The Star-Spangled Giant (Chapter 8) (Patreon)

[Star-Spangled Giant POV]

“If we’re going to get me ready for the unexpected in this big ol’ body…” she drawled, crossing her arms over her chest with attitude and sifting her weight from leg to leg. “…let’s make this a new-powers day for both of us. You, too. C’mon. Hit me with your best shot.”

Surprised, I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. I think my lower lip may have dropped, too, which gave her some entertainment at my aghast silence.

“That’s… not quite the same, and you know it, small fry,” I teased, with just a curl of flirtation in my voice to let her know I meant well. By way of demonstration, I made fists with both hands and focused until they glowed with neon-blue energy pulsating under my skin. “I may have developed this new ability earlier than you, but I’m still getting used to it, and for good reason. It’s dangerous. I don’t want to risk anyone getting hurt, especially you, while you’re still getting comfortable with growing.”

“Growing can be just as dangerous as your energy-ball thingamabobs,” Nancy retorted, bravado in her tone. “You remember what happened the first time I tried it out? That whole warehouse turned into splinters. Plus, I may not be much of a grower yet, but I’ve been around long enough to have common sense when there’s superpowers flinging around. And if all else fails, well… you remember how hard that crazy guy in the exoskeleton hit me last month, and I didn’t even get the wind knocked out of me? I think I can handle a little light show from you.”

“If you insist,” I shrugged. “Just keep your guard up.”

Secretly, I was convinced almost more because of Nancy’s self-assurance than her actual reasoning. The poor girl was always a bit of a shy thing, and only in recent years, and particularly now after discovering her ability to grow bigger and stronger than ever, she’s started coming out of her shell. I can’t lie, I’m quite partial to a beautiful redhead who knows what she wants, and Nancy certainly was that and so much more.

We took our starting positions again. I charged up, drawing power toward my fists for mock-battle, while Nancy watched my glowing hands with apparent fascination.

“No more defense-focus,” she insisted, not quite taking charge yet, but certainly coming more into her own as a giantess. “Let’s just go for it. The both of us. Together.”

“That works for me,” I replied, charmed by her wording. “Ready?”

“Yes. I hope you are, too.” With that, Nancy leapt toward me. Though gravity held her giant body down a little harder than usual, she seemed already to have accounted for this, and landed with a graceful thud on both feet. The walls of the place still trembled, but I hardly noticed, instead focused on my response. She’d landed without striking distance of me, so I fired off an energy pulse, taking care to aim it and give her plenty of time to see my attack coming, as I still felt a bit guilty at the thought of willfully blasting Nancy across the room.

Unlike the previous two attempts, my sparring partner was ready, and to my wonderment, rather than trying to dodge her entire massive body out of the way, she grunted with effort and shrunk down by half her size, just in time for the crackling energy-orb to whiz over her head. Impressed, I admired her diminished stature at a mere thirty-something feet tall, as even though she was still taller than a house, she looked the size of a dwarf next to me. For a moment I pondered following up my whiffed energy attack with a tackle, especially since she’d be so easy to overpower when less than half my size, and it would be a pleasure to feel her warm, taut, “little” body in my arms again.

Nancy might’ve read my mind, based on the way she grinned, though telepathy isn’t among her powers. We just know each other that well. She vaulted back, making it impossible to grab her for a restraining bear-hug, and launched herself at my legs, taking advantage of her lessened height to ensure she easily plowed herself into my thighs. Though she wouldn’t have been strong enough at this comparatively puny scale to knock me down with mere blunt force, Nancy was smart, as she always has been, and wrapped herself like a lemur around my bare legs. No matter how hard I flexed my quads and endeavored to steady my balance by planting my boot hard into the floor, the tinier giantess didn’t let go, and thrust herself strategically at my knees, until I felt myself actually toppling backward.

Thinking fast, I used another energy pulse, not to shoot at Nancy, but to propel myself back away from the floor, and up to my full eighty-foot stature again. Taking advantage of the redhead’s bewilderment at this counter, I shrunk in the span of a heartbeat. I turned diminutive so fast, Nancy had no hope of even realizing until the process was completed, as I became the same size as her, then shrunk even lower in her grapple, down to ten feet tall, the size of a teddy bear between Nancy’s arms. Again I was tempted to remain this size for a moment, and savor the comfort of being cuddled hard against her bountiful chest. Nevertheless, I resisted the temptation again and went right on dwindling, down and down, until I was too small for Nancy to even keep me wrapped in her arms. Without a giant body to hang onto like an immense oak tree, the girl gasped and landed on the floor with a crash, while I scurried out of the fiery ginger tangle of her long hair at my ordinary size again.

Despite my sparring prowess, however, I’d apparently made the mistake of underestimating Nancy in the newness of her powers. I thought I could dance circles around another giant hero with my eyes closed, given my extensive knowledge on the subject of moving and fighting as a colossal being. To my astonishment, however, “Gargantua” lived up to her name with a dexterous hail-Mary despite her newfound larger-than-life stature. Though I’d sprinted past her range of motion, she actually grew herself back up to a full ninety feet faster than ever, just enough to close the distance between us. Her gloved palm swooped straight for me, and this time I wasn’t prepared at all.

As a result, the now-much taller and stronger hero cinched me in a steely fist, with her fingers clamped possessively around me, though not enough to hurt. After all, she held the same concerns as me when it came to practice-fighting with a special friend; still, I believe due to her sheer delight at this triumph, she gripped me pretty tightly. But I could take it, and she knew it.

“Got you,” Nancy murmured, her booming voice echoing in the gym as she held me up to her gorgeous freckle-dotted face. Her dimples deepened as she flashed me her pearly whites, her green eyes sparkling like gemstones. “What do you have to say for yourself, little one?”

“I’d say… you’re a fast learner. Like I knew all along,” I replied, enchanted by her.

“I think since I won that round, I deserve a prize.”

“And what prize is that?”

“A kiss,” she whispered, puckering up those moist pillowy pink lips.

Who was I to deny the victor her spoils? Luckily, all I had to do was kiss back, as Nancy’s enormous hand drew me to her mouth and sloppily applied a loving ten-second smooch to my entire face. Tingling with goose bumps, and stirring in more ways than just my usual altruistic desires, I wiped the sheen of saliva she’d left on my cheeks.

“After you clean yourself off, why don’t you grow back up here with me, Star-Spangled Giant?” she sultrily requested. “I’ve… got something else I’d like to try at this size. Something I could really use your help with.”

“I think I can manage that,” I purred right back. “Hope you can handle it.”