Highest Bidder
Written & edited by Amnoartist
_____________________________
“That’s right, ladies and gentlemen! This is the future. With just a few drops of our latest product, your body will grow beyond natural human capabilities, pushing itself past your wildest dreams!” The auctioneer smirked confidently as he revealed from his breast pocket a vial, inside of which contained a curious red substance. "It's the only one of its kind, so consider it a precious, rare item."
The crowd that gathered around him murmured in collective agreement and wonder, their minds running amok in imagining their bodies transformed on account of the strange liquid's power. The auctioneer practically had the throng of curious individuals in the palm of his hand and would no doubt make a great deal of money out of selling his invention.
“If you’re husband and wife, share in the results of this revolutionary invention and become both the peak of physical conditioning and a shining example on how to look sexy twenty-four-seven!” he continued, watching the lips of both men and women alike quiver with a near-crippling sensation of excitement. “Or if you’re one of the kinky types, give it to your wife and her friend for some real fun. You know what I mean?”
Scattered chuckles followed, coupled with lovers quietly arguing amongst themselves over whether it was worth it to trust in the man’s words. He didn’t look shady, but that didn’t mean much in the face of things. Many people at Marble City’s national fitness convention had been duped before.
The man shook the vial gently to goad the crowd into paying attention once more before finally pulling them in like the baited fish they were. “I’m auctioning off this beauty right here, right now. Bidding starts at a mere five hundred.”
Upon hearing the price of such a life-changing item costing so much, some of the crowd had already lost interest, feeling something so simple-looking that cost that much truly wasn’t worth the trouble. Yet, some happy couples remained eager to place a bid or two, upping the going price from five hundred to seven hundred, then one thousand.
“One thousand. Do I hear two?” The businessman felt excitement crawl up his spine, energized by the crowd’s enthusiasm to part with his product. “Two thousand?”
Another couple grew determined in their endeavour to own that vial, upping the bidding price to a cool five thousand, willing to sell their car outright if it meant owning that serum.
“Five thousand,” the auctioneer continued. “Do I hear si—”
“—One million!”
The crowd gasped in unison at such an impossible bidding price being called out so casually. The auctioneer shared in their shock, blinking confusedly as if to suggest he had perhaps misheard or the individual in question perhaps made an error. But no, they were confident in their proposition.
Together the crowd and auctioneer turned to the source of the bubbly voice, but their eyes collectively narrowed in annoyance upon realizing the outrageous bid came from zillionaire Pepper Davenport, the richest person in the world. Everyone knew her, if not personally or by association, definitely by name, which itself was on everything, even things she had no real interest in, save for if it meant making her even richer - a clothing brand; a gym chain and sport products; A perfume line, among other things, not to mention a private island called Davenport Isle.
The trophy Pepper boasted further reinforced her bloated ego, made of pure crystal, the reward for winning the Miss Marble bikini contest held within the expo’s premises. Of course, it stood to reason that one would question whether it was won honestly or she had it rigged. Nonetheless, Pepper had an extensive history in winning the Miss Marble competition, with a collection of awards previously won that numbered in the dozens. All first place.
“Miss Davenport, I—”
Pepper compelled the auctioneer to silence with a mere perfunctory wave of her hand. She moved through the crowd slowly with an excess of confidence nobody could ever hope to match, her duo of black-clad bodyguards in tow. As she ascended the stage and made her way to the small stage, the auctioneer watched in disbelief, stammering incoherently as the self-important redhead came face-to-face with him, resting her elegant trophy on the podium. But he maintained his grip on the vial, which only consequently irked Pepper as she extended her hand.
She clicked her fingers and with a smirk, watched as her loyal dog of a bodyguard produced a Samsonite suitcase. Upon opening it, the auctioneer noticed the stacks of cash held within. Pepper casually snatched one of the wads wide as her handspan and flicked through the notes with her free hand. "Like I said, one million. But there's another nine in there if you wanna go higher, sweetie."
The businessman retained his lack of confidence, a free hand shaking uncontrollably as he happened to glance down at Pepper’s perfect round breasts. He gulped. “W-w-why do you want it?”
Pepper scoffed. The reality was Pepper only sought the serum to ensure nobody but she could take advantage of its properties, never one to accept being second-best. “Because I’m Pepper Davenport. Isn’t that reason enough?”
The crowd burst into a fit of disapproval, booing Pepper for her selfishness, even if it was honest. They knew she just didn’t want to be seen as the lesser person. Even so, their criticism was nothing but a sweet song to Pepper.
“Oh please. Don’t act like you can outbid me. I could buy you, let alone this thing here.” The mob’s anger dulled suddenly in the wake of Pepper’s thinly-veiled threat, not sure how was best to react to it. “In fact, you’re all at this expo because of me anyway. I own the building.”
Pepper snatched the vial and flicked the stopper off with her perfectly manicured finger, watching the viscous red liquid bubble away gently inside the glass container. As one of her burly lackeys pushed the businessman aside, she could feel the crowd’s hostility, practically bathed in it. Without so much as a second thought, Pepper put the vial to her lips and forcibly started downing the liquid.
“Not so much now,” the businessman warned, “one mouthful’s enough to—”
He stopped, realizing Pepper was intent on downing the whole thing. Hearing her loud greedy gulps and watching the serum drip down her chin and cover the edges of her mouth, he noticed her body was already starting to react to the serum just from initial contact as the vial slipped from her grip and smashed into pieces at her feet.
It was the initial squelch that brought the crowd’s collective heartbeat to a standstill, their eyes magnetized to the thrumming of expanding flesh and crippling eroticized moans of pleasure, combined with fleshy creaks and grinds. Blinded by such an uncompromising standard of raw meat ballooning itself larger, mashing into even the skeletal structure that kept her intact to bloat even more, Pepper hadn’t noticed herself biting her lip in lust, too intoxicated by the boiling sensation of growth to care.
Her own heart started beating like a bass drum, perversely funneling blood to every grating mound of flesh that assisted in goading her form even larger, veins thick as fingers pushing themselves to the surface of her skin, writhing in a seizure of ecstasy and uninhibitedness. Without so much as a passing thought, Pepper reached for her abs, feeling them agitate in a dance of growth, pushing each individual abdomen against the other to compete for space and size, swelling ever quickly to the size of a man’s fist before pushing themselves beyond that.
“HNNNGHH!” Pulling her arms upwards into a double bicep pose, a wave of lust came over Pepper as her biceps continued to inflate beyond the crowd’s initial understanding of the serum’s true potential. Listening to her enraptured sighs, a single vein snaked along the length of her arm before it forked, encompassing her swollen peak, its perverse throbbing continued even then.
In as much the fact it continued to grow beyond natural capability, Pepper’s transformation would only serve to inflate her already outrageous ego, which itself was comparatively monstrous in its own right. And all the undivided attention gained from the crowd was fated to help in that too.
Pulling his eyes away from the spectacle, one of the men from the crowd pulled his phone out of his pocket and started recording Pepper’s continued growth, much to his wife’s evident discontent.
“Are you serious right now?”
The man blinked in disbelief. “What, this isn’t worth recording?” he inquired, gesturing to Pepper’s puffing body, his ears nearly conquered by her squishing veins and uncontrollable moans of unquestionable eroticism.
It wasn’t long after the first man’s reaction to the display that others saw fit to respond in a similar fashion, taking photos of Pepper, filming her on their phones, even live-streaming the incident that collectively accrued thousands of viewers.
Pepper maintained her pose, listening intently to the amalgamation of sounds that consisted of her muscles growing yet more, the fabric of her bikini starting to strain in its attempt to maintain modesty and the crowd’s own collective blend of sounds - murmurs of wonder and flattery coupled with the clicks of cameras - drowning in the air of attention she made for herself.