Axel made his way through the winding streets of the suburb, occasionally looking down to check his phone. The air was still, unnaturally so, with only the occasional whine of an engine or cry of an animal breaking the silence. He shuddered. It was starting to get late, and he was really starting to regret this decision. It wasn’t even his idea. He had seen the offer while doomscrolling one night and it was his boyfriend, Sky, who had convinced him it was too good to pass up. The sun had almost completely set by now, leaving Axel wandering through the dim light of dusk, all the while considering if he should just turn around and forget all about this. He soon found the house he was looking for, however, and made his way to the front door. Axel looked up, taking in the full visage of the building before him. It was nearly identical to the ones surrounding it, yet, there was something odd about it. Maybe it was that the walls looked older than the houses around it. Maybe it was the complete lack of noise from within. But it could just have been that all the lights were off. Axel stood there for a long while, trying to make up his mind on whether to just leave and go home or not. Finally, after several deep breaths, he raised his fist and knocked on the door. No answer. Axel waited a bit, nervously checking the address on his phone. Still nothing. He hesitantly knocked on the door again and this time it slowly creaked open. Axel anxiously glanced around before slowly poking his head through the doorway.

  “Uh, hello?” He whispered into the house, his voice echoing back to him. “It’s, um, Axel. We talked online. I’m, uh, I’m here for the, uh, the suit.” No response. As he leaned on the door, it fell open and Axel stumbled into the foyer. “Anyone home?” Still nothing. Axel’s gaze wandered down the hall, where yellow light spilled from a barely opened door. He wandered toward it, his footsteps echoing louder than they should. After what felt like longer than should have been possible, he reached the door and peered inside. There, he found himself in a walk-in closet, the walls lined with mirrors, his own anxious face reflected in every one of them. In the center, there was a mannequin with what Axel had come here for displayed on it. He approached, took the head from the outfit, and looked it over. In his hands he held a hollow headpiece covered in golden blonde faux fur. Two cartoony eyes nestled above a small snout stared back at him. The rest of the suit, still draped on the mannequin, was made from the same color fur except for the stomach which was cream colored and the pads on the paw shaped gloves and boots were black.

  “Uh, I already paid for this, so I’m, uh, just going to take it.” Axel shouted but was met only with echoes in response. He looked back down at the fursuit head in his hands and tilted his head. “Huh. I guess it would be a shame to leave without seeing if it fits.”

  With that, Axel hoisted the head above his own and lowered it. The body soon followed along with the paws. The whole thing was snug, but not uncomfortably so, like a warm hug. Axel approached one of the mirrors and admired the suit. The colors, the pattern, the shape, it was all perfect; like it had been made just for him. It even had a tail trailing off behind it. Axel couldn’t remember the last time he felt this wonderful; a part of him dreaded the fact that he would have to take it off. But those feelings were soon overcome by a strange, sudden dizziness as Axel began to feel lightheaded. He tried to reach out to steady himself but simply fell flat on his back. The world began spinning and edges of his vision blurred as he fell completely unconscious. An inordinate amount of time passed and, when he finally awoke, Axel found himself staring straight at a clear blue sky. He sat up, rubbing his head where he found he was still in the fursuit. He looked down and, puzzlingly, found himself in what looked like the set of an old kaiju movie. Tiny suburban houses spread out in every direction, and the streets were lined with tiny little matchbox cars; some of them even moved! But then, Axel saw them. There weren’t just little buildings and vehicles around, but people! Miniature, ant-sized people. Dozens of bewildered spectators had gathered to ogle at the fursuited giant and they were all staring at him. Axel blushed beneath the blonde fur. His head began to hurt. His breathing grew heavy. The world once again seemed to spin. But through the noise, a single name cut through, grounding Axel.

  “Sky,” he whispered. “I need to go find Sky. He’ll know what to do.”

  Axel slowly rose to his feet, causing the tinies below to anxiously stir. As he reached his full height, however, Axel was suddenly overcome by an extreme sense of vertigo. He stumbled forward, accidentally slamming his paw through a nearby house, which instantly collapsed into itself. That’s when the screaming started. The once fascinated crowd began fleeing down the streets. Axel winced at the sight.

  “Sorry! Sorry, uh, everyone.” Axel yelled after the crowds. He looked down. Rubble and dust fell from the fur as he raised his foot. “Oh. I really hope no one was in there.”

  Axel took a few deep breaths. He at least had some peace and quiet now that the crowds had already fled down the road. After calming his nerves, he started down the road toward his apartment, flinching as he flattened a car with his first step. He made his way through the city streets, carefully stepping around the various parked cars. Despite his best efforts, however, his footfalls still cracked the asphalt beneath him and each step sent tremors through the city. Behind him, the fursuit’s tail dragged across the ground, occasionally getting caught on cars and dragging them along with him. Still, Axel regularly stopped to give the people below plenty of time to get out of the way, watching patiently as they fled from his paws. This slowed the trip down significantly but, seeing how fragile that house had been, he wasn’t going to take any chances. After a while, Axel had finally made it to his apartment. At least, he thought it was his apartment. From his perspective most buildings looked identical, but he nevertheless crouched down and reached for what he assumed was his room’s window. He had intended to rap his finger against the window but, forgetting that he was wearing fursuit gloves, he ended up just pawing at it instead.

  Sky was laid out on his bed aimlessly scrolling through social media when he felt the entire building shake. Just as he was beginning to consider actually getting out of bed, he heard something crash against the side of the wall. The building shook once more, this time hard enough to knock Sky out of bed and onto the floor. He got up, rubbing the side he fell on, and swiftly made his way to the window. He opened it and froze. Instead of the skyline he was used to, Sky was instead met with an animal-like snout about as big as he was. Two cartoony eyes, each bigger than a swimming pool, stared out from just above the muzzle. Sky looked forward and, through the gigantic maw before him, saw an equally large human head. It wasn’t a real animal, it was a fursuit. He stood there, staring in stunned silence for several minutes, before realization dawned in him.

  “Axel?”

  “Oh, Sky! You don’t know how happy I am to see you. I really don’t know what’s happening. I put this on and then I passed out and when I woke up and I was like this, and I just don’t know what to do about it.” Axel rambled on, the words coming out faster than his brain could process them but regained his focus when he heard his boyfriend’s voice.

  “Uh, I’m not entirely sure what you should do about that either,” he finally managed to say. “But, if I’m being honest, I’m also not sure why you would want to do anything about this” Axel’s head tilted quizzically as he processed what had just been said. “Wha - because I’m an immediate threat to everyone around me?” He finally replied with some puzzlement. “I could really hurt someone.”

  “Heh, yeah, I’ll say,” Sky responded, looking down at Axel’s paw. “You actually got a few already.”

  The giant paused. He slowly looked down and, to his horror, saw a splash of red on the fur near his ankle. Axel felt bile in his throat as he lifted his foot and saw a sickening mix of gore and broken bone stuck to the pad. He could practically hear his heart attempt to beat out his chest.

  “Oh. Oh no.” Was the only thing Axel could manage to say. “I- I’m a murderer.”

  “I know! It’s incredible!” Swooned Sky.

  There was almost an audible record scratch as Axel’s head snapped to his boyfriend so fast he nearly made himself dizzy. “Excuse me!?” He shouted. “How can you say that!? I killed someone, Sky!”

  “Multiple someones by the look of it,” the smaller man responded, leaning out the window to get a better look. Axel just stood there staring. “Babe, think about this for a second. “You're probably more powerful than any military force on the planet. You’re beautiful beyond belief, although that was always the case,” Sky chuckled, “Your, what’d you call it?” he asked, stifling a giggle. “Your ‘Halloween costume’ looks amazing on you! Why would you want to go back?”

  The giant stared back, unconvinced

  “Axel, to me, you’ve always been the most breathtaking person in the world. The only thing that’s changed is that now you can show the rest of the world that.”

  “Show the rest of the world that?” Axel spat back “What exactly do you want me to do? Stomp down main street, pushing over buildings and crushing people?”

  “Yes.” Sky said flatly. “That’s exactly what I want you to do. And I want you to take me with you.”

  Axel looked at his now tiny boyfriend, tilting his head. His brain screamed at him to refuse. What Sky was suggesting was absurd. He looked back at Sky gazing up at him in awe, bounding up and down excitedly. He shook his head rapidly. “No. No, we can’t. That’s . . . that’s ridiculous” Axel paused, thinking. “Okay, I know what we should do. We should make our way out of here. Make sure I can’t accidentally hurt anyone.” He reached out and placed his paw to the window. “You should come too. Uh, if you want that is," he sheepishly added. "I’d appreciate it.”

  Sky flinched slightly as the massive paw came towards him, causing Axel to apologize, blushing. Soon though, he climbed up the fur and onto the plush pad in the center. He felt his stomach drop somewhat as he was suddenly hoisted into the air. As he passed by his boyfriend’s face, now so large it couldn’t fully fit in his vision, a thousand different fantasies raced through his head. Soon, they would all be real. He continued to be lifted up and was soon set on his partner’s shoulder.

  “Ooh. Your suit’s so soft!” Sky cooed as he nuzzled the faux fur he sat on.

  Axel smiled warmly beneath the headpiece. “Right, uh, do you remember the fastest way out of here?”

  Sky paused for a while, scanning the horizon. “Absolutely not. Just go that way.” He pointed off down the street. “You’ll hit the end eventually”

  Without a better idea, Axel obliged and walked down the road“Okay, yeah. I, uh, I guess we can head that way,” Axel said, awkwardly staring at the cracks in the asphalt behind him. Just yesterday, he needed help opening a jar of pickles, now he caused craters wherever he stepped. His rational mind was aware of the property damage and, of course, the risk he posed to the tiny people. Yet, he felt better than he had in years. He quickly shook his head, pushing the feelings down, before heading off toward the city center.

  It was still an utterly surreal experience, walking through a, to him, miniature city. Axel recognized all the buildings he passed. There was the grocery store he shopped at, there was the bus stop he waited at for his daily commute, there was that nice coffee shop he and Sky liked to visit. But, from this new angle, it was like seeing it for the first time. He was so absorbed in taking in the sights, he didn’t even notice when something squelched under his footfall or when his tail caught a streetlight and ripped it from the ground. Sky definitely noticed though and he was loving it. Every little crunch, every scream, every time something went noticed under his boyfriend’s footpaws, it was music to his ears. Axel took his time, doing his best to avoid cars and waiting for people, the people he noticed anyway, to get out of the way. As they approached the city’s center, that became nearly impossible. Word of the giant humanoid mouse had spread and those that believed it had rushed to their cars and attempted to evacuate. This, however, had only trapped them in gridlocked traffic. Axel looked down at the sea of honking vehicles with dismay. “Looks like this might be as far as we can go”

  “What? Why?” Sky replied “We’re not even that far in”

  “Uh, because there are all these cars in the way.”

  “So? You crushed plenty of cars on the way over here”

  Axel paused. Had he really been destroying cars without even noticing? He looked down, lifting his foot, and, sure enough, bits of scrap metal fell from it. As he watched the twisted wreck clatter to the ground, a feeling welled up inside. Something primal. He shook his head. “Well, there are people in these ones”

  “I know! Isn’t it great? I bet there’s no better feeling than wiping out hundreds just by walking”

  “Wha- Sky! That’s . . . that’s murder!”

  Sky stared blankly for a few moments. “. . . And?” no response. “Look, we’re not going to get anywhere if you keep worrying about these bugs”

  “Bugs!?” Axel snapped back

  “Yes, bugs” came the reply. “Look at them! They’re smaller than your fingers”

  Axel pensively looked at the backed up traffic. Sky was right, they weren’t going to get out of here without some collateral damage, the crumpled steel he was unintentionally grinding into nothing beneath him was proof, but surely this was too far. As Axel thought, something welled up inside. Something almost approaching excitement. He shouldn’t do this, but maybe he had to. That was it. He had to trample all these cars, crush all these people, in order to get out of this place. His mind made up, Axel closed his eyes and took a step forward. The thick paw boots meant that he didn’t even feel the several cars as both they and their occupants were pressed flat beneath his pads, but he definitely heard them. The twisting of metal, the snapping of bone, the screaming, it all rang in his ears even after they died down. After a moment, he took another step with similar results. Soon he was walking at a normal pace, crushing cars and smearing pedestrians with every step. He kept his eyes shut the entire time, unwilling to look at the carnage he was causing. As he went on Axel found that, beneath the pangs of guilt he felt every time he heard something squelch beneath him, there was another feeling. The same exciting feeling he felt before starting this death march. He tried to push it down, but found it significantly more difficult this time. Sky’s feelings, by contrast, were clearly displayed on his giddy face. He watched gleefully from his vantage point as those huge paws came crashing down on scores of cars at once. Each time a splash of blood would spurt out from beneath the fur. Each time there would be nothing left but a crater filled with flattened metal wafers and the mangled remains of their passengers. On more than one occasion, he leaned forward to get a better look and nearly fell off in the process. He managed to hang on and continued happily watching the mayhem below. Every step, dozens disappeared and would only reappear as red spots adorning the giant’s pad or as slick red liquid coating twisted scrap metal.

  “Ar- are we through yet?” Axel asked once he stopped hearing the sound of people being reduced to mush

  “Yeah, looks lik- wait!” Sky suddenly shouted as he watched his partner’s foot land squarely on a bus; quite a full one too, judging by the amount of gore that leaked out of the windows. “Okay, now we’re through”

  Axel stopped, letting out a sigh of relief. “Glad that’s over.”

  A distracted “uh-huh,” was all the response he got as Sky was busy taking in the scene the titanic fursuiter had left behind. The street, once filled with traffic and life, was now pocketed with massive paw-shaped craters, each one littered with barely recognizable human remains.

  “Alright, let's just keep moving,” Axel finally sighed, snapping Sky out of his stupor. “I think I can see the edge of the city from here”

  Axel once again began walking down the tiny streets. Fortunately, this part of the city was mostly evacuated leaving only the odd empty car for the giant to accidentally squish. This left Sky dreadfully bored. He watched from his vantage point as tiny buildings passed by, fantasizing about his boyfriend smashing through them. Eventually though, the two hit a roadblock. The street they were following suddenly ended in a parking lot for an office park.

  “Oh, come on!” Axel whined “Who designed this place!” He sighed “I guess we’ll just have to turn around”

  “Well, we don’t have to go back,” Sky chimed “you could just go through those buildings”

  Axel shook his head. “No, no, no. I’m not destroying any more of this place.” He spun around, but as he did, the thought of having to walk past all the cars he crushed made him stop. He would have to walk past the gore, the destruction, maybe even the survivors. He looked back at the rows of highrises blocking his path

  “Maybe we could try and squeeze past them”

  Axel approached the roadblock once more and found an alleyway. He turned sideways and tried to sidle through it. The concrete cracked as he tried to contain the huge fursuiter. His tail dragged along the facade, occasionally cracking a window as it went. Eventually, Axel managed to make it through and, with one last push, pulled himself free from the alley. He took a few chunks of concrete with him as he stumbled into the open street, but the buildings remained mostly standing. Axel sighed in relief. He was almost out of the city. No more having to worry about knocking over skyscrapers. No more causing property damage with every step. No more accidental death. He just had to make it through the suburbs. Axel took a single step forward which unfortunately happened to line up with a crowded bus. The giant paw smashed through the metal frame like it was paper and the people within fared no better. Every living thing beneath the unforgiving pad was reduced to a fine red paste near instantly. The liquified remains spilled out from their metal container and onto the street which caused Axel to slip. He fell backwards, his rear cleaving through the buildings he had just squeezed past. He landed on the ground with an earth shattering thud that set off car alarms and even knocked a few nearby buildings over. Axel just sat there in the rubble, his suit’s fur coated in powderized concrete and the pads covered in blood, before all his feelings were released in a single shout.

  “Why!?” He screamed at himself more than anyone else. “Why would you drive a bus, a completely full bus, directly under a 200-foot tall giant?! Who would think that was a good idea!?” Axel threw his hands up in frustration before letting them flop down at his sides. He sighed as he pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them. “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do” he sulked

  Sky, who had only just barely managed to hang onto his boyfriend’s fur throughout the ordeal, scooted over to Axel’s neck and leaned on him, gently caressing the faux fur

  “Well, you could just lean into the whole rampaging giant thing you’re doing” Axel shot him a look that caused him to flinch. “I’m serious, babe! Trying to be careful is clearly causing you more stress than it’s worth.” he gently nuzzled Axel’s neck. “I just hate seeing you feel this way”

  Axel let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine,” he finally said. “I’ll try”

  With that, he climbed to his feet and headed for the nearest intact building. He lifted his foot above it and dropped it down. The massive paw bulldozed through the structure sending bits of rubble flying off in all directions. Once the dust cleared, there was barely any indication a building existed at all

  “Alright. There. Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Come on, Axel. Get into it,” Sky pleaded.

  Axel just rolled his eyes. He approached the building next door and once again raised his paw. This time, however, he held it above the building. “Uh, rawr?” he said, raising his paws in front of him. “What else should I say? UwU?” He let out a single chuckle to himself before finally, he stomped the structure flat. Axel felt close to nothing as he looked at the pile of debris. Even that strange, carnal feeling from earlier had left. He sighed again “I really don’t think I’m enjoying this” He glanced down, stopping as he noticed something in the rubble. “Aw! This was that restaurant you took me to the other day!” Axel bent down and picked up the sign from the destroyed building. “That’s a shame. I could of gone for some of that salmon right now,” He joked

  Sky immediately perked up. “You’re hungry? Why didn’t you say something earlier? You could have eaten so many people by now!”

  “Wh-what?!” Axel replied. Shocked. “Sky, I can’t just eat someone!"

  “Why not? You’ve already started crushing them. Is this really that much of a step up?”

  Axel just stood there silently for a few moments. What was being suggested was unthinkable. Yet, he couldn’t think of any reason not to, not after stomping through that traffic, not after purposefully smashing those buildings. “I . . .” he began “I guess I could try one”

  “Great!” Sky cheered “I’ll help you look”

  With that, the two of them scanned the city streets, searching for anyone who hadn’t yet fled. He wouldn’t have to go far as a tiny man crawled out from under the nearby rubble. Axel reached down to grab him but, still unused to the paw gloves, he only managed to mash the poor tiny beneath his pad. Axel winced as he heard them squelch beneath the fabric. He looked at the paw, blushing as he bashfully wiped the gore off on the asphalt. He searched for another and, after a minute or two, found a miniature woman hiding in an alleyway. He reached in and, with both paws this time, gently brought her out and to his face. Axel raised her screaming and flailing above his head. He paused for a moment, a pang of guilt rising through him as he watched the helpless tiny thrash about between his hands.

  “You want me to just . . . eat her?” Axal asked hesitantly

  “Yep!” cam the shockingly matter-of-fact response. “you could probably swallow her whole”

  Axel couldn’t deliberate for long as the woman suddenly managed to break free and fell toward the giant’s face. The titan gasped as the women fell past his fursuit’s maw and into his own. She landed on the massive tongue with a splat and immediately began struggling. She tried desperately to crawl toward the front of the mouth toward freedom but more often than not ended up slipping on the saliva and falling face-first onto the tongue. Axel closed his mouth and focused on the morsel within. Her taste was nothing short of divine; a complex mix of sweet and salty and every time she moved she spread more of that flavor across Axel’s tongue. He didn’t even mean to swallow, sending the doomed person down to his stomach. Her struggles continued as she was forced down the tight tunnel of muscle, much to a surprised Axel’s delight. He felt as she plopped into his stomach and kept fighting. A shiver ran up the giant fursuiter’s spine as the struggling inside his gut slowly weakened with time.

  “That . . . that was incredible,” Axel whispered. The words had barely left his mouth when he was startled by a car swerving around a corner and slammed into his paw. The soft fur cushioned the impact slightly, but the vehicle was still wrecked beyond repair. Axel bent down and picked it up. He peered through the windshield and spied three different people in various states of disarray. Axel’s mouth watered and his tongue made its way across his lips. He couldn’t help himself as ripped the driver’s side door off its hinges and shook the whole car above his mouth. The driver, barely conscious enough to scream, fell past the mask and into the giant’s awaiting maw. He was swallowed and forgotten almost instantly and Axel moved on to the other two treats. He had just reached for one of the remaining doors when Sky, who had been watching in silent excitement, chimed in. “You know, you could just eat the whole car. Get two for the price of one”

  “Eat the . . . car?” Axel asked, bemused. “Sky, it’s metal and gasoline and stuff.”

  “Yeah, and?”

  Axel tilted his head, examining the panicked tinies in his grip. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of a reason not to try. The events of today were all already far past any sort of logical reasoning. With a shrug, he tossed the vehicle into his mouth. It didn’t taste like much at first. But then, Axel bit down. The chassis crumpled almost instantly, allowing the titan’s molars to crush the people within who burst like ripe grapes. However good the tiny people tasted whole, they tasted nearly thrice as good when chewed. A moan involuntarily escaped Axel’s lips as he fully took in their taste before swallowing the mush down.

  “So? How was it?” Sky questioned. He had been watching the whole time with bated breath.

  “It - it was better than anything I’ve ever tasted,” Axel said breathlessly, with some hesitation.

  “See? Told you you’d like it. Why don’t we go find you someone else to eat?” Sky nuzzled Axel once more.

  “I- I don’t know” Every rational part of his brain told him this was wrong, but he just couldn’t help himself. “I guess we could find a few more.”

  Sky cheered and the pair headed back into the city, now scanning the streets for more snacks. After just a bit, Sky perked up.

  “Wait! over there!” He pointed to a one story building nearby. “I think there’s people inside”

  Axel looked over to the structure, noticing movement from within. He approached, crouched down, and peered inside. Surely enough, there were several people hiding within, all staring at the giant fursuiter in abject terror. Axel hesitated. Was he really about to do this? Nothing was forcing him; he could just stop now. A loud grumble from his stomach interrupted his thought process. He reached forward and placed his paws on either side of the building. The masonry cracked and crumbled as the structure was slowly ripped from its foundation. Axel looked inside again. Those within had been knocked to the ground by the sudden motion, but were otherwise unharmed. Axel winced slightly at the thought of what he was about to do. Nevertheless, he brought the building as close to his mouth as his fursuit head would allow and slowly tilted it. The cowering people, along with just about anything not nailed down, began sliding toward the drooling maw beneath them. They tried to stop themselves, but found no purchase. Soon they all plummeted down into the saliva-soaked abyss that awaited. For Axel, this was quite a mouthful, his cheeks bulging with thrashing, squirming limbs. He struggled to even close his lips around them. With some effort, Axel managed to swallow them down, letting out a refreshed sigh as he felt them enter his stomach. He could feel them fighting in there and was loving every second of it.

  “Amazing,” Axel panted.

  Sky beamed as he tightly hugged his boyfriend’s fluff. “You know, if you want dessert, I think there’s a football game going on right now”

  The giant grinned “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  Axel bounded off towards the other side of the city where his meal awaited him. He walked straight through the waist high buildings that surrounded him, uncaring of when screams when silent beneath his tread. Soon, the sports stadium in view; Axel’s mouth watered. He walked over the parking lot, smashing scores of cars beneath his paws, and peered over the stadium wall. The sports fans’ cheers turned to screams as they noticed the several hundred foot mouse looming over them. Axel wasted no words, dipping his head down into the throngs of panicked tinies and sticking out his tongue. The fursuit’s mouth effectively corralled people closer to the giant’s salivating maw. The tongue scooped up dozens, leaving nothing behind but puddles of drool. Axel swallowed them down with a single, deafening gulp before moving onto the next crowd. After only minutes, hundreds had been sucked down Axel’s esophagus and the massive furry let out a content sigh. He could feel the plethora of doomed tinies all squirming inside his gut. It tickled slightly, but the sensation was almost relaxing. He climbed over the stadium wall and reclined in the field, his head smashing through the stands as he laid down. He gingerly placed Sky on his stomach, who embraced his partner as best he could.

  “Thanks for convincing me to do this, babe.” Axel said, resting a hand on his tiny boyfriend. “I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun”

  “I should be the one thanking you!” The smaller man buried his face in the field of faux fur, listening intently to the struggles of those digesting just a few inches beneath him. “You were amazing!”

  Axel smiled warmly at his tiny partner. He couldn’t wait to explore the world at his new size; see what else he could do with his new perspective. Maybe he could give toppling skyscrapers another try. Maybe he’d see if he really could stand up to the military. Maybe he’d experiment with other ways to have fun with the tiny populace. But for now, he just rested, holding his beloved partner, quite literally, close to his heart.