Monstrously Huge- Part 1 (Patreon)

Bernard is feeling a little self-conscious about his own spookiness with a convention coming up, but that's nothing a little growth potion can't fix. Enjoy!

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It was a lovely evening at the Mettle Household; there was a gloomy rain feeding a cold mist that clung to the ground, shrouding their ancient, crumbling estate in a creeping dread— perfect weather for curling up at home with a good book, Bernard thought. The burly werewolf was sprawled out on a couch before the fireplace, flipping through a book in one hand, and his other arm wrapped around the waist of his beloved wife Wilhamena. 

"Hm… why don't we get more afternoons like this, hun?" the vampire purred, resting her head against Bernard's broad, furry chest.

"Heh, three kids, two jobs, a house with five hauntings and two poltergeists…" Bernard grinned, kissing Wilhamena's forehead. "The American nightmare, right?"

There was a sudden tapping on their window pane, followed by the loud caw of a raven. Both looked up, to see a large black bird tapping against the window, a message in its beak.

"Oh!" Bernard leapt up from his seat. "That must be our tickets to SCM."

The werewolf opened the window, taking the letter, but the raven pecked at his hand. "Oh, right—" he looked back to his wife. "Do you have any cash on you, hon? For the tip? I only have cards right now."

"My purse is on the table," she said.

"Right, just one— ow! One second!" The raven continued to peck at him until it received an appropriate tip, then flew off. Bernard opened the envelope with a claw, and pulled it out. "Yep,  two adults to the Spooky Convention for Monsters. Oh…!" Bernard trailed off, looking over the rest of the letter.

Wilhamena sat up. "What is it, babe?"

Bernard looked up. "They want me to speak."

"What? Like, on a panel?"

The werewolf nodded. "Yeah, a panel for spooky dads— because a monster dad shouldn't be a monstrous dad, heh. It's the tagline. They must've read my article— the one I sent in?"

"I remember!" Wilhamena stood up, rushing to Bernard's side and kissing him on the cheek. "Honey, that was a good article. No wonder they want you to speak."

"Oh, hah…" Bernard waved it off, suddenly bashful. "Just… you know, public speaking, and all… not really my strong suit."

"What? Oh," the vampire tutted, tugging on Bernard's open shirt. "Don't tell me the big bad wolf is scared of a little old panel."

"Look at this line-up, babe! These are big name monsters! There's Larry Talbot, we went to school together, and now he's the scariest werewolf ever. Count Dracula is on the panel!" Bernard began to feel a bit of panic set in. "What— I'm gonna be chewed up and spat out by these guys! I-I'm like a lap dog next to them!"

"Hey, what is this?" Wilhamena cooed, cupping her husband's face in her hands. "You are my big bad wolf. You are strong, you're a great father, and you are the scariest, meanest werewolf in the world. Isn't that right, pookie?" She pet Bernard's head, his chin sinking into her hands as his tail wagged. "Who's my scary werewolf?"

"D'aw… I am," he groaned.

Wilhamena kissed the tip of his nose. "Look, this is a lot of news all at once. Why don't you go work in your kitchen garden for a while, and then when you've calmed down, we can celebrate this good news, hm?" she said, rubbing his thickly muscular arm.

"Yeah… I need to see how the belladonna and the venus fly traps are taking to this new growth formula. It's brewed form magic beans, so I'm hoping for big things," Bernard said.

"Aw, I'm sure they're blooming, hon," the vampire patted Bernard's cheek as the werewolf moved to gather his gardening supplies. Bernard moved out to the long, unkempt yard around their home, and then the small, fenced-in kitchen garden he tended to with fierce devotion. Here, he not only grew herbs and spices for cooking, but all kinds of spooky plants as well— belldonna and creeping vines, carnivorous plants of all kinds, and when the werewolf moved into the garden, his bright, yellow eyes widened.

"Woah…" Bernard approached his venus fly traps, each one large enough to bite off  hand— which they almost did, snapping at him as he ran a claw under their leaves.

"Hey, easy there, fellas," the werewolf chuckled, patting the top of the bulb. "Wow… you guys are growing fast…" he muttered, and then looked over towards his shed. Grabbing the growth formula, he rubbed his chin— this stuff worked wonders. From there, the seed of an idea hit his mind… could he drink the formula? After all, it was a well-established rule that if you wanted to make something scarier, you make it bigger.

Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained— the werewolf snatched up the formula and took a deep gulp, growling slightly at the bitter taste, and then waited. He lurched forward, snarling involuntarily as he felt something welling up inside him. He felt a rush of adrenaline as he stumbled out of the garden, reducing part of the fence to splinters as he hurtled over it. He trembled, feeling his body tighten and tense, energy building up with nowhere to go— and then, sweet release, as he felt his body shift and begin to grow. 

Every part of his muscular body surged, brimming with brawny strength. His arms expanded into monumental battering rams, gigantic cannons with boulder-like biceps and triceps thick as tires. His legs tore and snapped at his denim like shredding paper, thighs so growing so thick they would shame any oak tree with their width and density, holding up a sculpted torso that would fill a mausoleum, his chest jutting out like a shield wall and stone-like abs tightly packed, buttressed by his heaving lats. His thick purple fur carpeted this expansive mass, Bernard letting out a low, rumbling howl that echoed across the night sky as he tensed his arms, muscle leaping up to the occasion and filling out more space. 

"Oh, now this is more like it!" He rumbled, claws raking against the bulging mass of his surging chest. Bernard turned, peering over his mountainous shoulders to see more of his girthy musculature. The werewolf looked back to the house, grinning as he already thought about what a fright he was about to give to Wilhamena… and he really needed to get his hands on more of that growth formula. A surprise like this would scare the whole convention— like the tag line for his panel had said, a monster dad didn't have to be monstrous— but he could be monstrously huge.