Jill Masterson fights crime as the superhero Athena.
Jill Masterson sat at her desk at the Daily Star, typing away at her current story. Some sappy human interest tale about a dog who saved a woman and a baby from a pack of vicious dogs and a burning building, respectively. The damn thing was getting a medal while she, who secretly fought crime as Athena; a full-blown superheroine; was one step away from an arrest warrant.
She was incredibly fast and super strong, but couldn't fly, or use heat vision, or anything fun like that; so most of her confrontations with super villains ended up in titanic fist-fights that destroyed lots of expensive property. And since she couldn't fly, she couldn't just take off into the air after she subdued the villain, she had to sit and listen to a lecture from the police about how if she ever destroyed this much property again, blah, blah, blah.
Jill realized she had just typed out half of what she had just thought on her computer monitor and quickly slammed her finger on the "delete" key. She looked around hurriedly to make sure no one had seen. Luckily it didn't look like anyone had, so with a cautiously relieved sigh she went back to typing.
She wasn't typing long however, before John, who's job it was to listen to the police scanner; began running through the office like Paul Revere. "Come on people," he shouted, "we've got a supervillain attack! Down at 5th & Broadway!" He was already practically out the door. The other reporters began to leave their seats. "That's just down the block!" one said, "we'll be the first ones there!" "Exclusive!" others were practically shouting. "Who is it?" Jill shouted after John. He replied: "It's War Machine!"
"War Machine." Jill practically cursed to herself. War Machine was tough. She had been a military scientist working on a kind of super-soldier serum; but in a lab accident had gotten dosed with it herself. The serum had actually worked perfectly, she was nearly impervious to harm and super-humanly strong. But she had gone a little power-mad with her new abilities, and completely destroyed the rest of the serum, the lab, all the research notes, the other scientists; and any evidence or notation of the super-soldier serum, so she would be the only one. Now she traveled the world as a mercenary and thief, trying to make as much money as she could.
The chaos at the Daily Star office made it easy for Jill to slip away unnoticed. The proximity to the villainess in question had everyone leaving, either just to see what happened or to get as far away as they could. Jill slipped into the stairwell and discreetly headed up instead of down. She went two floors up and slipped down the hall to a bathroom that nobody ever used. Once inside she looked at herself in the mirror. Chin-length blond hair, blue eyes hidden behind glasses; and a slight frame. But that was all about to change.
She had received her powers while on a story in Greece, stumbling into a temple and awakening an ancient Goddess. To activate her power, she had to say a prayer to her; which is what she did now.
Athena's power rushed into Jill; and she watched in the mirror as she transformed. Her hair darkened to brown, and grew longer; down to between her shoulder blades. Her eyes deepened from blue to an almost black color, and her vision grew blurred as she altered beyond need for her glasses. She pulled them off and set them on the counter. Her cheekbones became higher and more prominent, her lips grew fuller. Her skin tone deepened to a dusky olive. Her bones creaked as she grew almost a foot taller; and her clothes strained as her muscles grew. The buttons on her shirt pulled tight, and then one popped off as her bosom filled out; and the button on her skirt pulled open from the strain put on it by her swelling rear.
Athena looked at herself in the mirror, a perfectly-proportioned mediterranean Goddess, in a too-small businesswoman's outfit. She pulled off the outfit, revealing the one-piece leotard she wore beneath for emergencies. It started at her neck and ended at her crotch; pulling itself almost into a thong in her voluptuous behind. It covered her ample breasts but left her arms bare; it was a deep purple color down the center, while the sides were of a lighter hue.
She pulled open the utility closet, and placed her folded-up clothes on the top shelf, and pulled down the thigh-high purple boots and purple elbow-gloves she needed to complete her outfit. No one ever used or cleaned that bathroom, so she had no problems storing her stuff there. She pulled them on, then opened up the small window near the ceiling. It was a tight squeeze with her current proportions, but she managed, falling the four stories to the alleyway below.
Using her incredible speed, Athena ran out the opposite end of the alley, taking a roundabout route to 5th & Broadway, where War Machine was. She ran around and came down the opposite side of the street, moving at a pace that made her just a bit more than a blur to anyone who could see her.
She spotted her co-workers at the Daily Star in a crowd outside the bank on 5th Ave, where a massive hole had been opened in the wall. Athena sighed to herself as she ran; this was going to be messy.
She reached the hole in the bank and came to a stop, buffeting everyone in the crowd with the wind she had been dragging. "What's going on in there?" she asked John; due to the change in her appearance and even the deepening of her voice, she had no reason to worry about her identity.
"Uh, I think she's in the vault..." John said. Athena nodded to him and cautiously stepped inside. The lobby was emptied, everyone must have gotten out OK, since there wasn't even any bodies. Athena made her way into the back and towards the vault. There was no sign of War Machine. The vault door hung wide open, and Athena cautiosly stepped inside. While she was in the doorway, the vault door suddenly flew closed, propelled at a speed no regular human could muster. It slammed into Athena's back, knocking her into the opposite wall. The wall crumpled like cardboard, showering Athena in dust and debris.
Athena unsteadily got to her feet and cursed to herself, she was tough but not impervious; and that had hurt like hell. She got a short, running start at the now-closed vault door and jumped up to dropkick it. The huge metal door blew off of its hinges and flew outwards, and Athena heard a yell as it presumably crashed into War Machine, knocking her out into the lobby.
Athena walked into the lobby while War Machine simply pushed the vault door off of herself and got to her feet. She was dressed in a skin-tight, black, full-body lycra leotard. With combat boots at the bottom and a military-issue utility belt around her waist. The belt contained gear she needed for full-on combat situations, as well as her pistol. Sometimes she had a rifle with her, but not today. War Machine herself was actually a beautiful woman; with short black hair and a pale complexion. Her green eyes seemed to glint in her face like emeralds. The super-soldier serum hadn't actually altered her muscles, so she was more lithe than bulky. Although as Athena looked her over she looked a little more voluptuous than usual, Athena smirked at that.
"Athena, I should've known." War Machine said, dusting herself off. "I can never have any fun in this town." she continued. "War Machine." Athena replied, "You're looking, healthy today. Enjoy the food in Europe?" War Machine turned red, putting a hand to her now soft stomach. "Oh you bitch." she said. "You'll pay for that." And she advanced on Athena.
Athena got into a fighting stance, this would be a tough fight. War Machine was tougher and stronger than her, but she had the advantage in speed. And now she'd made War Machine angry, which meant no matter how the fight ended, it was going to make a real mess.
Sure enough, as the battle raged, the bank lobby was destroyed, and Athena got thrown through the wall into the alley adjacent; causing the bank to partially collapse since two of its walls were smashed. In the alley, War Machine pulled her pistol and fired at Athena. Using her speed Athena dodged behind a dumpster, and as War Machine reloaded, Athena pushed the dumpster at her with all her might. This knocked her over, and gave Athena a second to think.
"If we destroy any more buildings," she thought to herself, "we might as well make up and go into business together, 'cause I'll be just as big a criminal as she is. I need to put a stop to this now." she looked around and saw War Machine starting to regain her feet already. "But how do I immobilize a freaking juggernaut like her?" War Machine got to her feet. Athena started to walk in the opposite direction, intending to lead War Machine on a chase that might keep property damage to a minimum until she could think of something. "Come on blimpy-" she called, intending to finish with "is that all you've got?" but she didn't need to. She had just gotten her idea.
Athena rushed up to War Machine, War Machine began to raise her pistol but Athena quickly grabbed her in a bear hug, pinning her arms to her sides. War Machine struggled and Athena head-butted her several times. While War Machine was reeling, Athena began to inhale. She reached her lung capacity, but used her strength and will to continue. If this didn't work, her whole plan was a flop and War Machine would have her, if it did...
Her doubts were cut short as she felt her lungs began to stretch. She looked down and sure enough she could see her chest began to expand. War Machine shook her head and came to, and also began to look down at Athena's chest. "What the..." she said. War Machine began to struggle, and with her chest pushing her shoulders farther apart, it was getting hard for Athena to hold her; so she put her plan into motion. She leaned forward and kissed War Machine full on the lips. "Mmpf!" War Machine said in shock. And then Athena blew all of the air she had just inhaled into War Machine.
Sure enough, her chest began to swell, but unlike Athena, her stomach also rounded out as well. Athena let all her air out and released War Machine, backing away. The two of them both looked down at War Machine's body, her torso and middle swollen with air. "What did you do to me?!" War Machine screamed. But when she looked up, Athena was already advancing on her; her torso swelling up as she sucked in air. War Machine raised her pistol again, but Athena high-kicked it out of her hand. She grabbed War Machine by the shoulders and pulled her into another kiss.
The sound of a balloon being filled was unmistakable as War Machine swelled some more. When she was finished Athena pushed her away and looked her over again. For some reason, unlike Athena, War Machine's whole body filled out when she inflated. Her torso and middle were even bigger, but this time her arms and thighs and even her breasts had swelled slightly. She looked like an inflated parody of herself.
"You.. you.. I'm gonna... I'll.." War Machine stuttered, advancing on Athena, who just continued to inhale. She threw a punch at Athena's face, but it was awkward because of how bloated she was, and Athena dodged easily. This time Athena inhaled until her torso was completely spherical, then she grabbed War Machine again and kissed her.
War Machine tried to scream but the air rushing into her forced it back down her throat. Athena felt War Machine's breasts press into hers as they swelled, she heard a loud pop and then a clatter as her belt burst off and fell to the ground; then she felt War Machine's stomach pressing into her. War Machine's shoulders got too round to grip firmly, so she moved her grip to her neck. When she finished, she stepped back and looked at her handiwork.
War Machine looked like a parade balloon, an inflated parody of herself with a huge stomach; standing spread-eagled because her arms and legs were too bloated to hang down properly. "I'll.. kill.. you." War Machine told her. Athena just smirked. She knew she should just leave and let the police take it from here; the battle was clearly over. But she couldn't resist the temptation to mess with War Machine a little bit. The last time they had fought, War Machine had driven her head first into the street, all the way up to her waist, and left there for several hours until the police got a construction crew to pull her out. She was going to enjoy this.
She sauntered over to the inflated villainess, walking around her in a slow circle, running a finger along her inflated stomach. "Tsk tsk tsk, you really have let yourself go, haven't you?" Athena asked her. War Machine was so enraged she couldn't form words, she just made a small exclamation of rage. Athena stood behind War Machine, grabbing her around the stomach and leaning her chin on her shoulder. "I knew European food was fattening, but damn girl; you've turned into a blimp!" she giggled a little at her own comment. She stood up straight, intending to leave it at that; when all of a sudden War Machine propelled herself at Athena, knocking her over and landing on top of her. "Oof!" Athena said. Even though War Machine had only moved a few feet, somehow it felt like she had been hit with a dodgeball; only the size of a human being.
Athena lay on the ground with the wind knocked out of her, while War Machine got to her feet. Athena just stared in shock as War Machine concentrated hard, then forced her arms to bend. Using sheer strength and willpower, War Machine bent her knees and moved her legs to a more comfortable stance. "Get. Up." She said, so furious she was shaking.
Athena leapt to her feet, expecting an easy fight. She threw a punch into War Machine bloated middle, expecting her to bounce back like a huge balloon. Instead, her arm sank in to the elbow. "What?!" she cried, while War Machine grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her down the alley. She landed with a thud and rolled, somehow being inflated only seemed to make War Machine more powerful!
She struggled to get to her feet as War Machine advanced on her. She raised her fists to fight but War Machine just swung down with one mighty blow to her head, knocking her flat. The pavement cracked under her chin. "I'm gonna fucking kill you." War Machine said. She pulled Athena's dazed form up and grabbed her into a bearhug. "You think it's so funny to blow me up like a balloon?" War Machine asked. "Well check this out." And she started to inhale. The sound of a balloon being inflated could be heard again, and she began to swell even bigger.
At first Athena couldn't figure out why War Machine was inflating herself, and then she felt it. War Machine had her in a bearhug, and as her body swelled it forced Athena against her arms, which were also swelling; essentially bending Athena the wrong way! If she didn't find a way to escape, the pressure would break her in half! She struggled to get free, but the pressure was too tight, she was trapped! War Machine was really getting huge now. Her stomach was the dominant feature of her body; she mostly resembled a sphere with arms and legs. Even her face was rounding out. Athena began to panic, she didn't know what to do, her spine was screaming in agony. Then she had it.
She allowed herself a quick smirk at War Machine, then she too began to inhale. The trick was to do it before her spine snapped. She tried inhaling harder and faster, not sure if it was working. Her torso rounded out, but it was only the top half of her body, she had to get herself to swell up where War Machine was holding her. She did her best to inhale harder and faster, but she could see War Machine struggling to do the same. And finally, she felt it. The expansion spread to her stomach, and as her middle expanded; physics began to work with her instead of against her. Now both her and War Machine's expansions were putting pressure on War Machine's arms instead of Athena's body.
With a slight "fwoomp", War Machine's arms were forced apart, and Athena fell to the street below. She allowed herself a second to look down at herself, she looked like a sausage with arms, legs, breasts and a head. Then she had to act quickly before War Machine exhaled. She jumped up onto War Machine's bloated stomach and threw her arms around her head so she wouldn't fall off. Then she kissed her full on the lips and exhaled all the air she had in her.
War Machine's eyes went wide as she swelled even larger. Athena felt herself being raised up as War Machine's stomach swelled even larger. The sound of a balloon swelling became really loud, and Athena began to hear an ominous creaking. She debated with herself for a second and decided she didn't want to pop War Machine. She was supposed to be the hero, after all. She let go of War Machine's head and slid off to the ground. Her torso was still a little rounded, and she blew the excess air out to the side; returning to her normal proportions.
War Machine though, was not so lucky. She was frantically exhaling and blowing as hard as she could, but nothing was coming out. She looked less like a human now and more like a bloated starfish with huge breasts. There was no way she would be able to move her arms or legs now; as they were little more than cone-shaped extensions from her spherical middle.
"You'll pay for this." War Machine told her. "In blood." Athena just smiled at her. "Keep dreaming blimpy. I think you should be less concerned with me, and more concerned with how well stocked the prison gym is." she couldn't resist just one more. She walked up and patted War Machine on the stomach. "You've got a lot to work off." after a second she added: "fatso." Then she turned and walked out the opposite side of the alley. The police could take it from here, and she needed to get back to being Jill before anyone realized she was gone.
****EPILOGUE****
On a dark and stormy night at a Russian prison; grunting and groaning can be heard. It's coming from a dark and dirty room in the basement; the section that used to be a gulag. Inside of one of the filthy cells, a vaguely humanoid shape in black lycra is wobbling and twitching as it tries to move. And then, one of the cone-shaped extensions bends at what would be the shoulder and elbow. The round face cracks into a grin; and Wrecking Balloon is born.
Jill Masterson sat at her desk at the Daily Star. It had been almost eight months since her confrontation with War Machine; and she hadn't heard from her since. She had learned that War Machine had escaped from the Russian prison she had been expedited to; but beyond that nothing. Her contacts with the different news agencies and the Daily Star's coverage of international news allowed her to keep an ear open, so to speak, and she hadn't found any news of War Machine doing mercenary work or committing crimes; and there definitely hadn't been any news of a human balloon running around.
As far as Athena; she was keeping up fighting crime in her own city, but she hadn't tried inflating anyone since. The tabloids(and even the respectable papers; including her own) had given her a hard time about it. Since they hadn't been able to find a way to deflate War Machine, people were looking at it the same way as if she had permanently crippled her, the same as breaking her neck or back. And as far as they were concerned, that was one step above murder. She'd gone so far out of her way to avoid being a criminal from property damage, and she still wound up catching heat. She'd had to earn some real brownie points to get back on the good side of the public and police.
Things had been slow lately though, she'd only had to change to Athena twice in the last month. A lot of villains had started avoiding her city, not wanting to become human blimps; and the police had stepped things up so they wouldn't have to rely on Athena so much. It made things a little easier but also a little boring. And the Goddess Athena had been speaking to her lately, saying she wasn't using her powers to the full potential. Jill sighed as she munched on her candy bar. Living a double-life had caused her to pretty much exclude any kind of social life; and with things slow in the superheroing department, she had little to do outside of work. The combination of boredom and depression had caused her to seek comfort in food, and since when she transformed into Athena her entire body metamorphosed into an entirely different physique, the lbs she'd gained melted away when she needed to spring into action.
So with no reason to hold back and nothing to do but eat, Jill had gained just over fifteen lbs in the last five months. Her hips had gotten a little wider and her stomach pooched out, but what did she care? She had even noticed the cute guy from the mailroom giving her appreciative looks when he thought she wasn't looking. "Maybe I'll just say the hell with it." she thought to herself. Tell Athena to find another chump and go date that guy and get as fat as I want. What do I care? It's not like I get paid or anything-
Her thoughts were cut short as John came running into the room. "We've got a situation." he told the office. "A couple terrorists are holding up that bank just down the block. They've got the police in a standoff and are making some pretty serious demands." Jill thought it over and almost just let it go, but in the end a voice in the back of her head(her own, not Athena's she told herself) told her to get off her fat ass and do it. She wolfed down the rest of her candybar and stood up. A few other reporters and bored soon-to-be-bystanders grabbed their things and headed out. Jill broke off from the crowd and slipped up into the secluded bathroom on the fourth floor.
She made her change into Athena, watching with peaked interest as her stomach flattened out and became rock-hard abs. When she looked back she saw that her ass actually grew a bit though. "Oh well, at least now I'm proportionate." she said, "more or less." She had to admit she was a little over-voluptuous for how toned the rest of her body was. But she quickly put that in the back of her mind as she finished changing and slipped out the window.
Athena made her way to the bank, this time leaping from roof-top to roof-top and coming in from the roof. Sure enough, the police had a perimeter around the bank, and she could see the Captain talking hurriedly into a walkie-talkie. He looked up and saw her perched on the roof, and his expression changed to a grim smile. She lip-read him say the word "nevermind." into the walkie-talkie, and then he nodded to her as he set it down. She smiled and nodded back, then made her way into the bank.
She crept in silently, and saw three men holed up in the vault with the hostages laying on the floor. The men wore black military uniforms, with ski-masks over their faces; and they each held an automatic rifle. Athena thought to herself. She wasn't impervious to bullets, so guns always gave her a bit of a pause, but the small size of the vault meant that as soon as she made her entrance, her speed would allow her to handle the three of them before they got a shot off. She made her decision and leapt into the vault, landing between the three. She kicked out with her left foot, planting it firmly into the chest of one of the men; launching him back against the wall where his head bounced like a coconut and he slid limply to the floor. But before he even made contact with the wall, Athena had turned to the man on her right, grabbing his gun and shoving the stock into his stomach. As he bent over, she pulled it up and hit him in the face with it, and he too fell unconscious. About the time the first terrorist was hitting the ground, she grabbed the gun of the third man and forcibly yanked it off of him. The strap ripped and the gun flew into the lobby, but the force of it pulled the man to the ground. She put her foot on his back and pinned him.
"Alright people," Athena addressed the hostages. "Get out of here, the police are waiting outside, keep your hands up so they know you're not a terrorist." She waited a moment while the crowd of terrified civilians made their way out, then she addressed the man on the floor. But when she looked down, she noticed he had pulled a walkie-talkie out of his equipment and was talking into it. "She's here." he said, and then Athena stomped lightly on his head, rendering him unconscious. "I don't like the sound of that." Athena said.
She stepped out of the vault and readied herself, watching for whatever was coming next. She wasn't waiting long. She heard a few screams from outside, then the front doors blew in. Standing there was something Athena never thought she'd see in her life. It was War Machine. But she was still just as inflated as the last time Athena had seen her. Only now, she moved about easily, handling her bloated limbs as if she had been born that way. She wore the same black lyrca bodysuit, but with no belt; and instead of combat boots she had on stylish knee-high vinyl boots with a stiletto heel.
"War Machine!" Athena gasped. "Oh no." War Machine said, a grin on her round face. "Not anymore. You changed all that." she said, patting her ballooned stomach. "Nowadays I go by Wrecking Balloon." "Wrecking Balloon?" Athena said, puzzled. "How did you... was this all just to get at me?" she asked. "Yes." Wrecking Balloon told her. "I may have adjusted to my new shape, but I've never forgotten who did this to me. And you're going to pay dearly." she said. "Alright, come on then." Athena said, not sure how to handle this. Wrecking Balloon advance on her slowly, and Athena darted behind her, moving so fast Wrecking Balloon could barely even see. She hit her with a forearm blow across the back, but once again her arm just sank in instead of doing damage. Wrecking Balloon turned with a back elbow to Athena's head, a blow that launched her several feet across the room.
"Damn." Athena cursed to herself. She sprang to her feet and rushed at Wrecking Balloon. She jumped up and dropkicked her in the center of her stomach. Wrecking Balloon stumbled a few feet back, but Athena sank in to her waist. Wrecking Balloon grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled her out, "I was really hoping you'd try something like that." she said, headbutting Athena. The blow nearly knocked her out, and Wrecking Balloon dropped her to the floor. She spread her arms wide and fell stomach-first onto Athena. It felt like a ton of bricks dropping on her, and she screamed out in pain.
Wrecking Balloon got to her feet, and Athena writhed in pain on the floor. "Honey," she said, "I've learned a lot of new tricks since the last time we fought, and I'm just dying to show them off." She picked up Athena and threw her across the room, she hit the reception desk and fell to the floor, still in too much pain to move. Wrecking Balloon grinned at her. "Check this out, you should really like it." She said, then she opened her mouth wide. She inhaled like a vacuum, sucking in more air than humanly possible. Her body assumed a spread-eagle shape; then her stomach rounded out, absorbing her limbs until she was a gigantic black sphere. Even her head sank into her ballooning body. Then she waddled a bit and began to roll forwards. She picked up speed incredibly fast, barreling at Athena like a boulder. Athena came to long enough to roll out of the way, and Wrecking Balloon obliterated the shattered desk, rolling further and completely decimating everything in her path. Then she began to exhale as she rolled, and completed a rotation stylishly on her feet, back to her original size.
"That is a neat trick." Athena said, hoping to buy some time as she got to her feet. "That's only the beginning." Wrecking Balloon told her, advancing on her again. Athena leapt into the air, landing a spinning kick into Wrecking Balloon's round head. Wrecking Balloon staggered backwards, dazed, while Athena fell to the floor and quickly regained her feet. She leapt up and locked both fists together, slamming them down onto Wrecking Balloon's head again. Wrecking Balloon fell to one knee, struggling to stay conscious. Athena took a few steps back and got a running start, leaping into the air to get a final knockout blow at Wrecking Balloon's head. But Wrecking Balloon was prepared. She looked up and exhaled at Athena; unleashing a gust of wind so powerful it blew Athena back through the wall and out into the street.
The already thinned crowd scattered as the action moved a little too close for comfort. Wrecking Balloon ponderously stalked after her, walking through the hole in the bank wall she had just made. A few brave police offers aimed their guns at Wrecking Balloon. "Stop or we'll shoot!" one called. "Shoot then." Wrecking Balloon told them, still advancing on Athena. The officers hesitated and looked at each other, then shrugged and fired. The bullets hit Wrecking Balloon, and bounced right back off, smashing the windshield of a squad car and wounding one officer. "Stop! Stop!" the captain called from his position safely away from the action. "This isn't our fight. There's nothing we can do; it's up to her now." he yelled. And the police retreated, leaving things between the two super-powered women.
"I've been waiting for this for so long." Wrecking Balloon said, smiling as she walked. "yeah, well your breath stinks." Athena retorted, regaining her feet. She raised her fist to throw a punch, but Wrecking Balloon blocked it with one turgid arm and grabbed her up into a bearhug. "And now!" she yelled at what remained of the crowd. "I want you all to witness this. Just payback for what this self-righteous bitch did to me!" She practically screamed. Athena's face grew into an expression of panic, "N-" she said, and as her mouth opened to pronounce the "o", Wrecking Balloon placed her lips on top of Athena's.
Athena tried her hardest to exhale, but Wrecking Balloon was too strong. She blew air down Athena's throat like a human air compressor, and Athena began to panic as she felt herself start to swell. She felt her lungs reach their capacity and then immediately stretch beyond. Her torso began to expand, and then she began to feel a bloating sensation in her stomach as that too began to bulge. She felt herself press into Wrecking Balloon's already bloated body as she rose like bread dough. Her limbs began to swell, pushing against he bearhug she was in, and she could feel her ass spreading out behind her. Her breasts and stomach pushed into Wrecking Balloon, and she felt herself growing beyond any human proportions. Wrecking Balloon loosened her grip more and more as Athena got bigger and bigger. "Oh no," Athena thought to herself. "Oh no, oh please Athena no. I don't want to be a blimp! I don't want to blow up! I'll stop eating chocolate, I'll go to the gym! I DON'T WANT TO BE A BALLOON!" she mentally screamed. But still she continued to expand. Finally she grew too big or Wrecking Balloon's arms, and she let Athena fall to the ground. Athena just laid there, too bloated to move. Her limbs were spread-eagled from the pressure, and her middle stuck out as a huge round ball. Her breasts had swollen so large she could barely see over them. She wanted to cry.
"Ha." Wrecking Balloon said, slightly out of breath. "I got you good." she said. As Athena tearfully looked up, she noticed that Wrecking Balloon had deflated considerably. She looked human again, just insanely bloated. Athena thought she could use that against her, but there was nothing she could do now. "I don't know if you noticed my boots." Wrecking Balloon said triumphantly, "but there's a reason I've changed them. I'm going to enjoy this Athena. I told you I'd get you." she grinned demonically as she lifted her leg and hung it over Athena's bloated stomach. Her leg, which was encased in a boot that had a very, very sharp, metal stiletto heel. "Oh fuck." Athena said. "Goodbye, you bitch." Wrecking Balloon told her.
Just then, the police, led by the Captain, rammed into Wrecking Balloon with the battering ram they used for breaking open doors. Standing on one leg, with her concentration elsewhere, Wrecking Balloon was caught off guard and off balance. She bounced back and flew down the street like something of her bouancy should've all along. She screamed in rage as she came to a bouncing halt down the street. The police dropped the battering ram and lifted Athena to her feet. "Can you move?" The Captain asked. "I.. I don't think so." Athena said. A few of the officers grabbed her arms and bent them; taking their help, Athena concentrated hard and kept them in motion. She focused her will and forced herself to move. "It's all yours now." the Captain told her, waving his men to fall back. "I don't like you, but we need you; don't go getting yourself popped." he said gruffly, then ran off with his men. "I'll try." Athena said softly, moving around a bit. She may have gotten herself mobile but she was still incredibly awkward.
Alright, she thought to herself, she'd gotten herself in motion, and she had a plan; sort of; but if Wrecking Balloon had the chance to reinflate herself, it was all over. Wrecking Balloon got to her feet, and Athena knew she had to keep her angry. "Is that all you've got you bulging bitch?" she yelled at Wrecking Balloon. "You think you're so bad because you're a balloon? Well guess what?" she rubbed her bloated stomach, trying not to let on what an effort of will it was. "This isn't that bad. I kind of like it. Maybe I'll start fighting crime like this. Call myself the Blimp Of Justice or something." The Blimp Of Justice? she thought to herself. Oh well, that's hardly my most pressing concern right now. Lame nomenclatures aside, her trick was working. Wrecking Balloon was turning bright red and shaking with rage. "You think you're a balloon now?" she yelled. "I'll make you a balloon. I'll pop you today if it's the last thing I do!" she started advancing on Athena. "Using my heel would've been too easy for you anyway!!" she was practically screaming now. "Come to mama." Athena said quietly.
The two reached eachother, and Athena swung at Wrecking Balloon half-heartedly to make it look like she was still fighting. Not that she could've done much better if she had really been trying, she thought to herself. Sure enough, Wrecking Balloon dodged easily and grabbed her bulging shoulders, pulling Athena's mouth to hers and practically biting her she kissed her so hard. Wrecking Balloon blew with all her might, and Athena swelled larger and larger. "This is the hard part." Athena thought to herself. "I need to just take this and hope I don't pop." Now that she thought about it, she had serious doubts. Sure, War Machine had gotten to that size, but she had always been tougher than Athena anyway. She just hoped her body would have the same resiliency.
Wrecking Balloon blew and blew, and Athena kept swelling. Her middle turned into a complete sphere, her breasts were huge melons pushing out against Wrecking Balloon. Her thighs bloated and spread apart, her ass blew up into two round spheres. Her arms were coming close to cone-shaped, and she could even feel her face rounding out. Just when she feared she might really pop, Wrecking Balloon let go, leaning back to inhale for another blow. But Athena forced her arms to come together, locking behind Wrecking Balloon's head. She pulled them back together and pressed her lips to Wrecking Balloon's. And then, she began to suck. Wrecking Balloon's eyes went wide as she realized too late that this had been Athena's plan all along. She hit at Athena's swelling form, trying to push her away, but her blows bounced off with a slight squeaking noise.
Athena kept sucking the air out of Wrecking Balloon, conscious of how large her own body was becoming. She felt huge. Gigantic. Titanic. Planetary. She felt like any second she would be pressing against the buildings on either side of the street, but still she continued inhaling. And as she did, Wrecking Balloon shrank. She deflated and sagged, looking like the Wicked Witch of the West after a hot shower. She squealed in horror as her newfound power drained away, and into Athena. Athena's head was swimming. It was too much air too quick, she was fighting to stay conscious, focusing only on inhaling more and more. Finally, she could inhale no more, and dropped Wrecking Balloon to the street. She took a few steps back, looking down at herself. She actually laughed out loud, because her first thought was "I'm so small!" She felt like she would be enormous. Taking up half the street and looking down over the titanic swell of her belly to the distant street below. Really she was only about the same size as Wrecking Balloon had been. "At least that guy's a chubby chaser." she said out loud with a little giggle.
She looked down at the woman in the street, now War Machine once again. The lycra had pulled tight, keeping her from sagging too much, but it was painfully obvious that there was a lot of extra skin inside the suit. She stared in horror at her deflated form, pressing her hands to her flat stomach. "No..." she said, dejectedly. With a smirk, Athena stepped forward, leaned down and grabbed her beneath her arms, pulling her to her feet. She hefted her into the air and pulled apart as she did, shredding the lycra costume. War Machines stretched, deflated skin billowed out like a sail, which is exactly what Athena had in mind. She closed her eyes and focused. Calling up all her will power, and beseeching the Goddess Athena for power; and then she looked up at War Machine and exhaled.
She blew like a hurricane, and sure enough it caught the sail of War Machine's sagging skin. Athena began to deflate smaller and smaller, blowing out all the air she had sucked in; and War Machine blew off into the distance. Flying as if she had been shot from a cannon. "I'LL KILL YOOooooouuuuu...." she called as she faded into the distance. Athena blew and blew until she was completely deflated. Well, almost. Her stomach still bulged out. "hmm." she said, looking down at herself. Then she felt something rise within her. "BUUUUUUUUURRRP!" she belched loud and long, and when she was finished her stomach was back to its statuesque tightness. "'scuse me." she said, with a girlish giggle.
She surveyed herself, and although her skin looked a little puffy, fortunately it wasn't sagging like War Machine's had. She heard footsteps from behind her as the Police Captain walked up to her. She turned to see him smoking a cigarette. "That was impressive." he said. "Thank you." she replied. "And you only destroyed one building this time." he replied. Athena sighed, turning away. "I guess that's all the thanks I can expect." she said. She didn't feel like running right now, but she needed to get out of there; and she took off in a blur back to her office and the fourth floor bathroom.
******EPILOGUE******
That night, Jill Masterson stood in front of her bedroom mirror, in nothing but her bra and panties. She looked alright, she supposed. Nowhere near the Godly proportions of Athena, but alright for a white chick, she thought with a smirk. Her breasts had gone up to a full, healthy b-cup; and her ass, even though it wobbled a little now, was really more voluptuous than anything. And her stomach... she patted it and watched it jiggle. "It could be worse." she said to herself. She thought about what she had said to Athena earlier, during the fight with Wrecking Balloon. "I don't want to be a blimp! I don't want to blow up! I'll stop eating chocolate, I'll go to the gym! I DON'T WANT TO BE A BALLOON!" She looked down at her stomach, "well really, I'm more like average now." she said to herself, running a hand along the curve of her tummy. "I've got a long way to go before I get fat." She looked her reflection in the face. "And besides," she said with a smirk, "I'm pretty sure Tommy[the mailroom guy] is a chubby chaser..." she puffed out her cheeks and turned to the side, putting her hands in the small of her back and pushing out her tummy. She burst out laughing and dropped her pose. "Just call me The Blimp Of Justice." she said, walking out to the refrigerator. There was a whole pint of ice cream in there, and it sounded just fucking delicious right now...
Miles away, in a carefully scouted safehouse, War Machine sat at her laptop computer, wearing only a pair of black thong panties. Her skin still sagged repulsively, but it was already tightening. She finished transferring the funds from her account to the account of the three mercenaries she had hired to get Athena's attention. The last she had heard they were still in jail; but when they got out they wouldn't be able to say she hadn't held up her end of the bargain. With that done, she shut down the computer and looked herself over. Her skin was tightening; at this rate she'd be back to her old self in a couple of days, tops. She couldn't have that. She grabbed the hose off of the industrial strength air compressor she had bought and put it in her mouth. She switched it to full blast and leaned back; putting a hand on her swelling stomach. Her debut may not have gone as planned, but the world had only seen the beginning of Wrecking Balloon...
Jill Masterson grunted as she crawled into her car. She looked up at her apartment, knowing full well this could be the last time she ever saw it. Things had been rough for Jill the past few months. Life as Athena had only been getting slower and slower, and Jill had built up a genuine resentment for the Goddess and the duty that she had thrust upon her. She had started a relationship with Tommy, but it had ended badly within only two weeks. She had been extremely depressed and was only getting fatter and fatter. She had balloo- bulked up another twenty pounds since splitting with Tommy. She patted her broad stomach, aware of how much smaller her car seemed since she'd gotten fat. But regardless of her personal life, she still had a duty to do. She had been hearing disturbing news about Wrecking Balloon since their last encounter.
As War Machine, she had been an average villainess. Getting into scraps with various superheroes that ended more often than not in her defeat. As Wrecking Balloon she was running rampant. Billy Blur, a superhero known for his blinding speed, had rammed into her full force and been propelled so far and high that he had fallen to his death when he came down. Serpentina, a superheroine who could manipulate her bone structure, had been crushed under Wrecking Balloon's powerful bulk. And Fearless, Goliathe, Action Man, and Force Girl had all been popped like balloons at the hands of Wrecking Balloon. In fact, the only hero who had fought her and survived since she had assumed her new persona was The Marvel. Completely and utterly invincible, he had nearly had Wrecking Balloon; but she had finally gotten her hands on him and begun to inflate him, but couldn't pop him. So she had kept going and going. Astronomers were currently tracking his orbit around the planet.
As the only person to defeat Wrecking Balloon, and also as the person who had created her; Jill knew it was her responsibility to deal with this Superhero Serial Killer; or she very well could rule the world. So she had tracked her through her contacts in the news media and figured out that she was making her way to a town in the next state over. She would arrive there tomorrow. And so Jill had stayed late at work, gone up to the fourth floor bathroom and retrieved her gloves and boots; and now she was setting out to intercept Wrecking Balloon. Either way it would be the end for Athena. After this she was going to tell The Goddess she was done with it all. But she just hoped it wasn't the end of Jill Masterson as well. She started her car and pulled into traffic.
*THE NEXT DAY*
Business at the First National Bank was slow that day. A man in town had just hit a multi-million dollar jackpot in the national lottery; and had deposited 98% of it into this branch. The armored car was coming for it later that day. John Franklin boredly thanked another customer for doing business with First National and sighed as he waved the next person over. "Just need to deposit this." she said, handing him a paycheck. He began to enter it into the system when he heard a commotion from the lobby. He looked up to see an older man arguing with a young woman in a trenchcoat. "I was here first!" the man was saying. The woman opened her mouth to say something, then just sighed. She opened her mouth inhumanly wide, as if she was going to bite the man's head off, and then with a great rushing of wind she began to inhale. John's eyebrows furrowed as he wondered what the hell was going on, then he noticed the trenchcoat getting tighter. The buttons burst off of it and the belt burst apart, and John realized the woman was inflating herself! "Shit." he said. He knew immediately who she was. "Later, honey." he told the woman cashing her check, and hauled ass to the back exit.
He wasn't the only one, a few of the customers with more presence of mind headed for the exits as fast as they could. Wrecking Balloon burst out of her coat as she reached her full size, then patted her bloated stomach. "Aaah." she said. The old man just stared up at her, his jaw wide open. Wrecking Balloon hit him on the head with her right hand, and he crumpled like cardboard with a wet cracking sound. "Jerk." she said. The two security guards at the side of the room were running towards her, pulling their pistols, and she turned towards them and exhaled. The force of it blew them back against the wall, where they landed with a splat. "Now then." Wrecking Balloon said, ignoring the customers as she waddled towards the vault in the back.
Meanwhile, a gothic looking young woman who had been sitting and calmly reading a magazine set her magazine down and stood up. The black jeans she was wearing deepened to an unearthly, inky blackness. Her coat and t-shirt did the same. The blackness that now surrounded her spread and enveloped her, then spread outwards like a mist, forming a small cloud of darkness. In the midst of it now stood a Gothic Goddess. Chalk white skin that seemed to be stained all over with the inky blackness that surrounded her. Long, raven hair that swirled above her head. Eyes that glowed like neon black-lights. The only clothing she wore over her statuesque frame was strips of a black material that kept her decent and seemed to randomly run up her arms and legs. Midknight, anti-hero, had made the scene.
She followed Wrecking Balloon to the vault, trailing the blackness around her like a fog. She found the vault door hanging open and Wrecking Balloon standing inside. She was calmly emptying the contents of the shelves into a bag. Without saying a word, Midknight sent tendrils of blackness out to wrap around Wrecking Balloon's bloated limbs. "What the?" Wrecking Balloon said, noticing them as the wrapped around her. The tendrils wrapped around her limbs and pulled her into a spread-eagled position. She struggled against them, dropping her bag. Then she began to inhale. Her body swelled, but the tendrils swelled with her, keeping her immobile. Wrecking Balloon cursed silently and stopped for a second. She struggled against the tendrils for a moment more, and Midknight smiled. Then Wrecking Balloon began to inhale again. Midknight's brow furrowed as she wondered what the hell Wrecking Balloon was doing; and then Wrecking Balloon's body expanded beyond her limbs, becoming completely spherical. The tendrils wavered for a second, then simply encircled the ball. Wrecking Balloon paused again for a second and then kept going. Eventually her body began to reach the walls. Slowy she filled up the entirety of the room, until the doorway only revealed a pulsing wall of black lycra.
Midknight's tendrils pulled back, and Midknight herself furrowed her brow even further. How did she deal with something like this? Then there was a great rushing sound, and part of the wall exploded. It shot Midknight back in a gust of bricks and money as Wrecking Balloon deflated back to her usual size. "Alright." She said, exiting the vault through the wrecked wall. "Who's the hotshot who thinks they can mess with me today?" Midknight got to her feet. "No wonder you're so large." she said. "I had thought it was air filling you so, I guess it was merely your ego." She stood defiantly, facing the rather imposing figure of Wrecking Balloon. "heh." Wrecking Balloon laughed. "You're a funny one." she said. "Who the hell are you supposed to be anyway? Don't you know Halloween only comes in October?" Midknight's lip curled. "I am Midknight, and I shall put an end to your evil." she said. Wrecking Balloon laughed out loud. "Jesus honey, and you think I look silly?" she replied. "Let's get this over with, if I have to listen to you talk anymore I'll pop myself from boredom!" And she advanced on the Gothic Princess Of The Night.
Midknight shot a blast of darkness at Wrecking Balloon, which knocked her off-balance. Wrecking Balloon regained her footing and smirked at Midknight, then opened her mouth wide and blew. Midknight wrapped herself in darkness, and shot tendrils into the ground to steady herself. It held her for a moment, but when the gust stopped, she dropped her barricade in time to see Wrecking Balloon a foot away from her with her fist in the air. She let fly, knocking Midknight back out into the lobby.
Midknight used her darkness to cushion her as he slammed into the wall, then landed softly on her feet. She formed her darkness tendrils into a great point in front of her and sent them straight at Wrecking Balloon's stomach. "eep." Wrecking Balloon said, and turned her head to the side, blowing against the wall to push herself out of the way. She half cartwheeled and half rolled on her stomach and came to a stop on her feet on the other side of the reception desk. "Bitch!" she yelled at Midknight, and kicked part of the desk at her. It came apart like sand and flew at Midknight in a hail of debri.
Midknight raised her shields but it wasn't fast enough, she got hit with pieces of the desk and knocked to the floor. Her cloud of darkness flickered for a moment as she fought to stay conscious. She looked up to see a huge black ball rolling at her across the bank lobby. She rolled out of the way just in the knick of time, and the ball smashed through the wall out into the parking lot. She got to her feet and followed it outside, to see Wrecking Balloon stylishly coming to a stop on her feet. Midknight used her arms to direct her tendrils and picked up two parked cars on either side of Wrecking Balloon. After checking to make sure they were empty, she smashed them together on the bloated villainess. She drew her tendrils back and waited for a second, then the cars shot apart, exposing Wrecking Balloon, once again almost spherical. She had her thumb in her mouth comedically. She exhaled back to her regular size and began to advance on Midknight again.
Midknight gritted her teeth and shot another point of darkness at Wrecking Balloon. Wrecking Balloon stopped and began to inhale. The darkness broke out of shape and began to be sucked into Wrecking Balloon's gaping mouth. Midknight screamed as the tendrils led back to her, and her cloud of darkness began to get sucked into Wrecking Balloon's mouth. "NO!" she screamed. The darkness seemed to physically rip away from her, and then disappeared into Wrecking Balloon. Midknight fell to the pavement, a skinny, pale, almost naked goth chick powerless and vulnerable. Wrecking Balloon stopped inhaling and patted her incredibly swollen gut. She burped mockingly and grinned at Midknight. She exhaled the excess air she had sucked in as she advanced on the helpless heroine.
"No!" Midknight said. She began to crawl backwards. Darkness was beginning to stain her skin and seep out of her again, but it wasn't coming fast enough. "Oh, I am gonna enjoy this you pretentious little bitch." Wrecking Balloon told her, almost on top of the young woman now. "HEY FATSO!" someone called from behind her. Wrecking Balloon's smiled changed to a look of inexpressible rage as she turned behind her. There in the parking lot stood Athena, in all her perfectly proportioned glory.
"Oh, you-" Wrecking Balloon started, but Athena rushed forward blindingly fast. She jumped up with one foot onto Wrecking Balloon's stomach, and kneed her in the face with her other leg. Wrecking Balloon stumbled backwards, and Athena jumped up, falling straight down and planting both feet into her bulging stomach while she was off-balance. Wrecking Balloon bounced backwards with a comedic "boing" noise and plowed into the wall of the bank, smashing it around her. Athena landed with a thud on her back and then flipped to her feet. She offered a hand to Midknight. "Thank you." Midknight said, getting up. "No problem, now get out of here." Athena told her. "But.." Midknight started. Athena shook her head. "No, we don't have much time to talk, and I'm the only one who can beat her, trust me." Athena said. Midknight opened her mouth to protest again, and Athena just said "Go!", advanced on Wrecking Balloon's position. "Hmph." Midknight said, the darkness gathering around her once more.
"Athena!" Wrecking Balloon said, getting to her feet and brushing dust off of herself, "Just can't get enough of me, huh?" she yelled. "This is it." Athena told her. "One of us is popping today." She said. "I was thinking the same thing." Wrecking Balloon said, and they advanced on eachother. Wrecking Balloon swung at Athena, who ducked, kicking sharply at Wrecking Balloon's kneecap. Her foot sank in, and Wrecking Balloon swung down at her, unphased. Athena rolled right, only taking a glancing blow on her side. She grunted, rolling to a crouched position. Wrecking Balloon blew herself up spherical and rolled at Athena. Athena leapt straight into the air over her opponent, and Wrecking Balloon crushed a few cars before coming to a stop. Athena ran towards her, and as Wrecking Balloon came to a stop on her feet, Athena leapt up and hit her with both knees in the back of the head.
Wrecking Balloon fell forward, landed on her stomach, and bounced backwards. Athena, caught off guard, was caught by Wrecking Balloon's bouncing form and fell awkwardly to the pavement. A normal human would have broken her neck. As it was, Athena lost feeling in her legs as she struggled to get back into the fight. Fortunately, Wrecking Balloon was momentarily knocked unconscious. Athena awkwardly got to her feet and staggered, dragging one leg, to an un-crushed car to lean on. "Oh God." she said, rubbing her neck. Wrecking Balloon was still out.
"Are you alright?" Midknight asked, running up to Athena. "I thought I told you to leave." Athena told her. "I know," Midknight said sheepishly, "I was hoping to hang back and then pop back in in the nick of time. It would've been cool." she said. "Well don't worry about it." Athena replied. "Look, I'm not trying to be a bitch, and I hate to turn down help; but everyone else who's fought her has either been popped like a balloon or killed in some other fashion. I'm the only one who's beaten her." she said. Feeling was starting to return to her legs, and she started to shake them and move around to hurry it up. "Well what makes you think you can do it again?" Midknight asked. "I know who you are, and I know you've been out of action for months now." "Hey," Athena said. "I caught those kidnappers last month, and..." "And that's it." Midknight finished for her. "Look, we don't have a lot of time here." she said, noticing Wrecking Balloon starting to stir. "Let's just work together, and if you're right and you can handle it alone, I'll just stay out of your way." Athena shook her head. "Yeah, fine, whatever." she said, jumping up and down to try and get all the feeling back.
Wrecking Balloon got to her feet, shaking her head. "That was a good one." she said to Athena. "My ears are ringing." she told her, shaking her head. She straightened up and looked at the two. "Oh, so you're back are you?" She said to Midknight. Midknight opened her mouth to speak, but Wrecking Balloon cut her off, still groggy. "Fine, I can take two at a time. Just ask the last two people who tried that on me. Oh wait, you can't. I popped them." she said. "This is just silly." Midknight said. She formed her tendrils into a point and thrust them at Wrecking Balloon again. Wrecking Balloon exhaled straight down, launching herself into the air. As she started to fall back, she inhaled and inflated herself again. She hit the ground and bounced at the two heroes.
They dodged to either side and Wrecking Balloon plowed into the car, smashing it in as she bounced back. Wrecking Balloon exhaled and landed on her feet. "That is getting annoying!" Wrecking Balloon said. She grabbed a wreck of a car from the parking lot and hurled it at Midknight. Midknight caught it with her darkness tendrils, and when she looked back at Wrecking Balloon she had inflated and was rolling at her; with her tendrils occupied there wasn't anything Midknight could do but scream. Luckily for her, Athena ran and dropkicked Wrecking Balloon from the side, diverting her course. She rolled out of the bank parking lot and into the larger central parking lot of the plaza the bank was in before deflating and getting to her feet.
Back in the bank parking lot, Midknight dropped the car, shaking. "See, if I hadn't been here that would've been it for you." Athena told her sternly. "YEAH WELL FUCK YOU." Midknight screamed, still shaking. She put a hand to her forhead and waved Athena to go fight with Wrecking Balloon while she regained her composure. Athena sighed and rushed at Wrecking Balloon, just barely over a blur. Wrecking Balloon turned and saw her coming, and when Athena jumped up to kick her in the head, Wrecking Balloon grabbed her leg and flung her past herself. With all the momentum, Athena flew like a missile through the parking lot and smashed through the glass doors of a grocery store at the other end of the plaza, showering the shoppers in broken glass. She slid into the grocery store, knocking over shelves and scattering foodstuffs everywhere. She lay there bleeding and hurting for a second before shakily regaining her feet. She looked up to see a crowd of stunned people staring at her. "Ah shit." she said, looking at the mess she'd made. "Sorry." She told a horrified looking employee, then took off in a blur back through the parking lot.
What she saw when she got back to the back parking lot brought her to a stunned stop. Midknight had tried a new strategy, instead of making one giant point, she made each of her individual tendrils into smaller points and was thrusting them at Wrecking Balloon. To counter this, Wrecking Balloon had deflated to her former, human size and was dodging nimbly between them like a gymnast. But this time there was no sign of the sagging skin Athena had taken advantage of last time. Somehow Wrecking Balloon had been able to deflate herself back into a normal human in the blink of an eye. "Oh great." Athena said.
Meanwhile, Midknight paused in her assault for a second, and Wrecking Balloon got to her feet, she puckered her lips and faced Midknight; and then inhaled in one strong, sharp gasp. Midknight fell to the pavement, clutching her throat and gasping for air, her tendrils dissipating as she lost concentration. Wrecking Balloon smirked and began to walk towards her. Athena rushed forward and body checked Wrecking Balloon, knocking her across the parking lot and smashing her back into the bank. Then she got to one knee and checked on Midknight. Midknight coughed and gasped and gave Athena a thumbs-up. When she looked up again Wrecking Balloon was advancing out of the bank. "I do hope you saw my new trick." Wrecking Balloon said arrogantly. "I worked pretty hard on that one." "I'm more impressed with that." Athena said, pointing at Wrecking Balloon's body. The two started to circle eachother. "From a blimp to normal in the blink of an eye, and with no stretchmarks! Shit, you should give this up and write a book, women the world over would pay millions for your secret." Athena said. Wrecking Balloon genuinely laughed at that one.
"You know Athena, I'm gonna be sorry to pop you. None of my other foes are as witty as you." Wrecking Balloon replied. Meanwhile, the two had circled so that Wrecking Balloon was standing with her back to Midknight. With a grin, Midknight sent her darkness tendrils out to encircle Wrecking Balloon, holding her tight. "Fuck!" Wrecking Balloon said. She gave Athena a dirty look and then started to inhale. Athena rushed forward and put her hand over Wrecking Balloon's mouth. But the pure suction Wrecking Balloon was creating was akin to the vacuum of space, and Athena's hand cracked as the suction pulled the center inwards while the fingers were held back by the outside. "OW SHIT!" Athena yelled, pulling her broken hand back and cradling it. "What did she, bite you?" Midknight called, getting to her feet. "No." Athena said, raising her broken hand and looking at it's twisted shape. "Holy shit." she said. "Holy shit." Midknight echoed. With her concentration elsewhere, Midknight's tendrils wavered, and Wrecking Balloon's expanding form burst right through them. She swung back, knocking Midknight backwards and sending her rolling across the parking lot, unconscious. "Oh that is fucking it!" Athena yelled, advancing angrily on Wrecking Balloon.
Wrecking Balloon swung at her, but Athena ducked and swung with a hard left to Wrecking Balloon's jaw. She staggered back, stunned at the hammer-like blow; and Athena swung again. Blow after blow connected with Wrecking Balloon's face, until she fell to one knee, stunned. "You like being a balloon? Huh? Well good." She held the back of Wrecking Balloon's head by the hair, and began to inhale. She reached her lung capacity and pressed on, using her rage to begin inflating herself. "Damn." she thought, "I'm getting a little too good at this." She inhaled until the expansion spread to her stomach, then her breasts, then her limbs. She was getting huge. When she finally stopped she looked like a smaller version of Wrecking Balloon. "You may be good at sucking." Athena told her with a smirk. "But I've always been better at blowing!" She paused at the sexual innuendo, then decided she was too pissed and pulled Wrecking Balloon's face to hers. But Wrecking Balloon was smiling at her.
She had been stunned at first, but had recovered in the time it took Athena to inflate herself. So she played possum until Athena was done, and when Athena raised her face to hers; she smiled to surprise Athena, then pressed their lips together and started blowing while Athena was still shocked. Athena mentally screamed in rage. She'd been had. Probably for the last time. She tried to blow back but to no avail, and she still moved awkwardly while inflated, so she couldn't pull Wrecking Balloon off of her, so there was nothing she could do. She just swelled and swelled. Wrecking Balloon got smaller while she got bigger and bigger and bigger. Her middle rounded out and began to resemble a hot-air balloon. Her breasts got to the size of beachballs. Her ass rounded out, her limbs became cone-shaped and huge. She felt her face swell up, and could even feel the pressure behind her eyes. She could feel her body start to resist, and a loud creaking could be heard. She had failed. She was going to be just another name on what was probably going to be a very long list of people Wrecking Balloon popped. Damn. She closed her eyes in resignation.
But then she felt it stop. She opened her eyes, but instead of seeing Wrecking Balloon pulled away, she saw her eyes looking back at her wide, then they both looked down and saw blackness covering the bottom of Wrecking Balloon's face. Wrecking Balloon released Athena and stepped away, and looked down at herself as she continued to deflate. The blackness covering her face was connected to tendrils, which cartoonishly pumped the air out of her in little bulges, and back to the cloud that surrounded Midknight. All of them, including Midknight, watched the bulges getting closer to the cloud, unsure of what would happen when they reached it. At first nothing, and then Midknight's stomach began to round out. It strained against the black material that was wrapped around her, and then the swelling spread. Wrecking Balloon had only had a little bit of air left in her, and once it was gone she grasped her throat and her eyes rolled back in her head, she was being strangled! Midknight looked up and saw that and removed her tendrils. Wrecking Balloon collapsed, unconscious.
The rest of the air made its way through the tendrils, bloating Midknight even further. She looked like an over-inflated gothic blow-up doll. "Huh." Midknight said, intrigued at her new shape. She poked her bloated stomach and watched her finger sink in. "Hey!" Athena yelled, laying on her bloated stomach. "You should've just let her choke!" She yelled angrily. "I... I couldn't." Midknight said, looking away. Athena sighed and looked at Wrecking Balloon, then back at Midknight. "Hurry up, do me! Just not all the way!" she yelled. "Why not?" Midknight asked. "Just do it!" Athena yelled. Midknight sighed and directed her tendrils at Athena. They covered her mouth and Athena felt a deep, almost painful suction as the air was forcibly ripped from her lungs. Maybe this was too much for Wrecking Balloon she thought as she deflated.
Meanwhile, Midknight bloated further and further. She moved her limbs and rested her hands on her stomach, her breasts, her ass; intrigued at her body's swelling. While she was preoccupied, Wrecking Balloon came to and got to her feet. She looked at the scene in puzzlement and then just shrugged and began inhaling. Athena saw and tried to yell but couldn't. She was still so big she was immobile, and so she couldn't do anything but watch as Wrecking Balloon pumped up to her former size. Finally Midknight looked up and saw what was going on. She pulled her tendrils away from Athena and started to redirect them at Wrecking Balloon. "NO!" Athena yelled. "Let me handle her." She was only a little bigger than Wrecking Balloon's usual size, and pushed herself to her feet. Midknight pulled her tendrils back warily and watched. Wrecking Balloon watched Athena struggle to move.
This was it. This was the big one. The final battle. The most important thing she had fought for. Or at least that's what Athena told herself as she willed her limbs to cooperate. Finally she seemed to accheive a state of acceptable mobility, and got in a fighting stance. "Oh," Wrecking Balloon said with a laugh, "you want to have a balloon fight with me? Honey, you are way out of your league." She said, assuming her own fighting stance. "We'll see." Athena said. "Don't forget who brought you to the dance." She said. She wasn't sure if it really applied, or if it was even close, but quips were the last thing on her mind, she had bigger problems. Like backing up on her poorly-thought-out threats.
The two waddled towards each other, and Midknight watched in fascination as the two had a balloony-battle-of-the-titans. They seemed to be moving in slow motion, each hit bouncing back with a resounding thud. It was almost comedic and almost epic. Even though each hit caused one woman to recoil, neither one was giving up an inch. They raised bruises and drew blood, but neither one was backing down. The began to move even slower, and a sheen of sweat made their ballooned figures shiny all over. Finally the began to sag, leaning against each other. "Alright." Wrecking Balloon said, out of breath. "One more time." Athena told her, equally out of breath. "The last time." Wrecking Balloon said. "The last time." Athena agreed. "The battle of the bulge." she said, and Wrecking Balloon smiled. Athena raised her left hand, and Wrecking Balloon awkwardly shook it with her right. "To the bitter end." Wrecking Balloon said. Athena nodded. Then they leaned in and embraced, and locked lips in what was almost a passionate kiss.
Already out of breath, the two blew as hard as they could. At first Wrecking Balloon had the clear advantage, then she faltered for a moment, and Athena got the upper hand. But she couldn't sustain it and Wrecking Balloon took over again. Watching from the sidelines, Midknight stood with her mouth hanging open, just gawking at the two inflated women in a lip-lock to the death. At first one's body would swell dangerously, then it would begin to deflate while the other filled up. It was impossible to tell who was winning. One would break away with a long bout of inflation, then it would go back and forth for a while and she'd be behind. Time stood still in the epic confrontation. Midknight became one of the crowd as other bystanders began to gather, gawking at the spectacle. Midknight was dimly aware of police and fireman showing up and simply joining in the crowd, ignoring their duties as they stood entranced by the final showdown before them.
Time passed, no one there could tell how much, and finally, Athena began to get the upper hand. Slowly and staggeringly, Wrecking Balloon spent more time swelling. And finally it was obvious she was fighting a losing battle. Tears were running down Athena's cheeks as she looked Wrecking Balloon in the eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and then she closed her eyes; and ceased blowing. Athena shut her eyes too and let it all out. She blew and blew and blew, and Wrecking Balloon lifted off the ground. Her limbs became cone shaped, and then were absorbed into the swelling orb of her body. An ominous creaking could be heard. And then a very obvious stretching. And then, boom.
The crowd of bystanders were knocked off their feet; and the blast blew debri and garbage all over. Here and here a bit of blood or something worse was spattered around, but it was so few and far between that it was impossible to believe a human being had actually popped in front of them. And at the epicenter was Athena. She kneeled alone in the parking lot, still considerably bloated. She was breathing heavily, and each time she exhaled she got a little smaller. Finally people began to snap out of it, and the police and EMTs went about their business, corraling the crowd and checking the bank for wounded or worse. And Midknight approached Athena.
By the time she got there Athena was completely deflated, but still breathing heavily. "Are you alright?" Midknight asked. "Yeah." Athena said. "That was just... a bit much." She got to her feet. "How are you doing?" she asked Midknight, looking at her still-bloated form. "I'm fine." Midknight replied. "More or less." "What do you plan to do about...?" Athena asked, gesturing to her middle. "I don't know." Midknight said with a shrug. "I'll figure something out." They stood in silence for a second. "So... I'll see you around I guess." Midknight said. "No, you won't." Athena said. Midknight gave her a quizzical look, and Athena just waved her off. She walked silently to a car parked in the bank parking lot, got in, started it up, and drove away. No one there that day had the presence of mind to check the license plates.
****EPILOGUE*****
Jill Masterson patted the dirt down in the park where she had buried her Athena costume. She had talked to The Goddess, and told her she wasn't cut out for superheroing. She had resigned from the Daily Star, packed up her car; and she was planning a road trip around the country. See where the wind took her, and where she finally stopped. "Maybe try out the different cuisines of the country." she thought as she patted her ample middle. She had a vague idea to look into Wrecking Balloon/War Machine's background. See who she was before she had become a supervillain. If she had a chance. The wind blew through her blond hair, and as she inhaled she put a hand on her stomach, feeling it swell a little bit. "I guess War Machine wasn't the only one who got turned into a balloon." she thought to herself, as she looked down at her expanded figure. She knew she was going to get bigger, a lot bigger. And maybe, she didn't mind.