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It was Sunday morning and Adam was just waking up. Last night he'd finally decided to try sleeping after he had shrunk himself. Mainly because he was so relaxed at that size he knew that eventually he'd end up falling asleep one night like that anyway. Better to just get it over with.

Of course he had let Barry know what he was up to ahead of time, just in case his friend got it into his head to try shaking him again, or something even more likely to result in him being crushed.

So when Adam returned to his normal size it came as no great shock to Barry, who looked to have been up for awhile already and saw it happen.

"Oh, hey Adam. How'd it go?"

"I feel great. Some of the best sleep I've ever had really. You should try it sometime."

"Nah, if I'm going to sleep at any size besides this one it'll be bigger. Oh, and thanks for letting me take that nap yesterday. How long did you guys sit there waiting on me for anyway, around two hours?"

"Something like that. Don't mention it. Speaking of yesterday, how do you feel now, after your big day and all?"

"Like a fool for not giving you a size measured in miles instead of feet."

"Are you being serious? I'd have done it you know."

"That's why I didn't ask you to. Listen Adam, I don't know if you noticed, but you've got a real problem."

"What do you mean Barry? Everything worked out fine, didn't it?"

"You didn't see what I did from up there. When you zapped me one of my paws almost ended up on top of a house. I think it had people inside too."

"Oh. I had no idea there were any that close by. I'm still not seeing the problem here though. It's not like I meant to make you that big. It was an accident. I'm still learning to control this thing after all."

"No you're not."

"Excuse me?"

"Listen. You didn't just make me a little bigger than I asked. You made me over three times bigger. You're too good at math to screw it up that badly. And besides, every time you shrink you come back at the right size don't you?"

"What are you saying, that I did it on purpose?"

"No. I'm saying that you have the same problem I did. Only instead of wanting to be bigger yourself, you want everything else to be bigger. You don't seem to notice you're doing it either."

Could he be right? Have I been subconsciously oversizing things on purpose without realizing it?

"I just don't know Barry."

Barry sat down on the bed beside him, "I do little buddy. Listen, how did you feel when you first saw me after you had zapped me yesterday?"

"Felt really good actually. I guess I was just happy for you is all."

"And what about that beer can, were you happy for it to? I didn't think about it until just now, but you seemed pretty pleased after you zapped it. I'm guessing you enjoy making stuff bigger a bit too much."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? What if I had told you I wanted to be three hundred MILES tall instead of feet. Would you have done it?"

"I'd have never..." Adam froze for a moment. His jaw went slack as realization finally dawned on him, "oh no. ..I...I think I would have. Why would I do something like that?! So many people would have been killed if I made you that big even if you never so much as moved an inch! I don't understand what would posses me to even consider it."

"It's because you seem to enjoy being a helpless little fox, and by giving me control over my own size you got to be that without shrinking yourself to do it. Even better you brought the rest of the world right along with you. It wouldn't have worked for you if you knew you would just refuse me if I asked to be too big. You would still be in control then. So you had to go through with it no matter what. And once you had, then you really would be helpless. In the back of your mind you know that even when you shrink yourself you could undo it in an instant if you had to, but in the case of making something bigger, you can't change it back right away."

"I think I'm the one who is going to need a beer this time, and I don't even drink." Adam replied, head looking at the carpet. "How do I fix this Barry? I can't let myself lose control like that again. A lot of people could die."

"You've got to stop being afraid of your own strength. I think you just don't want the responsibility of it honestly. You find it easier to let somebody or something else be in control."

"You might be right. So, how did you manage it? Not going on a rampage after I zapped you I mean."

"After it happened I felt so powerful, like I was king of the world and all of you little people didn't matter at all anymore. I wasn't going to go around destroying everything, but I also didn't really care what happened to the rest of you either."

"I can certainly understand that. You must have felt about us like we feel about ants. What changed your mind?"

"You did. I remembered how I felt after the last time....in the lab. I knew if I didn't get myself under control I'd probably end up doing worse to you, even if it was just because I didn't care. You being there reminded me that my actions had real consequences. And that no matter how big I was I would still hate myself forever if I hurt you again."

Adam punched his friend's shoulder, "gee, thanks big guy! Means a lot that you care so much about me. I think behind the claws and teeth you're really just a big ole teddy..."

"Don't push it fox," Barry interjected, standing back up, "I only admitted all of that because I don't want to see you destroy the city...or worse. You've seen what happens to people who get on my bad side."

"Yeah, remind me never to do that. Still, I don't think that is going to work for me. You're my best friend Barry, but I wouldn't have been hurting you, I'd have been hurting everyone else. Mostly people I've never even met. I think a lot of my problem is I just wanted you to be happy after what you went through with being small. I wanted that for you so much I'd have done anything you asked."

"You think that would have made me happy? Oh sure, for all of five minutes I'd literally be on cloud nine. Then I'd come to my senses and realize I'd just massacred a bunch of people. I think you can guess my mood after that."

"Yeah, I suppose I can. I just felt so guilty for what I did to you. I wanted to make it right."

"You did that almost as soon as it happened. Oh sure, you were completely insufferable on the way to the lab, but you did get me back to normal eventually. The only part of it that still bothers me is those few minutes where I was out of control after you made me too big."

"That was an accident," Adam held up his paw before Barry could interrupt him, "no really, that first time it was. But I think you're right, all the other times I kinda wanted it to happen. Now I just have to figure out how to stop doing it."

"You will. Anyway, I'm off to the beach before we meet the professor later. Wanna come?"

"Sure thing, just let me get changed first."

"Really? This should be fun. But I can't promise you won't get wet."

"I'll survive."

**********

The two of them found themselves near the water's edge. Well just as close as Adam dared to get anyway. It was actually a really nice day out, sunny and about 75 degrees. Adam turned to his friend, still not quite sure what they were supposed to be doing right then.

"Alright, so what exactly is it you do here all the time anyway Barry? It's like your favorite place in the world."

"Well, usually I just catch some rays. Yeah I know this fur keeps me from tanning, but I really like the feel of the sun on me. Helps me relax. Oh, and I drink a bit while I'm at it."

"That's it? Sounds kinda boring."

"Not all of us have as much energy as you do. What were you expecting, a twenty four seven rave party?"

"Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting. Do you at least go swimming?"

"Oh sure, sometimes. Wasn't planning on it today though since we don't have a lot of time."

"Fine, let's just..." Adam jumped as something hit him in the back of the head. He looked over as a rather chubby grey-white husky picked up the small beach ball that had apparently just hit him.

"Hey, watch it buddy!" Adam chastised him.

"Sorry, didn't see you there little guy," the husky answered with a smirk before going back to hitting the ball back and forth with another husky, apparently his girlfriend.

"Oh, little huh? We'll just see about that won't we," Adam mumbled under his breath.

"Don't mind them, they're regulars. Pretty nice too. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. He's just playing around. Dogs do that sort of thing ya know."

"Ah, then I'm sure he won't mind if I have a bit of fun hitting him with a beach ball too, right?"

"Please don't do anything to embarrass me."

Adam smiled, "oh, trust me. You're not the one about to be embarrassed."

Adam watched the two dogs playfully knocking the ball back and forth. He waited patiently because he wanted to get the timing just right. Finally when he was sure nobody was watching him he waited until the husky's girlfriend hit the ball up into the air. He stood right under it preparing to hit it back. Boy is he in for a surprise.

ZAPPP!

The beach ball grew to an immense twenty five feet in diameter and promptly flattened the poor dog into the sand before rolling over him.

He shook his head before putting one paw down to lift himself back off of the ground. He turned around and looked at the suddenly giant-sized pool toy while his girlfriend giggled at him. But rather than be upset he did something completely unexpected. He ran over to it, looked it straight up and down before giving the beach ball a light shove. It hardly moved. He shoved it hard with both paws and it rolled a few feet.

"Hey everyone! Get over here and help me with this thing!"

Surprisingly enough, several other beachgoers did just that, dropping whatever they were doing to surround the ball. Once they had maybe six or seven people they were able to get it airborne, though anyone trying to hit it back into the air was simply pushed to the side or back to the ground as the husky had been. Eventually they figured out it was going to take two or three people hitting it at once to keep it airborne. It wasn't long before at least twenty people had shown up to help knock the massive beach ball back and forth.

Well not exactly what I had in mind, but we'll go with it.

"You shouldn't have done that. Did you at least get the size right this time?" Barry asked.

"Not quite. I was going for about half that. I guess it's pretty ridiculous now."

"Yeah, it's too much. We better get out of here before anyone bothers trying to figure out where it came from."

"I'm sorry I ruined your trip Barry."

"Ruin it? Watching that thing roll him over was hilarious and totally worth it. And besides, he didn't seem to mind it a bit. I'm sure they'll have a lot more fun now than they planned too with all of those people enjoying themselves. But we still need to get your oversizing problem under control even though it seems to have worked out for the better this time. Let's go ahead and find the professor, maybe he'll have some idea what to do."

"Good idea."

**********

They met V in the lab not long after.

"Hmm, you two are early. Is something wrong?" The professor asked.

Adam explain his issue.

V chuckled, "yeah, your dad was the same way, only instead of oversizing other stuff he constantly did it to himself. More than once he ended up taking up all of the space inside of a room and had to wait until he could shrink again to move."

"That sounds...mildly amusing," Barry offered.

"Wait, my dad had the same powers as me?" Adam interjected.

"Oh, yeah I guess I never did bother to mention that. Though if yesterday is any indication he wasn't nearly as strong as yours seem to be. As for being amusing, well, you try being in the same room as him when he does it and see if you still find it funny. Fortunately nobody suffocated and we did eventually get that problem under control."

"How," Adam asked.

"By forcing him to spend more time being small. He hated it and almost never did it on his own."

"How exactly did that help him?"

"Basically he was oversizing himself because he liked being in control all the time. Being bigger gave him a real sense of power which he subconsciously craved. The exact opposite of your problem it seems. Essentially we taught his brain through experience that it was ok to be a bit helpless every now and again by making him that way and having him come out of it alright."

"So, what does that mean for me?"

"Well, if you want to get a handle on this then you're going to have to learn that it's ok to take charge some of the time. In other words, you're going to have to be big for a while until you get accustomed to it."

"Do I have to? I hate it."

"Well you don't have to, but eventually something bad is going to happen when you oversize the wrong thing if you don't learn to control your power properly. Trust me."

"And you're sure there's no other way?"

"None that I know of. Don't worry, we'll go back to that clearing and you don't have to get very big at all. Surely nothing like Barry was. Just enough so that you're completely in control of everything."

"I'm not going to enjoy this, but I can't keep going like I am either. Let's do it."

**********

"Wow, I had no idea how many trees I flattened!" Barry exclaimed as soon as they had gotten out of the car and he got a good look at the damage.

"Uhm, you were a thousand feet tall. What were you expecting, just a few?"

"I guess actually seeing it first hand is a lot more impressive for me is all. It was kinda getting dark by the time I woke up yesterday. I didn't get a full appreciation then."

"Fair enough. But I hope you're not expecting to get that big again, like ever. That was seriously overkill."

"Aww. But honestly my body was moving so slow at that size I don't really think I'd want to anyway even if I could. I can't imagine trying to fight like that."

"Did you just say you wouldn't mind being smaller? Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"

"Oh trust me, I wouldn't mind being a couple hundred feet tall right now. I just don't see a point going much beyond that. But if you really want to then..."

"No."

"If you two don't mind, let's get on with this," The professor interrupted.

"Sure thing Vern."

"Good. Now, before we get started you should drink something. Once you're big it's going to be impossible for you to hydrate yourself much at all without shrinking again, which would mean we'd have to start the process all over. And I'm sure you don't want that. You need to go for at least thirty minutes to an hour for this to have a chance at working."

"An hour? That's an awfully long time. I think I'll take you up on that drink. What do you got?"

"Here, have some water," the professor said, throwing Adam a plastic bottle.

"That's it? No sports drinks? Or maybe a cup of coffee or something?"

"Sorry it's all I brought. Just drink it. You'll survive."

"Fine," Adam huffed before downing the whole bottle.

"Good. Now, you just need to be big enough that you're in complete control over everything around you, but preferably not so big that you're over the tree line and visible to any other people who might be around. Try for about fifty feet or so."

"Fifty feet? That's kinda tall professor. Much taller than I was before and we know how that worked out."

"Yes we do. Which is the entire point. You have to get used to that kind of strength and accept it. Basically you have to be like Barry for a while."

"I don't know if I can, but I'll try," Adam said, taking up a position away from the other two.

He concentrated hard and pushed, growing in size. "Hmm, how'd I do professor?"

He heard a car door slam and an engine start. He looked over to see Vern tearing away from them at a pretty good clip, his back wheels throwing up dirt.

"Uh, what is he doing?" Barry asked.

"I don't know. He didn't say anything about leaving. But how do I look Barry? Did I get the size right this time?"

"Yeah, looks pretty good...I'm just going to step over there a minute ok?"

"Why?"

"Well, because you're really big and not exactly used to it. I'd rather not get stepped on if it's all the same to you."

"Wasn't planning on moving. I think I'll just wait until I can shrink again and get back to normal. We can try this later when the professor gets back."

"Yeah, good thinking. We shouldn't do this without him."

Adam waited, then waited some more. After about five minutes his phone rang, it was Vern.

"If you were thinking about shrinking, don't bother. I put something into the water I gave you. You won't be getting back to normal size for at least another few hours."

"WHAT!" Adam said much too loudly and Barry nearly jumped out of his fur.

"I forgot to mention, this isn't going to work if you have a choice in the matter. Sorry but it's the only way. I'll swing back by after a trip to the movies. Enjoy," And then he hung up.

"What's going on," Barry asked.

"That bastard, he drugged me! I can't shrink myself for another few hours he says!"

Barry backed away slightly, "oh no. Just calm down ok...uhm...big guy?"

Adam cocked his head to the side, "wait, that's my line."

"Not right now it isn't fox. Have you looked at yourself lately?" Barry remarked, pointing at him.

"Point taken, but now what do we do?"

"Well, you might as well go with it. Try walking around or something."

"This is just great. Not how I wanted to spend my Sunday evening at all," Adam said.

He walked a good distance away from Barry and just wandered around aimlessly for a while. Walking didn't seem very hard at this size, but he didn't have much desire to do anything else.

"Hey! Why don't you try running?" Barry yelled after a bit.

Adam walked over to his friend and sighed, "I don't know about that."

Barry looked straight up at him and raised one clenched paw into the air, shaking it back to front a few times, "you got this buddy. Just go for it! What's the worst that can happen, you trip a few times? No big deal!"

"Was that an attempt at a pun?"

"Maybe. Now get going!"

"Fine," Adam replied and took off in a slow jog.

"FASTER!" Barry yelled.

Adam sped up to a full run. He lasted about five steps before he fell face first into the dirt. "Ouch."

"Don't be such a baby. You hurt the ground more than it hurt you. Just look at that skid mark!"

"Heh, yeah I guess you're right," Adam replied as he got up and dusted himself off.

"You just gotta account for your limbs moving a lot slower at that size is all. Now give it another shot!"

Adam took off once more. He nearly fell a second time right away but caught himself. He ran for about a hundred yards, then stopped. He spun around and went back the other way. He made it back to where he had started, but when he tried to turn himself around he got his legs tangled and rolled for several hundred feet right at Barry. Luckily his friend got out of the way in time.

Adam lay there in a heap. "This isn't working. I could have crushed you."

Barry walked right over to his face and punched him as hard as he could in the nose with a clenched paw, "boop!"

"Hey, what was that for!" Adam said, brushing his face as he carefully sat up. Though really he had barely felt it at all.

"Sorry couldn't resist. It's not like I can hurt you anyway."

"Well, I guess. But I could definitely hurt you if I'm not careful."

"You're doing fine. You just need more practice is all."

"Maybe I should just sit down for the rest of the time until I can shrink myself. Surely I've done enough by now."

"Not even close. I'll tell you when I think you're ready," his friend said, climbing up onto Adam's leg.

"What are you doing?"

"You can do this. I know it. Now, pick me up."

"WHAT! No way."

"Yes, pick me up and put me on your shoulder." Barry yelled up at him.

"You're crazy. If I fall again you're going to break something."

"Exactly, which is why you won't. Consider it an extra incentive to not screw this up."

Adam looked down at Barry standing there on his leg with his paws planted into his own hips. He was looking up at him so confidently he might as well have been the bigger of the two.

"Are you sure about this? And how are you taking this so well being so small and all?"

Barry laughed, "because I'm not small, you're just big. Yes, there is a difference. Just take my word for it. Now, pick me up already and let's do this."

Adam sighted, "fine, but I can't promise not to drop you."

"I'm not asking you to. I know the risks."

Adam finally relented and placed his paw around Barry. He was almost completely engulfed. Maybe he was slightly over fifty feet tall after all. It was hard to be sure.

He lifted him up carefully and placed him on his right shoulder.

"Alright buddy. You should be able to hear me a lot better now. Let's try this again. Show me what ya got, " he said, slapping a paw onto his shoulder, "Giddyup!"

Adam looked at Barry, "really?" but started off with a jog anyway.

Barry clamped his paws down into Adam's shoulder fur, "no, this just won't do. You need to RUN."

And he did. Adam sped up and ran back and forth across that imaginary 100 yard line until he was nearly dizzy.

"Weeeee! This is fun!" Barry exclaimed, "keep going!"

Adam really gave it all he had then and ran to the other end of the clearing. He could feel the wind breaking over him, the ground trembling with every step he took. It was all Barry could do to hang on, eventually resorting to grabbing the side of his friend's face to support himself. Adam tried as best as he could not to notice, which wasn't terribly difficult. Barry hardly seemed to weight anything at this point.

Adam stopped at the edge of the clearing and walked over to some of the trees, lightly pushing on a few with his paw. Thought they bent considerably, he avoided knocking any of them over. Next he took off running again, and this time he tried jumping. He remembered to use much more force than normal and sailed through the air, landing with a thud and continuing in a dead run. He practiced it twice more before returning to where he had started. He stopped for just a moment to catch his breath. He was surprised when he realized that he hadn't lose his balance once the whole time.

Barry lifted his paws into the air to congratulate him, "Great job Ada...."

He immediately lost his balance and tumbled off of Adam's shoulder, spinning and flailing his arms wildly as he fell. Everything seemed to slow down. At the last instant Adam got his paw under his friend and saved him.

"Whoa, nice catch fox. You're really getting the hang of this!"

Adam looked down at his friend laying face up in his palm and something changed in him then. He felt... powerful. In control. So much stronger than he ever had before. He realized that this whole time he had been fighting that feeling.

"Is everything ok Buddy?"

"Ok? Barry, is this what it's like for you? I feel amazing! Like I could do anything. It feels like I'm invincible!"

"Well, you pretty much are invincible, especially compared to me right now. You mean you just now figured that out?"

"I guess I only just now admitted it to myself."

"Great. I think you're ready. Uhm, you can put me down now. If ya want."

"Sure, no problem...little guy," Adam said, as he placed Barry back onto level ground.

"I'll let that one slide fox. You earned it, just for today."

**********

Barry found himself standing at the driver's side window of the professor's old beater a short time later, explaining to him that his friend had seemingly disappeared.

"What do you mean he ran off? Where is Adam. His powers should be working again. We have to find him."

"Actually Adam has been here the whole time. I'm just running interference for him while he..."

At that moment Adam pushed and went from being about two inches tall to a height of nearly two hundred feet. Before the professor could even react, he gently placed a paw around the frame of his car and raised it right off of the ground. The metal groaned a bit, but did not deform much at all.

He lifted the vehicle straight up until he was looking right through the windshield at the stunned occupant.

"Now, first things first Vern. If you EVER drug me again I'm going to crumple this thing up like a soda can and sell it for scrap. Secondly, as you can see thanks to Barry I'm over my fear of being big. Now that I've made myself understood, let's go grab something to eat, I'm starving.