He grinned, and tipped back the bottle. Rene took just a sip to see what the bottle contained. He felt good, warm and happy. He drank more, and swaggered around Dan circling him.
He tripped over a bucket of water. Damn, that's right his mother had asked him to mop out the oil stains in the garage floor, she must have left a bottle of soapy water. To steady himself, Rene grabbed at the shop light that was clipped to the bench, as it fell, Rene leapt back out of the water. There was flash and sparks. The fuse blew the garage went dark. He hoped his parents weren't home yet. Rene unplugged the shorted shoplight and ran to the fuse box. He reset the breakers, and paused. No complaint came from the house, he was safe. He wondered about Dan, and Ran back to the garage. The ceiling light was back on. The room smelled of burnt hair. There was Dan dripping wet, large as life. Three D.
"Guess, we know how to unflatten you now. But I'm afraid, I'm going to have to stomp you flat, Dan Flatt!" Rene advanced on his larger opponent.
Dan smiled, "We'll have to see about that Renny."
As Rene charged naked Dan, the man pulled a large cardboard mattress box forward to fall on the youth. Rene gasped as he felt the weight of Dan's restored body push down on the cardboard wall which was crushing Rene flat. As his hand flattened into his foreshortening arm, Rene screamed, he knew what was happening to him.
When Dan lifted the box off the cold concrete floor, he smiled at the poster boy he'd turned Rene into. Dan walked over to the washing machine to retrieve his clothes, and was disappointed to find that they were sopping wet, apparently Rene had filled the tub but not lowered the lid to start the cycle. He put his dripping clothes into a plastic garbage bag, and turned his attention back to Rene.
"Turnabout's fair play. Time to get naked, Renny." Quickly and proficiently Dan stripped the flattened youth, and was soon wearing the boarder's gear. He turned his attention back to Rene.
"Dude, I thought you were bragging, but it looks like you do have a big dick. Damn, it's late. I'd love to put you through the wringer the way you did me, but I haven't the time now. Jenny's expecting me. " Dan grabbed a dow from the work bench, and rolled flattened Rene around it backwards, so that Rene's eyes still faced outward. He wanted to see Rene's expression as he was reduced to a human window shade. Dan was disappointed, Rene's terrified expression never flinched as he was bound tight around the stick.
Dan popped Rene's rolled up form into his backpack along with his wet clothes, and the restoppered bottle. He started running. It turned out that Rene lived only a couple blocks beyond the laundromat, he'd probably skated right pass Jenny.
Dan came up to her breathless, and handed her his $35.00 check. "At least I got paid for applying, but I guess I'm going to have to take you and your mother up on the offer to work here. Thanks."
"Thirty five dollars? Well, I'm glad you got something. Sorry things didn't work out," Jenny said sweetly. She added, "You didn't wear that outfit for the interviews, did you?"
"No, I wore my oxford suit and dark blue slacks. I changed before coming over here."
She led Dan into the back room, and showed him some of the equipment he'd be using. The laundromat was a delivery dry cleaners in back. Dan had thought he'd drive the delivery truck. He now found he'd be operating the steam press among other things. He could think of some other uses for that press. Jenny had to make the evening deliveries, so she left Dan with a stack of tablecloths for the nearby hotel to press. He started doing, it and when she felt he was doing it right, she left.
Dan emptied his clothes and Rene into an empty commercial washer with one of those big glass windows, and started the cycle. Dan raced through the tableclothes. He folded and ironed the last one, when the washer's bell chimed. He tossed his damp clothes in the dryer, and put a dripping Rene through the electric ringer. He was amazed at how thin in made the youth, perhaps a 16th of an inch he reconned. Then he lay the frightened boy on the steam press with his neck and upper body sticking out. He'd turned the iron off, the press had cooled but was still quite warm. He locked the press shut on Rene's hands and lower half. Then he took a lamp cord with the wires exposed that he had grabbed from Rene's father's work bench. Rene's father jad planned to replace the cord on the shop light, he had accidentally damaged the rubber insulation while using a skill saw near it.
Dan plugged the cord in, and allowed the 2 exposed wires to arc across Rene's frozen flat chest. Rene's had chest and upper arms swelled up like a balloon inflating with compressed helium.
"Whoa, my head! What the fuck have you done to me!" Rene gasped as he saw his rib cage abruptly terminate at the closed steam press.
"Pretend you're back in gym class doing sit ups, Renny."
Dan released the press, and it swung up to reveal the 18 year olds lower flattened half. Dan lifted Rene's torso forward, and as it fell onto his lower half, Rene shouted, "It's Rene, not Renn--" his exclamation was abruptly cut off by the press coming down on his back.
The pressure released, the press opened.
"Sucking your dick or your toes, it's a bit hard to tell. Well, I'll fix that," Dan separated Rene from himself and folded him back the other way with his back against his own calves. Then he lowered the press and locked it at four inches above the board in the steaming position. He took his wire, and plugged it back in.
Rene screamed in terror, but Dan knew he wasn't hurt physically, since he'd been there himself.
Now expanded to just over 2 1/2 inches thick on top, and 1 1/2 on the bottom opened the press to examine his half pressed captive. Rene's button nose was about as thick as a button, and his shiny eyes showed true terror.
"Now, why don't you tell me what you were planning to do with me when you so rudely flattened me this afternoon?"
Before Rene could speak a truck engine could be heard rumbling down the alley, Jenny was back. Dan slammed the press down all the way,
opened it folded Rene in half, and pressed again. He repeated this twice as the truck pulled in to the garage and parked. Then he slipped the square cornered flesh colored flat rectangle that had been a recent high school grad into his back pack for safe keeping.
"Just finished with the clothes, Jenny."
"Good timing, ready to blow your $35 on dinner and a movie, Danny?"
"How about Friday? I'm kinda sore after the workout with your steam press. I guess I was pumping iron," Dan joked.
"Oh, Dan," Jenny walked by and squeezed his shoulder. She kept walking toward the folded tablecloths. He was happy to let her do that, while he shocked her finger imprints out of his shoulder. No two ways about it, he was going to have to buy a taser or two. And he was going to have to meet Matt, preferably with a spiked drink. Spiked with his own potion. Matt Dorman was going to become Dan's doormat for what his formula had done to Dan. That should be adequate incentive for Matt to produce an antidote, or if not a suitably ironic end to the inventor of the chemical that made men putty in other people's hands.
Jenny's voice roused Dan from his contemplation.
"You really did an excellent job, but you're right for mother to be duly impressed you'll have to come in early tomorrow morning, and be the ideal employee, so you'll need a good night's sleep."
Jenmy came up squeezed his face and kissed him. She didn't notice that his expression stuck in the distorted crushed form after she walked on. A quick shock and he was right as rain.
"You're the boss. See you tomorrow, hon."
He grabbed his back pack and was out the door.
"Oh, and try to wear something more mature to work tomorrow, okay?" Jenny called from the doorway.
"Will do!" Dan shouted back.