Tournament of Change Prelude Part 7 (Patreon)

Author's Note: Finally back to this series, took a while! I hope you're enjoying me writing it! I've had a ton of fun so far and sorry for the pause.

Chapter 7: Hot-spring Hijack!

It had been a long 2 days for Jam. After awakening to his demi-god powers and nearly destroying a whole universe, being roped into a magical quest in order to master said powers, and being forced to shakingly ally with the mysterious Knight of Friday, one could easily say Jam deserved a break. He was about to get one, but not in the way he expected...

The trio travelled by foot up the mountain late at night, making their way to an unknown destination. Jam scratched at the back of his head, "So, where we going, 'pops'?"

Wukong snickered and smacked his fat belly, "If I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise now, would it? Trust me, we ALL need it! It'll just be a bit of rest and relaxation for the three of us!"

Jam narrowed his eyes, "It's a hot-spring, isn't it?"

Wukong snickered, "Maybe! Regardless, we should be there soon. I'll go on ahead to make sure they're open, I want you two to stay here to talk while I'm gone!"

Jam looked anxiously at Friday before looking away, "I-I guess we could. Not like I have anything better to do..."

Wukong winked, "Great, I'm sure you two will get along fine!"

The fat Monkey King ran off, leaving his son and the mysterious Knight of Friday alone. Jam sighed as he silently glared at the knight.

Friday turned to face him, "Something up, Lord Jam?"

"No, just looking at a snake in the grass,"

The knight hung his shoulders in shame, "I thought we went over this! I'm on your side, that whole 'villain thing' was just an act,"

"You say it was an act, yet you said we've met before and STILL haven't clarified where that was! Are you trying to hide something from me, Friday?"

The knight nervously scratched at the back of his head, "N-Not at all, Lord Jam! It's just now isn't the right time to get into it..."

"Whatever! I- Wait, what's that smell?!" The monkey said as he stuck his pink nose in the air. He could smell the scent of various creatures, all of which were hidden in the trees around the duo.

"I can't smell anything, due to not having a nose. But I can definitely sense them, there has to be at least 50 of them!"

Jam sighed, "Time to break my pacifist oath once again!"

He concentrated as his body started to expand, gaining tons of muscle and weight in the process. His body became incredibly fat, his stomach bulging out in the process. His body forced itself into a four-legged stance as his feet morphed into big flabby hooves. His body doubled in size as his simian face pushed out into a massive snout. In a matter of moments, Jam had transformed into a big, fat hippo!

Jam smiled as he stomped his hippo hooves into the ground as he bared his teeth at the shadowy figures in the trees, "Who wants some?!"

The figures panicked as they flailed about, causing themselves to fall out of the tree. Jam and Friday then took a closer look at them, revealing them to be Tanuki! The Tanuki were famous raccoon-dogs of Japanese folklore, who were tricksters that were able to change their shapes at will.

One large and VERY fat Tanuki (who Jam and Friday assumed to be their leader) gasped, "We weren't told you could turn into a hippo!"

Friday held up his sword at them, "Who told you about us?! Was it 'Saturday'?"

"You'll get nothing out of me, freaks!" The Tanuki said while crossing his arms.

"Am I going to have to sit on you?" Jam said while turning his back and baring his large rump at the Tanuki.

"You don't scare me! We will hand your hide to him, one way or another!"

Jam sighed, "You're all bark and no bite, raccoon-dog. Regardless, you may leave,"

The gang of Tanuki scampered away as the leader winked at the monkey, "Your mercy is appreciated, monkey! Though I can't say I'll grant it when next we meet..."

Once the Tanuki were gone, the knight stomped his foot and turned to face the hippo, "Lord Jam, why would you let them go free?!"

"It's clear they didn't know anything, Friday! They were probably set up by someone,"

"They threatened you as they left though! You would grant mercy to an enemy?"

"I granted mercy to you, didn't I?" The hippo snorted.

"Yes, but I'm not your enemy, Lord Jam!"

"Well, I think the verdict is still out on that..."

Just then, Wukong returned as he waved at the pair, "Getting along well, you two?"

Jam rolled his eyes, "Kinda,"

"Well, I get it may be a bit rocky at first, but I'm sure you two will become friends! Especially after we visit the HOTSPRINGS!"

Jam shifted back into a monkey as his eyes opened wide, "Ha, I knew it! And to think, this will be the first time I've been to the hot-springs...

Wukong smirked and clapped his flabby monkey paws together, "Then it's decided! The three of us will go,"

Friday nodded and turned to leave, "Very well, I shall head in the direction of the hot-spring and guard the outside so none may enter! We don't want those Tanuki coming back to try to kidnap Jam,"

Wukong snickered and pointed down the road, "Sounds good, Friday! It's just down the road near a bunch of trees, you can't miss it!"

"Very well, Lord Wukong. Thank you kindly for the directions," Said the knight, before bowing and flying away.

Jam shrugged his shoulders, "Wow, he's really dedicated- 'Wait... Why didn't you bat an eye at the 'Tanuki trying to kidnap me' thing?"

The Monkey King nervously scratched at his head, "Oh, you know... Reasons. Anyway, his dedication is to be admired! He's definitely a trustworthy ally,"

"Way to change the subject. Regardless, how do we even know he's on our side though?! Hours ago, he was fighting me! And yesterday, I nearly destroyed a whole universe because of him,"

"Friday's a good guy, trust me! He's just VERY awkward, and can go a bit overboard at times,"

Jam placed his hands behind his head and grumbled, "Fine, whatever! But the moment he turns traitor, Imma sit on him,"

Wukong put his hand on Jam's back, "And here I thought you were a trusting guy!"

"I am trusting, I let anyone and everyone wear my body! But that guy, he rubs me the wrong way, ESPECIALLY when he keeps secrets!"

"You need to trust him or this won't work! Regardless, we'll figure things out at the hot-spring, let's go!" Wukong shouted as he dragged Jam along by his arm. The duo failed to notice the Tanuki watching him from the trees.

The fat Tanuki leader rubbed his flabby paws together, "That monkey changes shape better than any of us!"

One of his henchmen nodded, "He sure does, and he's only a novice too!"

"Only a novice?! Imagine what his body would be like in the hands of a pro... Men, I'm making a little change to our employer's request. We'll not only take the monkey captive, but we'll keep his body as our prize!"

"Good idea, boss! You always have the best ones,"

"Why thank you! Onwards to our hot-spring base, we'll make our plans there. We'll soon be gods of shapeshifting with that monkey's body under our control..."

Meanwhile, Jam and Wukong had arrived just outside the hot-spring building. It was a large white building with old-fashioned architecture, meant to evoke a mix of Chinese and Greek cultures. The spring lied indoors, tempting the two monkeys who currently stood outside. Before they could enter inside, however, Wukong stopped Jam. The fat monkey king smiled, "Before we go any further, I think it's time I give you a reward for all your hard work so far!"

"A reward?! Is it candy?!"

"No, something better..."

Jam shook his hands excitement, "Ooh, I wonder what it could be!"

Wukong then snapped his fingers, causing a single piece of clothing to appear in his hand... It was a red lab-coat with a gold trim, giving it an oriental look. "...It's a symbol of you training under me!" Wukong said proudly.

Jam grabbed the red lab-coat from the Monkey King, "Not what I was expecting, but I appreciate it! Geez, been so long since I wore anything other than my regular lab-coat in my body,"

"Well, try it on!"

Jam nodded as he prepared to take it off and put on his new lab-coat, before Wukong stopped him, "Wait, not here! Change in the bushes!"

"Why? I'm not wearing pants regardless!"

"True, but you need to put all of your gizmos and gadgets from your old lab-coat into your new one! I don't want to stand here as you pull out a mountain of stuff just to put it into another lab-coat, you may as well do that in privacy!"

"Fine, I guess! You know you're acting REALLY suspicious right now, dad!"

Wukong playfully tilted his head upwards, "Why, whatever do you mean, my beloved son?"

Jam snickered as he threw the red lab-coat over his shoulders, "Eh, whatever! I just hope that whatever your hiding isn't some secret test of character that's going to put me in a silly, embarrassing situation!"

"I can't promise that it's NOT that, but I can't confirm that it is either! You'll just have to wait and see,"

Jam nodded and walked off his fancy new red lab-coat in tow, "Whatever you say!"

Jam walked to the nearest bush and started taking out all of the things from his white lab-coat in order to stuff it into his new red one. This proved more difficult than expected, as Jam kept a near limitless supply of things in his "hammerspace" pockets. Once he pulled everything out of them (which took several minutes), he marveled at the pile, "Wow, I really do carry too much stuff with me! Now I just gotta transfer it into the red one-"

Before Jam could finish, the red lab-coat sucked up his pile of stuff and distributed it among its many pockets. The red lab-coat relied on hammerspace physics as well, keeping Jam's many gadgets hidden from sight. The monkey clapped his paws together, "And it suctions too?! Fantastic!"

Jam then threw on the red lab-coat and marveled at it, "Y'know, I normally don't care about fashion, but this is fantastic!"

Just then, Jam spotted a large billow of steam nearby. It was in the opposite direction of the hot-spring, making Jam curious about what it might be. Jam followed the trail of steam and was lead to a natural hot-spring... Filled with the Tanuki he had met earlier!

The very fat Tanuki boss in the middle smiled and laughed, "Well, we meet again! We were going to come looking for you, but you came right to us!"

"Not you guys again! You still want to capture me?!"

The Tanuki stood up from the spring, showing his enormous belly in the process, "In a manner of speaking, yes. We were supposed to capture you, but your shapeshifting abilities are truly enticing! They dwarf our own and don't even require leaves,"

Jam grinned as he smugly crossed his arms, "Of course! I am the son of the Monkey King after all,"

The Tanuki nodded as he left the water, revealing himself to be wearing blue swim-trunks, "That's where you're wrong! You're not his son..."

Before Jam could ask what the Tanuki meant, he placed a leaf on Jam's head and then one on his own. The leaves let out a burst of magical smoke that covered the two. When the smoke cleared, Jam found himself feeling rather large... And round. He looked down and was surprised to see that he now a MASSIVE belly!

His body was over 500 pounds now, making it incredibly massive and flabby. His feet were now useless Tanuki paws, his tail was thicker and less dexterous, and he now had a sizable snout. Jam's new body had a coat of light brown fur, with bits of darker brown fur on his hands and feet.

Moving around in his new body proved to be a challenge, especially due to the new Tanuki's girth. His fat belly jiggled wildly with each solitary movement, like a bowl of Jello being poked by a spoon. Jam flailed about in his fat new body, trying to steady himself, "Dammit, and to think I managed to go 6 chapters without swapping bodies!"

Jam then looked down and saw the Tanuki in his body, marveling at his thinner form and newfound shapeshifting prowess. He flexed his new prehensile tail and even managed to do a flip, amazed by his dexterity and fit body, "This is perfect! And just what we need!"

Jam narrowed his eyes, "W-What do you mean?"

The monkey smirked and patted his fat former belly, " You see, no one will be able to stop me from entering the tournament and winning what I desire!"

"And that is?"

"Infinite wealth, of course! I can use it to buy everything on the mountain, including those crappy indoor hot-springs run by the Kitsune! Those crafty foxes put us out of business by drawing all our customers to their shoddy fox-built abomination! Well, I'll show them..."

"Don't you dare, I refuse to let someone evil like you run off with my body!" Jam concentrated and tried to reverse the Tanuki's shapeshifting magic to get his body back, but it didn't work. He couldn't shapeshift in the slightest!

The former fat Tanuki cackled, "Oh, did I forget to mention? A Tanuki takes years to master shapeshifting its own form. Its not like your newfound natural ability to become whatever you want, it's something that takes mastery! Don't worry though, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it... Eventually!"

Jam grumbled and waved a flabby paw at him, "I don't think so! I'm taking my body back now!"

"You'll have to catch me first, fatso!"

The Tanuki then ran off with the monkey's body in tow, prompting Jam to chase after him. This proved to be difficult, as Jam's out-of-shape body made him quickly lose energy. His fat jiggling wildly with each step wasn't helping matters. After a while, Jam gave up and fell to the ground, panting wildly. His body just didn't have the strength or energy to keep up. That's when the monkey ran back up to him and hopped on his belly, "What's the matter? Can't keep up with the great 'Nuka'?"

"Of course not- Wait, your name is 'Nuka' and you're a Tanuki?" Jam asked with a smirk.

"Don't laugh at the wordplay, you jerk! After all, you're the Tanuki now and that means..." Nuka then reached over and booped Jam's snout. As soon as Nuka did that, Jam's body started to freeze up. His flesh turned to stone as his movement ceased, leaving Jam stuck as a very fat Tanuki statue. "Grk ack!" The former monkey let out muffled yelps of surprise, now lacking the ability to voice his displeasure.

Nuka cackled as he leaped off the statue, "Serves you right, IDIOT! Everyone knows that a Tanuki turns into a statue for one hour after his snout has been booped,"

One of the Tanuki henchmen stepped forward, "Boss, how about we boop his snout every hour on the hour for ya? Will keep him a stone statue while you get in good with Wukong and win the tournament!"

"Yes, if you keep him frozen all week nothing will stop me! Thanks, men! Now I must be off," The monkey then leaped into the air and concentrated, before turning into a brown-feathered bird and flying off, "Ah, shapeshifting is a breeze now! I wonder what else I can turn into?"

Jam could only watch in horror as the Tanuki wearing his body flew off! Jam knew what would happen if the Tanuki lost control in his body, it would be the end of everything. However, how he can stop him while stuck as a fat statue? And where has Friday been this whole time? Find out in the next exciting chapter of Tournament of Change Prelude!