Padraig
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I Have to Be Strong, Part 1
🕑 Added 2020-12-20 19:27:47 +0000 UTCThis story was one I started a very long time ago, probably around 2005. I posted it on a few sites, but was never inspired enough to give it a proper ending, so it has been languishing unfinished for more than a decade. I found it in on my computer a few weeks ago and was surprised how much time-jumping I had included, given that it was one of the earliest stories I wrote (everything else from that time period had very linear narratives).
After re-reading it, I thought about how I could bring the story to a close, so I set out to complete it. It still features some time-jumping, but I cleaned up the writing, updated various elements, and gave it a better title (the old one was super confusing).
So here is the finished tale of Jeremiah, Garrett, and...well, you'll see. I'll be posting all the chapters over the next few days.
Jeremiah was ready. His plan was set. Everything had been tested, and he was confident that it would be successful.
He stood in the center of Tipton College's Advanced Sciences lab, his home away from home, waiting for his prey and listening to the gentle ticking of the clock on the wall behind him. He knew it wouldn’t be long before things would be very different.
“I have to be strong. I was meant to be strong,” Jeremiah said quietly. "I can’t be weak.” He once again thought about the stupid nickname that Garrett Axton called him, the jibes alluding that he was less masculine than others and needed to "join a gym," and the whole thing with Janna dumping him because Garrett told her to do it. Reflecting on all those things, he knew he had to go forward with the plan and teach the jock a lesson.
After a few more minutes, he began to hear footsteps in the hallway outside the room. He turned to check the time on the clock, and caught sight of himself in the mirror on the wall. Short and scrawny, just barely topping 100 pounds, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a wisp of a profile that made him look younger than his current age of 21.
“Here we go,” Jeremiah thought with a smile.
The lab door swung open and in walked Garrett with a scowl upon his handsome face, which though extraordinary in its beauty, was not necessarily the first thing that most people noticed. Usually, most eyes went right to his well-developed body – even in the winter when bundled up to stay warm, one couldn’t miss the strapping chest, bulging arms, and beefy legs of Tipton's best-known athlete.
But this was the summer – the Saturday after finals week – and Garrett was wearing just a pair of navy blue mid-thigh shorts and white sneakers, so his glorious physique was on full display. Already tan from his daily jogs and pumped up from his workout earlier in the day, his muscles were not only the envy of every man on campus, but had also powered him to success on both the football and baseball teams at the college.
The media had certainly picked up on his prowess on the playing field, and regular stories appeared about him online. It didn’t hurt that besides the sculpted body, Garrett had also been blessed with blond hair, blue eyes, a killer smile and deep dimples that only enhanced his appeal. One story about him on a local news site, especially if it included a photo, could ensure that article would get plenty of clicks .
But at this moment, it wasn’t the muscles or the tan or the hair or the dimples that Jeremiah noticed. It was the mere presence of Garrett in the room that made him happy because everything had fallen perfectly into place.
“OK, Dupe, I got your note,” said Garrett, looking down to read the crumpled piece of paper in his left hand. “'I know your secret and am going to tell everyone. Meet me in the lab.' What secret? What are you up to?”
Jeremiah’s smile got a little bigger. “First off, I am in no way a dupe - it's you who will be the dupe today. And secondly, Garrett, I don’t really know any secrets about you. I just figured that everyone has a few skeletons in their closet – even those at the top of the social strata such as yourself – and you would think I had figured one of yours out.”
The jock furrowed his brow and the scowl disappeared into a look of confusion. “But if you had wanted to talk, why not just text me?”
“I needed to see you alone. If you thought I was about to reveal an embarrassing tidbit, there was a much stronger chance you wouldn’t invite a buddy along.”
“You’re an odd one, Jeremiah, but OK, I’ll bite – why did you need to see me alone?” asked Garrett as he walked toward his classmate. He stopped about four feet in front of the smaller man and looked down into his dark eyes.
Jeremiah surprised himself by not backing up. “Because I have something to show you. Something that’s going to make a big difference around here.”
Garrett dropped the note on a desk, and then crossed his thick veiny arms across his meaty pecs. “And what would that be?”
Jeremiah reached into his pocket with his left hand and pulled out an object that somewhat resembled a clear green plastic water pistol, only it was full of electronics instead of liquid. “It’s my latest invention. Something that will help me take the best and make it better.”
The confused look on Garrett’s face returned, only this time with a hint of concern. “The best of what?”
“The best of you,” replied Jeremiah. And then he fired.
A blazing beam of light sprang out of the gun, hitting Garrett right in his mid-section. Surprised at first, he slowly looked down and realized he was unable to move out of its path. As he struggled in place, however, he could feel a warmth seeping across him – it started at his middle and gently fingered its way across his entire body.
A few seconds later the beam subsided, the warm feeling dissipated, and his body control resumed. “What the heck was that? What did you do to me?”
“To you, nothing. Well, except make you second-best.”
Garrett looked down and took a quick scan of his body – his muscles seemed to be the same size, so he was unclear what Jeremiah had meant. He flexed his left arm and cupped his bicep in his right hand, feeling the heft and shape and strength of his python. “Second best to whom?”
“Why, to me, of course?” replied Jeremiah, as he set the gun down on the counter next to him.
Garrett remained confused until he realized that Jeremiah was transforming – morphing really – into something beyond his comprehension. "Holy mackerel, Jeremiah! You're growing!"
Jeremiah looked down and saw the same thing – his body was exploding with size! He could feel pound after pound of muscle being added to his frame, changing him from a science nerd into a young Hercules. His pectorals pulsated outward, rising like twin iron soufflés and creating tiny rips in his green plaid oxford shirt. They started as small slits in the fabric but grew more and more pronounced with each passing second.
“The ladies are going to have a hard time keeping their hands off of these,” said Jeremiah as he reached up to feel the hardness of his newly engorged chest muscles.
Then he noticed his biceps and triceps growing, just as if he had suddenly done years’ worth of curls and pulldowns within a few seconds. Like balloons inflating, he could feel them growing inside his skin, filling with potency and power.
"Grow, grow, grow!" Jeremiah chanted to himself.
His arms kept expanding until the poor cloth of his sleeves could no longer take it and the massive muscles simply burst right out of them. Jeremiah reached up and ripped off the rest of his shirt with one quick motion, exposing his newly sculpted torso.
“Awesome! It’s so much better than I expected it would be! I feel like a superhero!” bellowed Jeremiah, in a voice that was deeper and richer than it had been just moments earlier. He flexed his swollen left bicep into a steel ball and cupped it with his right hand, just as he had seen Garrett do, and then looked over at his classmate and gave a quick smirk.
Garrett gasped at what he was seeing – muscles were popping out everywhere on Jeremiah. His face may have still looked like that of a young man, but his body resembled that of a Greek god.
“He’s HUGE! Everywhere!” thought Garrett as he scanned Jeremiah’s body. In addition to his arms and pecs, the science student’s neck, traps, and deltoids grew beefier with each passing moment. The formerly best built student in the school was suddenly very envious of the dramatic taper between Jeremiah’s winglike lats and shredded abs.
Jeremiah continued his sudden growth spurt – he obviously wasn’t done yet. But he didn’t have time to revel in the growth of his upper body as he realized his legs were also growing bigger and bigger. Just as he had down with his shirt, he reached down with a firm grip and tore his black slacks completely off, leaving him clad only in his shoes, socks, and a skintight pair of white underwear that was hugging his bubblebutt for dear life.
“Dang, my legs feel so powerful! Like I could lift a mountain!” roared Jeremiah as he squatted up and down a few times.
Garrett was becoming more and more concerned as Jeremiah took up more and more space. He began to back away a little as he realized he was no longer looking down at the formerly five foot tall student – clearly this hulk was growing up as well as out.
“If I’m 6 feet 2, he’s got to be at least 6 foot 4,” thought Garrett.
For another 30 seconds Jeremiah continued his transformation from chump to champ, gaining more and more muscle – he felt more and more like a superhero than a super scientist, which was a welcome change indeed. He glanced back in the mirror that had shown him to be a weakling only minutes earlier and saw nothing but raw power in his reflection now. Not knowing why, he hit a most muscular pose and could feel a stirring deep down within – something raw and animalistic made him let out a powerful roar as he flexed.
Then he turned his attention back to Garrett, who had also felt something instinctive and took a few more steps farther away from Jeremiah.
“How…how…did you…what…”
Jeremiah advanced toward the former BMOC. “Like I said, little Garrett, I took the best and made it better. My little invention over here was programmed to take the best quality of someone, enhance it, and let those enhancements flow back to the operator. In your case, your best asset is your physicality, which I took and enhanced for myself. And now, as you can see, I’m certainly bigger and better in that department.”
Garrett was becoming more and more worried and retreated toward the door in which he entered. But Jeremiah was getting closer and closer with every step of his giant tree trunk legs.
“I don’t believe it!”
Jeremiah laughed. “What don’t you believe? Are you doubting my scientific genius – surely not, since the process clearly worked. Or are you denying that I’m bigger than you?”
Garrett gulped. He had stepped back and was now up against the door to the lab, but Jeremiah had moved forward enough to put his palm on the door and prevent it from opening with his newfound strength.
“Come on, little man, flex for me.”
“What?” asked Garrett. His deep blue eyes were filled with fear.
“You heard me! Since you can't seriously doubt my genius, you must be doubting that I'm bigger than you. So flex your arm so we can see who’s the top dog around here!”
Garrett didn’t need to be told again and quickly raised his left arm – his bicep bulged up, filling with the strength it took him years to accumulate.
Jeremiah took his meaty right paw and put it on Garrett’s arm. “Nice. Small but nice. About 16 inches, right?”
“Almost 18, the last time I measured,” replied Garrett.
“And what about mine? Is it bigger than that?” asked Jeremiah as he flexed his left arm.
Garrett stopped flexing and put both hands on Jeremiah’s bicep, but he couldn’t get them all the way around the gigantic mound. He was blown away by the size and hardness of the muscle and could barely get the words out as he started to feel a little faint. “I dunno. Must be…at least…20 inches.”
Jeremiah smiled. “Yeah, quite a bit bigger indeed. And I’m sure they’ll prove to be quite a bit stronger as well. All those records you set in the weight room aren’t going to last much longer, are they? It’ll be as if you never accomplished anything at all.”
Garrett frowned at the thought. He had been lifting for several years and was so proud of his record lifts, and now Jeremiah would be able to wipe them all away in an instant.
“How can this be happening? What’s going on?” thought the confused athlete.
“And it’s not just the weight room where your records will fall. I’ll be joining the football team and the baseball team – whatever position you played, I’ll be taking that spot.”
Garrett’s eyes grew wide. “What?”
“Yes, indeed, my puny friend, your touchdown and home-run records will soon be mine as well. All those pro scouts who used to come looking for you are only going to notice me.”
Garrett tried to maneuver away from his tormentor, but Jeremiah firmly put his hands on his shoulders and prevented him from moving. “You can’t do that. I mean, you’re only one person – I can play other positions. I can still be on the teams.”
Jeremiah shook his head. “I’m afraid that won’t be happening, Garrett. From this moment on, I’m banning you from the teams. I don’t want anyone taking the spotlight off of me. Oh, and I’ll be banning you from the school weight room and the gym in town as well.”
“You can’t…you wouldn’t…”
Jeremiah pressed in a little harder, positioning his groin right up against Garrett’s midsection. “Seriously, little man, didn’t you just see the size of my bicep? I’m the new king of the castle around here, and you will do as I say. Or you’ll regret it.”
“No, you can’t do that. I’ll lose my muscles. I worked so hard for them – I’ll end up a weakling!”
“Exactly. Maybe we’ll get together once a week just so I can measure how small you’ve gotten.” Jeremiah moved his hands from Garrett’s shoulders to his prized biceps. “We’ll watch these nasty muscles atrophy until you can’t even see them anymore. You’ll be barely able to carry your school books by the time graduation rolls around next year.”
Frustrated by the thought of losing his muscles and turning into a wimp, Garrett threw a punch into Jeremiah’s stomach, but the rigid muscles of his midsection stopped his blow cold.
Jeremiah laughed. “That the best you can do? Just wait until you haven’t worked out for a few months – you’re just going to get punier and punier. And, since you will have all kinds of free time now that you are dropping out of sports and stopping your workouts, I think we need to get you a part-time job. Maybe at Hank’s Donuts.”
“No, you wouldn’t make me work there. Please, no!”
Hank’s Donuts was owned by Hank Pendleton, a former football star at the college who had gotten drafted into the pro league. But after he blew out his knee a few games into his first year, he returned to his hometown and opened up a local donut shop that had proven quite popular. He always hired other ex-jocks to run the place, and every single one of them grew very fat eating the leftovers at the end of the day.
“My dad knows Hank pretty well. I think I can swing it for you,” replied Jeremiah with a chortle. “But after a few years, I think your nickname might change from The Ax to The Ass, if your butt grows as big as all the other employees.
Sadness permeated Garrett’s whole being. He had worked so hard on perfecting his physique, and now everything was being taken away. Not playing sports? Not working out? Losing his muscles? Getting fat? It was almost too much to bear.
“Why are you doing this?” Garrett croaked feebly. “I have to be strong. I was meant to be strong. I can’t be weak.” If Jeremiah hadn’t pressed him up against the door, he surely would have fallen to the ground.
“I wanted to see your face as I took away you position of power. I wanted to watch as you went from the top of the heap to bottom of the barrel.”
“Me? What have you got against me?” asked Garrett.
That response seemed to anger the big hulk, and he pressed harder and squeezed his victim up mercilessly against the door. “Are you joking? After all the things you’ve done to me. The name-calling? The taunts? Taking away my girlfriend?”
“Your girlfriend?”
“Don’t play dumb, Garrett. I know it was you who told Janna to stay away from me. We were just about to go all the way, when suddenly she dumped me like a sack of dirt. My one chance at true happiness and you took it all away. So I’m taking everything away from you in return!”
“But Jeremiah,” sputtered Garrett. “You’re wrong. You’ve got it all wrong!”
