New ongoing story - New Life

[El_Roy_1999]

It was a strange sensation. More than that. It was a whole orchestra of different feelings that geared up out of nowhere. Tara really had no idea how this all worked, but whatever she did somehow expanded her perceptions in all directions. She found it hard to direct her attention at first.
Her mind was getting assaulted by all kinds of feelings at the same time. She could hear the heartbeats around her, the gurgles of stomachs, the crashing blinks of their eyes. At the same time, the intensity of her sense of smell almost knocked her over. It seemed as if every pore on her friends’ skins opened its floodgates at the same time. She focused on Marla’s grip, but even there, she could feel the ridges of her fingerprints sink into her friend’s skin.
She stopped everything and pulled back, almost falling on her butt.
“Whoa … That was way too intense. Shit.”
Marla held her up and said:
“I told you so. Try to focus.”
“Yeah, sure. I just … I couldn’t make anything out. Also, Tobie, you’re gross.”
“Who, me? Nah. I just …”
“Gross.”
Tara whispered:
“Please be quiet. You’re so loud. Could you maybe … I don’t know … hold your breaths?”
The others exchanged glances and moved away a little, the mushroom people still passing them without even reacting. Tara concentrated, doing her best to ignore all the distractions around her and extended her senses towards the still transforming tower.
Experienced like this, that thing was even worse.

[El_Roy_1999]

She held tight to Marla, slowly managing to ignore the roar of her breaths, the hammering of her heart and the crunch of her skin against hers. Her senses expanded, racing towards the tower. She felt herself rising higher and higher, looking for a heartbeat, or even better, a pair of heartbeats. She didn’t know whether Milla and Jaden still had any. The whole physiology of mushroom people was beyond her.
But she knew that she could find Ava and her mother, so she looked for them. She could feel her senses flow through the building, examining the walls and vague pieces of furniture. It was like watching something through saran wrap. There were shapes moving around, things groaning and clicking … This whole building was so completely organic that even trying to understand what a thing was took so much time that it had changed or disappeared by the time she got it.
Then, all of a sudden, she heard Ava’s voice. It was muffled and vague, but she could pinpoint it now. The individual words were hard to figure out, but she was stressed and obviously unhappy. Then her mother spoke. Tara almost shrank away. There was a brutal intensity to it. This was a woman who was struggling with herself, afraid of losing everything, but forced to risk it again and again.
She dropped back out and breathed out sharply, her ears ringing. It took her a moment to calm down, then she whispered:
“I found her.”
That’s when the mushroom people around them turned towards them.

[El_Roy_1999]

Angela pointed down, her hand still firmly on Ava’s head. She kept the pressure on just enough to make it clear that she could pop open her daughter’s skull with a single gesture and without much effort.
“Look who’s coming! Aren’t those Tobie and Kemal? And those bodybuilder friends of yours?”
Ava stared down towards them. She felt relieved, but at the same time, a mounting fear grew within her. What would Angela do to them? Her mother boomed on:
“You should have stayed with them. Those were nice, motivated young people. You would have been more focused and you could have eventually reached a good level. Maybe get your life in order and be with me. We could have tried that too … A mother and daughter gym. Get those people from our town to be fitter. To be stronger and more assertive and maybe fix this town on their own.”
Her daughter wasn’t sure of what to make of this. Was this some kind of a joke? Angela sighed:
“Whatever, really. Once again, nothing. I’m glad you’re here now. I’ll just take them along and they’ll be a nice addition to Jaden and Milla.”
She licked her lips.
“And Tobie and Kemal … Those are some nice guys. Really great. It’s going to be fun.”
Ava struggled against her mother’s grip:
“Please, don’t hurt them! This isn’t fair. They don’t have anything to do with this! If you let them go, I’ll do what you want!”
Angela dropped her.
“You make it sound as if being with me was a problem. Ah well.”

[El_Roy_1999]

Guess who forgot to update yesterday.
Sorry, everybody.


Pauline threw herself at a mushroom man with a dog. The thing had just turned to attack Tara, who was still trying to recover. Marla pulled her away. Pauline grabbed the man by the arm and lifted him up. The thing flailed his dog-appendage around, trying to hit her, but she tossed him away rather casually. Tobie shouted:
“Let’s move! They’re going to block the road!”
Tara still held her head but followed Marla as she ran. As they raced towards the tower, Pauline started to transform, her muscles swelling in every direction as her body grew. In no time, she had exploded into a huge, thundering mass of power, smashing through attacking kids, elderly women, women with prams and men reading the newspaper.
Kemal screamed:
“Holy crap! This is so crazy!”
He followed up behind, jumping over the mangled fungus people. Pauline continued her charge, but he noticed that she was getting clogged down. A newspaper salesman had gotten entangled in her legs, while a busker clung to her arm, getting dragged along. As he did, other mushroom people caught him and started to form a kind of knot. It was disgusting to see these beings flail about uselessly with their limbs, pieces getting knocked off them.
Marla shouted:
“Pauline, you gotta be careful, they …”
She didn’t get to finish her sentence as the giantess stumbled and fell into a mass of schoolchildren crossing the road in pairs. Instantly, the whole gaggle of people around them swarmed her, holding her down.

Instantly, Marla and Tara let their bodies swell up. It was a sight to see. Tobie ducked behind his friend as the two women’s bodies filled with muscle, getting bigger and bigger until they reached truly titanic proportions. Their clothes detonated from their backs. Tobie sighed and Kemal rolled his eyes. He mumbled:
“So much work for nothing.”
Then again, the show was worth it. Tara’s huge arms caught a group of tourists that had previously been asking for directions, and tore them from Pauline’s back. They collapsed into a heap a little further away, then reformed into a group of bored teenagers. Marla was on top of Pauline, ripping a bunch of construction workers to shreds as they tried to choke the muscular giantess.
Pauline roared as the pressure dropped and stood up, balancing Marla on her shoulders.
“Fuck this shit! Get off me, you fuckers!”
A spontaneously formed brass marching band charged her, trying to bog her down. Pauline kicked against the bandleader, while Marla launched herself in the air and crashed down on them, scattering bits of mushroom matter all around.
Behind them, some movers carrying a fungus piano closed in on Kemal and Tobie. Kemal pushed his friend to the side and declared:
“Stay out of the way. I’ll protect you!”
The mushroom people charged. Kemal tensed, forced his muscles to grow, and struck back, catching them as they came crashing in. Behind them, Tara fought off a squad of cops.
Tobie yelled:
“We’re getting bogged down. Just push through now!”

[El_Roy_1999]

Pauline heard him, but found it difficult to follow. In front of her, a massive garbage truck rolled in, struck her and almost smashed her to the ground. She stood her ground and held against it, sinking her fingers into the strange organic material. As she did, it hardened, the engine, or whatever was inside of this thing, gurgling and sputtering. The trashmen got out and tried to attack her.
She pushed against the car, grunting as it increased its force. Marla ran up to her again, pulling one of the trashmen from her and smashing it against the next one. They were all now pretty soaked in fungus matter. It was sticking everywhere, covering their skins with white, sticky goo.
Then it started to harden.
Pauline cried out:
“Oh shit! Get that stuff off me! This is so disgusting!”
Tara and Marla rushed to her, ripping at the tensing substance. It was tough to get that slime to even let go of her. Meanwhile, Tobie and Kemal retreated towards them. Kemal shouted:
“We’re getting surrounded. This is bad!”
Tara replied dryly:
“No shit. Help us with this!”
Marla chimed in:
“Yeah, Tobie, how about getting into shape now?”
Kemal instantly growled back:
“Hey! Leave him alone. He’s doing what he can here!”
Indeed, Tobie tried to break off a chunk of already hardened material off the encasement that was building around Pauline. She screamed in panic as she realized what was going on.
“Shit! Help me! Help me! It’s trying to choke me!”

[El_Roy_1999]

Far above, Angela looked at her daughter. Ava was staring through the window, watching her friends struggle. She was on the verge of tears.
“Stop it, Mom … Please! Don’t hurt them!”
The muscular giantess smirked.
“They are pathetic. I don’t know what you all tried to do, but it didn’t work. You tried to get away from me, didn’t you? Well, that was cute, but it was pointless. Even when I wanted to do something good for you, something that would make you happy, and powerful, and perfect, you still tried to push me away. There you have it. You all got what you wanted.”
“But I never wanted this! I … Mom! I liked what we were doing together. I just had my studies and …”
Somehow, Angela’s expression got even more intense. It was downright terrifying now, yet also strangely sweet. Or at least it tried to be.
“Ava, dear, I understand perfectly. You did what was best … for you. And when I came to help you … to help you, mind, you lost interest.”
“That was not what happened! Besides, I got fit, didn’t I? I worked hard for all this! I did it for myself, but also for us!”
Angela’s laugh was cruel and flat.
“Who are you trying to kid here? Stop lying to …”
Ava slapped her. It was a stupid idea, she knew, but if she could draw her mother’s attention, she just might save her friends. Angela looked stupefied. What just happened?

[El_Roy_1999]

Below, Pauline felt the fungus submerge her completely. The others tried to free her, pulling at the hardening matter. This was bad! The tall woman tried to grow and force herself out of it, expanding her muscles as much as she could, but it was starting to work against her. Since the material wouldn’t yield, she would just end up crushing herself.
She was about to panic when the whole thing stopped for a moment. It felt as if somebody had distracted it for a second. She breathed in relief and used those precious seconds to just think. Under all this pressure, she had just been increasing the intensity, constantly adding to her power and overcoming the odds by pushing forward.
Now that she saw more clearly what was happening to her, she managed to think clearly and switch her perspective.
“Guys, I’m trying something new! Just keep a hole for me, I’m coming out!”
She heard Marla ask how she was going to do this, but in a way, her friend’s voice was already far away. If things could get bigger, maybe they could also get smaller … And denser.
Pauline felt her body shrink, while maintaining her muscle load. It worked. Strangely enough, her body was staying incredibly overmuscled, even more than before, but now, it was concentrated on a much smaller frame. She easily climbed up through the hole her enormous opening her massive body had left. The bizarre cavern was already collapsing, but she leapt and flowed through it, soon reaching the top.

[El_Roy_1999]

She stretched her arms a bit to get to the end of it while Tara and Marla tore at the material to stop it from closing itself completely on their friend. They were furious, struggling to get a good grip on that stuff which was both hard as stone and somehow slimy and wet. It was not a good thing to touch.
Also, they all just hoped that none of this would release any spores or blobs. They assumed that the drug they had been given prevented any infections with that stuff, but who could be certain?
Tara grunted:
“Come on, you slippery piece of shit! Open up!”
She heard Pauline’s tiny voice from within:
“I’m almost there! Keep it open for just a moment!”
She propelled herself upwards with a pull of her muscular arms. The effect was exhilarating. With all that strength concentrated into such a tiny body, she felt as if she were flying!
Just as she was reaching the top, she heard Tobie shout:
“Fuck! That stuff is getting us too now!”
Marla shrieked:
“Get it off me! Aah! This is … Help!”
Tara jumped away, releasing the rapidly closing mass.
Tobie reacted as fast as he could. Just as Pauline shot out, he kicked against the quickly hardening mass that tried to get a grip of Marla’s leg, giving her a moment to pull away. They scrambled off the lump of fungus meat and just saw Pauline regain her mass as she descended. It was a sight to behold.

[El_Roy_1999]

Pauline’s body stretched and grew at a fantastic rate, her muscles staying in relation, maybe even packing on some more. She swelled to giant size again, used the momentum and slammed into the mass at full power.
The blow sent her friends flying. Tara, Marla and Kemal caught themselves, their enhanced bodies hardening to resist the blow. Tobie, on the other hand, was thrown off and shot all through the street. In the air, Kemal twisted around, expanded his body and stretched his arm, catching his friend before he collided with a building.
Tobie landed in Kemal’s arms with a thwacking sound. He breathed out sharply and looked at his giant, somewhat mutated friend.
“Whoa. Thank you.”
“No problem, man. Let’s get on with it, but be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Tobie chuckled:
“Me neither.”
Kemal returned to his normal size and pulled Tobie after him. As they advanced towards the towering mushroom building, Pauline walked in front of them, her giant body striding forward relentlessly.
Tobie gasped:
“Wow! It’s like some crazy fantasy-superhero-horror movie, don’t you think?”
Kemal nodded. He looked rather worried. This was all going fast and the situation was only getting crazier by the moment. They followed Pauline as she plowed through the mushroom people that tried to stop her, but now that she knew what she had to do, their efforts were pointless.
Above them, the tower loomed. They had to help Ava, but in a way, they still didn’t know how.

[El_Roy_1999]

Angela’s arm shot out, catching Ava by the throat and lifting her high. For a moment, her eyes were flaring with rage.
“You dare hit me? Your mother? What is wrong with you? You’re an ungrateful, horrible kid. I can’t believe I went through all of this …”
Before she could finish, Ava hit her again, this time more clumsily and only with the tips of her fingers, but it stung. Angela tossed her away, then advanced on her. It was obvious that she was mad now. Her body was shaking with fury.
Ava tried to get to her feet, but Angela kicked her, sending her back down. Angela’s muscles swelled as she grew bigger. Ava could see every muscle fiber under Angela’s mutant skin tighten. This was a terrifying sight. The sheer energy that coiled inside her was making it hard for her to think.
Angela screamed:
“You ungrateful piece of shit! You’ve left me alone! You always take, take, take, but you never even cared or asked what …”
Ava couldn’t bear it anymore. The pain, the beatings, the insults! If Angela wanted a fight, she could have it!
With a mighty roar, she shot up, her muscles expanding at an alarming rate. Ava felt angry, but she also felt powerful. She could feel her body cover itself in muscles. Her skin stretched as more and more mass swelled on her frame. She felt powerful, unstoppable and incredibly frustrated.
This would not end well for her mother. She charged.

[El_Roy_1999]

Down below, Marla noticed that the mushroom people moved sluggishly. They were uncoordinated now, easily pushed aside. Whatever was going on up there, they had to use the opportunity to break into the weird fungus tower. The gang ignored the stumbling pseudo-civilians and pushed on.
As they reached the building’s entrance, Marla said:
“Okay, I’m not sure of this, but I think that this isn’t planned.”
Tara asked:
“What do you mean?”
“The people here, they’re all lost now. Look at them!”
She pointed at the fungus masses just meandering here and there.
“I think this means that Angela is losing control.”
“Okay … So what do we do?”
“I’d say we have to move quickly. If she’s inattentive now, that’s an opening we can exploit.”
Tara nodded:
“Sounds good. Just be careful anyway. I don’t know about you, but I feel completely out of my depth now.”
Behind them, Pauline tore open the fungus plates that were being used as gates of the tower.
“Let’s get a move on!”
Pauline’s voice rang all over the area. Kemal and Tobie held their heads.
“Careful! You’re not only big, you’re also loud.”
The giantess shrugged, but answered a little lower:
“Get in! If Marla’s right, we have to hurry!”
They entered the strange building and were greeted by the most confusing architecture they had ever seen. The place was unlike anything else: The rooms were oddly shaped, not following any logical pattern. Columns and struts grew from the walls and floors in astonishing directions, openings led to parallel areas without warning or concept. The whole place had grown on a whim, not even following patterns that might be found in plants.
In a way, it had spread like a cancer. The endless sequence of empty rooms only made the place more eerie.

[El_Roy_1999]

Ava was driving hard at Angela, her fists hammering away at her mother. She was past words now. All that counted now was just letting it all out. No more holding back, no more reasoning, no more attempts at working this all out. She was frustrated, she was angry, no, she was furious!
Angela was surprised by her daughter’s sudden onslaught. She caught a fist right in her face in the beginning, then more blows followed. Ava’s strength was astonishing. She tried to recover, not being used to slugging it out with someone her size or, actually, at all.
Now that she was under pressure, she lost her focus. Immediately, the whole place started to shake. She wasn’t thinking clearly. Just as she tried to come up with a defense, her frenzied daughter caught her again right in the head, making her black out for a fraction of a second. Then another blow. And another one.
Her body was inhuman enough to prevent any swelling or bleeding, but the never-ending barrage made her stumble and fall. She crashed on the ground and Ava got on top of her, unleashing another relentless series of punches. Pieces and chunks of Angela’s fungus body blew off, torn off by her daughter’s fist.
Suddenly, the floor collapsed.
They fell, crashing through the ceiling of a large, rather majestic hall. The pair landed on the ground, but that didn’t stop Ava. Still only grunting and growling, she continued her attacks, trying to pulverize her mother.

[El_Roy_1999]

At last, Angela managed to catch her breath. She was blinded by one of the punches, destroying her forehead, but that didn’t mean anything to her. Instead, she dissolved her body into a shapeless lump and resolidified instantly as she flowed over Ava’s back.
The young woman shrieked as her mother turned into a weird blobbish mass and reappeared above her. Angela reformed and wrapped her arms around Ava’s neck, choking her. The young musclewoman tightened her neck muscles instinctively, resisting her mother’s grip.
The fungus woman didn’t care. She summoned Jaden and Milla to help her. The two muscular young people descended quickly, using their tentacles to climb along the walls of the hall.
Just as they tried to assist their mistress, Pauline brought down the entrance of the place. There was a pause, then the giantess shouted:
“Let her go!”
Angela just laughed and sent Jaden and Milla after them. As the two pale mutants charged, they grew bigger and more monstrous, their skins erupting into tentacles and massive spikes.
Tobie yelped in panic, hiding behind Kemal. The big man gritted his teeth, ready to catch the attacking monsters. That’s when Tara and Pauline slammed sideways into the mushroom people.
The whole place erupted into chaos. Everybody was screaming, grunting and fighting. Ava tried to get her mother off her back, but the older woman tightened her grip, choking her. Whenever Ava attempted to get a hold of her, Angela retracted her body. Meanwhile, the young woman was finding it harder and harder to resist.

[El_Roy_1999]

Finally, she howled:
“Mom! Mom! Please stop. Please stop … Let me go. I give up. I don’t want to fight anymore. I’m just sorry.” Angela untightened her grip a little. Ava gasped for air. “Mom, I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m sorry I just ran away. I thought … I didn’t think. I left you alone, because I was selfish and I needed to get a distance between me and Dad’s death. I never once thought about how it made you feel and I … When I saw you were doing fine, I forgot about the whole problem. I thought you were over it but you were not. And I didn’t help you. I was busy, I kept busy to stop myself from really thinking about all this. So I’m sorry. I just wish I could go back and kick myself in the butt for being so insensitive … Even when I was back, I did everything to not listen to you and not spend time with you. I’m a shitty daughter. Even now, when we should be trying to talk this out, we’re fighting. We’ve both turned into monsters and we both screwed up all the people around us and … It’s my fault.”
Angela released her. Ava flopped to the ground. She started crying. Turning around, she looked her mother in the face. It was a strange sight. Her mother had transformed into a mutant angelic uber-being, but as their gazes met, this incredible power started flowing from her.

[El_Roy_1999]

Somehow, she could distinguish her mother’s aged, yet resolute face under all this energy. She sobbed, unable to stop.
“And when I returned, I forced you into this shit and I … I got Lucius killed too. I’m … It’s all my fault! I’m sorry. I’m just so sorry …”
As the fight around them raged on, Angela hugged her. The mass of her muscles faded away and she somehow returned to her normal self. They clung to each other for a while, just letting it flow. Angela whispered:
“It’s okay. It’s okay. I … I wasn’t okay as well. I screwed this up. I should have stayed with you, I should have helped you instead of encouraging you to make things worse …”
“No … Don’t. Please. I … It was my decision. I caused all this.”
Angela stroked her daughter’s hair.
“I don’t want to blame you. And I don’t want you to blame yourself. It was a shitty time for all of us. I wish I could go back and stop us from losing ourselves.”
Behind them, slowly, the battle lost its impetus.
Ava held her mom in her arms and said:
“Maybe Dad was the one who held us together …”
“Could be. Things were simpler around him.”
The whole enormous fungus structure started to groan ominously as more mushroom people emerged from the walls, somehow losing their shape even as they took their first steps. The fighters stopped, hesitating. They slowly turned towards the two women.