Poor Hypr could not catch a break. He was still working at the juice bar after accidentally creating a weight gain juice. He was trying to make strength juice for his friend, the cheetah, now she was just as big as ever. To make it up to her, Hypr had to work at the juice bar until all of his creation was gone. As predicted, it did not sell well. Not many of the juice bar regulars were not interested in gaining weight.
It wasn’t all bad, though. Hypr had settled into his new role at the juice bar nicely. He was friendly with the customers and although the blueberry juice recipe still eluded him, he got really good at brewing the different drinks. Once he started following the recipe cards correctly, of course. He also enjoyed the cheetah’s company, even in a professional setting.
The cheetah enjoyed Hypr’s presence too. The cat had become the big highlight of her day. For reasons neither she or Hypr really understood, the effects of the weight gain juice were taking a long time to wear off. The cheetah thought that was because it was an untested juice that simply had a long effect time. Hypr thought that it could be reacting with lingering effects from other juices.
In any case, the cheetah was still big. She tried her best to exercise in order to wear the effects off quicker but it didn’t appear to do much help. She began to feel more and more depressed. Hypr couldn’t help but notice this and one day, decided to ask her about it.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked the cheetah, “You look down.”
The cheetah sighed. “It’s that obvious, huh?”
Hypr nodded. “Come on. Out with it, something’s on your mind.”
“Well… It’s my weight. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to lose it.”
“You know, there’s nothing wrong with being big.”
“I know there’s not. I don’t mind the fact that I’m big, round or whatever you want to call it. What bothers me is that I can’t really run anymore. I get tired too easily if I try too.”
“I see,” said Hypr, “What about your other exercises?”
“They’re fine but I really love a good fast run. It’s what I’m made for.”
Just then, a customer came in. Hypr readied himself to prepare a drink in the back. “Hey, something will come along,” he said, “It’ll all work out.”
“Thank you, Hypr,” said the cheetah, giving a small smile, “I hope you're right.”
Hypr sighed as he got to work. “I wish there was a way to cheer her up,” he thought.
He couldn’t think too long about it, he had drinks to prepare. He reviewed the recipe cards again. To his surprise, none of them had pineapples in them. The juice bar did offer pineapple drinks and they certainly had enough pineapple to spare but none of the “enhancement” juice recipes had it.
“What would a pineapple enhancement even do,” Hypr wondered. He was quite fond of them. He knew that pineapples were associated with good fortune. “I wonder… Could it be used for a healing juice? And could that juice make the other effects wear off quicker?” Hypr began to get excited. He still had orders to fill and he quickly worked through them. He couldn’t wait until the afternoon rush was over.
At last, the cheetah called to the back. “Hey, the rush has died down now. Do you think you could watch the store for a while?”
“Oh sure, of course!” said Hypr. This was just the opportunity he was waiting for. He eagerly fetched the pineapples then went to grab the secret to the enhancement juices, the animal potions. There weren’t that many to choose from, He did note a single canister of “essence of lion”. No doubt accidentally mixed in with the essence of cheetah used for speed potions.
“Hm,” Hypr thought, “It’s a long shot but maybe it could work. It’s not like it’s going to be missed, anyway.” he brought the lion potion over to the distiller and while it was being prepared, he got the pineapples ready too. Hypr was feeling more and more giddy, the closer the new juice came to being ready. He figured this must be how the cheetah felt when she was first creating new drinks.
At last, the drink was ready. Hypr could hardly contain himself. Before he could squeal with delight, the cheetah returned much earlier than she would’ve liked. Hypr went out to greet her. “Hello,” he said, trying hard not to show how excited he was, “Running was a dud again?”
“Not that big of a dud,” said the cheetah, “I was able to go for a whole extra minute.”
“Well, that’s progress, at least,” smiled Hypr, “Would you like to make more?”
“Pfft!” said the cheetah dismissively, “Sure I would but I don’t see how.”
“Well maybe this will help!” And Hypr produced the drink he had just made.
The cheetah stared blankly. “What is that?”
“It’s a healing juice. At least, it’s supposed to be.”
The cheetah stared again. “We don’t make healing juice.”
“I know. I just figured that pineapples are associated with good fortune and I also figured to mix it with the lion potion.”
“That mix-up canister? How do you figure?”
“Well…” Hypr began to waver. “Lions are known to be protectors and… And some would consider them healers and… um… Okay, it’s a long shot but it was the closest option with what we had.”
“Hey, I’m willing to take just about any shot at this point.” The cheetah grabbed the drink and Hypr watched with anticipation. With a great deal of hesitance, she drank it down. Both waited with anticipation. It took a moment or two for the effects to kick in. When it did, it was not what either of them were expecting.
The cheetah’s belly started to grow once again. While it wasn’t the biggest or roundest it had ever been, it did grow big and round. Also, while not too noticeable, she did grow slightly taller to, at least somewhat, accommodate the extra weight.
The cheetah was in a daze. Hypr stood there with a hand to his mouth, aghast.
When the cheetah came to, she looked over her big self. There was a long silence before she asked. “Uh.. Is it supposed to work like this?”
“I-I, I don’t know,” stammered Hypr. He began to pace back and forth. “I mean, it’s a possibility that this could mean good fortune. It’s a stretch but so was the idea that it would slim you down again. But why would-?” BOOMF! Hypr hadn’t been paying attention and walked straight into the cheetah’s belly. Poor Hypr was flustered. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!”
The cheetah sighed. “Don’t worry about that. I didn’t even feel it.”
Hypr’s ear perked up. “You didn’t?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Hypr started poking the cheetah’s belly. “Can you feel this?”
“No… but could you stop anyway?”
Hypr blushed. “Oh sorry.” He backed away and cleared his throat. “Well, you know, pineapple’s are associated with more than just good fortune.”
“Oh?” asked the cheetah, sensing Hypr was going somewhere with this, “Like what?”
“Well, like, for example, uh… Protection… You know because they’re all… spiny… Heh.”
The cheetah patted her belly. “So I guess the padding here is meant to protect me huh?”
“I think so.”
“Well, mission accomplished. It also saps the energy I need for a decent run. When will I be able to have one again?!” The cheetah sighed with discontent and sat down at a recently vacated table. The glasses and cups hadn’t even been taken away. Hypr quickly removed them. He was taking them to be dealt with when a thought struck him. He threw away the paper cups and went back to the cheetah.
“I just realized something. You sell performance enhancing drinks here, right?”
“Yes, I do,” replied the cheetah.
“And you sell speed juice, right?”
“Yes, of course. This place would be mediocre if we didn’t.”
“Well… Did you try one of those?”
The cheetah chuckled, “Oh, I’ve never needed one before.”
“Yeah before but what about now?”
The cheetah blinked then pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m an idiot. I’m just an idiot.”
“Would you like me to get one?” asked Hypr kindly.
The cheetah stood up from her chair. “That won’t be necessary,” she said with a fiery passion that had been missing from her voice, “I can do it myself.” With that, she went behind the counter, grabbed herself a speed juice (and paid for it, of course) and guzzled it down. “Okay!” she said with much enthusiasm, “I’m gonna go for a run now and see if this works!” With that, she ran out the door, leaving Hypr standing there.
“Um, okay,” he called back awkwardly, “I’ll just, um, watch the store until you get back, I guess.”
The cheetah had a wonderful time. The speed juice was just what she needed. She was so excited that she didn’t notice the uneven sidewalk. Not until she tripped on it. Thanks to the protection juice, however, she hardly felt it, quickly recovered and ran again.
She felt like she could go all day but knew that the speed juice wouldn’t last that long. With some (okay, a lot of) reluctance, she made her way back to the juice bar. By the time she arrived, she was beaming.
Hypr noticed this and was happy for her. He noticed something else too. Was her belly even bigger now? “Hello,” he greeted, “Had a good run?”
“Oh, Hypr, it was great!” gushed the cheetah, “Nothing like a good run to get you pumped up. Woo! I needed that.”
“Hey, that’s great,” replied Hypr. He paused awkwardly then asked, “Um, your belly didn’t get bigger, did it?”
The cheetah looked down and saw that it had. She shrugged it off. “Huh. it must’ve happened when I tripped. Don’t worry, I’m fine, thanks to that protection juice. It needs some tweaking but I think that drink of yours could make a good addition to the menu.” Hypr was flattered. “So could that healing juice idea you had. Of course, we’ll have to come up with a different animal potion to use for it.”
Hypr thought for a moment. “What about a deer potion?” he suggested, “You know, because of the way they shed and regrow their antlers?”
The cheetah’s eyes lit up. “Yes! We can even use it to supplement the supplies for the agility juice! Hypr, you’re brilliant!” Without thinking, she picked the cat up and hugged him, squeezing him tight.
“Ack! Strong,” he wheezed.
“In fact, between all your good work, your clever ideas and helping me find joy in running again, I think it’s finally time.”
Hypr had a good feeling about where this was going. “You mean?”
“Yes! I think it’s time I gave you the blueberry juice recipe.”
Hypr was excited. “YAAAY!” he exclaimed, “Um but could you put me down first?”
“Oops, sorry. Of course.” And the cheetah set a slightly crumpled Hypr back down on the floor. “I’ll text it to you. I need to order some supplies anyway. My phone’s upstairs, I’ll handle the store when I come back down.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Hypr. The cheetah disappeared upstairs and Hypr eagerly awaited the text.
It was only a few minutes before the text came through but to Hypr, it felt like ages. As soon as he got it, he disappeared into the back to prepare the drink. He read through the recipe carefully. Strangely, the recipe didn’t call for blueberries. Hypr did notice this but was too excited to care.
What neither of them realized at the time was that the cheetah wasn’t used to texting with her big clumsy fingers (yes, even her fingers grew bigger). The rest of the recipe was accurate but when she tried to text “blueberries”, her phone autocorrected it to “gooberries.” Neither she nor Hypr clocked the mistake.
Hypr searched the kitchen for the supposed “gooberries”. At last he found a small carton of them in the back of the fridge. There was only just enough for one drink and they looked like they hadn’t been touched in a long time. Still, there was no expiration date on them so Hypr eagerly took them and prepared his drink.
By the time it was ready and he came out of the back, the cheetah was already at the register and looking slightly slimmer.
She noticed the huge grin on Hypr’s face. “Is that the drink?” she asked.
Hypr nodded. “Yeah! I’m going to go out to the field at the end of the day and have it there.”
“Oh, that’s very noble of you.”
“Uh huh.”
The cheetah knew Hypr couldn’t stand to wait that long. “Ah, get out of here!” she said encouragingly, “I can handle this store by myself for a while.”
“Really?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” exclaimed Hypr as he ran out of the store. He raced down to the field as fast as he dared. He didn’t want to spill the drink.
When he reached the field he wasted no time settling into place. “It’s been too long,” he thought as he gulped it down. He waited for the blueberrification to begin.
His belly certainly grew rounder, like it always did at the start. But then it stopped. It was round, true but it was only his belly, not his body as a whole. He felt disappointed.
“Maybe I didn’t make it right,” he thought sadly. Then something strange happened. Usually, his tail, arms and legs went unaffected during blueberrification, with the exception of turning blue. Now, however, his tail seemed to be growing bigger and longer. Big and wide enough to go along with his big and wide belly. It didn’t grow too long. Long enough for it to still stick out and curl up at the end.
His arms and legs grew too to better accommodate his bigger form. The toes on his feet fused together to make two bulbous toes on each foot. The same thing happened with his fingers to make two bulbous fingers on each of his hands.
His torso didn’t change too much, though it did grow bigger in every way to match the rest of his transformation. The most disorienting part was when his neck grew bigger and longer. It wasn’t by much but the sudden height difference was enough to make his head spin.
Speaking of his head, his muzzle shifted to become longer and more bulbous. He even lost his cat nose. Finally, his ears became rounder, longer and, you guessed it, more bulbous. They now more resembled pony tails draped behind him than they did ears.
At the end of it all, Hypr had been transformed into a goodra. He took a moment to take it all in and looked and felt himself all over. “Yeah, I definitely made that wrong.” He tried to stay calm. Freaking out was not going to help. He decided to cut the visit to the field short and go back to the juice bar to talk to the cheetah.
The cheetah didn’t recognize the goodra at once as he (just barely) squeezed through the door. “Hello, sir,” she greeted, “Welcome to-” She cut herself off as she got a better look at the goodra. He certainly looked familiar. When she looked into his eyes, it all clicked. “Wait a minute. Hypr?!”
“Uh, heh, heh. Hi.” Hypr waved meekly.
“I thought you were making a blueberry potion.”
“I was,” said Hypr defensively, “I even hunted down the gooberies to make it.”
The cheetah stared. “Gooberries? You don’t need gooberries to make blueberry juice.”
“That’s what it said in the recipe.”
The cheetah was indignant. “What?! No it doesn’t!” She pulled out her phone and searched through her messages. “I would never mix up ingredients like tha-” She stopped asshe read the recipe she sent. It said, plain as day, to use gooberries. “What but I could’ve sworn I typed ‘blueberries.’” She tried typing it again. Once again, she fumbled with her big fingers and it changed to “gooberries.” “Oh, so that’s what happened!” she exclaimed and explained it to Hypr. “Darn it! The sooner I lose all this weight, the better.”
“Well, I think you’re on your way,” said Hypr, “You do look smaller than the last time I saw you.” Indeed, even in the brief time Hypr had been away from the store, the cheetah had slimmed down just a little bit more.
The cheetah allowed herself a small chuckle. “Thanks, Hypr. I’m really sorry this happened to you. I didn’t even think we still had gooberries.”
“It’s okay. At least this won’t last forever. Oh and there weren’t many gooberries left. I used the last of them.”
“Well, at least that means something like this won’t happen again,” said the cheetah with a grin.
“Hopefully not anytime soon,” chuckled Hypr. There was brief, awkward silence before he broke it again. “So, uh, when is the ‘essence of deer’ supposed to arrive?”
