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More from Beryl Berthorne
Unsatisfied with the state of his current position, Ingus travels to the city to learn more about humans.
This turned out to be a pretty special project. It started off as
Draco-rex suggesting that I make a sequel to the first Dig Dug story. I figured why not since it seemed interesting (I guess you could technically call this a request?). I'm quite happy with the result. Story contains inflation and macro elements.
A big thanks to
blkdragon for providing the thumbnail and 6 illustrations for the story! (check his channel to see them after he's uploaded them or download the pdf) He did an amazing job with them and it adds a charm that I just can't get enough of. Great stuff.
Enjoy!~
Dig Dug Diplomacy
“Hmm. Clear skies again today.” Ingus idly mused from where he sat in the water, effortlessly floating across the surface with the lightness of his body. The coolness of the sea breeze along with the warm rays of the sun felt nice upon his rubbery scales. It would have looked like he was on vacation if he wasn’t actually on duty at the moment. “And still as quiet as ever too.” He sighed.
Ingus knew that was a good thing, but it didn’t stop his mind from wandering back to that exciting day. It felt like ages ago since the incident, whereupon messing with an untested chemical while apprenticing for the local scientist had turned the fygar into rubber. In the same day, their underground home had been invaded by an unknown assailant. Armed with a device that pumped air into their victims, they went around popping any fygar or pooka that crossed their path. That is, until Ingus got involved. His new body proved ineffective against the attacker’s methods, sporting an unrivaled capacity for air that grew to be too much for them to handle. Having saved the day against their mysterious foe, Ingus was given the honor of guardian, tasked with protecting the islands with his newfound power.
It’s been almost a month since then, and nothing of the sort has happened again. Ingus sighed again. He had accepted the position of guardian eagerly, hoping he’d be able to help the community in a way that no one else could. However, aside from the first incident, nothing else has required his attention. It’s left the fygar bored, to say the least.
“Hey, how’s the guard duty going, Ingus?” He heard someone call him. Ingus shifted his body, rubbery sides squeaking as he moved. His looming form cast as shadow over the island he looked towards, having been spending most of his time outside playing as a giant balloon. He quite enjoyed himself at such sizes even though it was a bit of a chore to shrink back down. Within Ingus’ all-encompassing shade was a familiar face standing on the beach.
Oh, Hi professor.” Ingus greeted. Professor Frye was the fygar who had been previously mentoring over Ingus before his recent change, responsible in part by being the one who created the formula that changed him in the first place. Though their work is different now, they still keep in touch. “It’s peaceful as usual, and frankly, boring.”
“Ingus, did you really expect every day to be as exciting as the first?” The professor asked.
“Well...no, but still! I’ve pretty much had nothing to do in this past month and it’s making me antsy. It gets pretty lonely out here by myself without some company or work to occupy myself.”
“Well, that’s why I come out here so often to check up on you.” Professor Frye pointed out.
“And I appreciate that.” Ingus replied, smiling. “You can’t be here all the time though. You have your own work to do, and it’s not like there’s anyone else here who could do my job.”
“Why not take the day off and do something different?” Professor Frye suggested. “Is there anything in particular you’ve wanted to do lately?”
“...Now that you mention it, there is.” Ingus said.
“Oh? And what would that me?” the professor probed.
“I...was thinking about leaving the islands for a bit”
“What!? Whatever spurred you into doing this?”
“Well, you know how I’ve had a lot of free time to myself lately?” Ingus explained. “I’ve spent a lot of that letting my mind wander. Naturally, most of my thoughts drifted to the day this all started. I thought about a lot of things of that day, but the biggest mystery by far was that creature who attacked us. Who were they? What did they want? Where did they come from? I wanted to know more about them, but these weren’t questions I could answer by myself, but there was somewhere that could give me some clues.”
“And this place was?”
“The library.” Ingus continued. “I found myself searching in there on some of my off-time. There was an old archive I found in there about some of our old history. It was there that I learned about humans.”
“Humans?” Professor Frye repeated. “Was that strange person who attacked us one of them?”
“I believe so.” Ingus said. “We actually have a bit of a history of interactions with them from many generations back. I wasn’t able to make out everything, but from the looks of things they weren’t exactly all friendly exchanges. You could probably tell how it ended, seeing as we’re separated by an ocean now.”
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be best if we stayed clear of them?”
“Maybe so, but that’s not going to satisfy me.” Ingus said. “I’m curious about them, professor. I want to know more about them. How they live, what they do. I want to see if I can get some friendliness out of them. You never know, they may not be the same creatures that our ancestors met.”
Professor Frye thought about it for a moment. “You make a good argument there.” He said. “I’m actually kind of curious myself and I would love to have the chance to make some new discoveries. This is your trip though, and I’ll respectfully leave it to you.”
“You sure? I could bring you along if you want.” Ingus offered.
“The islands can survive for a few hours without one of us, but missing both our guardian and lead scientist would likely lead into a panic. Besides, I’ve got a project of my own to look over.”
“Hmm? What kind of project?” Ingus inquired.
“Heh, that’s a secret.” Professor Frye teased. “It’ll probably be done before you get back, so I’ll surprise you!”
“Aww, okay. I’ll hold you to that!” Ingus replied. “Now uh, before I go, there’s something I gotta do first.” The fygar relaxed, focusing his mind on the current task. Slowly he brought his hand up to his belly, gradually pressing them inward. The pressure he exerted against his gut traveled upward, rising up his throat and coming out at a jet of air shooting out of his mouth. With a faint hissing noise, he began to deflate, shrinking in size as he continued to exhale. Ingus never liked this part, thinking it a chore having to put so much effort into shrinking down. Puffing up was so much easier and he enjoyed his size, but even being big had its disadvantages.
Ingus stopped shrinking when he was on the beach once more, standing eye to eye with the professor. “I can’t go running around the humans as a giant balloon now, can I? I’d likely freak them out if they saw me like that.”
“That’s assuming they won’t freak out just seeing you normally.” The professor quipped.
“Er, right.” Ingus chuckled. “I’ll be fine! Maybe.”
“You’d better, or else we’ll make a rescue party to bring you back if you take too long!”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Ingus said. “Anyway, I have a bit of a swim ahead of me, so I should probably get going. You sure things will be fine while I’m gone?”
“Of course!” Professor Frye assured, patting Ingus on the shoulder “Just make sure you have a safe trip, alright?”
“I’ll try!” Ingus said. He backed up a bit before turning around flopping back onto the water, heading out to sea. “That surprise better be worth it!” He called.
“Oh it will!” the professor answered back “Take care!”
Professor Frye sat and watched from the shoreline as Ingus paddled his way across the water, steadily shrinking into the distance as he got further away. Once the fygar had disappeared beyond the horizon, he got up to return to the caves.
“Alright, let’s see what I can do about that surprise...”
Farther and farther Ingus floated, the islands he was tasked with guarding disappearing from sight behind him. His heart-rate began to speed up. He had never been away from the islands before, and the thought of going into the unknown both frightened and excited him. Still, he kept a steady pace. He wasn’t going to turn around and go back now after he had set his mind to this. The rubber fygar was going to see this through!
After an indeterminate amount of time seeing nothing but blue sea all around him, something new appeared on the horizon. Land! New and strange scenery came into view as he drifted closer. Several tall structures adorned the landscape as far as he could see. He at first thought they were mountains, but the shape was completely different. They didn’t look to be natural in the slightest. This only spurred the fygar’s curiosity further, quickening his pace until he came close to the unfamiliar shore. Not wanting to be seen coming in from the ocean, Ingus maneuvered himself as best he could to a patch of sand where he could land unnoticed.
The beach that he reached was radically different than the one he left. Most notably, it was absolutely crowded with strange beings of all different shapes and sizes. “These must be the humans I’ve read about.” Ingus said to himself. They all seemed to differ greatly to the one he had encountered previously. For one thing, their bodies all looked to have a great variety of color to them! No too humans looked that much alike. Such diversity astounded him. “I wonder if-“
“Hey dude, Nice costume! Ain’t it a bit early for Halloween though?”
Ingus turned to where the voice came from, seeing a slender human walk by from behind him. He gave a passing wave along with a look of approval, going on his merry way without stopping. Ingus would only manage a nervous half-wave in response. The fygar’s heart beat pretty fast at that. It was just a passing compliment, nothing too serious, but nothing bad happened! The human didn’t seem too fazed by his presence, which probably meant he would be fine without trying to sneak around. He didn’t know what he meant about a “costume” though. Turning his attention back to the towering structures that first caught his eye, Ingus crossed the beach to make his way closer.
Every minute seemed to bring with it more discoveries to the fygar. Almost everywhere he looked, aside from the odd tree or other plant, wasn’t a part of the natural scenery. Even the ground he walked on, which felt hard under his feet, was unnatural. Unlike his community’s underground dwellings, the humans made their homes above ground, with the tall structures lining the paths serving as homes. Then there were the strange metal beasts that roamed the center. The various tools at the humans’ disposal filled him with intrigue. Even more intriguing were the humans themselves. There was a wide variety of different types around the beach before, but there was even more all around him! Seeing all these different individuals, all with with their own unique features was overwhelming for him. There seemed to be no end to the discoveries he was making. He almost wished he had brought Professor Frye along. He would’ve had a field day with all there was to see here!
His sightseeing tour wasn’t without its share of problems though. Wherever he went Ingus never failed to draw many looks towards him as he walked past. He could pick up the things they said about him, catching a varying mix of remarks like “Strange costume...” “Is he a mascot or something?” “It looks so lifelike!” “What a weirdo.” and many others. Ingus was too nervous to answer any of them, worried about what they might think.
Every now and then he would duck into an alley to escape the crowds. He couldn’t handle such a cramped situation in an unfamiliar environment. Because of this he would often nervously take a breath in for comfort, the air slowly making him grow in size. For a while everything seemed okay, as the humans hadn’t noticed his change all that much. As the day wore on, however, more and more eyes seemed to be following Ingus as he explored. Less humans walked near him, giving him a wider berth as his body took up more of the sidewalk. Some of them outright avoided him when he came near. The voices he heard before changed in tone, more worried comments taking their place. “That...that’s not normal, is it?” “That thing is awfully big to be a costume...” “Mommy, mommy! Lookit the big dragon!” “Don’t go near it, dear. It may be dangerous...”
Ingus stopped in his tracks, aware that something was amiss. For the first time in a while Ingus looked back down at himself and was surprised to see that he had doubled in size from all of his nervous breathing! The green lizard stuck out like a sore thumb, head standing above the crowds like stalk of corn in a field of wheat. He blushed slightly, embarrassed that he hadn’t noticed until now, then looked around at the humans eyeing him suspiciously. He figured now would be a good time to leave before he made a bigger scene. He thought he should first shrink back down to avoid drawing more attention. Ingus once more emptied his mind, drawing his focus towards the air swirling around inside his body. Slowly he brought his arms up to his stomach, ready to- “Ahhhhh!” Ingus yelped as his tail was grabbed, breaking his concentration. He gasped sharply from the shock, taking in a large gout of air. His body squeaked as it suddenly swelled larger, growing bigger in every aspect. The fygar looked over himself again, growling in frustration as he realized he now rose higher than the second floor windows of the buildings beside him. Annoyed, Ingus turned around to reprimand the offender.
“Hey, hands off the tail! It’s not a toy!” Ingus boomed. Anyone who wasn’t already drawn to unusual display had their full attention now, and not for the better. The sight of a giant lizard roaring at a small human child was not one to be taken lightly. If that didn’t send the wrong message, then nothing would.
The little girl shivered like a leaf, scared to her very core. The moment of anger that Ingus felt gave way quickly to regret as he realized what he had done. He reached out a hand in apology, but this only seemed to make things worse as she thought he was making to grab them, letting out a frightened squeal. Quickly the child’s mother sprang into action, dashing in to grab her as fast as she could.
“Don’t you dare touch my baby, y-you...MONSTER!!!” She yelled. Her words echoed through the streets, heard loud and clear by anyone present. That was the spark needed to ignite the fear in their hearts. All at once the city erupted in full-blown panic. People screamed and ran from the giant fygar, much to his dismay.
“What? N-no, I didn’t mean to-“ Ingus tried to explain, but to no avail. Every time he tried to approach, he was met with fearful cries and even more humans running away from him. There was no reasoning with them now. “Aww man, I really blew it this time.” Ingus grumbled. “The way things are going now, it’s probably best that I leave. No use trying to make a connection when they think you’re a monster anyway...” Dejected, Ingus turned to walk back the way he came, but surprisingly found his passage blocked. Standing defiantly in his way was another human, presumably another child from their small stature. This one seemed to have an odd coloration, primarily consisting of pink and blue. He had never seen this individual before, but something about this human seemed familiar somehow...
“Well, well, well. Look what we have here!” A young, but noticeably male voice spoke up. “I wasn’t expecting you to come and attack the city, and yet here you are!” He appeared to look over Ingus’ body for a bit before continuing. “...Thought you were a bit bigger though. No matter, this just saves me a trip!”
“Uh, have we met before?” Ingus asked.
“Oh no, of course not. You don’t know about me, but I sure know about you. Today, sweet vengeance shall be mine!”
“Vengeance? For who in the world would you seek vengeance for on me?” Ingus couldn’t follow what the kid was saying at all.
“Come on, scale-brain! Don’t tell me you don’t remember what you did to my father!”
“Okay, next is....a tablespoon of this, I think?”
Professor Frye was busy at work in his lab, a furious clinking of bottles sounding throughout the room. After Ingus had left on his journey, he holed himself him there to work on his special surprise.
“No, that’s not it.” The professor sighed, disposing of a potion. “The color and the smell are completely off.”
The professor cared for Ingus greatly. He felt responsible for everything happened after all, so it was only natural he would want to make it up to him.
“Hmm, I don’t think this one is supposed to look so...fizzy.” He said, rejecting a second potion.
“It must be pretty lonely for him, being the only one made of rubber. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for him if he had another to keep him company!” With those thoughts in mind, the professor had set himself on recreating the formula that had transformed his apprentice-turned guardian.
“Was I supposed to mix this with the green one or the blue? Ugh, why didn’t I write this stuff down!?”
However, it wasn’t as smooth sailing as he thought it would be. The potion was initially untested, and at such an early stage the professor had failed to properly record it. As a result he was forced to try to reproduce the concoction through memory. The results were...questionable at best.
“...No, that’s just completely wrong.” Professor Frye pushed aside a solution that had strangely solidified. “I didn’t think this would be so tough. Is there something I’m missing here?” The fygar searched his mind, trying to concentrate on everything he had used before. There was one ingredient he could faintly recall hadn’t been used yet. It must be the key. “What was it again...?” He rooted through cabinets and cupboards, looking for something, anything that stood out. Eventually something familiar caught his eye, or rather, his nose. Something then clicked in his mind. He remembered! It was something of an accident, but he remembered something that smelled the same being added in at some point. It was the unmistakable scent of...
“Of course! Latex!” Professor Frye exclaimed, grabbing a bottle of the liquid substance. “Huh, that seems kind of obvious in hindsight, but that’s beside the point! I should be able to make it this time!”
The professor once more began mixing liquids with renewed confidence. With the addition of latex, everything seemed to fall neatly into place from there. One ingredient led to the next almost seamlessly, as if he was right there back in the moment of the first creation. When the professor was finished, he was left with a light purple liquid, softly bubbling in its container and giving off a faint glow.
“I..I’ve done it!” Professor Frye declared, triumphantly holding the bottle up. “A perfect recreation of the rubber transformation formula. Just wait until Ingus hears about this! He won’t have to be alone on his watches anymore, since he’ll have a friend around to...” He stopped, reflecting on what he had just said. Ingus didn’t really have any friends in the first place. He was considered something of an outcast in the community before becoming guardian, and even now he wasn’t terribly social with anyone in particular. There was no “friend” that Ingus could have around with him. “Unless...”
A hard realization came upon Professor Frye. The only person that Ingus showed any real signs of enjoying being around was the professor himself. He looked again to the formula he had created, considering his options. Then, he smiled.
“Well, a new formula has to be tested, doesn’t it?” The professor looked over to a corner of the room, where a white pump had been left leaning against one of the cave walls.
“Fortunately, I happen to also have the right equipment for the job.”
“Your...father...?”
“Yes, my father!” The kid shouted. “I heard from him all about the horrible things you did to him a month ago!”
Memories of the incident all came rushing back to Ingus. He was talking about the human who came and attacked them! This must be their child then. He knew the kid looked familiar to him somehow. What he said at the end seemed to confuse him though. He did fight back in the end, but the only thing he remembers is throwing them back where they came from. “Um, ‘horrible things’? What exactly did he tell you?”
The child gasped at Ingus’ question. It appeared to both surprise and anger him. “Was my father so insignificant to you that don’t remember how you tortured him so!?”
“T-Tortured!?”
“Yeah! Dad gave me all the details on how you and your army of monsters ambushed him as soon as he arrived!”
“Huh?”
“He was held down, unable to move as you all relentlessly beat him senseless, messing with him all the while with mind games!”
“Wh-Wha-“
“But you didn’t stop there, oh no. You actually decided to give him a fighting chance, allowing him to fight back with his air pump. However, that was all a ruse so you could squash him beneath your feet!”
“That’s not-“
“It’s a wonder he even survived! I can’t even imagine what you might’ve done if he hadn’t escaped-“
“H-Hold on there!” Ingus shouted. “That’s not how it happened at all! Your father’s the one who attacked us first. He had popped several of our citizens before I got involved, and it was something of a miracle that I didn’t end up popped as well! Yes, I fought back in the end, but the worst he got was probably just a bit of soreness from where he landed after I threw him. We’re the victims here, not him!”
The kid was taken aback by this, not expecting such an adamant defense. He recovered quite quickly. “Yeah, right.” He scoffed. “Like I’d take the word of a monster over my own family! Next you’ll tell me that you only came here on some sort of sightseeing trip!”
Ingus blushed. “Erm...Actually, that’s exactly why I’m here.”
Again, he was thrown off by the fygar’s answer. “Wha....No, you can’t fool me! I saw what you did. You came here to terrorize these people because you weren’t satisfied after toying with my dad!” The kid pulled out a tool. It was a small drill of some kind. “Well I won’t stand for it! For the sake of my father and everyone in the city, I will defeat you. Then to make sure this doesn’t happen again, I’ll wipe out those islands as well!”
Ingus’ expression hardened. In spite of what he thought the child’s abilities were, he took that as a serious threat. “Over my dead body! As guardian over those islands, I won’t allow you to hurt them!”
“That can be arranged, then. I’ll make certain of that, and after today everyone will know the name Mr. Driller!”
“’Mr. Driller’?” Ingus questioned. “Aren’t you a little young for-“
“Shut up, it’s an alias!” Angered, the kid raised his drill. Upon pressing the trigger, the drill shot out of its socket. Ingus grunted as it struck his belly, sticking to it afterwards. This also felt familiar to the fygar, noticing a hose snaking out from where it hit him which was connected to the kid’s tool. “Is that...an air pump?” Ingus asked.
“Drilling may be my specialty, but it’s not my only trick!” Mr. Driller declared. “For my father’s honor, I’m going to beat you the same way he tried. He may have failed to pop you, but I won’t!”
Ingus smirked. His opponent had no idea how much he was able to hold. He thought it would be pretty fun to see how far this would go. Besides, who was he to deny a free pumping? “Bring it on, kid! I can handle whatever you throw at me!”
“If you insist!” Mr. Driller planted his pump onto the ground, extending the plunger upwards before slamming it back down. Ingus could feel the familiar rush of air entering his body at once, another inch or so adding onto his frame. He repeated the action, easing into a constant flow of air pumping through the tube.
It almost felt like a repeat of the first incident to Ingus. The fygar’s rubbery hide creaked softly as air was forced into it, a tingling sensation of growth spreading through his body. Inches made way to feet as Ingus steadily grew bigger and taller with each passing second. His belly distended outward, making him look fatter as it puffed up further than the rest of him. Being the direct point of entry, his spherical middle swelled to contain most of the air swirling around inside before evening out to the rest of him. The feeling of expansion was quite pleasurable to the fygar, rubbing his stomach as it expanded under his touch. More than once he had to stop himself from growling in delight, trying to mask his enjoyment from his opponent. However, Mr. Driller didn’t seem to notice, focused more on keeping the pace.
“There’s no shame in giving up, kid.” Ingus taunted. “You’re free to throw in the towel at any time.”
“Never!” Mr. Driller retorted. “I’ll have you popped if it’s the last thing I do!”
The inflation continued without pause. Ingus watched as his view of the city increased in scope, head peeking over the tops of smaller buildings. His size surpassed that of the largest parade balloons with still plenty a ways to go. The Fygar’s frame grew wider as well as taller, taking up progressively more and more space on the street. His enlarged feet took up the entire sidewalk on either side, big enough to crush a car with little effort. Everything around him was so much smaller than him now, and only appearing even more so as time went on. Ingus smiled, feeling more powerful the bigger he became. It felt so good being so big that he couldn’t help himself from joining in. As Mr. Driller worked his pump, Ingus took in small breaths to raise his air intake. As a result, the fygar’s size increased at a faster rate, his surroundings visibly shrinking before him as he grew. Ingus was having such a blast getting inflated that he felt like he could go on forever.
A new sensation snapped Ingus out of his expansive reverie, realization once more hitting where exactly he was. Throughout all of his rampant growth spurt, the fygar had completely blocked the street with his mass. His rubbery sides are now pressing into the buildings he stood between, giving him little room to move around. The little space he did have was also gradually diminishing as he just kept getting bigger! Ingus was beginning to feel pressure as his body was wedged into the street he was quickly outgrowing.
“Uh, kid?” Ingus spoke up. “M-Maybe you ought to stop the pumping.” His voice carried a tone of concern, something that Mr. Driller picked up on immediately.
“What’s wrong? Afraid you’re reaching your limits?” he smugly replied.
“N-No it’s not that!” Ingus winced as he heard a pressured groan coming from one of the buildings. He wasn’t worried about popping in the slightest. His attention was more on the structures around him. He knew he was a giant right now, but he didn’t want to cause more trouble by doing damage to the city. “It’s just getting a little tight in here and I thought it would be better if-“
“I’m not falling for that!” Mr. Driller cut him off. “You’re just gonna try to trick me so that you can get away or turn the tables on me. Well that’s not going to work! You must be getting desperate because I’m close to beating you, and I’m going to make sure of that!”
Feeling that victory was just over the horizon, he redoubled his efforts, wildly pumping more air into the fygar. Ingus could feel his growth speed up, increasing the pressure against his body. “I told you, that’s not what I meant!” He shouted. No answer. His rubbery hide squeaked loudly as it rubbed against the buildings constraining him. “H-Hey! Didn’t you hear me? I told you to stop!”
Mr. Driller wasn’t listening to him anymore, still blowing up Ingus further. Ingus tried to interfere, but trapped as he was, he wasn’t going anywhere. Still he continued to grow, rising head and shoulders above his surroundings. His upper body billowed over the roofs like a muffin top while his lower body presser harder against the buildings. It was getting awfully tight down there, but there was nothing Ingus could do about it. The brick and mortar structures groaned out in stress, bending away due to the immense pressure. His rubbery scales squeaked and squeezed their way into any nook and cranny they could, but it never seemed to be enough. With no options left, the still swelling fygar braced himself for the inevitable collapse.
There was a sharp cracking as the buildings finally gave out, yielding to Ingus’ widened frame. Ingus relaxed a bit, the pressure against him relieved. There was no one around to get hurt, but that wasn’t the main problem. Even though his current predicament has ended, even more buildings were in danger of being destroyed. He could feel himself still swelling larger without pause. His height stretched into the sky, standing as the tallest thing around. His feet alone took up an entire street, his middle swollen into a great heaving ball that overshadowed everything. If Ingus didn’t stop anytime soon, he could end up leveling the entire City! Mr. Driller was just too stubborn. After getting this far, he has no intention of giving up now. Ingus’ vision clouded, losing himself in his thoughts. What was he going to do? A couple of broken buildings was one thing, nut this was worse. He couldn’t show his face around here again if there’s nothing left to come back to! This was different than last time. He can’t handle this one by himself, but there’s no one around to help him!
Just then, a new shadow fell over the city. It couldn’t have been Ingus since he was already looming over it, and it was still light out.
“I came to see how your trip was going, but it looks like you got caught up in another spot of trouble, eh Ingus?”
“Huh?” Ingus snapped out of his thoughts, his vision coming back into focus. To his surprise, he found himself standing face to face with another fygar, just as enormous and squeaky as he was! For a second, Ingus thought he was looking into a mirror, but those weren’t his same features at all. In fact, they resembled someone he knew well. “...Professor?” He asked.
“Surprise!” Professor Frye replied.
Ingus had to do a double take. “Seriously!?” He reached out to touch him, getting rewarded with a trademark squeak in response. “You’re made of rubber too!” He looked the professor’s body over. “And you’re also huge! How?”
“Well, while you were gone, I was working on recreating the potion that turned you into rubber.” The professor explained. “I figured you were a bit lonely being the only one with this unique quirk, so after some deliberation, I thought it would be fun to try something new!”
“Wow, that’s amazing! I’m glad that it was you.” Ingus said.
“I knew you would. As for how I got so big...” He trailed off, blushing slightly. “You know that air pump the human who attacked us left behind? I used that to test inflating myself and I...kinda got carried away, heheh.”
“That’s an understatement.” Ingus remarked. “You’re bigger than I was this morning!”
“Er, we both are.” Professor Frye pointed out. “Speaking of, how did you get this big? I thought you were trying to not draw attention.”
“That was before I ran into this stubborn kid. Calls himself Mr. Driller. He wouldn’t stop-” It took a moment for Ingus to realize he had stopped growing. “Huh, I guess he actually did stop inflating me. What’s he doing?”
Both of them looked down, scanning the tiny streets below them for signs of life. There, sitting on the ground a short distance of Ingus’ feet, was Mr. Driller, trembling in fear at the two titanic fygar blimps that towered over him like he were a mere insect.
“T-T-Two of them!?” He stuttered. “D-Dad didn’t say a-anything about two giants attacking him! I-I’m not prepared for this! I have to g-g-get outta here!”
“Oh, He’s running away.” Professor Frye observed.
“Ha! I think you spooked him when you showed up.” Ingus laughed. “He’s not getting away that easily though!”
Mr. Driller didn’t make it very far. Ingus bent down, only needed to take a single step forward before he had overtaken the small human. Carefully, the fygar snatched him between two claws, leaving him dangling several hundred feet in the air when brought level with the two giants’ heads.
“Hmm, so this is the human who was giving you trouble.” The professor mused, taking a closer look.
“Let me go you scaly beast!” Mr. Driller defiantly shouted. “Fight me fair and square!”
“Still being stubborn are we?” Ingus snorted. “It’s over, and clearly you lost.”
“Quite a feisty little guy.” Professor Frye commented. “He’s only a child, right? Why would he attack you?”
“Get this. Apparently the guy who attacked us a month ago is this kid’s father.”
“His father!? Interesting. So he blew you up then?”
Ingus nodded. “Yep. The dad fed him some bogus story to antagonize us. He was actually on his way to attack the islands, so if I missed him you would’ve had to deal with him.”
“Well that’s not good. What do you think we should do with him?”
“I-I’m not scared of you monsters!” Mr. Driller yelled. “I can take whatever you can give! Beat me up, squash me, punish me however you want! I’ll never yield!”
“Keep that up and I may take you up on that offer!” Ingus replied. He brought the little human closer, dangling him over his mouth in an attempt to scare him. It worked almost too well.
“Waaahhhhhh! P-P-Please don’t eat me! I didn’t mean what I said! I’m sorry! I’ll do anything!” Mr. Driller’s false courage quickly vanished, holding back tears as he feared for his life.
“That’s what I thought.” Ingus remarked, returning him to the previous position.
“Were you actually going to do anything?” the professor questioned.
“Of course not. Enemy or not, I’m not gonna hurt a child! We’re trying to make a good impression on these humans, remember?”
“Not exactly a good impression you made today.”
Ingus sighed. “You got me there. As for you, kid...” Ingus bent back down, depositing Mr. Driller safely onto the sidewalk. “Go home. You’re lucky I liked the inflation, so I’ll let you off easy. Maybe next time we can try talking instead of fighting.”
Mr. Driller’s composure returned once he was on solid ground again. “Ha! Like that will ever happen! You monsters better be ready, because next time-“
Ingus silenced him by stomping a puffy foot in his direction. “Don’t press your luck, kid.” He threatened.
“I-I-I’m sorry!” The child managed to squeak out before running for home.
“Still not a very good example there.” Professor Frye commented, watching the human leave.
“Hey, I won’t bother him if he won’t.” Ingus said. “Besides, no one else was around to see it.”
“And why do you suppose they all ran off as well?”
“Well I...” Ingus fidgeted with his hands. “...yelled at a kid who grabbed my tail.” The professor shot him an unimpressed look. “So I got a little angry. It happens to everyone!” He defended.
Professor Frye shook his head. “You’ve got a long ways to go, Ingus.” He said. “Thought to be fair, I wasn’t expecting any rousing success in the first place.”
“Did you have that little confidence in me?” Ingus asked.
“No, it’s not that. You should know all too well that the humans just aren’t ready for us yet.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Ingus sighed. The professor gave him a pat on the shoulder.
“Hey, don’t feel too bad. You can come back and try again as many times as you need, as long as I get to come too.”
“Er, why?”
“Firstly, It would be safer for the both of us if we had each other’s backs. Today’s events proved it’s dangerous to be out here alone. It wouldn’t hurt for you to be more careful as well. Second, I personally think I’d be a better negotiator.”
“Eheh, no objections there.” Ingus said. “But what about the islands? There’d be no one to protect them when we’re gone.”
“Eh, I can whip up another potion as long as there are willing participants. Now c’mon, let’s get back home. We’re probably going to be needed for rebuilding. Again.”
“Again? Were you attacked after all?”
“No, I...ended up wrecking the caves during my testing with the air pump.” Professor Frye admitted.
“Looks like we both need to be more careful.” Ingus chuckled.
“Indeed.”
Together, the two humongous rubber fygars headed back out to sea, weary after a long day of discovery and inflation. It was unknown when the pair of giants would eventually return to the city, but considering what had happened along with the people he met, Ingus thought it certainly wouldn’t get boring anytime soon.
After all, He has plenty more opportunities to expand his horizons in more ways than one.
This turned out to be a pretty special project. It started off as
Draco-rex suggesting that I make a sequel to the first Dig Dug story. I figured why not since it seemed interesting (I guess you could technically call this a request?). I'm quite happy with the result. Story contains inflation and macro elements.A big thanks to
blkdragon for providing the thumbnail and 6 illustrations for the story! (check his channel to see them after he's uploaded them or download the pdf) He did an amazing job with them and it adds a charm that I just can't get enough of. Great stuff.Enjoy!~
Dig Dug Diplomacy
“Hmm. Clear skies again today.” Ingus idly mused from where he sat in the water, effortlessly floating across the surface with the lightness of his body. The coolness of the sea breeze along with the warm rays of the sun felt nice upon his rubbery scales. It would have looked like he was on vacation if he wasn’t actually on duty at the moment. “And still as quiet as ever too.” He sighed.
Ingus knew that was a good thing, but it didn’t stop his mind from wandering back to that exciting day. It felt like ages ago since the incident, whereupon messing with an untested chemical while apprenticing for the local scientist had turned the fygar into rubber. In the same day, their underground home had been invaded by an unknown assailant. Armed with a device that pumped air into their victims, they went around popping any fygar or pooka that crossed their path. That is, until Ingus got involved. His new body proved ineffective against the attacker’s methods, sporting an unrivaled capacity for air that grew to be too much for them to handle. Having saved the day against their mysterious foe, Ingus was given the honor of guardian, tasked with protecting the islands with his newfound power.
It’s been almost a month since then, and nothing of the sort has happened again. Ingus sighed again. He had accepted the position of guardian eagerly, hoping he’d be able to help the community in a way that no one else could. However, aside from the first incident, nothing else has required his attention. It’s left the fygar bored, to say the least.
“Hey, how’s the guard duty going, Ingus?” He heard someone call him. Ingus shifted his body, rubbery sides squeaking as he moved. His looming form cast as shadow over the island he looked towards, having been spending most of his time outside playing as a giant balloon. He quite enjoyed himself at such sizes even though it was a bit of a chore to shrink back down. Within Ingus’ all-encompassing shade was a familiar face standing on the beach.
Oh, Hi professor.” Ingus greeted. Professor Frye was the fygar who had been previously mentoring over Ingus before his recent change, responsible in part by being the one who created the formula that changed him in the first place. Though their work is different now, they still keep in touch. “It’s peaceful as usual, and frankly, boring.”
“Ingus, did you really expect every day to be as exciting as the first?” The professor asked.
“Well...no, but still! I’ve pretty much had nothing to do in this past month and it’s making me antsy. It gets pretty lonely out here by myself without some company or work to occupy myself.”
“Well, that’s why I come out here so often to check up on you.” Professor Frye pointed out.
“And I appreciate that.” Ingus replied, smiling. “You can’t be here all the time though. You have your own work to do, and it’s not like there’s anyone else here who could do my job.”
“Why not take the day off and do something different?” Professor Frye suggested. “Is there anything in particular you’ve wanted to do lately?”
“...Now that you mention it, there is.” Ingus said.
“Oh? And what would that me?” the professor probed.
“I...was thinking about leaving the islands for a bit”
“What!? Whatever spurred you into doing this?”
“Well, you know how I’ve had a lot of free time to myself lately?” Ingus explained. “I’ve spent a lot of that letting my mind wander. Naturally, most of my thoughts drifted to the day this all started. I thought about a lot of things of that day, but the biggest mystery by far was that creature who attacked us. Who were they? What did they want? Where did they come from? I wanted to know more about them, but these weren’t questions I could answer by myself, but there was somewhere that could give me some clues.”
“And this place was?”
“The library.” Ingus continued. “I found myself searching in there on some of my off-time. There was an old archive I found in there about some of our old history. It was there that I learned about humans.”
“Humans?” Professor Frye repeated. “Was that strange person who attacked us one of them?”
“I believe so.” Ingus said. “We actually have a bit of a history of interactions with them from many generations back. I wasn’t able to make out everything, but from the looks of things they weren’t exactly all friendly exchanges. You could probably tell how it ended, seeing as we’re separated by an ocean now.”
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be best if we stayed clear of them?”
“Maybe so, but that’s not going to satisfy me.” Ingus said. “I’m curious about them, professor. I want to know more about them. How they live, what they do. I want to see if I can get some friendliness out of them. You never know, they may not be the same creatures that our ancestors met.”
Professor Frye thought about it for a moment. “You make a good argument there.” He said. “I’m actually kind of curious myself and I would love to have the chance to make some new discoveries. This is your trip though, and I’ll respectfully leave it to you.”
“You sure? I could bring you along if you want.” Ingus offered.
“The islands can survive for a few hours without one of us, but missing both our guardian and lead scientist would likely lead into a panic. Besides, I’ve got a project of my own to look over.”
“Hmm? What kind of project?” Ingus inquired.
“Heh, that’s a secret.” Professor Frye teased. “It’ll probably be done before you get back, so I’ll surprise you!”
“Aww, okay. I’ll hold you to that!” Ingus replied. “Now uh, before I go, there’s something I gotta do first.” The fygar relaxed, focusing his mind on the current task. Slowly he brought his hand up to his belly, gradually pressing them inward. The pressure he exerted against his gut traveled upward, rising up his throat and coming out at a jet of air shooting out of his mouth. With a faint hissing noise, he began to deflate, shrinking in size as he continued to exhale. Ingus never liked this part, thinking it a chore having to put so much effort into shrinking down. Puffing up was so much easier and he enjoyed his size, but even being big had its disadvantages.
Ingus stopped shrinking when he was on the beach once more, standing eye to eye with the professor. “I can’t go running around the humans as a giant balloon now, can I? I’d likely freak them out if they saw me like that.”
“That’s assuming they won’t freak out just seeing you normally.” The professor quipped.
“Er, right.” Ingus chuckled. “I’ll be fine! Maybe.”
“You’d better, or else we’ll make a rescue party to bring you back if you take too long!”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Ingus said. “Anyway, I have a bit of a swim ahead of me, so I should probably get going. You sure things will be fine while I’m gone?”
“Of course!” Professor Frye assured, patting Ingus on the shoulder “Just make sure you have a safe trip, alright?”
“I’ll try!” Ingus said. He backed up a bit before turning around flopping back onto the water, heading out to sea. “That surprise better be worth it!” He called.
“Oh it will!” the professor answered back “Take care!”
Professor Frye sat and watched from the shoreline as Ingus paddled his way across the water, steadily shrinking into the distance as he got further away. Once the fygar had disappeared beyond the horizon, he got up to return to the caves.
“Alright, let’s see what I can do about that surprise...”
Farther and farther Ingus floated, the islands he was tasked with guarding disappearing from sight behind him. His heart-rate began to speed up. He had never been away from the islands before, and the thought of going into the unknown both frightened and excited him. Still, he kept a steady pace. He wasn’t going to turn around and go back now after he had set his mind to this. The rubber fygar was going to see this through!
After an indeterminate amount of time seeing nothing but blue sea all around him, something new appeared on the horizon. Land! New and strange scenery came into view as he drifted closer. Several tall structures adorned the landscape as far as he could see. He at first thought they were mountains, but the shape was completely different. They didn’t look to be natural in the slightest. This only spurred the fygar’s curiosity further, quickening his pace until he came close to the unfamiliar shore. Not wanting to be seen coming in from the ocean, Ingus maneuvered himself as best he could to a patch of sand where he could land unnoticed.
The beach that he reached was radically different than the one he left. Most notably, it was absolutely crowded with strange beings of all different shapes and sizes. “These must be the humans I’ve read about.” Ingus said to himself. They all seemed to differ greatly to the one he had encountered previously. For one thing, their bodies all looked to have a great variety of color to them! No too humans looked that much alike. Such diversity astounded him. “I wonder if-“
“Hey dude, Nice costume! Ain’t it a bit early for Halloween though?”
Ingus turned to where the voice came from, seeing a slender human walk by from behind him. He gave a passing wave along with a look of approval, going on his merry way without stopping. Ingus would only manage a nervous half-wave in response. The fygar’s heart beat pretty fast at that. It was just a passing compliment, nothing too serious, but nothing bad happened! The human didn’t seem too fazed by his presence, which probably meant he would be fine without trying to sneak around. He didn’t know what he meant about a “costume” though. Turning his attention back to the towering structures that first caught his eye, Ingus crossed the beach to make his way closer.
Every minute seemed to bring with it more discoveries to the fygar. Almost everywhere he looked, aside from the odd tree or other plant, wasn’t a part of the natural scenery. Even the ground he walked on, which felt hard under his feet, was unnatural. Unlike his community’s underground dwellings, the humans made their homes above ground, with the tall structures lining the paths serving as homes. Then there were the strange metal beasts that roamed the center. The various tools at the humans’ disposal filled him with intrigue. Even more intriguing were the humans themselves. There was a wide variety of different types around the beach before, but there was even more all around him! Seeing all these different individuals, all with with their own unique features was overwhelming for him. There seemed to be no end to the discoveries he was making. He almost wished he had brought Professor Frye along. He would’ve had a field day with all there was to see here!
His sightseeing tour wasn’t without its share of problems though. Wherever he went Ingus never failed to draw many looks towards him as he walked past. He could pick up the things they said about him, catching a varying mix of remarks like “Strange costume...” “Is he a mascot or something?” “It looks so lifelike!” “What a weirdo.” and many others. Ingus was too nervous to answer any of them, worried about what they might think.
Every now and then he would duck into an alley to escape the crowds. He couldn’t handle such a cramped situation in an unfamiliar environment. Because of this he would often nervously take a breath in for comfort, the air slowly making him grow in size. For a while everything seemed okay, as the humans hadn’t noticed his change all that much. As the day wore on, however, more and more eyes seemed to be following Ingus as he explored. Less humans walked near him, giving him a wider berth as his body took up more of the sidewalk. Some of them outright avoided him when he came near. The voices he heard before changed in tone, more worried comments taking their place. “That...that’s not normal, is it?” “That thing is awfully big to be a costume...” “Mommy, mommy! Lookit the big dragon!” “Don’t go near it, dear. It may be dangerous...”
Ingus stopped in his tracks, aware that something was amiss. For the first time in a while Ingus looked back down at himself and was surprised to see that he had doubled in size from all of his nervous breathing! The green lizard stuck out like a sore thumb, head standing above the crowds like stalk of corn in a field of wheat. He blushed slightly, embarrassed that he hadn’t noticed until now, then looked around at the humans eyeing him suspiciously. He figured now would be a good time to leave before he made a bigger scene. He thought he should first shrink back down to avoid drawing more attention. Ingus once more emptied his mind, drawing his focus towards the air swirling around inside his body. Slowly he brought his arms up to his stomach, ready to- “Ahhhhh!” Ingus yelped as his tail was grabbed, breaking his concentration. He gasped sharply from the shock, taking in a large gout of air. His body squeaked as it suddenly swelled larger, growing bigger in every aspect. The fygar looked over himself again, growling in frustration as he realized he now rose higher than the second floor windows of the buildings beside him. Annoyed, Ingus turned around to reprimand the offender.
“Hey, hands off the tail! It’s not a toy!” Ingus boomed. Anyone who wasn’t already drawn to unusual display had their full attention now, and not for the better. The sight of a giant lizard roaring at a small human child was not one to be taken lightly. If that didn’t send the wrong message, then nothing would.
The little girl shivered like a leaf, scared to her very core. The moment of anger that Ingus felt gave way quickly to regret as he realized what he had done. He reached out a hand in apology, but this only seemed to make things worse as she thought he was making to grab them, letting out a frightened squeal. Quickly the child’s mother sprang into action, dashing in to grab her as fast as she could.
“Don’t you dare touch my baby, y-you...MONSTER!!!” She yelled. Her words echoed through the streets, heard loud and clear by anyone present. That was the spark needed to ignite the fear in their hearts. All at once the city erupted in full-blown panic. People screamed and ran from the giant fygar, much to his dismay.
“What? N-no, I didn’t mean to-“ Ingus tried to explain, but to no avail. Every time he tried to approach, he was met with fearful cries and even more humans running away from him. There was no reasoning with them now. “Aww man, I really blew it this time.” Ingus grumbled. “The way things are going now, it’s probably best that I leave. No use trying to make a connection when they think you’re a monster anyway...” Dejected, Ingus turned to walk back the way he came, but surprisingly found his passage blocked. Standing defiantly in his way was another human, presumably another child from their small stature. This one seemed to have an odd coloration, primarily consisting of pink and blue. He had never seen this individual before, but something about this human seemed familiar somehow...
“Well, well, well. Look what we have here!” A young, but noticeably male voice spoke up. “I wasn’t expecting you to come and attack the city, and yet here you are!” He appeared to look over Ingus’ body for a bit before continuing. “...Thought you were a bit bigger though. No matter, this just saves me a trip!”
“Uh, have we met before?” Ingus asked.
“Oh no, of course not. You don’t know about me, but I sure know about you. Today, sweet vengeance shall be mine!”
“Vengeance? For who in the world would you seek vengeance for on me?” Ingus couldn’t follow what the kid was saying at all.
“Come on, scale-brain! Don’t tell me you don’t remember what you did to my father!”
“Okay, next is....a tablespoon of this, I think?”
Professor Frye was busy at work in his lab, a furious clinking of bottles sounding throughout the room. After Ingus had left on his journey, he holed himself him there to work on his special surprise.
“No, that’s not it.” The professor sighed, disposing of a potion. “The color and the smell are completely off.”
The professor cared for Ingus greatly. He felt responsible for everything happened after all, so it was only natural he would want to make it up to him.
“Hmm, I don’t think this one is supposed to look so...fizzy.” He said, rejecting a second potion.
“It must be pretty lonely for him, being the only one made of rubber. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for him if he had another to keep him company!” With those thoughts in mind, the professor had set himself on recreating the formula that had transformed his apprentice-turned guardian.
“Was I supposed to mix this with the green one or the blue? Ugh, why didn’t I write this stuff down!?”
However, it wasn’t as smooth sailing as he thought it would be. The potion was initially untested, and at such an early stage the professor had failed to properly record it. As a result he was forced to try to reproduce the concoction through memory. The results were...questionable at best.
“...No, that’s just completely wrong.” Professor Frye pushed aside a solution that had strangely solidified. “I didn’t think this would be so tough. Is there something I’m missing here?” The fygar searched his mind, trying to concentrate on everything he had used before. There was one ingredient he could faintly recall hadn’t been used yet. It must be the key. “What was it again...?” He rooted through cabinets and cupboards, looking for something, anything that stood out. Eventually something familiar caught his eye, or rather, his nose. Something then clicked in his mind. He remembered! It was something of an accident, but he remembered something that smelled the same being added in at some point. It was the unmistakable scent of...
“Of course! Latex!” Professor Frye exclaimed, grabbing a bottle of the liquid substance. “Huh, that seems kind of obvious in hindsight, but that’s beside the point! I should be able to make it this time!”
The professor once more began mixing liquids with renewed confidence. With the addition of latex, everything seemed to fall neatly into place from there. One ingredient led to the next almost seamlessly, as if he was right there back in the moment of the first creation. When the professor was finished, he was left with a light purple liquid, softly bubbling in its container and giving off a faint glow.
“I..I’ve done it!” Professor Frye declared, triumphantly holding the bottle up. “A perfect recreation of the rubber transformation formula. Just wait until Ingus hears about this! He won’t have to be alone on his watches anymore, since he’ll have a friend around to...” He stopped, reflecting on what he had just said. Ingus didn’t really have any friends in the first place. He was considered something of an outcast in the community before becoming guardian, and even now he wasn’t terribly social with anyone in particular. There was no “friend” that Ingus could have around with him. “Unless...”
A hard realization came upon Professor Frye. The only person that Ingus showed any real signs of enjoying being around was the professor himself. He looked again to the formula he had created, considering his options. Then, he smiled.
“Well, a new formula has to be tested, doesn’t it?” The professor looked over to a corner of the room, where a white pump had been left leaning against one of the cave walls.
“Fortunately, I happen to also have the right equipment for the job.”
“Your...father...?”
“Yes, my father!” The kid shouted. “I heard from him all about the horrible things you did to him a month ago!”
Memories of the incident all came rushing back to Ingus. He was talking about the human who came and attacked them! This must be their child then. He knew the kid looked familiar to him somehow. What he said at the end seemed to confuse him though. He did fight back in the end, but the only thing he remembers is throwing them back where they came from. “Um, ‘horrible things’? What exactly did he tell you?”
The child gasped at Ingus’ question. It appeared to both surprise and anger him. “Was my father so insignificant to you that don’t remember how you tortured him so!?”
“T-Tortured!?”
“Yeah! Dad gave me all the details on how you and your army of monsters ambushed him as soon as he arrived!”
“Huh?”
“He was held down, unable to move as you all relentlessly beat him senseless, messing with him all the while with mind games!”
“Wh-Wha-“
“But you didn’t stop there, oh no. You actually decided to give him a fighting chance, allowing him to fight back with his air pump. However, that was all a ruse so you could squash him beneath your feet!”
“That’s not-“
“It’s a wonder he even survived! I can’t even imagine what you might’ve done if he hadn’t escaped-“
“H-Hold on there!” Ingus shouted. “That’s not how it happened at all! Your father’s the one who attacked us first. He had popped several of our citizens before I got involved, and it was something of a miracle that I didn’t end up popped as well! Yes, I fought back in the end, but the worst he got was probably just a bit of soreness from where he landed after I threw him. We’re the victims here, not him!”
The kid was taken aback by this, not expecting such an adamant defense. He recovered quite quickly. “Yeah, right.” He scoffed. “Like I’d take the word of a monster over my own family! Next you’ll tell me that you only came here on some sort of sightseeing trip!”
Ingus blushed. “Erm...Actually, that’s exactly why I’m here.”
Again, he was thrown off by the fygar’s answer. “Wha....No, you can’t fool me! I saw what you did. You came here to terrorize these people because you weren’t satisfied after toying with my dad!” The kid pulled out a tool. It was a small drill of some kind. “Well I won’t stand for it! For the sake of my father and everyone in the city, I will defeat you. Then to make sure this doesn’t happen again, I’ll wipe out those islands as well!”
Ingus’ expression hardened. In spite of what he thought the child’s abilities were, he took that as a serious threat. “Over my dead body! As guardian over those islands, I won’t allow you to hurt them!”
“That can be arranged, then. I’ll make certain of that, and after today everyone will know the name Mr. Driller!”
“’Mr. Driller’?” Ingus questioned. “Aren’t you a little young for-“
“Shut up, it’s an alias!” Angered, the kid raised his drill. Upon pressing the trigger, the drill shot out of its socket. Ingus grunted as it struck his belly, sticking to it afterwards. This also felt familiar to the fygar, noticing a hose snaking out from where it hit him which was connected to the kid’s tool. “Is that...an air pump?” Ingus asked.
“Drilling may be my specialty, but it’s not my only trick!” Mr. Driller declared. “For my father’s honor, I’m going to beat you the same way he tried. He may have failed to pop you, but I won’t!”
Ingus smirked. His opponent had no idea how much he was able to hold. He thought it would be pretty fun to see how far this would go. Besides, who was he to deny a free pumping? “Bring it on, kid! I can handle whatever you throw at me!”
“If you insist!” Mr. Driller planted his pump onto the ground, extending the plunger upwards before slamming it back down. Ingus could feel the familiar rush of air entering his body at once, another inch or so adding onto his frame. He repeated the action, easing into a constant flow of air pumping through the tube.
It almost felt like a repeat of the first incident to Ingus. The fygar’s rubbery hide creaked softly as air was forced into it, a tingling sensation of growth spreading through his body. Inches made way to feet as Ingus steadily grew bigger and taller with each passing second. His belly distended outward, making him look fatter as it puffed up further than the rest of him. Being the direct point of entry, his spherical middle swelled to contain most of the air swirling around inside before evening out to the rest of him. The feeling of expansion was quite pleasurable to the fygar, rubbing his stomach as it expanded under his touch. More than once he had to stop himself from growling in delight, trying to mask his enjoyment from his opponent. However, Mr. Driller didn’t seem to notice, focused more on keeping the pace.
“There’s no shame in giving up, kid.” Ingus taunted. “You’re free to throw in the towel at any time.”
“Never!” Mr. Driller retorted. “I’ll have you popped if it’s the last thing I do!”
The inflation continued without pause. Ingus watched as his view of the city increased in scope, head peeking over the tops of smaller buildings. His size surpassed that of the largest parade balloons with still plenty a ways to go. The Fygar’s frame grew wider as well as taller, taking up progressively more and more space on the street. His enlarged feet took up the entire sidewalk on either side, big enough to crush a car with little effort. Everything around him was so much smaller than him now, and only appearing even more so as time went on. Ingus smiled, feeling more powerful the bigger he became. It felt so good being so big that he couldn’t help himself from joining in. As Mr. Driller worked his pump, Ingus took in small breaths to raise his air intake. As a result, the fygar’s size increased at a faster rate, his surroundings visibly shrinking before him as he grew. Ingus was having such a blast getting inflated that he felt like he could go on forever.
A new sensation snapped Ingus out of his expansive reverie, realization once more hitting where exactly he was. Throughout all of his rampant growth spurt, the fygar had completely blocked the street with his mass. His rubbery sides are now pressing into the buildings he stood between, giving him little room to move around. The little space he did have was also gradually diminishing as he just kept getting bigger! Ingus was beginning to feel pressure as his body was wedged into the street he was quickly outgrowing.
“Uh, kid?” Ingus spoke up. “M-Maybe you ought to stop the pumping.” His voice carried a tone of concern, something that Mr. Driller picked up on immediately.
“What’s wrong? Afraid you’re reaching your limits?” he smugly replied.
“N-No it’s not that!” Ingus winced as he heard a pressured groan coming from one of the buildings. He wasn’t worried about popping in the slightest. His attention was more on the structures around him. He knew he was a giant right now, but he didn’t want to cause more trouble by doing damage to the city. “It’s just getting a little tight in here and I thought it would be better if-“
“I’m not falling for that!” Mr. Driller cut him off. “You’re just gonna try to trick me so that you can get away or turn the tables on me. Well that’s not going to work! You must be getting desperate because I’m close to beating you, and I’m going to make sure of that!”
Feeling that victory was just over the horizon, he redoubled his efforts, wildly pumping more air into the fygar. Ingus could feel his growth speed up, increasing the pressure against his body. “I told you, that’s not what I meant!” He shouted. No answer. His rubbery hide squeaked loudly as it rubbed against the buildings constraining him. “H-Hey! Didn’t you hear me? I told you to stop!”
Mr. Driller wasn’t listening to him anymore, still blowing up Ingus further. Ingus tried to interfere, but trapped as he was, he wasn’t going anywhere. Still he continued to grow, rising head and shoulders above his surroundings. His upper body billowed over the roofs like a muffin top while his lower body presser harder against the buildings. It was getting awfully tight down there, but there was nothing Ingus could do about it. The brick and mortar structures groaned out in stress, bending away due to the immense pressure. His rubbery scales squeaked and squeezed their way into any nook and cranny they could, but it never seemed to be enough. With no options left, the still swelling fygar braced himself for the inevitable collapse.
There was a sharp cracking as the buildings finally gave out, yielding to Ingus’ widened frame. Ingus relaxed a bit, the pressure against him relieved. There was no one around to get hurt, but that wasn’t the main problem. Even though his current predicament has ended, even more buildings were in danger of being destroyed. He could feel himself still swelling larger without pause. His height stretched into the sky, standing as the tallest thing around. His feet alone took up an entire street, his middle swollen into a great heaving ball that overshadowed everything. If Ingus didn’t stop anytime soon, he could end up leveling the entire City! Mr. Driller was just too stubborn. After getting this far, he has no intention of giving up now. Ingus’ vision clouded, losing himself in his thoughts. What was he going to do? A couple of broken buildings was one thing, nut this was worse. He couldn’t show his face around here again if there’s nothing left to come back to! This was different than last time. He can’t handle this one by himself, but there’s no one around to help him!
Just then, a new shadow fell over the city. It couldn’t have been Ingus since he was already looming over it, and it was still light out.
“I came to see how your trip was going, but it looks like you got caught up in another spot of trouble, eh Ingus?”
“Huh?” Ingus snapped out of his thoughts, his vision coming back into focus. To his surprise, he found himself standing face to face with another fygar, just as enormous and squeaky as he was! For a second, Ingus thought he was looking into a mirror, but those weren’t his same features at all. In fact, they resembled someone he knew well. “...Professor?” He asked.
“Surprise!” Professor Frye replied.
Ingus had to do a double take. “Seriously!?” He reached out to touch him, getting rewarded with a trademark squeak in response. “You’re made of rubber too!” He looked the professor’s body over. “And you’re also huge! How?”
“Well, while you were gone, I was working on recreating the potion that turned you into rubber.” The professor explained. “I figured you were a bit lonely being the only one with this unique quirk, so after some deliberation, I thought it would be fun to try something new!”
“Wow, that’s amazing! I’m glad that it was you.” Ingus said.
“I knew you would. As for how I got so big...” He trailed off, blushing slightly. “You know that air pump the human who attacked us left behind? I used that to test inflating myself and I...kinda got carried away, heheh.”
“That’s an understatement.” Ingus remarked. “You’re bigger than I was this morning!”
“Er, we both are.” Professor Frye pointed out. “Speaking of, how did you get this big? I thought you were trying to not draw attention.”
“That was before I ran into this stubborn kid. Calls himself Mr. Driller. He wouldn’t stop-” It took a moment for Ingus to realize he had stopped growing. “Huh, I guess he actually did stop inflating me. What’s he doing?”
Both of them looked down, scanning the tiny streets below them for signs of life. There, sitting on the ground a short distance of Ingus’ feet, was Mr. Driller, trembling in fear at the two titanic fygar blimps that towered over him like he were a mere insect.
“T-T-Two of them!?” He stuttered. “D-Dad didn’t say a-anything about two giants attacking him! I-I’m not prepared for this! I have to g-g-get outta here!”
“Oh, He’s running away.” Professor Frye observed.
“Ha! I think you spooked him when you showed up.” Ingus laughed. “He’s not getting away that easily though!”
Mr. Driller didn’t make it very far. Ingus bent down, only needed to take a single step forward before he had overtaken the small human. Carefully, the fygar snatched him between two claws, leaving him dangling several hundred feet in the air when brought level with the two giants’ heads.
“Hmm, so this is the human who was giving you trouble.” The professor mused, taking a closer look.
“Let me go you scaly beast!” Mr. Driller defiantly shouted. “Fight me fair and square!”
“Still being stubborn are we?” Ingus snorted. “It’s over, and clearly you lost.”
“Quite a feisty little guy.” Professor Frye commented. “He’s only a child, right? Why would he attack you?”
“Get this. Apparently the guy who attacked us a month ago is this kid’s father.”
“His father!? Interesting. So he blew you up then?”
Ingus nodded. “Yep. The dad fed him some bogus story to antagonize us. He was actually on his way to attack the islands, so if I missed him you would’ve had to deal with him.”
“Well that’s not good. What do you think we should do with him?”
“I-I’m not scared of you monsters!” Mr. Driller yelled. “I can take whatever you can give! Beat me up, squash me, punish me however you want! I’ll never yield!”
“Keep that up and I may take you up on that offer!” Ingus replied. He brought the little human closer, dangling him over his mouth in an attempt to scare him. It worked almost too well.
“Waaahhhhhh! P-P-Please don’t eat me! I didn’t mean what I said! I’m sorry! I’ll do anything!” Mr. Driller’s false courage quickly vanished, holding back tears as he feared for his life.
“That’s what I thought.” Ingus remarked, returning him to the previous position.
“Were you actually going to do anything?” the professor questioned.
“Of course not. Enemy or not, I’m not gonna hurt a child! We’re trying to make a good impression on these humans, remember?”
“Not exactly a good impression you made today.”
Ingus sighed. “You got me there. As for you, kid...” Ingus bent back down, depositing Mr. Driller safely onto the sidewalk. “Go home. You’re lucky I liked the inflation, so I’ll let you off easy. Maybe next time we can try talking instead of fighting.”
Mr. Driller’s composure returned once he was on solid ground again. “Ha! Like that will ever happen! You monsters better be ready, because next time-“
Ingus silenced him by stomping a puffy foot in his direction. “Don’t press your luck, kid.” He threatened.
“I-I-I’m sorry!” The child managed to squeak out before running for home.
“Still not a very good example there.” Professor Frye commented, watching the human leave.
“Hey, I won’t bother him if he won’t.” Ingus said. “Besides, no one else was around to see it.”
“And why do you suppose they all ran off as well?”
“Well I...” Ingus fidgeted with his hands. “...yelled at a kid who grabbed my tail.” The professor shot him an unimpressed look. “So I got a little angry. It happens to everyone!” He defended.
Professor Frye shook his head. “You’ve got a long ways to go, Ingus.” He said. “Thought to be fair, I wasn’t expecting any rousing success in the first place.”
“Did you have that little confidence in me?” Ingus asked.
“No, it’s not that. You should know all too well that the humans just aren’t ready for us yet.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Ingus sighed. The professor gave him a pat on the shoulder.
“Hey, don’t feel too bad. You can come back and try again as many times as you need, as long as I get to come too.”
“Er, why?”
“Firstly, It would be safer for the both of us if we had each other’s backs. Today’s events proved it’s dangerous to be out here alone. It wouldn’t hurt for you to be more careful as well. Second, I personally think I’d be a better negotiator.”
“Eheh, no objections there.” Ingus said. “But what about the islands? There’d be no one to protect them when we’re gone.”
“Eh, I can whip up another potion as long as there are willing participants. Now c’mon, let’s get back home. We’re probably going to be needed for rebuilding. Again.”
“Again? Were you attacked after all?”
“No, I...ended up wrecking the caves during my testing with the air pump.” Professor Frye admitted.
“Looks like we both need to be more careful.” Ingus chuckled.
“Indeed.”
Together, the two humongous rubber fygars headed back out to sea, weary after a long day of discovery and inflation. It was unknown when the pair of giants would eventually return to the city, but considering what had happened along with the people he met, Ingus thought it certainly wouldn’t get boring anytime soon.
After all, He has plenty more opportunities to expand his horizons in more ways than one.
Category Story / Inflation
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 742.2 kB
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