocking! “You’re kidding me … was the whole thing a dream?”
She heard voices downstairs. It sounded like her father was talking to someone she could not recognize … then she heard her mother’s voice and quickly jumped out of bed. Beth opened her door and stood face to face with Niesa.
“Oh! You’re awake! Thank goodness you’re okay!” Niesa said. “I was about to check up on you.”
“What happened?” Beth asked suddenly realizing how weak and in pain she felt.
“Your mother saved you, believe it or not,” Niesa said taking her hand and leading her downstairs. “She found you floating in space and brought you into the ship. We also found Sarah. She woke up before you but is still recuperating. We couldn’t find anyone else, sadly.”
“So it wasn’t a dream,” Beth said under her breath noticing that Niesa was still wearing her black polyphylon hose under her dress. “What about Cindy?”
“We couldn’t find her … and there’s something else …”
“Beth!” Her father said when she came downstairs to the living area. He hugged her and offered her his seat. Sarah, Kevin and Vanessa were sitting on the couch across from her. “You were right all these years. Your mother and sister was alive this whole time! You’re mother’s standing right here and I still can’t believe it.” Her mother stood next to a man in a suit that she couldn’t recognize.
“Beth, I’m so glad you’re okay!” her mother said wiping a tear from her eyes. It was then that she noticed that her mother was in handcuffs.
“Who he?” Beth asked her father gesturing towards the stranger who seemed to have taken her mother into custody.
“That’s my boss Mr. Gadrin from the pentagon. Don’t worry you’re not under arrest, but they’re going to have to question you at some point.”
“Is mom under arrest?”
“She’s … a different case,” her father said hesitantly.
“You know they brainwashed her! They brainwashed all of them. She wasn’t acting of her own volition,” Beth said trying to defend her mother.
“We know about their persuasive powers ma’am,” Gadrin said.
“Then why is she in handcuffs? It wasn’t her fault! We need to rescue the others, they’re probably still out there! What about Cindy? She and my mom are the only ones able to fly the ship. Let my mother go so she can help us rescue the others!”
“And if she cooperates we will consider that. The same goes for Faye who is also in custody and being questioned. We have to be sure they won’t side with the aliens again,” Gadrin said.
It actually seemed like a very reasonable course of action, but Beth felt very restless. “How can we waste time on this while they’re still floating out there in space? If I survived it so can they!”
“We know Beth. We have probes searching as we speak … but we have reason to believe they were picked up by another ship, one that we’re unable to detect,” her father said.
“Who made it home?” Beth finally asked.
“Everyone you tossed into the ship,” Niesa answered. “Let’s see that was Lisa, Sarah, me, Luvia, Faye, Jasmine, Amanda and a several other girls we rescued from the mansion. They were taken home to recuperate, but are still on call for questioning.”
Beth’s mind raced. That meant Christy, Penelope, Tamara, Joyce, Gwen and her sister were still out there. Not to mention Cindy, Lucy, Dorothy, Sylvia, Jennifer and the hundred or so other girls they had “rescued” from The Doll Collector. The Doll Collector herself was still out there too … “We have to save the rest,” Beth determined. She got up to get dressed when she suddenly remembered she wasn’t wearing her green bodystocking anymore. “What happened to my bodysuit?”
“Your mother helped us figure out how to detach you from it using Kevin’s control device. Now we can all be detached! We had hoped that you would wake up more quickly if it was removed but I think it may have made things worse. Sarah recovered more quickly than you I think because we didn’t remove hers.”
“It’s the withdrawal symptoms,” Beth said rubbing her throbbing head. “I’m going to need mine back if we’re going to save the others.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Gadrin said tossing her a green plastic egg. “We have studied it and learned all we can from it and have even gained control of all the hosiery that the Doll Collector had manufactured. But we don’t have any people that know how to use it as well as you. We’re going to need volunteers like you to combat the alien threat and prevent other criminals, like the Doll Collector, from rising.”
“Volunteers?” Beth asked staring at the egg.
“Yes, volunteers for the Polyphylon Girls Squad,” Sarah said at last. “So far I’ve recruited Lisa, Niesa, Amanda and Vanessa. But we still need our squad leader.”
Beth cracked open her egg and pulled out her bodystocking smiling. “I better get dressed then.”
Epilogue
And so the Polyphylon Girl Squad officially formed at last! A team of size changing superheroines who made it their duty to protect the Earth from threats both on Earth and in Space.
They had many adventures and traveled throughout the Galaxy. Saving the innocent, and defeating evil. There were more run ins with The Doll Collector, a fiend whom they could never permanently. But the greatest threat was the evil mind controlling Taajian Empire, still under the leadership of Beth’s long lost sister, Queen Cindy.
As time went by, after each conflict, it seemed more apparent that the majority of women captured by the Taajians had assimilated to the Taajian way of life and there was no going back. But Beth never lost hope, even after every difficult battle they fought, that she could rescue them and bring even her sister to her side.
But those adventures are to be told in other stories … And I may not be the one to tell them … This story has officially ended.
The End
Mandrake
....
Yes it's finally finished. This story was 16 years in the making (I started the first version in 2001 believe it or not). I know the epilogue leaves it open for more adventures as that was the original plan. This whole story was actually just supposed to serve as the launching pad and origin story for a series of comics starring the Polyphylon Girl Squad - a team of Superheroines with special protective Hosiery that allows them to change size ... but also makes them way more ticklish!
But I'll be honest with you, since it took me so long just to finish this first origin story I don't have any plans to continue with more PG adventures, at least not in the near future. You may see short one-shot stories or comics from me years from now if I ever get the itch to revisit this universe, but don't expect another long story like this or for the adventures to ever officially "end". These are ongoing adventures from here on out and I want to encourage other writers and artists who enjoyed this story to create within this universe and continue the adventures if they so please. I'm giving the rest of the story to you guys now. 🙂
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