Collab between  kikatsu and I.

Enjoy!

---

One would say that the crashing waves against the Port City harbor were relaxing. The rhythmic sound of each push of the tide, combined with the sea breeze would certainly make anyone from sailor to tourist feel at home. But Rica was neither a sightseer nor a seaman. Rica was a witch. A rare profession in any time to be sure, most witches were merely dabblers of medicine and superstition… But Rica? Rica was very much the real deal. Under the cover of night, the lanky, dark-furred llama had no issues managing herself in the shadows. Standing up straight for a moment, she gave a quick stretch before looking up at the warehouse in front of her, a single, eloquent M painted on the side of it.
"So this is where she wanted to meet me huh? Alone no less. For a billionaire or whatever, she sure picked a sketchy place to meet." She mumbled to herself. The moon overhead cast it's light onto Rica's back, bringing her silhouette into focus. But as a lone cloud drifted in front of Earth's single heavenly body, the shadows cast behind the Lama's began to shift… The mass of black forming a bulky hand that gripped her tall hat, centering it atop her head and dusting off the back of her long dark robes. "I've always hated interviews. Hrmph." She said with a smile, the mass of shadows dissipating behind her as she opened the warehouse door and stepped inside.


Madison Maxwell stood in the dimly lit room. furnished with a pair of lavish leather chairs and covered with featureless ceramic wall panelling. A single table with a tray of simple packaged snacks and bottled spring water stood alone in the center. Certainly inoffensive to anybody, it was a spread that was designed to please all tastes... Even if it lacked flair. But this was a meeting between criminals in any case, elegance wasn’t usually expected in an exchange like this. Still, it didn’t hurt to be prepared in any case. Pacing back and forth across the back wall, the towering, white-suited, obese alpaca impatiently flipped through her phones various menus and memos. Appointments, emails, meetings, mergers, flights and firm handshakes. The top of the list was never motionless, and the bottom had no end. Truthfully, Maddy was thankful for a meeting far away from the various offices and fancy restaurants. A fun callback to her days of crime and skullduggery, days that never ever seemed too far behind her no matter how many half hearted attempts she made to go straight. This was yet another bi-quarterly relapse, meeting with the Shadow Witch Rica. She’d show up on international news now and then, definitely one of the ‘high profile’ criminals you’d see in a hero movie or some such. Maddy stopped pacing for a moment to ponder a thought. Was Shadow Witch her official title? Or was this one of those ‘embellished resume’ bits? The notion of a witch might have been crazy to the alpaca a few years ago, but as of late she’d seen no shortage of what folks might consider supernatural. If she could make contact with one such ‘witch’, she’d be sure that’s a great person to have on her side. And if things fell through? She’d have one less witch to worry about running around Port City.


Rica stepped through the side door of the warehouse and into the room Maddy was waiting, the business woman flashing a reserved smile.
“Well hey there. Rica, right? I’m Madison Maxwell, thanks for taking the time to meet me out here. I realize it’s not as glamorous as some of the offices I’ve got downtown, but I’d hate to have someone call the Port City PD on you. After all, you’ve got such a… Unmistakable style! Maddy says in a cheery tone, holding out a hand to one of the sizable chairs that flanked the table.
“Riiiight. Well, I’m a busy lady with places to be. What does one of the rich elites of Port City want with me? Come here to beg me not to rob you? Don’t get your hopes up, I’m planning on cleaning this place out.” Rica replied as she kicked her hooves up onto the table, unscrewing the top off a bottle of spring water. Looking back across the table at Maddy, Rica awaited her response as she took a swig.
“No, not quite! I was curious to see if the claims about your abilities were true. If you’re going to be running around my territory, you’d probably want to get my blessing.” Maddy replied self assuredly, resting her fat rump on the edge of the table. “I just wanna make sure there’s no crossed wires here, there’s a lot going on under the surface here and I’d hate for you to end up with a complicated situation.” Maddy stated as she craned her long neck down at Rica.
“Tch. You think I’m going to get permission from some west-coast socialite to rob a bank? Madison Maxwell, you’re just as dumb as any other suit I’ve come across. In fact, gimme one good reason why I shouldn’t just kidnap you right now and ransom you for a fortune. After all, a big timer like you should be worth a fortune.” Rica smiles, her glowing patterns flashing for a moment as she tossed the half-empty bottle over her shoulder. It impacted the floor with a resounding THUNK, “Now, I won’t make this too complicated for you. Come along quietly and I won’t rough you up TOO much.” The shadow witch declared with a snap of her hooved fingers.


Maddy began to back up from the table in the center of the room as the shadows grew, her lips curling into a frown as she looked around. “You don’t even want to hear my proposal first? I feel like you’re jumping the gun here.” she said as she backpedaled slowly, reaching into her jacket. “Last chance before you blow this. Don’t do anything too hasty.” The alpaca barked assertively.
“Oh please. What have you got there, a gun? Don’t bother, you’re not the first person to try shooting me and you won’t be the last.” Rica replied with a smirk, tilting back in her chair as the shadowy mass formed a number of hands, advancing towards Maddy. “Now, what do you think would work better for a ransom? You’re the economist here. Hard cash or Bipcoin?” Rica guffawed as Maddy’s rump finally hit the back wall.
“No, I really picked the worst day to leave my gun at HOME!” Maddy grunted as she hurled a dagger from her jacket, turning to the second door nearby in an attempt to escape. The metal blade flew cleanly through the air, straight towards Rica as she sat at the table. But the shadow witch wasn’t afraid in the least, even with the razor sharp weapon headed straight for her neck. With a dismissive wave of her hand, a mass of shadows intercepted the blade before it could reach her and knocked it out of the air.
“Nice try, but you really think a little knife is gonna cut it? They’ve sent TANKS after me before. I highly doubt your little dagger and bowl of candy bars are gonna do you much good.” she closed her hand and a mass of shadows gripped Maddy’s leg before she could reach the door. The white suited alpaca grunted in surprise as she was pulled away from the door, trying to grab at anything as she was pulled closer to Rica. “Bah, who am I kidding? Only dorks use crypto. I’m gonna ransom you off for platinum bars huh? How does that sound?” Rica said as she rose from her chair, clasping her palms together. The growing mass of shadows hoisted the businesswoman off the ground, only showing the slightest sign of struggle from the alpaca’s weight.
“You’re really tacky, you know that? Platinum isn’t carrying much value nowadays. Maybe… Ngh… Some stocks might get you a better payoff!” Maddy said as her lower torso was bound, shestruggled to reach something in her jacket.
"Slim chance of that. Wall Street jack offs are worse than cops. Besides, what kind of suit carries a knife anyway? Let’s see what else you’re hiding." Rica said with a smirk, a shadowy hand patting the fat alpaca down for any other hidden weaponry.
"Easy EASY! If you wanted to grab my butt you could have just asked." Maddy squirmed, trying to shift away from the shadows before her arms were pinned against her fat sides. Despite her best efforts, Madison was unable to free herself from the shadow’s grip. Her prospects growing rather dim as the shadows only grew larger, Rica’s dominance over the situation becoming clear.
"Don't flatter yourself fatso. You'd need to lose about 200 pounds before I'd consider it. But hey, I'm sure you can find plenty of Gold diggers on your own time! Heheheh. Now…" Rica trailed off as her shadow construct pulled something out of Maddy's jacket. "...What have we here? So you DID bring me a gift, other than bottled water.” Rica laughed in triumph as the shadow hand pulled out a bag from the alpaca’s grasp.The witch’s big llama buck teeth glinted in the dim light as the large hand pulled the bag over, she pulled the satchel open. “Hope you don't expect anything in return though, I’m not easy to please.” Rica says, peering inside. “It’s full of uh, marbles?” the witch mumbled with a sudden frustrated grunt. Small plastic orbs clacked together in the depths of the bag, tiny reflections of metal glinting back at Rica.
“Oh that? It’s a little light show to welcome you to Port City! Enjoy!” Maddy smiled, before clutching the tiny remote she held in her hand and pressing the button.


A bright flash of light exploded into Rica’s face from the bag she was holding, as every little plastic marble inside lit up in unison. Staggering back, the shadow witch yelped in surprise as her shadows melted back to the floor and released Maddy from their grip.
“AUGH, what the hell is this!?” Rica shrieked out as she shielded her eyes from the shining beads, her magic concentration having been broken for the moment. Without a moment to lose, Maddy charged forward and rammed into Rica, sending the witch tumbling backwards over the table and onto the floor as the bag fell from her hands.
“Road markers for emergency responders, they use the extra bright ones for paramedics. It’s a lot cheaper than a tank!” Maddy grinned as she wound up a fat leg and kicked the bag of plastic orbs, scattering around the room. “You stay right here for a moment, I’ve got a GREAT surprise for you.” The business women said as she pressed the remote in her hand once more, turning on the road markers strobe function and bathing the room into a blinding, tacky light show.
“You’re REALLY in for it now, I was willing to play… AUGH… Nice!” Rica grunted back as she tried to search for Maddy among the blinding flashes of light, but the businesswomen's white suit and cream colored fur blended into the stark walls. It was damn near impossible to find her, even as big as she was.
“You could have at least brought me a gift then! But don’t you worry, our little meeting here has a second topic we’ll need to get to. Stay right there.” Maddy cackled as she pressed against a particular tile against the wall, one of hundreds. With a quiet HSSSS, the panels parted to reveal a door, Maddy threw it open and stepped through.
“Hey, STOP!” Rica called out, stomping her hoof down on one of the innumerable flashing spheres with a metallic CRUNCH. But there wasn’t much headway for the llama, despite how many of the road markers she destroyed, the incessant pulsing brightness made it impossible to manipulate any shadows. She had to find her way out of this room if she wanted to kidnap Maddy. She was starting to think it wasn’t worth the trouble.


Madison Maxwell slammed the secret door panel shut behind herself, latching the steel lock back into place as she took a moment to catch her breath. “Whew. Fun stuff, I didn’t expect her to try and backstab me so fast. Still, it's good to see somebody who can stick to their guns.” she remarked, adjusting her suit. The outside of the stark white room opened up to a rather dingy warehouse, innumerable shipping containers lining the back walls. By comparison, the white chamber Rica was still inside was out of place by any stretch of the imagination. Maddy walked around the left side of the white rectangular chamber, where a computer console jutted out from the side. She typed in a few commands on the computer, a series of bright fluorescent lights flared on above Rica inside the room and a metallic HSSSS sounded out as the entrances of the chamber pressurized and locked themselves shut. She gripped the small, wiry microphone and tapped it a few times with her hooved finger. “Helllooooo? Miss ‘shadow witch’, can you hear me?” she grinned smugly, typing a few more commands into the terminal.
“I sure can! Stay right there so I can WRING YOUR NECK!” Rica replied, having managed to crush a good few of the road markers while hunting for a way out.
“You’ve got your work cut out for you, I think you might need another pair of hands though.” Maddy hummed as she leaned her long neck backwards for emphasis. With another tap of the ENTER key, the white panels between Rica and Maddy turned transparent, a clear window between two evildoers.

Maddy waved.

Rica punched the paneling in response.

“Whoa, easy now. This is Maxwell company property! I got this prototype fair and square, yeah? Defective ones are a real bargain.” the alpaca continued on, some fluorescent lights flickering on above Rica and lighting the chamber in earnest. “Now let’s see… The safety manual says I need to read the spiel here, so I’ll just get this out of the way. AHEM!” Maddy cleared her throat in a theatrical fashion, adjusting her collar. “This is an EXHOR developed deflation chamber! Using hyper-concentrated oxygen, the system should reset your internal pressure to acceptable levels. Do not unseal the chamber when in use, and wait for the procedure to end before ceasing use of the deflation chamber.” Maddy droned on, Rica’s scowl getting more and more intense.
“I don’t give a damn about your safety manual, open the fuckin’ door!” Between the fluorescent lights and the road markers, there wasn’t a single shadow in the room to speak of. A shadow witch without shadows was hardly a witch at all.


The internal machinery of the chamber began to hum quietly, before a draft began to push around the room, ruffling Rica’s fur. The air seemed… cleaner. More pure. Rica began to sweat as the foreboding sensations grew more intense.
“Oh just shut up and enjoy it alright? I spent half a month going over every YooToob video I could find about you. You think an internationally-wanted criminal wouldn’t have plenty of study materials? I’ve seen the way you try and dodge those police searchlights.” Maddy said as she pulled up a shoddy plastic chair, sitting down and resting her elbow on the armrest.
“If you’ve seen… Grrf… The videos, then you should know EXACTLY what I’m going to do to you once I get out of here.” Rica growled, looking around the room for anything she could use to escape. Maybe break off a table leg and use it to pry open the door?
“Oookay... Here we go Ricky, deep breaths now!” Maddy clapped, settling in for the show. Rica’s eyes darted around the room, expecting to come out. But the wind only swirled harder around her. Then it hit her. There was a loud POP that made her jump, Her head swiveled to the source, the overturned snacks near the tipped table. A shredded bag of pretzels were scattered across the floor. As Rica watched the remainder of the snack bags began to swell then burst with loud POPs.
“W-what’s going on?” Rica stammered aloud, turning to Maddy sitting on the other side of the transparent barrier.
“I already told you, it’s an EXHOR brand deflation chamber prototype. Though, I can’t imagine why they said it was defective. What do you think, Rica?” Maddy asked, a sadistic grin on her face.
“I think you’re nuts, whatever this thing is, it’s HWARRRP!” Rica belched, cut off by a sudden discomfort in her midsection. A discomfort that was mounting with each passing moment. “Eugh. What the heck is BWARRRRP!” she belched once more, her hands dropped to her gut. She couldn’t help but groan as bit by bit, she felt her insides pushing back against her hooves. Bit by bit, whatever weird air that filled the room was pushing inside her frame, causing her to swell. “H-hey, stop looking at me alright? This is… Weird!” Rica stammered, wincing as she felt her cheeks starting to push outwards, quiet rumbles sounded from her expanding middle.
“Well, I gotta stare at you. You really wanna be in there unsupervised? That’s just dangerous.” Maddy sighed, fluttering her eyelashes. The alpaca was definitely not hiding her enjoyment of the situation in the least, leering at the swelling witch before her.
“Okay, joke’s over! I’m willing to call this a draw okay? Knock it off!” Rica protested, another heavy pulse of growth caused her rump and legs to puff outward. Futile presses and pushes into her middle might have caused momentary releases of pressure from her mouth But despite her efforts, the machine was keeping a much better pace than her. The moments dragged on as Rica continued to expand, the llama starting to sweat as she watched the remaining water bottles begin to creak much like she did. “FINE! Forty-sixty! BWARRRP!” Rica yelped out, her neck swelling into a fat tire that gently pressed against her lower jaw.
“You think I wanna do business with a gasbag like you? No chance of that. Besides, what use do I have for a criminal who’s THIS easy to deal with? 45 dollars worth of blinking lights? Get real.” Maddy said with a scoff. “How about I upload this little meeting to YooToob? Or hell, maybe I’ll just fork you over to Interpol and collect your bounty! Choices choices.” Maddy said before standing up and walking back to the console, typing in a few more commands. It was time to start phase two of the process.


“Nrrgh… Thirty-Seventy?” Rica slurred out, before an embarrassing BWRRRMP escaped her swelling butt.her face blushed beet red, her mobility quickly fading as her legs thickened up like tree trunks.
“I was thinking ten-nintey, plus your ‘sponsorship fee’. I was gonna consider some more generous rates, but the whole ‘ransom’ thing kinda put me off it. You know?” Maddy sneered, before hitting the enter key on the console once more. The air in the deflation chamber shifted around and Rica felt a moment of comfort as the pressure subsided, she felt her tense guts begin to shrink down a bit. Rica of course had no plans to cooperate with the businesswoman, but at the very least she could try to escape once she was let out, take another crack at things, or cut her losses.
“Fine, fine, just keep the machine working and I’ll agree to whatever BWARP crap you’ve got to say.” Rica muttered as her neck receded a bit, letting her waddle around the chamber.
“Well, wait for phase two first then we can iron out the details.” Maddy replied, looking back into the chamber as the air shifted once more in the chamber. Rica began to sweat as she looked around, the waning pressure returning with a vengeance.
“A-ah… ACK!” she gasped out, before her entire body pushed out with a dull pain, her limbs, gut and rump all ballooning out with a severe FWOOMP, causing her to lift off the ground and hang in the air for a few moments. “Stop! I said BWRRRMPT stop!” Rica said as another rush of pressure escaped both ends of her titanic body. The harsh pressure inside the chamber stretched her even bigger than earlier, the llama’s teeth grinding together in discomfort.
“Hey, remember the safety seminar. Not till the machine’s done! So quit your bellyachin’!” Maddy replied, gleefully inputting another few cycles into the machine. Rica’s horrible predicament would continue for another good five minutes, painful grunts sounded out from her body as she was steadily inflated and deflated, no shortage of sounds came from her overtaxed body. It took a while, but finally the pressurized oxygen of the room hissed to completion and the locks on the doors released. Rica was utterly stunned after the ordeal, she turned to the paneling that parted to reveal the door into the warehouse.


“Well, looks like you survived! Well done. This one didn’t have any recorded fatalities, and it looks like you’re generally deflated. Mostly.” Maddy remarked as she shut off the chamber, crossing her arms. She watched Rica try and get her ground, a variety of burps and groans escaping her rather green face. “That being said, there’s been a few rumors about very VERY long lasting side effects.”
“Yeah, yeah. I can see why it’s a failed proto-HUARRRP-type. HIC!” Rica responded dismally, leaning against a cargo container to catch her breath. “I guess I should be thankful you let me go, hurrf.” Rica groaned, before a rude rumble shook her still-puffy backside.
“Let you go? No, not quite I’m afraid. It’s a failed prototype, why do you think they wanted to get rid of it? I’ll let you guess.” Maddy remarked grimly, pushing her hands into her pockets with a smile.
“What are you… HORUUPHIC!” Rica responded rudely before whatever air she belched out seemed to rush back in, her cheeks wobbling round like softballs. Rica went wide eyed at the discomforting pressure returned to her body, belches and hiccups pulling more air into her body. Out and out she grew, her recently reclaimed mobility waned fast with each rude gust of air out (and in) from her.
“It’s a failed prototype! The exact science of it eludes me, but based on the reports... “ Maddy smiled as she sauntered up to Rica. “Folks kept re-inflating after using the machine! Bizarre huh?” The alpaca remarked as she jabbed her finger into Rica’s pulsing orb of a stomach. Quite a sound followed, a rude BRRRMP that was trailed by an even ruder VRRRRMP, causing Rica’s rump to swell outward into a pair of twin wobbling boulders. “That and some embarrassing side effects. I think they called it ‘forced equalization’ or something? Doesn’t matter either way.” Maddy sneered, wrapping her arms around Rica’s enormous middle and giving it a squeeze. Another rude eruption followed, by an equally rude rush of air back into the witch. Maddy sighed in delight as their sizable guts pressed in against one another.
“BHORRPHIC! Get off of me, you creep! I’m… Oof…” Rica trailed off with a blush, a push of air forcing her breasts outward atop her gut. Despite her best efforts, the pressure just kept pushing into her body.
“Oh shush up and just enjoy it. I cancelled my weekend appointments just to set all this up, so the least you can do is be a gracious guest.” Maddy replied flatly. She lifted up Rica’s enormous, rounded body as she continued to pull in air from both ends. “Stay here till you get nice and big, then I’ll really start the negotiations. I gotta grab a quick bite to eat. I take it you’re stuffed already? I’ll get you a salad, heh heh heh!” she thumped the witch’s belly, sending her gently drifting upwards. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be back in 20!” she cackled stepping back out through the door outside, leaving Rica to her bloated fate.
The minutes passed by with some more rude rumbles and hiccups, Rica scowled into her bloated neck as her cheeks puffed into her vision. She didn’t stand a chance of looking past the horizon of her middle either way. She could barely even wiggle her sunken in hands, but heaven knows all it would do is upset her overpuffed body. Still, there was a glimmer of hope in her mind at the very least… Her prayers were answered as she bumped off a cargo container, drifting near the rafters. One clumsy push off of a support beam, and she floated near the windows, the dim moonlight shining through. As she positioned herself between the light and darkness of the otherwise empty warehouse, a smile crept across her bloated face as a pulsing mass of black began to form on the underside of her stomach.
After all, a big balloon casts a much bigger shadow.