Ursus Tale
"Ursus, pump your left pec a bit" Maddie said from
back behind the hot lights. With only a flicker of my mind my left pectoral
muscle bulked up a bit more. I could hear her video camera whir as she adjusted
its height and zoom from the computer.
"OK, that's it for now. Take a
break" I gratefully stepped down from the small dais putting my arms and
legs though a few quick movements to loosen them up. I love photo shoots.
Adjusting my posing trunks I stepped out
of the lights. Maddie had a robe waiting. I smiled my
thanks at her, even as warm as she kept her flat the temperature difference
once out of the lights was always surprisingly high.
"What we got so far" I rumbled
at her. Maddie smiled up at me and walked over to the
computer.
Maddie is a real pro- video camera linked directly to the latest T1,000 PC. Real time picture editor, full
zoom, and 360' direction control, 3D plotting, everything. We had been
doing shoots together for 8 years, almost as long as I had been pumping iron. Maddie called up several images and lay them next to each
other on her
massive 28' screen. Oh, for a set up like this!- I
still lumber along with a positively ancient 986, two or three years behind
this beauty. I shouldn't complain, Dad occasionally breaks out the ancient 386
he's got from the 60's to show 'how lucky we are' when me or Kelvin complain
about our lot in the computing life.
Maddie's pictures are as ever excellent. We had concentrated on the set
piece poses for the first half of today- double biceps, (we agreed that my left
needs a little more work), arms behind head (still can't do that vacuum trick
Frank Zane pioneered), most muscular, archer, 'relaxed' (as if it was!), etc. All the basic stuff for
I recall when we first met. I was a lot
younger and smaller then. It was at a youth competition in
I stared at her while she rabbited at me about lighting and oils. I love her
something rotten.... That when her dog joined us. Scamp was a
Alsatian, and a big one at that. He is so damm
intelligent, I swear he understand everything we say. In a bizarre way I think
he's jealous of me. Certainly he's over protective of Maddie.
Though my size may have something to do with that. he growled at me as he forced his way between us. Maddie absently stroked him as she manipulated a photo.
We did a few, adding backgrounds and
cleaning up the lighting. Its against IFBB rules and Maddies personal ethics code to manipulate the figure
directly, pumping my the muscles with DTP or anything like that. I know of a
few sites on the 'net where there were 'pumped up' pictures of me. Some are
amusing, some freaky, others plain horrifying. Not that Maddie
and I didn't take er... personal photos of each other
(not a chance of those seeing the light of day!) Maddie
fingers flew over the keyboard to add the
After we spend a little time playing
she's ready to go again. I slip out of the robe and Maddie
starts to oil me up. I sneak a glance at the clock- nearly
"You are far too big Ursus" she says with a laugh in her voice. she always uses my other name when working.
"You never complained about my mass
before" I play the game with her. She rubs her hand lightly across the
front of my tight red trunks.
"Well its
true what they say about tall men" she teases.
"Oh, and what
that?" I'm trying to think about anything
else- what was last nights football scores????
"Well that everything's in
proportion, and since your only two inches short of 7 ft, that a lot of
proportion." She had that mischievous grin on her face again as she
strokes me. Football, football, football....
She lifts herself on her tip toes and kisses me
lightly on the lips. we do this routine every shoot.
Not only do we both still give the answers, but we both accept the incentive to
get the job done quickly and onto other things......
It does take a little while to
concentrate on the job in hand and not on.....but the effort makes me work
harder and thus makes better photos.
"OK Ursus.
Under the lights please. I step back under the hot lights, adjusting my trunks.
While are personal photos are very personal I'm not ready to show the public,
that much of me. I turn to face the lights. I can't see Maddie
from here but I can hear the camera auto adjusting.
"We'll start with a back shot I
think, until your" she giggled, I love that giggle...football, Man U,
Liverpool, football......"less excited". I turn my back to the lights
and face the white camera sheeting.
"Cameras on auto. Start with a lat spread then move onto what ever takes your fancy" She laughed again. I put my hands on my
narrow hips and spread my lat muscles wide. I could feel the muscles bunch and
vines pop up. My back looks like a giant cobra head, a huge diamond of Human
flesh, it was worth the effort. I heard the camera whirring as it continuously
filmed. I half turned and went down into the infamous 'Thinker' pose. This is
one of my favourites; shows arm, leg and chest development in one pose. Most
poses have names- Archer, Thinker, etc. Even the 'relaxed' poses are posed. 'Relaxed' is about as far
from that state as you can get- flex your arms at your side, head back, pump up
the pecs, suck in the stomach, and hold, hold, hold.
The clock strikes one.
2Lets go up to 'Stern'" Maddie says from what seems far off. 'Stern' is one of Maddie favourites, its a sort of
trademark pose of ours. Legs apart, hands on hips, pull up to full heights,
look down and tense everything. The tripod pulls in close on its track to get
the full effect of being looked down on, making me seem even bigger.
I hit the pose as an odd tingling began
in a my groin. I concentrated on the camera whir as
sensation made its presence viable on the front of my trunks. Football,
football football....ignore it, ignore it, ignore
it....
An odd crash of keys made me look
outward into the lights.
"Maddie?" I said a
little roughly. No answer. I coughed
"Maddie?" I said louder.
She may of gone to the loo I thought, but she usually
tells me. I raised my left arm to shield my eyes a little
And stopped.
The arm level with my face was not mine.
I felt the tingling spread all over me.
The arm was huge. Massive, swelled. At
least twice the size that it should of been. Veins
stood out like ropes. I have 50' biceps during on season normally these
monsters were at least 80! There had been, was none of the sensation that came
with training- the pump, I was just ballooning. I raised my right arm and tore
my eyes over to that.
The same. I noticed the tingling was worse, like a nightmare attack of pins
and needles. I looked down. I could not see my toes. When I normally hit
'Stern' I can just see the tips of my toes, now all I should see was chest. My chest. The pecs were like huge
slabs of meat, the cords of muscle ripped there way across the thin skin. I
could of lost my normal hand in the sharp diving line
between them.
I took a deep breath to call to Maddie, a thick feeling washed over me and I felt myself
balloon. Every muscle screamed and burned like a steroid pump as I grew. I
could feel my legs push apart as my thighs grew thicker, I could make out each
shape of my calves, the horse shoe shape of my triceps, the thickening spread
of my lats, pushing my arms out from my body. There was
a distinct THANG from my trunks as they ripped away from my body. I had a
feeling of freedom as something slapped against my knees.
Suddenly something slipped out of my
rear. I twisted my monstrous upper body to see what looked like a small thick tail grow out of my lower back. It was
hairless like the rest of me, then as I watched it
seemed to darken with hair, I turned round and looked at the expanse of chest,
hair was sprouting all over, thick hair. Off-season I let my body hair grow,
but this was beyond that. I watched my skin darken, turning black and hair grow
all over it, but hair became fur. Brown-black fur.
As I continued to get hairy there was a
sickening wrench. I felt my whole body twist, my arms moved free in their
sockets, my legs moved independent of my body, I could feel my insides
rearrange themselves, something shifted upwards into a
sheath. I grew again, but differently. It was like being remade, instead of
being a swelled bodybuilder, suddenly I felt like I had been born this size. I
was still huge, but my arms could touch my sides again, I could press my knees together I was
reborn, but something was wrong. My fur had slowed its growth on my neck, my
head was untouched, but I knew it was not over yet. The universe seemed to be
waiting for something.
Time seemed to slow as another tingling
Surge hit me I suddenly titled backwards on my huge feet as my toes elongated
into claws, huge digging claws, I could feel the pads on my feet. Raising my arms, I flexed my thick fingers outward
so I could watch as my fingers grew and my nail vanished as claws grew in, my
thumbs seemed to climb a little higher on my hands too. Suddenly I rolled onto
the balls of my feet, I hunched over slightly and a lump grew from between my
shoulder blades. I rolled my onto the flat of my feet.
I swayed a little.
Then a black thing split my vision. I
felt my face push outwards, I thought I should be screaming like in some horror
movie, but I felt no pain. My ears changed shape completely and travelled up
and back onto my skull. I watched my nose stretch and my jaws elongate into a
muzzle. I used my long tongue to explore my new fangs. I was complete.
An explosion.
An explosion of smell assaulted me. I
closed my eyes against the sensory input- I could smell too much. I tied to
catalogue the smell when I realised my ears had become as sensitive. A warm
friendly glow lit up inside me, a familiar, yet alien presence. He seemed to
know what he was doing. As if talking to a master I let him help me sort out my
mind.
[Cold tap
leaking. Bathroom. Water smells of bleach]
I could smell Maddie,
Scamp, and me everywhere, but the smells seemed to range in age....
I opened my eyes slowly, my sight seemed
slightly less accurate, but my nose and ears make up from that. My black mussel
split my sight, but I could see more round me, more angle.
What a world! I knew what I was- I was a Bear. A huge Grizzly
bear. I heard the camera whir as it records. I hoped it had recorded
this, this Change. Boy, would Maddie love these
pictures!
MADDIE!
Her face exploded onto my mind. I had to
find her. I sniffed and used my new skills to filter out the old trails.
[Fresh] I took my first steps. It all
felt natural- the heat from the lights on my fur, the smells from all
directions, the wooden floor under my pads. I did not have the belly of a true Bear,
just a small gut (soon exercise that away) so I did not waddle like a Bear when
I walked, I seemed to more stomp. I stomped across the flat When
did the world get so much smaller?
I grunted and followed the trail.
Something else was in her sent, something making me hungry....
I reached the closed bedroom door. It
was then I realised how much I must of grown. Its a normal six foot door, and there are many marking above
it from where I had hit my head before. Now those marking were far below me. I
made a quick estimation while my stomach growled its hunger at me. I guessed I
could not be much below ten foot tall now. i grunted again. Enough of this.
I bent down (such a long way) and opened the door, nearly dropping to all fours
I looked in.
There was a deer on the bed.
[Food] Hunger rolled though me. I could smell its
fear.
It didn't look quite right, almost Human.
[Food]
It was staring at me.
[FOOD] I lowered myself and turned my
four foot shoulders though the door.
I was on all fours,
the world seemed to have grown back a little. I was pacing forwards, the deers thick, juicy neck my goal. It began to back up, but
it had nowhere to go. I put a paw on the soft thing it was on, and began to
climb forward, the deer scrambled to move but was rooted to the spot, its eyes showed their whites as I lifted a hind leg onto the
soft thing.
Something hit me from behind. I roared
and reared back. I caught a glimpse of something falling off my back
[Wolf]
It got between me and prey. It growled
long and deep, its scent said it was ready for a fight. This was its food. I
pawed the air, no mutt was coming between me and.....
Mutt??
I slipped down to all fours again and
advanced on the threat.
Mutt??
[Food] I stepped forward.
Mutt?? No. Dog. Scamp. I
scrambled to my feet and watched the world shrink again. Scamp smelt confused
but stuck to his attack position.
[Deer. Food] No I told myself. Deer, Maddie.
[?]
Her eyes were still showed whites, she
was shaking. She looked like Bambi curled up like that, from the tiny horns to
the cloven feet. She showed more Maddie in her face
than I did Ursus.
"M..Ma.. Maddie?" I rumbled out.
I barely recognised my voice. She seemed to jump at the sound. Scamp growled.
"Ursus?"
her voice was pitched differently, higher. I could smell her doubt. I grunted at that, and tired to smile.
"Ironic" I rumbled. Scamp
growled. She drew in a breath.
"Don't do that!" she shouted
"I keep wanting to run"
"And you look like lunch" I
grumbled. There was a pause as we looked each other up and down.
"What happened" she said
finally.
"I wish I knew." an idea came
to me "lets check the TV" She nodded and scrambled off the bed. She
rose unsteady on her hooves, but soon caught the balance after a few steps. I
turned my bulk and squeezed back out of the door. Scamp walked between us. I
could smell he was still very tense.
"You have a cute tail" she
said behind me. i was
briefly embarrassed about being naked- but it passed. fur
covered everything and we are lovers.
We were lovers......
I half turned by the computer station.
Scamp returned to an attack position.
"Urm...I'll
check the TV, you check the Net" I suggested. Maddie
blinked her Bambi eyes at me. Oh, to dive into those pools!
"Sure" she said and relaxed
completely. Scamp let up a little, perhaps he could
smell the easiness in the air as I could.
I walked to the TV room,
the Den the Americans would call it. Maddie has this
huge wall screen thing in there. I grabbed the remote off the arm of a chair
and cracked the case. My strength! If I was a Bear what was my strength now? I
suddenly saw myself on stage smashing world lifting records. Being covered in
fur would spoil my chances of winning
Using my smallest claw I hit the power
switch. If this Change was global someone had a lot of re-designing to do. I
must call Golds and get production of my Gym wear
line stepped up, I got this feeling that oversized
clothes were going to be needed.
BBC1 had the news on. The satellite
picture quality was grainy, and a note on the bottom of the screen said
transmission was being interrupted by heavy satellite use. The news was being
read by a Bulldog headed man wearing a very tight rumpled suit with no tie. He
was reading from a piece of paper. I hit the unmute
button
"...again." he growled
"DO NOT PANIC" this Change is global. We have reports from all over
He started to repeat what he said so I
blipped. Most of the satellite channels were down, static. CNN was up but
crashed before the picture came through. BBC2 and Channel 4 were up but showing
old sit-coms. ITV was showing news. There was an almost Human man in a bad suit interviewing a
dove shaped man in a Doctors white coat. I was fascinated, the 'Human' actually
had fine lizard like scales, greenish skin and claw tipped hands, but apart
from that hadn't changed. For some reason I disliked him on sight. While the
Doctor had huge dove wings sticking out of rips in the back of his coat, and an
almost complete dove's face. Apart from the size there was something about his
eyes that told you he was not an animal. I had to wait a few seconds for the
sound to click in.
"We have been studying all those
who have come in" the Dove was saying in a sing-song high pitched
voice." and so far as we can tell only Adults over 16 seem to be affected
by this Change. Unborn children, kids, and youths seem unaffected."
"Have youu
determinnnneddd whatttt cassssued thissss Changeee yettt?" the lizard
hissed. I realised he had a forked tongue.
"No. Not yet." The Doctor
sang. "It does appear random".
"Randommmm?"
"Yes. Both to what animal someone
becomes and to what extent they change".
"Examplessss?"
"I have seen animal-people from all
over the globe, not just species native to
"Aparttt from thee degreee of Changeee. Any
unssduall sssiddee effectssss?" The lizard asked.
"Several of those coming to the
hospital have displayed odd powers" The Doctor looked at the blue sky
briefly. I felt I could read his mind- that sky was calling.
"Suchhh usssss?" The lizard pushed. The Doctor audibly sighed.
"We have seen levitation,
flight" he looked to the sky again "and the ability to shift fully
into animal form. Also.."
"Fully intooo
animalll formmm?" the
lizard hissed. I really disliked this rude person. I
wondered who he was.
"Yes. Though they mostly remain in
control" The Doctor looked into the camera as if to reassure.
"Mosssstly..."
the lizard pushed. The Doctor looked at the ground.
"Some have been lost to their animal
sides" I thought of what had happened in to bedroom and shuddered. To be
lost completely to Bear....
"Net traffic is immense" Maddie said from behind me. I muted the interview. Scamp
still stood between us, but he smelt relaxed, I think Maddie
must of talked to him.
"Its
everywhere" I said flatly. Its not everyday you
nearly eat your love.
"Thank the Gods I got that new hard
line put in. I managed to connect up to Worcester Uni
and have a quick chat to a batman".
"Batman?"
"Yeah- all he wanted to do was
bitch about his eyesight and not being able to sword fight any more. Jerk."
"Sword fight?"
I half asked some thing was going though my mind.
"Reinactor"
she said. I dove for the cordless phone. These thick claws made it almost
impossible to dial. Ever since the Plague War when the UK almost died due to
lack of communication Britains communications had
been the best in the world, thus it took be only one go to get though to
Kelvin's mobile.
"What are you....?" Maddie asked
"My Bro" I said. Kelvin isn't
really my brother but
we have been friend since childhood. We are very close. He was at some silly
role play thing this bank holiday weekend. I got his answer phone, but he'd
already changed his message, it was not his voice though.
"The Ogre is out right now have a quick shapechange. The Man-Bat will be available soon. Until then
leave a message. If this is Ursus- I can fly!." It bleeped
"Call me." I rumbled concerned
"Ursus. At Home" I hung up and tried dad's
number. Engaged, I left a message on the answer phone, then
tossed the phone to Maddie.
"How did you know I wanted
it?" she asked.
"I heard you say it." I said
then stopped. I stared at her, she hadn't said a word. My stomach rumbled
again.
[Food] I looked at Maddie.
I suddenly realised that Doe were very sexy, those eyes! I could smell my own
excitement. Maddie looked back to me and blinked her eyes, I could smell her rising interest. Scamp backed away
as I stepped towards her.
"Cant catch me" suddenly she
turned and ran!
I took off after her, but she was so
fast. I lumbered my way around, tiring not to break anything,
while she darted in and out of places I could get into.
I finally cornered her my the kitchen door, one way in, one way out.
"Ursus
want doe" I said to her. Laughing she came to me and hugged me, her arms bearly reaching half way round me. She ran her thick black
nailed fingers through my fur.
"Think the bed will support your
weight?" she asked.
"Nope. Not a chance"
"Well, I need a new one
anyway" she giggled. i
picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, with a squeeze I got us and shut
the door.
"Lets road-test some springs"
I growled at her.
She laughed.
End.
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