Newton's Cradle
#12 of Patreon Stories
This is my February Patreon Story! Another installment into the Apex City superhero universe
Ervin and his colleagues at an art museum have been taken hostage by a group of robbers. Thankfully, a superhero specializing in protecting civilians has arrived. He stows them away into a 'special space' for safekeeping. Ervin, after such a stressful encounter, finds it so comfortable that he just drifts off to sleep...
Contains: Gunfire, taken hostage, mortal peril, superhero violence, a heroic rescue, Quicksand pudge, endosoma, extradimensional plumpness, miscounting hostages, and a very blushy realization.
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Ervin never thought this would happen to him. Certainly the museum he worked at contained a collection valued at a very high price, but he never thought anyone would think it was worth stealing. The paunchy lion was a conservator at the museum, working on maintaining and protecting the paintings. But now he was on his knees in a small storage room with seven of his colleagues, with varied professions from security to tour guide.
Worst of all, one of the crooks stood in the doorway, resting his hand on the gun tucked through his belt. The rat had on a nylon hood to protect his identity, making all of his features smoothed down and distorted beyond the tinting that the fabric itself provided. This criminal had already frisked them down for any way to defend themselves or call for help, and had personally stomped Ervin's smartphone to pieces in front of him.
There was a crashing sound from downstairs that sounded like tempered glass. The lion remembered one of the guards mentioning the ultra-modern doors to the building's main entrance were made of tempered glass for safety.
Gunshots rang out downstairs and the rat guarding them pulled his gun free from his belt, visibly clicking the safety off with his thumb. Incoherent shouting got closer, as well as the gunshots. A dark mass flew past the doorway too fast for the lion to get a clear look at. The gunfire seemed to follow it, as well as the shouting. Though, a good deal of the shouting was cut-off with a low grunt of impact. The gunfire was becoming far less often. The dark mass flew past again the other way, and the gunfire ended abruptly altogether with another grunt and the sound of a body collapsing to the ground.
The rodent in the doorway fidgeted, glancing back at the hostages, then back at the scene outside. He stepped away from the door, looking over the group of people laid prostrate, tail lashing behind him. The rat leveled his gun with Ervin's face, finger clearly resting on the trigger.
The conservator winced, his mane fluffing up as his blood ran cold. Ervin's jaw trembled as he looked down the barrel of the loaded weapon just a muscle twitch away from ending his life.
Suddenly the cuff of the robber's sleeve rose against gravity, taking the arm with it. The rat clenched his fist in surprise, firing a shot into the wall behind the hostages. Before he could right his aim, the clothes on the rest of his body visibly lifted the same way his sleeve had.
Ervin watched in astonishment as the thug was flung to the ceiling, crumpling into an unconscious pile there with a crack of plaster. It was like he had fallen up...
The bulky form he'd seen moving back and forth on the other side of the doorway came through and was finally able to be properly read. A stocky pangolin uncurled from his armored ball configuration, looking over the hostages. Contrasting the dark near-black of his scales, his underside was plush and cream colored. He wore protective goggles and a pair of snug bike shorts that had an N inside a circle. "Fight's not over, but I can't let you all just sit here alone while crooks are unaccounted for." When he turned his head to glance over his shoulder, heavy dreads seeming the same texture as his armored plating swayed with the momentum and back.
Ervin put it all together. He'd heard of this hero on the news: Newton, with powers related to gravity. The lion nervously looked up at the knocked out goon who'd nearly shot him, then to the hero, swallowing.
Newton held out one of his clawed scoop like hands, spreading the claw digits towards the closest hostage. "I'm going to need you all to trust me. I'll keep you safe."
The feline shuddered a bit, and after a moment frozen, he reached out and took the offered hand.
"Alright, this is going to be a little weird..." The pangolin said reassuringly. He pulled the lion from his seated position and towards his body.
Ervin gasped as he collided with the soft front side of the heavyset hero. Instead of the soft stop he was expecting, it was as though he'd fallen into a vat of rising bread dough. He squirmed instinctually as the pangolin's claw on his back pressed more firmly. His vision was taken away by the advancing cream flesh wrapping over his head. The lion could feel it closing over his ears, and when he tried to move his arms they were fully caught, no seam to try to peel back open.
"Just relax, it's safe..." Newton crooned as he adjusted his grip to pull on the lion's slacks, pulling his legs easily off the floor.
The conservator felt as though the world outside was no longer downward, but rather the direction he was moving, sinking inexorably. He panted heavily through his nostrils, half expecting that if he were to open his mouth it would rise to fill his jaws and he would choke. As he thought that, though, the lion realized that if that were possible, his nostrils would have been blocked already. "I... I can breathe?" He spoke in surprise.
"Of course you can. I told you, you're safe." Newton repeated reassuringly as he grasped both of the lion's feet in his claws and started to pull.
Ervin struggled with his anxiety as much as he writhed against the encompassing flesh. Thankfully, in both cases, the warmth of the pangolin was wearing him down. By the time just his shoes and a foot of tufted tail were jutting from where a navel should have been, he found himself wishing his bed at home was this comfortable.
"Okay, now for the next..." He could hear Newton say, distantly as the last of his body was fully engulfed and he continued sinking, having no concept of just how deep he was in the warm softness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Newton got the last of the wriggly captives fully subsumed beneath his surface, hardly looking any rounder or larger than before. He patted his belly reassuringly. "Alright. Now that I've got you secured, time to make sure these guys don't get away with this." He twisted his tail around and dropped into a ball. His scales intermeshed, obscuring his anatomy entirely until he was a plated sphere, which began to roll without any apparent external force. Once he was clear of the room, the rat pinned to the ceiling dropped to the floor with a thud.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ervin had stopped sinking, feeling the gentle pat ripple the flesh around him. He distantly felt shifting motion, which he guessed was from the others. The lion's breathing had calmed down fully by this point. It had taken him a bit, but he'd finally internalized that he was safe. The softness was warm and supported his form perfectly. He felt no strain or pressure points. He couldn't hear anything but the low heartbeat of the hero somewhere above him.
It was no surprise to the lion that he was drifting off. He focused on that heartbeat and sighed, exhaling. Before long his breathing was slowed even further, and the lion was resting peacefully, subsumed into dreamless sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Newton sighed and wiped his brow with the back of his claw. It had taken him a bit longer to deal with the gang than he'd have liked, but he managed it with minimal damage to the museum. The authorities were detaining them, and an emergency medical unit was waiting. He strode down to them. "I have some civilians who will need to be checked on. They were being held hostage at gunpoint."
One of the EMTs nodded. "Where?"
Newton pressed his claw into his chest, distending the soft flesh with his claws until his arm was buried in to his wrist. "In me."
The medics stared openly at this, having expected directions into the museum, not the unusual anatomy of a superhero.
When Newton began to bring his arm back out, a doe's head surfaced alongside his elbow. Quickly she was squirming into view, the back of her blouse gripped between the hero's claws.
The doe looked around, disoriented, before seeing the EMTs. She let out a rather ungraceful bleat as her body was fully brought into the cold nighttime air and she was set onto her feet. She readily accepted a trauma blanket and was led to sit down.
Newton repeated this action six more times, taking security guards, night workers, and another late staying tour guide. Each was greeted by the medics and offered more conventional comforts. He counted over the various anthros and pursed his lips. "If there's anyone else still in there, wriggle around?" He spoke directly to his round belly, placing a claw over it to feel for movement.
None came. "Okay... That was all of them. Take care of them, they've had a rough night." Newton saluted. Before he could take in more than their confused looks at such an understatement, he'd balled up and began rolling off, away from the crime scene.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Newton rolled through a small opening into League headquarters and up a specially prepared passage to his apartment. Many of the heroes in the League lived on premises, all the more reason to keep its location private. He unfurled mid drop and pressed his tail to the floor, using it to soften his fall as he planted both foot claws down. He basked in the heavy shake that sent rippled through his hefty form and rattled his belongings. He knew he could have used his powers to slow himself down without such an impact, but feeling heavy was fun.
The pangolin peeled off his shorts and removed his goggles, setting them aside and glancing in the mirror. He was covered in plaster dust from the fight and bits of asphalt pebble from rolling down the street. He rubbed the side of his face with his palm, curling his claws around to the plated topside of his head. "Shower time." He trundled off to his bathroom with a sigh.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ervin wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, but he did know that he was the most comfortable and rested he'd been in a long time. He had no desire to open his eyes, just continue to lie in this cozy position in bed. As his mind awoke gradually, however, he realized he was not lying down. He was cradled in something very soft. He didn't remember getting into a hammock. The lion fidgeted, feeling the warmth continue to support and cradle no matter what pose he was taking. He squirmed, trying to find a seam, anything to find his way to light again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Newton had finished drying up and nestled himself into his bed, idly draping a claw over his round midsection and preparing to sleep. The big pangolin's eyes widened as he realized he felt something stirring deep within his fat. A blush came to his cheeks and his eyes drooped again. The hero rubbed along his belly slowly, pressing his face bashfully to his pillow. He bit his lip a bit and curled his tail back and forth beneath the covers as he felt the form of his occupant writhe and press around. He was still too deep to make a bulge, but the whole tummy wobbled on its own when he squirmed particularly hard.
A confused growl deep inside snapped him out of the guilty pleasure of containing someone like this. He gripped into his pudge and shook his belly. "Can you hear me?"
Muffled, but better heard by the hero through internal conduction, the lion's voice came. "W-wait... How... Who? What?" He sounded disoriented, before he stopped squirming as much. "How long have I been in here, Newton?" He seemed to have figured out the situation.
"All the other hostages have been released for trauma care... oh, I knew I miscounted..." Newton rolled onto his back and rubbed both claws over his belly, conflicted between the intimate feelings of just having one person stowed away and the realization he had accidentally kidnapped a man.
The belly wobbled as the lion shifted around again. "So... the situation at the museum's over?"
The pangolin patted his tummy and plopped his head back onto his pillow. "Yeah... You know I'm surprised the sound of the shower didn't wake you up..."
"You've had time to take a shower?" The lion sounded mortified, but more like someone who'd slept in than in any real distress. "I... I mean if I hadn't passed out earlier, I'm sure white noise from a shower would have made me drift right off..." Ervin spoke softly, appending in an even lower note. "It's... really comfortable in here..."
Newton couldn't stop himself from beaming at the praise, trailing his claws along the curve of his occupied midsection. This glow didn't last long, however, as the pragmatic side of his brain reasserted itself. He raised his head from the pillows and sat up. "Okay, where should I let you out?"
"....it... It's probably too much of a hassle for you to do that right away..." Ervin's voice sounded a bit flustered. "You took a shower... You'd have to get back into your gear and go back out..." Something in the lion's voice made Newton suspect he knew how flimsy this reasoning was. After all, he'd seen the pangolin basically only wore snug shorts to stay decent and goggles to protect his eyes. "Y-you can take me out to a bus stop or something in the morning, let me out there..."
The pangolin bit his lip as he pondered. His pragmatic side was telling him to push the issue, but with the tone of his occupant's voice, and his mind bringing up the adorable face of the chubby lion, not scared as he was at the museum but what he'd look like based on the way he was speaking....
"Would you at least like to take a shower? Then... maybe sink back in without those... starched work clothes...?" Newton ventured, curling his tail.
"...will you be in the shower too?" The lion murmured hopefully.