The Great Gazelle

Story by manonthemoon on SoFurry

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A story featuring my growing superhero, The Great Gazelle! Enjoy!! :D

The Great Gazelle must fight to save his city in an all-out growth war after the fiendish Dr. Manda steals his power.


The Great Gazelle

By manonthemoon

(CONTAINS: muscle growth, macro, mega macro, destruction, and cock expansion)

* * * * *

The skyscrapers of Freedom City glistened, bathed in golden afternoon sunlight. The Great Gazelle leapt across a high-rise with superhuman power exploding from his muscular legs soared majestically through the air. He relished the wind blowing past his ears and through his brown fur. Who needs flying? he thought. He tumbled onto the gravel of the rooftop. Not a scratch or dirt blotch marred his costume: white latex-like fabric with gold highlights, including a triangle that started at his meaty pecs and ran down his solid abs. The finishing touch, of course, was a black facemask to hide his secret identity. Despite its simple appearance, the Gazelle's suit was engineered to be resilient, bulletproof as well as elastic. Not to mention, it was very appealing to look at, for his skintight outfit clung to every crease, every bulge, every toned, Herculean muscle the superhero had to offer, leaving little to the imagination. His protruding bulge was known to make the hearts of both women and men flutter. He flexed his arm and watched joyfully as his bicep rose and pushed against the stretchy fabric. Never gets old.

He dashed to the edge and bounded upwards, sailing a couple dozen feet in the air. "Should be able to get this over with quick," he thought aloud, "then I can make it over to the studio for my 4 o'clock magazine shoot." His wrist device was beeping rapidly, signaling that Gazelle had reached his destination. He shook the rooftop as he landed, knees bent and his knuckle impacting the dense concrete. The beeping quickened as he stode closer to the edge, and across the street a few stories below was a ramshackle building with boarded windows. With time decaying the bricks and melting the glass, the building had become a husk of its former self. "Hmmm. A little less grandiose than Dr. Manda's usual hideouts," Gazelle mused. "I'm sure knocking on the front door won't do any good." The muscular hero smirked cockily, as if already at the photo shoot. "No problem." He crouched, building immense power in his thick calves. The Great Gazelle soared upwards with another leap and moments later succumbed to gravity. "Geronimo!" As he descended towards the abandoned building, he reared back his arm and slammed the roof with a punch that could have shattered a boulder. As expected, the brittle wood roof shattered with explosive force. Gazelle pierced through like a speeding bullet, his sheer power and momentum cutting through the building floor-by-floor like a hot knife through butter. The whole spectacle was a blur to him and was completely effortless. Crash after crash, the afternoon sun diminished around him until the hero impacted solid ground again, buckling the hard concrete into a crater. In the basement, a green lamp provided the meager light. The air was thick, humid. Gazelle rose, sternly staring at the slender salamander in a white lab coat. Behind a table of test tubes and colorful bubbling chemicals, the dark red salamander gave a brief expression of surprise before contorting his face into a devilish smile. "Dr. Manda," Gazelle growled.

"Great Gazelle," the scientist hissed. "You always do know how to make an entrance. If you'll excuse me, I'm very busy right now," he said leaning over to turn the knob of a Bunsen burner.

Gazelle could not stifle his smile. Typical Manda. "Okay. I think we all know how this is going to end. We exchange witty banter, I beat up your henchmen, you try to subdue me with some device you made, you fail, I drag you to jail and return the Gene Splicer or whatever you stole. So why don't we just get this over with then, huh?" He struck a combative pose with a playful grin.

Manda smiled back. "Tsk tsk. You've become such a bore, Gazelle. But if you insist..." With a mere snap of his fingers, a dozen henchmen burst through the flimsy wooden door behind the mad scientist. All were skinny mice, clad in black jumpsuits and facemasks. All stood at the ready in a massive clump. Despite their enthusiasm, all were quivering uncontrollably at the sight of the Great Gazelle.

Gazelle cracked his knuckles with the utmost pride in his eyes. "Let's tango."

A single mouse had mustered enough courage to charge the mighty hero, yelling wildly the while. Gazelle's palm met with his chest, and the henchman sailed across the room and slammed against the concrete wall. The clump of remaining henchmen was silent. Dr. Manda gritted his teeth. "Go! Before I kill you all!" the doctor shouted, annoyed. The mice collectively tensed and squeaked, frozen in fear, but their fear of death soon outweighed the terror of going head to head with the Great Gazelle. All of them gunned towards the cocky hero. Gazelle, who stood taller than each of the mice, smirked. One leapt towards him but was veered off course by a punch to the jaw. Gazelle side kicked a mouse square in the chest, sending him crashing into a lab bench and breaking valuable glass equipment. Manda watched worriedly. Two lucky henchmen grappled each of Gazelle's bulky arms, barely containing his burgeoning musculature. Gazelle, without so much as a breaking a sweat, jerked both of his arms upwards and flew the two unfortunate mice into the ceiling. Both then fell to the floor, groaning in pain, along with pieces of wooden debris and plaster. Gazelle bellowed victoriously, deep in the thrill of combat. The rest of the mice froze again.

Gazelle put his fists on his hips and stuck out his chest. "So," he asked coyly, "who's next?" At that moment, all the remaining henchmen scurried away, squealing in fear.

"Get back here, you dolts!" Manda ordered as he watched all of his men retreat through the wooden door. The amphibian groaned. "Mice..."

"Looks like you're out of men, Manda. Scratch that off the list."

"Don't count me out just yet. I have a few surprises still in store." The salamander pressed a button beneath his desk, and a loud buzzer sounded. Gazelle's ears flicked, catching the incoming clogging of boots behind him. The hero turned and was face to face with a pair of head-sized pectorals barely contained by a white tank top. He scanned the huge bodybuilder form and locked eyes with a 9-foot tall rat. The beast stared down at Gazelle with fire in his eyes, and the hero could feel his hot breath in his face.

"Things just got interesting," said the hero. The huge rat reared back his fist. Gazelle closed his eyes and concentrated on his favorite superpower. His whole body quivered and tingled with raw energy, and he felt his muscles begin to press against each other. Here it comes... he thought. The rat gave a terrible war cry and shot his fist forward with all of his might. Gazelle surged upwards in height in a sudden spurt. The blow that was meant to hit his jaw bounced harmlessly off his pecs. The rodent grew pale. He watched the superhero ascended, growing bigger and bigger. Gazelle's heart thumped against his ribcage, sending pulses of growth to every inch of his body. He raised his arms above his head, and his biceps thickened. "More..." he whispered, his primal instincts kicking in. "Make me b-bigger..." The rat just watched in awe as Gazelle's pecs then abs passed above his head. When Gazelle's growth ceased, the rat was face-to-face with the hero's bulging crotch. The mammal that he once loomed over was now an 18-foot giant. Gazelle peered down, barely able to see his opponent passed his massive pecs, and raised his brow. "Wanna try another punch, buddy?" The rat immediately turned tail as fast as he could. "Didn't think so."

Gazelle shifted his incredible bulk around and faced Dr. Manda, who nervously grinned. "Give up yet?"

"Oh, yes! I most certainly do," Manda exclaimed, placing his hand on his forehead like a silent film diva. The feigned fear was evident in his voice. "I'm completely hopeless without my men!"

Gazelle chuckled. "Alright alright. Fine. What have you got this time?"

"Oh? Whatever could you mean?"

"Don't play coy with me, Manda. You got something up your sleeve. A death ray? Super soldiers? A tank made out of rubber?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Manda gave his signature weasel laugh. "There is the trap door, though."

"Trap door?" Gazelle looked to the floor. Suddenly, thousands of volts reeked havoc on the hero's body. He cried in agony and fell to the floor, limp and numb. Gazing up, he finally noticed the strange mechanism hanging from the ceiling and coursing with electric current.

"I can't believe hat worked!" Manda cackled. Gazelle's sight began to fade. "You're such a gullible fool." Manda's words were the last thing he heard before he passed out.

. . . . .

Gazelle suddenly woke. His height and musculature was reduced to their former size. Darting his head around, he found a field of crackling yellow energy surrounded him. He dashed towards the field and was promptly sent on his back as if he ran into a solid wall. He winced, his shoulder burning.

"Try all you want. You'll never get out." Gazelle raised his head and saw Manda outside of the field with the biggest Chesire Cat grin. "The generator is safely out of your reach," he explained, patting a rectangular device straight out of a science fiction TV show twice his size.

"Alright. You had your fun, Manda," the superhero stated sternly. "Now let me go."

"I really doubt you're in a position to give orders," the scientist remarked, casually strolling to his desk as his tail undulated behind him. "But I'll let you out soon. First, I want you to see this." The salamander delicately plucked a test tube filled with green liquid from a rack of similar containers and held it proudly aloft.

"What is that?"

"This is you. Well, in a way. Your growth gene distilled to its purest form with a few modifications by yours truly." He grinned as he gloated.

Gazelle just then noticed a bandage clinging to his arm. "I knew it," he declared. "Super soldiers."

"You think I'd waste this gift on my pathetic henchmen? You're denser than I thought, Gazelle."

Gazelle turned cold. "Are you saying...?"

"Yes, Gazelle. I'm going to use it on myself." Manda's smile grew even wider and more sinister. "I am going to use your power to grow massive, more than you ever have, and I want you to watch my ascension and the destruction of your precious city."

"B-but I thought you despised brawn," Gazelle stuttered. "You said it yourself: brute force is nothing compared to brains."

"I did, but I'm sick of the minor leagues. I'm sick of being wimpy scientist who can't hold his own. I'm sick of you beating me every single time, of taking orders from thick, muscle-bound idiot. And if your power will grant me that, so be it." The salamander raised the tube to his mouth.

"Manda, stop! Please!" The hero, on his knees, reached forward.

The scientist halted. "Groveling? This is new for you." Manda lowered his hand. "I'm listening."

Gazelle exhaled in a desperate attempt to regain his composure. "Look, I know you're not going to take me seriously, but you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. You see my power as a gift, and yes, it is, to some extent. But it's also a curse. When I grow, I lose all sense of myself. All I can think about is how good it feels and how I want more. It feels like my body has a mind of its own, and each time is a physical and mental battle. When I grow, I become a danger to the city, those I love. And sometimes I grow sporadically and uneven, and it's frightening. It has taken me years to perfect growing without consequence, and still I only grow when I really need to. I don't want to be a slave to my body." He motioned his open palm to Manda. His face emanated genuine concern. "Do you want to be a slave to yours?"

The two sat in utter silence. They could hear the low hum of the generator and the buzzing of the energy field. Gazelle could see the wheels in Manda's head turn. He sat, watching and praying. Manda's lips curled. He showed his teeth, smirking. Never before did a smile and stifled laughter inspire such fear in Gazelle.

"A sweet sentiment. But unlike you, I have no responsibility to keep anyone safe." He raised his hands high above his head. "All I care about is growing to my heart's content, whatever the cost may be."

"Manda, please! Don't be stupid!"

"Don't call me stupid, you insignificant toad! You're stupid," he snarled, pointing his finger at the fallen hero. "You think I'd fall for you're sugary drivel? You just don't want me to use your power against you! You want me to stay weak and helpless so you can beat me like all the other times." Manda panted, and his eyes matched those of a wrathful god. Gazelle had witnessed the cool, calculated Dr. Manda transform into a spiteful power-monger. "Well, the weak, helpless Manda is history." The salamander raised the tube to his lips.

"Nooooo!!!" The Great Gazelle cried out, but it was too late. Manda tipped his head back and swallowed every drop of the green liquid. For the first time, Gazelle feared for his life.

Manda grimaced and stuck out his tongue. "Can't say much for the flavor. Then again, it's more about the effect than the t-t-ta... Wow..." The salamander's body began to quake uncontrollably with an all-encompassing tingling, and he could feel his clothes getting tighter. "It's happening. It's finally happening." Manda could barely contain his excitement. His chest surged forward, popping the top buttons off of his coat. His developing biceps began to tear his sleeves, and his belt exploded off of his black pants as his legs grew thicker and stronger. He marveled at his swelling arms. "I'm buff." He flexed his mighty arms and tensed his swelling body, ripping his coat down the middle and splitting the hem of his pants. "I'm huge!" he exclaimed. His slender form was no more, replaced by a hefty muscular body that continued to grow. Soon, his pants became shredded shorts, and his coat was nothing more than meager shreds of white fabric clinging to his body. Gazelle could only watch as his nemesis become 20-feet of pure muscle with no sign of stopping. "Y-you s-said it felt good," the growing salamander stuttered, "but I had no idea it felt thiiiissss goooood..." Manda sighed as he surged another couple of feet and another couple a second later. His back pressed against the ceiling, but his growth did not halt. "I'm going to outgrow this place..." Manda then turned towards the hero below him and gave him a malevolent sneer. "...and you're going to watch." The rafters creaked with his push, and pieces of wood and plaster rained down. Manda's growth accelerated, giving him more mass and more muscle with each passing second. Within no time, Manda's head burst through the ceiling, followed by his broad shoulders. The force field phased in and out. The apparatus above Gazelle shook. Electrical wires snapped and sent the containment device falling towards the ground. The hero tumbled out of the way before the device crashed into the floor and shattered. As the dust cleared, Gazelle laid eyes on the new huge Dr. Manda looming over him.

The 50-foot tall salamander sighed, his formerly nasally voice deepening to a sinister bass. "That felt... amazing." He admired every inch of his new body, flexing his thick arms. As he ran his hands down his six-pack, his eyes widened, aghast at the massive girth and length of his shaft. "You didn't tell me about this," he joyfully proclaimed, grabbing his pulsing meat and quivering at his own touch. Gazelle stayed silent, frozen. "I'm a regular god of muscle, and I'm going to get much bigger. If you'll excuse me, Great Gazelle," Manda mocked, "I have a city to destroy." He stepped over the tiny hero and pushed the wall before him with little effort, sending it crumbling to the ground. As muscle monster escaped, Gazelle could hear Manda's maniacal laughter grow more distant.

The Great Gazelle, the hero of the city, was paralyzed. His mind was blank, and his body was cold. The Great Gazelle, the strongest, most courageous man known to the people, had become helpless. The Great Gazelle looked around at the demolished lab and uttered a single word under his breath: "Crap." His brain went from 0 to 60 in a second. His heart raced. He pressed his palm against his forehead. "What do I do? What can I do? Even if I started growing now, Manda will still have the size advantage. But I can't just sit here doing nothing!" He banged his fist against his head. "What do I do?!" As he opened his eyes, he froze, catching a hint of green from underneath a rafter. He rushed over and dug his hands beneath the long object before hoisting it overhead with a grunt and tossing it across the room. Beneath the rafter was the rack of test tubes containing the serum. Some had broken and spilled the liquid on the floor, but two had survived. Spellbound, Gazelle leaned down and examined the glass test tube. He held the answer in his hand. "No!" He closed his eyes. "It's too dangerous." Once again, the hero eyed the serum, drawn to it like a bee to a flower. "But it's the only way to stop Manda." Gazelle uncorked the tube and downed the contents.

Gazelle grimaced at the viscosity and bitterness of the liquid, just as Manda did. Immediately, he could the liquid warm his throat and spread throughout his upper torso and soon his whole body. His hands began to quiver. He quickly reached down and grabbed the last remaining test tube, his shaky hands fumbling with the cork. "One more just to be sure." And with that, he downed the serum in one gulp. His body was shivering more and more violently, and he could feel the chemicals pulse through his throbbing muscles with each beat of his heart. "Okay," he said with a heavy sigh, "I just have to think about growing and--" Gazelle surged with size, instantaneously shooting up 10 feet, and grew another 10 without so much as blinking. "Whoa! I-I'm getting h-huge!" His already hulking frame stretched and bulged beyond imaginable definition. His legs thickened, becoming as thick as tree trunks. His pecs swelled outward, adding dozens pounds per second, and his arms became bigger than his own head. Gazelle grunted as he ascended higher and higher, his body overflowing with ever-growing power. "M-m-more." The words slipped out from between his lips. "Got to get b-b-bigger..." Gazelle's mind was blank, save for the overwhelming desire to become enormous. An inkling of trepidation was drowned in a cocktail of dopamine as his body continued to swell and expand. He felt his crotch burgeoning with girth, and the ensuing arousal only accelerated his process of becoming massive. Before long, his wide shoulders pressed against the walls. His head, about to be swallowed by his thickening neck, hit the ceiling, which buckled and broke under the pressure of his growth. With each passing second, the walls loomed closer and closer, boxing the hero in. His elastic uniform strained and groaned in protest, tearing but not giving. Gazelle, in all sense of the word, was trapped, and he hated it. He clenched his teeth and gave a guttural growl. His sleeve started to rip, forced by his incredible bicep. "Give me more. Thicker. Stronger. Bigger..." Every single muscle pressed against the partitions, shifting and creaking the bricks. The whole building began to rumble. "Make. Me. Bigger!" With one sudden surge, Gazelle's hulking arms escaped the confines of the building, crumbling the walls around him. He rose to his feet, breaking through floor after floor. He sighed pleasingly as he tore through plaster, wood, and concrete as if it were nothing but a gingerbread house. His hefty arms and thick thighs tore through his suit like tissue paper, and his expanding pectorals soon made little work of the rest. Another mighty surge fueled his body with size and forced him through the roof with little effort. The decrepit building fell to pieces and formed a muted brown dust cloud around him. Over 100 feet tall, he raised his powerful arms above his head, reveling in his cathartic freedom and the warmth of the sun on his naked fur.

Great Gazelle's muscles quivered, hungry for more growth. His massive member, now pressing against his six-pack and barely able to fit his hand around, ached for release. Resisting his urges was like trying to halt a speeding train. I'm lucky I could control myself this time. I've never grown this huge before, and I wasn't even trying. He gazed upon his god-like form, inspecting his bulging biceps, his rock-hard pecs, his powerful calves. He flexed, expecting the familiar moan of his suit's fabric. Instead, he experienced a rush of unbelievable strength coursing through his veins, an adrenaline rush so great that he had trouble even breathing. The huge hero tingled all over, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he thought, I guess I could grow a little bigger. He sighed, satisfied, as he felt his form begin to expand once more.

* * * * *

Mayhem. Men and women alike ran away in fear, screaming. Most dared not to look behind them. The thunderous footsteps grew louder and louder and shook the foundations of the surrounding buildings. Around the corner came the menacing sight of Dr. Manda, grinning proudly, now over 200 feet tall and still growing.

"How do you all like the new Manda?" he asked as he posed for the frightened citizens. He surged higher not a second later. From the corner of his eye, Manda spied a brave news crew a safe distance away from him. "You want something for your story?" the immense salamander snickered. "Well, watch this." He eyed a tall skyscraper twice his size with grim intent. He reared back and with the sway of his hips swung his erect shaft at the building. His meat cut through glass and steel like a hot knife through butter, and the whole structure tumbled to the ground before Manda's massive feet. The giant salamander laughed hysterically and continued to swell in size. "Look at how powerful I've become!" He lurched his arm back and shattered the façade of an office building. "I never want to be small again!" He raised his humungous arms above his head and slammed the roof of a department store with incalculable force. The serum pumped his body with vast amounts of growth. He flexed every muscle he could and raised his head to the sky. "Worship me, weaklings, for I am a god!"

"Then what does that make me?" Manda trembled at the all too familiar voice. He darted his head back and was face-to-face with the abs of a 450-foot tall Great Gazelle. The hero peered down at the wannabe god with his signature cocky grin. Manda scrambled for words, but Gazelle interrupted. "Well, if you're a god, here's my tribute" Gazelle reared back his elbow. Before Manda could even speak, the hero launched an uppercut beneath Manda's chin. The smaller giant flew backwards, slamming into a building and becoming obscured in countless tons of rubble. The hero chuckled with approval. Gazelle turned towards the street and saw a crowd of terrified and awe-struck pedestrians watching. "Citizens of Freedom City!" His voice was booming with overpowering bass. "Do not be alarmed. Dr. Manda has been vanquished. I have everything..." The sound of shifting rubble and a deep, pleasurable groan behind him caught his ear. The crowd began to clamor with fear. "...under control..." Gazelle finished as he turned. Manda, sporting his own devious smile, had an immense growth spurt, now a head taller than Gazelle.

"Mmmm... I appreciated your little 'tribute,'" Manda sighed.

"Yeah? Well, have another then!" Gazelle slammed his fist into the salamander's gut.

Manda's body exploded with growth immediately, sending the salamander soaring upwards. Gazelle was slapped in the face by Manda's rising cock and fell backwards, crushing an entire block. "Yeeeesss..." the mad titan rumbled as he grew taller and taller, beefier and beefier. The amphibian flexed as pure power flowed through his entire body. Within seconds, Manda towered over his opponent at a terrifying 1,000 feet, dwarfing the skyscrapers at his abdominals.

"Wh-wh-what just--?" Gazelle stuttered.

"Ah, yes," Manda interjected, his voice now unrecognizably testosterone-fueled, "the modifications I forgot to mention. Every time I endure an incredible amount of force, the serum will double my height." The salamander's wicked grin of victory chilled the hero to the bone. "I knew you couldn't resist resorting to brute force, so I planned accordingly." Manda then peered down to the street below, attracted to the sound of roaring engines and motors. Three tanks approached the power-hungry monster. Manda's smile widened as he gazed back at Gazelle on the ground. "Imagine how big those will make me." Gazelle turned cold after hearing the most horrifying sentence ever uttered. The hero stumbled to his feet. Every second counted. Gazelle bolted as fast as his legs could take him. He tripped over his own feet but continued regardless. His eyes were fixated on the tanks. "Attack me," he heard Manda roar behind him. "Shower me with growth. Make me even bigger!" The squadron took aim.

"Noooo!!" shouted Gazelle, leaping in front of the tanks. All three fired, and their shells collided and exploded on the Great Gazelle's chest and stomach. The hero fell to the ground with an earth-shattering thud. He grunted from the impact and wheezed. The blows had knocked the wind out of him. He lay there in the street, aching, struggling to breathe.

Suddenly, his heartbeat sped uncontrollably. Gazelle felt every muscle shift and bulge. "I-I'm groooooowwwiiing!" Surge after surge added untold tons of muscle to his body. Gazelle's thickening thighs overwhelmed the unlucky tanks. The sensation was none like Gazelle ever experienced. He could not stifle the roar of pleasure that built up inside his throat, and his growth accelerated further. Cars in the street were crushed beneath his mass, and the surrounding buildings buckled and collapsed under his ever-increasing weight, powerful thighs, and swelling balls. His shaft shot upwards, nearing the size of a skyscraper. His pecs pushed further forward, and his trapezius loomed over his head. Gazelle had trouble growing his head proportionally, distracted by his arousal and lust for size, but he gritted his teeth and concentrated. As he grew, the block became decimated under his mass, and others soon followed. A thousand feet soon became 1,200 then 1,400. His body yearned to be bigger, stronger, thicker. Gazelle tried to eradicate these urges from his mind, but they continued to gush inside of his mind like air into a vacuum. Gotta stop. Too... big... His whole body tightened and tensed but swelled regardless of the hero's efforts to reign in his growth. C'mon... His limbs shook. Gazelle clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. C'mon... His body surged larger once more, followed by nothing. The hero opened his eyes. His shuddering body had ceased growing at 1,800 feet, four times his original size. His arms fell to the ground, shaking the earth below, and Gazelle relaxed his whole body with a sigh of relief.

"You fool!" Manda shouted, his anger echoing through the ruins of the city. "That power was supposed to be mine! Mine!"

"Yeah?" Gazelle flipped over onto his hands and slowly rose, sitting up on his knees. "What are you gonna do?"

The buff salamander puffed out his chest. "Don't think because you have the height advantage you've--" Just then, Manda shrieked in pain and fell on his hands and knees in front of Gazelle. The hero looked down the street behind his foe and saw another squadron of tanks, all with smoking barrels.

"No!!"

"Yeessss..." Manda growled. "Ooohh, I can feel it. It's a big one." Manda's muscles exploded to massive size, and Gazelle stumbled back frantically. "Yeessss..." He arched his back as he surged higher, his dark red hide rippling with raw, unbridled power. Each spurt added hundreds of feet to his titanic body. Gazelle fled from the growing salamander and sifted through the narrow streets. He dug his fingers into the asphalt, creating wide fissures in the city streets. His wagging tail wrecked all unfortunate buildings that stood in its path. His cock lurched forward with each surge, throbbing, begging to be pleasured. Gazelle could hear Manda's voice become deeper and deeper with each violent spurt, climaxing in a loud, spine-tingling roar as he reached 2,000 feet. "Look at me!" Manda proclaimed as he gave another godly pose. "I'm gigantic! I'm powerful!"

The salamander's chesty laughter was dreadful. The Great Gazelle's mind was running at a mile per minute, hysterically trying to piece together a shred of a plan. He's just gonna keep getting more massive. Think, Gazelle, think! He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. As if rewinding a tape, he tried to remember every detail of the ordeal in reverse. Manda's crazed laugher did not help his concentration. He then remembered the rack of vials back at the lab. Of course that greedy scientist would make a whole batch of those things. A light bulb. Wait. Maybe...

Gazelle rose to his feet. "Bit of a slipshod strategy, in my opinion."

Manda turned and glared at his nemesis dead in the eyes. "Slipshod?"

"It's futile," Gazelle responded, panting. "So you grow big. Then what? You crush me? I drank the serum too, Manda. Two, in fact. I'll just absorb the impact and grow bigger than you again. And we'll just take turns hitting and growing, hitting and growing. But I still have the growth gene. You can't win, Manda."

"Enough!" the power-crazed doctor snarled. "Even when you're smaller than me, you're gloating and deriding me! Well... we shall see soon." After a cursory glance of the city, the salamander dug his huge hand in the rubble of his former hideout and scraped up a ton of earth. He then removed his hand and displayed a tank filled to the brim with green liquid.

Knew it! Gazelle thought, hiding his smirk.

"Oh no!" he melodramatically exclaimed. "Please don't drink that! Please!" Thankfully, Gazelle was a superhero and not an actor.

"Oh I will, Gazelle. And when I do, I'll become more powerful than--!" Manda's back buckled, and the 2,000-foot salamander cried in agony again. The tank fell out of his grip. Gazelle heart nearly stopped. The hero rushed forward, brushing past ruined buildings. The canister plummeted faster and faster towards the ground. Gazelle leaped, desperately reaching. Gazelle cradled the tank in his palms and held it against his chest as he tumbled between Manda's legs. He bowled through a building and landed on his back. He gave a thankful sigh. He raised his head to see, yet again, another squadron of tanks firing upon the gigantic amphibian.

"Stop shooting him! Don't you people learn?!" Gazelle did not have to watch Manda to know that he was undergoing another series of growth spurts behind him. Gazelle sat up and looked down at his hand, staring at the canister snuggled in the crease of his palm. The mere sight of it made his heart pound faster. He longed for it, like a predator longed for fresh meat. If he downed it, the sizes to which he would grow would be incomprehensible. N-no! he thought. I'm not gonna become a power-monger like Manda! He closed his palm, hiding away the container of serum. He searched the recesses of his mind for the next step of his plan. Nothing.

"Huh. Now how was I planning to give this to--?" Suddenly, Gazelle's foot was yanked behind him. The hero fell face-first into the asphalt with a grunt. He was then pulled upwards. Gazelle could only guess what was happening, but he prayed he was wrong. Freedom City below grew more and more distant, and soon Gazelle was dangling in front of Manda's furious face, now ungodly colossal. Gazelle guessed right.

"You little insect!" Manda boomed. "I'm through toying with you. I'm going to swallow you whole and absorb your power and become unstoppable. Goodbye, Great Gazelle." The salamander opened his gaping maw wide.

Perfect.

Gazelle tossed the canister with all of his might, sending it zooming down into Manda's mouth. The salamander gulped, surprised. "What did you do, you little...?" Manda's tremendous body shuddered uncontrollably. He became numb, losing all self-control. In his arousal, the giant released his grip, dropping the superhero miles above the city. Gazelle merely braced for impact. Landing feet first, the force of his landing created a vast crater. Gazelle was unscathed.

"Oohhhh yeeessss..." Manda purred. "The power... I can feel it..." His veins pushed against the surface of his hide. "Absolute power!" His muscles burst in size, immediately swelling to beyond comprehensive proportions. His limbs burgeoned with strength and weight, and the tip of his cock reached beyond his own head. Manda collapsed onto his knees from the sheer weight of his body, but he did not care. "Grow, my body! Make me enormous!" He cackled gleefully as he ascended past 15,000 feet and soon 20,000. Each spurt gave him nearly a mile in height. His cock stretched further and further, full to burst. "I never want to stop!" Manda roared. "Make me huge! Make... me... unstoppable!"

In that moment, his right arm lurched, ballooning with ridiculous amounts of muscle. Manda fell forward from the sudden spurt. He tried to lift his arm to no avail. His pectorals then distended, pinning him to the ground. "What's happening?!"

"I told you, Manda. Growing is both a physical and mental battle." The Great Gazelle smirked. "And it looks like you're losing."

"It... It's not stopping!" Random muscles sporadically blew up, and all Manda could do was sit there helplessly.

"And you only have yourself to blame. I knew you made more of the serum in your hunger for power. All I had to do was get you to drink it and let your inexperience with growing do the rest." The superhero crossed his muscular arms. "Have fun swelling like a tick."

"Damn you, Gazelle... DAMN YOU!" The salamander reached for his enemy but his arm would not budge, immobile with muscle. Manda's burgeoning neck swelled larger and larger and began to envelop his tiny head. "No! Stop! Please!" His body did not respond to his pleas. "NOOOOOOOO..." The scientist shouted as his trapezius swallowed his head. Gazelle could barely hear Manda's muffled screams. He watched as the salamander's hand twitched hopelessly. Its movements became slower and more exhausted until his hand finally succumbed, limply crashing to the ground. Dr. Manda was finally defeated.

Gazelle, relieved, fell to his knees and sighed. He brushed the sweat off of his brow and surveyed the destruction around him.

* * * * *

Deep inside Freedom City's maximum-security prison was Dr. Manda, reduced to his frail size, floating motionless in a canister of blue liquid with a breathing mask around his face. Behind a glass observation window was The Great Gazelle, back to his normal height as well, clad in his signature uniform and standing next to an otter scientist with a clipboard.

"Is he okay, doctor?" Gazelle asked.

"Yes, just unconscious," the scientist replied. "It's a miracle he survived, really."

"Good. What about the serum? Is he permanently a grower?"

"We can't find any trace of the serum in his body, no. The effects of his ingested serum must be temporary, so he shouldn't be a grower."

"Shouldn't?" Gazelle turned to the otter with the utmost sternness on his face.

"Well, yes. We can run more tests on him, but all of our evidence so far says that he's not."

"Please check. We shouldn't take any more risks with Manda anymore." Gazelle turned to face his dreaded foe. "He's a first-class criminal now."

"Yes, Mr. Gazelle sir." The otter scribbled onto his clipboard as the hero turned down the metal catwalk and walked away from the observation window.

Deep in Manda's subconscious resonated a single phrase, a phrase he hand longed to hear, something so gratifying to his ear that he uncontrollably smiled behind his breathing mask: first-class criminal.

The End.