Delayed April Prompt: The Great Ones like Kirby

(Enjoy this eldritch adjacent tale with a guy wanting to grow bigger missing the mark)

There were rumours in the Miskatonic University of a ledger hidden in the library collection. This accursed book spoke of old gods, so grand in scope and power that humanity was nothing more than minor specs of dust. The volume held the secrets to commune and summon these primordial beings.

Of course, the infamous ‘Necronomicon’ had long been placed in restrictive access. And subsequent attempts to access and reprint were met with failures, a burnt printing press, and three students driven to insanity with gazing upon the infinite. 

But that is not the ancient tome which our protagonist seeked. For he did not desire to summon these unknowable beasts, no no. He wished to inherit their powers. He desired the book of the giants, that of the great and hidden ‘Giganomicon’. And after searching every potential reference to the lost book, chasing metadata sources, even questioning a supposed defendant of Paul Bunyan, our hero might have found a lead to where the book of his dreams could be hidden. The former university student waited for the staff to close up before leaving his hiding space in the crawlspace of the bathrooms. Glancing around the old building before sneaking off to where he hoped to find the forbidden book which would grant him his deepest wish. 

Lazarus ‘Laz’ Wheatley would no longer be an insignificant runt.

Laz had been long tired of being scrawny and small. Even at the age of twenty-four, the man was often mistaken for a teenager with his lithe body, lanky limbs, and young looking face. He had been nineteen and lost within the university between lectures when he learnt of the institute's history and of figures who claimed to have faced these old giants. It had been during these studies he learnt of the old books and how it could lead to him attaining godhood. How the world will bow to him. How those who looked down at him will instead be forced to crane their necks to try and take him all in.

So after breaking a rotted panel in the library back rooms and reaching into the sealed compartments, Laz’s fingers brushed a rough surface that didn’t match the near frozen stone and dust surrounding his hand. Dragging the item closer before grasping it, Lazarus pulled out the unknown item, letting out a shuddering breath when his eyes came to see the book that had haunted his dreams. Lazarus barely cared for anything else as he brushed the decades of dust off the tome, seeing the carved images on the leather cover, figures that easily rivalled the celestial bodies gracing the work. Opening the book, the leather gave an audible crack from its years of neglect as the avid man began to search through the contents. His eyes burned either from the dust that coated the hidden tome, or from the untapped knowledge that seared the air around him. Lazarus took in what he could, finding the rituals that would grant him the body and power he had always desired and deserved.

He needed to get to work soon.

—--------------

"Okay, that symbol looks good,” Laz thought aloud as he stepped back from the summoning circle that took up a good portion of the basement floor. The ritual materials had been difficult to acquire. Although, rather than being either heinous and unlawful like blood of the innocent that most would expect rituals to demand, the summoning items were more esoteric and almost mundane. The hardest thing to find and bring down had been a granite stone rather than the chicken offal he bought from the butcher. Moving to the Makeship pedestal that held the book that’ll grant his dreams, Laz cleared his voice and prepared to speak the first words of the chant… only to swear as the door of the basement opened above him.

“Laz, dad called and said he’ll be late tonight,” Lazarus’ younger brother called as his light steps tapped on the steps leading down. The high school senior Wilbur glanced around at what the out of college Lazarus had been doing. “Um… what’s going on?”

“I’m working on a project. Just get out,” Lazarus said, walking up to his scrawny brother and began pushing him back up the stairs. Even with Laz’s lithe body, Wilbur’s tiny form was easy to overpower.

“Wait, but me and my friends are getting take out and-”

“I’m good! Just get whatever!” Laz said, practically shoving his brother out before slamming the door shut. Locking it up, the amateur cultist sighed before turning to get back to work. He didn’t want to deal with his brother and his other nerdy friends, already hearing the sound of whatever game they were playing. Getting back to the Giganomicon and looking over the ceremony steps, Laz couldn’t help but think of his potential servants the scrawny seniors upstairs will be once the spell is complete.

He did need to hurry though, glancing at his watch as it wasn’t long before the total lunar eclipse ended. Whilst the event wasn’t visible from his home, Lazarus had checked the tome and confirmed that it didn’t matter if the ritual was done in sight of the eclipse, so long as it was prepared and then performed in conjunction to the moment of full totality.

‘I refuse to wait three years to try this again,’ Laz thought, hoping his scrawny brother didn’t ruin this for him as he had mere minutes left. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Lazarus read aloud the accursed words of the Giganomicon.

Starting the chant, Lazarus tried not to flinch as his mouth burned trying to pronounce the alien dialect that no mortal was ever meant to utter. His tongue felt as if he had used it to pull a weight, speaking the words to the ancients in hope they would grant his wish. That they will complete his destiny as a god amongst men. Picturing the form that no man would ever be able to possess, Lazarus focused on those who would be forced to worship him, filling the spot with his soon to be weaker brother and his friends.

Forcing the last script that seemed to drain his body, Lazarus watched in awe and horror as the room filled with a black fire, consuming the Giganomicon, the ritual materials, and even himself. The cold flames raced across his lithe body, surrounding him in pure darkness before a deep sound shook his body, the frozen Laz unable to cover his ears as he felt like he was at ground zero of a building collapse. His mind embraced the darkness as he recognised what had been said. 

i̸̩̰͍͎͗̈́̊͌Ț̷̛̛̍͆́ ̴̢̠̟̙͔̊̑͝I̸̗̽s̵̰̀̌͊̊͆ ̶̛́̽̈̑ͅĎ̴̝̯̦̦͓̓̏̂Ŏ̵̪̺͝n̶̛̯̱͉̰̯̄̓͐e̴̢͖͗̊̃͝

…and then there was silence.

…..

Letting out a gasp, Lazarus found himself sitting up from the cold floor of his basement. Trying to catch his breath, the college student looked around, scrambling to figure out what had happened before looking to where his hard work had been.

The ritual circle had been destroyed, the organic material burnt and nothing but ash whilst the metal and stone he had struggled to carry into the room lay scattered in ruined pieces. The pedestal he laid the Giganomicon on was cracked and splintered, though the book was on the floor, closed and spotless of the ash that surrounded it.

‘D-did it work?’ Lazarus thought, looking over the scene before glancing down at his body. He hoped for the godlike physique he desired. The power he had been promised.

He looked exactly the same.

Taking off the dime store robe, even stripping off his clothing in hope he just wasn’t seeing it clearly. But Laz was still the rail thin man he was before. Not even being blessed with going from anorexic to a runner build. 

Blushing in shame and frustration as a glance under his boxers proved there wasn’t any additional growth even there, Lazarus went over to the book that should have given him everything he wanted. Lifting the tome and feeling its weight, not even super strength, the wanna be cultist tried to open the book and figure out why the spell didn’t work. However, the cover refused to open for him, even the frail looking pages kept their shape as he tried to pry them apart, the pages refusing to shift even enough to let his fingernails through. The struggle was forced to end as the accursed book heated up, forcing Lazarus to drop it.

“God damn it… but it should have worked,” Laz thought, shaking his hands as he tried to piece together what happened. The sealed book itself wasn’t a surprise, having apparently been a requisite for the ritual success. For the powers of the giants, the knowledge would be sealed for a decade.

But he didn’t get any of the powers. 

The young man kicked the ancient book, letting it sit among the pile of materials. Wanting nothing more than the wail and curse the failure shafted onto him, the man prepared himself to take out all his frustration on the ruined materials that littered the ground. Even if it would solve nothing but leave Laz with a sore throat and maybe some self inflicted bruises.

“Hey Laz! Food’s here!”

Wilbur’s loud yell surprised Laz out of his wallowing, causing the man to stumble from his attempt of a running kick at the book. The young man catching himself before he would have landed on the pile of ash that had been a pound of chicken guts.

“I. I’m coming!” He called back up, blinking a bit as he stayed where he was, holding onto the metal shelf he caught himself on. Taking a few breaths, placing his forehead against the cool metal, Lazarus instead let out a defeated sigh before standing back up and moving towards the basement stairs. Picking up his clothes and putting them back on. 

‘I can work with this,’ Lazarus thought to himself as he pulled his t-shirt over his head, pulling it down over his scrawny body with the promise to himself he could do it. No longer blinded by his pent up frustration mixed with the exhaustion of prep work, Laz mentally went over what he needed. The young man still had his list of ingredients certain that he can get the ingredients again, maybe even easier since he didn’t have to gather them in under a week. The instruction had said the book needed to be present for the ritual, never specifying it had to be open, so that was covered. The chant itself would be the main problem, his jaw and tongue still sore from the words of power he spoke. Although Lazarus was fairly certain he could recreate it from memory… Well, he hoped he could.

Settling to give this a try again in three years (or God forbid, waiting for ten years), Laz climbed up the stairs to the ground floor. Hearing the weirdly deep sound of his seniors gaming. He couldn’t place a recent time the high school nerds were ever this loud, or their voices sounding… deeper?

Opening the door and making his way down the hallway to the living room where the sound of the gamers was coming from, Laz coughing at the stench of body odour that hit him. He was used to it from his own high school years, his (almost abysmal) dating life, and living with a highschool senior, not to mention his visiting friends. However, the musky scent seemed thicker, rivalling that of a locker room after a competition and subsequent jerk off from the teams. Heading to the teens, wondering what the Hell they’ve been up to, Laz failed to notice the slight offness to the house he had lived in all his life.

“Jesus, did you guys skip showering for days or …or…” Laz had begun his complaints, turning to the door frame that opened into the living room. He had expected his scrawny brother Wilbur and his equally tiny friends Abdul and Robby sitting on the couch playing some game with a pizza box on the coffee table.

Instead he saw the two biggest men he’d even seen taking up a good portion of the room that was clearly larger than when he went down for the seemingly failed ritual. 

Seated on the floor were Abdul and Robby. Their lanky bodies were gone, replaced with massive forms that easily put any professional bodybuilder or strongman to shame, the clothing they wore when he last saw them still on, even as the fabrics were stretched to an almost obscene level as their now crop tops and shorts rode up and exposed more of their colossal bodies. The glow of the tv bouncing off their bodies as they visibly sweat. The once weak seniors possessed arms thicker than Lazarus’ own form with their meaty hands gripping oversized game controllers as the men (there was no denying they were men) played their games, not at all concerned with the older brother’s shock as he tried to piece what he saw. Lazarus felt he had to try and focus on the duo one at a time, unable to take them all in at once, though even focusing on one of the gargantuan men proved hard for him. 

His eyes first went to Abdul. His dark bulging form strained his Yoshi patterned shirt to a point the one of the warped lizards looked to be trying to eat one of Abdul’s nipples that threatened to poke through the straining fabric. The once rail thing chess player looked like he had eaten several bodybuilders with how dense his body looked. The now bearded man’s bull thick neck and engorged traps stretched the shirt neck hole as they pressed against his head. His pipe thick fingers working on the controller, muscle memory having to be used as Lazarus was sure the gargantuan man couldn’t see past his billboard sized pecs. Lazarus was actually curious how Abdul’s hands met enough to let him hold the clearly custom controller, considering the muscle beast’s pecs and biceps fought for space, the muscles pulsing as they rubbed together. The ridden up shirt helped expose the cobblestone pecs and wide waist Abdul had, a dusting of black body hair leading across the earthen skin, pulling Lazarus’ gaze down to the obscene cock straining the man’s shorts. Even as Abdul was sitting cross legged, his thighs and calves bloated with more muscle than Lazarus’ entire body, the smaller man could see how Abdul’s groin filled the space.

“Come on… quit spamming green shells,” Abdul said. The deep voice was a complete disconnect from the high cracking tones Lazarus had been used to hearing when Abdul came over. 

“Not my fault they’re the only things I’m getting,” Robby answered, his own voice a rolling baritone, unlike the choir soprano he had once been. The massive man had taken more of a long retired sumo build compared to Abdul’s off season muscled form. His tanned flesh bloated out with a fairly thick layer of fat, though that did little to diminish the clear tetanic muscle that the bear of a man possessed. The immense Robby leaned forward as he focused on the race the two were playing, his rolling beanbag of a gut rolling forward, taking the space in front of him as he spread his legs out. Lazarus briefly considered how if the massive man was standing, Laz would barely reach his waist with how long the legs looked. Going back up the globe of a belly, the dense treasure trail leading up from a cavern of a belly button that Lazarus could shove his fist into, the wanna-be cultist’s gaze went to the immense chest that stretched out what had once been a Metroid shirt. The thick sweat trails soaking the fabric, barely covering the immense pecs as it rode high enough around the barrel like chest that Lazarus could see the bear’s scars where his boulder gut met the meaty, fur covered pecs. The tiny man saw where Robby’s sleeves had torn off, clearing having been unable to contain the biceps that could easily be used to smother the smaller Lazarus without any effort on the giant’s part.

Going up the patch of chest hair, Lazarus saw Robby’s face. The slightly bloated cheeks and rounded neck covered in a dense beard as the gigantic man remained focused on the game. Even when Abdul bumped against him, their massive bodies hit with a slight damp slap that echoed in the house as the two beasts were invested in the game.

“YES!” Abdul cheered, raising his herculean arms in victory as he clearly won the race they had played. His fists leaving clear dents in the ceiling, more than capable of busting through if the seated behemoth had been the slightest bit bigger.

“Come on, best two out of three?” Robby groaned out, lowering his controller to the dented floor. The massive bear reached over to the coffee table by his side, making Lazarus realise he had been focused on the literal titans before him, that he hadn’t seen the coffee table overloaded with pizza boxes until Robby grabbed one of the large sized boxes. The enormous senior rolled the pizza in one hand with the expertise of practice before bringing the greasy pizza-burrito to his mouth. The open maw biting down, taking more than half of what was clearly a family sized pizza, leaving a trail of grease to drip down on the soaked shirt Robby wore.

“Dude remember? Wilbur called dips on winner,” Abdul laughed before he seemed to finally be aware of Lazarus’ presence. A faint blush forming on the massive man’s cheeks, shifting his seated position as Lazarus swore the titan’s bulge twitched. “H-Hey Lazarus,” 

“Be more obvious, why don’t you?” Robby said through a full mouth, not even trying to be subtle in his ribbing of his friend’s crush as Abdul elbowed the titanic man’s round gut. Only succeeding in causing Robby’s belly to wobble before the bear heaved a deep belch that forced Lazarus to hold a wall to keep from stumbling.

“W-What happened to you guys?”

The two titans blinked at Lazarus’ question, clearly not expecting that.

“We’ve been gaming, and eating pizzas. Though Wilbur had to help the delivery guys bring in the rest of the order. Can’t believe they had to split it between three vans,” Robby said, shrugging a bit, finishing off the rolled-up pizza he ate, sucking the remaining grease off his more than sausage-thick fingers.

Lazarus tried to understand what he was seeing. It was clearly his brother’s friends, they were still the teens he had seen grow up, even more evident by Abdul’s crush or Robby’s tone. But how did they become -

The ritual! 

The thought hit Lazarus like a freight train as he realised the spell he worked so hard on hadn’t failed. But, instead of gifting the cultist with the massive body and size, it seemed to instead have gone to Wilbur’s friends. 

The power. 

The size. 

All of it had gone instead to the two high school seniors. Who instead of using all that might to dominate others and earn the respect their power deserved, were instead sitting around and gaming. One nonchalantly ate pizzas like they were snacks as the other tried to hide the obvious crush, even as the obscene bulge in his pants shuddered.

‘This can’t get worse,’ Lazarus thought, long having forgotten of Sod’s Law as the house shook slightly, the thick musky scent of the titans seemingly thicker. Turning around as he heard something behind him, Lazarus instead found himself bouncing off a hard surface and landing on the ground.

“Oh, sorry Laz. Didn’t see you there,” Lazarus tried to blink the stars he saw, looking up to where he heard Wilbur’s voice. Mentally not realising just how much deeper his little brother’s voice was. His vision clearing, Lazarus felt his blood run cold as he saw the spell didn’t just work on Abdul and Robby, but on WIlbur too.

And clearly affected him more than his friends.

Looking on, Lazarus saw Wilbur’s body swollen with the most mass compared to the other two titans. The pastel shirt and shorts he wore stretched out, as the titanic strong teen looked down. Though Abdul had a bodybuilder look and Robby was sumo-like, Wilbur got the happy medium between as an overfilled powerlifter. The pink shirt he wore stretched over the billboard-sized pecs, his rounded stomach bloated outwards, exposed and on display. Glancing to his giant brother’s waist and booty short-like shorts, Lazarus blushed as he realised he had bounced off his brother’s cock, seeing the sweat patch on the obscene bulge that was forced out by the tectonic thighs.

“Though bet Ab wishes Laz ran into him like that,” Robby snickered, earning an indignant gasp from the remaining titan.

“Come on Robby, it was bad luck. Not his fault I ran into him when I have to crouch down,” Wilbur said, shaking Lazarus not only with his deep thunder of a voice but with what he said as the older brother really took in Wilbur’s body as the massive man squeezed through the doorway that rivalled a garage door. Lazarus’ eyes threatened to pop out of his head as whilst he was sure Abdul and Robby would have to lean forward to keep from bumping their heads against the ceilings, it was clear if Wilbur stood up, he’d clearly go head and shoulders through the wooden structure into the second floor. Hell, Lazarus was sure even Wilbur’s massive pecs and wide back would have gone through too. Watching Wilbur make his way into the now very cramped room, almost decimating the wall behind him, Lazarus took in the broad shoulders his brother now possessed and the engorged arms. His lats, pecs and biceps were all fighting for space as it forced the hulk's arms at a slight angle, causing the teen’s elbow to break through the wall like it was tissue paper. The massive Wilbur’s hand holding the stack of pizzas clearly all family-sized even as they just barely covered the titan’s palm. The behemoth passed on the stack to his still-seated friends, his dense arm passing the distance that was clearly longer than Lazarus was tall. 

So shocked by just how gigantic his brother had become, Lazarus didn’t notice Wilbur’s other hand reaching for him. The calloused fingers and immense palm wrapped around Lazarus’ body almost like a doll. Lazarus feared he’d be effortlessly crushed by the gigantic Wilbur before the titan’s grip settled, not too tight to make the smaller brother unable to breathe, but not loose enough for him to get out of it. Before he could even try to struggle, Lazarus found himself being pulled up to Wilbur’s face, the movement leaving him dazed with the wind rushing past him.

“You sure you’re okay Laz? You look paler than usual?” Wilbur asked the enormous eyes that used to look up at the older brother now peering down. Being moved closer to Wilbur’s face, Lazarus could see his brother’s features shift with his growth. The soft baby fat face is gone, replaced by a bearded coated, lantern jaw structure. The teenage brother’s cheeks looked hard enough to break diamonds as the titan waited for a response. Seeing the worried look on his brother’s face, Lazarus tried to smile, even as his heart felt ready to give out with the shock alone.

“Y-Yeah, just.. I just been tired is all,” Lazarus said, internally cringing at the almost pathetic excuse. He wondered if the giant men would call out his lie. Maybe break him for-

“Probably from that project you were doing,” Wilbur said, voice breaking Lazarus from the potential panic he was working himself up to. The massive brother’s face broke in a smile, teeth uncomfortably big for Lazarus’ liking, before Wilbur shifted towards his friends, the house shaking under the tectonic weight of his steps. “Was worried what dad would say if you passed out watching over us,”

'He was worried about Dad?... I’m watching over them?!’ Lazarus thought, unable to quite piece how their practically godlike titans were his brother and friends, made even more confusing when they still acted like teens who barely got their driving licenses. Before Lazarus could even wonder just what the ritual had done, and what other changes might have occurred, he found himself passed over to Robby like he was a toy. The older brother found himself seated on the immense gut with his back against Robby’s solid chest. The sweat soaked through his own clothing and no matter what Lazarus did, he found himself sinking back into the immense bear’s body.

“I can just sit on the couch,” Lazarus suggested, not really liking how the teens had effortlessly manhandled him, especially when Robby just placed his mitt of a hand across Laz’s lap. The hairy paw kept the small brother in place with its weight alone before Ab’s large hand reached towards him, bringing over a comparatively tiny pizza. This one clearly meant for Lazarus as it wasn’t one of the family-sized portions the titan teens were snacking on. The house shook more violently as Wilbur took his seat behind the other large men, still towering over them as he leaned against the behemoth’s back to look at Lazarus.

“You can’t. Remember? Abdul and I broke it last week when we were putting on our costumes for the cosplay convention,” Wilbur said, bringing the back of one of his hands over to Lazarus, pressing the broad surface against him as if checking for a fever, even if Wilbur’s body was practically a furnace with the heat he was giving off.

“I thought it could hold whilst we put the final pieces of our Sonic, Tails and Knuckles costumes,” Abdul said, letting out a sigh. “I mean, if it could hold up Robby, thought it would hold whilst we did the body paint,” 

“Ha ha. Anyway, you and Ab have this round,” Robby let out a sarcastic laugh, his belly and pecs wobbling from the movement. The ripples of fat reminded Lazarus of those corny waterbeds if they were set to a wave pool setting. The massive bear handed a controller over to Wilbur as the massive teen kept an eye on his older brother.

“You sure you’re okay Laz?”

“Yeah, just tired is all,”

“Hmm, okay. If you’re sure. After this round, we can switch to four-player mode,” Wilbur stared a second before nodding, seeming satisfied as he leaned back. The floor creaked under the titan men’s combined weight as Abdul and Wilbur went back to playing their game. Turning to the screen, Lazarus saw his brother and Abdul pick their usual characters of Toadette and Shy Guy respectively before proceeding through the race. 

Even as Lazarus mindlessly ate a slice of his pizza, not really focusing on the food or the game as he was surrounded by the epitome of masculinity the three men were. Laz thought over how they still looked up to him, even when they were gods among men. The cultist wondered if he could make use of this.

Thought that idea soured as he heard Wilbur and Robby talk about a sale at the local game store tomorrow. The titanic brother said he wanted to get some more Kirby plushies for his collection. The mass of pink paraphernalia Wilbur had was probably the only thing larger in size than the titan brother himself.