Discovering Regeneration

Sequel to Beach Day Gone Wrong: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/39822283/

Story poll and game poll closes TONIGHT!  I will choose the winner of the story poll in the event of a tie. https://www.patreon.com/posts/45685089 ; https://www.patreon.com/posts/45687206

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Blitz was being eaten.
He, a black dragon, had tried to swallow a cutie on the beach, but was instead eaten up by her . . . boyfriend?  Husband?  It was hard to tell, but either way, he had been devoured.  This was it.
Currently, he was inside the dude’s mouth, being licked like crazy.  He had tried to beg his way out of this mess, but nothing had worked.  He tried again, one last time.  “Please!” he screamed, desperate not to be devoured.  “I-I won’t do this kind of thing ever again!  I promise.”
But there was no hesitation.  He was gulped down, and sent to the stomach.
Blitz was forced down a squeezing throat, squished on all sides as he traveled down the esophagus.  Soon enough, he popped inside of the belly, joining the rest of his body inside of the dude’s hungry gut.  And there was no Quick Digest pill that he knew of, so he would take quite a while to go. . .
The black dragon thrashed inside of the gut, trying to escape, or at least give his predator a stomach ache.  But all that happened was the dude saying, “Thanks for the belly rubs.  Feels really nice!”  Great.  Even his struggling did nothing!  Now what?
The stomach let out a loud /grooooowl/, and a moment later, the walls around Blitz started dripping with fluid, which splashed on the whimpering prey.  The gut gurgled and grumbled, squeezing around its victim, and then, the digestion began.
As more juices got on the black dragon, a melty feeling overcame him, making him feel like he was falling apart. . . His feet went first, going from solid to more of a liquid in what felt like hours.  They were reduced slowly, until they became a pile of goo on the floor of the belly.  Next, his legs melted away inside of the dude’s stomach, and then, his midsection went, along with his tail.  His chest and arms were next, until, finally, there was only his neck and head to go.
Then he felt something splash on him from above.  Something melty and cold . . . and sticky. . . Wait, was that ice cream?
Blitz groaned.  So the predator was adding insult to injury, and eating ice cream with his body?  Great.  That was just great.  What a way to go.
And with that, the black dragon melted into one big pile of goop, and he was no more.
Outside the stomach, Jerome, the one who had eaten him, was finishing his ice cream with Lisa, the one Blitz had tried to swallow.  Lisa’s head was right up against Jerome’s large belly—she had heard every moment of digestion, every gurgle that spelled the black dragon’s doom.  She listened to the ice cream and dragon sloshing around inside, and a smirk crossed her face.  “And good riddance, ya jerk!” she exclaimed, slapping Jerome’s stomach.
Jerome nodded.  A moment later, he let out a large belch, and spat out the black dragon’s acid-proof boxer shorts.  “Huh,” he said, looking down at the shorts.  “I think they’re my size.  What do you think, babe?  Should I take it for myself?”
“I think we should leave this trophy behind,” Lisa said gently.  “I don’t want anything in my home that reminds me of that creep.”
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Jerome said.  He patted his stomach and leaned back, hugging Lisa with a smile.  “Let’s just enjoy the rest of our day together.
Lisa smiled.
“Agreed.”
They sat together on the beach, and went home later in the day.
___________
It was early evening, and the sun was setting.  Only a few were at the beach.  That was when the black dragon started to regenerate.
Blitz’s body slowly appeared back in the spot where he had been eaten, and soon, it was fully formed.  “Huh?” the black dragon said, looking around.  “What happened?  I was on the beach, and I tried to eat someone, and. . .”
His eyes widened in surprise.  “That’s right . . . I got eaten,” he muttered.  “S-So why am I back?  He didn’t spit me up, he digested me!  I. . .”
At that moment, Blitz noticed he was completely and utterly naked.  He noticed his boxer shorts and jeans on the ground nearby, and quickly picked them up, putting on the clothing.  He checked his pockets, and found that his phone, wallet, and car keys were all still there.
For a moment, he was filled with relief—but then, he returned to his current predicament.  “Wait,” he said.  “That dragon dude digested me!  So why am I not in the afterlife or something. . .?!”
Blitz ran over the events of that day again, trying to figure out how this had happened.  As far as he knew, it took a quick regeneration pill for somebody to be reformed after getting eaten!  Was that not true?  Was regeneration different than he thought?
The black dragon’s eyes widened.  “Maybe regeneration doesn’t require a pill,” he realized.  “Maybe it . . . always happens after getting eaten.”
That thought filled him with relief.  If that was true, that meant he was alive after getting eaten—that getting eaten wasn’t the end!  For a moment he basked in beautiful reprieve, thankful he was alive.
But then, Blitz noticed the other side of it.  He had eaten many, /many/ people over the years, thinking that devouring them was permanent.  But if regeneration was a certainty, that meant there were a lot of people out there who were back, and were likely seeking revenge.
“So it’s a blessing and a curse,” the black dragon pondered.  “Oh dear. . .”
And right on cue, some of his former prey arrived.
Blitz heard giggling over in the distance, and turned to see a happy couple walking on the beach together.  He vaguely recognized the male raccoon, but he did definitely recognize the female fox—he had eaten her a few months back!  (He also remembered thinking about eating the raccoon at the time, but he had been so filled up by the fox, he changed his mind.)
Amanda and David were walking on the beach together, holding hands and laughing, when they saw the black dragon.  Amanda’s eyes widened, and the fox gasped and pointed at him.  “Hon!  That’s the jerk who ate me out of nowhere a couple of months ago!”
David turned to Blitz, and his eyes widened.  “Hey, you’re right. . . That /is/ him!”
“Crap!” the black dragon exclaimed, starting to panic.  He thought briefly about standing his ground and eating them both, but then he remembered how the cutie’s husband/boyfriend had knocked him out with one punch—he didn’t want a repeat of that, now did he?!  So instead, Blitz ran away, bolting toward the boardwalk.  
“Hey!  You’re not getting away that easily, buster!” Amanda exclaimed, dashing after him.  David followed, equally determined to get the dragon who had eaten his wife.
Blitz reached the boardwalk and dodged the few people who were there, trying to get away.  However, as he ran, he encountered another couple: Roxy, a raccoon, and Steve, a fox who was Amanda’s brother.  Back when Amanda had been eaten by the black dragon, David had taken a photo of the jerk and sent it to those he knew, so that if they ever met that predator again, they could get him.
So when Roxy saw the black dragon, she knew he looked somehow familiar.  Quickly pulling out her phone, she consulted the picture that David had sent them, and made the connection.  Turning to Steve, she said, “Look over there! That’s the same jerk who ate your sister a couple of months back!”
Steve looked at where she was pointing, and his eyes widened.  “Holy crap!  That is him!  Let’s get him!”
Blitz stopped in his tracks, startled as the couple in front of him starting rushing at him.  Oh no, where to go now?!  He looked around the boardwalk, then ran in the other direction, toward the parking lot.  Dodging David and Amanda, he made his way to the lot, hoping he could find his car and get right out of this terrible mess he’d caught himself in!
But with two groups of people chasing him, he didn’t have time to locate his car!  So the black dragon kept running around the parking lot, hoping to find it as he was chased.
That’s where Kate came in.
The white cat had stayed behind compared to her friends, and was in the parking lot when she saw Amanda, David, Roxy, and Steve all chasing down a black dragon for some strange reason.  Now, she didn’t know exactly why her friends were chasing this black dragon, but if her friends were chasing him, he must be bad news.  So she had a plan.  And she was going to use her powers. . .
Meanwhile, the black dragon continued to run all over the place, trying to shake the people running after him.  Finally, he managed to duck behind a car for a brief moment, and the mob ran past him!  At last!  He stood back up and looked around, trying to locate his vehicle.
Blitz pulled out his car key and pressed the unlock button.  A moment later, he heard his car react with a noise, and smiled.  Now he could find it and get out of here!
At the same time, Kate was watching the black dragon, and noticed which car reacted when he pressed the unlock button.  And so, she made her way over there.
Blitz walked quickly toward his car, careful to keep his head down as he went, and soon made it to his vehicle.  But when he reached it, he was surprised to find a white cat leaning back against the hood of his car.
“Hey handsome,” Kate said, grinning at the black dragon.  She sat up, and ran a hand underneath his chin.  “Want to give a lady a ride in your sweet car?”
Blitz grinned.  This lady was beautiful and sexy—and she wanted to go with him?!  /Yowza!  What a cute kitty!/ he thought to himself.  She looked quite delicious, too. . .
. . . But as much as he wanted her to go with him, he needed to get out of here, and fast.  He didn’t have time to waste.  “Sorry babe, maybe some other time,” he said, going to the driver’s side and getting inside his vehicle.
Kate grinned, and went off to the side.  That was fine.  She had already done what she needed to do.
Blitz put his key in the slot and tried to start his car.  But what he didn’t realize was that Kate had the power to freeze things by touch when she willed it, and that she had frozen his engine solid.
Again and again he tried to start the engine, but it was completely cold and refused to respond.  “What the heck?!” the black dragon exclaimed.  That’s when he noticed the entire hood of his car was iced over—more of Kate’s powers in action.  “How the heck can it be frozen?  It’s summer!” he shouted.  
Getting out of his car, Blitz walked over to the hood and opened it, which revealed the iced over engine.  The black dragon’s mouth dropped completely open, and he stared at the inside of his car in shock.  “Poor thing,” Kate said, walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder, activating her powers once again.  “Sorry about your car.  It’s a real shame, a real shame indeed. . .”
Blitz nodded, feeling dazed and shocked, unsure exactly what to do next.  Then he realized he needed to hurry out of here—especially if he wanted to escape the angry mob!  Crap!  He looked around frantically, searching for an escape route.  Then he turned back to the white cat, hoping to ask her if he could go in /her/ car instead—sure, it was a lame thing to do, but it was better than getting stuck out here!  And it was a plan, at least.
But that’s when he felt it.  A cold chill was running down his back, making him feel slightly numb.  A tingle went down his spine, and he started to move forward, towards the white cat—but then, the cold spread, going to more and more of him.  It went down to his legs, and suddenly he couldn’t run, not a single inch.  It traveled down to his arms, and then, he couldn’t move them at all!  Frantically, Blitz tried to get away, to at least /walk/ forward somehow, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t escape!  He was frozen to the spot . . . and he could swear he could see icicles forming on the edge of his nose. . .
Kate smiled at the black dragon, who was now a frozen statue.  “Like that, huh?” she teased.  “Now, let’s see why my friends were chasing you.”
She walked behind Blitz and screamed into the parking lot, “HEY EVERYONE, OVER HERE!  I FOUND THE GUY YOU ALL WERE CHASING!”  At once, the mob, who had stopped to try and plan a way to catch the black dragon, turned to her, and ran toward Kate.  Sure enough, Amanda, David, Roxy, and Steve found their white cat friend with the black dragon—and he was frozen solid, unable to move!  That was absolutely perfect.
“Hey, thanks Kate!  We owe you one for sure,” David said, smiling.  “And thanks for freezing him for us too—your powers are awesome!”
“Yeah, thank you, Kate,” added Roxy.
“Don’t mention it, it was no trouble at all,” said the white cat, purring.  “So, why were you all chasing this guy?”
“Well, he ate Amanda out of nowhere a couple of months ago—the jerk!” Steve exclaimed.  “That was extremely rude of him and out of line.  So we were trying to catch him to get revenge.”
“Ah, I see,” Kate said.  She smiled.  “Well, go ahead and exact whatever revenge you had in mind.  He’s not going anywhere.”
The group looked at each other for a long moment, trying to figure out what exactly they should do.  What punishment was deserving for the black dragon?  What exactly would fit the crime?  Then, one of them got an idea.  “. . . Well, since he ate Amanda, I think it’s only appropriate that Amanda eats him,” David finally said.  “Right babe?”
“Ooo, good idea!” Steve exclaimed.  “It’s perfect.”
“I think that would be excellent,” Amanda replied, licking her lips.  “So.  Let’s do it.”
Meanwhile, Blitz, though frozen, was still completely conscious, and his heart skipped a beat when he realized he was about to be eaten.  Crap, he didn’t want to get devoured again!  But at least this time, he knew he would be regenerated, and didn’t have to fear dying. . . That was something, right?
As the black dragon stood there frozen, Steve and David grabbed his legs, while Roxy and Amanda grabbed his arms.  “Ready, honey?” David asked his wife.
“Heck yeah, am I ready for this,” Amanda said, licking her lips.  “Lower him into my mouth feet first, ok?”
“Sure thing.  I hope you enjoy him!”
“Oh darling, you don’t have to worry about that.  I definitely will.”
Kate had been standing off to the side, watching the encounter, but after a moment she decided to help get this revenge started.  She lifted up Blitz’s shoulders, easing the load of weight for everybody, and helped lift the black dragon high into the air.
Blitz was helpless as he was carried toward Amanda’s mouth.  As he watched, the female fox began to separate her jaw, and she opened her maw wide, revealing her gullet to the fearful black dragon.  He gulped, terrified as he stared inside: a glistening pink tongue stared back at him, dripping with drool and spit, surrounded by teeth that were completely covered in saliva.  And behind it all loomed her throat, which lead to the destination that Blitz dreaded the most. . . Aw man, he really didn’t want to end up there again!  But it looked like that was the way things were playing out. . . That was unfortunate.
Amanda opened her mouth wider and wider until, finally, her entire maw was on full display for everyone.  There was a brief pause, and everyone carrying the black dragon shifted the weight, preparing for the moment.  Then, they began to lower him inside.
Blitz wanted to scream in fright as he was brought closer and closer, and he frantically tried to move his limbs so he could get out of this terrible situation!  But Kate’s powers had done their work well, and he was completely frozen solid, unable to move a muscle.  Internally screeching in terror, he watched as he was lowered down, down, down, inch by steady inch, until, finally, Amanda took her first bite.
His feet were placed gently into the fox’s open maw, and immediately her tongue sprang into action, swirling around Blitz’s toes and then moving onto his heels, tasting every inch of his feet from top to bottom.  It lapped up the bridges, licked the soles, and even wrapped around his ankles.  Amanda took in her meal ravenously, not sparing Blitz even for a moment, greedily tasting every bite of her frozen, delicious snack.
“Mmmmm!” Amanda moaned as she ate, clearly loving the black dragon’s flavor.  Blitz’s heart sank.  Crap.  If she liked what she tasted, that meant she would want to eat more.  Which meant that she was probably going to swallow soon, wasn’t sh—
/Gulp!/  Right on cue, the female fox sucked in Blitz’s feet, and his toes were pulled into the vortex of her throat, forced inside the esophagus at a record pace.  The gullet greedily squeezed around Blitz’s feet, squishing them inward and pressing them against the tight walls of the hungry throat.  The black dragon tried once again to struggle, knowing that if he could move, he could surely get out of here!  Ok, he could /probably/ get out of here, considering he had to face so many other people (it was what, five against one?), but regardless of that, he found that he was still frozen solid.  So as much as he tried to get free, in reality, he wasn’t going anywhere. . .
Amanda licked up Blitz’s ankles and ran her tongue up his legs, tasting them eagerly.  “Yum!” she said, licking her lips, a large amount of drool dripping onto his scales.  “This black dragon is absolutely delicious. . . I gotta say, I didn’t expect revenge to taste this amazing and sweet!  But I’m very glad it does. . .”
Blitz’s heart sank even deeper than it had been before, and despair filled him.  For goodness sake, he didn’t want to be delicious!  He wished to be inedible and bitter, prayed that his flavor wouldn’t be as enjoyable as it was.  But his prayers were drowned out by Amanda’s, “Mmmmm!” and “Yum!” sounds.
/Slurp!/ The female fox swallowed again, this time sucking in the lower part of Blitz’s legs.  He was trapped in her throat up to his knees, and the black dragon knew that only more of him was heading down there.
But wait.  He could feel the cold numbness leaving his feet as they traveled further down Amanda’s esophagus.  Blitz tried wiggling his toes—and to his surprise and delight, he found that he could move them!  He would have let out a whoop of joy if he could open his mouth.  Sure, it wasn’t all of his body—at least, not yet—but hey, it was a start.  Now if more of him could get unfrozen, he could escape. . .
/Smack!/ Amanda’s tongue glazed over his scales as she swallowed down more of him, sucking in Blitz’s upper legs.  And that was when it happened.
The black dragon felt his feet slide down the throat, going from the cramped space of the esophagus to a more open area as they slid past the sphincter of the belly.  His feet were now in a spacious place, and he wiggled his toes with relief, happy to feel the open air once again.
But then, he heard the fox’s stomach let out a loud, hungry /groooowl/, and at the same time, a vibration of sound went through his feet.  Blitz wanted to kick himself—of course he was inside her stomach!  Where else would he have been ending up?  But now that he was actually going inside there, he wanted out more than ever, and fought to try and move once again.
“Uh-uh, big guy,” Kate purred, gently touching his neck.  A renewed cold went through his body, and he found himself even more frozen than before—well, if that was even possible, that is.  “You’re not going anywhere.  You ate my friend, after all—so it’s only fair that my friend eat you.  So why don’t you hang tight and enjoy the ride?  It’ll be a nice, smooth trip down to her voracious gut. . .”
At the sound of that, a shiver went down Blitz’s spine, and he gulped.  True to her word, he was still frozen, and truly wasn’t going to get out of this.  Down below, he could feel his feet unfreezing, until everything up to his ankles could move again, and he kicked with his feet, trying to escape.  
“Ooo, looks like he’s struggling down there!” Amanda exclaimed.
“Crap!  It’s not painful, is it?” asked Steve.
“No, it just kinda tickles,” the fox replied.  “I think my belly and my throat are starting to warm him back up. . . That’s totally fine though.  I like getting belly massages on the inside!”
Blitz was swallowed again, and his calves were shoved inside of Amanda’s hungry belly.  His legs slid up against the walls of her stomach, and he could feel liquid oozing down them, hitting his scales and splashing up against his toes.  The black dragon recognized the familiar sensation from when he was in Jerome’s stomach: this was digestive fluid, the stuff that was going to break him down until he was nothing but goop.
The black dragon looked around frantically, trying to find a way out of this.  He saw a few people pass by in the parking lot, and his eyes widened—he wanted to call out, “HELP!  SHE’S EATING ME!  GET ME OUT OF HERE, PLEASE!”  But he couldn’t move his mouth to say the words.  And the people passing either didn’t see him, didn’t want to interfere, or didn’t care, because they got into their car and quickly drove away.  He was left alone again.  Well, alone with this group of people feeding him to a fox, anyway. . .
Warmth spread up his legs, past his ankles now, and soon enough, everything up to his calves was unfrozen.  Good—he could finally move again!  Frantically, Blitz kicked his legs back and forth, slamming his feet against the walls of the stomach over and over again—maybe if he gave Amanda a stomach ache, her gut would disagree with her, and then she would spit him out!  Come on, come on, that had to work. . .!
As Blitz kicked, he could see the visible bulges that his legs were making in the gut, and hope rose inside of the black dragon.  Roxy noticed them too, and said, “Oh no.  This jerk isn’t giving you too much trouble, is he, Amanda?”
“Not at all!” Amanda replied, much to Blitz’s dismay.  “Like I said, I like inward massages, and this feels really nice!  Plus, having prey struggle like this is a pretty satisfying feeling . . . especially /this/ prey.”  Seeing the black dragon’s expression, she smirked and said, “What, did you think you were hurting me?  Too bad, pal.  I’m tougher than I look.  Thanks for the little belly rubs, though!  They feel great coming from you. . .!”
And with that, she gulped him down again, shoving his thighs inside, and then, all of Blitz’s legs were inside of her stomach.  He could feel them pressing up against the gooey, pliable walls, and see the indent his body was making from the outside.  He swallowed hard, and tried once again to think of a way out of this.  But he had exhausted all options available to him—all the possible ways he could think of, he had tried.  And his body was still too frozen to really struggle, aside from the belly warming him up.  But struggling from the inside didn’t do anything . . . which meant, unfortunately, that he was truly trapped.  Maybe he just had to accept that he was food now. . .
/Gulp!/  Amanda sucked more of the black dragon inside of her, and his midsection slipped inside of her gut, as well as the base of his tail and the start of his arms.  Now he was reaching the bottom of her stomach, and he felt his legs bend as they went against the floor of the stomach.  On that floor, oozing juices were forming a rather large pool, and the stomach let out another ravenous growl, one that Blitz both heard and felt go through him.  He shivered.  This stomach was really keen on digesting him, wasn’t it?”
/Slurp!/  The fox swallowed again, this time sending Blitz’s chest in, and the rest of his tail and arms.  Her tongue lapped him up ravenously, not sparing a single inch of dragon meat, and he sighed, submitting to his fate.  Down below, more of him was getting unfrozen inside of her belly, but this time, he didn’t bother trying to struggle.  He knew this was going to be a rough ride once he was inside, but he also knew he couldn’t stop what was going to happen.  He was nothing but fox food now. . .
/Slorp!/  Amanda pulled in his shoulders, and suddenly, only Blitz’s head and neck were left outside of her body.  More and more of him was curling up inside of her gurgling gut, and he realized just how tight a fit this was going to be once all of him was inside. . . Crap, this wasn’t going to be anything near pleasant, was it?  Not that he thought it was going to be. . .
And with that, the fox gave the final swallow, and without warning, the black dragon was pulled inside of her hungry mouth.  Immediately, his face was smacked by her tongue, which licked every inch of his scaly head, sparing no part of it.  Blitz internally winced (his face was still frozen at the moment) and wished he could do something to at least stop this intrusion, but he could do nothing.  Then. . .
/Gulp./  The final swallow was a small, quiet one.  It sucked the black dragon in and pulled him down Amanda’s throat, causing him to immediately be surrounded by thick, compact walls.  They squeezed around his head, preventing him from moving (not that he /could/ move at this point, even if he wanted to) and putting pressure on his face.  Below, his body slowly slid into Amanda’s stomach, and he slid down toward it.  Blitz started to panic, and he tried to think of ways he could stop the descent, or anything that could at least slow it down!  But his mind was blank.  Now, he was nothing more than food.
And so he went down, down, down, into Amanda’s depths, until he finally reached his destination.  Blitz’s head entered her belly with a /pop/, slipping inside and joining the rest of his curled-up body.  The belly immediately greeted him with a loud grumble, apparently happy to have the final bite at last.  The black dragon’s heart sank as the stomach growled, and he could feel juices dripping all around him.  If digestion here was as slow as in Jerome’s belly, this was going to be unpleasant. . .
Outside, Amanda smacked her large stomach and turned to her friends.  “How was he?” asked David with a smile.  “Did revenge taste as sweet as you imagined?”
The female fox laughed.  “Oh David, revenge is a dish that is best served cold . . . and in this case, it kind of tasted like a grape popsicle.”  She patted her distended gut.  “Though I don’t want to lug him around all day. . . One second.”
Below, the black dragon heard their muffled voices and his heart sank once again.  It was a bit embarrassing to know he tasted like a grape popsicle, but more importantly, how long was this stomach going to take to digest him?
Right as he was thinking that, something hit his nose and fell to the bottom of the stomach.  Blitz had just enough time to spot a Quick Digest pill before it was taken by the stomach juices, and once it was digested, the belly immediately sprung into action.
The fluids poured down faster onto him, raining hard on the black dragon and breaking him down quickly.  He rapidly turned into a pile of goop: first his legs and tail melted away, then his belly was broken down, then his chest and arms, until, finally, only his head was left.
/I wonder how many more people will come after me?/ Blitz wondered.  /So many other people I’ve eaten, so many people who will want to seek revenge for what I did to them. . . I guess, in a way, I deserve it./
As his head started to be broken down, he mused, /Regeneration is both a blessing and a curse.  I have now been eaten by a prey I myself have eaten because of it . . . but thanks to it, I know I’ll come back.  How strange. . ./
And then, he was gone.  For now.