By The Mole

This story is a sequel to Female Juggernaut by Eddie Delaney Junior, and is dedicated to the memory of the real Darth Vader…

It's been two months since Lucy found the Ruby of Cytorrak and transformed herself into the giant Female Juggernaut, the most powerful person on the planet.

I've known Lucy since we were kids back in England. We were childhood sweethearts and I was bitterly upset when her parents took her away to live in California. I never stopped loving her and knew that one day I would see her again.

It took many years, but I finally made it. After taking Electronics and Engineering degrees at Oxford I got a job carrying out research for a PC manufacturing company in my native Surrey.

Once I'd made a success of my career and put some money aside, I felt I was ready to follow Lucy to the States. She was delighted to see me, and even helped me get a job as a scientific consultant for the California Police Department where she worked as a detective - and a good one too.

We became firm friends once again, but being very shy I couldn't tell her how I really felt about her. It was torture seeing so much of her, and yet not being able to be with her. But what time we did spend together was magical, and meant the world to me.

After the incident with the Ruby, I was the first person she called. She needed a friend and was too alarmed to call her parents. The incident has brought us even closer together and at last I felt able to reveal my true feelings for her. I was overjoyed to find that she felt the same way about me and we are now going out together - going steady I think the Americans call it. I moved in with her at her home shortly after, and have been trying to help her adjust to her new powers.

She's taken time off work at the Department to spend a few weeks training with the X-Men; and Professor X and the others have been fantastic. They've been really good to Lucy and she can now control her powers well enough to avoid hurting anyone accidentally. But they say she still needs to practice some more if she intends to take up being a superheroine full time - something she's been keen on since the day all this happened.

Lucy's come to terms with all this far quicker than I have. She loves her new body - well, we both do - but she accepts it much easier than I do. It's almost as if she's always been that size. But I'm still somewhat in awe of seeing her 10' tall, super-voluptuous body walk around the house - at least around those parts she can still fit into… It's a good job the bank agreed to give us a new mortgage, so we can build a new extension on the house.

My head barely reaches up to her belly button now, and that can be quite intimidating sometimes. Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love her new body as much as she does and it has led to our having a… well… an interesting private life. I must be the luckiest guy on Earth…

In my spare time, I've been busy tinkering in the yard on a new car with a huge rear seat for us to use when we go out together. At the moment we have to walk everywhere, which usually ends up with Lucy carrying me. Boy, can she run! With those incredible legs of hers she can make 60 miles an hour!

I'm really pleased with the progress the car is making. Its based on the old Beach Buggy design, but it has a much bigger engine and an awful lot of strengthening to cope with Lucy's new weight (A subject she doesn't really like me to talk about). Although it has the strength of a tank, when I'm on my own it can really move!

Lucy's been a great help. I have no proper workshop or equipment so if I need to work underneath the Bug she just lifts it up for me! The weight of the ten ton vehicle is negligable to her newfound strength, and she can carry it around like a toy. Thankfully, she doesn't mind helping as it gives us time to spend together and she's looking forward to being able to go out for a drive once again.

In fact, it seemed that we were finally settling down to something approaching normality again, when we were struck by yet another amazing circumstance.

I'd decided to take the Bug out for a test drive and left Lucy in the back yard. She'd given up trying to find something to challenge her strength, but sometimes tried practising her control. Rather than wait until after dinner I packed a few munchies to take with me. When I left she was holding empty chemical and oil drums in her arms and squeezing them until they burst. I wasn't exactly sure what for, but in any event it wasn't challenging her much and she looked pretty annoyed with the drums for not putting up more of a fight.

I stopped to give Lucy a farewell kiss as she was wrestling with yet another drum. Under the strength of her tremendous arms the drum burst just as I walked up beside her, and I was sprayed with the residue of whatever chemical had been contained inside.

"Sorry," Lucy smiled at me. "I thought they were all empty."

"No harm done," I assured her, as I inspected my spray-covered jacket. " I wonder what this stuff is?"

There wasn't too much residue so I didn't bother going to change. I just washed my hands and, after giving Lucy that farewell kiss, climbed into the Bug and drove off.

After a while I regretted my decision to go out at all. It had been cloudy all day but had held off raining - until now. I was about 20 miles from home when the heavens opened up above me. I was driving through a wood, but the trees provided little shelter from the overwhelming downpour.

I still haven't finished work on a canopy for the Bug even now, and so I was soaked to the skin almost instantly. My glasses quickly covered in raindrops until I had trouble seeing where I was going and to make matters worse it was also growing increasingly dark and I could hear thunder in the distance.

The thunder grew nearer until I found myself in the worst storm I can ever remember. The lightning was incredibly bright, and the ground shook beneath me each time it struck. I was right in the middle of it!

I couldn't see properly and I should have stopped. I should also have sought some shelter from that awful storm, but all I wanted was to get out of that blasted rain, so I kept on…

Next thing I knew my whole world turned white, and then immediately black. There was an enormous jolt and I felt like I was being thrown through the air. There was a feeling of weightlessness and then, nothing…

I must have passed out. The next thing I knew I was lying on my back in the rain. A light shone somewhere to my side but when I turned to look at it I felt the most terrific pain. I knew from previous experience that I'd busted at least one rib.

Gritting my teeth against the pain I made to move again, and found that I was trapped. As my senses cleared I realized that I was beneath a tree. The light was from the Bug's one unbroken headlight. Whatever had happened had resulted in the Bug knocking over this tree and it had come down on me. Fortunately some of its weight was distributed onto some branches that now lay in the mud, or my leg would have been crushed.

It was still dark and I knew this road wasn't used much. There were also supposed to be bears, but in the few weeks I'd lived here I hadn't seen any. Well I wasn't waiting to find out. I had to get out. The trouble was this damned tree. Try as I might I couldn't move it. Not at all…

Still somewhat shaken, I fumbled around in my jacket for my mobile phone and dialled 999. Nothing… At first I thought the crash had damaged it until I remembered where I was. I re-dialled, only this time punching in the right number for the US - 911. It worked!

Unfortunately the storm had created a vast number of emergencies, and the operator couldn't tell me when they would be able to send someone out to help me.

I re-dialled again, this time phoning home, although not quite sure of what I was going to say. In the end I just blurted out that I was stuck under a tree on the forest road. Lucy insisted on coming out to rescue me. I tried to convince her to wait for me at home, but secretly I was extremely relieved. I was growing increasingly worried - and increasingly cold.

There was nothing more I could do but lie back and await rescue, either from the emergency services or from my hyper-strong girlfriend. What are you supposed to do in these circumstances? Go to sleep? Not go to sleep? I didn't know.

I'd like to have spoken longer to Lucy but the batteries on my mobile were getting low and I thought it best to preserve what was left for an emergency. I laughed aloud. An emergency! What was this then, I thought to myself, if it wasn't an emergency?

I settled down to what I knew would be a long wait. In all this rain it would probably take Lucy 30 minutes or so to get here and find me, but in this rain it would seem much longer.

I was thinking about this when I noticed some significant movement in the bushes across the road. Nothing new I thought, in all this wind, until I realized that the wind had calmed down considerably. I wondered what was causing it while secretly hoping that I wouldn't have to find out the answer.

Unfortunately the answer presented itself moments later as a huge brown bear poked its head out from the bushes.

Now I've lived in the UK for 35 out of my 36 years and I know nothing about bears. We don't have them. Not outside zoos, anyway. Do they attack people? Are they just overgrown teddy bears? I don't know! But I was conspicuously aware that I had a pic-a-nic basket of food in the Bug. I had to laugh…

Then I immediately wished I hadn't as the bear lumbered forward toward me. No, not toward me… Toward the Bug! He was after the food! I breathed a sigh of relief. Well that ought to keep him busy for a while, and maybe he'd just eat it up and go. Do bears like cheese and marmite rolls?

He rustled about the Bug for what seemed like an eternity before he found what he was looking for, but in reality it could not have been as much as a minute. I idly wondered what had made me decide it was a he. Well it didn't matter so long as his attention was kept on feeding on my midnight snack. I wish I'd brought more with me. Damned diet…

Well it turns out that bears do eat cheese and marmite, and all too quickly. He finished up my snack and began looking for more. I tried to look as little like lunch as possible (Are bears nocturnal, or was this chap out for a snack too?).

I didn't like the way that his sniffing around was gradually getting nearer. Soon he was close enough that I could feel his breath on my face. He opened his mouth. I don't know if he was smiling or if he'd just found lunch. I just screwed my eyes shut and wished I could get out from under this damn tree! Perhaps a diet wouldn't have been such a bad thing. If only I were a little smaller…

I flinched - an automatic reaction - and it took me a few moments to realize that I had actually moved. What had happened to the tree? I opened my eyes and gasped as I looked around me. There was the tree some hundred or more feet above me. And it was huge!

There was an enormous roar from behind me and I turned to see the bear, now hundreds of feet tall, slamming a paw down in my direction. I had no time to think. I turned and ran as fast as I could, clutching my side in pain from my broken rib, only to trip over a blade of grass. A blade of grass?

Fearing for my life, I willed myself on, and before I hit the ground I was moving again! I was flying! I had milliseconds to wonder what on Earth was going on before I was away from the bear and rising fast. I had to get my breath and think this over. Finding I had control over my flight I headed up into a nearby tree and landed high up on one of its branches.

I replayed the whole event in my mind and tried to come to terms with it. It was the fact that I was colder now than ever that made me realize that I was naked. I'd lost my clothes when I shrank. For that's what I must have done. But why hadn't I been caught up in all my clothes at the time? I didn't know. Lucky perhaps?

This was going to take some getting used to. First Lucy turns into some Human power station and now this. Lucy! What would she say about all this? Is it permanent? Will I be able to go back to normal size? If not, what would I do?

The branch I was sitting on was growing increasingly uncomfortable. Then I realized that I was growing in size again. It wasn't nearly so wide as it had looked when I was tiny and now I was in danger of falling off it, or maybe even snapping it off under my weight.

It wasn't as high off the ground as it had appeared either. I didn't know how tall that bear was, but there was a good chance it could reach me here even if I didn't crash to the ground first.

The branch was making what I considered to be very unhelpful creaking noises and this attracted the attention of the bear once more. Seemingly unhurried he pawed his way over as I tried to hold onto the trunk of the tree and take some of my weight off the branch.

As I held on the bear reached the base of the tree and began to stand up on its hind legs. He was a big lad. There was no doubt about it. He was going to reach me…

The bear reached up with a paw and began to feel about the trunk and branches almost inquisitively. I still couldn't make out whether or not he meant me any harm, despite his apparent desire to squash me when I was tiny.

His paw touched my foot and I flinched. Only with partial surprise did I notice a small spark appear where we touched (Very little would have surprised me after the day I was having). There was a tiny zapping sound and a hint of charred fur in the air.

Oh oh! If he wasn't pleased with me before, he was downright mad now. Whatever I'd done had hurt him and he wasn't going to let me get away with it. Bellowing with rage he bounded back up toward the tree. I shut my eyes and gripped the tree still tighter as I awaited what I'd decided was my end.

"Hello sweetie!" a beautifully feminine voice that I recognised immediately called out above the sound of the bear's roar.

"Lucy!" I cried, opening my eyes and looking over at my incredible girlfriend. I gasped as I saw her put her arms around the bear and pull it back away from the tree with ridiculous ease. He wasn't quite as tall as Lucy and his head was nestled deeply in her enormous cleavage.

"What are you doing up there without any clothes on?" Lucy flashed me an amused smile as she held on to the increasingly enraged bear as if it were a child's soft toy.

"I… er… That may take some time to explain," I muttered sheepishly.

"And I look forward to hearing it," Lucy chuckled, still seemingly unaware of the bear's thrashings. "I'm sure it'll be most interesting. Now, aren't you coming down?"

"Not while he's down there I'm not…" I looked at the bear.

"Oh he's all right," Lucy let go of the bear with one hand to tousle the fur on his head affectionately. "I've got a hold of him. He won't hurt you."

"I've busted some ribs, Lucy," I began to explain how I didn't think I could move much, and that she'd have to carry me home. I also explained how I didn't want to leave the Bug behind - it not exactly being street legal yet…

"Oh dear," Lucy looked worried. "I hadn't wanted to do this yet. I haven't had nearly enough practice…"

I didn't understand what Lucy meant, but it began to become apparent when she placed her second arm back around the bear's middle. She appeared to be giving the bear a hug, and the irony of the situation made me smile even under the present circumstances.

But as I watched, Lucy's hug got tighter and tighter. At first the bear's thrashings grew increasingly wild, but in time they began to tire and die away as Lucy's hug constricted his chest so much that he could not breathe. All the while she was whispering soothing words into the bear's ear in an attempt to relieve his growing fear.

As I watched in awe, Lucy held onto the bear until his struggles finally stopped and he went limp in her arms. Lucy was crying. She is such a gentle soul and she hated having to hurt the poor animal like that. She laid him down gently on the ground and wiped the tears from her eyes. Then she placed her head to his chest and checked to see if he had begun breathing again. The noise of the storm prevented Lucy from being able to hear anything, but with a sigh of relief, she saw his chest began to rise and fall in a regular pattern.

"You can come down now," Lucy called up to me. She still sounded very upset.

I began to make my way down the treetrunk, wincing in pain from my side, and Lucy suddenly rushed over to the base of the tree.

"Oh, my poor baby!" she cried, reaching up to pluck me out of the tree. "I'm so sorry… Here, let me help you."

She held me tightly in her arms for a moment, and I thought for a second that I was going to join the bear in unconsciousness, but then Lucy released her grip a little. Despite Lucy's immense power, her body can feel incredibly soft and comforting. With my head pillowed between her vast breasts I soon fall asleep, exhausted by the exertions of the evening.

When I woke up I was in our bed at home. Wrapped up in warm sheets and with the sun coming in through a gap in the curtains. My chest, while still painful, had been strapped up and felt much better.

I lay there for a few minutes until I gradually became aware of some noises outside. With some effort I got up and pulled the curtains apart to look outside.

There was Lucy. She was inspecting the Bug for damage, and when she found a bar or rod that had been dented in the crash she would simply bend it into place. Jeez! Some of those roll bars she was bending were six inches thick and solid steel! And she was twisting them like wet paper!

Lucy looked up for a moment, pleased with her work, and saw me looking out through the window. She stopped what she was doing and rushed into the house.

"Get back into bed!" she cried at me, but she was obviously pleased to see that I was awake and well. She swooped me up into another potentially rib-damaging hug before hearing me wince, and letting off a little. "Ohh, I'm sorry, Baby…"

I assured Lucy I was OK as she deposited me gently back into bed. Then she looked at me as if unsure what to say.

"What's the matter, honey?" I asked.

"Erm… Baby… do you remember anything strange from last night." She asked me in an uncertain tone. "Anything at all?"

"Apart from being crashing the Bug and being attacked by a bear, you mean," I chuckled a little, causing a wince of pain. "Oh… and I think I was struck by lightning." I had had some pretty strange dreams about flying and stuff, too, but I decided it was best not to mention those. I didn't want to worry her.

"You were struck by lightning!" she looked thoughtful. "That may explain it."

"Explain what?" I wondered.

"Honey…" Lucy paused, unsure how to continue. "When I carried you home last night, you kept sparking. I didn't know what to make of it, so I asked Cyclops to fly down and look at you. When he touched you he was thrown clear across the room!"

I gasped. "Is he OK?"

"Yes, just a little surprised." Lucy still looked tense. "And, Honey, that's not all…"

"No?"

"I… er… couldn't find you this morning," she continued. "I searched everywhere, inside and out. I even risked going upstairs. Oooh, those floorboards creaked… Eventually I found you in bed when I came down to phone the police. You were lying on the pillow."

"So?"

"You were… eh… only half an inch tall…"

I just looked at Lucy blankly for a moment as I recalled my 'dreams' of the previous evening. Then I told her all that I remembered… or thought I remembered. It was all so strange…

"I think we need help with this," Lucy walked over and picked up the phone. "Cyclops gave me someone to talk to. Oh hello? Dr Pym? It's Lucy Wagner here. Can you come over? Petey's woke up."

An hour or so later I first met Dr Henry Pym, who I later found out was once the famous Ant Man, not to mention Giant Man, Goliath and even Yellowjacket.

We talked, and he suggested that I go with him to the headquarters of the West Coast Avengers for some tests. If anyone could find out what had happened to me, they could.

He was right. Now I know…

A peculiar set of circumstances had culminated in some major changes to my body chemistry. The chemical from the wrecked drum, materials in the Bug, the rain and, finally, being struck by lightning.

I could now generate powerful electrical currents within my body, and even shoot them in an arc over short distances.

But that seemed almost normal compared to finding that I could reduce my body size to a fraction of an inch in height. And when that small I could actually fly!

This was taking almost as much getting used to as what had happened to Lucy, and I was totally unprepared for what she suggested to me when Dr Pym left the room.

"Honey…" she started slowly as she sat beside me and ran her fingers through my hair gently. "I've been thinking…"

"Oh yes," I looked up at her wondering what she was going to say. This was her 'I've got this great idea' voice I'd heard so much lately.

"When you're better, why don't you come training with me at the X-Men Mansion?"

"What?" I wasn't expecting that.

"Sure! Why not?" Lucy continued. "Then we can form our own superheroing team! You and me!"

"I'm a scientist," I argued. "Not a superhero."

"Well, according to Dr Pym, you're now both," Lucy continued. "Come on. It's our chance to really make a difference. And besides… it'll be fun."

I looked up at Lucy with the intention of pushing my objections further, but as soon as I saw the longing in her eyes all my arguments fell away. How could I say or do anything to disappoint the woman I love so much.

"Well," I surrendered. "Perhaps I could give it a try…"

"Oh, Petey!" Lucy leant over and threatened to crush me in yet another rib-bending hug. Then, realizing my distress, she let me go. "Oops, sorry Honey. I'm just so happy!"

"Me too, Honey," I agreed. "Me too."

Well… That's how I came to join the superhero business. Lucy and I began to train with the X-Men, although the Avengers also offered us considerable assistance too.

Lucy designed a costume, which Dr Pym helped me to create, that would shrink when I did, to save me any embarrassment. I also copied some of the items of equipment used by both The Avengers and The X-Men for my own use.

With training going better than expected, finally all that remained were our names. Lucy had already decided to call herself Juggernaut, but the newspapers had soon changed that to Female Juggernaut.

It was Lucy's idea to call myself LightningBug, and I have to say I liked it from the start. Catchy, I thought, whilst still being appropriate.

Lucy soon started calling me Buggy as a pet name, and I find that really cute. Of course I've been calling her Juggy in return - a name that is totally appropriate. But of course this wouldn't do in public. Superheroes have to think of their image - they must inspire confidence - so we use the call signs FJ and LB over our radio headsets and when in company.

We're a long way from being the next Avengers, or the next X-Men, but I believe Lucy and I can be justifiably proud of our progress so far and that we will make a terrific team.

And who knows what other heroes and heroines may join us? Anyone is welcome to try out, so long as they are truly determined to fight for Truth, Justice and the (Insert country of choice) way!