�Lou entered the apartment with dinner, finding Aaron still looking through the newspapers and each want ad therein. Rubbing the crick in his neck, Aaron looked up from the papers to see greet his roommate and the welcome dinner he had brought.
"Any luck?" Lou asked as he put the burger bags down on the table.
"No," Aaron answered, unwrapping and biting into one of the burgers. "I haven't been able to find anything that'll give us the money we need."
Aaron asked, between bites, "How much do we have left anyway?"
"After this gourmet meal? Sixty-five bucks." The raccoon answered.
"How are we gonna pay the rent? We're gonna get kicked out of here," moaned the wolf.
Lou walked over to his chair, pulling out a flier from his pocket. Sitting down, the raccoon twitched his tail and sipped his soda. Unfolding the paper, a smile passed over his face. Hiding the flier once more, he looked over to his friend, who was attempting to drown his sorrows in french-fries.
"I did happen to come across something that might help," Lou said, attempting not to smirk.
Aaron looked up, fries sticking out of his mouth.
"There's going to be a major� athletic competition tomorrow. And the first prize is $10,000. I thought that you could enter and win no problem."
"An athletic competition? What sort of competition?" Aaron asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Oh, you know, a general test of strength and endurance�" Lou responded, sipping his soda.
"Well� it sounds okay� but why me? Why not you 'Mr. High School Soccer Champ'?"
"I could, but you're in better shape then I am," Lou said, giving a little punch to his pudgy gut.
"I still don't know�"
"And then there's the girls," Lou interjected.
The wolf's ears perked up. "Girls? What girls?" he asked, his tongue hanging out.
"Well, I heard that the promoter of this competition was going to have the Swimsuit Girls show up and give the winner a kiss."
Before Lou had finished his sentence, Aaron had run to the mirror, stripped down to his boxers. A sweat drop appeared on the back of Lou's head, as he watched Aaron flexing in front of the mirror.
"Well, if it will get us the money� I'll do it!"
"You're a sport, Aaron." Lou said flatly.
Aaron picked up his clothes and began to walk towards his room. "Well, I guess I better get some sleep. I'm gonna have a big day tomorrow. Good night, Lou."
"Good night, Aaron" Lou said, following Aaron with his eyes until he closed his bedroom door.
Unfolding the flier once more, Lou looked down and smiled.
"You have no idea just how big a day you're going to have, my friend." Lou said softly as he read the flier which read, "Fizz Fizz Sports Drink Presents the Fourth Annual Balloon-Man Competition" with a picture of a fat, inflated tiger holding a can of Fizz Fizz Sports Drink and giving a thumbs-up. Lou chuckled all the way to his room.

The next morning, Lou and Frank made their way over to Sun Park for the contest. Aaron, standing at over 5'7", was wearing a white t-shirt, baggy blue shorts, and sandals. His gold/brown fur looked like he had specifically brushed each hair individually in preparation for meeting the Swimsuit Girls. Lou, standing at a solid 4'. was wearing a Hawaiian shirt (which was all the rage for raccoons these days) and Bermuda shorts. Though he was worried that Aaron might catch on to what the competition involved, and subsequently back out, Lou was pleasantly surprised to see that Aaron was too occupied with gawking at the Swimsuit Girls, who were posing for pictures. Sighting the registration table, the pair walked over.
"I'd like to register my friend here for the contest," Lou said to the fox working the table.
"Okay, that'll be $50 for registering, and please have him sign this form," she said.
Hesitantly, Lou handed over most of their remaining cash. Still looking around at the girls, Aaron scribbled his name onto the release form.
"Well, you're all set," the vixen said, handing Lou a number placard. "Now you just have to go get suited up."
Hearing this, Aaron turned and gave the young vixen a quizzical look. "Why? I can't compete in this?" he asked, tugging at his shirt.
"Well, your clothes won't stretch when you blow up, and neither will your sandals, so you could injure your feet, sweets. Don't worry, we have special suits that'll stretch as far as you can."
"Blow up?" Aaron said as he slowly turned to Lou. "What does she mean, blow up, Lou?"
Sheepishly, the raccoon pointed to the rather large banner over the table, which read "Fourth Annual Balloon-Man Competition."
Realization smacked Aaron across the face as he looked around, seeing many posters, banners, and signs� he silently wondered what caused him to not notice these� until he saw the Girls again.
"Oh, no! You sneak! I'm not gonna do�"
Lou jumped up and dragged Aaron down by his shirt.
"Yes you will, we've already paid, we need the money, we don't have any other choice� and I know that you can do it. You're in better shape then most of the guys here," Lou said, motioning to an elephant and bear who looked fat enough to be called 'balloons' even without air.
"I don't know� you did deceive me."
"If you don't do it for us� then do it for them" Lou said, pointing to the Swimsuit Girls.
The look of apprehension slowly drained from Aaron's face, and a look of determination replaced it. Reaching down, he undid his sandals, and stood barefoot.
Turning to the woman behind the table, Aaron asked dramatically, "Which way?"
Lou shot Aaron a look of pride, he owed his friend for this� and he had a feeling that Aaron would not let him forget that.

A short while later, Aaron walked barefoot to the stage wearing a white, sleeveless, single-piece outfit. There was no collar, and the legs were like shorts, covering his legs to just above the knees. This outfit, which felt like a blend of spandex and rubber, was made from a special, stretchy material manufactured by RTEX Industries. Aaron did have to admit, he did like the way that the outfit showed off his muscles. He joined the other contestants, waiting to be introduced� and then inflated. Looking down at the placard reading "7" stuck to his chest, Aaron still pondered bailing.
"You look nervous, kid," came a voice from behind him.
Turning around, Aaron saw the smiling face of a tall tiger wearing a similar outfit with a sticker reading "6".
"I guess I am."
The tiger put a hand on Aaron's shoulder, and gave a chuckle. "Never been ballooned before?" he asked.
"No� but one time I drank four liters of soda and felt really bloated!" Aaron said.
That evoked a roar of laughter from the tiger. "Well, being inflated is very different. But don't worry, just remember� it's your body, only bigger. It's easy to let your size trip you up, but don't," he paused to point to contestant 4, a skunk who had just been pumped up and looked like an overly-full dummy with a perfectly round midsection. Continuing, he added "use your size to your advantage, and use the other guy's to his disadvantage."
Eyeing the skunk, Aaron asked, "that's how big we get? I can handle that."
"No friend, that's how big you start out at. For each round you complete, they inflate you more and more."
The look of apprehension started to return to Aaron's face.
"And now contestant 6," came the announcer's voice.
"Excuse me here," said the tiger, gently pushing Aaron out of his way. "Heh, good luck and have fun kid� trust me, you're gonna love being a balloon."
As the tiger ascended the stage, the crowd began to cheer wildly. Squinting, Lou fished out the flier.
"Oh no�" he groaned, looking down at the flier and then back up at the stage.
"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for last year's champ, Tora Michaels!" screamed the announcer.
Making a slight bow to the cheering audience, Tora moved over to the air tank technicians. Giving them a smile of anticipation, he felt them insert the air hose into his navel. He gave a few waves as the airflow began, and his trim form started to swell.
"Oh, great" Aaron thought as he watched Tora inflate, "last year's champ� he must be good� but, he was nice� and, it does look sort of fun to be bigger� and we need the money."
"Contestant 7, Aaron Summers!" called out the announcer.
The applause was minor in comparison for him, except for one hyperactive raccoon in the front. Smiling, he nervously walked to the air tanks. Nervous, he nearly jumped when he felt the nozzle inserted into his navel.
"You all right, son?" asked the bulldog at his waist.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
Trying to make himself believe those words, Aaron felt cool air run through his stomach, eventually spreading to his extremities. Looking down, he saw his stomach slowly bulge outwards, and then he felt the rest of his body thickening, as the air stretched out his frame. In a matter of seconds, the flow stopped, and Aaron looked at himself in the mirror next to the tanks. Standing there was a wolf who looked overweight, actually, a wolf who looked really fat.

His toes were more difficult to flex, but he would manage. He could still move his head around, though it felt weird, with his chest slightly puffed up with air. In fact, he actually liked how the inflation enhanced the appearance of his pectorals, arm, and leg muscles, with them looking bigger, but not necessarily fatter. His waist was another story, however. His stomach jutted out in front of him, looking like a very large potbelly with a curve starting at his pelvis and going to below his chest. The sides of his midsection and his back had even puffed out some.
After the nozzle had been removed, the technicians had felt Aaron's stomach to make sure that no air was escaping. The technicians gave him the okay, and he was motioned to join the other contestants down the ramp.
Trying to walk with his new bulk, Aaron felt confident� until he tripped over his larger feet, and nearly fell onto his large gut. Steadying himself, with the help of one of the technicians, Aaron walked slowly over towards the other contestants. Looking at all of them, he thought they resembled a line of partially inflated Parade balloons.
"This'll take some getting used to," Aaron thought as he lined up behind Tora, who was smiling at the young wolf balloon. Giving him a pat of support on his new, larger stomach, and thumbs up, Tora gave him a look of approval and pride.
Smiling gratefully for the support, Aaron thought, "But I'll give it my all nonetheless."
"And now, folks, LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" screamed the announcer to massive applause.
The announcer steadied his glasses, taking a noticeable sip of Fizz-Fizz Sports Drink.
"The rules of the competition are the same as in previous years," he began. "We have ten contestants, and three events. After the first round, we will have five remaining. After the second, those five will be narrowed down to our two finalists. And the third round will give us our Balloon-Man for this year!"
Following the applause, the announcer continued, "But don't forget folks, for each round that the contestants win, the bigger they get blown up! However, whomever wins will be in for a� big surprise!" Little laughter followed. "Eh, heh� anyway, the winner will not only become the spokesfur for Fizz-Fizz Sports Drink and $10,000, but he will also receive a kiss from the lovely Swimsuit Girls!"
The crowd hooted and hollered as the beautiful Swimsuit Girls struck poses.
"And now, let's move onto our first event: the 'Obstacle Course'," he said motioning to the course before them. "In this round, each contestant must run the course, trying to outrace his competitors to the finish line. However, their 'pumped up' bodies will make it exceedingly difficult for them to run and to overcome the obstacles. So, if we could please have all contestants to the start line."
Aaron tried to bend down to get into a runner's ready position, but his expanded stomach resisted his attempts. With a huff of resignation, he stood with as open a stance as he could manage. To his left, Tora was the picture of composure. To his right was a short ferret, who, because of his stature resembled a volleyball with arms, legs, and head.
Looking at the course, Aaron felt somewhat confident. The obstacles consisted of a tire run, followed by a ramp. Atop the ramp were rope swings, leading to a final run to the finish line.
"Not much of a course," Aaron whispered to Tora, remembering more difficult ones in high school.
"Normally, no. But try it running it with this," answered the tiger said, hitting Aaron's stomach with the back of his paw.
"On your marks!" Came the announcer, snapping Aaron to attention.
"Get set! And GO!"
True to his word, Aaron found running with his new form exceedingly difficult. Fortunately, he was tall and had longer legs then most, so his midsection did not hinder his stride drastically, though he it did prevent him from keeping his legs as close together as he would have liked.
Some of the others were not as fortunate. The ferret, who had been beside Aaron, tripped at the starting line. The misfortunate competitor then bounced twice on his belly, before rolling to an immobile stop on his back.
At the ramp, number 2 (a bloated eagle), lost his footing as he reached the top, and rolled back the hill, bouncing into contestant 3 (an overly-full horse). The technicians and other officials rushed in to assist.
Aaron did not land as well from the rope swing, and was in 6th position because of it. Seeing the $10k flying away (and with it, the Swimsuit Girls), he poured on the steam and ran as hard as he could.
Ahead of him, contestant 5 (a hyena balloon) saw the wolf gaining on him, and attempted to bump him out of the race. As Aaron ran along side of him, he threw his body towards his side. However, Aaron proved to be to fast, and the Hyena was sent rolling over his enormous belly, eventually hitting a wall.
As he crossed the finish line, in 5th place, Aaron nearly doubled over from the effort. He did not even realize that he had been one of the five until he looked up to see Lou jumping up and down and screaming.
"Not bad, kid," said Tora, who had come in 1st place. "But it ain't over yet."
Standing straight, once more, Aaron nodded.

Following the presentation of the final five (a lizard, a skunk, an aardvark, in addition to Tora and Aaron), Aaron made his way back over to the air technicians. He felt more prepared this time for his inflation, and he was actually looking forward to it. As they inserted the nozzle into his bellybutton, he placed his own hands on his stomach, he wanted to feel himself expand.
As the air made its way into his body, Aaron's hands were slowly pushed outward by his ballooning stomach. His waistline was now a thing of the past. As his entire torso swelled, his chest puffed out, and even his neck thickened slightly. After the airflow stopped, Aaron could no longer see his feet. Looking down, he could only see a large white balloon extending out in front of him, and rounding around him. The sides of his midsection, and his midsection itself, were now perfectly round. However, his back had only slightly swelled. Looking left and right, his arms had blown up as well, and no longer looked muscular. He could barely bend his fingers now, and his feet were the same. He could feel that his torso had pushed his legs apart, and that his legs were now thicker.
Looking in the mirror, Aaron liked what he saw. The suit, still hugging his ballooned form painlessly, continued to stretch impressively. A smile developed on his face as he rubbed his new, even bigger, balloon belly. His appearance was that of a wolf who had swallowed a beach ball, and had had some smaller ones for dessert. An overly obese sumo-wolf.
"I look pretty good like this!" Aaron thought excitedly. "And, if I win, I get even bigger!"
After the technicians had okayed him once again, Aaron discovered the price of his new, enjoyable size� he could barely walk. He could, in fact, waddle better then he could walk. So, he waddled his way over to the others, a line of ballooned sumo-furs. Tora's stripes seemed to have stretched along with his body. As he lined up, Tora saw the smile on Aaron's face, and returned it.
"Having fun yet, kid?"
"Yeah, I think I'm starting to," he said still marveling at his size.

"Everyone ready for round 2? Good, because it's time for the 'Water Race'." Called out the announcer. "In this game, each of our inflated fellows here will have to make their way across this pool. However, they'll have to be careful of the powerful water cannons that could knock them out of this race!"
With that, each contestant waddled to the edge of the pool. There, each of them hopped into the pool. Upon landing, they bobbed up and down like buoys. Steadying themselves with the help of some of the technicians, the five floated ready for the race.
Stepping up to a platform on the side of the pool, the announcer looked to make sure that the players and the cameras were ready.
"All right," he spoke into his microphone. "Get ready� set� and GO!"
Using what little control he had left over his legs and tail, Aaron managed to push himself away from the edge of the pool. As he did this, he threw his weight up and outward, managing to roll himself onto his inflated front. Now, he stood a chance.
He moved his body like a seesaw, lowering the front end (and thus allowing him to paddle with his fat arms), by raising his backside (as much as he could), and then repeating the process vice versa.
Tora adopted a similar method, only he had used his thickened tail to push off, and he seemed to rock back and forth faster and with greater ease. However, one thing was clear, the tiger and the wolf were ballooning their way in front of the others.
Suddenly, a shiny green lizard blimp passed them both. His tail, being pure muscle, had provided a greater push off, and he intended to ride it all the way to the finish.
His plan would have worked, if it had not been for the water cannons. Firing at random, one caught him right in the middle of his right side. First pushing him to the left, the jet of water caused him to start rolling in the water until the cannon stopped firing.
This gave Tora and Aaron the chance they had needed, and each redoubled their efforts. Yet, as they neared the finish, the water cannons came into play again. However, the jet missed Tora by an inch, and one actually struck Aaron on his ballooned backside, propelling him further. Almost simultaneously, the two floated across the finish line to roars of applause, though none were louder then Lou, who was now balancing himself on his tail.
After each contestant had been helped out of the pool, with the help of most of the crew working the contest. As they were all toweled off, by using a great many towels, Aaron and Tora were interviewed by the announcer.
"Here they are folks, our two finalists. Contestant 6, last year's champ Tora Michaels, and our surprising newcomer, contestant 7 Aaron Summers. Congratulations to you both!"
The crowd cheered, and the flicker of flashbulbs was intense.
"Now these two will face each other in our final round, the 'Sumo-Balloon Match'."
Aaron's smile dropped from his face, he didn't know that this was what the final round was. He honestly didn't think that he could beat Tora, he was an experienced inflatafur competitor, and he was still a lucky novice.
"So after these two get inflated up to blimp size, folks, we'll have the final round of this year's Balloon-Man Competition!"

As they waddled back towards the technicians, Tora spoke to Aaron.
"Scared, kid?"
"Kind of� I mean, you're so much better then I am. I'm just running on luck."
Tora stopped, flashing a look at Aaron.
"That's where you're wrong, kid. You're good, you make a fine balloon," he said. "You enjoy being huge, right?"
With a slight smile, Aaron answered, patting his enormous gut, "Yeah, it's really cool."
"Good, then you have nothing to fear� except me of course," Tora said with a false smug tone, jamming a thumb into his beach ball stomach. "I can't promise to go easy on you, just cause we're friends, kid. We go in, we do this for real."
He extended his swollen paw towards Aaron.
"You just watch out, cause I'm winning this thing today," he answered, grasping the tiger's paw.
"Now, come one, time to go from balloon to blimp."

Aaron could barely believe that he and Tora could be inflated any larger and still move. Yet, he had watched Tora do just that. And now was his turn� and now all doubt and hesitation were gone, we wanted to be inflated.
Once again, he felt the nozzle being inserted and the cool air enter his massive body. However, he did not expand immediately, it took a few seconds given his large size. But, inflate larger he did.
When the nozzle was removed, Aaron's mouth was open as he examined himself in the mirror. His cheeks were puffed, and his neck had been consumed by his torso. He could still make out his chest, though it had been all but consumed by the expanding belly beneath it. His arms stuck straight out and were balloons themselves, though he could move them with great effort. He couldn't believe it, his hands and his fingers had even swelled out! This was great! His feet and toes were the same, though they had blown up more then his hands. His bloated legs were now pushed even further apart by his balloon-belly. His knees had disappeared. But still his waist continued to amaze him. The white balloon reached further out in front of him then it had before. If he had eaten one beach ball earlier, he had now consumed two and a half easily, probably with a few extras as side dishes. His back had also, finally, puffed out. He could feel it on the back of his head as he moved his head around. Also, the suit continued to live up to the promise of being able to stretch to fit any blimped fur. In addition, the suit had begun to slightly shine as it was stretched.
After the security check, Aaron was told good luck by the bulldog technician. Slowly waddling over to Tora, the two massive blimps stood there, pride shining on their faces.
"How are we supposed to walk to the ring? I can barely move," Aaron asked.
"That's where they come in," Tora said, as four crew members came up to the both of them.
Without warning, two went to each balloon. And, very gently, they rolled the two down the ramp, and all the way to the ring.

Joining the announcer for this final round was an alligator in a business suit. He was Hurin James, President of Fizz-Fizz and a former champion Balloon-Man. The two stepped up to the platform above the side of the ring. After each contestant had been rolled to their side of the ring, and stood up, Hurin began to speak.
"Ladies, gentlemen, these two are spectacular contestants, please give them another round of applause."
The crowd responded with cheers, and Aaron felt very proud to be there.
"And now, the final round," he said, handing the microphone back to the announcer.
"The final round indeed Mr. James, and we thank your wonderful company for sponsoring this contest year after year."
Suddenly, a picture of Hurin, blown up like a blimp was put on screen, from the first Balloon-Man competition. Applause followed.
"Now, the 'Sumo-Balloon Match'. In this round, each contestant will try to bounce, roll, and generally force his opponent out of the ring. There is no time limit, so gentlemen, get ready."
Steeling himself, Aaron nodded to the announcer that he was ready. Tora mimicked the gesture.
"Sumo-Balloons ready�. BEGIN!" screamed the announcer as he struck a gong.