At A Midwest Strip Mall

Could be a strip mall in the middle of nowhere. Think the rust belt or the midwest. Maybe the High Plains. So like a drug store, a couple clothing boutiques, A Party City-type store, a sporting goods store, an antique store, a seedy little adult shop, and a second hand clothing store.

Let’s say some kind of cosmic ray shower. We’ve never really tried that before. :D All we know is something about a radio disturbance in space that’s messing up cell signals and making radio, tv and internet crappy.

We all go to work at our places, working the evening shift to close. It’s about 10:30 PM, and we’re wandering around and being lazy waiting for the clock to run out. The ‘event’ goes down without much more than a glow at the horizon slowly crossing the sky, but that only marks the start of weirdness for us.

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Dustin leaned over the glass case holding the watches and wallets, wondering if anyone was going to pull into the parking lot. It was a beautiful night, and most everybody in town probably had something better to do than shop at the edge of town. Dustin could have been camping--but the boss wanted the weekend to himself, so he was stuck here.

“At ease,” He joked at the mannequin in the front display, facing him as he approached the door. He peeked out the double door, ringing the bell as he looked down to one end of the strip and the other. Six. Six cars in the parking lot. The party store two doors down, Sportzall next door, him, the drug store open until midnight...and then two customers?

“None of ‘em are mine,” Dustin muttered, wandering down the strip to the left and passing by Sportzall’s windows. He peered inside. Dustin saw Jack assisting a woman with her purchases at the front counter. He was trying to bag everything, but the woman wanted the hangers too, and they weren’t fitting into the bag. Eventually, he rang up the purchase and the woman left the store and Jack watched her leave, slightly irritated. He saw Dustin outside watching what had transpired, and laughed. He walked over to the front of the now-emtpy store and opened the door to talk to him.

“Man, I thought she’d never leave,” Jack said, still irritated. Down further in the strip mall, the two guys heard another ding of a front door opening, and looked down to see what was going on. A man with two huge bags left the party store, and they both watched as he headed to his car on the other side of the lot.

“That’s like everyone…” Dustin said. “If shit weren’t on a timer and camera set, I’d close down now and call it.” He laughed. “Outside-a ol’ Larry at the drug store until Midnight, the poor dude--it’s pretty much party time.” He nudged Jack in the shoulder. “Let’s get into some trouble.”

Dustin walked up to the door of Party Emporium and walked in. Jack followed behind.

“Seriously, how many of those would it take to lift a lawnchair and a six-pack of beer?” He pointed at the helium balloon display.

“Probably more than a hundred if you plan on sitting in that chair. I’d rather spend all day in the air than wasting my time here.” Kevin muttered behind the counter while stocking streamers and decorative plates on the shelf behind him..

“Yeah, Jack just got rid of little miss Muffet. Outside-a your boy carryin’ away the huge haul--what did he buy, by the way?--it’s just you, me, Jack, and I think Larry’s at the drug store.” Dustin threw a jolly rancher at a hovering balloon, bouncing it off a basket. “Fuck it, let’s shut down early.” Dustin brayed. “Right, I can’t. Timer.”

Kevin turned around and sighed as he told Dustin with an annoyed look in his eye. “The fucker bought like a whole truck load of balloon kits and party favors. Not to mention a whole keg of beer that was on sale. I think he’s going to a sorority party or something.” He went around the corner and patted Dustin on the shoulder. “I’d like to close up too, but the boss is making me run inventory check in the costume department.”

“Man, a beer sounds so good right about now, but I have so much work ahead of me. That lady left a huge mess back in the shoe department. I think she tried on like, three different sizes of ten different styles and they’re all still sitting there on the floor. Looks like it’s going to be a long night for me cleaning up,” Jack said to Dustin.

“Aw, alright. I’m not doing anything without you guys anyhow. I got like nothin’ to do but lock. You want help with those shoes?” Dustin asked.

“That’d be great! I’d love some help,” Jack replied. “Have fun with your inventory, Kevin. If you finish and we’re still over in the store, stop on by.”

“Sure thing bud. Hopefully it won’t take long. October is around the corner and costume orders are filling up fast. Try not to have too much fun in there.” He chuckled as he left them to do their thing and headed for the costume section.

“No chance of that, they’re shoes after all. How much fun could they possibly be?” Jack said, smirking as he and Dustin left the party store and headed back to Sportzall.

“Hey, check out the sky,” Dustin said, pointing at a glow in the upper atmosphere that looked something like a weaker aurora borealis. “I heard somethin’ about this on the haul in--sunspots or somethin’.” Jack paused to take a look, admiring the glow, then headed back into the sports shop.

Dustin stared out at the parking lot a little longer, noticing the man’s SUV. He still hadn’t left. The lights were on when they left Party Emporium, but now they were off again. The SUV was still running--but Dustin squinted to double check his sight--the man wasn’t in the Driver’s seat. He glanced at the drug store at the end of the strip. “Onnnne stop shopping. I wouldn’t leave your shit runnin’ up here, buddy--things disappear in the flats. Damn fool.”

Dustin went into Sportzall to see a distraught looking Jack walking around the same aisle again and again, as if he was looking for something. There wasn’t one box out of place, and Dustin couldn’t understand the flustered look.

“Hey--hey, hey. What’s up?” Dustin asked.

“When I left, this place was a complete disaster! But look!” Jack said, waving his arms around at the racks, “It’s like she was never even in here. Everything is put back to where it was.”

“You sure, like--you didn’t take care of it?” Even as he asked, he tried not to remember seeing the pile of boxes set next to the bench. He could see it from the glass doors when he first passed by, and it was totally gone.

Jack grabbed one of the boxes containing a pair of shoes he knew the woman tried on. Flipping open the lid, it was as if he had pulled it from the back moments ago. The laces were intricately tied, and even the stuffing inside the shoe was back in place. He held it up to Dustin to look as well.

“See? This was one of the pairs she had. I remember the crap lying all over the place. Is there someone else here?” He asked, closing the box and peering suspiciously around the store.

Dustin did a fast sweep down the aisles, looking laterally. There were two doors in the back, but no where else for a person to really hide except behind the counter, which he checked last.

“Stockroom and office locked, Jack?” Dustin asked.

“I don’t have a key to the office, only the boss man does,” Jack said. “And I haven’t left out the back since I got here. Let me check though, just to make sure.” Jack set the box back on the shelf and headed to the backroom leaving Dustin in an eerie silence in the front of the store.

“I’ll watch the front. I have to keep on eye on my door anyway.” Dustin looked out into the parking lot, where one of the doors to the SUV opened. No one left it. Dustin stepped up to the glass doors of the store, his heart racing. “Where are you, dude?” He said quietly, looking for the SUV’s driver. The door hung open, and the cabin light stayed off. Dustin opened the door to Sportzall and went back to the quiet strip, echoing only the running engine of the SUV.

It shut off.

Dustin’s mouth hung as open as the SUV’s door. The driver was nowhere in sight, but for a second Dustin thought he heard a muffled voice from the back seat.

“Nawwww... fucking hell.” He burst back into Sportzall and shouted to Jack. “Jack, I think Partyman’s gettin’ mugged in his car, man! Call the cops!” Dustin ran recklessly out toward the SUV, readying himself for a fight as the adrenaline started pumping. He stayed as quiet as he could, flying across the asphalt and peering around the dark SUV and into the open door to find…

“Holy hell!” Dustin saw the man, dressed up in a costume that clearly wasn’t for his shape or his sex. His body was stuffed into a skimpy cheerleader’s top with large breasts protruding from the front, clearly not meant to be his own. His waist had a short frilly skirt wrapped around it that was showing off a bit of his ass underneath. His feet were wearing knee high white socks with a purple stripe around the top--and shiny yellow stilettos finished the look. “Man--get the hell outta here. Get, like--home. Don’t...man, no one wants to see this.” The man had a worried look on his face as the engine started. Dustin jumped back, looking at the driver’s seat. “Man, who the hell’s that?”

“NO ONE!!!!” The man screamed as the door slammed shut on its own. The SUV shifted into gear and Dustin jumped again out of instinct, running back toward the strip mall as the tires squealed in the parking lot.

Back in Sportzall, Jack had just finished examining the door to ensure it was still locked and sealed. As he finished, he heard Dustin’s yell to call the cops about the man being mugged. He ran to through the store to the front counter and picked up the phone. His fingers raced across the dialpad, hitting 9-1-1 in succession, when suddenly the phone was snatched from his grasp. The handset flew from his hand as if someone had yanked it violently away from him and came to land hard down on the cradle with a familiar ring and echo of a phone forcibly being hung up. Jack stared at the phone which had seemingly hung itself up on him uncomprehending what had just happened.

“What the fuck!?” Jack exclaimed. “D-Dustin! Come here!” Jack shouted.

“Stay the hell in the store,” Dustin said as he breathlessly entered the store. “There’s weird shit going on out there.” He looked back out to the parking lot, where the SUV was doing tight circles.

“Th-There’s weird shit going on in here too!” Jack yelled, uncertainty filing his voice from the phone’s activity.

“You see that SUV out there?” Dustin said. “Did you call the cops like I asked?

“No! I couldn’t! The phone like, hung itself up when I dialed!” Jack yelled, unsure of what to say and sounding embarrassed by what he said. “What’s happening?”

“What do you mean it hung itself up?” Dustin asked. “Use another phone!” He huffed, looking down the strip. “Kevin. Let’s go tell Kevin. Just stay against the wall. Inside the poles.” He watched the vehicle, which was doing uniform loops in the middle of the empty lot. “Man, that guy’s gotta have had it by now…” He turned to Jack. “We’re going to the Emporium. Fast. You ready?”

“I still don’t understand what’s going on. Why is the guy doing circles in the parking lot? Is he high or something?” Jack asked, looking at the vehicle spinning wildly in the parking lot.

“Someone in that car is fucking around or something,” Dustin said, ignoring the fact that he wasn’t sure how the door closed on it’s own. Vans had those sliding doors, so some smarty probably had their own slamming door, right? “They’re being crazy--so we gotta get help.” He looked at Jack’s eyes for the first time now, darting wild. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, man. What was wrong with the phone?”

“It...like, stopped my call. It was like someone grabbed the phone and slammed it down on the handset,” Jack replied, still breathing heavy from his ordeal in the store. “I really don’t know quite how to explain it. Why are you looking at me like that?!”

Dustin didn’t know how to react to this. He couldn’t tell Jack he was just seeing things...not right now. First the two ton truck. Then this.

“No, I’m just hearin’ you out, man. I’ve seen some weird shit tonight too.” He looked at Jack, then the parking lot. He could see the glow through the glass doors now. “Let’s get to Kevin, see what he has to say--and use the phone over there.” Dustin said. “Just stay against the wall. Inside the poles. Like I said. Door to door.”

Jack watched Dustin slowly start toward the party Emporium store. He mimicked his moves, staying close to the building’s structure, though he was unsure why he needed to do this. A sudden squeal of tires made him look out towards the parking lot as he saw an SUV doing circles and shining its light on the guys.

“Hey, what’s up with the SUV?” Jack asked.

“Just get inside the party store, NOW!” Dustin yelled. Jack moved quickly behind Dustin, reacting to his anger.

Approaching the door, Dustin flung it open and darted inside followed close behind by Jack.

“Kevin!” Where are you?” Dustin yelled into the quiet surroundings.

“Phone! We need a phone like now, dude! Do I need 9 for an outside line?” Dustin asked hurriedly, panic tainting his voice.

Kevin heard the two guys screaming from the entrance as he peeked his head out from the corner of the costume racks. “What the hell is wrong with you guys? The phone is in the back, near the breakroom.”

Dustin darted past him toward the breakroom, leaving Jack and Kevin to talk.

“We’re not sure, but--for now, don’t go out to the parking lot. There’s an out of control vehicle,” Jack said. He felt better in the store, enough to ask, “have you noticed anything weird happening, Kevin?”

Kevin gave Jack a weird look. “An out of control vehicle?” Kevin asked. “Did that idiot start pregaming in the parking lot?” Jack slightly chuckled, but didn’t answer. Kevin shook his head and decided to answer the second question. “By something weird, do you mean several costumes disappearing along with the balloon display?” Kevin shrugged. “I went to get some coffee in the breakroom, and when I came back, the stuff I sent up for display went missing.”

 

What do you mean missing?” Jack asked in a huff, suddenly intent on knowing. “We got back to the store and that mess the lady left behind was gone! I showed Dustin and he went out into the parking lot and he screamed to call the cops. I went to call, but the phone like, took itself out of my hands and slammed down on the receiver. Then we came in here.” Jack relayed the story of what had happened to Kevin, who eyed him quizzically.

“Are you sure you guys aren’t just trying to pull a prank on me like last time? I get that you two are bored and all, but my boss will kill me if the costumes aren’t back in the morning.” He crossed his arms as he looked in disbelief. “Maybe we should check up on Dustin in the back and see if we can clear this whole thing up.”

“No! Did you hear what I said?” Jack said accusingly. “There’s something else entirely going on here!”

Dustin went to the back while the two guys argued, their voices fading into the distance. He walked past tons of cases in the hallways. “Hello OSHA violations…” He muttered, finally getting to the breakroom. “I got it…I got it!” He yelled out to them. It was a wall phone with a note posted to it. -THIS AREA CODE ONLY UNLESS YOU ARE STEVEN OR KEVIN- Dustin pulled it off the receiver and started dialing 9 when the handset wire unclipped.

“Nah, what the hell?” Dustin plugged the phone back in and hung it up to reset the call. When he put it to his ear again, he heard a tone and jumped. He looked up and saw that one of the buttons was pressing on its own. He looked down as the tone changed, watching the pad go insane. Two buttons pushed at once, producing weird dissonant sounds. Dustin cocked his head and backed up a step to watch the pad in disbelief. He dropped the handset, but even with its long, droopy cord, it never hit the ground.

It was hovering next to him now, and his heart pounded as he swallowed.

“Get your friends,” a sweet-sounding, digital voice crackled over the phone. “We’re gonna plaaaaaaaaaay…” Dustin shuddered, looking at the hovering handset, shaking his head.

“Th-this is sooooo fucked…” He backed up slowly until he was out the door, then tripped over himself as he turned and ran to the front. “This is SO FUCKED, you guys!”

Dustin ran back into the room.

“Jack! You’re fucking right--the phones are just--they’re fucked, Jack!” Dustin looked at Kevin. “It said to get you guys. It said they’re gonna...play.”

“Now I know you’re fucking with me,” Kevin said, admonishing Dustin.

Dustin looked out at the parking lot, where the SUV was still stopped, beaming its lights into the glass doors of the Party Emporium. The engine cut, and the lights stayed on. Every door to the vehicle opened at once.

The guys all turned towards the parking lot at once, lifting their hands to shield their eyes from the glaring brights that now beamed into the party store.

“What is that guy doing?” Kevin asked, bewildered by the bright lights blinding him. Jack and Dustin shuddered, wondering what was next from the SUV. As the guys stared toward the shining lights, they suddenly heard a popping sound, like a bag opening when too much air was inside it. They jumped and turned, looking towards the source of the sound that the headlights had illuminated perfectly.

A bag of balloons had burst open, falling off the rack and onto the ground. As they watched, the balloons squirmed out of the package, inching across the floor of the store like worms. The balloons, one by one, started inflating all on their own accompanied by a breathing sound like someone was exhaling. As they inflated to capacity, they tied themselves off and rose slowly into the air one by one. A slight sigh was heard by the guys in the store, like someone spent from too much activity, and the entire store seemed to sway briefly, as if in a gentle earthquake.

“What in the hell is...can--can someone else tell me they’re seein’ the same thing I’m seein’ here?” Dustin said, watching the bobbing party favors. He watched the jewel-colored bubbles bob in the air unnaturally, not rising like helium nor dropping like air. “Guys?”

“I’m seeing it, but I’m not believing it,” Jack said, rubbing his eyes and staring at the balloons taking shape and moving with what seemed to be some sort of purpose, bobbing slowly towards the assembled group of friends. It looked like the whole bag had taken shape, when all was said and done, they were met with the odd sight of a dozen blue, red and purple balloons, all flowing together like a miniature swarm of bubbles.

“Kev, buddy…” Dustin said, slowly backing up. “You don’t got, like, super secret experimental balloons in here or somethin’, do ya?” Dustin looked around for something with an edge or a point. They were balloons, so he wasn’t sure what he was about to defend himself against, but then, he didn’t know piñatas or kazoos to start calling the shots on their own either.

Kevin looked at Dustin with a weird look as if he was high or something. “I-I didn’t fill them up with anything. They’re just regular balloons--made in China! You saw that package burst open on its own too, right!?” He made one step back from the craziness that was happening in front of them. “So...we can hang around to see what’s next, or I got the key to the back exit!”

“Let’s go!” Jack said. The three of them started shuffling their way to one of the aisles closest to them. They eyed the balloons which seemed to simply hang in mid-air warily as the three of them held their breath, looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes.

As they entered one of the aisles, they started to move a bit faster. Glancing back every few seconds, they could see the balloons start to follow slowly behind them, as if they were being led by the guys in some type of parade.

“You guys seeing this? It’s like they’re following us or something…” Jack said, anxiety filling his voice. As they approached the door to the backroom, a plastic toy pirate sword flew down off of a shelf in front of them and stuck itself in the door handles, barring their entrance. The guys jumped back in surprise and formed a loose ring, their backs to each other, watching for other flying merchandise and seeing the balloons still advancing down the aisle toward them.

Dustin counted. There were more than 12 now. There were bigger ones bringing up the rear--looking overinflated and somehow more menacing. Should be easier to break, though--right? Dustin tried to convince himself of the thought, but Jack and Kevin didn’t look like they were in the fighting spirit.

Okay, neither was Dustin. He could admit he was scared. Whatever happened to the guy in the SUV was about to happen to them. He wasn’t sure how balloons played a part, but if there was just a quarter inch of molded plastic between them and not finding out…

“Boys, y’all just follow FAST!” Dustin ran to the double doors held shut by the toy sword when two more like it came over the shelves and poked him in the back--one at the shoulder blade and one right in the center, making him arch. “Yeowww!” Dustin cried out, more in surprise than anything else. He turned around to see a blur of the other two well behind him, and two toy swords slashing the air--now joined by a devil’s trident from the Halloween display.

Dustin gasped as he dodged the trident from hitting his midsection as it stabbed into mid-air all by itself, feeling silly when he realized he could’ve just taken it. He could take ANY of these blows, actually--they didn’t seem to be trying to hurt him at all. He was slapped on the back of the head with the broadside of a sword.

“Hey!” One more swipe from the trident brought it into Dustin’s farmboy grip, and he sneered a little when he got a hold of the flimsy plastic shaft, trying to pull it away from a phantom grip. “Ha! Come on, boy--who’s got it now? Power o’ Christ compels y--ahhhh!” Dustin’s grip held sure even as the trident shot into the air toward the warehouse-high ceilings of the space--and Dustin went right along with it.

The two guys watched as Dustin was yanked physically up into the air, legs kicking wildly in all directions, even hitting a couple balloons that had got too close to the action. The trident kept rising and soon, Dustin was near to the ceiling of the store.

Still on the ground, Kevin and Jack continued to watch in awe, not sure of what to do. Dustin calmed a little as he realized how high up he was. He started to move to the side guided by the trident he was still gripping tightly, over to the top of one of the racks of merchandise and felt himself lower down, coming to stop as his feet touched the top of the rack. There was just enough room, and the rack was just strong enough to hold his weight.

His hands were still clamped hard around the plastic shaft of the trident when it circled back on itself, poking his wrists playfully with its prongs. He let out a shriek and let go of the thing and his arms instinctively shot out to his sides, balancing himself on the top of the rack.

Jack watched in disbelief as his friend was lifted up into the air and set back down, seemingly under the plastic toy’s power. How could the thing have so much strength? Jack thought to himself, seeing as it was just a plastic prop. Just then, he felt a slight nudge from behind and turned quickly around to see one of the overinflated balloons had bumped into him. He looked around to his left and right, and noticed that he was surrounded by the red and purple balloons, which had pressed themselves really close around him, almost touching every part of his body.

“H-hey! Help me! They’re all around!” Jack yelled to his friends, but all he could see around him were the balloons and, if he looked up, Dustin on top of the merchandise. “Kevin!? Where are you?”

Kevin Looked at his friends in different situations. He looked up at Dustin trapped on top of the rack and then to Jake being surrounding by the balloons. “What the hell is going on around here!?” He put his hands over his head as he closed his eyes in fear. He had to do something for his pals, even if it meant risking his own skin while taking on this unseen force.

“Hang on guys, I’ll think of something!” He looked around the shelves to see what might be useful. But if everything else could come to life, the only thing he could use was his own wits. He then noticed the streamers hanging from the shelf started to wiggle out of their packaging and floated up towards Dustin. A yellow streamer came up to his line of vision and unfurled itself in front of his nose. It made a slight buzzing noise as the tip tickled against his nose in a playful manner.

Two more streamers floated behind Kevin and made a loud honking noise that made him jump. “Yeeaah!” He screamed as he ran from the noise, unknowing that he bumped right into two purple balloons that caught him in the middle. The balloons were massive, coming up to his waist if they sat on the floor. “Mpgh!” He said with one balloon covering his face and the other one pushing against his back. The balloons that sandwiched him started to squeeze all around him, making an indent of Kevin’s face appear on the balloon in front of him. “Mphm, I’m being squeezed to death here!” Only his hands and dangling legs were seen out of the sandwiched balloons as they continued to rub all around him.

“Nah, pleease…” Dustin said, his arms still out to his sides. The streamer teased at his nose again as he looked down into the store. He could see everything up here, and his glances down the aisle didn’t spell any relief from this weirdness. Where the boys came from, hundreds of latex balloons of all sizes were bouncing and flying down the aisles, filling the store from their section. Even the modeling balloons were snaking their way toward them.

Dustin’s eyes were brought back to the streamer, which dropped a yellow strand nearly to the ground. It ripped itself every three feet or so to make six streamer snakes, flitting through the air around him. He tried to follow them, only losing a little more balance in doing so. He shuddered and held still again only to feel all six streamer snakes slide their ends under his shirt.

“Nooooo...no…” He chuckled a little--his eyes glassing over. The streamers were tickling him as they pulled up on his shirt, but he really didn’t want to plummet almost 20 feet onto an epoxy floor. He held as still as he could, lifting his arms higher as his shirt was pulled up and over him. He let out a low howl for the second he couldn’t see, praying he wouldn’t lose his balance as a result.

His shirt started to fall to the floor as the streamers slid out of it and down through the aisles, but before it hit the ground, it inflated just like one of the ghostly balloons and went on its way down the aisle, swinging its sleeves.

“Wh-what the hell are you?” Dustin asked the streamer roll in front of him. “Did--did you talk to me on the phone?” Dustin heard his friends below, and he carefully looked down toward a mass of balloons where Jack was. They were crowded around him and compressing against each other. Kevin had just shouted before he was muffled by something, and Dustin realized it was a pair of massive purple balloons, squeezing together and constricting his movement from his shoulders up. Maybe even--suffocating him? “Aw, hell--let ‘em go!” Dustin said, looking down at the scene. There were a couple more big ones down there, and maybe if he timed it right…

The streamer spun around him eight times before he knew what was happening.

“Noooo, no--damnit!” Dustin tried to shake off the paper, but it was already sailing away from him as he tipped past the point of no return, leaning back headlong over the shelf. He turned over himself completely before landing, with a tremendous spring, on another huge red balloon that rose up to meet him. Shirtless, he gripped the squishy ball as it sailed up near the top level of shelving, leaving him stranded and slightly less secure--being on a flying object with a mind of its own.

He looked down at the others, hoping to hear their voices. If these things really did want to be deadly, he figured they’d have gotten it over with by now.

“Kevinnn? Jaaaack?” He couldn’t really get a good look down at them, but they had to have seen him. “Sound off, y’all! Let me know you’re not being hugged to death!”

The large balloon that was suffocating Kevin nudged a bit at the top. His head popped out of the floating orbs and looked around while taking a deep breath of air. “Huf...huuh...I’m alive...somewhat…” He looked up to see Dustin sitting on top of a red balloon, shirtless and in the air. “What--what the hell happened to your shirt, dude? And who were you talking to?”

“Whatever I heard on the phone that said it was--coming to play!” Dustin said, looking at the giant balloon dividing him from a concrete foundation. “I mean--is this what it considers play?” As if to answer him, Dustin heard a pop on his jeans. His whole body tensed up from the shift at his waist. He thought the button of his jeans popped off, but instead it popped open, and now his zipper was rolling down, opening his jeans up as he watched in awe. His voice trembled now, no longer yelling. “Are you guys--getting played with...too?”

Jack had heard everything going on without being able to see much other than the balloons in front of him. As he too heard Dustin’s jeans pop open, he heard a popping noise behind him. He looked back behind his shoulder only to see a few packages of mardi gras beads snaking along the shelf and into the air, toward his chest.

“I--I think?” Jack replied to Dustin. The beads slowly started to wind around his upper arms, his chest, sliding inside his armholes and gliding across his chest and down his stomach. He laughed, being so lightly touched and somewhat tickled.

“I guess, yeah, I think so too. I mean, being played with...” Jack said, still chuckling slightly at the beads’ movement across his body. He gasped as he felt a strand shoot down his thigh, curving itself around and then, joined by another on his other thigh. He looked down to see the outline of the beads sliding their way underneath his jeans, watching mesmerized at their graceful dance as they tickled his leg hair.

The merchandise wasn’t hurting him in any way, in fact, it felt surprisingly more and more like a good feeling as the beads continued wrapping around his body. “Kevin, are you OK over there?” Jack asked, feeling a little more safe now that the items and merchandise seemed a little more curious than forceful--for the time being.  

Kevin watched as the two balloons spiraled around his body and swallowed up his arms and legs. He was covered from shoulder to his toes as the balloons fused into one form and engulfed his body. “I can’t move a damn muscle. So I’m just peachy.” He felt the inside of the balloon massaging his back and thighs while his shirt was lifting itself off of his torso. His sleeves forced his arms to move upward and slip out of the hole around his neck. “And now I’m getting stripped while inside a floating rubber ball.”

Dustin’s jeans started peeling from around his hips as he squeezed the red ball with his arms and legs. “It’s stripping you too?” Dustin asked to the voice below him. He gasped as his ride turned a 180 and dropped twelve feet. It stopped him again, and his mass squeezed against the balloon from the distributed impact, making it tighten between his legs. In front of him now was Kevin, hovering a good six feet from the ground as his clothes slowly migrated away from his body, apparently restricted by a thin membrane of latex. Dustin didn’t mean to stare at his own friend getting undressed, and it was only when he saw the crack of Kevin’s ass above his underwear that he pulled his eyes away. “Why’s it undressing us?”

Jack heard the conversation, and his heart started beating faster. “You guys...y-you’re being...stripped?” he asked, his voice starting to tremble again. As soon as he said the words, he could feel his jeans tighten up on his pelvis, ass, and legs. The fabric shifted up on his body, and he felt himself lifting off the ground. The constricting fabric held him tight inside itself, but he found that he kept his balance. He watched as the ground left him and he wiggled his feet a little, unsure of what was happening.

As he continued watching below him, he saw his shoelaces pulled tight by something he couldn’t see. As they untied themselves, they loosened up on his feet, allowing the cool air of the air-conditioned store enter. He wiggled his foot again, as he felt his own tennis shoes start to slide off his socked feet. He tried to curl his toes inside in an effort to keep his shoes on, but they forced themselves over the protrusion and the canvas squeaked as they popped off, falling down onto the ground where they bobbed on their heels, re-tying their laces.

He then heard a familiar popping sound as well and, as he continued looking down at what was happening to him, saw his own jeans betraying him. The metal tip of the zipper stuck straight out into the air, as if held by a thumb and index finger. It started to glide down its track, and he felt his jeans loosen as his boxer-briefs tightened in their place, continuing to hold him aloft. As his jeans continued to loosen, they too slid down his legs, coming to rest on top of his chucks where they re-zipped and buttoned themselves. He could see all the way down into the legs, even into his shoes.

“Guys?” Jack said, “I see what you mean.” The beads continued to work around his legs and he could see them still encircling his chest and stomach, along with his upper thighs, only they appeared to be getting braver now. One end stuck itself into the leg opening of his boxer briefs, and cautiously slid up inside of his underwear. It toyed a bit, coming ever so close to his dick,  making him gasp, but then backing off and retreating behind him. He tried to twist around to see where it was going, when his t-shirt was yanked upward from the bottom, betraying his sight as the shirt forced his arms above his head and blocking his view.

It stayed there as he felt a few more pairs of beads sliding inside his boxer-briefs. They, too, toyed with his most taboo places. He wanted to ask if the other guys were experiencing anything similar, but he just didn’t know how to word it.

“Hey, stop that!” Jack yelled to the beads which had all coiled around to the front of his underwear. They were lightly rubbing their cool plastic around, over, and under his most sensitive parts, making him gasp and breathe harder as it slid across his cock and his balls.

“Can...can someone um, I don’t know... Can someone help me, maybe?” Jack asked out loud to his friends, not wanting to say what was happening. He found himself enjoying the feeling, but he didn’t wanna say that.

“They won’t go any lower!” Dustin said through gritted teeth, gripping his balloon with all his might. His legs were practically tied around it, and he was keeping them locked to stop his jeans from getting any further down his legs. “Wish I could, Jack, but I can’t exactly…” Dustin’s pantlegs flared at the same time, and he was unclamped from the balloon, forced to bear hug it with his arms. It went oblong, but he clung to it as it sailed slowly forward.

Dustin’s pants didn’t sail with them, so it was only a matter of less than four feet before Dustin was stark naked, clinging to a balloon as red as his face. “H-h-holy fuck!” He cried, trying to work his way back to a straddle position. The balloon stretched and morphed slightly, exaggerating the oblong shape Dustin squeezed into it. Now he was riding a sort-of rolling pin shape, tapered at the edges and looking like a huge red latex slug. “Are you kiddin me…” The thing zoomed down the aisles as Dustin clinged to it, squealing as it wedged between his cheeks. Before he could say a word, the doors to the front of the store split open, and he sailed out into the night on his flying balloon, followed by two more three-foot spheres and a legion of 12-inch balloons.

He arced from one end of the strip mall to the other, occupied by a store that--by state law--had to have one-way film on all the windows. For the moment, the thrill of being outside, riding the air on--well, a cushion of air--wasn’t lost on Dustin. Jack seemed to be right...these things were certainly friendly. They were still frightening as all get-out since Dustin wasn’t sure precisely what he was dealing with--but his own head spun it once.

If they wanted us dead, we’d be dead. If they wanted us hurt--there was more opportunity than not, 25 ways from the start.

Just as soon as the high speed ride out the store began, it ended again, and Dustin lifted his head to look. He only flew as far as the other end of the strip mall? He felt a little silly for closing his eyes now. It’s just that while riding this squishy mass felt...oddly great, seeing himself doing it was still a little much.

“Now, wait a minute,” he said, looking at the storefront. “Y’all aren’t seriously gonna take me in here, are ya?” The door in front of him popped open, and Dustin and the offshoot squadron of balloons sailed inside.

Back in the party store, Jack was relaxing just a bit again. He feared for Dustin’s life as he heard the whoosh of air and half of the balloons surrounding him leave in a hurry, but he could mostly see again now, and saw Dustin smiling with delight outside on his balloon-riding thing.

Now that he had a chance to look around, he was somewhat amazed at the level of activity surrounding him. He saw Kevin sandwiched between two giant balloons, looking like that blueberry girl from Willy Wonka almost, his entire body was inside the filmy membrane of latex.

As Jack continued looking around the store, he came to rest his gaze on the selection of halloween costumes in the beginning of being put out for display. He squinted a little and stared, noticing there was some activity going on over by the costume department. He tried to look closer and saw the fabric costumes inside the bags were moving about, like clothes in a washing machine, spinning round and round. .

Suddenly, the bags burst open, sending costuming swirling into the air. Gold, satiny fabric of some superhero costume, the see through bandages of a mummy, masculine looking boots, and the sequined torso of a flapper-style dress were all flying about the store, moving and undulating in the air above Jack and Kevin.

Jack watched intently at one in particular. It bobbed and weaved through the costuming as they all spiraled above the guys. He could see, every now and then, glimpses of the fabric and wondered what it would look like, assembled in front of him. No sooner than he had thought it, than he saw the outfit flying slowly down from the assembly of outfits.

The boots landed first with a thud on the floor and he watched as the laces encircled the calf openings a few times, finally tying and coming to rest. The leather squeaked as they moved back and forth, showing off, lifting a heel up and pointing its toe down on the floor. Almost showing off to Jack. Then, the pants flew down, landing softly atop the boots. The wide-legged, bell bottomed openings resting softly atop the boots as the button fly did itself up; the pant-legs creasing as they settled atop the black leather boots.

He then watched as the shirt came to rest with the handkerchief tie around the neck, and the white hat floating above the empty neck hole of the shirt finished it off. Jack was looking at the embodiment of a navy sailor; only with no navy sailor present inside the outfit.

“That’s simply...amazing,” Jack breathlessly worded to no one in particular. “Kevin, I wish you could see what’s happening right now.”

Kevin watched the sailor outfit assemble itself with no sight of a figure inside of it. His jaw dropped after seeing it happen in front of Jack.

“First balloons playing with us, along with being stripped of our clothing. Now the costumes too? What kind of nightmare is this?” He looked around as other pieces of costumes were flying about in the store, waiting for their matching components to come together from the back. Some that made up a lady pirate’s outfit, a latex catsuit, a gogo dancer, and even a harem dancer costume came together and lined up in front of them next to the sailor suit.

“Is it a nightmare?” Jack said dreamily, looking the sailor costume with intense curiosity.

“Well, I think they want to play dress up with us….” Kevin said, eyeing the now assembled costumes with suspicion.

“If it wants to play dress up,” Jack licked his lips. “I dunno--I might be willing to do that.” Jack was too lost in his submission to the well-filled-out navy sailor costume standing in front of him. He secretly hoped it could understand his spoken words. Once he saw the costume assembled, it was as if every inhibition he’d ever had in him just melted away. One of his fantasies was standing in front of him and, if the other items in the store were any indication, they all wanted to play, the definition of which was not lost on him. Jack was only too happy to oblige this force, so long as it occupied the shape he was looking at. As he checked out the outfit up and down with his eyes, he could only imagine what else may be possible. The costume made no secret that it noticed Jack eyeing itself, and subsequently moved to acquiesce to his desire.

Dustin sailed through the quiet store, his eyes on everything as he passed by. Nothing seemed to move as he hovered through the store, and for a second he wondered if the other stores were still faring like the party store. Sporting goods and used clothing seemed like it would be a boon to a force bringing things to life to ‘play’, but then…

Lubricant. A lot of it. He was stopped right in front of the display, and when he shifted around on the balloon, it made a smacking, sticky noise.

“Oww…” he said, seeing himself through the translucent latex. “Well...I guess it’s nice to know you’ve--oooh!” One of the bottles pointed at his midsection and squeezed, spraying the clear fluid all over his lap. “Euuugh, this is…” He shifted on the balloon again, sliding up it as the living latex worked its way under him. “Whhh--whoa.” Dustin shuddered, holding on to the red balloon tighter as his hips slid up and down it. He was too embarrassed to address his hard-on directly; thankful no one else was around to see it. “Alright...this is--you can keep doing this if we’re stayin’ here.”

Dustin chuckled, gripping the balloon again. This time a train of lube bottles sailed out the door, along with a load of other supplies Dustin barely took note of. There were plenty of clamshell packages and small boxes, but Dustin’s attention was on the cadre of balloons surrounding his ride.

“You could make it a bit tighter, right? And speaking of tighter…” Dustin grinned as more and more mechandise headed back to the party store as his temptations got the best of him. He knew just how to put these things to work, and he was going to do it all right here in the dark, secluded store.

Kevin looked to the opening to see a train of lube bottles floating into the store, followed by boxes soaring behind them. The boxes settled down on the floor and opened themselves up to reveal sex toys, dildos, vibrators, onaholes, everything known for pleasure popped out of those packages.

“Where the hell did those things come from?!” Kevin shuddered.

Jack’s eyes went wide as he took in the scene unfolding in front of him. He knew there was a store in the strip mall that had this stuff, but no one wanted to be seen going in there--not in a town this small. Now, with every type of pleasurable device opening itself up in front of him and Kevin, his mind couldn’t help but think of what it all meant.

“I guess when Dustin mentioned play, the meaning was pretty broad,” Jack said, staring at the sexual paraphernalia surrounding and filling up the space.

A long, floppy dildo rose up in front of the sailor costume and, inverting itself, stuck its base onto the crotch of the pants, whereupon the costume made a few obscene gestures toward Jack. He blushed, looking away but feeling himself growing inside his boxer-briefs. He’d never imagined something like this would be standing in front of him, and his cheeks flushed with crimson.

The dildo removed itself, and the sailor costume took a few steps toward. Jack was still hovering in midair, but he felt the fabric of his boxers slowly tugging down as he was lowered again to the floor. Once his feet touched, he found himself face-to-face with the sailor costume as his boxer-briefs continued their descent down his legs. He tried to reach down to grab them, but the arms of the sailor shirt wrapped around his wrists, restricting him from grabbing at his waistband.

He felt his face flush as they shimmied underneath his socked feet, freeing themselves and flying off. He watched them go, only to be bumped from the front of the sailor costume. He backed up from the force of the shove, and collided with the counter of the store. The sailor costume didn’t waste any time in advancing again, pushing itself up against Jack’s body and pinning him to the counter. The pants started grinding against his now exposed dick, making Jack tremble. A moan escaped his lips as his head rocked back, enjoying the feeling of the muscular, invisible form inside the costume humping into him.

A pair of handcuffs rose silently behind Jack, opening up and grabbing his right wrist inside one of the cuffs and whipping his body around. The other latched onto his other wrist and pulled his arms in front of him, bending him over the counter with the sailor outfit now pushing against his exposed ass.

“Kevin, if you tell anyone about this, you’re dead!” Jack yelled, trying to see behind him.

“I won’t say anything if you won’t,” Kevin answered, watching a red latex catsuit with thigh-high scarlet boots and long gloves. It walked over to him and grabbed a bottle of lube, squeezed out a large glob that slithered out like a snake, hovering through the air. The lube flowed towards Kevin and slithered all between his neck and the skin of the balloon seeped into the hole. Kevin shuddered at the cold feeling of the lotion smoothing itself out on his body through the rubber sphere. He felt every inch of his body being covered in the slick lube. After he was lubed up, he felt the membrane slowly pushing him out of the balloon. Kevin made a loud moan as he felt the pressure of the rubber being pushed around his lathered up dick and even slipped out of his boxers. Soon enough, he was left floating in the air after his feet were the last to slip out of the balloon. His dick was seen standing at full attention after being pushed out. He put his hands to hide his embarrassment. He wasn’t left naked for long as the collar expanded while the zipper slid itself down the middle. Kevin felt himself descend towards the open catsuit and watched his toes slide right in due to the lathering he received earlier. He felt his toes slip into the soles of the boots and his hands slipping into the armholes. His fingers slid into the gloves and felt them move on their own under the clothing’s power. The zipper slid back up, covering his naked torso and stopped below his neck.. Soon he was completely sealed up in the costume

“What the hell? I look like a scarlet drag queen!” He looked at himself in a nearby mirror to show that his body was trapped in the costume that was filled up with the curves of a shapely woman.

Dustin watched as the other balloons in his little contingent assembled themselves across from him. The red ball inflated itself tighter while he was on it, even letting him watch the neck open and suck itself in. Dustin’s mind turned to goop as he looked at the small, slippery neckhole and thought the only thing he could possibly think.

“How bout a sex doll?” Dustin asked, shrugging. “I wouldn’t mind playin’ around with one o’ them…” Just as he said the words, a huge box fell from a shelf and popped open, leaving a lump of pvc on the ground. In a second, the lump began moving, and before long Dustin watched the the doll take shape, looking like a surprised cartoon with lumpy, exaggerated tits.

It danced over to Dustin as he sat on the balloon. He pulled back, unable to escape the cold, weird stare of the doll come to life. “Whoa--whoa…it’s a little creepy.”

Dustin knew he made a mistake when the doll crossed its arms. It seemed to grow, and the seams smoothed until the doll was tight as a drum. He was hard as ever, despite his vocal protest. The balloons across from him grew as well, each of them sucking in air as lube coated each one liberally. But for the two giants that followed him here, nearly all the rest started as typical party balloons. One balloon was a pink valentine’s day balloon, heart shaped. Dustin saw this pink balloon, inverted, as one of the giants shrank down and flattened, floating above it. More and more balloons joined until Dustin was looking at a kind of balloon mannequin, featureless but for the massive fuschia breasts and the inverted heart-shaped balloon that served as its booty.

Now Dustin was faced with an amazonian blow-up doll and a decidedly female 7-foot balloon golem. The red balloon he was riding puffed up more still, and now Dustin struggled to stay on the slick thing, his dick hard as a rock as he took in his magical predicament between two intimidating forms.

“You don’t get to fuck us, Dusty,” squeaked the blow up doll. Dustin’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas, and the voice humanized the voluptuous plastic woman in front of him.

“B-but...didn’t you say--you wanted to play?” Dustin asked, looking between the blow up doll and the featureless golem, an overinflated 12-inch balloon standing in for its head.

“Oh, you’re gonna play…” The doll said. “Big red here is going to give you a better BJ than any human lips ever could.” The doll waved a plastic arm, and the red balloon’s neck sucked itself in, extruding just enough to inflate a pair of cartoony red lips from the hole.

“Huh?” Dustin said, looking down at the lips stretching toward him. “No way…” The neck emulated a tongue slurping up lube as the lips slid toward him. When the hole met his dick, Dustin’s fingers sank so deep into the latex ball that he was afraid he was going to pop it. The more he sank in, the tighter the magic lips around his dick got. “Ungggghh…” Dustin bounced against the red latex now, bringing his whole body in and contracting his core, sending his hips forward and slicking the passage all the way down. Now he was in the red balloon, humping away as his limbs tightened around it. “Fuuuuck, that’s awesome!” He slammed himself against the balloon as it sailed into the air once again, giving him enough free space to really ride against it.

“Mmm...he likes it,” vibrated a deeper voice from the golem.

“He loooves it,” the blow-up doll squeaked. “And now we’re gonna introduce Dusty’s buddies to his new girlfriend…” Chittering laughter bounced through the blow-up doll as Dustin’s ears perked up. Out the door he went just as he processed exactly where they were going--back to the party store. Moaning, he rode away on the balloon, unable to stop the momentum of his own bouncing at the two female forms followed behind to see him back to his companions.

Jack let out a soft moan as he felt the pants still brushing against his exposed ass. The handcuffs were pulling him tight, and with each thrust against him he could feel his skin sliding across the counter. A cool, wet, oozy feeling struck his lower back, and he craned his neck to see a bottle of lube upended over his backside dribbling lines of lube across the small of his back.

He gasped and wiggled against the pants as if inviting them to proceed further when he felt a hard smack on one of his asscheeks. He turned sharply, surprised by the swat and saw a white, cotton glove floating over to the end of the sleeve and resting into place where the sailor’s hand would have been. He growled, wiggling his ass even harder against the tenting pants of the sailor costume when he felt another, different sensation.

As he rubbed the crack of his ass against the pants, he thought he felt something wiggling inside the pants, pressing against his hole. Jack tried to make out what it was, but was having a little bit of a hard time doing so and, without being able to see, made him start to worry just a little bit again. A pop resonated close by, followed by another, and another. Jack could feel the sides of the crotch opening up as they slid across his cheeks, and then a hard feeling pressed itself up against his ass.

The bottle squirted again, sending cool liquid viscosity smearing over his crack as the object moved the lube all over him. He knew now, what the object was. One of the dildos from the store must have decided to join in, becoming the sailor outfit’s makeshift cock which was now prepping his hole for its entrance. As the head pushed up against his skin, he bit his lower lip and arched his back slightly, anticipating the pain that he knew would be hitting him soon. He found himself though never wanting anything as much as he wanted this right now and pushed himself back onto the dildo.   

The head popped inside as Jack drew a sharp intake of breath.

“Oh, fuck…” he moaned. “God damn, that thing’s massive,” he said, panting out the words in short breaths as he felt his ass slowly relaxing around the head. “Slide some more in, but be gentle, please,” he whispered to the sailor outfit which happily obliged.

The dildo slowly slid in again, pushing softly against Jack’s ass as he took deep breaths. “Mm, oh my god...yes--just like that” Jack said, almost purring the words as he wiggled his ass around on the dildo. The pressure was immense. The ribbing and veiny impressions on the dildo slid and worked their way slowly into his welcoming hole.

He felt another soft, cotton hand on his neck, and it tightened its fingers and pushed him back down onto the counter. If he had been watching from a different angle, he would have seen a glove float up out of another package and grab him, separate from the sailor outfit which was now picking up a little speed.

As it withdrew the dildo from his ass, Jack looked behind him to see the tight ass of the pants flexed as if the person inside was enjoying himself just as much. Suddenly, the outfit slid back inside him, a little more forcibly this time, and Jack yelped in surprise, but quickly grew used to the feeling as the sailor outfit and dildo combination started to glide in and out, establishing a solid rhythm.

He felt the fingers tighten inside the glove just a little more, grabbing his neck and pushing it back to face front, only Jack protested. “Please, can I watch?” he asked. The glove slid up into his hair and yanked his head to the front, only for Jack to be slapped in the face by a waiting, hovering dildo.

And that wasn’t all that awaited him. The dildo was also sticking out of a pair of athletic shorts,  ripped open at the crotch. As he looked on in amazement, he saw more items gathering around. The glove removed itself from his hair, joining its mate the the sailor outfits other hand, and together they grabbed his waist and slid away from the counter, his hands and arms still held out in front as he was yanked back, sliding a good five or six feet away from the counter without his feet ever leaving the ground.

The shorts and dildo combination followed quickly and, looking around, Jack could see more items filling in around him. A pair of athletic shoes walked over and situated themselves underneath the leg openings of the shorts, and Jack felt his own socks start to constrict his feet and legs. Then, they let go and became loose as they slid their tight cuffs down towards his ankles, the fabric bunching up under his feet.

In an instant, they flew off and regained Jack’s shape, stepping into the athletic shoes under the shorts. Jack was simply amazed, watching then walk, rolling their feet and watching the fabric bunch around. He could even see down inside them, once they had come to stand in front of him inside the shoes.

The outfit walked as if one person, and pushed the dildo up against his open, wide mouth which was still agape with wonder. As the dildo entered him, he found a slightly off-putting taste of rubber and latex, and it made him gag.

“That’s it boy, gag on my fat cock,” the dildo said, vibrating inside his mouth as it spoke.

Jack’s eyes went wide with shock and surprise, and he looked down at the thing cross-eyed.

“Mmmphhph!” he tried to speak, but the dildo made it impossible and he started flailing about. “Mmmphnnn!” he knew it wasn’t coming across at all, but if he could get Kevin’s attention, maybe he could help.

“Stop squirming around, you little bitch,” the dildo said, speaking again.

“Nah, let him squirm around, I like it when he does that,” the sailor outfit replied to the dildo in Jack’s mouth. Jack couldn’t believe his ears. First the balloons, then the beads, and his own clothing taking itself off him, now the entire party store and, from the looks of it, every store inside the strip mall’s merchandise had come to life.

And now it was talking.

Not just talking, though. They were talking dirty. While outwardly fighting it, Jack found he got even harder when these things spoke to him. The absurdity of it was matched by the absurdity of trying to resist...once he got over the initial surprise of a talking dildo ramming itself into his mouth.

As Dustin sailed back across the parking lot, he saw every store opened up, its merchandise parading into the well-lit parking lot and into other stores. He glanced back at the drug store, where pair after pair of shapely looking legs were headed toward the party store. There also seemed to be--and he had to squint to even take a guess--a whole lot of makeup headed the same way.

The red balloon arced in the air, and Dustin gasped as the quick, fluid motion brought his attention back to his cock, piercing the neck completely again. Dustin grinned, collapsing forward and letting the red latex bounce his hips up and down. When he headed for the party store again, he gripped the balloon tight and turned behind him to the two strange inflatable goddesses.

“Mmm...don’t fly me in there like this…” Dustin begged. “I...I can’t stop…” He bit down on his lip, and the balloon bounced his hips higher, undulating its own skin to make the farmboy fuck it. Even if his head didn’t want to, his prick was a willing soldier.

“Would you rather someone get on top and cover you up, honey?” The blow up doll directed a two-sided jelly dildo towards its own pussy and took six inches of it, squeaking as it pounded into her. Dustin looked down at the free end of the dildo, which turned slightly up and began to piston itself in and out of the doll. “Free end, Dusty...free plug.”

“Wait...what?” Dustin watched the doll mount the balloon behind him, and he drew a deep breath when he felt the jelly dildo play at his ass.

“I don’t want you to fly in all alone, Dusty, baby. We’re going in together.”

The red balloon bounced his ass in the air again, and as soon as he unclinched his legs, the blow-up doll slid into him, making him writhe against the balloon as his cock jerked. The neck pulled in and out, and Dustin’s body slowly moved with the rhythm once more, fucking the balloon as the blow-up doll fucked him.

And just now he noticed the second-hand clothes flooding the walkway and parking lot, no doubt from the store he was supposed to be watching. Between fucking a balloon and getting fucked by a fucktoy, he just hoped maybe he’d get to bury his face in some pussy as long as...whatever was doing this was so screw happy.

When he flew into the store, he realized how singled out he wasn’t. Kevin was clad in a ladies’ latex catsuit, and Jack was...what the hell was Jack doing?

“Dustin’s back, boys…” Purred the hum of the balloon golem. “He’s brought friends.”

The catsuit that Kevin was stuck in started to rub it’s latex glove along it’s smooth body and moved towards the bulge that was Kevin’s erection. The glove controlling Kevin’s fingers stroked it’s index and middle fingers against the crotch, making Kevin moan in pleasure. He could feel the latex massaging against his dick along with the back of the catsuit squeezing his ass. After the catsuit finished stroking his dick, it’s boots made him walk across the store towards the harem costume to join in the dance that the other costumes were having. “I think I’d rather be stuck in the balloon again than this…”

The two outfits waltzed around the store with Kevin aboard as a bright disco ball flew into the air and spun it’s lights across the floor. The catsuit turned around when Dustin came floating in while on the red balloon and getting it in the ass by a blow up doll.

“What the hell were you doing out there Dustin?”

“What the--hell are you doing in here?”

Jack, still bent over, watched the two guys interact with each other for the first time since things took a...turn. He felt the dildo retreat out of his mouth, and was lightly slapped across the face with it as the shorts rotated their hips.

“Your friend asked a question, you better answer him, boy!” the dildo shouted at Jack. The arm of the sailor shirt wrapped around his chest from behind and pulled him into a standing up position, which made Jack feel very vulnerable with the dildo still up his ass, and his now rock hard cock jutting straight out into the air.

“Um, Hi Dustin.” Jack sheepishly replied. “Looks like you’re having, well, I guess fun?” Jack couldn’t think of what to say really. After all, how do you face your best friends when you’re all in various states of incredibly directed sexual activity, especially when that activity is coming from walking, talking store merchandise.

Dustin let his weight squish against the balloon under him, and his cock pumped again, translucently visible behind the red latex.

“I’m pretty sure we have exactly as much fun as they want us to have,” Dustin said, “And from the looks of things it just builds on whatever’s in the vicinit--eee!”

“Now you’ve got it figured out,” The blow-up doll said, pushing into him again. “Only it’s as much fun as you possibly can--it’s got nothing to do with what we want. It’s what you want.” Dustin growled as he humped the red balloon again, bounding up and down with his strokes.

“Whatdayya mean...what we want?” Dustin said. “You’re saying they wanted that? I certainly didn’t want--unnngh…”

“Oh, you’re suuuure about that, boytoy?” The blow-up doll whispered to him, squeezing him against his giant red ball and landing it. Now it bounded against the ground with Dustin between the doll and ball, and his dick was so hard he thought it might blow.

Watching Dustin getting pleasured from both ends made Jack ache with desire. Not for his friend which was a sight to see, but for the motion at his own ass that had ceased when Dustin arrived and the guys started talking. Jack needed to feel that again.

He rocked his hips slowly, moaning and rubbing against the sailor outfit.

“Fuck me like that blow up doll is fucking Dustin,” he whispered to the costume.

“Gladly,” the sailor outfit replied, “but we’re gonna need some help.”

Jack once again became nervous but, if there was anything this night had shown him, it was pleasure, and soon let the nervousness pass. The door to the party store dinged as it opened and Jack looked towards it to see more items filling the store. A couple of jump ropes slithered their way in like snakes and, getting close to Jack, bounded into the air tying around his wrists and ankles and lifting him up into the air once more as the sailor outfit rose up with him.

A long-sleeved compression tee hovered in as well and settled on top of the athletic shorts.

“Why do you get to have all the fun with him?” The compression shirt asked the costume. “You’ve been fucking him ever since he saw you. I want a turn.”

“Come up here,” the sailor outfit said. “Our boy’s in for a little surprise.”

Jack grinned, and looked down, watching the athletic clothing rising up to meet him, the dildo on the crotch of the shorts pointed straight at him.

“Hey, got room in there for one more?” the compression shirt asked as Jack felt the second dildo poking around back where the first one was currently inside.

“Wh-What!?” Jack yelled, trembling at the thought.

“C’mon man, take it like the little fucktoy you are,” the sailor outfit said, thrusting deeper and faster still inside of him.

Jack felt the second dildo pushing against his ass, and he didn’t know how this was going to happen but then, another big bottle of lube hovered closeby and sprayed his ass with half the bottle, dripping massive amounts onto the floor as the dildo hovered beneath, coating itself in the thick liquid. The motion of the dildo rubbing around Jack’s ass made him relax, and he felt himself widening up slowly, allowing the second dildo to start penetrating.

“We should almost go visit those football uniforms next door,” the compression shirt whispered into Jack’s ear. “They found their new wide receiver.”

On and on, slowly but steadily, the dildo filled up Jack’s ass with the other one still inside. He couldn’t understand the feeling--it felt like way too much--but the moment it hit his prostate, he cried out loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Yyyyeah...do it!”

While the second dildo was inserting itself, the first started to withdraw against it and soon, Jack felt them thrusting slowly but opposite each other. He felt his cock straining, begging for a release. He reached down to rub it but one of the white cloth gloves slipped itself on his hand and forced it back up, the jump rope holding his arms tightly above his head now, disallowing any movement.

“Unngh, please…” Jack moaned. He looked over at Dustin, watching him with the blow up doll and the balloon, and then looked back over at Kevin, and both were being pleasured in a way Jack was being denied.

“Why can’t I get some front door attention too, like them?” Jack asked his phantom lovers, gesturing over to Dustin and the still massive red balloon which was practically vacuuming his dick. “Or him,” Jack said looking at Kevin trapped completely inside the latex catsuit. Its fingers running themselves over his very obvious, excited protrusion.

“Dude--you’re encouraging them?” Dustin asked, practically laughing it out. “Like you think they even--mmmrgfff!” Dustin was silenced with a ball-gag, hovering out of nowhere and dropping right on top of him. It wasn’t a cheap one, either--it was going to stay put. He shook his head back and forth once or twice before the straps tightened themselves against his face.

Dustin’s eyes rolled back as he was bounced down again, forced face-first into the plump latex as the doll drilled him. The other two could hear him through the ball gag, either laughing or sobbing…

And when he looked up again, it was clear the ball gag had cracked him. He was gone. Ready to submit.

Kevin slid by in the catsuit, wiggling against it less and less as the latex teased and prodded him. It changed his shape every couple of seconds, disorienting him with a flurry of emulated, curvy forms overlaying his own. Inside, Kevin felt every inch of his body being rubbed from head to toe. Even the latex moving between his cheeks was making his dick grow and stand out more. “Oh gooood….” He moaned from the prodding in his ass. The dancer costume made its pink sleeves take the catsuit by an invisible hand and pulled Kevin along for the ride. He snapped out of his daze as he and the catsuit were moving to the center of the store with all the shelves and displays shuffling out of the way.

Several other costumes ranging from disco and gogo dancer outfits to cowboys and pirates joined the floor in pairs. A red cheongsam dress with a short skirt and white long gloves grasped its hands into the ass of a skirt belonging to a blue fairy costume. A long red dress pushed it’s large fabricated breasts against another pair of leather bosoms in a cowgirl costume as the two danced together.

A large disco ball hung in the air by itself. A spot hit it, and it emitted bright rays of light on the floor, spinning to make them revolve around the room. The flashes of light changed colors as several balloons in jewel tones circled the disco ball.

“Now it’s really starting to look like a party store.” The catsuit whispered all around Kevin, vibrating all over his body while dancing with the harem costume. The gloves forcing his own hands to grasp onto the ass in the pink translucent pants of his dance partner.

“Not how I expected to spend a Friday night…” Kevin said, forced to dance against his will with the costumes waltzing about the store.

Dustin peeled himself off the latex balloon long enough to take a deep breath, and just when he arched his back, the neck of the balloon around his cock stretched wide. He looked down at the huge balloon, now stretching in ways the latex wouldn’t have normally plied. After a few seconds, he realized what he was looking at--a giant pair of latex lips puffing around his cock.

“Mmmmm-hmmm…” was all he could manage through the ball gag. Suddenly the blow-up doll’s tits swelled to massive proportions, slamming him against the lips and making his torso curl around their crest. He didn’t see the doll slide her underinflated legs out of the strap on. He didn’t realize she was gone until she flipped herself over, floating in front of him as looked up.

“Mmm...nnggg?” Dustin looked behind him to see the leather straps harnessed around hips that weren’t there. The dildo was fucking him all by itself now, and he looked back at the doll with awed eyes and nodded. It was shy at first, but when he looked down at Jack…

“Mmm-hmmm! Mmm-hmmmm!” There wasn’t a reason to say anything but yes.

Jack was overcome with desire as he watched Dustin surrender to the dildo. He looked down at himself, and back up at the sailor uniform. He could still see the well-defined lycra surrounding the invisible, muscled man inside. The scene was too much. As he looked back over at Kevin, beset on all sides by increasingly horny costuming of all kinds come to life, he had an idea.

He brought up a hand and placed it on the chest of the sailor shirt, right between the hard pecs underneath. He pushed away slightly. The uniform, sensing he knew what he was doing, allowed itself to withdraw from Jack’s ass, hovering back a few feet. Suddenly, the sailor outfit walked over, the heels of its boots clicking crisply on the linoleum floor as it came to rest in front of Jack once again.

This time, it slowly turned itself around and bent over the counter.

Jack placed a hand on its back, running his fingers over the coarse fabric, feeling up the shirt as his hand rose to its shoulder. Another pair of white cloth gloves fitted themselves at the end of the compression shirt’s sleeves and placed both hands on Jack’s shoulders, rubbing slightly as the shirt whispered in Jack’s ear.

“Now it’s your turn,” it said as a long blue fleshlight popped hovered down slowly between the sailor outfit’s legs. Jack shuddered as lube was dumped directly onto his throbbing cock. He reached down to spread it, but the white glove batted his hand away. It encircled its soft cottony fingers against his stiff rod, rubbing its fingers around while bringing the other arm to Jack’s chest. While one hand massaged his chest and tweaked his nipples, the other was spreading lube all over him, making him buckle as his moan echoed throughout the store.

Jack was unsure for a second, wondering if anyone was watching. As he looked around, he saw Dustin seemingly enthralled with his blow up doll, and Kevin, fighting against the attentions of the assembled costumes around him. Jack saw Kevin’s catsuit and had a fleeting thought of what it must be like to actually wear one of these things.

The catsuit that imprisoned Kevin controlled his entire body, making him helpless to the events happening all around him. It was the feeling of powerlessness, submitting to the force taking charge of his body. A force that could assault him from all angles--using a catsuit to control his motions, making him commit acts he wouldn’t dream of otherwise. Seeing himself feminized in such a way made him felt ashamed of his powerlessness. While his pride has taken a blow however, the tent poking through the suit’s latex crotch was a clear sign that he was turned on by all this.

Kevin looked at himself below at the catsuit’s bulging breasts, jiggling about during their dance with the harem costume as their partner. The costume veil leaned in close to Kevin’s face. He tried to arch his neck away from it, but the suit kept his neck from going very far. The veil caught up and covered his face. He felt more than just the silk brush against his cheeks, he felt what seemed to be lips pressing on his own through the veil.

This feminine contact made his cheeks blush red through the veil, and his dick strained harder against his latex prison. The harem outfit giggled, breaking lips with Kevin and going back to dancing with him.

Dustin sailed around in the air, turning a 180 and facing the front of the store. What he saw was an army of ghostly, shapely legs. The drug store flashed through his mind when he realized what was behind the stockings and pantyhose marching into the party store--compacts, tubes of lipstick, mascara, and a variety of brushes, sponges and palettes.

Alongside them, box after box of condoms--of every shape and size. Dustin hugged his balloon as the strap-on fucked him, and he looked down through the translucent latex to watch the living neck of the balloon actively sucking him off. The feel of the latex--tight, but pliant; soft, but strong...he laughed into the balloon just a little as ideas spun through his head.

For some reason, he knew it was only a matter of time before reality complied.

 

--END 1--