AN: Whew, finally finished this story arc. I've been writing these chapters like...non stop, one chapter a day for the last four nights. Really shouldn't push myself like this, especially when I'm supposed to be enjoying my hiatus, but I felt like I wouldn't be leaving the story in a good place if I didn't push on through to the end of this story arc. Prooobably not going to do that again, weekly updates are tough enough as it is, hehe.
Big thanks to my buddies Aberrant Script and LoudAutomata16, who've both been extremely supportive of this story, and have proven invaluable as soundboards and sources of inspiration.
DBro: I get into it later in this chapter, but essentially yeah. At the moment, Lincoln's only got so much juice to spread around at once. So no going around and smooching up an army of giantesses to curbstomp his enemies through sheer numbers. I mean, I could conceivably take a crack at that premise, but it wouldn't be for a looooooooooong time. I've already got my hands full with Aces and Gigant, so I don't think I could handle a project of that scale. There might be a day in the far future when I can muster the energy to give it a try, but if anyone else wants to take a shot in the meantime, by all means feel free to do so. And shoot me a link, because I'd totally like to read that :)
JRC1700: Glad you came around on the story, man. I always appreciate getting your reviews on Aces, and it'll be nice to see them here too. I realize that it's an unusual premise, and it's not going to be for everyone, but I'm having a lot of fun writing this, and it's nice to see that other people are also enjoying it, even if it doesn't end up getting the same numbers Aces does.
It was so...mechanically consistent, for things to have turned out this way, surmised Fiona as she began to take stock of the new arrival. There had been a brief, shining moment, where everything was finally going her way. Not only had Darkness' little doodad made her more powerful then she ever could dream of being, but she'd gotten to use it to take revenge on the store that had wronged her. Now she had another giantess to deal with, and a Gigant to boot! If Leni managed to join the fight too, then there was very little chance of her walking away from this.
The most reasonable course of action seemed to be taking the new girl out as soon as possible. Thus decided, Fiona squared her shapely hips and and charged Lori, hoping to take advantage of the girl's confusion.
As Fiona barreled forward, smashing what remained of the the mall beneath her feet, she marveled at the sheer speed of her charge. She had suspected as much from the way she so casually flattened Reininger's, but it seemed that the power of the seed had enhanced her physical abilities considerably, even relative to her size. "Good", she though, smirking internally as the distance between the two titans rapidly disappeared, she'd take whatever advantage she could get.
She had just about gotten within striking distance when Lori's gaze snapped upward, firmly locked onto Fiona's approaching form. With a practiced ease that seemed atypical for the phone obsessed teenager, Lori stepped into Fiona's charge and smashed one fist into Fiona's face. The sheer power behind the blow was staggering, sending the girl flying backwards, and causing her to painfully land some distance away.
"What the hell?" She shouted, wincing as she tried to struggle to her feet. The pain was rapidly dissipating, presumably another effect of the seed, but still! That punch had hurt!
"I've got ten siblings!" Lori shot back, "Do you really think I've never been sucker punched?"
"Not yet you haven't!" Fiona roared as she charged the girl once more.
Having lost the element of surprise, Fiona opted for a different tactic. She smiled as she saw Lori readying another counter strike. That was exactly what she'd been hoping for.
This time Fiona went low, causing Lori to gasp in surprise as Fiona briefly dropped out of view. She bullrushed the blonde, hoping to take advantage of her low center of gravity to topple the the other girl, at which point she'd be able to pin Lori and pummel the girl at her leisure. Much to her annoyance, the blonde managed to recover just in time and absorb the charge. Leaving the two girls locked, and struggling against one another.
Fiona's rational mind recognized that there was something very stupid about leaving herself in this position. Here, she was, at best, fighting he opponent on equal footing. The smart thing to do would have been to back off, reassess the situation, try for a new, hopefully more advantageous approach. And yet...there was just something about it that called to her. The strength that came with Fiona's new stature had been enthralling. Intoxicating. Her revenge from earlier hadn't just been about catharsis (though it had been a great way to blow off steam), it was an excuse to exercise her newfound power, to feel the mighty brick and stone giving way beneath her limbs. This, was in many ways, the same kind of thing, pitting her raw strength against her rival's, muscle against muscle. The implications of the stalemate were thrilling all their own; Fiona's previously frail body now capable of going pound for pound against another being who could flatten this city with little effort, spoke volumes about her own capabilities. But that thrill simply wasn't enough...Fiona wanted to win. To triumph against her rival, overpower Lori, and then stand atop her fallen foe, haing proven by her deeds that she was well and truly the strongest!
...Unfortunately, Lori wasn't budging. While Fiona had initially had the advantage, the other girl had recovered miraculously, and now the two titanesses were locked in a stalemate. Fiona discretely glanced around, trying to avoid losing ground to Lori while simultaneously seeking something...anything that could possibly turn the tide in her favor. And just when she was on the verge of despair...she found it. A small, terrified looking white haired boy, standing only a short distance away from dueling giants. It had been a very stupid of him to get this close to the conflict. Too close.
With a surge of strength, Fiona managed to shove Lori just hard enough to disrupt the other girl's grip on her. This was the opening she needed.
"Sorry about this kid!" She roared, pivoting on one foot and slamming the other down in the general vicinity of the younger boy in a mighty stomp. Knowing that even though she was unlikely to hit such a small target straight on, the resultant shockwave from her blow would more than likely finish the job for her.
"Lincoln!"
Fiona smiled as her opponent had apparently realized what she was planning, but it was too late. The impact of Fiona's enormous foot slamming into the ground met Lori's sky splitting scream in a glorious cacophony of noise, the sound likely echoing for miles.
Fiona smiled ruefully as the other girl fell to her knees, the anguish upon her face plain as day. She had meant what she'd said before, she hadn't wanted to get the kid involved, but she couldn't afford to lose this fight. And given the helpless state of her opponent, that gambit had paid off in spades.
Fiona trudged towards the grieving Loud. The hard part was over. All she had to do now was put the girl out of her misery, and then she could get out of here. She drew her fist back, preparing to deliver the final blow–
"Hey! Fiona! You need to watch where you're stepping!"
And immediately froze as a high-pitched, obscenely chipper voice rang out from behind her.
...What!?
Fiona turned around, eye twitching in irritation as she prayed with every fiber of her being for that voice to belong to anyone,literally anyone other than...
And there it was. The dust cleared, revealing the extremely recognizable (though thankfully normal sized) form of Leni Loud, standing only a short distance away from the point of impact, her little brother clutched protectively against her ample bosom.
"You need to be more careful Fiona! You almost hurt Linky!"
The blonde's words cause a second, incredibly violent twitch of irritation to make its way through Fiona's entire body. It was an entirely new, and wholly unpleasant experience.
"Leni! You saved him!" A quick glance behind her revealed that giant blonde's dispair has transformed to joy, tears of sorrow now replaced by tears of gratitude. Great, her dramatic turnabout had become a heartwarming family moment.
"Hi Lori!" Leni called out, waving to her much bigger sister. "I'll be up there in just a second!"
Fiona had been about to ask what she'd meant by that when the smaller girl surprised her, by smashing her lips against her little brother's, pulling the younger boy into a deep kiss.
She gave a sidelong glance to her fellow giantess, who seemed to be watching the pair in a similar state of surprise.
"Uh..." She fumbled, not entirely sure how to react here. "Is this something you guys do often?"
"Wha–NO!" Lori roared, blushing bright red. There was something about her reaction that Fiona couldn't quite put her finger on. It was like...she was embarrassed, but not displaying the level of disgust Fiona would have expected from someone seeing her siblings enter into a passionate makeout session. Speaking of which, wow.
She realized on some level that she should be taking advantage of this distraction, but for whatever reason she couldn't take her eyes off the tiny pair. The kiss had moved beyond makeout session, and had now transitioned into something very sensual. There was something strangely alluring about the way the younger boy clearly knew how to please his partner, his tiny hands flying expertly over the larger girl's body, eliciting sequels of delight and moans of pleasure in equal portion. Fiona had never been with a guy who'd made her feel half as good as Leni seemed to be feeling. Her thoughts drifted back to earlier, when Lincoln had lain atop her after accidentally knocking her to the ground, face buried in the valley of her cleavage. She wondered what it might have felt like if he had followed suit with her at the time. Would she have been the one mewling like a kitten as he touched and teased her prone form.
Her thoughts drifted further still. W-what if the same situation was applied to her current state? Lincoln, how settling into the very literal valley of her now titanic breasts. The erogenous zones of her her body now far more readily available to his skilled, wandering hands. She let out an involuntary shiver of delight as the various possibilities flashed through her mind.
...And then the moment past. Leni and Lincoln parted, a look of disappointment settling onto Leni's face, though Fiona couldn't be certain as to what that pertained to. The fault clearly did not lie with her little brother, Leni had made her enjoyment of their little sibling bonding moment very, very clear.
"Lori! It's not working!" She called out, pouting.
"That's okay, Leni" Came an incredibly sinister sounding voice from directly behind her. Fiona gulped as she heard the distinct sound of 10, individual knuckles being cracked in sequence.
"I think I've got this one"
Lincoln, still dazed from his exertions with Leni, still had enough presence of mind to marvel at the sight of Lori unleashing her sisterly fury upon Fiona. With a mighty roar, Lori delivered a right hook directly to the other girl's face, so powerful was the blow that Lincoln could physically feel the impact from where he was standing. As the enemy giantess went reeling from the blow, Lori capitalized on the girl's dazed state by following up with an equally powerful left hook, then an uppercut, sending the girl flying up up into the air. She finished the combination by leaping up into the air after her, in clear defiance of every law of gravity, and delivered a powerful flying axe kick to the airborne girl's skull, an explosion of cerulean energy punctuating the blow at the point of impact, and sending her opponent crashing to the ground, where she lay still.
Lori landed, surprisingly lightly on her feet, and let out a sigh of satisfaction, dusting her hands off .
"Next time, pick on somebody your own size." She quipped.
"Wow." Lincoln said, staring at his biggest sister with no small amount of awe. The the sight of her shapely, spandex clad form standing over her fallen opponent, stirring something inside him.
"Totes" Leni agreed, breathlessly. From the expression on her face, she was clearly sharing his admiration of their sibling.
The battle was finally over.
Seeing that her opponent appeared to be well and truly out of the fight, Lori carefully made her way over to her siblings, letting out a soft sigh of relief as she did so. She crouched down next to them, spent from her fight. Now that she was no longer fighting for her life, she finally had a chance to appreciate just how strange it was to be so much larger than her siblings. She had a powerful urge to pick them up and cradle them against her protectively, presumably because of what had nearly happened to Lincoln, but she managed to rein those urges in. Her nerves were shot from the accumulated trials of the day, and she didn't trust herself to treat her siblings with the care they deserved.
"Way to go Lori!"
"You were totes amazing Lori!"
Lori preened, allowing herself to bask in the praise of her adoring brother and sister. She had felt she had acquitted herself quite well under the circumstances, what with surviving a collapsing building AND stopping a rampaging giantess in the same day. Not bad for her first time out as a superhero.
"I just wished I'd gotten to join you." Leni exclaimed, pouting in disappointment. Lori shook with barely repressed laughter at the sight of her (very) little sister, and her (extremely) little brother's attempts to console her. Those two were just...so freaking cute...
"Um...yeah", Lincoln said, blushing in embarrassment. What was up with that anyway?
Gionic energy is extremely volitile. Seven intoned. The human body can only safely store so much of it.
"So that means that Lincoln can only make one of us grow at a time?" Lori asked
Affirmative.
"Aww! Leni exclaimed "But I totes wanted to be giant with Lori! That would have been so much fun!"
Lori pictured this same moment being shared with an equally large Leni. Her not-so-little sister leaning against her as they relaxed from a hard won battle. Their adorable little brother snuggling up against their gigantic frames. She had to agree, that certainly did sound nice...
It's possible that, with practice, Lincoln might eventually grow sufficiently accustomed to the power he wields, so that he might be able to safely store enough to maintain a second Gigant. Or even more.
"Really?" Leni asked, eyes shining with excitement.
It's possible. You three has displayed a proficiency with these powers far beyond any I have personally witnessed. But that is a matter for future discussion, we have a much more pressing issue at hand.
"What's that?" Lincoln asked, eyes wide with worry.
That girl who wielded the dark energy. She is gone.
Lori jumped to her feet, wincing as the movement inadvertedly knocked over her siblings.
"Sorry guys" She apologized, before resuming her examination of their surroundings. Seven was right. The very noticeable form of the curvaceous giantess was nowhere to be seen.
"Dang it!" The Louds exclaimed in unison.
...Indeed.
Lori, now at her normal size and attire, trudged up to her family home, her siblings in tow. She wasn't looking forward to the avalanche of affection she was sure to receive from her distressed family members the second she stepped through the door, but she'd been putting this off long enough. She gave one last look to her brother and sister, and after receiving their nods of affirmation, reached for the front door...
...and effortlessly tore it off its hinges.
Mouth agog, and still holding the object in one hand, Lori turned to her siblings, her body language clearly conveying her confusion.
"Oh...right." Lincoln laughed nervously. "One small thing I forgot to tell you about. Turns out, there are some side effects when you guys use that gionic energy stuff..."
"You think?" Lori deadpanned, gesturing with the door still clenched in her hand.
Lori growled in frustration and sat up in bed. Try as she might, sleep just was not coming. She glanced to the side, hoping to maybe engage Leni in conversation, but saw that her little sister's bed was vacant. Not even slept, as a matter of fact.
Feeling like she had a pretty good idea of where her errant sister was, Lori climbed to her feet and began to make her way down the hallway.
Their family had been JUST as bad as Lori had expected them to be, a veritable tidal wave of Louds rushing her the instant they realized she was home. Between that, and her inability to interact with anything without Leni and Lincoln's help, for fear of destroying them with her newfound strength, it had been an especially trying night.
And yet, with Leni and Lincoln stuck by her throughout all of it, making things a lot more bearable than they could have been. It was nice, she reflected, to finally be on the same side as them again.
"Speaking of those two..." Lori thought to herself as she reached her destination. Thankfully, the door to Lincoln's room had been left slightly ajar. Which was good, because she and doorknobs still weren't getting along at the moment.
She nudged the door open as gently as she could manage, and was treated to her suspicions being validated. Leni and Lincoln, snuggled together. Tired, but happy expressions on their sleeping faces. Lori knew that she should do something about this...especially in light of their passionate make out session earlier that day. But she just couldn't bring herself to disturb their slumber. Besides, it's not like she was in a position to pass judgment. Certainly not after today.
With small sigh of resignation, Lori gently closed the door behind her...and made her way towards Lincoln's bed. She climbed in, next to the sleeping couple, and wrapped her arms around what small amount of her little brother wasn't currently being occupied by Leni. To her surprise, the combined mass that was Leni and Lincoln shifted in response to her presence, and drew her into the cuddle. Lori sighed at the sensation of her little brother and sister beside her. Now she felt like she could finally rest.
Come morning, there were going to be problems. Problems with school, work, family. Not to mention their unknown enemy, lying in wait somewhere. But for now, Leni and Lincoln were the entirety of her world. And she wanted to savor every minute of it.
Next Time On Gigant: Enter the Maggie