Shantae's Big Dance

(Cubed Cinder; idea by Twilight Prince)

Spider Forest

Shantae slowly walked through the dense forest, defeating any pesky creatures that would stand in her way by whipping her long purple hair. Even with the rays of sunshine peeking through the trees and even though she could have easily warped back to Scuttle Town, nothing could make Shantae feel any better at the moment. Despite collecting all the Relic Stones, they were taken away by the conniving pirate lady, Risky Boots. She waited in the wings until Shantae was able to defeat all the guardians and steal all the stones for herself.
"(sigh) All that hard work for nothing. That darn Risky Boots! If only I were a full-fledged genie, I'd show her a thing or two!" Shantae said to herself as she kicked an innocent stone into the grass. As she watched the rock fly away, it suddenly sank into the soft grass like it were quicksand. This caught the half-genie's curiousity.
"Hmmm... what was that about?" Shantae asked. She walked over to where the rock used to be and looked down at the patch of grass.
"That's strange. That rock just disappeared." Shantae said. She kneeled down and reached into the grass to try and find that rock, and that's when she felt a strange force grab onto her.
"What the... the grass! It's pulling me in!" Shantae said. She fought tooth and nail trying to get out of the "grass-sand's" grip, but it was too strong and Shantae soon found herself losing her footing and falling into the trap.
"AIEEEEEE!!!" Shantae screamed before she too disappeared from the overworld.

Hidden Chamber

Shantae fell for what seemed like a long time, when it was really just about 30 seconds of falling. But eventually she finally landed on her two feet on the hard ground.
"Ow... that had to hurt. And it did..." Shantae said. As she regained her composure, brushing the grass off her clothing, Shantae took a good look around, and there was nothing but darkness. Heck, it was easy for her voice to echo throughout the chamber.
"Where... where am I? What is this place?" Shantae said. As she started walking forward, she summoned a fireball to help light up the area, and that's when she got her first look at the all-stone chamber. At the end of the long hallway, which she sprinted towards, there was some sort of inscription on the wall.
"What's this?" Shantae said. As she studied the markings on the wall, she realized they were pictures of a genie dancing. There were multiple genies on this wall, meaning they were likely steps for Shantae to follow. Following the instructions, they ended at the bottom of the wall with simply an up arrow.
"Hmmm... I wonder what will happen when I do this dance? It looks kinda tricky, but I should try it." Shantae said. She tossed her flame onto the wall in front of her, allowing it to 'stick' onto there and keep the dance instructions lit up. First, Shantae did her basic one-two-three-four step and smile moves, which always helped her get a rhythm going.
"Okay, here we go!" Shantae said. After getting her rhythm going, she followed the instructions step-by-step. To put in layman's terms what her dance was like, she was swinging her hips and then her upper body very wide from side-to-side. She also circled her hips around, like she was swinging a hula hoop around. Finally, the dance ended and Shantae was obviously out of breath.
"Whew... that was one tough dance!" Shantae shouted. But as she looked over herself, she noticed nothing had changed about her.
"Huh? No transformation? No warping anywhere either. So what was that... OWWW!!" Shantae said, only to shout out in pain because she felt her head bump against something. She looked up and saw it was the ceiling of all things!
"Wait, what the..." Shantae said. And before she could say any more, she suddenly felt like the walls were closing in on her, or at least the hallway was getting a whole lot smaller.
"I've gotta get out of here!" Shantae shouted. She started running in the opposite direction, but her growing body wouldn't let her go far, and she found herself constrained within the chamber's walls.
"No... must break out of here..." Shantae said to herself, who finally realized that she was soon going to be too big for the room. Maybe even the whole chamber! So she pressed herself against the ceiling, breaking through and causing all of it to cave in, along with some of the soil that had previously concealed the chamber.

Shantae quickly found herself outside in the open, where she continued to grow even as she stood to her full height. Finally, after a few more seconds, Shantae felt her growing stop. The purple-haired half-genie stood exactly 100 feet tall, and the upper half of her body was showing above ground.
"I... I... I'm... gigantic!" Shantae said. She was quite stunned to see how small everything looked all of a sudden.
"That dance! It must've done this to me." Shantae said, thinking back to the dance she just performed prior to this happening. As the seconds clicked by, Shantae's feelings quickly changed. She was no longer surprised, but she started to feel a bit happier. She had almost forgotten about her gloomy state of affairs earlier.
"Hey, this is pretty nice, actually. Maybe I better show the new me to Scuttle Town." Shantae said. She leapt up from the gaping hole she had created from outgrowing the hidden chamber, again brushing the soil and grass off her outfit. Upon climbing out, she whipped her legs around and knocked several of the trees down.
"Oops! I better be careful..." Shantae said to herself as she looked back at the trees. Finally, she brushed the rest of the aside and eventually exited the Spider Forest, spending the next few minutes walking down the open path that would lead to Scuttle Town.

Scuttle Town

Life was pretty much peaceful in Scuttle Town, with all the action happening in other parts of the world. Of course, that would soon change in the speed of a heartbeat. While children were running and playing around, the men were carrying out their business, and the women were practicing for the dance show that night, it took everyone a while to hear out the booming sounds that got increasingly louder and louder. Eventually it was one of the regular ladies that caught first wind of the giant Shantae.
"Oh my stars, look!!!" she shouted. Everyone looked in the direction she was pointing at, and they all looked up at the giantess half-genie as she slowed her walk way down. Even though she was basically in a tip-toe kind of pace, she still covered a few yards of ground with each step thanks to her huge size. Shantae very carefully stepped over the walls that protected Scuttle Town, and while many of the people got very nervous as they saw the giantess enter their grounds, they didn't panic because it was Shantae after all. In fact, they figured this had to be one of her genie powers, because it was actually a secret to the town that she was only a half-genie. Despite only one or two people running for cover, Shantae still did her best to calm everyone.
"Um... hi, everyone! Don't be scared, I'll be careful!" Shantae said.
"Wow... you're very big!" one of the children said near Shantae's feet. Shantae heard that and then looked over at the town hall building, which she was easily twice the size of.
"Heh... you're not kidding, kid!" Shantae said. She then looked down at the other people that were gathering around her.
"Hey, is Mimic still here? I need to speak with him right away!" Shantae said. A few seconds later, Mimic came running out one of the houses.
"Great heads of steam! What happened to you, Shantae?" Mimic asked.
"Well, let's just say it's a new power I learned. Listen, Mimic, I have bad news." Shantae said.
"What is it, young lady?" Mimic asked.
"Risky Boots has all the stones! She swiped them from me as soon as I collected them all!" Shantae said.
"Risky has all four stones?! This is a disaster! Our only chance now is to locate Risky's hideout and stop her before it's too late!" Mimic shouted.
"Yes, I know. If only I knew where she went though..." Shantae said.
"Although stopping her shouldn't be a problem for you, Shantae! I mean, look at you! You can easily sink her ship from that height!" Mimic said. But right when he said that, Shantae could feel a cold feeling running through her body.

"Huh? What's happening now!?" Shantae said. Then came more bad news, at least for now. Shantae began to shrink. She no longer stuck out in the town as she was dwindling down in size, with the buildings towering over her once again. Shantae was soon back to her normal size.
"Oh dear... what do we do now?" Mimic asked.
"Hmmm... that dance must've only been temporary." Shantae said.
"Dance? Temporary? Please explain, powerful genie!" Mimic said. Shantae first thought, 'I wish these people wouldn't put so much faith into me. I'm just not that powerful yet!' But then she cleared her throat and explained.
"Well, my powers come from these ancient dances passed down by the royal family of genies for centuries. These dances allow me to do things like transform into other creatures or warp to other parts of the world. On my way back here to tell you the bad news about the stones, I found this hidden chamber where I learned the dance that makes me grow big. I guess the genies made that power only temporary for obvious reasons." Shantae said.
"Most fascinating! Genie magic surely does wonders for you, I'm sure!" Mimic said.
"Pirates are coming! Pirates are coming!!" a little boy suddenly screamed as he ran through the town entrance. Naturally, this immediately set off a panic as the people of Scuttle Town (except for Shantae, Mimic, and a few brave souls) went scurrying into hiding. Indeed, behind the boy were four of Risky's lackies. They all laughed as they faced Shantae and pointed their swords at her.
"Hahaha! Hey there, Shantae! How goes the search for them Relic Stones?" one of the pirates said. Shantae put on a mean face.
"Very funny. I suppose you got that joke from Risky Boots." Shantae said.
"You be finished, you and that purple tail of yours!" one of the pirates said.
"Aye! Once Risky gets back, she'll be finished with you!" one of the pirates said.
"But she sent us to finish the job! So say your prayers!" one of the pirates said.
"Um, Shantae, my dear... now might be a good time to do this growing dance you talked about." Mimic said.
"I don't know if it will work again! It might've only been a one-time dance!" Shantae said.
"Please just try!" Mimic shouted.
"Fine! Stand back!" Shantae shouted. Mimic backed away and gave Shantae the room she needed to bust a move.

With that very good memory of hers, Shantae easily remembered the moves she needed to pull off, and the pirates could only watch as Shantae did her dancing.
"Ha! What's this?" one of the pirates said.
"She be trying out for the dancing show!" one of the pirates said. Shantae then finished her dance, and this time wasn't out of breath now that she knew the steps and therefore could fine tune her moves a bit to keep from getting fatigue. Soon, Shantae could feel another tingling inside her body, this time it was warm in temperature. She smiled knowing what was coming.
"You little pirates ready for this?" Shantae said. Right when she said that, she began to grow again. The pirates backed away while watching the half-genie grow bigger and bigger, especially as her growing shoes inches closer and closer to them. Shantae then stopped growing, once again at 100 feet tall. Immediately, she looked down on the panicking pirates with hands on her hips.
"Well, well. I didn't know they made pirates that tiny." Shantae said, obviously taunting her victims.
"Oy! Let's get out of here!" one of the pirates said. Just as they started running, Shantae took one step forward trying to stomp on the pirates, but they were able to escape and scuttle their way out of Scuttle Town.
"And don't bother coming back!" Shantae shouted.

As soon as the pirates were gone, all the citizens came out from hiding and loudly cheered the giantess.
"That was magnificent, young lady! But why not chase after them?" Mimic said.
"I feel I better stick around and make sure nothing else heads for this town... especially Risky Boots." Shantae said. Shortly thereafter, another voice came down at the Scuttle Town entrance gate.
"Hold on, Shantae! Here I come to save... OUCH!!!" Bolo shouted, only to run right into Shantae's shoes.
"Bolo?" Shantae asked. Bolo quickly jumped back on his feet and after shaking off the cobwebs, that's when he looked up and got his first look at the gigantic Shantae.
"Oh... my... GOOOOOOOD!!!" Bolo shouted with hearts in his eyes. He then started hugging the very shoe that he ran into earlier.
"Huh? What the!?" Shantae said.
"Oh, Shantae. Your beauty has exceeded all boundries with your increased size and power. Please allow me to submit myself to your will!" Bolo said.
"Oh shut up, Bolo. Mimic! There has to be some way we can find out where Risky Boots is hiding!" Shantae said.
"I know, my dear! I have an assistant in Oasis Town who might be able to go on the lookout for us. I'll get in touch with him immediately!" Mimic said as he started running back for the lab he had set up inside town.
"Hmmm... in the meantime..." Shantae said. She then looked down at Bolo who continued to kiss her feet, but that came to an end as Shantae wrapped a hand around Bolo and lifted him up to her face.
"Hey, Bolo? How would you like a front row seat to the entertainment I'm about to put on for these folks?" Shantae said. Bolo didn't say anything. Shantae quickly figured he was mesmerized by looking over her huge face.
"Yeah, I thought so." Shantae said. She then stretched out her top and dropped Bolo right down the middle of her chest. Bolo quickly realized where he was heading and he grabbed a hold of Shantae's clothing before he could fall any further (which would've been towards her midriff).
"S...S...Shantae!" Bolo said.
"Just hold on tight, little man! So, everyone in Scuttle Town, wanna see how good my belly dancing, and dancing in general, has gotten?" Shantae said. Everyone was curious to see what Shantae had meant, so they backed away from the giantess, trying to give her as much room as she would need...

Shantae did her usual dancing in almost slow motion, being careful not to step on anything or accidentally trigger one of her transformations. It was a majestic sight for the people of the town, watching as the giantess moved with great fluidity and smooth motions. She would even at times take her dance right to the edge, such as rubbing her back against the tallest building in town.
And of course, enjoying the ride the most was Bolo, who continued to hang on tight to Shantae's top. Bolo was mixed with emotions right now. Fearful that he would fall to the ground that he would sometimes look down on, and excited to see nothing but the silky smooth skin of Shantae right in front of him. He would try reaching out to touch it, and at first he was successful, but when Shantae caught onto his dirty tricks, she would gently poke him with one of her hands.
"Don't even think about it, Bolo!" Shantae shouted. Amazingly enough, Bolo complied with that wish.
"Yes, oh so gigantic genie girl!" Bolo shouted. Shantae just rolled her eyes, but then finally finished up her dancing, and the whole town applauded.
"Thank you everyone! Maybe once I've saved your town from that evil Risky Boots, I will provide an encore!" Shantae said.
"Yes, encore! Encore!" Bolo shouted. That's when Shantae ripped Bolo off her top and held him in front of her face again.
"Okay, Bolo. Show's over! Now be a good boy and get back on solid ground." Shantae said. She then lightly tossed him down towards the ground, and with amazing accuracy, he was able to bounce off a canopy and land safely on the ground. One of the villagers was quite impressed.
"Wow! That's our genie! She has such accuracy!" the man said. Shantae simply sighed, once again wishing she could just tell the truth about her stance as a half-genie so that they wouldn't put so much trust into her.

At that moment, Shantae heard another familiar voice call out her name.
"Yoohoo! Shantae!!" the voice said. Sensing it came from the sky that she was nearly touching with her head, Shantae looked to the right, just outside the Scuttle Town walls, and saw a harpy flying towards her, and in the harpy's talons was another one of her close friends, Sky.
"Oh! Hello, Sky! From the sky..." Shantae said, unable to resist the urge to make a bad pun. Whether it was the bad pun or just seeing the gigantic Shantae in front, the harpy suddenly started to panic. It flapped its wings like it was trying to turn around, and in the process, it was losing its grip on Sky.
"Huh!? Oh no... wait, harpy! Not yet! Get me on ground first!!" Sky shouted as she wiggled around in the harpy's grip. Shantae could sense the danger coming and she quickly walked towards the duo. Just in time too, as the harpy finally lost its grip on Sky and flew away.
"HELP!!!" Sky shouted as she was falling. But luckily, she fell right into the open hands of the giant Shantae.

"Sky! Are you alright?" Shantae asked. Sky shook her head and finally looked into the beautiful eyes of the giantess.
"Shantae! Wow, you've really grown up since I last saw you!" Sky said.
"Yeah yeah, very funny. Anyway, what brings you all the way out here?" Shantae asked.
"Well, I heard what happened between you and Risky Boots. That's terrible!" Sky said.
"I know... we have to find Risky Boots fast!" Shantae said.
"Well, luckily, one of Mimic's assistants came to me for help, and as high as I can fly, I've spotted where that darn pirate girl and her flunkies are!" Sky said.
"Really? Please tell me, Sky!" Shantae said. Sky had to close up her ears as loud as Shantae's voice was being projected.
"Okay, okay! You don't have to shout so loud!" Sky said.
"Oops... I'm sorry. I'm still getting used to this size, after all." Shantae said.
"It's okay. Anyway, I spotted her ship sailing off towards a small island several miles to the north of Oasis Town. She's got several smaller ships patrolling that island, like they're waiting for you!" Sky said.
"Well, they'll be in for a big surprise! Thank you, Sky! I'll head off to Oasis Town right away." Shantae said.
"Okay, but be careful! Who knows what Risky has planned with all the stones!" Sky said.
"I know. That's why you should stay here where it's safe." Shantae said as she kneeled down and placed Sky on the ground, next to Bolo of all people. That's when Shantae had to warn her.
"Oh, and watch out for Bolo. He can be kind of a lecherd." Shantae said.
"Don't worry, I have Wrench to protect me!" Sky said. She let out a whistle, and dive-bombing from the sky was Sky's little black bird, Wrench.
"CAAAAW!" Wrench shouted. He started pecking away at Bolo, who ran around in circles trying to shake it off.
"Hey, cut it out! I won't touch her or giant Shantae! I promise!" Bolo said. Shantae giggled a bit watching Bolo get pecked around, not to mention him tripping over one of Shantae's shoes, but it was time to go and confront Risky Boots.
"Okay, I'm on my way. Stand back everyone!" Shantae shouted. After everyone, including Sky and Bolo, backed away from the giantess, she started dancing again. After swaying her hips left and right, leaning back and taking a couple steps, Shantae suddenly transformed into a harpy. She started flapping her wings, inadvertantly blowing a few loose items around the town (fortunately nobody got hurt), and then flew into the blue sky.

Outside Oasis Town

After a few minutes of flying in the air, the harpy-transformed Shantae landed on the ground and then reverted back to her normal self (though still retaining her giant size). Standing on the edge of the beach, Shantae squinted her eyes, allowing her to see out in the distance. She could just make out the island that Sky was talking about, along with a few of the pirate ships that circled the island.
"No question, with all those ships around, that has to be Risky's island!" Shantae said. She looked beyond the sand at the vast ocean that laid between her and the island, and then gulped for a bit.
"*gulp* Hopefully I'm big enough to cross that ocean." Shantae said. Because swimming was not her greatest skill (something that wouldn't improve until her next adventure, which remains lost in the Advance era...), she always tried to avoid the water. But she shook this fear off, knowing that Scuttle Town, and possibly the entire world, rested on her shoulders at the moment.
"No, I have to do this. For the sake of all my friends!" Shantae said. That's when she carefully dipped her feet into the water. Shivering at first because the water was kinda cold, she braved the lower temperatures and ventured further out into the ocean. The deeper she sunk into the water, the more she worried that she might go under, but eventually, she felt her descent stop when the water was just above the waist level. Taking a few steps and seeing how she wasn't sinking anymore, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, that's good. Now to take care of that pirate fleet..." Shantae said as she now focused her sights on the few pirate ships that were protecting the island.

The five ships were simply minding their own business, waiting for any kind of interference that may approach the island while Risky Boots got her powerful Tinker Tank up to full strength. Soon, one of the ships got a look at the last thing they might have expected. It was Shantae, but she was big.
"Oy! Look at the size of that thing!" one of the pirates said.
"You Tinkertoad! That's Shantae!" another one said.
"B-b-b-b-but, she's so huge! She'll crush us all!" another one said.
"Who bloody cares!? We have to keep her from getting to the island at all costs! Fire the cannons!" another said. Soon, this particular pirate ship went into attack mode, turning around so that it was facing the giant Shantae head-on. As Shantae watched the ship face her, she put her hands on her hips.
"Heh... you tiny tots don't look so tough from up here." Shantae said. As she said that, the ship fired a couple cannonballs, and they simply bounced off her midriff, although she did moan a slight bit as she felt the objects lightly strike her.
"Not bad, but can you stop this?" Shantae said. She decided to dip both her hands into the water as she scooped up a lot of it. She then held her hands over one of the ships as she opened them up and let the water fall onto the ship. Because it was so much water, the ship sank quickly. As Shantae watched the ship get consumed by the ocean, she suddenly felt a cannonball strike her just below one of her eyes.
"Ouch!" Shantae said as she rubbed the skin just beneath her right eye. She looked to see another one of the pirate ships firing up at her. Naturally, she didn't take kindly to being shot at in a sensitive area, so she slowly stomped her way towards this particular ship. The pirates were panicking like crazy as Shantae loomed high above the ship thanks to her height.
"Hope you learned how to swim!" Shantae said. That's when she put both her hands on the bottom of the boat and then started tipping it over. Eventually, the boat capsized, and the pirates were left to swim for their lives, but the waves she created just from moving around didn't make that task any easier.

So now there were three ships left, and two more were approaching. And of course, the ships fired cannonballs up at the giantess since that was just about the only weapon the ships had onboard. Shantae took hits from many parts of her body, including the chest, but the hits didn't faze her much. They did get tiring after a while, however, so she conjured up one of her magic spells to subdue one of the ships nearby.
"Flash Bolt!" Shantae shouted as a small ball of lightning formed in one of her hands and she flinged it at the ship, which exploded apart upon making contact with the ball. Again, the pirates abandoned ship and tried in vain to get away from the giantess, but she didn't pay much attention to these pirates, thinking they would eventually tire out from swimming or would be doing nothing but clinging onto ship parts. And for the other ship, she tried another one of her spells.
"Fireball!" Shantae said, this time forming a ball of flame and throwing it at the ship. Being a wooden ship, the flames ate up the ship very quickly before it too crumbled apart. This time, she decided to toy with the pirates for a little bit. She took a deep breath and then exhaled, blowing a wind that felt like a hurricane force gust to the tiny pirates, some of them flying away several yards in the ocean.
"This is too much fun! I'll have to toy with these pirates once I've taken care of Risky Boots." Shantae said. She then looked around, and noticed the last remaining ship sailing away towards the island.
"I see they're trying to escape. Well, not for long!" Shantae said. She walked once again, at a slightly faster pace so she could catch up with the ship. It only took a few seconds, but Shantae kept on walking until she was past the ship. That's when she walked directly in its path, and the ship came to a slow halt realizing it had nowhere to go.
"And where do you little pipsqueaks think you're going?" Shantae said with a slightly evil-looking smile on her face.
"Please, spare us!" one of the pirates shouted.
"Don't worry, this won't take long..." Shantae said. She started to raise her foot out of the water to try and stomp a hole into the ship, but something was wrong. Very much wrong.

Shantae was shrinking. And she could tell because the water level was going up and the ship got closer and closer in her eyes.
"Oh no! I forgot about the time limit! Not now!!!" Shantae shouted. As the water level continued to rise, Shantae immediately realized that she was going to be swimming with the fishes if she didn't get out of the water fast. Finally, she grabbed a hold of the ship and used the last of her giantess strength to climb onboard. By the time she was onboard, she was down to around 30 feet tall and shrinking fast. Finally, Shantae was back to her normal size and quickly found herself surrounded by some of the pirates onboard.
"Heeheehee! Now we can pick on someone our own size!" one of the pirates said as he stuck his sword out towards Shantae. She looked around, and seeing there was no way out with pirates coming from all corners, she held her hands up above her head.
"(sigh) Okay, okay. You got me. I bet you boys must be proud now." Shantae said. One of the pirates then pulled out a radio.
"Ship One to Risky Boots! Ship One to Risky Boots!" the pirate said.
"What is it, bat brain!?" Risky Boots said from the other end.
"We captured the genie girl, Shantae!" the pirate said.
"You captured the genie girl, Shantae!? So, you simpletons managed to do something right for a change!" Risky said.
"Yeah, isn't that cool? How about we slice and dice her for you?" the pirate said.
"No... bring her to me. I've got a big surprise for her!" Risky said.
"Huh? B-b-b-b-but, Ms. Risky Boots... she might have a bigger surprise for you." the pirate said.
"What are you talking about? She's just some scrawny kid. She's no match for my almighty Tinkertank! Now bring her to me! THAT'S AN ORDER, SAILOR!!!" Risky shouted, her voice reaching a higher pitch near the end.
"Y-y-y-y-yes, Ms. Risky Boots. Right away, sir... er, ma'am!" the pirate said. After putting away that radio, that same pirate approached Shantae.
"Heh heh, I guess the boss lady wants to deal with you personally!" the pirate said. He jumped up and conked Shantae on the head with the handle of his sword.
"Ack!" Shantae said before she collapsed on the deck and everything went pitch black...

Unknown location

Shantae didn't know how long she was out. All she remembered was being captured by the pirates as she was shrinking back to normal size, and then getting knocked out. She thought she might still be out cold because it was nothing but black inside the room she was now in.
"Ow, my head. I guess I'm still out of it as dark as this place is. Where am I anyway?" Shantae asked.
"You're in your doom, sweetie!" a familiar voice shouted.
"That's..." Shantae said. Before she could call out the name of her adversary, the room suddenly lit up in bright red, and the sound of steam shooting out from its core echoed throughout the large chamber. Shantae turned around, and sitting in front of her was the biggest machine she would ever lay eyes on. And sitting inside a dome atop this machine was Risky Boots, speaking into a loudspeaker.
"So nice of you to join the launch event, Shantae!" Risky Boots said.
"Risky!" Shantae said.
"Yep! Thanks to all four magical stones, I'm about to put the finishing touches on my Steam-Powered behemoth! With me at the helm, no town on land or sea will ever oppose my rule again! Ho Ho Ho! Prepare yourself for the awesome might of my All-Purpose Steam-Powered TINKERTANK!!" Risky shouted.
"*gulp*" Shantae said.
"And just to test its power, I think I'll make genie pancakes out of you!" Risky said. Suddenly the machine sprung to life and started rolling forward. As the immense wheels cranked themselves up to strength, the TinkerTank closed in on Shantae.
"Big trouble!" Shantae said as she took off running in the opposite direction, eventually turning when she came up towards a wall. Despite the huge size of the machine, it had to move slowly due to the piles of steam that came pouring out.
The running was going on for at least a few minutes, with Shantae thinking there was no way she could beat out these odds, not when Risky had the power of the four stones with her.
"If only I were as big as that thing... huh? Wait a minute!" Shantae said. That's when it hit her... in her show of fear, she had completely forgotten about her dances... especially the growing dance!

"D'oh! How stupid can I be? I can grow with that one dance!" Shantae said. So that's when she started dancing out the complicated moves it took to enlarge herself. But she had to cut off her dance halfway when the TinkerTank was seconds away from crushing her. She made a miracously high jump and landed on a platform just above the wheels.
"Whew... that was too close." Shantae said.
"Huh? Where is that little fly from an old lamp? Did I get her?" Risky said over the loudspeaker. That's when Shantae realized something.
"So... she can't see me from here..." Shantae said, and that's when she looked beyond the platform and saw the empty space after the heavy wheels.
"And if I can get behind this monstrosity..." Shantae said. That's when she put her many days of platforming for the stones through the temples to good use, jumping through the many bits of steam-powered machinery that powered the TinkerTank.
Finally, she made it to the other side. She watched as the TinkerTank continued to roll away from her, unaware that she was really behind the thing. And that gave her all the time she needed to pull off the dance, which she started right away.
"TinkerTank, it's time you met your match!" Shantae said with high confidence while she was dancing. Finally, she finished with her dance, and with a smile on her face, she watched as the TinkerTank suddenly didn't look so menacing...

Meanwhile, Risky Boots continued to search around for Shantae, trying to find out if she had crushed her or not.
"Dang it! I knew I should've had those idiots finish up the guidance and weapons systems. That Shantae is down there somewhere..." Risky said.
"HI-YAAAA!!!" a loud scream ensued and suddenly the TinkerTank shook very badly. Risky looked down on the monitors in front of her.
"What!? Major damage to the lower left quadrant? What just happened!?" Risky shouted. Just then, she looked out in front and watched as the now gigantic Shantae rose to her feet and looked right smack into her dome.
"Guess who's been working on her genie powers, Risky." Shantae said with a sly smile on her face. It took a while for Risky to realize what had just happened.
"What... What in the name of Ursula!?" Risky said.
"It seems that size will matter in this battle!" Shantae said. Risky quickly got back to her evil laughter, not wanting to show any form of weakness to her gigantic enemy.
"Hahaha!!! You fool! Nothing can stop the almighty steam power of the TinkerTank! Take this!" Risky said. She pressed a couple of buttons that were supposed to deploy a few cannonballs, but all that came out was harmless steam. Steam that didn't do anything except blow Shantae's hair around.
"Well... it was worth a shot!" Risky said.
"Here's what you get for blowing my hair around!" Shantae said. She started whipping the aforementioned hair towards the tank, knocking loose many of the pipes that let the steam out.
"Wait, stop! Maybe we can talk about this!" Risky shouted.
"And this is for stealing the four stones! Windmill!!" Shantae shouted, getting down on her hands and swinging her legs in a full circular motion like a breakdancer. Each hit tore off more and more of the tank's exterior, eventually revealing the center of the machine where the relics were shining bright.
"You're being a bad girl, you know!" Risky shouted.
"And this is for endangering all my friends of the world!" Shantae shouted. She gave the TinkerTank a good double spin kick, and then leaping into the air...
"Drill Kick!" Shantae shouted before twirling herself towards the tank, continuing to damage it further.
"No! No!!!" Risky shouted, now panicking like crazy as sparks started to fly inside her cockpit.
"And THIS... is for destroying... MY HOUSE!!!" Shantae shouted in her loudest voice yet as she backed away. She then charged forward and then went spinning like a top towards the tank, ripping right through it and decimating everything inside, including the four stones AND the steam engine that powered the entire thing, the very engine she had tried to recover for Mimic for days now.
"NOOOOOO!!! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!? My TinkerTank!" Risky said as she pushed several buttons and her entire dome flew off the tank.

Shantae stopped her spin cycle and turned to see the TinkerTank coming apart and exploding. Two things stuck out to her, the gigantic head of the TinkerTank and the very top of it where the dome popped off and was now parachuting towards the ground. The dome landed on the ground, and Risky quickly jumped out and tried to make a break for one of the exits inside the chamber. Shantae saw the villainess making the run and quickly chased after her. After taking a few steps, she made a somersaulting jump, landing in front of Risky Boots who fell on her back from the shock.
"Eeeek!" Risky shouted. Shantae reached down and picked up the pirate villainess, wrapping her hand around her.
"It's over, Risky. You're finished!" Shantae said. But Risky quickly caught onto something. The fact that Shantae had wrapped her hand around her beneath the waist meant that she could still move her hands around, and that gave her the one chance she had to escape.
"You may have won this battle, but the war isn't over yet!" Risky said, and with that, she drew out her sword and stabbed Shantae's hand.
"OUCH!" Shantae shouted as she let go of Risky, holding her hand in pain. Risky, amazingly enough, was able to land on her feet and run between Shantae's feet, making it into the exit where she opened a panel and pressed a big red button. Shantae checked to see that the hand was not bleeding, just a small stab mark where Risky had thrusted the sword.
"Man, why can't being gigantic also make you immune to pain like in those old myths or something...?" Shantae said out of frustration. But then she looked down by one of the walls where Risky was standing.
"You'll never leave this place alive!" Risky said. Finally, when the exit door closed, the whole place started to shake, rattle, and explode. Shantae quickly got the hint that it was time to go.
"Time to fly out of here!" Shantae said as she quickly did her harpy dance, transforming into the flying creature. Shantae squatted as low as she could before launching high into the air, breaking through the ceiling and tearing through all the rock and rubble in her path. The fact that lava started to rise beneath her told her that she had been inside a volcano, and it was clearly about to erupt given the fact a huge weapon of steam just exploded inside the volatile walls.

After a couple minutes of fighting her way out, Shantae finally broke through to the surface of the island, and she flew out just as the volcano erupted and began to cover the entire island in lava. Exhausted from having to fly out of a deep underground chamber, Shantae mustered all the strength she could to make it back to the beach. She made it, but was drained of all her energy and she collapsed on the ground, reverting to her normal form and size all at once.

One hour later

"Shantae! Shantae, wake up! Please wake up!!" the familiar voice of Mimic shouted. Shantae slowly opened her eyes and found herself looking up at Mimic. She realized she was out on the docks of Scuttle Town. Like the last time, she was slow to get up as she was still woozy from having to endure the trouble of escaping an exploding island.
"Oh... Mimic. Hi." Shantae said, finally able to stand on her feet.
"Are you alright? When I saw Risky's Island go up in smoke, I was afraid you'd had it!" Mimic said. Remembering what happened during her epic battle with the TinkerTank, how she had to destroy the four magic stones as well as the steam engine itself... that's when Shantae had a somber mood on her face.
"Mimic... I'm so sorry. I destroyed the steam engine. I had to..." Shantae said.
"Don't worry about that. I can see now that the world isn't ready for steam engines. I'm just glad you came back to me in one piece!" Mimic said.
"Still. I need to tell the Mayor that I'm not a full-fledged genie. If he's going to keep me as the town's guardian, I want him to know the truth." Shantae said. As luck would have it, the mayor of Scuttle Town came running towards the two.
"Shantae! Forgive me, but I overheard what you were talking about with Mimic! Don't worry! You've saved Scuttle Town! You're our hero!" the mayor said.
"Really?" Shantae said.
"Yes! Absolutely! I don't care if you're a half a Genie or not! You'll always be our champion!" the mayor said.
"Whew... thank you. I really appreciate it." Shantae said.
"In fact, I was kinda hoping you could do that, y'know, growing trick of yours again. The town was madly in love with your dancing earlier today!" the mayor said.
"Well then... it'll be a pleasure. That is probably my favorite power now. It certainly came in handy against the TinkerTank!" Shantae said.
"Oh um... there is one other thing I need to ask of you." the mayor said.
"What's that, mayor?" Shantae asked.
"Since you are just a half-genie... can I get you for half-price?" the mayor asked. Shantae slapped a hand against her forehead.
"D'oh!!!" Shantae shouted. But she just shrugged her shoulders, feeling that at least she still had her day job.

Later that day

After celebrating with Scuttle Town on the return of peace to the world with the disappearing of Risky Boots, Shantae was back home. Or at least, the home that was being rebuilt after it was destroyed by Risky days ago. Several of the pirates, all of whom were out of work since Risky was gone, were forced to help with the rebuilding process. Actually, half of the pirates on hand were toiling away at reconstruction. The other half?

"Mmmmmm.... a little to the left." the giant Shantae said as she laid flat on her stomach, with the pirates pounding as hard as they could on the giantess's back and shoulders. It was a comforting feeling having all those bodies doing their work on Shantae's aching muscles. But hey, she deserved it, right? Two more of the pirates walked towards Shantae, wheeling in a barrow full of fresh grapes.
"Your grapes, oh gigantic master." one of the pirates said.
"Heh, you're being a good boy today." Shantae said. She opened her mouth wide and allowed the pirates to dump all the grapes into her mouth, and with one big gulp, she swallowed them down.
"Thank you. Now you might want to help those Tinkertots with the house rebuilding. Especially my weather vane!" Shantae said. The pirates immediately followed her command, running back to help those working on the house.

For Shantae, life couldn't be better right now. Her own little group of pirate slaves to help do her bidding as long as she was big, and a town that didn't mind her putting on an entertaining show that was fun for the whole family... and Bolo (who was gawking at the giantess from several yards away).

And yet, as Shantae glanced out towards the ocean and took in the beautiful sounds of beach waves, she knew the peace would not last, for one day would come Risky's Revenge...

END