Ben Biggerer- Part 2 (Patreon)

Ben is stuck in the Hollows- but he should be able to stomach the experience. Enjoy!

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Ben huffed as he heaved himself up— it was a bit of a struggle to get his gut back off the ground as he staggered to his feet. This was supposed to be an easy excursion, a routine handling of a hollow site, one of dozens that Belobog Heavy Industries had dealt with to help stabilize New Eridu and keep the city's buildings and infrastructure standing. But then, thanks to a minor miscalculation on Ben's part— well, miscalculation and about six hundred extra pounds from stress-eating during his stint of keeping the company together— Ben was in the worst possible place he could be— fallen straight through into a Hollow. He had none of his usual gear; he didn't have his signature concrete pillar weapon, he certainly didn't have any anti-corruption armor on hand— there probably wasn't a single suit of that armor in New Eridu that could fit him.

The bear thiren looked up— he couldn't see the construction site anymore, which meant he was on his own.

"But there's always a way out," he muttered, running a thick hand over his head. "There's always…" his nose twitched again, as it had been periodically ever since he fell into the Hollow. "Okay, what the Hell is that? I know damn well the Hollows don't have black caviar on offer…"

The burly bear looked up and around— the Hollow was a warped distortion of a part of the market district, with several colorful storefronts now warped and curved into weird, unearthly angles. He couldn't begin to guess where he should begin to go— any path could lead anywhere. There could even be a quick, straightforward exit that wouldn't be overwhelmed by Ethereals.

"Yeah, and I'm sure when I get out of here, they'll elect me Mayor of New Eridu for life…" Ben muttered under his breath as he began taking a few, waddling steps towards the twisted reflections of the Market District. At this point, there was only one move that was certifiably wrong; sitting still and staying where he was, waiting for the Ether Corruption to seep in.

Still— the bear was getting winded just by walking over a long period, his heavy body and huge, roiling gut bouncing off his thick thighs. 

"Gah— Fuck—" Ben wheezed. "Naturally I landed in the one damn Hollow that's perpetually uphill, ugh." The bear shook his head, and redoubled his efforts, pumping his thick arms as his whole body wobbled from the effort. "C'mon, c'mon, I'm gonna have a pound of caviar and a nap once I get back— caviar and a nap, Ben, caviar and a nap…"

Ben, huffing and wheezing, reached one of the street corners, leaning against the wall. "Gah… This is…  Hah… This is too much…" the bear grunted, gripping a hold of his belly. His nose twitched again; there was a delicious smell that was starting to drive him crazy— it was only getting stronger. Ben followed his nose after he caught his breath, and lumbered into one of the shops along the winding road. "Oh God, that smells… heavenly… what—" 

As Ben squeezed through the narrow doorway, his gut preceding him by a good few feet, he only had a moment to take in the warped, degrading interior of the store before he was ambushed— he saw a flash of the yellow-green glow of Ether, as a skittering, bug-like ether mutant leapt at him. Ben let out a roar of shock as he slammed back against the wall, thrashing at the ether creature with his claws. It thrashed wildly, shrieking loudly, no doubt calling for others of its kind. The bear grunted and growled, trying to grab at it— and then, as it grew close to its face, Ben snapped— with a loud, defiant growl, he used the only weapon he had left— his teeth.

The burly bear bit down hard on the creature— his fangs snapped through the carapace, and ether began dribbling out— as it hit his tongue, Ben nearly gasped as he spat the creature out. That delicious, tantalizing smell, it was the ether. The few drops that touched his tongue was some of the most delicious substance he had ever tasted, like a galvanized honey. 

"What— what the fuck?" Ben gasped breathlessly. He put his hand to his thick throat, then his heart, pounding in his thick chest. Ether was excessively dangerous, that was known— it should have been like drinking battery acid mixed with magma mixed with the blood of an eldritch god. Ether corruption was a certainty for people just even existing in Hollows, and he had just tasted it— and it tasted good.

Warily skirting the dead ether creature, Ben sat down on something that looked like it could hold his weight to try and make sense of this. "Okay— okay. We need to think about this logically." He pat down his body, his thick paw sinking into his flabby belly. "I don't feel like the ether is burning a hole through my stomach lining…" He held up his hand. "And… direct exposure to ether isn't corrupting me. What do we make of this?"

Ben's ears flicked as he heard the skittering of other ether creatures, no doubt drawn in by the first creature's screech. The bear growled out of frustration, hauling himself up to his feet and desperately trying to think of what he could do. Frantically thinking, he couldn't find anything he could use as a weapon, and he couldn't spot an exit large enough for him. He had to fight his way out— but how was he going to fight?

"Think, damn it, think— these creatures can be beaten— I'm not being corrupted by the ether, it tastes… really good…" It then struck him. "This isn't normal Ether— it's been warped by something, the ether itself is being warped by something—" He winced as the skittering creatures were beginning to break in. He couldn't outrun them, and he couldn't just let them attack…

Ben huffed. "I guess we're going to have to gamble."

The bear thiren went on the offensive. He summoned up a deep well of strength to charge through the shop's warped well and bulldozed the swarm of creatures. He grabbed one after the other, biting into them and cracking the carapace until they were limp. He grunted as he sunk to the ground on his thick, cushioned rear. All around him, that scent was beginning to drive him wild, and with no more willpower left to restrain him, he grabbed one of the creatures and cracked it open like an egg, then tipped it back and let the viscous ether dribble down his throat.

"Oh," Ben let out a deep, low, ecstatic moan. "Oh my God… That is the best thing I've ever tasted." He grabbed another, then another, cracking their carapace and lapping up the ether as fast and greedily as he could. He rolled onto his hands and knees to reach the last one, his gut pressed down on the ground, pooling to the sides. The bear's eyes rolled back up into his head for a moment as he finished draining the last of the creatures dry. 

"Holy shit." He groaned as he pulled himself up, his belly growing firm as he guzzled down an absurd amount of ether, pushing his shirt even further up against his plush chest. Panting slightly, Ben looked over the winding road. "Well… it's either go back, sit there, starve, or let the atmospheric corruption get me— whichever comes first. Or…" the bear licked his lips with anticipation. There had to be more of those creatures further down the road. "...We see if we can't find some lunch. I told Anton I needed a decent to-go meal…"

It was still slow going— he was still hauling around a morbidly obese frame, and he wasn't in any position to chase down the delicious little morsels of ether he could hear skittering around just ahead of him— as he moved further down, he was starting to worry that maybe the creatures were keeping their distance. But as soon as he slowed down to a crawl to catch his breath, he heard them starting to lurk and skitter closer— they preferred going after stationary prey, which suited Ben just fine. He'd squat down for a few minutes, waiting for them to skitter close, then pounce— soon, Ben was having trouble keeping his priorities straight. He still wanted to get out of the Hollow, sure— but whatever was unique about this particular Hollow might not be replicated ever again; he certainly had never heard of edible ether. So why not study it while he could, and take as many samples as he could? So he took his time— he had a decently high aptitude for ether exposure, as a thiren. He baited the creatures in and pounced on them, feeling like an apex predator for the first time in his life.

But the obscene amounts of ether he gorged himself on, all in the increasingly flimsy name of scientific research, had to go somewhere. Ben could feel himself growing larger, but never more full— the fact this might be a problem was only just starting to dawn on him. At this point, so stuffed and overfilled with the ether, the enormous bear was no longer walking, no longer waddling, he was trundling, rolling, even. His belly had grown so large and soft, and the rest of his body so doughy and pliable, he almost felt like he could simply roll downhill out of the Hollow. 

Wondering if he had perhaps bitten off more than he could chew, as it was getting next to impossible to keep up his momentum, Ben's eyes lit up as he saw a most welcome sight— the sky ahead rippled and warbled, like a recently disturbed pool of water. The bear felt his heart skip a beat— he had found the exit!

"C-c'mon— just a few more— hrrph— steps!" Ben grunted and wheezed, jostling his immense weight to try and propel himself forward— but as he did so, his weight began to tip more and more in great rolls of fat, until finally, his feet were no longer on the ground— and still, the forward momentum was growing. 

"Oh, crap."

On the other end of the Hollow entrance, the Belobog crew were preparing to close up the gate. A foreman, reading the censors, gasped as he rushed to Anton. "Sir! Sir, we've got something approaching— I have no idea what it is, but it's moving fast, it's big, and the ether readings are off the charts."

Anton swore under his breath, rushing to the gate. "Hey! Drillers, guards, delvers— anyone that knows how to use a weapon or a tool that can kill, grab it now and get ready to use it on my word!"

The Hollow gate began to warble, the ground under Anton's feet beginning to rumble. "Get ready…!"

The enormous creature bowled out from the Hollow gate. Anton needed a moment, but when he recognized the huge, blubbery mass, he gasped. "Everyone, hold your fire— I said hold your fire, dammit! Don't you recognize your, uh— your acting president when you see him?!"

The entire crew also needed a moment's time to recognize what he was seeing, all of them in an equal state of shock from seeing the state of Ben Bigger. The bear's bulbous, ever-hungry belly had grown truly gigantic, now sprawled across the ground in great reams. There were inner city apartments smaller than his great, roiling gut, a practical sea of blubber that spilled out far past the rest of his body, smothering his legs, and dominating the outline of his body— even more stunning about that enormous, lard-ridden mass, it glowed with the distinctive green hue of ether. His half-buried, trunk-sized legs and chunky thighs were splayed out, partially submerged under his belly and now near-useless, as the bear would no longer be walking anywhere— not for a long while, at any rate. What appeared to be two enormously soft cement bags laid listlessly atop his belly, the plumped-up swells of his chest, upon which laid the tattered remains of his clothes— his thickly swaddled arms held all the strength he had left, just enough to prop himself up, his tire-thick extra chins mashing against his pillowy chest while his billowing cheeks wobbled as he moved to speak.

"Hah— heh… h-hey, all. Guh… hrrrph… good to see you! Listen, boys, uh… I-I think the, uh, ether in this Hollow bears… urrph… studying. Now… we uh, we got any volunteers to grab some?" The blob of a bear's stomach rumbled loudly. "...Preferably quickly?"