Nexus Effect

Ch.118

“For some reason I feel like making a Halo reference.” I blurted out at random while on a shopping trip on the Citadel with Jack and Ghost. Jack needed new clothes because all she had at the biotics academy were her military fatigue pants and tops, so all she brought was what she had on. Ghost had gone through a growth spurt and now nervously stood at my height in too-tight clothes. He was oddly even more nervous about being in his beast alt for some reason.

“What about Hunter’s new head ornament?” Jack asked in bemusement as she tugged on her newly purchased shirt. It was a cheap thing she’d bought specifically because it was too small to cover her bust as well as her midriff, so it became a belly T.

“I think mom means another Sci-fi series from her home dimension. Apparently the Empire’s clunkier and heavier ships are inspired by it.” Ghost filled in his friend and potential mate as he tugged on the front of his too-tight pants-turned-shorts in discomfort. Don’t worry sweetie, we’re stopping at a big-and-tall store next.

“Really?” I asked since I haven’t seen any such ships. Most of the ones I’ve seen were Star Wars inspired.

“Unfortunately, that was due to us supplying our Equus with such technological wonders from some of the Sci-Fi gaming/filming franchises; Halo, Gears of War, Killzone, Colonial Marines from Aliens. You name it. Star Wars came out from Andromeda when the Empire succeeded in passing their Space Faring stages and expanded across the galaxy.” Cue the semi-omniscient eavesdropper. “Sorry, but you asked the damn question, so I answered.”

“Oh, but that doesn’t answer why Nora suddenly wanted to make a reference to something.” Jack replied and I really was worried about the non-sequitur compulsion I’d had-.

“You are to cease and desist questioning reality immediately or prepare to be ponked!” Cheerfully chirped a pink 10 foot tall wall of muscle and tits from behind us with a bright smile full of too-sharp teeth. The amazonian mare was squeezed in a too-tight blue shirt hugging her beach-ball boobs and blue spandex short-shorts that left nothing to the imagination. I also noticed she had...I think eyes in places across her body that were closed and mostly blended in.

She also had inexplicably big and poofy curly darker pink hair for her mane and tail. “Uh...who are you?” I asked warily, because my senses were tingling as if she were a dangerous predator moments away from pouncing.

“I’m Pinkie Pie! Element of Laughter and official Reality Cop! Well, self-appointed Reality Cop, but when you’re one of the few people you know who can keep reality stable, you take charge!” The bubbly busty amazon declared with her eyes and teeth still shining bright with joy.

“Oh...kay?” Ghost blinked before suddenly the towering mare was in his face.

“I see you like heavy metal. I suggest you try Dystopia, they have so much shred your face might melt off.” The bouncy mare then suddenly ceased, as if she never existed, leaving us gaping at where she’d been.

“Oh. Um, if you just encountered Pinkie Pie, move on to another topic. You don’t want to get ‘ponked’. You won’t be seen for a whole day and the people she ‘ponks’ have given a mixture of overjoyed and distraught reports of events. Both involve cupcakes.” Hunter said and deciding to take his advice, I turned to Ghost and patted his bicep, which had more muscle after his growth.

“C’mon son, let’s get you new clothes, but with how fast you’re growing we might as well only get you a couple outfits.” I said to sooth his nerves as I valiantly ignored how his too-tight shirt outlined every muscle on his torso and was short enough to expose his bottom two abs. Fuck, I failed to ignore it. No lewding your children Nora! Cease! Desist! Refrain! Abstain!

“Y-you think I’m gonna keep getting bigger?” Ghost asked worriedly and whimpered, his ears turned back and his tail tucked between his thighs.

“Considering you seem to still be growing, yeah.” I sadly informed my boy, who seems incredibly self-conscious about this. “It’s just your body becoming what you will ultimately be, Ghost. If that’s a towering hulk who can do a flex-off with Pillar or other giants, then so be it.”

“But I’m already so huge!” Ghost whined and Jack reached up to pat his bicep.

“Hey, big guy. Being enormous isn’t bad, at least not in this oversized universe. You’re not even that big right now compared to the average hunks around your height. Besides, bigger is better.” Jack declared and this seemed to give my boy some confidence. Thanks Jack.

“That said, there’s the big-and-tall store.” I pointed out the place, which was massive. It’s entrance was basically a warehouse door 30 feet tall and twice as wide. Giants were entering and leaving that compared with Pillar on average height and there were even ones with appendages almost reaching the top of the door! However, they were all Imperials who had magic to shrink themselves and their new purchases down to a manageable size once they left the store. Those must be customers specifically looking for outfits to wear at their true size.

“Holy shit…” Both Ghost and Jack gawked at the sight before I grabbed their hands and pulled them into the place-.

“Whoa~!” I yelped and wobbled, my shirt and shorts shredding and leaving me in the nude as I blushed hotly and used my tendies to make my tentakini in a hurry while many patrons all whooped and cat-called at me. Thankfully I had Jack and Ghost in my palms. “W-what just happened?!”

“Ah, you must have enchantments that suppress your max size and those get temporarily shut off when in our store so you can find clothes in your size.” A giantess winged cat, a sphinx? A sphinx in black business casual wear who still towered over me by several feet, but I must be around 20-ish feet tall! “I’m Briallia, the proprietress of this branch of Big and Beautiful.”

“N-Nora’Feell. I was coming here to get my son replacement clothes and maybe see about clothes that will stretch to fit him because he’s still growing.” I held up Jack and my boy on my palms so she could look down at them from a more comfortable distance.

“I’m sure I can find something for him.” Briallia said with a kind smile.

“Thank you.” Ghost said nervously before I followed Briallia through the store. “Geez mom. I didn’t know this form had your size suppressed.”

“I didn’t either, son. I thought this form just tended to be...no wait. That’s right. I change size to adjust the size of my alts while in this form. I guess I’m really a giantess at base after I consumed that brain-dead Reaper.” I muttered the end to myself in a mixture of annoyance and frustration. This ment Yola was in a similar boat. At least we know size-magic cancellation will affect all of our alts.

“Here is the section for people 7 feet to 10 feet.” Briallia gestured below us and I looked down at the aisles of clothes, shoes and whatnot that were too small for me to go into.

“Here you two go, I’ll have to find something for myself and sis. Don’t be mean, Jack.” I warned my lover, who smiled mischievously even as I set her and Ghost down. “Okay, please lead on. I haven’t needed to go clothes shopping in years.”

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

An Imp’s head rolled off a ledge into lava, moments before a few Hell Husks joined it and the unintelligible screams of rage accompanied the carnage with fire, explosions and more screaming. Moments later, a Cacodemon exploded in viscera to reveal Bryan in unleashing his rage and bloodlust with his infernal chain sword and chain axe while Carnage, the thusly christened new slayer, was also indulging in his violent madness, pulping demons with his bare hands.

Nearby was the armored angel Selene, who was indulging in the violence herself, having just sliced a Hell Praetorian with her blad-sharp wings. She’d never participated in ultraviolence before and while her creator disliked any of his creations being forced to kill, he understood that it was necessary now and ensured that she, like other warriors of Heaven would be able to withstand the terrors of war with Hell. At least she had Vinnie by her side.

Even so, she still wondered if her enjoying watching demons be smashed and dismembered so much was a Good thing or an Evil thing considering the victims were monsters of the purest definition. Either way, seeing Bryan coated in blood also did interesting things to her groin and core. Samur’s ominous words of ‘Rip and Tear until it is done’ were so fitting now. Along with the occasional ‘Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!’ Bryan screamed.

After the last demon or hellish monster was gone from the area, Selene was panting and trying not to relish the adrenaline while she tried to calm down. The blood dripping down her armor wasn’t helping. “Bryan, Carnage. Any idea where to go next?” Selene could barely remember why they were clearing this specific planet in Hell’s dimension instead of just blowing it up like she’d learned it was SOP for worlds in Hell’s dimension.

“Grr...too quiet. No screaming.” Carnage seethed as he paced and his updated armor, the same custom model Bryan and his siblings wore, drank the blood that was coating him, turning it from literal blood red to military olive drab with iconography of a demon’s skull being split by a chainsaw on his pauldrons and left side of his chestplate. “Where are the demons?!”

“Hah...hold on.” Bryan panted and gasped as he let the adrenaline high fade before he brought up his omni-tool. “Damn it. We cleared out this continent already and the lads have finished the rest. I guess this planet is about to get jacked.”

“Oh. Right. We wanted to test the new portal’s capabilities and the planetary tractor beam, right?” Selene was baffled at the ingenuity and ambition of the mortals. Never in her unaging life, even as a scientist able to pursue any field that interested her, had she imagined things on such a scale like a portal able to swallow a planet or a machine able to move said planet when used in conjunction with several other machines of it’s type.

“Yeah, we could save worlds like Argent D'nur with this if we could bring them out of hell.” Vinnie huffed. “But the Argentas are lost forever. We can never bring them back.”

“No.” Carnage shook his head solemnly.

“So, we’ll be building on top of a mass grave once we take these worlds back?” Bryan questioned rhetorically with a grim expression underneath his helmet.

“Yes.” Carnage nodded. “We should move.”

“To where?” Bryan asked him.

“That Fortress.” Carnage snarled pointing to a structure on the horizon.

“Hm, yes. That needs to-huh?” Bryan looked down at his Omni-tool, someone was trying to ring him. “Who could that be?” He questioned as he answered the call to find it was Urta. At first glance though, Bryan realised that she seemed sad. “Urta? What’s wrong? You looked like you’ve been crying.”

“I...I was told about your confession.” Urta sniffled, holding back a sob in order to speak. “I-I didn’t realise you felt...that way. If I h-had known, then maybe...maybe…”

“If you didn’t lose your shit and killed off half the planet, we wouldn’t have needed to create those plans to deal with you. Should you go off the deep end, as it were.” Bryan sighed in annoyance, nodding to Carnage to continue on ahead, the mad slayer all too eagerly complied and rushed off.

“I understand, but I wish you just told me! It never happened again because I’ve been trying so hard to keep my urges under control!” Urta whined in a panic. “I love you, it hurts that you would do this behind my back, but I get it. Just...please warn me before you do something like this again, so it hurts less.”

“You pissed off my people when you killed our warriors back then, damaging our marriage in the process. It also showed that your Empire was beginning to fracture, since some were more than willing to backstab one another.” Bryan reminded her coldly.

“Don’t I know that by now?” Urta grumbled bitterly. “This last stretch as Empress was such a fucking shit-show. If I didn’t have them scared shitless they would’ve done much worse than they have. Well now it’s Luna’s turn. She takes even less shit than me and has her own covenant of assassins at her beck and call. Don’t forget about the Darkmoon Blades and the Hunters of Ash.” Bryan nodded his head. Those two factions were creepy.

Particularly the Hunters. Fucking eldritch-worshiping weirdos. “Yeah, I know-.”

“My lord, we should get moving.” Selene urged Bryan when she grabbed his right arm. “As much as I’m sure Carnage can handle himself, we shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

“Back off of my husband, bitch! We’re having a conversation!” Urta snarled as she barred her fangs at the celestial, his omni somehow projecting her head as an orange hologram, catching him by surprise since it didn’t do that before.

“Urta, tap the brakes on those territorial instincts!” Bryan snapped at her as Selene hid behind him in fright.

“S-sorry Bryan. I wore Lunahisa today-.” Bryan groaned. Oof. Double fertility. “-Then I went on a frenzy and I’m all hormonal...sorry.” Urta mewled.

“That was still uncalled for. If this is how you’re gonna act towards my new mates, you need a time-out in the naughty corner.” Bryan sternly chastised the vixen and Urta whimpered in shame.

“I’m sorry, honey. Same to you new-girl. I’m normally much more open than this.” Urta apologised to Selene and then a hand appeared next to her mouth. “Hey, did you learn about the sensitive spot behind his-?”

“Hanging up!” Bryan cut the call with a warmth in his cheeks. He huffed indignantly, hoping that Selene doesn’t find out about that until later. It was kinda embarrassing to him. With that, Bryan turned to Selene and pointed at her. “Do not ask.”

“Um, okay. You will tell me when you are fine with it.” Selene agreed, but curiosity was clearly eating at her.

“I will, don’t worry. You already know about me really enjoying my feminine side, but what Urta just tried to reveal is something embarrassingly personal.” Bryan sighed and shook his head.

“I can understand, I too have one or two odd kinks that I will divulge later. Now, let’s go drown these awkward feelings in demonic blood if we can find it or at least get on a ship for the next mission.” Selene took wing, Bryan and Vinnie joined her. He was only slightly annoyed that Carnage had already kicked the door of the fort in and was destroying Hell’s machines, not demons or even flesh at all, so it would be a hollow satisfaction.

It wasn’t until that battle was over that he realized Vinnie had been oddly quiet and for her that rarely boded well...

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“Holy shit dude…” Jack gawked at Ghost in awe as the young man gulped.

“I know. How am I gonna live with these?” He wasn’t sure how she talked him into this...

“Like a fucking king, dude.” Jack breathed as she got on her knees.

“I can barely walk without pants, Jack!” Ghost whimpered when he felt her hands.

“Fuck walking, sit down.”

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“My Virgin Alarm is ringing!” I shouted urgently, causing Briallia to blink in shock as she paused in taking my measurements and I rushed towards the changing rooms of the area of the store where I left Ghost and Jack. “Jack! Cease and desist or I will couch you for a month with a chastity belt!” I shrieked down at the changing area and was relieved when she rushed out of a changing booth with an angry flush on her face. “Stow it or I’m putting you in my Inventory until we’re back on the EDI.”

“Fine! Just so you know, your son is-.”

“Shut up~!” Ghost roared desperately from inside the changing booth and Jack pouted angrily.

“Zip it. One more word out of you and you’re in the dog house, not his dog house either.” I made the hand gesture stating that I was going to be watching her and then hesitantly returned to Briallia in the ‘Gentle Giants’ section where she was measuring me for shorts and a top, because at our sizes, open bottom skirts or dresses weren’t just impractical and indecent, but dangerous. Those things at that size are giant tents capable of covering small buildings. “Sorry about that. My Virgin Alarm went off and I had to save my son’s innocence.”

“Ah, I understand. I’ve never had children, being a sphinx and all, but I’ve cared for young ones enough to know the paranoia over their well-being. That said, I’ve found a few pairs of shorts and crop tops for you and your sister who you said shares the same measurements.” Briallia kindly said as she held up the bags with navy and maroon jean-shorts and plain purple shirts.

“Thanks Bree, I’ll just see if my son has his clothes and then we’ll check out.” I shook hands with the kind woman and returned to the ‘Under 10’ section to find Ghost was wearing much better fitting jeans and a plain black shirt that wasn’t hugging him to the point of being useless. “Did you find what you need, son?” I asked while giving Jack a disapproving leer.

“Y-yeah. Jack helped me find pants with the right...uh...crotch room…” Ghost blushed through his white fur and Jack blushed hotly too.

“Thanks for that, Jack, but don’t be so invasive next time.” I warned her before picking them up to head to the checkout counters, which had one group of checkout lanes that more ‘reasonably’ sized people could use and another for people slightly smaller than me and bigger. After we checked out, I warily stepped out of the store and sighed in relief that my giant-sized clothes shrunk with me. “Thank gosh I don’t have to worry about them turning into tents. Let’s go home and...then you two can c-continue w-where you left off.” Virgin Alarm be damned, if my boy wants to have sex, it’s his choice.

“I’d rather not now. Ghost is too skittish and you spooked him so bad his balls practically withdrew into his groin a bit.” Jack grumbled and I smiled sheepishly at my son and lover.

“Yeah...I’m not in any mood.” Ghost admitted with his tail between his legs and his ears flat.

“Sorry, but my Virgin Alarm is set to go off before you do. I’ll shut it down since you’re clearly mature enough to make your own decisions about your body.” I gently apologized before I staggered through a portal and blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings. “Uh...did I just get abducted?” I looked out of the nearest window to see a red planet. “Uh oh…”