"Fum… Captain Fum, wake up!"

The young giant yawned and stretched his arms out as he sat up. He rubbed his eyes and then looked down at him to find his lieutenant standing next to him. Vincenza smiled up at him and waved. "Sorry to wake you captain, but the scouts said that the rebels are almost here," she said.

Fum rubbed his eyes and then shook his head. "Oh, alright. Thanks for waking me up," he said as he began pushing himself up to his feet. Vincenza beamed as she watched him crack his neck. He was so cute when he was all drowsy like this. "Yeah, I can sense them coming. They'll be here soon."

The fifth division of the Queensgaurd was known as the heavy hitters. The ones who held and broke the line. So whenever they got word of situations like this, large scale attacks aimed at villages and towns, they were the ones who were called upon.

Despite him still being considered a child, Fum took his position at captain very seriously. So long as he was here, he didn't intend for a single rebel to set foot in this place. Although, since this had been a pretty busy week, he'd taken the chance to get a bit of rest before the battle.

"Alright everyone!" Vincenza called. "Line up and get into formation around the-!"

"That's alright," Fum said as he began walking forward.

The pixie looked at him confused. "What?"

The giant nodded. "Yeah, I'll take care of them before they get anywhere near here," he said as he continued onward. He could sense they were still far enough away that he wouldn't do any damage to the village.

"But… shouldn't you at least bring your weapon?" Vincenza asked.

"Don't need it."

Fum walked from the village, and looked out to see an army of rebels standing across the field. He could tell there had to be a few hundred of them. More than their info had told them about. But at this point it really didn't matter.

Across the field, the man at the head of the rebel force smirked. "So, it's the giant huh?" he said amused. "If they think that sending that big baby will intimidate us, they've got another thing coming. At the end of the day he's just one body. Once he falls, the others will go right after," he said. "Get the ballistas ready!"

More men came from the cover of the forest behind them, their warnicorns pulling carts that carried large ballistas on them. With how mobile these were, they'd have no trouble getting within range and shooting Fum down. "Get ready men! Today we take our first step towards overthrowing those damn royals!"

He held his sword up and shouted, and the rebels all yelled as well before charging. Fum simply watched as they made their way towards him. He noticed the ballistas as well, and watched as they took aim and fired at him. He could tell their aim was spot on. None of them risked hitting the village.

For a moment it looked like the giant was going to use Iron Hide to brace for impact, but then he hummed and just stood there. Every ballista bolt landed dead on, and while Fum clearly felt the blows, they had bounced right off of his skin. "What the hell?!" one of the rebels yelled in disbelief.

"Shit?! Is he invincible?!"

The leader glared, but kept on charging. "It was nothing but a fluke! Let the next round fly and keep charging! He'll fall eventually!" he yelled. Though the other rebels all seemed skeptical, they kept charging anyway. It was too late to turn back now. They just had to hope Fum would fall before they got there.

Fum on the other hand wasn't planning on letting them even get that close. He raised his fist up into the air, and then slammed it down on the ground. "King Quake…" The ground shook, sending a massive wave of land towards the oncoming rebel forces. They all looked shocked as the very earth itself appeared to rise up towards them.

"Turn back!"

"It's too late!"

"W-wait!"

Fum simply looked on as the entire army was swallowed by the wave of earth. The landscape had been altered, the once grassy field now warped and mixed in between patches of earth and dirt. Fum looked around closely. He didn't spot anybody nearby. He kept his hand on the ground to see if there was anyone still above ground.

Once he was certain it was clear, he got up and turned back around. When he got back to the others, he offered a wave. "Alright guys, it's all taken care of," he said.

The knights all cheered happily, while Vincenza looked stunned. "C-captain! That was amazing!" she said stunned. "You didn't even need to use your hammer!"

He chuckled. "Well, I just didn't think I needed to," he said before looking towards the small group of villagers. "We brought some supplies in case we needed to do any patch work on the village, but since we don't need them you can keep them anyway."

The village leader, an elderly old man, looked at him surprised. "A-are you sure? That's the property of the Butterfly kingdom isn't it?" he asked.

"Queen Star would want you to have it. It isn't like we're short on supplies back home anyway," Fum assured. He nodded towards them before he began walking off. "Everyone, help them unload everything and then let's get ready to move."

Vincenza zipped up Fum's leg and up to his shoulder. "I still can't believe you took out that entire army by yourself. I mean, I never doubted you could but… you make it look so easy," she said. "And the way you took those ballista shots. It didn't even look like you used Iron Hide."

Fum raised his hand up and looked at it. "Yeah… I didn't."

Her eyes widened. "What?! Fum, they could have pierced you! That was dangerous," she said, clearly concerned. She knew he was sturdy, but he'd never been reckless.

He laughed nervously. "Sorry, I was trying to be risky. It's just… I felt like I could handle it. I didn't think I needed Iron Hide or my hammer," he said as he looked back towards his hand. "Lately I've been feeling different. Really different."

She looked at him confused. "Different how?" she asked.

Fum narrowed his eyes. "Like… I feel more powerful sometimes. Like way more powerful. When I get ready to fight I'm way more calm, and my hearts… they just start pounding like crazy..." he balled his fist up tightly. "Sometimes, I feel like I could even beat the captain…"

Vincenza felt a chill up her spine at his expression. She'd never seen him look like that before. He then smiled. "Ah, sorry about that. I'm just talking nonsense," he said rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, I really look up to the captain, and I wanna be like him. But I don't think I'll ever be as strong as he is."

The pixie stared at him for a second, and then looked determined. "I think you can do it!" she said. "I mean, even among giants you're probably super amazing! If there's anybody who could be as strong as Astro, it's you!"

Fum looked slightly surprised at the compliment, but nodded. "Well, even if I don't, I'm still gonna try. I'm a giant after all! We never stop trying to get stronger," he said, putting his fist to his chest. They were natural born warriors.

As for whatever that weird feeling he kept getting lately... maybe it was just that puberty thing Fee had told him about. Either way, he was sure everything would be fine.

"Did you feel that?"

Typhon yawned as he looked down at his son, who's eyes had turned sharp and was looking out towards the distance. Astro had… felt something just now. It had passed pretty quickly, but it was unmistakable. It was… it was almost like how he would sense his father. "You felt that right?"

The king of monsters waved his hand. "You're imagining things boy," he said. "You're still adjusting to your powers, so you're probably just sensing Torrad or something."

"Who?"

"Don't worry about it."

Astro frowned, clearly not satisfied with the answer. But he wasn't about to waste time trying to pry it out of his father. It wasn't like he ever hide anything dangerous from him. It was usually just because he genuinely forgot, or because it was so trivial it wasn't worth mentioning. Harmless over all.

Typhon smiled as Astro got back to training. That was the fourth time this week the giant's heart had gone into overdrive. It was happening more and more often these days. It made the king feel nostalgic. After all, he couldn't remember the last time one of them had evolved into their ranks rather than been born as one.

He was sure the boy needed one final push, and soon enough another titan would be walking amongst their ranks.

A/N: Fum getting bigger and badder!