The Beach is Not Big Enough

(Cubed Cinder)

It was a peaceful sight around Shantae's seaside home. Birds chirping. The waves crashing around the islands. You couldn't ask for a more picturesque scene… at least until the front door swung open and Shantae came running out.
"Summer is here!" Shantae shouted as she triumphantly thrust her arms in the air. Shantae took in a breath of air as she put her hands on her hips. Of course, she was already in one of her beach outfits… a two-piece bikini that was red on top and red-and-white-striped on the bottom half, a blue jacket to cover her arms, and those pointy sunglasses that make her feel like a superstar.
"This is it! The perfect beach day!" Shantae said before she ran back inside briefly and then came back out holding a couple baskets worth of stuff.
"Got my swimsuit. Got my towel. Got my umbrella. Got my… sigh… got my sunscreen." Shantae said as she looked inside one of the baskets and saw a couple dozen tubes of sunscreen. Unfortunately for Shantae given the way her skin was (partly thanks to being a half genie), she was very prone to sunburn if she didn't seemingly constantly apply sunscreen. But Shantae shook it off.
"Am I forgetting anything? Nothing!! Gotta beat those crowds! Bye bye lighthouse!" Shantae said as she excitedly ran across the bridges (feeling the wood under her bare feet) connecting her home with Scuttle Town.

After making it past Scuttle Town, where some townsfolk were in awe of the beauty that was the swimsuit wearing Shantae, Shantae herself eventually made it to the shoreline. She picked a fine spot on the beach, spiked the umbrella into the sand, laid down her towel, and then took off her jacket and laid it on top of said towel. Shantae pulled out one tube of sunscreen and spread it all over herself.
"Alright! Sun time is fun time!" Shantae said as she ran around the sand.
She would spend the next several minutes doing whatever she could think of at the beach. Some of those activities included running in and out of the water, dancing to transform into a crab and chat with some of the other crabs that were walking around, summon beach balls and spike them around pretending she was playing volleyball, trap herself in a water bubble. Basically the only thing she didn't do was strip naked… and she was NOT about to do that knowing Bolo was probably hiding in a bush somewhere!

However, it was not all fun and games for Shantae. Often in the middle of these activities or when she was done with them, she would have to run back to her basket and apply another tube of sunscreen. Have fun, reapply sunscreen, have fun, reapply sunscreen. It was frustrating that she had to do this the instant she felt an intense burning sensation somewhere on her skin.
Now, she ran to the basket and opened it up… there was already one tube of sunscreen left.
"What!? Last one already? I feel like I've just gotten here. Sigh… good thing summer feels like the longest season of the year." Shantae said as she pulled the tube out and spread the sunscreen all around her skin. She sighed as she ran back from underneath the umbrella. She vowed to have whatever fun she could have before it was time to go back home.

She didn't even make it two minutes. As she tried juggling a beach ball in the air, her skin was heating up seemingly faster than ever. She was bright red all over and could feel the hearts draining out of her. And of course… she felt like she had hot coals strapped all over her body.
"HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!" Shantae said as she found herself running towards the sea water. She doused herself in water and was able to rapidly cool down.
"Ahhhhh…" Shantae said. As she was breathing a sigh of relief, she didn't see the big tidal wave coming in from behind. It wasn't until she turned around that the wave was right on top of her.
"Meep!" Shantae shouted as the wave crashed all over her and the shoreline. The wave pulled back quickly, leaving Shantae standing there covered from head to toe in all sorts of seaweed and coral fragments, as well as a baby crab walking all around the top of her head.
"All… wet…" Shantae softly said, not realizing a seagull came swooping down and scooped the crab into its mouth and flew away. Shantae finally slumped her way back to the umbrella and gathered up her things.

A few minutes pass…

Somewhere on the very fringe of Scuttle Town, Mimic was sitting at one of the workbenches in his lab, carefully trying to place a gear in the right place.
"Just a couple more inches…" Mimic said. Suddenly, without him noticing, the front door swung wide open and in came Shantae.
"Uncle Mimic!!" Shantae screamed.
"Yikes!!!" Mimic shouted as he jumped from his work chair and juggled the gear he was holding to keep it from falling to the floor. He looked to see his niece Shantae, dressed in her beach outfit (complete with blue jacket on), standing there.
"Shantae, how many times have I told you to knock before you come bursting in here!?" Mimic said.
"Sorry, Uncle Mimic. You weren't doing anything important, were you?" Shantae said. Mimic looked over at his steam-powered invention he was working on, and realizied… yeah, it wasn't important right now. So he dropped the gear he was holding onto the nearby table.
"No, no. Nothing's more important than you stopping by. You know that, right?" Mimic said.
"Yeah, though sometimes I forget as busy a half-genie hero I am!" Shantae said.
"So what brings you here?" Mimic asked.
"Sigh… Uncle. Sometimes I feel like I'm cursed with this magnificent body that I possess." Shantae said.
"Why do you utter such nonsense?" Mimic asked.
"Well… any sunscreen I put on seems to last only a few minutes. I took, like, two dozen tubes with me to the beach, and I've already run out." Shantae said.
"Oh my… that's terrible. Sunscreen normally lasts at least a couple hours before reapplication is needed." Mimic said.
"For normal humans, right? Sigh… way to cheer me up, Uncle." Shantae said as she sat down at a nearby table and slumped back in the chair.

Uncle Mimic ran over to pat Shantae on the back.
"Oh! Please don't feel so glum, Shantae. Perhaps I can help with your situation. Wait here!" Mimic said as he ran to another corner of the room and went digging through a cabinet. Shantae sighed as she watched him fumble around.
"Maybe it's a machine that will destroy the sun. Heh… wouldn't that be apocalyptic." Shantae said. After a couple minutes of digging around, Uncle Mimic finally pulled out what looked like a blank-labeled tube of sunscreen.
"Tada!" Mimic said. Shantae raised her eyebrows.
"Hmmmm? More sunscreen? That's your big, ultimate solution!? It's not even mechanical!" Shantae said as she folded her arms.
"Heh… I don't ALWAYS work on things involving machinery or steam, and besides, it's not just any sunscreen, Shantae!" Mimic said.
"Oh?" Shantae asked.
"For the past couple of weeks, in anticipation of the start of summer… I wanted to try and rectify that flaw from your, as you say, magnificent body." Mimic said, who smiled afterward.
"Haha… I hope you're not thinking like Bolo does!" Shantae said.
"Hmph! Certainly not! That would be most inappropriate! But anyway… I call this my SPF Half Genie Hero Formula. If I've done my calculations correctly, all you have to do is apply this one tube all over yourself, and you'll be ready for a full day of summer action!" Mimic said.
"Hmmm… you certainly have my attention." Shantae said.
"Just take your jacket off and let me do the rest." Mimic said.

Shantae got up from the desk and took off her jacket, leaving her just in her bikini. That's when Mimic squeezed the tube and had his right hand full of sunscreen. He gently patted it all over Shantae's skin, getting some of it on her bikini.
"Oooooh… cold!" Shantae said.
"Sorry about that. You should warm back up quickly." Mimic said. A couple minutes later, he finished applying the sunscreen.
"Okay, that should be enough. All that's left to do is for you to run to the beach and hope you don't get burned in seconds." Mimic said, watching as Shantae slipped her jacket back on.
"Okay, Uncle Mimic! You're not coming with me?" Shantae asked.
"I still have a lot of work to do here. I'll catch up later." Mimic said.
"Alright then. Bye, Uncle! I hope this works!" Shantae said as she sprinted out of the workshop. Uncle Mimic nodded and hoped his 'super sunscreen' would do the job for Shantae.

It didn't take long for Shantae to find out if the new sunscreen was working. As she ran around the sand with her arms spread out, pretending to be a seagull, she didn't feel a wince of added heat on her skin.
"Wow… I think it's working! Oh, I am so going to hug Uncle Mimic when I get back! Maybe even treat him to some fried calamari…" Shantae said as she got back to running around, doing some of the beach things she did (like bouncing beach balls) before having to retreat.

However, before Shantae could celebrate too much… she felt something different.
"Oooooh… why does my jacket feel so tight all of a sudden? I'm sure I didn't wash this thing in hot water today." Shantae said as she could feel her jacket tightening up against her body. She tried to take the jacket off but was having a hard time doing so, and her problem was about to literally get bigger.
"*gasp* W-w-what!?" Shantae said as she watched her jacket suddenly come apart by the seams. As this was happening, she also felt her sunglasses snap apart all of a sudden. When she looked down at the sand to see both halves of her sunglasses landing there, that's when she took note of her bare feet digging into the sand even though she wasn't moving.
"Am I… growing bigger!? I didn't even do THAT dance!" Shantae shouted as she watched the beach shrink before her eyes. Shantae was growing rapidly, already reaching 100 feet tall and still increasing in size. Shantae shivered in fear, watching the beach get smaller and the few other people there look up in shock and awe.
"When am I going to stop? When am I going to stop!?" Shantae shouted.

But finally, her growing stopped… right at the same time a huge cloud came in from above and blocked all sunlight over the beach and well beyond. Shantae was now over 160 feet tall, slightly bigger than whenever she did that growing dance.
"Whew… thank goodness. I was worried I'd get too big for even the beach." Shantae said. She looked down and scanned the beach and Scuttle Town not that far away, marveling over how much smaller everything was.
"Wow… everything's so teeny tiny. I wonder if… wait… was it that sunscreen that made me grow?" Shantae said. She then spotted Uncle Mimic's workshop.
"I need to talk to Uncle Mimic. He'll know what happened." Shantae said as she carefully tiptoed her way off the beach and towards Scuttle Town. Despite her best efforts to be careful, already she uprooted a palm tree by kicking it with her pinky toe.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Shantae said as she held her hands out. But at least she was now towering well over Mimic's lab.

Inside Mimic's workshop, he once again was carefully trying to place a gear on a nearby piece of machinery.
"Alright, this time I got it for sure…" Mimic said. And then…
"UNCLE MIMIC!!!!!" Shantae screamed from outside. Not only did Mimic shake uncontrollably, but also his entire lab like an earthquake had hit.
"What in tarnation!?" Mimic said as he turned around thinking Shantae was at the front door, but there was nobody there.
"Huh? Shantae?" Mimic said as he got up and stepped away from the machine he was working on. He opened up the front door and didn't see anyone outside, so he stepped out.
"Shantae? Where are you? This is no time to be playing jokes!" Mimic said.
"Heh… it'd be a pretty big joke, wouldn't it?" Shantae said. Mimic looked around but finally realized the voice came from above him, and so he looked up. And up. And up. And up some more. He fell on his behind and his jaw dropped as Shantae towered over him and his lab.
"Sh-Sh-Sh-Shantae!?" Mimic shouted.
"Yep… it's me, Uncle. A LOT of me." Shantae said.
"Shantae! This is no time to be fooling around! Undo that dance that makes you big pronto!" Mimic said. Shantae very carefully got down on her knees so she could see Mimic much better.
"I wish I could, but I didn't grow because of dancing this time. Honest! I was running around enjoying my new freedom thanks to your new sunscreen, and by the way, I didn't feel an inch of sunburn." Shantae said.
"Well, that's good." Mimic said.
"But anyway, the next thing I knew, I was growing. Bigger and bigger I got… but then the growth stopped, just as that huge cloud came overhead and blocked the sun." Shantae said as she pointed up towards the sky at the cloud.
"Hmmm… very interesting. Wait right here, Shantae!" Mimic said as he ran back inside his lab.
"Yeah, sure. Not like I have anywhere to go without inducing mass panic…" Shantae said.

As she sat patiently waiting for Mimic to return, she heard a familiar female voice that sounded close despite her massive size.
"Hey, Shantae!" the female voice said. Shantae looked as something flew in front of both her eyes. She recognized the object to be Wrench in his enlarged state to allow aerial transportation. Onboard Wrench were two of her friends, Sky and Bolo.
"Oh! Hi, Sky! And hi, Bolo." Shantae said.
"And please don't say what's up, because it's clearly not me this time!" Sky said.
"Er… right!" Shantae said. She watched as Wrench landed on the ground and Sky and Bolo jumped off, which allowed Wrench to shrink back to his normal size and perch himself atop Sky's shoulder. As Bolo stared up and down Shantae's bikini-clad gigantic body, Sky conversed with her giant friend.
"Shantae, what happened? Did you do your big dance again?" Sky said.
"No! I was trying this new sunscreen from Uncle Mimic and it seems to have had… well… a big impact on me." Shantae said.
"*whistles* I'll say it had a big impact!" Bolo said as he pretended to snap picture after picture with an imaginary camera. Even so, it annoyed Shantae to see Bolo acting this way again in her giant presence.
"BOLO!" Shantae shouted as she held a hand up like she was going to swat him, which caused him to run away and take cover behind Sky.
"Pfffft… if you think for one second I'm going to shield you from our giant friend!" Sky said as she stepped aside, exposing Bolo again.
"It's okay, Sky. You know what? I've got an idea." Shantae said as she reached down and gently picked up Bolo even as he tried to run away.

Bolo watched as he rose up in the air, unable to move in the tight grip that was Shantae's closed hand. He nervously looked at Shantae's gigantic blue eyes and her smiling face.
"You're always sneaking a peek inside the bath house trying to see a woman's, shall we say, sweet spots, right?" Shantae said.
"Er… um… well… I guess… you see… I… um…" Bolo stuttered.
"So I tell you what, Bolo. I'll be nice and let you have an up close and personal view of my chest!" Shantae said.
"Huh? Wait, Shantae, I… whoa!" Bolo said as he was suddenly dropped right smack in the middle of her boobs, covered by the top half of her bikini. Bolo's voice muffled and often less than half of his body showed as he got buried within Shantae's chest. It didn't make him feel better that Shantae was giggling like a child.
"Heeheehee… having fun, Bolo?" Shantae shouted. Sky, meanwhile, watched the fun from below with her arms folded, though she did have to back away at times as Shantae shifted her legs around.
"Heh. I NEVER would've guessed Shantae had this side of her. Risky Boots, on the other hand…" Sky said. Eventually, Mimic came back out of his lab holding a mini gun-shaped object in his hand.
"Okay, Shantae, this tool should confirm my suspicions about… Shantae!? What in the name of Sequin Land are you doing!?" Mimic shouted.

Everyone then watched as, after Shantae squeezed her chest together one more time, suddenly Bolo came popping out like a rocket from its launch pad. He sailed in the air for a few seconds before coming back down into Shantae's hands.
"Haha! Whoops! I guess you found a slick spot from the sunscreen, Bolo!" Shantae said.
"Wheeeee… happy fun giant Shantae riding time…" Bolo said as he clearly looked dizzy from the experience he just went through.
"Really, Shantae, sometimes I wish you'd grow up." Mimic said.
"Well… I kinda already did, Uncle!" Shantae said as she looked down at her uncle as well as Sky, who laughed hysterically.
"HAHAHAHA! She got you that time!" Sky shouted.
"Yes, point taken. Anyway, hold still, Shantae, I'm gonna use this instrument on your kneecap to analyze something." Mimic said. Shantae nodded as she set the half conscious Bolo back down on the ground. Mimic connected the instrument with Shantae's oversized kneecap, and after a series of bleeps and bloops, he disconnected and looked at the screen.

"Hmmm… it's just as I thought. One of the ingredients from my sunscreen is causing your skin cell count to multiply exponentially when exposed to UV rays, hence why you grew while the sun was out." Mimic said.
"Okay, but what about my bikini? How come that grew and not my jacket and sunglasses?" Shantae said.
"Well, did you get any of the sunscreen on your bikini?" Mimic asked.
"That's probably what happened. But never mind how I grew… what about getting me back to normal size?" Shantae said.
"Oh, that's no problem. I can easily make a counter sunscreen to wear off the effects, allowing you to return to normal. But I'm going to have to work fast, because if that sun comes back out…" Mimic said as he pointed up towards the thick cloud cover.
"*gulp*" Shantae gulped nervously as she shuddered to think what would happen if the sun came back out and she had all those rays to feed on, "Using the entire planet as a beach ball would NOT be fun, even for me!"
"I'll work as fast as I can. The counter sunscreen is no problem… it's coming up with a dispersal method that's going to be the challenge given how tall you are!" Mimic said.
"Well, if anyone can do it, you can, Uncle Mimic!" Shantae said as she gently nudged him on his head, only to knock him down on his back.
"Whoops! Sorry! In the meantime, I can't just sit here and do nothing. I should walk around and see the rest of the land from up here." Shantae said.
"Might I suggest Mermaid Falls? Maybe Giga Mermaid won't feel so lonely now." Sky said.
"Great idea, Sky! I always admire your travel advice. Maybe you and Wrench can give me a lift there?" Shantae asked. Sky had quite the annoyed look on her face.
"You're kidding, right?" Sky said, only to receive a hearty laugh from the giant Shantae.
"Hahaha! Of course I am! I'll just walk there myself. Carefully, of course." Shantae said as she stood back up and slowly stomped her way away from Scuttle Town.

Mimic, meanwhile, got up himself and patted Sky and Bolo on their shoulders.
"Now then, you two, I'm going to need your help. I can't make the stuff I talked about alone." Mimic said.
"Always here to help. Friends to the end, right, Bolo?" Sky said.
"Of course… especially when they're over 100 feet tall. Heh heh…" Bolo said, only to get smacked in the back of his head by Sky.
"Be glad I'm not 100 feet tall." Sky said as she and the others walked back inside the workshop.

Meanwhile, far out at sea, all this activity was not lost on Risky Boots. As she sat nearly naked in her bathtub, wearing nothing but a red-and-white bandana on her head with bubbles of course covering her private parts, she looked out the periscope at the giant Shantae towering over Scuttle Town.
"Well, well, well. So the half-genie hero decides to play Fee Fi Fo Fum again. Arrrrrgh! It annoys me so much that she has that power… I wish I could do that!" Risky said. She then opened her eyes wide as she realized something.
"Wait a minute… I CAN! Between all the Dark Magic and Genie Crystals I've collected, I can harness them to make my own way of growing big! Then once I defeat her and crush her flat, I'll become the supreme pirate goddess ruler of Sequin Land! Hahaha!" Risky said as she suddenly stood up and laughed in a triumphant manner. Despite this, the bubbles managed to stay attached to her body, and good thing too with all the Tinkerbats gawking up at her. Still, she flashed a nasty look at her servants.
"Don't just stand there and stare like you're at a peep show! GET MY SWIMSUIT!!!" Risky yelled as the Tinkerbats mumbled out loud and ran into each other before scrambling to comply with the pirate queen's request.

In Mermaid Falls, Shantae walked around the watery grounds, looking up and making sure the big cloud was still there to block the sunlight. Shantae folded her arms as she looked up.
"Sigh… I never thought I'd be glad to see the sun hidden, but it's for the best. I just hope Uncle Mimic comes through on time." Shantae said. She then saw she was coming up to the factory that she remembered was responsible for turning ordinary girls into mermaids by having large fish attach to their lower bodies. Shantae kneeled down and peeked inside the upper levels of the factory where she saw it was quiet.
"I guess Techno Baron finally cleaned house. What!?" Shantae said, only to suddenly feel something pounding on her toes. She looked down and saw a few of the yellow gators that would normally walk back and forth patrolling the area. They were trying to bite her toes but weren't having any luck in causing any damage. Still, Shantae looked annoyed as she stood back to her full height.
"Ugh… I always hated these guys, but now that I'm the right size…" Shantae said. She then lifted up her right foot, which the gators looked straight up at.
"You gators go squish now!" Shantae shouted as she then quickly lowered her foot. The gators squealed as they watched the foot come SLAMMING down on top of them. After Shantae shifted her foot left and right, she lifted it up to see the carnage she caused. She couldn't help but giggle when she saw nothing but a few Gator Steaks on the ground.

She then looked straight down at the factory she towered over, with her hands on her hips.
"Now then, speaking of cleaning house… HA!" Shantae said as she wound up her head and snapped her purple hair down at the structure, causing it to crumble apart after a few strikes.
"Heh… that felt satisfying." Shantae said. She then looked out towards the ocean where she saw the water rippling heavily. Eventually, at least a dozen mermaids stuck their heads out… including one that literally stood out thanks to her larger size. Of course, you know this particular mermaid as Giga Mermaid, who looked up as the bigger Shantae (she was at least twice as tall) walked towards the water.
"Hello, Shantae." Giga Mermaid said.
"Oh? I didn't know you could talk!" Shantae said.
"I usually save my voice for friends of mine, and I must say… you've certainly grown since we last met." Giga Mermaid said.
"Oh, um… yes. Lab accident, let's just say. I hope you're not jealous." Shantae said.
"Not at all. I feel like I am the perfect size to watch over my children." Giga Mermaid said as she glanced over at the normal-sized mermaids, who were swimming up to Shantae's toes in the shallow end and looking up at her.
"Wow! You're so incredibly massive!" one mermaid said.
"Please come into the water with us!" another mermaid said.
"Um… sure! If Giga Mermaid will let me…" Shantae said.
"Of course. Let us dance for our giant friend." Giga Mermaid said.
"Yay!" The mermaids cheered as they and Giga Mermaid swam away, allowing Shantae to slowly step into the water.

Shantae waded into the water until the bottom of her bikini was just above the water.
"Okay, so now what?" Shantae asked.
"Just stay still and let me and the girls do our thing." Giga Mermaid said. Suddenly Giga Mermaid started humming a tune, and the mermaids moved with the music. Shantae looked in awe as the mermaids circled around both her legs and she watched them dance around. Shantae even clapped to the 'beat' that Giga Mermaid was humming out, and this seemed to energize the smaller mermaids as they splashed and danced with a bit more enthusiasm.
Shantae finally couldn't resist swaying her hips and legs around, being careful not to perform any of her magic dances. The mermaids cleared out of the way as Shantae got to dancing herself. Finally, she stepped towards Giga Mermaid.
"Shall we?" Shantae asked. Giga Mermaid seemed to know what to do and she grabbed Shantae's twice as large hand. The two danced around the water and the smaller mermaids were now the ones humming a tune. The dancing went on for 2-3 minutes as water got thrown in every direction, including on nearby land.

Finally, as both giantesses were breathing faster than normal, they stopped.
"Wow… that was more fun than I expected!" Shantae said.
"I agree. Thank you, Shantae. It really and truly put away the bad memory of our first encounter." Giga Mermaid said.
"Hey, no biggie… well… you know what I mean!" Shantae said as she laughed at her own pun.
"Will you be staying any longer?" Giga Mermaid asked.
"No… I should get going and see another part of the world from this size. Perhaps we can do this again some other time!" Shantae said.
"I would like that. Say goodbye, my children!" Giga Mermaid said as she and the other mermaids waved up at Shantae. As for Shantae herself, she stepped out of the mermaid water and set her sights on Tassel Town.

Meanwhile, far out at sea, Risky Boots was putting the finishing touches on her gun as she inserted one more genie crystal inside. She was now wearing her own two-piece swimsuit… red shorts and top with yellow trims and a skull pattern on the shorts. And of course she didn't have her pirate hat on, the top of her head instead covered by a red-and-white striped bandana.
"Now then, if my calculations are correct, I've turned my good ol' trusty pistol into a growth gun. One blast should make me as big and tall as Shantae, and with her fooling around elsewhere, I'll just walk right over Scuttle Town! Literally! Hahaha!" Risky shouted. She stepped outside where she greeted a group of Tinkerbats, one of whom received the pistol.
"Alright. When I'm about to walk the plank, I'll give the signal. That's when you fire the pistol on me. Think you batbrains can accomplish such a simple task!?" Risky shouted. The Tinkerbats looked at each other and then quickly nodded. Risky couldn't help but roll her eyes and hoped this whole thing would work.
She then stepped onto the plank, which she always dreamed she could make Shantae do one day, and then took a deep breath. She was either going to be the biggest pirate villainess in the world… or be shark bait.
"NOW!" Risky said as she turned around to face the Tinkerbats. The one holding her pistol fired away, and that's when a blue ball of energy came hurling towards Risky. Risky timed her jump off the plank… allowing the energy ball to hit her in midair before she splashed into the ocean.
The Tinkerbats ran out to the edge of the ship and looked at the water for several seconds. All they could see were the occasional bubbles on the surface. Did Risky fail? Was she shark food now? Just as they wondered how they were going to go on with their pirating ways without their captain… the water started to bubble more fiercely and waves formed as well, rocking the ship back and forth.

The Tinkerbats then stumbled backwards as they watched Risky's head burst through the water. She laughed evilly as she watched the world around her get smaller and smaller. Finally she stopped growing at the same height Shantae was at… 160 feet tall.
"Mwahahaha! It worked! IT WORKED!!!" Risky shouted. She looked down at the Tinkerbats on the deck of her ship cheering for her.
"So what do you think, my little dingbats?" Risky said as she twirled around, scraping the ship with her behind.
"You all stay here for now while I go turn Scuttle Town into Squashed Town! Ahhhh… why didn't I think of doing something like this sooner?" Risky said as the giantess waded her way through the ocean on her way to Scuttle Town.

In Scuttle Town, specifically inside Mimic's workshop, he, Sky, and Bolo were busy toiling away at manufacturing that 'anti-sunscreen' that would cure Shantae of her growing problem. It took several minutes, but Mimic seemed to be close to finishing.
"Almost done… I just need to drip in a couple chemicals that will allow the sunscreen to spread through her skin like a virus inside the body." Mimic said.
"I gotta say, Mimic, I didn't think you were good with chemicals and liquids and all that stuff. I always thought you were a machinery kind of guy." Bolo commented.
"Ahhhh… indeed I am, young man, but after everything that's happened ever since Shantae learned about her half-genie side, I've learned that anything can and will happen. So I've had to evolve myself!" Mimic said.
"Still, are we sure those extra chemicals are necessary?" Sky said.
"Patience, Sky. The sun is going to be returning any minute… think of how much anti-sunscreen we'd need to spread on Shantae if she grew even an inch bigger!" Mimic said.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind picking up a steamroller and covering it with the anti-sunscreen and… OW!" Bolo said, only to get slapped in the face by Sky.
"Ugh! Pervert!" Sky shouted.

Just then, the three felt the ground trembling and booming sounds coming from outside.
"Oh, Shantae must be back." Sky said.
"Ah, good! Tell her I'll be ready in a couple minutes!" Mimic said. Sky and Bolo ran outside the workshop and made their way towards the docks on the outskirts of town, where they both gasped when they saw who was coming instead.
"Risky Boots!?" they both shouted as they watched the giant Risky Boots get closer and closer.
"Oh spit." Sky said, watching as Risky set foot on the grounds of Scuttle Town.
"Hohohoho!!! This'll be like catching fish in a net! Run away, you scurvy scoundrels!" Risky shouted as she planted a bare foot on one of the buildings, crushing it flat.
Sky and Bolo could only watch as the giantess pirate girl carried on with her rampage.
"Y'know, I'm surprised she didn't try something like this sooner." Sky said.
"I agree… but how did she grow?" Bolo asked.
"Who cares how she grew!? We've gotta find Shantae and get her back here!" Sky said.
"Are you sure? Couldn't we try and stop her ourselves?" Bolo asked.
"And get squashed like flies? Uh uh… not me, buster!" Sky said.
"Okay, fine… but we don't even know where Shantae is!" Bolo said.
"Pffft… at her size, she won't be hard to find where we're going. Wrench!" Sky said as she looked on her faithful bird companion on her shoulder.
"Oh my word!" Mimic shouted as he came out of the workshop to see the giant Risky walking around.
"Mimic! We're going to find Shantae! Don't let anything happen to that anti-sunscreen or you!" Sky shouted. As Mimic ran back inside to take cover and gather the things he needed, Wrench flew off and immediately enlarged, allowing both Sky and Bolo to climb on its back. Once they were on, Wrench took off for the skies. From the air, Sky and Bolo took one more look back at Scuttle Town with the giant Risky Boots stomping around with a huge evil grin on her face.
"Heaven help everyone down there…" Sky said to herself.

Despite being named Tassel Town, it wasn't really much of a town. It was more like a tropical desert, and one that was pretty big even for someone as tall as Shantae. Still, she admired the sight of towering over the vast, sandy landscape. She took a look at an abandoned castle in the distance (one Ammo Baron once occupied) and snapped her fingers.
"Why let all this size go to waste? I'll build the biggest sand castle that ever existed!" Shantae shouted with a smile. She got down on her knees and shifted sand around with her bare hands. During one of her pickups, she ended up scooping up a couple archers.
"Huh? Aren't you two a bit lost?" Shantae asked. The archers didn't react much to being held by a giant Shantae. They instead took aim at the giantess and shot a series of arrows up at her nose. Although the arrows just bounced off, she still felt them poke.
"Ow! Hey! Don't you know it's rude to shoot a giant genie girl in the face!?" Shantae said. Using her other hand, she flicked both of the archers off the palm of her hand, watching as they screamed towards the distance.
"Heh… now that's what I call chick flick!" Shantae said, resisting the urge to laugh at her own bad joke.

Shantae spent the next few minutes putting more sand together to build her sand castle, but before she could really get down and dirty (literally as she threw sand all over the area), she heard a familiar voice calling above her head.
"Shantae!" Sky shouted. Shantae looked up to see Sky and Bolo aboard the enlarged Wrench coming down towards her head.
"Oh, hey guys! Perfect timing… I'm about to build the biggest sand castle that ever existed." Shantae said with a wink from one of her eyes.
"I'm afraid there's been a change of plans, Shantae. Risky Boots is in Scuttle Town!" Sky said.
"What!? Ooooooh… that Risky Boots! Now's the perfect time for me to squash her to oblivion!" Shantae said.
"Um… that might be a really big challenge, Shantae." Bolo said.
"Huh? Why is that?" Shantae asked.
"Somehow she's found a way to grow as big as you." Sky said.
"Oh my! That's terrible! Uncle Mimic is in grave danger!" Shantae said.
"Yeah, and so is everyone else in Scuttle Town!" Sky said. She, Bolo, and Wrench then watched as Shantae sprung to her feet.
"Say no more! I, Shantae the Half-Genie Hero, will save Scuttle Town from the giant scurge that is Risky Boots! Lead the way, Sky!" Shantae said. Sky nodded and patted Wrench on the head.
"Back to Scuttle Town, Wrench, and fast!" Sky said. Wrench took off flying, and at a good speed too that even surprised Shantae.
"Huh? Hey! Don't go too fast!" Shantae said as she quickly stomped her way after her friends.

Along the way, Bolo looked up at the sky and noticed something. He then tapped Sky on the shoulder.
"Hey, Sky! Look at… well… the sky." Bolo said. Sky did indeed look up and she saw the same important detail Bolo first caught. The massive cloud that was blocking the sun was likely 5-6 minutes away from moving out and allowing the sun to shine at its brightest once again.
"Oh boy… we're running out of time." Sky said, already getting nightmarish visions of Shantae growing bigger than the entire planet once she was exposed to sunlight again.

Meanwhile, there continued to be maximum chaos and panic as Risky Boots rampaged around Scuttle Town, taking great pride in crushing building after building.
"Hahahahaha! It's nice to finally be as big as the value of the stash I've collected in my pirating career!" Risky said as she planted one of her bare feet over a food stand, crushing it and sending various pieces of food flying everywhere (unless it was crushed under her foot). Risky looked beside one of her feet where she saw a young girl that had tripped over. She screamed as Risky bent down and plucked her off the ground, holding her between two of her fingers.
"Awwww… don't be afraid, little girl. You'll like it inside my stomach… at least until you get digested!" Risky said as she licked her lips and then opened her mouth wide. She was about to drop the girl inside when suddenly…
"Risky Boots!" Shantae shouted. Risky turned around and saw a very ticked off Shantae, at the same size, standing a few feet away from her.
"Ahhhh… there's my good friend, Shantae. Here, catch!" Risky said as she flung the girl up in the air. Shantae took a few steps forward and caught the girl in the air.
"Are you okay?" Shantae asked.
"Yeah! Thank you, Big Shantae!" the girl said. Shantae kneeled down and allowed the girl to jump off her hands and run away. She then stood back up and folded her arms under her chest.

"Risky! How dare you trample over this fine town? You've gone too far this time!" Shantae said.
"Hmph! Not far enough! I would've preferred crushing you like a purple bug after whatever growing spell you used wore off, but we'll just have to settle this the old fashioned way!" Risky said.
"Bring it on!" Shantae said as she got her fists ready like she was ready to throw down, and she also gave her hair a quick signature whip.
"Ohohohoho! I tell you what, Shantae. I'll make this a fair fight for a change." Risky said as she slowly walked towards Shantae, deliberately crushing some building remains along the way. Shantae backed away nervously, ending up crushing a building innocently herself.
"*gasp*" Shantae gasped as she looked down at the carnage she caused with just that one step. That gave Risky Boots the chance to strike as she grabbed Shantae by one of her wrists. What happened next subtly surprised Shantae. She suddenly found herself holding one of Risky's swords.
"Now then! En garde!" Risky said as she summoned another sword. As she swung it towards Shantae, she found the need to raise her own sword up and block the attack.

The two clanged swords for the next few minutes, neither seeming to be coming within inches of striking their opponent. Of course, they moved wildly around Scuttle Town. Aside from a couple more buildings, no further damage was being caused around the town miraculously. But Sky and Bolo, watching the fight from a distance, knew that wouldn't last forever.
"Those two are going to wreck the whole town before they finish fighting!" Sky said.
"There must be something we can do! Quick, fly me up to Risky's chest so she can be distracted by smothering me with it!" Bolo shouted.
"Ugh… not helping!!" Sky said as she whacked Bolo in the back of his head.

As mentioned above, the sword fight dragged on for a few minutes until finally Risky jumped high in the air and magically summoned a cannon, shooting cannon balls down at Shantae. While Shantae did a great job at dodging the cannon balls, they left big craters in the grounds where they landed. Shantae looked down with concern at where the cannon balls landed, but had to refocus her sights on Risky.
"Ugh! I should've known you'd pull a dirty pirate trick eventually!" Shantae shouted.
"Hohohoho! You're too kind, Shantae, but let's see you dance around this one!" Risky said as she magically summoned her pistol. This really got Shantae's blood boiling, and that's when the purple-haired giantess sidestepped each and every one of Risky's shots. Risky was taken aback by the dodging of her fellow giantess that she didn't have time to counter Shantae's next attack. Shantae wound up her hair and whipped it across Risky's hands, knocking both her pistol and her sword out a few yards away. As Risky looked back to see where her weapons landed, she then looked back at Shantae, who had her sword pointed right at Risky's nose.
"Now, Risky Boots. Do you surrender?" Shantae asked.

But Risky wasn't fazed. In fact, she had an evil grin.
"Silly child. You should know better than anyone." Risky said as she then snapped her fingers. Suddenly all pirate weaponry, including the sword Shantae was holding, disappeared in a series of sparkles.
"What!?" Shantae shouted.
"I hold all the cards in this fight!" Risky shouted. The pirate giantess then charged forward, taking Shantae by surprise, and tackled her to the ground, causing Shantae to crush another building underneath her back as people ran like crazy around the legs of both giantesses to keep from being crushed.
"No! You'll never win, Risky!" Shantae said as she thrust one of her feet towards Risky's stomach, giving her a good shove and knocking her backwards. Shantae jumped to her feet and the two began to strangle each other like they were in a wrestling match. As their feet shuffled back and forth, innocent people ran around to avoid being crushed. Often it would look like one side was about to tackle the other to the ground, only for her to come right back.
Finally, though, Risky used a little trickery to gain the upper hand. She stomped her foot on one of Shantae's feet.
"Ow!" Shantae shouted as she stumbled around holding her foot before tripping over the remains of a building and crashing just outside the grounds of Scuttle Town. Before Shantae could get back up, she was pinned to the ground as Risky rested one of her feet underneath Shantae's chest.
"Hohohoho! Looks like I win, Shantae!" Risky said. She then summoned one of her swords and pointed it towards Shantae's face.
"Now then… any last words before I slice and dice you to ribbons? Ooooooh… the thought of that is making me giggle with glee!" Risky said with that trademark evil smile.

Shantae, however, looked up at the sky where she saw the sun was about to come back out. On one hand, she knew that was bad news in that her growth spurt was going to resume, but then she thought about the predicament she was in and smiled up at her rival.
"I wouldn't celebrate yet, Risky. Your problem is about to get even bigger." Shantae said.
"Huh? What are you talking…?" Risky said, only to cut herself off when she watched Shantae grow right before her eyes. As Shantae swatted the sword away with her hands, she watched as Risky tripped herself up trying to escape, and now she was sitting right on her stomach and shrinking before her eyes. Risky was shaking inside now. She suddenly felt miniscule compared to the endlessly growing Shantae. In fact, Shantae was so big already… the 160-foot-tall Risky Boots looked more like an action figure now. Risky tried to sneak away as Shantae's legs towered over her, only to suddenly be grabbed by the bigger giantess. Shantae stood back on her feet, her pinky toe right next to the tallest building still standing in Scuttle Town.
"Hmph! Not so big now, are you, Risky?" Shantae said.
"Heh heh heh… okay, Shantae. I give. I surrender! You win as usual! Just pretty please let me go and we'll call it even. Okay?" Risky said. It looked so cute seeing the 'tiny' Risky Boots begging for her life, Shantae thought. She then smiled.
"Okay. I'm looking forward to our next duel, Risky. Until then, have a nice swim!" Shantae said. She then looked out towards the ocean, wound up her arm, and threw Risky out to the distance.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!" Risky screamed until she splashed into the ocean several yards away.

Shantae then turned her attention down below. She backed away slowly, trying to make sure her ever growing toes wouldn't bulldoze over Scuttle Town. And with no clouds in sight to stop her growing this time…
"Ummmm… Uncle Mimic, if you're down there, now would be a REALLY good time to shoot me with that anti-sunscreen!" Shantae shouted.
About a hundred feet above Scuttle Town, Wrench was flying in the air again, this time with Sky and Mimic onboard. Mimic held a bazooka type weapon on one of his shoulders while he and Sky looked way up at the growing Shantae. She was so massive now, her upper body was slowly fading into the upper atmosphere, something which gave Sky great concern.
"Mimic, are you sure this anti-sunscreen is going to work!? Shantae's going to be a million feet tall at this rate any second… it'll be like something smaller than a mosquito biting us!!!" Sky shouted.
"(sigh) We just better hope and pray my calculations are correct, or none of us will live to see another summer sunrise!" Mimic said. He gently stood up on Wrench's back and set his sights on one of Shantae's ankles. He fired, and a big blob of clear liquid went flying towards Shantae's ankle and eventually made contact.

Of course, Shantae couldn't see this at all. All she could see was a world that was quickly becoming smaller than if she were to look on a map. As the sky darkened and she could see the planet start to curve, her worst fear started to settle in.
"Well, this is it. I'll either suffocate to death from the lack of oxygen or be the empress of the entire universe… the latter of which I'm sure will be GREAT for the fan art department." Shantae said as she folded her arms and sighed, ready and willing to accept her fate.

But just as she said that… she watched the world get bigger all of a sudden. She was coming on down in a hurry, like riding an elevator.
"Huh?" Shantae said. It took her a few seconds to finally realize what was happening.
"Oh, I'm shrinking! Yay! I'm shrinking!!!" Shantae said as she jumped up and down in celebration, only to crack the ground where she was standing.
"Oops… sorry!" Shantae said, going back to standing still as she watched herself shrink faster and faster.

Finally, Shantae was back to her normal size.
"Yay, Shantae!" Sky cheered as she ran up and hugged her friend. Bolo and Mimic joined in on the hugging as well.
"You gave us quite a scare, my dear!" Mimic said.
"Heh… thanks, everyone! I'll never make fun of my size ever again after an experience like that!" Shantae shouted.
"Alas, I was going to miss playing peeping tom and OW!" Bolo said, only to get whacked in the back of the head again. Shantae then patted her skin from head to toe and realized something, especially with the sun beaming nice and bright on her skin.
"Hmmm… I don't seem to be burning up as fast as I did before all this." Shantae said.
"It would seem the anti-sunscreen not only nullified the growing effects from the sun's UV rays, but it mixed in with my experimental sunscreen to make it act like a normal sunscreen. Ahhhh… it's like mixing iced tea with lemonade!" Mimic said.
"Haha… not bad, Uncle Mimic! Now if only I had more of that mixture, then I really and truly could enjoy summer!" Shantae said.
"Never fear, Shantae! I'll get right on it!" Mimic said as he walked back into his workshop. Shantae looked around and saw more people gathering, cheering that she was back to normal.
"Heh, I guess all of Scuttle Town is glad to see me back to normal too, even if I did accidentally crush some of the structures. Sorry, everyone!" Shantae said.
"Well, at least we can blame that on Risky Boots." Sky said.
"I would hope the whiplashing I gave her shrunk her back to normal out there…" Shantae said.
"Pffft… if you ask me, you don't need to be a giantess to whip her lavender-colored skin into the next country." Sky said.
"Really, Sky? Am I that strong and powerful?" Shantae asked.
"Always, kiddo." Sky said as she patted her friend in the back.

And speaking of Risky Boots, she was kicking around trying to stay afloat in the ocean despite being 160 feet tall.
"Ugh! Why do these oceans have to be so deep!? I should've grown even bigger!" Risky shouted. She then looked to her left where she saw her ship coming in, with Tinkerbats galore on the edge. Risky wasted no time in grabbing the edge of the ship, only to tip it halfway over (with numerous Tinkerbats fighting to stay onboard), unable to support her vastly increased weight to go with her increased size.
"Oh shut up, you tinkertwerps! I'm the captain of the ship and I'll climb onboard no matter what size I'm at!" Risky shouted.
Just as she said that, however, she could feel her body tingling again. She watched as the ship suddenly was getting larger and larger.
"Oh spit… the growth power is wearing off." Risky said. Smaller and smaller she got until she was all the way back to her normal size. She eventually used all her strength to pull herself up and back onto the main dock of the ship. She quickly walked towards the back side of the ship where she looked out towards Scuttle Town.
"I swear, Shantae. I'll get you for this… I'll one day crush you into toejam!" Risky said. After shaking her fists, she sharply turned around to head back into her quarters.
"Weigh anchor! Shove off!!!" Risky shouted as the Tinkerbats got to work in sending the ship on its way to sailing the open ocean.

END