Ty and Sean had hated each other for pretty much all their lives - ever since the time they were playing together as kids and Ty had stepped on Sean's favourite action figure and broken it. After this minor tragedy there had been an increasingly bitter rivalry between them, even after Sean moved to a different school in the next town. Somehow their antagonism had rubbed off onto their circles of friends, leading to conflict whenever their paths crossed - usually at some sporting event. Both boys were natural sportsmen and had ended up as captains of their respective high-school soccer teams. At that point their aggression had become more formalized, partly sublimated in the rough and tumble of the match, and partly in the forfeits they began to introduce to motivate themselves and their teams...
* * * * * * * *
It had been an hard-fought match between two teams well-known for the bad blood between them. The ragged collection of observers had come expecting a fight and they hadn't been disappointed by the ill-tempered battle, filled with insults, heavy tackles, and downright fouls. The match was finally decided by a narrow margin after injury time with a victory for the home team, and the two mud-spattered, sweaty teams made their way off the pitch with an almost-palpable tension still blighting the air around them. But as the small crowd of observers slowly dispersed they had no idea that the real drama was about to begin - inside the lockerroom...
Ty and Sean stood almost nose-to-nose, glaring at each other with their team-mates at their backs. The air around them was humid with sweat and testosterone. Sean might have lost, but that didn't mean he'd act like it. He knew that Ty would make the most out of the situation - just as he would have done - and look for any opportunity to humiliate him further. At six-foot tall, with cropped blond hair, deep blue eyes and a powerful frame, Sean was used to being looked-up-to by other guys, drooled over by the girls, and feared by the geeks. He had an image to maintain and wasn't going to let Ty spoil it.
By contrast, Ty was slightly shorter; more lean and wiry with dark hair, but equally strong in his own way. What little he lacked in height he more than made up for in intensity. His green eyes gleamed with a cold amusement that intimidated many people, and it was clear from his present expression that he already had something unpleasant in mind for the losers in front of him.
Sean repressed a shudder. He didn't want to prolong this any more than necessary. "Okay, let's get this over with. What do we have to do?"
Ty's lips twitched in a crooked grin. "Actually it's pretty simple. Since we overwhelmed you with our superior talent on the football pitch I think it's only fair that you worship our feet."
Sean groaned, and there was an angry rumble from the players behind him. His best friend, Mike, was particularly unamused: "Hey, I thought we weren't going to do any of that gay stuff!?"
Ty raised one eyebrow slightly and turned his gaze on Mike. "Why? - afraid you might enjoy it? Maybe you'd rather think about our *ball* skills and worship our dicks instead?"
Mike made a lunge for Ty but Sean held him back, knowing full well that this was just another one of Ty's ploys to humiliate him and his friends. At the same time he felt suspicious - surely his nemesis wouldn't be satisfied with a little foot-sniffing? He'd been expecting to have to jog naked through the shopping mall or be forced to perform one of the cheerleaders' routines wearing their outfits. There had to be more to it than that...
"...Of course we will be taking pictures for posterity - and the school magazine," Ty continued. All of his friends got out their cellphones, holding them ready to take snaps. Ty himself reached into his bag and pulled out what looked vaguely like some kind of camera - Sean couldn't recall seeing anything quite like it before, but supposed it must be some new advanced model; he knew Ty's Dad worked for a hi-tech research company or something similar. He watched as Ty pushed a button on the top, causing several lights to blink and a circular cover on the front to iris open, revealing what Sean presumed to be a lens. Then the device was raised and pointed directly at him.
"Let's just take a nice picture of the losing team first of all. Move back a bit so that I can get you all in here... that's it... now get on your knees and close your eyes..."
Sean's team started grumbling again and Sean himself muttered something under his breath, but they did as they were told. Ty smirked at the sight and adjusted the viewfinder so they they were all nicely targetted. He smirked to himself. What Sean and the others didn't realise (although *his* friends certainly did) was that this was no camera. It was actually an experimental device for reducing matter that had been developed by his Dad's company. He'd always wanted to cut Sean down to size and now he had his chance! He adjusted the settings on the back until he was satisfied, and then fired the device. Instead of a normal camera flash a beam of light shot from the "lens" and struck the kneeling team. In a matter of a second every one of them was shrunk to a tiny size. Wow! Even Ty was impressed. The device had worked perfectly: even Sean, the tallest of them, was now barely two inches tall, if that - he'd been reduced from a six-foot muscled jock to a little toy footballer, kneeling in the middle of a vast expanse of cold tiling.
Cameras clicked all around Ty as his friends took pictures of the now-tiny players on the floor in front of them. The little things still had their eyes closed, unaware of what had been done to them. Ty gestured to his friends and they slowly and quietly moved across the lockerroom until they were arranged in a loose circle around the miniaturized team.
"Okay boys, time to open your eyes and worship your new masters" he said quietly.
Sean and the others obeyed and looked around them. Everything had changed! The formerly cramped lockerroom had been replaced by some kind of wide plain, and all around in every direction were what appeared to be huge, huge boots, spattered in mud, with huge rocks, boulders, and fragments of vegetation half-crushed by the massive cleats. Looking slowly up in front of him Sean saw a heavily creased pair of socks, then two huge legs, sprinkled with dark hairs and streaks of mud, rising high into the air before disappearing into a dirty pair of tight shorts. Above that was a shirt stretched across a powerful chest, with two muscular arms emerging from the rolled-up sleeves. And higher still... Sean saw Ty's face smirking down at him. No longer was he a rival, but a powerful titan large enough to crush him and his entire team underfoot. His muscles froze in disbelief and terror. He was vaguely aware of a moaning sound and it took him a second to realise the sound was coming from his own lips. And he wasn't alone as his terrified friends stared in horror at the giants surrounding them.
Ty listened to the tiny squeaks of terror below him and laughed. "Let's have some fun, guys. Just remember - Sean is mine!" Then his expression hardened and he reached down to pick up the helpless miniaturized captain.