FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Rise of Dragons - Part 3

It was dark on the Titan colony when the local government and council of scientists sent out a message to the other worlds within their solar system, and those outside the system as well. Sure it would be quite some time before the extra-solar outposts received the information, years in fact, but they had the right to know that non-human sentient live was living amongst the citizens of the Titan colony.

It would be the subject of much scholarly interest for some time, that much was certain.

Within the Sol system at least, communication delays were a little more reasonable. Real-time communication between worlds was still the stuff of science fiction, but at least for the time being high quality video could be sent in large packets. These massive bursts of information would be received anywhere from several minutes to several hours later, processed, and eventually replied to. The message in question contained high quality images and video of Simon, and some data about his body and general makeup. It was no substitute for investigating the samples in person of course, but it would take weeks by cargo ship to send those around.

Replies to the message were mixed, but mostly contained both surprise and awe. Most modern members of humanity fully expected to encounter life out there in the stars, but they didn't expect for it to find them so close to home. And that this new life had formerly been one of their own, was even more interesting. A group from Earth felt it wasn't a mere accident, and revealed reports from decades back that matched the makeup of the curious purple smoke emitted by the rubbery dragon. Though in his case, it was somewhat less energetic. The report also contained evidence of a missing scientist, a bio-hazard cleanup effort, and sightings of larger than usual animal life.

Several scientists from Earth and other worlds requested to come see this new marvel for themselves, and they were of course granted permission. It was a free system, after all. As the night continued, it became clear that people were very interested in the Titan colony, and that Simon might find himself the subject of much public speculation for the near future. Only time would tell what his new found celebrity status would bring to the table.

* * *

Several days had passed since Simon had revealed himself to the world, and had been reassured of his continued status as a legal protected citizen. Nights were long on Titan, and he mostly busied himself relaxing in his apartment, playing some games, and occasionally going out to wander around in the well-lit plazas.

Thanks to spending some time getting used to his new expandable nature, he'd found himself sporting a new look. He stood at an even 3 metres in height, and was almost as big around the middle, sporting an impressive gut, ample backside and tail, and very thick limbs. A stretchy pair of shorts completed the picture, and provided some element of modesty to the cartoonish oversized balloon. He found he could blow himself up larger too, then exhale the excess if purple-tinged gas whenever he wanted to get back to his new "normal" proportions.

His hunger levels had evened out somewhat, though he still ate enough for 3 or 4 other people on a regular basis. In his mind, he was just glad that he could afford to do so, and not balloon out of control whenever he got a case of the munchies. Not that ballooning wasn't any fun, but he enjoyed doing so on his own terms. There was usually less property damage that way. Fortunately there was plenty of open space outside of town to indulge in his new hobby.

This evening, halfway through the long Titan night, Simon found himself squashed up against the railing on his balcony, shovelling a large plate full of food into his gullet. Where all the food energy was going remained to be seen, as he hadn't used his washroom for days. He couldn't even fit through the door, anymore. While he missed the shower, he'd been given permission to set up alternative outdoor facilities behind the greenhouses where he worked. It was a simple matter to set up a fair sized shower head, some hot water tanks, and a solar panel to keep everything running.

Excess water was allowed to run off into a nearby creek, as it would all be gathered up for processing again eventually. A few brave souls had even snapped pictures of him using it one evening, and the images had become quite popular amongst certain interested parties amongst the colonies. The local city reminded everyone that even giant balloon dragons were entitled to their privacy. But really, Simon found that he didn't mind. If folks wanted to look at pictures of him, that was fine. After all, he quite liked the look of himself these days.

Smirking to himself, he leaned down to squish through the double doors back into his living room, where he spent most of his time these days. It was a small matter to dispose of his dishes in the bin, and flop down up against his bean bag sofa to continue relaxing. He flipped on his media unit, checked through for messages. There was new news from the colonies about his "discovery", and what it meant for the world at large. There were hundreds of personal messages from scientists and business owners who either wanted to find out what made him tick, or use his image for product endorsements. And there were even a few people who wanted to know how to become a big rubber dragon as well.

"Ha, takes all kinds, I suppose. At least they have good taste and life goals."

The big balloon chuckled to himself as he flipped through a few more messages, and ultimately went through a list of shows to watch. Setting something to load, he rose up and fetched desert, namely a platter of baked foods and a giant urn full of tea. Might as well be comfortable and well fed! Flopping back down once more, he spent the next hour booming with laughter at the various antics recorded on screen, all while stuffing his face with pastries, and chugging tea.

When the program wrapped up, he glanced down and noted the various blotches of sugar, crumbs, and other bits of food waste he'd smeared across his rubbery frame. Shaking his head, he decided he might as well get cleaned up, and maybe enjoy a little time out on the town. Squashing through his balcony doors, he flipped himself up and over the railing, and was soon sailing along on his large pontoon like wings. He'd gotten much better at gliding, though he suspected he still had a long way to go. Drifting in the dense atmosphere, it was a small matter to aim at the greenhouses, and flap a few times to head in that direction.

Fortunately for all, he'd had additional practice making landings over the past few days. Flicking himself downward beyond the furthest building in the compound, he spun over and planted his wide feet down on the ground. His gait was still somewhat bouncy as he hopped to a stop, but it was a vast improvement over winding up in a heap, or something of that nature. Smiling to himself, he soon stood with ample hands upon his large sides, staring at his new bathing area. It was just how he'd left it, a open air shower fenced in with some potted plants, and one wall of a small garage. The heaters within were running off grid power for now, as the sun hadn't been out yet to start feeding energy into the solar panels on the roof.

As such, there was plenty of warm water, just waiting for him. He always did love a good shower, even before this recent change in his life. They were warm, comfortable, and he could get up to all sorts of amusing activities while getting cleaned up.

And if anything, he was even better at said activities now, more than ever. He grinned to himself as he stepped behind the meagre wall of plants, and was soon tossing his shorts on a rack to keep them dry.

Waddling into his little outdoor shower, he cranked open the water valve, and let himself be rained on from above. As always, it felt both glorious and relaxing, and he couldn't help but sigh out a dense purple cloud of smoke. Reaching over to a nearby shelf, he grabbed an extra large jug of cleaning liquid, and began to pour it all over himself. It felt silky smooth against his rubbery skin, and lathered freely in the tumbling water, leaving him frothing up all over in no time flat. Giant tail swishing around behind him, he grabbed two poles with cloths wrapped around either end, and began to scrub down all the hard to reach places.

Rumbling away to himself as he worked, he felt his already plus sized endowment rising thanks to the warmth and stimulation of the situation at hand. Huffing, and leaning against the wall of the garage for support, he used one fat foot to stoke at his sausage like balloon dick, while a free hand stroked and continued to lather up his ample chest. Being this big around had its disadvantages, though he managed. Huffing and puffing, with sheets of water and lathered up fluff raining off of him, he slapped his tail against the ground with a hollow sounding noise, and splattered his load all over the ground. It pumped out of him for a good minute, before finally drying up to a trickle, leaving him feeling weak in the knees. Or what passed for knees, in his case.

Blinking away some cleaning fluff from his eyes, he sat his bloated hide down and relished in the afterglow, rumbling to himself with utter pleasure. Glancing at the streaks and puddles of goo he'd left in the grass, he began to have an idea where at least some of the food he'd been stuffing himself with was going. After all, he likely wasn't producing the stuff out of thin air!

Grunting, he rolled over and let his hind end get washed clean in the flow of warm water, and splashed some of it around to further disperse his leavings. For all he knew, one of his... admirers would be by before long to collect samples. As much as he didn't mind furthering science, some things were best left private. The thought of people wanting to see him in lewd situations made him blush slightly, and only managed to re-engorge his arousal. Blushing all the more, and wiping a wet hand over his fat face, he decided to get everything out of his system before he burst something.

Shutting off the shower for now, he wandered around to the other side of the garage, and grabbed another toy to play with. In this case, it was a large tank of compressed air, all ready to go with a hose already attached. Grinning impishly, he wandered out into the moist grass just beyond his shower stall, and sat the tank down with a faint clang. He fumbled around his already large gut, and managed to pop open his belly nozzle. Tail thumping this way and that, he managed to slot the hose in place, and reached down to crank the tank open.

The feeling would be hard to describe to those who hadn't experienced it before, and Simon only had a few times over the last few days. Warmth, pleasure, power, it all mixed together into a form of bliss that only built as the pressure in his rubbery body did the same. As the air flowed, his hide began to grow taller, and wider, and more exaggerated in all the right places. His tail grew ever larger, his rump spread, and his loins pumped up longer and thicker. He hugged his expanding moobs with thickening arms, as his belly rose ever higher, filling his vision with orange squeaky bloat, lit only by the nearby lights around the garage.

Squeaking to himself, he could feel his dragon assets dribbling already as he ballooned, making him huff and puff out many clouds of purple smoke. He still hadn't quite figured out what the stuff did, but he felt it was important. Especially seeing as it always came out during emotional bursts.

His 3 metre frame gave way to 5 before he knew what hit him, and was soon climbing past 7, and on to 8. His bloated feet were stretched so far to either side on his rounded frame by this point, that even they couldn't reach his cartoonish endowment. Practically dizzy with the waves of pleasure and need for release, he felt his exposed loins swell up even further, and his tip dribble huge gobs onto the ground below.

Grunting, wriggling around, and biting at his lower lip with pure lust, the big blimp of a dragon rose past 10 metres in diameter. Finally, he howled out into the night, blasting forth a huge stream of his juices in a sub-orbital arc. He lost track of it all as it went sailing into the night, and could only bob there on his ample frame, wriggling as the air still flowed in. He'd thought ahead though, and made sure to only grab so much air at a time. Eventually the filling rush came to a stop, and he felt both relieved and somewhat bummed that it was all over so soon.

He spent a few minutes enjoying himself at his current size, before shrugging and deciding that he really wanted a snack. Life as a big balloon dragon was hard, apparently. Opening his large snout, Simon began to exhale the trapped air, quickly losing his spherical shape, and regaining some mobility. This he used to slowly begin ambling back to the garage, to hopefully retrieve his shorts. The flash of a camera interrupted his gait and nearly scared the wits out of him, causing him to stumble forward. The sudden fright combined with landing on his still ample gut made him belch out all the air at a rapid rate, and it all came out as a massive gout of dense purple smoke.

He barely caught a glance at a trio of fellow citizens peeking out from behind some bushes, before they vanished in the fog. He could hear coughing for a moment, then cries of alarm mixed with the shredding of clothing. As he wobbled and bounced to a stop, back to his previous 3 metre girth, Simon quickly stood up and fanned at the smoke with his wings. Hearing continued tearing fabric and various squeaky groans started to make things click in his mind, and all at once he realized what his crazy purple smoke did.

Laying in a heap of burst clothing, three new balloon dragons were finishing up taking shape, looking as dazed and confused as Simon was when he made the change. They appeared to recover quick enough, and before long they were on their feet, looking confused as they stared at one another, and then back at Simon. It was difficult to fully make them out in the gloom, but the addition of wings and a tail was quite obvious to all. One hurried away into the night, stumbling over the tatters of his or her clothing. A second glanced at the fleeing figure, and decided to follow suit. Though, perhaps not in quite as much of a hurry.

The third seemed oddly calm about the whole situation, and bent down to retrieve a fallen camera. Instead of walking away, the new balloon dragon shyly inched forwards, and appeared to be smiling. With a lunge that nearly knocked Simon right over, the shorter critter gripped him tight around his ample waist, and hugged him firmly.

Simon was able to look down around his bloat just enough to see shining green eyes looking back at his own, filled with tears of joy.

"Thank you..."

And with that, the new dragon ran off into the night, whooping with glee and bounding high into the air. Simon was left there alone, a pile of cloth scraps at his feet, rubbing the back of his head. There would likely be an enquiry about this, that much was certain. One didn't usually go around changing the species of fellow citizens without hearing about it, after all. With little to nothing to do about the situation, he snorted loudly and shrugged, then went to retrieve his shorts.

He could worry about the trio after he'd had something to eat. It was a small matter to hop back into his chosen garments, and take to the skies once more, heading further into town. Pondering the newly developed situation as he flew, he nearly overshot his desired destination. It was an outdoor cafe, situated along one of the nearby plazas within walking distance of his home. They were always open, and the owner had known Simon for years.

Since becoming a giant balloon dragon, not much had changed. The staff just made sure he sat outside, and had a crate he could use to sit on. Sure he got the odd look from time to time, but people were fast getting used to him. He wondered how they'd get used to more of his kind roaming around? He made a mental note not to exhale on anyone, if he could avoid it.

The old proprietor ambled out to greet his long time customer as Simon came in for a landing and sat down at his new usual spot, located near a low hanging border fence that divided the tables away from the rest of the plaza.

"Hello mister Kim, how's life treating you?"

The elderly fellow smiled up at his largest customer, before pulling up a chair at Simon's table and sitting down.

"Life is still good, my boy. But please, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, call me Viktor. We've certainly known one another long enough."

Simon smirked, tail wagging around of its own accord, and squeaking against the railing of the border fence.

"Old habit, I suppose. Viktor it is. I came by this evening for tea, and hopefully a snack. Would you care to join me?"

The old fellow nodded, and called back into the shop proper to one of his assistants. The man had moved to the Titan colony many decades prior, when he was still much younger. His somewhat strange mixture of Korean and German heritage left him looking just like any other mixed breed colonial. No doubt he used to have a very interesting accent, though it was long gone. What he still did posses however, was a strong liking for Dragons. And now that folklore and legend was real and planning to have tea with him, so much the better.

One of the serving staff ambled up with a big tray filled with fresh baked goodies for the oversized balloon dragon, and an urn of tea. A smaller platter was set down for mister Kim, who tucked into it happily, as did his oversized squeaky friend. The two made idle conversation while they slurped and chewed, before stopping to gaze over at a strange sight.

Another balloon dragon, apparently one of his freshly made converts, went scampering by, still trailing the odd scrap of torn up clothing. It appeared to be the happy one, as whomever it was tossed Simon a smile and a wave, before once more vanishing into the gloom. His elderly table companion scoffed somewhat with restrained mirth, and gestured after the retreating figure with a pie-stained fork.

"Your doing, I presume?"

Simon could only blush and wring his hands nervously, stammering and not really explaining much of anything.

Viktor was soon laughing at the sight, banging his hand down on the table top while he was at it.

"Well, there goes the neighbourhood. Perhaps you'll put in a good word with the rest of your kind, for me? I could use more customers like you. You eat so much!"

With that he was howling with laughter once more, and Simon couldn't help but chuckle along, still looking sheepish. Reactions definitely were mixed when it came to having him around the colony, but for some it was just another day. Or in rare cases, it was a truly great day indeed.

Tucking back into his tea and snacks, Simon could only smile at his still chuckling companion, and shake his head. At least he had some good ones to lean on, should the going get tough. The duo continued to enjoy their tea time, chatting about this and that as the night continued to pass. Reports coming out of the colony were going to be even more interesting going forward, if this evening was any indication.

Simon made an effort to enjoy the seemingly normal visit to the cafe while he could. For all he knew, things were going to be much different before long.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when the local government quietly announced that there were 3 new citizen dragons on the Titan colonies, and made an adjustment to their census information. Reports went out with theories as to how it all happened, plus a brief recorded conversation with Simon, talking about his startled smokey outburst. He was cautioned to avoid converting the local population against their will for the time being, while the powers that be scrambled to try and figure out what to do with magical creatures in their midst.

Simon meanwhile went to bed, as did the other three freshly created balloon dragons. As he slept, messages poured in from all over the place, both for him, and for the colony government. Some people wanted these freaks locked up, but they were in the very low minority. Others wanted them studied, or perhaps kept away from the local population for various reasons. Still more wanted to meet these new creatures for themselves, and already hundreds of scientific minds were boarding passenger ships to come and visit the Titan colony.

Several personal messages arrived for Simon while he slept, all requesting meet ups, dinner, dates, or even just flat out requests to be turned into a dragon as well. Apparently at least some of the new converts had been showing off, and the idea was catching on. It was a strange time for humanity, as for all they knew the world they were living in now would be very different in a few days. All eyes continued to focus on the Titan colony, and dozens of ships blasted off from all over the system, bringing new colonists and tourists.

If nothing else, it made the merchants happy.

Simon found himself rather occupied over the next few days. The local university wanted to run more tests on him, especially on his most curious purple smoke. A few professors also wanted to see how big he could get, for purely scientific reasons, of course. Seeing no harm, Simon was soon filling a test chamber with vast quantities of purple smoke, then even more amounts of balloon dragon, while dozens watched from behind glass. Samples were taken, photographs too, and the entire faculty shook his hand in turn when he was finished. If nothing else, he was providing invaluable information on non-human sentient life. Sure they couldn't exactly cut him up or anything, but they didn't need to.

High resolution scans provided more detail than vivisection ever could. The mere thought of even trying to take a 20th century approach to things was considered beyond barbaric in this day and age.

He ate dinner at his favourite cafe again that evening, and chatted with Mister Kim about his experiences at the university. He mentioned the rush of personal messages, which only had the old shop-keep chuckling anew. Apparently he thought it was only natural that a big dragon was finding himself so popular once exposed to the world. After all, dragons were supposed to be benevolent beings.

Flapping his way home that evening, he found yet more messages waiting for him on his home terminal. Many people wanted to meet up, hang out, and see what the resident big squeaky dragon was all about. Figuring he would likely be able to handle a group of people without too much trouble, he sent out a public invitation complete with audio and video.

"Greetings, fellow Citizens! I've been getting all your messages, and felt I should say hello to everyone rather than trying to compose individual replies. Many of you seem to want to meet me, so why don't you come on over? There's not nearly enough space at my residence, so I suggest hanging out in one of the public parks. I'll attach location info to this video message. As it is still dark out, I'd suggest bringing whatever you need to be comfortable out there in the gloom. See you all there!"

With that he sent the message out to the colony network with the promised location information, and made a public booking with city services to reserve use of the park in question. That way everything was nice and safe, just in-case anyone else wanted to use the space, or thought he was up to something. Even in this day and age, people could be paranoid.

Popping back outside, he made a stop in town to pick up a few goodies, before ambling off to the park in question. It was quite dark out there, away from the city lights, but there was a big open field and even a small lake, so it was quite cozy. Setting up a portable lamp on a nearby park table and plugging it in to the electrical sockets lit up the place well enough, and tossing some blankets down on the somewhat chilly grass helped to bring more comfort to the area. It was good that the colony builders thought ahead and ran underground electrical lines out to places like this, so people could still use them even during the long nights.

Finally he placed down a tray of sandwiches and a big thermos of hot coffee, before flopping down on the blankets to wait. It wasn't long before flashlights could be seen cutting through dark paths leading out from town, and several people showed up. Among them was one of the recently transformed fellows as well, herding along two friends with thick arms around each shoulder. Simon couldn't help but smirk at the dark blue looking individual as they approached, as he already seemed larger than he had the day prior.

Everyone else brought electric lamps as well, the odd cooking surface, food, drink, party games, and even a large tent. Soon they were all lounging around chatting, asking Simon questions, or hanging out with the second dragon. Simon learned that the fellow went by the name Trapper, of all things, but generally liked to just be called Trap. He was a photographer, and it had been him who snapped the picture that lead to his current transformed state. He freely admitted that it was a dream come true, and Simon further made his evening complete by posing for a bunch of pictures.

The two other dragons joined the party after a while, as well as a few other regular citizens, until there were a few dozen people all huddled up with one another in and around the makeshift camp and party site.

Drinks were had, food was eaten, and games were played. It was a great night, that was for sure. Trap even took some pictures of everyone, all hanging around with Simon and the rest of the squeaky dragons. While relaxing, Trap apologies to Simon for scaring him and violating his privacy like he did, but mentioned that all three of the converts were pretty happy with how things turned out. They'd never felt better, health wise, and they rather enjoyed their new stretchy bodies.

All four of them shook hands and left it at that, seeing as what was done didn't appear to be reversible anyways. While they were on the subject of Simon turning people into fellow balloon dragons, one bold individual asked if he could have the same treatment. A few others chimed in as well, and before he knew it, everyone in camp was nodding and smiling at the idea, calling out for Simon to do his thing.

The big guy was taken by surprise once more, and found himself blushing at all the attention. While wringing his fat hands around, Trap came over and reached up to pat Simon on the back.

"Just relax, Simon. They just want to be part of... whatever this is. A lot of them have talked to us three before you sent out the public invite, and they're just some of many that like the idea of being something other than a plain old human being. You may be surprised to know that there have been groups of us wanting something like this to happen for a very long time now, centuries in fact."

With more calming conversation, Simon eventually found he rather liked the idea of having a bunch more balloon dragons around to play with. And that they wanted him to help them out like this left him feeling pleased with himself. Grinning, and with his tail wagging around, the big fellow agreed with a silent nod.

A cheer went up around the room as Simon inhaled a huge gout of air, stretching out visibly larger and squeaking loudly. With a huff, he filled the whole tent with purple smoke, causing everyone to cough for a bit and sneeze. As visibility was reduced to mere inches from ones face, everyone could hear mixed noises of shock and pleasure, plus exploding fabric and camp chairs being knocked over.

Simon could only stand there in the middle of the planned chaos, huffing and puffing more transformative smoke out into the tent, knowing full well it was likely leaking outside, giving everyone quite the dose and then some. Much like before, he began flapping his wings to clear the air, and noticed he was getting helped by Trap and the others. As the smokey mist dissipated into the air, he couldn't help but glance down around him with the slightest of blush marks on his snout, while emitting a happy rumble.

Dozens more balloon dragons were staring back up at him, or exploring their new bodies with looks of mixed shock and joy. The group descended into a frenzy of hugging, back pats, and much celebration. Simon could only sit back onto a warm blanket, and helped himself to a mug of coffee and a sandwich. He realized he'd started something big after all, and could only wonder at where it would all go from here.

For now, he was surrounded by new friends and what seemed to be a new race, all busy finding out what it was like to be a living balloon dragon. And that right there, he figured, was more than enough for this evening. Day-break on Titan was going to be an interesting time, indeed.

To be continued in part 4.

-Tombfyre

2014