Hello everyone! KatAlpha here with a prelude to explain what this is. I've been interested in doing a set of stories based in the same universe for a while now, and more specifically one that was completely original in characters and world building, so this will be my first attempt at doing so. I have a much longer story coming out soon with these characters, but this story is going to be a way to test the waters with this concept. What is the concept, exactly? Well, this is going to be a heist group type of story similar to franchises like Sly Cooper, Lupin III, and The Bad Guys, even carrying over some references and concepts from those franchises into this. Only thing that differentiates Cagliostro and Co. from those is this will obviously focus on inflation, weight gain, stuffing, bursting, big bellies, and all of that other stuff that I'm known for. This story specifically will include large full body inflation and some burping for the most part, so that's your warning to leave the premises if you don't like that. If you do, then I hope you enjoy this peek into this new story world I'm making. And if you really like this story and want to see more, then be on the lookout for when I release their first full-length, belt busting, high flying, artifact heisting story, Press your Luck! Now, on with the show!!!

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It was the Invention Convention in California and some of the smartest inventors in America would gather together to showcase their best devices, advancements, and concepts to the world through a live broadcast of the expo. One such invention was a device capable of putting mass amounts of liquid or gas into a container the size and weight of a marble. This was an advancement so worldshaping that many would worry about two certain parties arriving at the convention with the intention of stealing it. One was Syckle, a Soviet spy organization that has been continuing the cold war long after it ended by stealing technologies and artifacts from around the world. The other would be the infamous thief Voleuse Cagliostro and her band of mischievous misfits, who usually thwarts Syckle's plans while also stealing whatever else they see fit to take. In response to this, Police Chief Liam Quintons has doubled security within the convention to keep either party from stealing any of the inventions or blueprints held within. Liam thought that he had outsmarted Syckle and Cagliostro with this plan, but he unfortunately forgot to check in with all of the police officers attending the show. Little did he know that five of them were Cagliostro and his crew in disguise.

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Cagliostro & Co. Members (Written by Ven!):

Voleuse “Ven” Cagliostro: Mastermind, Calico cat (Black and white), Female (Trans), wears rose tinted glasses as a fashion statement, even with disguises (don't judge me)

Max Kradel: Muscle, White Wolf, Male, A big softie with an even softer body type (You should hug him sometime, it feels nice!)

Tia Virana: Seductress/Hacker, Bengal Tiger, Female, seduces men but likes women more (Sorry guys!)

Jason Locke: Inventor, River Otter, Male, has tribal tattoos all over his fur (He thinks they're cool. Others may disagree)

Kida Talos: Puzzle Solver, Flying Fox (Bat), Female, is blind but can hear a pin drop (or a safe click)
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The quintet of thieves would be slowly approaching the machine in order to steal it before Syckle does. They planned to have a transport balloon positioned above the convention, ready to drop some hooks and lift the machine into the air and to a getaway vehicle. There was just one problem…

Ven, readjusting their fake mustache, would say “Alright, you got the balloon set up and ready, Jason?” The only thing to come out of Jason would be a long and drawn out “Uuuuuhhhhh…no?” Tia whipped around and grabbed the otter by the shoulders tightly. “Jason, I'm going to ask you nicely, but…what do you mean no!?” She said, shaking him wildly in a panic.

“I tried to activate the self-inflation mechanism earlier, but it says that it's still inflating and hasn't even gotten into the air!!” Jason explained, his head flailing about from the intense shaking. Max looked nervously at the machine, unsure on how they would get the machine out now. “Welp, so much for this plan.” Kida sarcastically said. Ven, on the other hand, would not look too worried. As per usual, she had a quick idea that could work well if everything fell into place.

“Now hold on, gang. I've got a plan…Jason, do you have any spare hooks?”

Tia would let go of Jason as he reached into his bag and pulled out some bungee cords with hooks at the end.

“Good. Take those and hook them onto the machine. Tia, could you get a distraction up and running on the screens overhead?”

Tia nodded, pulling out her phone and hacking into the media systems for the convention, having them show a series of random videos from the internet to distract and confuse everyone else.

“Kida, gather as many of those marbles into a bag as you can. As for you, Max…”
Ven would grab a few marbles filled with helium before heading towards the machine to grab the cords and tie them around each of Max's limbs.

“Umm…what's going on?” Max anxiously asked, unaware of the plan at hand.

“Don't worry about it, my good friend. Now, everyone, onto the machine! This may take a bit, but I assure you all we'll be soaring out of here in no time!” Ven said before shoving the helium marbles into Max's maw, forcing him to swallow. The others looked on in confusion at the idea, but just agreed as they climbed onto the machine alongside Ven.

Max would suddenly start to feel his belly groan as the marbles slowly released the helium into his body. His entire body would start to grow in size as he inflated, confusing some onlookers. “Are you sure this is gonna be a good idea? What if the poor guy can't handle all of that helium??” Kida asked, clearly worried about the safety of their teammate. “Do not worry, I've known Max for a lot longer than you all might think. He's got the largest capacity I've ever seen in a person.”

Max would eventually start to float into the air as his body began to round out, limbs slowly sinking in with his cheeks puffing out. Ven would then see some members of Syckle attempting to make their way towards the machine, but were unable to as a crowd had gathered around Cagliostro & Co. Same problem could be said for Police Chief Quintons, the skunk unable to reach the team before the giant balloon of a wolf began to lift the machine off of the ground. Liam would run at the machine and jump up at it, barely able to grab onto a pipe on it.

“Voleuse!! You're not getting out of here that easily!!!” Liam shouted as they tried to climb the machine.

Ven looked at the chief with a smug grin, saying “I'm sure we are. By the way, are those members of Syckle down there?”

This distracted Liam enough for Ven shove Liam off of the machine and onto the Syckle agents, breaking Liam’s fall and giving the skunk someone to capture for today. For as much as Liam and Ven fought and chased each other around, they at least had the mutual understanding that Syckle was the bigger problem in this situation. As Liam made the arrests, Ven and his crew would fly off towards the getaway vehicle aboard the world’s largest wolf balloon. Max had stopped growing at this time, now at the mercy of the others as Jason set up a makeshift steering mechanism. The poor wolf’s body was drum tight, creaking and groaning as his sunken limbs occasionally wiggled about.

“I'm sorry about the sudden need for you as the balloon, bud. I'll make it up to you once we head back to base, okay?” Ven would kindly pat Max’s big tight belly in reassurance, the wolf nodding in agreement as they floated along the sky to the truck. Tia looked into the big blue sky with a smile as she enjoyed the view. Then Kida asks the obvious, saying “This is nice and all, but…how do we get down?”

Ven takes less than a second to think of an idea, rubbing Max's taut belly for a bit. “...Ven, what are you-” Jason begins to ask before they all hear a loud rumble from Max's massive body, followed by a series of small burps by them. “What does it look like? I'm bringing us down to the truck!”

A few more minutes of burping and the machine would carefully land onto the back of the truck. Ven would then increase his belly rubs to attempt to get the rest of the helium out of Max. It didn't seem to be working for a bit before Max's belly began to rumble loudly. Then he let out a giant burp that let the rest of the helium out all at once.

“...phew…well, that's all over with”, Max said before covering his mouth, unaware that his voice was now high pitched. The other began to laugh at this before realizing that they too had gained this goofy voice pitch.

Jason looked a bit grumpy about this. “Aw, come on! Now I sound like a baby!” Kida covered her ears, saying “It's hurting my ears to hear you all talk like that.”

“Now you know what it's like to hear Jason talk”, Tia jokes, untying Max and using the bungee cords to strap the machine to the truck bed.

“Well, I call this mission a huge success! Wouldn't you agree, Max?” Ven looked over to a very grumpy looking Max, who said “You said that you would make it up to me, right? Well, what does that entail?”

Ven nervously looked at the angry wolf, saying “Uh…yes. When we get back…you can…do whatever to me that doesn't involve maiming or killing…if that works. What did you have in mind?”

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Back at the base, Max would be seen laying on top of what looked to be a giant water balloon. “Man, those scientists were right. This is a revolutionary device. Wouldn't you agree, Ven?” Max said smugly. Turns out, Max wanted Ven to have a taste of his own medicine, forcing him to swallow a few marbles filled with water to make him into an impromptu water bed. Ven grumbled as he laid there, simply saying “Welp…now I know what it feels like to be jello…”