So in my ongoing marathon to inflict every bit of misfortune on my paladin Tycho I of course had to inflate him! And pop him. Lingered a bit more on the lead up to bursting this time, something I wouldn't mind improving on in the future.

An accident causes Tycho to swell up with potent magic, which quickly causes his ego to swell as big as he is...

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Containing Corruption
By: Indi

For a paladin, few things were more gratifying than a job well done and evil foiled. So when Tycho looked down upon the cloudy crystal ball he carried, he beamed with pride.

“You’ve both performed admirably,” the lion told the zebra and horse following close behind him.

“Can’t say it was all that hard just grabbing a ball from a dusty tomb,” the zebra—Wyatt—said.

“Would’ve been a piece of cake even if there were traps!” the horse—Colton—chimed in. “Can’t wait for a harder task!”

Tycho chuckled and looked over his shoulder. “I didn’t say the mission was over. As paladins we have to remain ever vigilant until the very end. And in our case that’s not until we’ve delivered this cursed crystal ball to the temple vault—woah!!”

Despite his own warnings the lion hadn’t been watching where he was going, and tripped over an uneven stone in the path. Three gasps rang out as the crystal ball flew from Tycho’s grasp. It shone wonderfully in the light as it spun towards the hard stone below. With a thud and a crack the ball landed, mostly intact but undeniably broken.

From the long gash in the crystal ball a thin blue mist spewed forth, swirling up and around Tycho like a tendril. He watched the strange mist with unease, then winced as it entered his nose all on its own.

There was a jolt and a twitch from the lion. His eyes glowed a faint blue, matching the mist. The most noticeable change, however, was that his belly suddenly began to balloon outward. It was impossible to miss, as if the lion were being pumped full of air.

“Are you okay Tycho?” Wyatt asked, worried, but afraid to step any closer.

Tycho took a moment to respond, shaking his head a bit groggily. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Actually, I’m better than fine, I feel great!” He was grinning.

Confusion swept over the other two paladins. “Um, are you sure? You’re kind of...um, inflating. Like a balloon,” Colton said. He almost felt like he was pointing out a shameful secret rather than the obvious.

“Hmm?” Tycho looked down at his rounding middle and shrugged it off. “Oh, that’s nothing. I’m sure it’ll solve itself. If anything that’s a pretty insignificant side effect to endure for all this energy I’ve got all of a sudden. Not tired in the slightest--I feel like I could run laps around the temple for the rest of the day!”

The mist continued to pour into Tycho, his belly swelling more and more. Though lacking in experience, both Wyatt and Colton understood something was very, very wrong with their mentor.

“Tycho you should probably step away from the crystal ball, that mist can’t be good for you.” Wyatt wished his tone was more assertive, but even with a comically swollen gut Tycho was somewhat intimidating.

“Honestly I’m beginning to realize I was mistaken about this artifact’s nature. The magic isn’t evil, just powerful.” Tycho actively breathed in the mist, hastening his expansion. “Powerful enough to require a special container to hold it—of which I’ve clearly been deemed worthy. In fact, I bet I could even put that magic to good use for once. Channel it rather than just bottle it up!”

A light blue aura appeared around the paladin’s blimping body. While his clothing and armor had shown strain at first they now appeared to be magically stretching to match his puffier form.

“Uh, sir?” Colton said. “Why don’t we go see a cleric, just to...just to make sure you don’t pop or something!”

“You both worry far too much! Someone of my caliber isn’t going to burst like a bubble just from a little mist,” Tycho insisted. “Perhaps a show of my new power is in order. Then you’ll be forced to admit I’m perfectly fine!”

The lion’s paws glowed bright as he made swift gestures. Before either Wyatt or Colton could react a pair of runes appeared on their middles. Just like Tycho they abruptly began to blimp up, though at a far, far faster rate. Within seconds the straps of their armor were snapping apart, metal plates raining down on the ground.

Wyatt and Colton were inflating so fast they never had a chance to even attempt to flee. Limbs and cheeks puffed up, their bodies growing spherical as their clothing was shredded. Hide was creaking loudly in protest of the rapid stretching. In the blink of an eye the zebra and horse had become wobbling orbs, with only their hooves and heads breaking the surface.

“Incredible! Normally an inflation sealing rune would take a couple minutes to completely round the target out, but this one took only seconds! And I was able to do two at once!” The laugh that followed was closer to a cackle. Tycho’s massive, round belly dominated his body. His face was rounder than ever and limbs swollen and a little unwieldy. None of that concerned him. “Yes, my magic is much stronger now. I bet I could solo any threat to our Order!”

Immobilized and helpless, Wyatt and Colton could only watch. The larger Tycho grew the more egotistical he got. He boasted endlessly even as his limbs were sucked into his spherical body until only his paws remained. Faint creaks echoed from him. Mist still poured from the crystal ball into the lion, the swelling continuing.

The spherical paladin either didn’t notice or didn’t care, too busy gloating about his new strength. “Now that I think about it, the Order could really use someone of my power leading it. It’s not like anyone else can compare to me, and I’ve worked hard while asking for so little in return. Once they see what I’ve become they’ll have no choice but to hand over power to me on the spot!”

Caught up in his delusions, Tycho actually attempted to head off. He didn’t get far. The paladin learned rather swiftly that being a creaking sphere made walking somewhat impossible.

“Oomph! Guess I’m still adjusting to this amazing gift.” Tycho winced as he finally felt a few pings of pressure along his body. “Sure I might not be as graceful as—mmph—before, but having all this magic is worth it!”

The creaks coming from Tycho were getting longer and more ominous, like a balloon being tightly squeezed. There were flashes of concern on the maniacal paladin’s face, though he tried to hide them. A little pressure was nothing, a passing inconvenience. He’d endure it, he had to!

“Can’t...can’t let any of this magic go to waste,” Tycho huffed, struggling to see over the curvature of his own blimpy body. “Every last puff of it will be mine, no one else can—mrrmmph—have it!”

Tycho couldn’t hide the strain any longer, which only made Wyatt and Colton more nervous. They didn’t know how powerful a blast would occur if their mentor were to burst. It could very well pop them in the process as well.

The paladin’s paws were barely visible, on the verge of being entirely enveloped as he slowly swelled more and more. They glowed again, and a series of runes etched over Tycho’s massive middle. At once the creaking lessened, though from the look of surprise on Tycho’s face it wasn’t as much as he’d expected. He tried to strengthen them, but his paws vanished from sight, disabling his ability to cast spells.

With the exception of a stubby tail and puffy head, Tycho had become a perfect sphere. He gently rocked from side to side, still expanding, still creaking. When at last the mist ceased drifting from the ball and into Tycho, the lion didn’t appear any better off. To Wyatt and Colton it was clear he was at his limit, if not beyond it.

“No, I can contain it all, I can!” Tycho almost whimpered. The bravado he’d had earlier was fading fast. It’d return in brief bursts, only to crumble at the sound of any particularly loud creak. “I’m worthy of this power—ooomph—I have to be! If only I could...I could use some of it—mmph!!”

The durability runes flickered as they were weakened from overuse, struggling to hold back the immense pressure within Tycho. He grunted whenever they did, feeling dangerous spikes of strain on his hide. For many long, arduous minutes Tycho fought the seemingly inevitable. He whimpered and ranted and begged, refusing to surrender the intoxicating power he’d obtained, refusing to believe he was about to pop.

Perhaps with a stronger spell or slightly less mist he would’ve endured.

Then the runes distorted, flashed, and disintegrated entirely. With nothing left to hold back the pressure Tycho suddenly swelled up one final time, his eyes bulging and a shout silenced as his whole head sunk into his body. The lion orb glowed brightly and exploded.

A rain of hide and cloth scraps pelted Wyatt and Colton, who clenched their eyes shut. Blue mist poured from what had moments before been Tycho.

As Wyatt and Colton opened their eyes they breathed a joint sigh of relief at having remained intact themselves. It was cut short by the mist lazily rolling over them. The strong scent of magic filled their nostrils, followed by the undeniable sensation of swelling. They both wobbled wildly in a panic, realizing with dismay they were doomed to burst as well.

It’d be an embarrassing end to their first mission...