"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Reg?" asked Sam Howard, a chunky, bespectacled young man.

"Of course! I've been going to the Helium Club for months- Helen and I, that is." He concluded a little lamely, as his fiancé, Helen Morris, looked fiercely at him. "I know you all are interested in being, and loving, balloons, and I managed to acquire the stuff and magics to allow us to experience it together!"

"I didn't know you were a magician, Reggie." Said Lisa White.

"Technically, I'm not, but it runs in my family. My grandfather is a powerful magician, my father less so, and I can't." Reggie explained as he led the group to one of the manor's outbuildings. "My grandfather enchanted a special spell book for me, which has spells that will allow us to alter our shapes and forms.

"I also have some supplies I managed to acquire, at considerable expense, I may add." he said smugly. Reggie is far and away the wealthiest of the crowd, and loved flaunting that fact on his friends.

As Reggie unlocked the door to the outbuilding, he told the group, "I have been ready for this for a while, but my grandfather had some guests here. They only left this week.

"Come on in!" he said as he opened the door. The building was one large room, perhaps 100' in length, 75' wide, and well over 30'high at the peak of the roof. Along the far wall from the door they came in waited two large drums, a large clawfoot bathtub, a large wooden box, and six large tanks of helium, complete with hoses and nozzles. On a low table sat a large book.

"Now, for us to become balloons for the night, we have to immerse ourselves in the Liquitex in the tub. Once we are thoroughly coated, our bodies will take on the properties of latex rubber, allowing us to inflate and be each other's blow-up toys for the night! Who's first?" Reggie asked.

Lisa spoke up. "I will!"

"Okay, what you have to do is to strip down, put on the rubber gloves and boots, and soak in the tub, letting the Liquitex cover you, except for your head. After a few minutes, get out and stand on the pad until the Liquitex dries. Then, you can put on whatever you like from the chest there." Reggie explained.

As Lisa drew the curtain around the tub, Reggie had the rest choose who would be next to soak. They all eagerly began getting their clothes off to take their turns in the tub.

While the rest were soaking, Sam drifted over to the drums which the Liquitex came in. He managed to find the partially-obscured warning labels, one of which read, "Caution! External use only! Manufacturer not liable for effects of misuse!" Sam missed the label that said 'Three hours maximum use! Manufacturer not liable for effects of misuse!' , it being covered with drips of white latex.

Sam wanted to ask Reggie about the labels, but he was soaking in the tub. After Reggie, only Sam was left. Reggie pulled back the curtain, looked at Sam, and said, "You're it! Go soak, Sam! When you're done, we can get started!" Sam, not wanting to raise the ire of his friends, stripped, put the gloves and boots on, and soaked. He could hear Reggie ask the others how they wanted to inflate- air, helium, or fat.

Sam came out from behind the curtain, wearing a loose set of pajamas. "So, Sam, what would you like?" Reggie asked.

"If you could put some weight on me first, I would like that." he replied. "That way, I can get nice and round. One question: What happens if we swallow some of this stuff?"

"Nothing I can't handle. I've done that lots of times. I'll do you first, since everyone else chose helium." Reggie picked up the book and turned pages until he found the spell he wanted. He looked at Sam carefully, then began to read slowly in a strange language.

Sam suddenly felt overstuffed, like he had overeaten for too long. His stomach bulged as the pressure in him mounted, then the pressure faded. He watched in amazement as he fattened up, his body ballooning with blubber. The loose pajamas became taut, then slowly popped off him. When the spell was done, Sam had tripled in weight, an overstuffed pillow of a man.

"Fat enough for you?" Reggie asked.

"Yes!" Sam breathed, feeling the rolls and bulges of fat. "I've always dreamed about being this big!"

"Good! You can be our anchor for a while! Over here, everyone, and I'll blow you up!" Reggie shouted, going over to the helium tanks.

One by one, the rest of the group blew themselves up. The girls all asked to become buoyant, while Reggie and Hal grew large, but not afloat. Lines were tied to the girls, and the games began. Sam's girlfriend, Sally, asked him to play with her. Soon, everyone was happily involved, playing with their blown-up forms.

After a while, Lisa and Helen 'blew up' their boyfriends until they floated, and the four drifted to the peak of the roof for some more. Sally looked at Sam. "Want me to blow you up, fat man?" she asked, tickling his tummy.

"Sure, Sally! Blow me up!" Sam laughed. Sally made him roll over onto his belly, found his hose, and blew him up until he was a ball, helplessly rolling. Sally deflated back to nearly normal size.

She rolled him over to the tanks. "My boy toy needs more gas." She said as she took a hose from a tank and slipped it into his. "Say when." She said sweetly as she opened the valve.

Sam gasped as the helium flowed into him, part from surprise, but mostly from the feeling- it was wonderful! Sally filled him until he was a 10' ball, very bouncy and light. She rolled him around and played with him for a long time, while the others played up on the ceiling. Then, she tired of the play. Rolling him to where his hose was at a comfortable height, she said, "Time to blow my toy boy up until he pops!"

She proceeded to go down on him like he had never experienced before. His member swelled as his pleasure mounted, soon filling her mouth and probing down her throat. When he came, the helium in him came rushing out, blowing her up, and up, and UP!

Poor Sally couldn't move, couldn't get him out of her mouth. She inflated helplessly, her body groaning as she stretched and stretched. Finally, she had enough lift to pull free and shoot up to the ceiling, stiffly spread-eagled, unable to move, near to bursting. Sam continued to deflate, losing most of his helium but remaining spherical.

Sally, in her ascent, pushed the four floaters apart. Reggie cursed as his play was interrupted. "Damn! We better deflate her before she gets overstretched. Hal, give me a hand."

"How?"

"Grab hold of her and concentrate on releasing the helium in you. Once we get her tied down, I can get her deflated." Reggie said, more than a little irritated about having his fun interrupted by responsibilities.

"Why can't she do it herself?" Hal asked.

"Because she's too overinflated. Right now, she's lost in a fog of pleasure because of the pressure."

Reggie looked at Lisa and Helen. "You two wait here while we fix this."

Both Reggie and Hal concentrated on venting the helium in their bodies. Together, their combined weight was just enough to bring Sally to the floor. Reggie managed to get her tied down.

"Why can't we just pop her with a pin?" Hal asked.

"Because I don't have the right ingredients to cast the reformation spell on the latex, you moron! Go refill and join the girls, okay?" Reggie snapped. Chastened, Hal went to the tanks.

As Reggie walked around Sally, trying to figure out what to do about her, he heard a strangled yelp from Hal. "Reggie! Help me!"

Reggie turned to see that Hal had put the hose onto his, and now was tugging at the end of it, unable to reach the valve. With a sigh, he shut the valve and disconnected the hose, allowing Hal to shoot up to the ceiling, where Helen and Lisa pounced on him.

It took Reggie over an hour before he could figure out a way to deflate Sally without harming her. Leaving her to rest, he refilled to join the others on the ceiling, letting Sam have Sally.

Hours later, the people managed to deflate themselves and make ready to remove the Liquitex. Reggie managed to remove most of Sam's extra weight, but not all of it.

Reggie went to the barrel that held the Liquitex solvent. He soaked sponges in it, then told everyone to wipe themselves thoroughly with the solvent. They went to it with a will.

"Reggie, aren't we supposed to see the stuff come off on the sponges?" Helen asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I don't see anything on the sponge, that's why!" Helen yelled. "Is this stuff coming off or not?"

"It should be!" Reggie scrubbed himself harder, as did the rest of them. Then, they all felt strange, very weak.

"I don't feel good." moaned Sally.

"Neither do I." Me, too." Soon, everyone felt weak and limp. Then, Reggie had a horrible insight.

"Damn! We left the Liquitex on too long! We're turning into balloons! Living human balloons!" he yelled. "To the tanks!"

As they headed to the tanks, Sam puffed, "Why?"

"We gotta stay full of gas to live! If we deflate fully, we'll be helpless!" Reggie gasped as they reached the tanks. Soon, all six were refilled to their normal shapes and sizes. They were light on their feet, however.

"What are you gonna do now, Reggie?" Helen snapped. "We can't stay balloons all the time!"

"I'll think of something. There's gotta be a cure I can buy!"

"There's a cure, but it's not for sale." said a strange voice from the door. Everyone turned to see a large cloaked humanoid form standing there. In his black cloak and cowl, the six could not make out any features. The being stepped inside, allowing six fursons or not quite fursons enter, including a 6' tall jumpsuited steel-gray felinoid, a blue gargoyle, a 4' dragon, a female skunk furson, a chubby yellow tabby lady, and a rather cute vixen. Each of them went to one particular person and took hold of them.

"You people, but you in particular, Mr. Saunders, are guilty of misuse of my products. You acquired a defective batch of Liquitex through rather unsavory channels. Rest assured, that leak has been plugged." the black-robed person said. "You six are going to be taken to my factory, where you all will earn your cures."

"You can't do this! How much do you want for the cure? I'll pay it!" Reggie shouted, struggling in the grey felinoid's grasp.

"Your money means nothing to me, Mr. Saunders. Your smug overconfidence got you into this, now you and your friends will all suffer the consequences, in equal proportions to their guilt in this matter.

"Alden, fill him up. I don't want him struggling in the truck."

"Yes, sir." the grey-furred feline said. He wrapped his arms around the struggling Reggie and picked him up. Reggie was carried to the tanks and filled with helium until he was buoyant. "That will keep you on your best behavior on the trip. You wouldn't want to get loose now, would you?"

Meanwhile, the blue gargoyle was whispering to Sam. "Don't worry too much- at least you didn't swallow any."

"I saw the label and was careful." Sam whispered back.

"The boss is a decent furson- rich boy and his girl are the ones who have to sweat. You should be okay soon."

"What about the others?"

"I don't know. I know only about you. Just relax- you always wanted to get fatter, right? Now's your chance. Ask the boss politely and he will let you keep your elastic properties, but regain your normal looks. Trust me." The gargoyle helped Sam into the back of a large truck parked outside the walls of the manor. Soon, the rest were loaded up, the doors shut, and the truck drove off.

The six fursons worked together to get home. With some canvas and straps, they formed a basket. The tabby gulped a helium pill, the grey took three. The dragon and gargoyle wrapped straps around them, and the skunk and vixen got in the basket. When the grey was full, the mob lifted off, the dragon and gargoyle pulling the balloon kitty and passengers back to the Club.