Somewhere on the rooftops of the stretchiest city in the world...

Max returned home from another long day at the office. He stripped his business clothes as fast as he could, hating how stuffy they felt. He was anxious enough about skipping out on the evening. He couldn’t help but rush home to see what “his neighbor” was up to.

Dressed casually, but not too casually, he walked to the window next to a white board on an easel. “I hope she’s there. It was a long day.”

He was not let down. 

Weeks ago, Max figured out his penthouse apartment had an intriguing perk. It was the only one around with a clear view of the roof across the street, and its very unique tenant. Currently she was lying on her stomach across at least 30 beach towels, laid out on the roof’s tiled patio. Her torso had to have been 50 feet long, a long snake of oiled skin glistening in the sunlight. She wore a bikini bottom somewhere above her 20 foot legs, but her top was hanging on a lone nearby chair.

He sighed next to the whiteboard. “Best part of my day.”

Max reached for a marker and wrote on the board. 

[Hello! Been out there…long?] 

A lame joke maybe, but it had become their usual greeting. He cracked open the window and went to the kitchen to get a drink while waiting for a response.

Sure enough, as soon as he opened his bottle, he heard a THUNK. He breathed a sigh of relief walking back to the window. “Sweet. She’s in a good mood tonight!”

Max approached the large yellow post-it attached to his window, excited to read the response.

[Never long enough. Weren’t you going out tonight?]

He looked across to the elastic beauty sunbathing. She was still stretched out everywhere on the roof, but now looking up at him through her sunglasses. Seeing him, she raised her ten foot long noodle of an arm and waved.

Max erased his board and wrote again. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind him stretching the truth.

[Show canceled. Gonna stream that new show. You?]

She lifted her glasses, letting her eyes extend out of her head like binoculars to focus across the gap. She read the sign and reached her hand back to the penthouse doors where the yellow post it notes sat on a desk. She scribbled without looking, and then…

Her long noodle arm coiled up above her shoulder, readying a punch, and sprung through the air towards him. Max’s eyes were locked on that arm, stretching and spiraling while barely losing any width. It sped through the air to within an inch of the window, then gently slapped the note against the window.

[Gotta do some practice stretches then go on patrol. I can binge watch it tomorrow?]

Max’s face wore a stupid smile. Damn I love it when she does that. He erased and wrote again. He still didn’t know which of the town’s many elastic heroines she was…were they any stretchy girls that weren’t involved in the heroism business?...but besides her being stretchy, he loved one other thing about her.

[Should I get my gym clothes on to stretch too?]

His mystery friend did her eye trick again and smiled. Her face turned towards concentration, and her whole body moved. Her long stretchy body whipped into the air, stretching and folding over itself while she normal-stretched her arms forwards. Max stared at her elastic goddess folding and looping across her roof, before coming to rest in a new shape, in large cursive letters.

[Yes <3]

Max drew a smiley face, and went to get changed. He wasn’t sure why this beautiful woman let him indulge in this silly game, but would definitely skip a boring corporate event for it. He looked for a tank top and his yoga mat. He wasn’t the buffest guy in the world, but his friend always smiled when he showed off. He had his casual clothes halfway off when

*CLICK*

*CREEEEAK*

His door opened. He was not expecting company. And his friend (1) never came over, (2) would probably just use the window.

“Hello?”

Footsteps sprinting elsewhere in the apartment. Max looked around, grabbed a 5 pound weight as the closest thing to a weapon, and stepped out of his bedroom. He tried to walk quietly but quickly in his search. He could SWEAR he heard something.

“Is anybody here? Can I help-Whoa!”

A figure dressed in black, including a full face mask, stepped out of the kitchen armed with the butcher knife. They spoke with a deep voice. “You’re not supposed to be here tonight Max. Why are you home?”

Max backed away slowly, not willing to test his small dumbbell against a blade. “What are you talking about?!”

“You’re supposed to be at the show. Then I wouldn’t have to do this.”

He swung the knife menacingly from 10 feet away. Max backed up further, knocking over his whiteboard easel. He lost his balance for a moment, bumping into a closed window.

Max threw his weight at the attacker, hoping to bowl them over, but the corner kept them upright. “What are you even doing here?! Why not just leave when you heard me?!”

The man in black faked a lunge at Max, forcing him away from the fallen easel. He turned away from the window to face Max and continue his monologue. “Because you always bring in such cool stuff! Who knows what other delights you’ve been hiding up here. This was the perfect time, during the big show tonight! But now you’ve seen me. You know too much. The only thing left to do is-”

THWAP

PUNCH

A familiar band of elastic flesh zipped through the window, striking his attacker in the face.

“What the?!”

The masked man swung the knife wildly at the arm, but it dodged easily. Her arm looped around him to tie him up, then continued slapping him. He grabbed at the arm , but it simply stretched longer in response.

He turned to run. “Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

He got halfway to the door, stretching his friend’s arm longer. Max took a chance and looked out the window and confirmed it - his friend was standing there in her bikini bottom, one normal arm holding the stretched one, feet in a wide stance.

PUNCH

“Ow! What the hell is this!”

Max ran back to see what was going on. Somehow without looking, his friend was punching and slamming his attacker against the walls. The ne’er-do-well got within a few steps of the entrance when the elastic arm slammed him against a wall, knocking him out.

Max ran over to make sure he was out. Without thinking he took the elastic hand and moved it aside to unmask the thief, and sighed.

He gave the arm another tug, took the knife back to the kitchen, and walked back to the window. He re-set his easel to write a message, giving his friend a wave.

[Thief. He’s unconscious. Thanks for the assist.]

Her arm rippled past his head, retracting all the way to her body. She scrunched her face in thought for a moment, then whipped her arm out again. Her elastic flesh again spun into cursive script.

[Who?]

[Company manager. He thought I was supposed to be out tonight.]

His friend gave an angry shake of her fist, mouthing a swear. She stretched her arm to grab a post it, scribbled, stretched, and put it directly on the easel. Max snatched it.

[Shouldn’t he know it was canceled?! What a dick! You need anything?]

Max erased the board. [I’ll call the police and tell them…some rando fought him off and jumped out the window? This town’s loaded with stretchy types. You still ready to stretch?]

She smiled, apparently relieved by a bit of normalcy. Or maybe that he was willing to leave her out of the story. She raised her arms to flex her biceps, quickly extending them to spell,

[Hell Yeah!]

Max smiled and nodded, then froze. Now that the adrenaline was leaving, he noticed something, springing a nose bleed.

Whatever his expression, the elastic woman noticed. Another post it came across. 

[You okay? Did that asshole hurt you?]

Max calmly erased the board.

[I’m fine. Your top…]

For the first time Max could remember, his friend’s face turned bright red. She looked down, only then realizing her topless sunbathing turned into topless crime fighting. She quickly looped her arms around herself multiple times, making a mummy of herself to cover up.

Max added to the easel. [You…uh…look good? Should I give you a minute?]

She bit her lip, and her face turned redder. She nodded and reached an open hand with all five fingers extended out. As soon as Max nodded in understanding, her body bobbed up then flattened out against the patio. She wove between her decorations as a rubber snake, stretching faster than he’d ever seen back into the house.

Max just watched, thinking “Goodness she’s beautiful…”