Big Gas

"Okay, heisters, we've got a lead on the scientist.  She's working on a private island a mile off shore - guess those research grants can get you some cushy labs.  You're heading in by boat; once you're there, find the scientist and her little project and bring them back here in one piece.  I've got an idea for lifting them off the island."

-----

It was not by any stretch of the imagination an attractive vehicle: A two-seater sedan with the engine stripped out, replaced with a newer one of her own design, with the rear taken up by a massive tank of pressurized gas.  But as she pushed the start button, saw the dashboard light up and the engine begin humming, Doctor Williams wouldn't have trade it for anything in the world.

"It works!" She climbed out of the driver's seat, nearly falling over as she danced about in her joy. "My fusion engine works!"

"How wonderful!"

Williams spun, turning to face four women in catsuits and domino masks, armed with silenced pistols.

"Or should I say," the leader said, "how unfortunate."

"Who are you?!"

"We're the Jackpot Gang," she replied, "and we're here to perform a little grand theft auto."

She spread her arms, putting herself between the robbers and the car. "You can't!  My invention is too valuable!  It could revolutionize transit as we know it!"

"There's nothing in this world too valuable to steal." To the other she said, "get everything ready."  Then, to Williams, she gestured with her pistol. "As for you, stand on the roof."

Williams hesitated for a moment before doing as she was told, climbing on top of the car and turning to face the gang.  Two of the women removed their backpacks, the first pulling out a large, wide-holed net, and the second four long ropes with hooks on either end.  The scientist stood still, watching in a mixture of fear and confusion as they threw the net over the top of her, connecting it to the car with the ropes before entering the front two seats of the vehicle.

"This," the leader began, "will be our most amazing heist yet."

As Williams was about ask what they could possibly be planning the fourth, which had gone largely unseen, snuck beneath the net and wedged something round, cold, and distinctly tube-like into her beneath her skirt.  She let out a yelp as the thief scurried out, climbing into the vehicle with the others as the engine let out a hum.

"For everything we needed to steal, everything we needed is right here."

The internal valves released, streaming the tank of of compressed gas through the hose and into Williams.  All at once her body surged outwards in all directions, her torso growing barrel-shaped and her arms and legs thickening.  Panicked, she struggled to reach for the hose, only managing to reach halfway before her stiffening limbs were forced to the sides.  A stream of gas blew from her mouth before her lips plumped up, squeezing shut, and within a matter of seconds she was full and round, clothing stretched dramatically across her, curved bumps where her limbs and breasts would be.

"We're not fools, you know.  We know it takes quite a bit of hydrogen to attain fusion."

Her eyes darted to and fro as she bobbed upward, held down by the net and growing ever larger.  The leader holstered her pistol, climbing the ropes and clinging to the scientist's side as her width surpassed, then exceeded the length of the car.  As the net pulled taut across her large and ever-growing curves Williams winced at the sudden pressure.  The frame of the car creaked as the hooks pulled against it.  The wheels brushed against the ground once, then twice, before slowly lifting into the air.

As the leader scaled her summit Williams looked over at her as best she could, barely able to turn her head or see over her puffed-up cheeks. "Now I know you're not in any position to do anything," she said, "but don't get any ideas in that swollen head of yours." She drummed a finger against where Williams' shoulder would be; she was wearing gloves but for the gesture she may as well been waving around a needle. "We both know you're not willing to pop for your invention."