The Orphanage (Part 10b) Caleb Cont.

[Jaypat]

I looked out through the guys’ massive legs at the army filing into the front yard of The Orphanage.

“Get away from the door,” shouted Kevin.

“I’m not scared of them,” said Glen, flexing his mammoth arms. “I’ve taken thirteen bullets already. They weren’t even as bad as bee stings.”

“Yeah?” asked Kevin? “You been shot by a tank, big guy? Maybe it’ll be like a hornet or maybe it’ll take your fucking head off. You want to risk it?”

Glen appeared to think for a second before he shook his head and stepped away from the door. I guess the other guys didn’t want to risk it either because they backed away too.

“What’s your plan, Kev?” asked Matt.

“Mikey,” said Kevin, addressing his seven and a half foot tall friend, “go up to the second floor and get all the kids who haven’t changed yet and lead them out through the mine. If those tanks start blasting away at the house, there’s no way they could survive. Caleb, you go with him.”

Mikey nodded and took off up the stairs, but I wasn’t about to follow him. There was no way I was budging from the house until I was a behemoth. My only chance was a syringe in the lab, and I was sticking close. “Not til I get my shot,” I said.

“But…”

“Not til I get my shot.” Somehow I knew if I left without getting my shot, I’d never get it at all.

“Fine. But if you die…”

“That’s not going to work this time. You want me to go, get me my shot.”

“I can’t at the moment. There’s a little matter of an army on the front lawn.”

“Ok, fine,” I said. “I’ll wait.” And I crossed my arms and met Kevin with my best don’t fuck with me, stare. Kevin just threw his arms in the air and started for the front door.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Matt. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going out there to see what they want,” said Kevin.

“What, you mean by yourself, all alone?”

“Yup.”

“But you’re so… so… small.”

“That’s the point. I’m still just a kid. Odds are they won’t just open fire on me. You guys on the other hand… “

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” said Matt. “But what if you’re wrong? What if they do start taking shots at you?”

“Then you guys will have to come and bail me out.”

Matt thought about it for a second. “Ok, Kev, we’ve got your back. But I still don’t think you should go alone.”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Kevin. “Caleb, you come too.”

“Me?” I said at the same time Matt said, “Him?”

“Sure, just look at that baby face. No one’s going to shoot at that.”

I had a mustache coming in and at least three zits. What the hell did he mean, baby face? Fuck you,” I said.

“Sure, he’s real cute—as long as he doesn’t open his mouth,” grinned Matt.

Ha. Ha. Very funny. Suddenly I was a big joke—no, more like a little joke.

“Well, Caleb,” said Kevin, “You coming with me or are you scared of the big guns?”

“I’m not scared of them,” I said, even though I was a little.

“Then let’s go.” And Kevin headed out the front door. I followed right after him.

Neither of us said anything as we crossed the front yard toward the army. Those tanks looked really big and I was sorry that Matt or one of the other guys wasn’t with us, because if one of those tanks opened fire on us, we’d be dead real quick. But it didn’t seem to bother Kevin any. He just walked right up to the first jeep and started talking to the guy in the back seat. I guess he must have been the general or something because he had the most bars and stuff on his uniform.

“Hi,” said Kevin. “What’s up?”

“Good afternoon, young man,” said the General. “You having some trouble here?”

“No,” said Kevin. “We’re all good here.”

The general kind of frowned and looked hard at Kevin. “You sure about that?” Oh oh. It looked like the General didn’t believe Kevin.

“Absolutely,” said Kevin. Wow, he was a great liar. He didn’t even blink. Even I believed him. I guess it came from all those years of pulling practical jokes.

“Then why in the name of hell did Gibbons send for us?”

“Mr. Gibbons sent for you?”

“This morning, and he better have a good explanation for it. You tell him to come out here straight away.”

“I don’t know,” said Kevin. “He’s kind of busy.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass how busy he is,” roared the General. “Tell him to come out here.”

Kevin and I turned to go back, but the General stopped us with a word.

“Just a minute, son. What happened to your front door?” Kevin turned pale. The fact was we didn’t have a front door, not any more. Fish had demolished it last night, and now there was nothing but a twelve foot high, eight foot wide gaping hole in the side of the house

“Oh, that,” said Kevin, for the first time sounding a little uncertain. “We had kind of an accident.”

“What sort of accident?”

“I better let Mr. Gibbons explain,” said Kevin, and he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me back toward the house. As soon as we were inside, Kevin looked up at the muscle giants towering over us and asked, “Are the normal kids gone yet?”

“Yeah,” said Matt. “Mikey just took them down to the basement a minute ago. Why? How did it go with the army? What did they say?”

“This isn’t going to work. We have to get out of here.”

“What?” cried Glen. “Why are we letting them push us around?”

“Because they have things called tanks,” cried Kevin. “Remember?”

“So what?” said Glen, flexing his insanely huge arms. “I’ve got a couple of tanks right here, growing out of my shoulders. I’ll put my guns up against theirs any day.” Glen’s little display set the rest of the guys flexing too. They were all fucking massive, and each one of them seemed to want to fight the army. And suddenly I felt this overpowering urge to get huge and help them. I wanted to be out there battling tanks with my bare hands. That thought was beyond cool.

“What the fuck is the matter with you guys?” cried Kevin. “They’re going to blow you to pieces!”

“Maybe not,” said Matt, feeling his own boulder of a bicep. “Beside, we’re probably going to have to go up against the army sooner or later anyway. Why not now?”

“You’re crazy,” said Kevin. “The fucking change has affected your brains.”

“You just don’t understand,” said Matt, flexing some more. “You don’t understand how it feels to be this big, this powerful. It’s fucking awesome.”

“If growing that big fries your brain, I don’t want to understand.”

“But you will,” said Matt. “Sooner or later, you’re going to change. You have no choice. Like it or not, you’re going to be just like us.”

Kevin went silent. I could tell he didn’t like that thought at all.

“Why don’t you do it now?” said Matt. “No sense putting it off. Besides, we could use another guy.”

“No,” said Kevin. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. The accelerant was destroyed.”

“Then how did they grow Brad?”

“What?”

“They grew Brad after you swiped the accelerant. So, they must have more. The lab is right over there. Go help yourself.” Matt flexed again. His titanic arms swelled up huge and hard. Then he said, almost to himself, “So much fucking muscle, so much fucking strength. I can’t fucking believe how good this feels. You can feel it too, Kevin. Go on, go become one of us.” Kevin looked uncertain.

Kevin may have had trouble making up his mind, but I didn’t. “Come on, Kevin. You promised to give me my shot.” Kevin looked at me, then he looked at the lab door. For a second he seemed frozen. Then he finally seemed to make up his mind. He turned to Matt.

“Look,” he said. “First of all, I don’t think this is the army. It looks like it’s just the National Guard.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The difference is these guys are all pharmacists and auto mechanics, not exactly the same thing as a professional soldier. None of them have probably ever seen any kind of action.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but don’t let it go to your heads, cause you guys don’t have any experience either and I’m willing to bet they’re better trained than we are.”

Matt nodded slowly. He seemed to be taking it all in.

Secondly, they don’t seem to know what’s been going on here. At least they’re not expecting anything big. You guys should be quite a surprise to them. The guy in charge wants Gibbons to go out there. I’m guessing when he doesn’t show, they’ll send someone in after him. Hell, the general might even come in himself. Anyway, you can take out whoever they send—don’t kill them or anything, just knock ‘em out or lock ‘em up or something. You might be able to get a lot of them that way, reduce their numbers first. Don’t rush out to meet them. Make them come to you.”

Matt nodded. “Ok, Kev, that sounds good. Now, go get massive, then come back here and help us pound them.” Matt drove his fist into his palm for emphasis and I felt the wind from it. If I’d been wearing a hat it would have been knocked it off. Fuck. I couldn’t wait to be like him.

Kevin’s eyes kept looking from one behemoth to another. He looked like he didn’t know what to do again. “I don’t want to pound anyone,” he said.

“Get your shot,” said Matt. Feel your body grow hard with power. Watch your muscles explode with mass, ripping their way out of your clothes. See the world shrink around you as you keep growing bigger and more massive until you’re impossibly huge and muscular, with arms that can crush rocks into sand. You’ll feel different then.”

I sure as hell didn’t need to hear more. “I’ll help you pound them,” I said.

“Of course you will,” said Matt. “You guys both go get your shots.”

That couldn’t come soon enough for me. “Come on, Kevin. Let’s go,” I said pulling his arm toward the lab. He followed after me reluctantly.

The lab didn’t actually have a door anymore either. At some point, one of us must have busted his way out of there, leaving another twelve foot high, eight foot wide hole in the wall. And when we stepped through it, the lab looked empty. Kevin went straight to a glass fronted refrigerator and looked inside.

“It’s not here,” he said. “There’s nothing but Inhibitor and real vitamin shots.”

“That’s right,” said a voice.

I looked over and there were Doctor Myers, Doctor Sawyer and Doctor Burns. Doctor Myers had a gun. “You two just stay right where you are,” she said. I didn’t know what to do. I got scared. Damn! If only I were a behemoth already, then I’d show them. I wouldn’t be sacred of anything then. But I wasn’t. I was still just a kid and I sure didn’t want to get shot, so I did what she said. So did Kevin.

“Shoot them,” said Dr. Sawyer. “Shoot them now, before they change.”

“They can’t change, you idiot,” said Doctor Burns. Kevin’s inhibitor shot is good for another two days and Caleb hasn’t been fully processed yet.

“They managed it,” said Dr. Sawyer pointing toward the front hall. His arm was shaking.

“Well, now we know what happened to our missing accelerant,” said Dr. Myers. “That was you, wasn’t it?” she said, waving the gun in Kevin’s direction.

“I don’t want to become a monster,” said Kevin. “I don’t want to be like them. Is there anyway out of it?”

Doctor Myers looked at him for a moment before she spoke. “There might be,” she said. “But if I’m to help you, you have to promise to do exactly as I say.”

Suddenly Kevin got really quiet, and when he spoke it was almost a whisper. “What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Kevin! Don’t do it,” I shouted. “Don’t do anything they say!” But he ignored me.

“First of all,” said Dr. Myers, “Where’s the rest of the accelerant? I counted twelve subjects who have entered cascade. Which means there are at least eighteen doses unaccounted for.”

“They’re smashed,” said Kevin. “A wall fell on them.”

“Kevin, you traitor!” I shouted.

“Good, that’s good,” said Doctor Myers. “That means we only have to deal with those twelve.” She walked over to a lab bench and picked up a canister like the one Gibbons had said would kill everyone. She handed it to Kevin. “I want you to walk into the middle of your friends and open this canister.”

“What will it do? It won’t kill them, will it?” asked Kevin.

“No, of course not,” said Dr. Myers. “It will only… knock them out.”

“Don’t believe them, Kevin,” I shouted.

“Burns, Sawyer,” said Doctor Myers, “why don’t you take young Caleb here and lock him in the storeroom.”

I tried to make a break for it but the doctors caught me pretty quickly. No matter how hard I struggled, the two adults managed to force me into the storeroom. The last thing I saw was Kevin heading back out to the front hall with the cylinder behind his back. That bastard! Then I was pushed into the small room and they locked the door behind me. FUCK! I was getting pretty tired of being shoved around by everybody all the time! I pounded on the door, but it was no use. All I did was hurt my fist. My friends were about to be killed and there was nothing I could do about it.

The storeroom was dark. But feeling my way around I felt something brush my face. It was a string. I pulled it and a light came on. There really wasn’t much to see. Just shelves filled with bottles, jars and boxes. They were all labeled but I had no idea what they were. But there was also a stainless steel fridge in the room. My heart started beating faster. What if my shot was in there? I pulled the door but it wouldn’t budge. It was locked! Crap!

Suddenly I heard some loud noises coming from the lab. It was like the lab tables were being knocked over. Someone was shouting. Then there were a couple of gun shots, then nothing. What was going on? Did someone get shot? I hoped it was Kevin. That bastard deserved it.

Then I heard someone at the door. They were unlocking it. I stood back out of the way so I would see them before they saw me. And when the door finally opened, it was Kevin. I didn’t have to think about it. I jumped on him. I must have caught him by surprise because I knocked him to the ground. I wasn’t really expecting to do that but I took full advantage of it and just started pounding him, just hitting him with everything I had.

“Jesus, Caleb, stop!” He shouted. But I didn’t listen. I was way too pissed. He’d killed all the guys and now I would never get my final treatment. I wanted to hurt him and hurt him bad. Suddenly I felt an iron grip close around my middle. Someone was lifting me off of Kevin, someone huge. I twisted around. It was Mega Matt. Mega Matt had survived. “You!” I cried. “It’s you. But Kevin… He killed you.”

Mega Matt just laughed. “Are you fucking kidding me? He saved us… again.”

“What?”

“He tricked those assholes into giving him their secret weapon and then he handed right over to us. Then I came in and finished them off.” He pointed. The three scientists were slumped unconscious against the wall. “If Kevin hadn’t done that, who knows how many of us they would have gotten with their little gas bomb.”

Shit! I’d been punked! I felt so stupid. “You could have told me,” I said to Kevin.

“No,” he said getting up and rubbing his jaw where I’d hit him. “You were the one who really sold my story. If you hadn’t been so pissed, I don’t think they would have believed me, at least not so easily.”

I should have guessed that’s what he was doing. This wasn’t the first time I’d been the victim of one of Kevin’s jokes.

“So, “he said, “let’s find you your shot.”

“Seriously?”

“On second thought, I don’t know if I should. You hit me like that again after you change and you’ll take my head off.”

“I promise never to hit you again! Never, never, never!”

“Ok, ok,” said Kevin laughing. “I’m going to hold you to that.” Then he looked around and saw the fridge. “Well, what have we got here?”

“It’s locked,” I said.

“I bet one of our friends over there has the key,” said Kevin waving toward the three unconscious doctors.

“Don’t bother,” said Mega Matt. Then he reached one of his massive arms in through the storeroom door—that was about the only part of him that would fit. He wrapped one of his enormous hands around the fridge and said, “You guys might want to step back.” He didn’t have to tell me twice. I backed up against the far wall and Kevin disappeared back into the lab. Then with a sudden jerk, he yanked the fridge out of the storeroom and into the lab. The door wasn’t quite big enough, but a little thing like a wall didn’t even slow him. He ripped the fridge right through the door and part of the wall came with it as easily as if there hadn’t been anything there at all. Then he held the fridge in one hand, and tore the door off with the other. Then he crumpled the stainless steel door up like a scrap of paper and tossed it away! Man, I wanted arms like that.

He set the fridge back down and Kevin walked up to it and peered in. “The key would have worked just as well,” He said.

“Yeah,” said Mega Matt, “but it wouldn’t have been any fun.”

Kevin was going through the fridge looking at all the different bottles and packages.

“Is it in there?” I asked. “Did you find it?”

Kevin produced a small brown bottle. “Yup. This is it.”

“Fuck yeah!” I shouted “Give it to me. Can you give it to me now? Do you need a syringe, ‘casue I know where they keep ‘em.” I was hopping up and down.

“Yeah,” said Kevin sighing. “We’re going to need a syringe.” That was all I needed to hear. I raced out into the lab and over to the cupboard where they kept the syringes. I had had so many shots in this place, I could have found them in the dark. I grabbed a bag and pulled it open. A bunch of wrapped syringes fell out on to the ground. At first I started to pick them all up, but then I thought screw it, and grabbed one, left the rest on the floor and ran back. But then I thought what about the accelerant? I’d need some of that too. So I doubled back and I grabbed a second syringe and started back but then I thought what about Kevin? He was going to need one too. So I doubled back again and grabbed a third syringe and then I ran back to the broken fridge. “Here,” I said handing the syringes to Kevin. He looked kind of confused.

“Three?” he said. “You’re only need one shot.” But then I said, “What about the accelerant. I want some of that too.” And then he said, “I don’t know, Caleb. I don’t think it’ll work right after your final treatment.” But then I said, “I want some anyway.” So then he said, “Well let’s see what happens when you get your final shot.” So I rolled up my sleeve and stuck my arm out toward him.

He paused for a moment and for one terrible second I thought he had changed his mind and wasn’t going to give it to me after all. But he did. He stuck the syringe in the bottle, filled it and then jabbed me in the arm with it. I felt the cool liquid spread out inside of me. It was just like most of the other shots I’d gotten since I’d been there. I knew it was different but it didn’t really feel any different.

“When’s it going to happen?” I asked. “When do I grow?”

Kevin shrugged. “I don’t know. Wait a couple of minutes and see what happens.”

I looked up a Mega Matt. “How long did it take for you to grow?” I asked.

“Dude, it happened right away. I started bulking up almost instantly.” He flexed his arm like he was remembering what it felt like.

“Yeah, but you had been fully processed for months,” said Kevin. “And you used the accelerator.”

“So, give me some accelerator,” I said.

“There was some in the fridge,” said Kevin, “but I don’t know what it will do to you. It might not work. It might hurt you.”

“I don’t care. Just give me some.” He just kind of stood there looking at me.

“Look, you wanted to grow and now you’re going to. I just don’t know when. Taking accelerator is stupid. It’s a stupid, unnecessary risk.”

Before I could say anything else, Mega Lenny came thundering in. “Hey Matt,” he said. “I think the soldiers are on their way.”

“Fuck,” said Matt. “I’ve gotta go. What about it, Kevin?”

“I’m not giving Caleb the accelerator.”

“Who’s talking about Caleb? What about you? Time to get huge.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, come on Kevin, you’ll fucking love it. I promise. Besides, this is it, the big battle. We’re going to need every man we can get.”

“I… I…”

“You’re not going to let us down, are you?”

“I can’t just… Now? Right this second?”

“You could wait til tomorrow, but I’m betting the battle will be over by then.”

Kevin looked down at the two unused syringes in his hand.

“I brought an extra one for you.” I said. He looked at me in a shock-scared kind of way.

“Five minutes, just give me five minutes,” he said.

“Ok,” said Mega Matt, “But if you wait any longer it’ll probably be too late.” Then he turned and thundered out of the lab with Mega Lenny following after him.”

“Are you going to do it?” I asked.

“Get out of here, Caleb. I mean it. Go to the tunnels and run as far and as fast as you can. If they turn those tanks on this house it will be kindling in no time.”

“I’m not going. I want to help,” I said.

“There’s nothing you can do,” he said.

“Maybe there would be, if you’d give me some accelerant.”

“And maybe it would kill you? I don’t think so.”

“It won’t kill me. But the army might. If you give me the shot at least I’ll be able to go out fighting.”

“If you run now, you can hide someplace. They won’t find you.”

“Hide? Where? Where’s a twelve-foot high guy going to hide? They’ll find me sooner or later. This way at least I can stand by my friends.”

Kevin shook his head, sighed and filled the syringe.

“Is that for me or for you?” I asked.

“You. After I change, my hands’ll be too big to do this.” He reached over hand gave me the shot in my arm. Then he stood back. I closed my eyes and waited for something to happen. Nothing. There was nothing.

“What’s going on? Why didn’t I change?” I cried.

“I told you I wasn’t sure it would work. You’d better get out of here. There’s no way you could survive this battle now.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll do it. I just need a minute. Now, get out of here. Go find Mikey and the others. Stick with them. You might just get your heroic last stand after all. Although I really hope you’ll find a better way.”

“But—“

“No more buts. Get out of here while you still can.”

I hesitated. I didn’t want to go.

“Go, damn it!”

Slowly, without really wanting to, I turned and headed for the basement. I felt like I was running out on my friends. But since the accelerant hadn’t worked, I really didn’t have a choice. Kevin was right. I could find Mikey and everybody else. And when that battle came, I knew I’d be ready. I’d be huge and unstoppable.

I made my way quickly through the front hall. All the guys were there, waiting quietly in the shadows. Mega Kenny nodded at me. “Later, Caleb,” he said. It was funny to think I might not see him again. Suddenly I didn’t really care about the whole arm wrestling thing.

“Good luck, Kenny,” I said and then I just didn’t want to hang around anymore so I booked it down to the basement. It wasn’t hard to find the entrance to the tunnel. A huge hole had been smashed in the basement wall. I went through it and into the dark tunnels beyond.

I hadn’t gone very far when I noticed something weird. There weren’t any lights in the tunnel. It should be pitch dark. So how could I see?—only dimly, but I shouldn’t have been able to see at all.

I started on my way again, but then I heard something behind me. I turned and looked. I could barely make out something moving in the dark. I looked like it might have been a person. Not a behemoth, but a regular sized person.

“Who’s there?” I called. No one answered, but I could see someone coming toward me. Was it one of the guys? It could have been someone like me, someone who hadn’t changed yet. They were all supposed to have come this way. Maybe he got separated from everyone else.

“Rob, is that you?” It kind of looked like Rob.

The guy still didn’t answer and he was getting close. It was starting to creep me out. This was just the sort of thing Kevin or Mikey would do, but there was no way this guy was either one of them.

I took a step back and the guy spoke. “Look who we have here,” he said. There was no mistaking that voice. It was Blotz. Fuck. I turned and started to run but he was on me in two seconds. He knocked me to the ground, turned me around so I was face up and jumped on top of me. I tried to get away from him. But I couldn’t. He was too heavy and too strong. He put his face right up against mine. I remember thinking he was wearing some king of goggles, probably night vision.

“Get the fuck off me,” I shouted.

“We never finished our little wrestling match,” he said, “because you pulled an illegal move.”

“Fuck you.”

“But don’t worry about it. I won’t hold it against you—much.” He stuck out his tongue and licked my face. Uch! It was disgusting.

“What are you doing? Stop it!” Then he hit me, right across the jaw. Fuck, it hurt. Then he hit me again. It hurt so fucking much. I started to cry. I didn’t want to. I really didn’t want to. But I couldn’t help myself.

“Now you’re not going to give me anymore trouble, are you?”

“No,” I squeaked. God, I sounded like such a baby. I hated myself for sounding like that. But I was so scared. I hated myself for being so scared.

“Good boy,” he said. “You ever give head?”

I shook my head. I may never have done it but I sure as hell knew what it was. Oh God, what was he going to make me do?

“Today you learn a new skill.” He sat up on me and began to undo his belt.

“You put that thing near my mouth and I’ll bite it off.”

“I thought we agreed no trouble.” He raised his hand to hit me again. But when his fist came down to strike me I put I my hand instinctively to block it. I couldn’t block his blow but I managed to slow it down enough so that when it hit me, it didn’t hurt. I was kind of surprised I could do that much. From the look on his face, he was too.

He grabbed my wrist and forced my arm to the side. “No resistance, Sport. That’s going to cost you a penalty.” Then he got ready to hit me again. This time, I caught his fist with my other hand and stopped it cold. But I couldn’t have. He was an adult. I was just a kid. What was he doing? Was he playing mind games with me? No. No, he wasn’t. I could tell from the expression on his face. He was trying as hard as he could to force my arm to the ground with his fist and I was holding my own. Fuck. How could I do that? Was I changing? I had to be.

And as soon as I thought it, I began to feel it. Hard lumps were forming on my arms, on my chest, all over my body. I could definitely feel myself getting stronger.

I was also starting to see a lot better in the dark. I could see the amazement and frustration on Blotz’s face when he couldn’t force my arm to the ground. And suddenly, holding him back wasn’t any challenge at all. Oh my god. He couldn’t touch me. He was trying as hard as he could and he couldn’t touch me! I was safe. I felt so relieved I almost cried again. But then I remembered how he had made me cry earlier and I got mad. I tried to force his hand back. I pushed as hard as I could. At first it wouldn’t budge but then slowly I began to force it back. I was doing it! I was actually pushing him away from me. I saw the confusion on his face and I grinned. I couldn’t help it. I wondered what else I could do. I tried squeezing his fist.

“Ahh,” he cried. There was a look of shock and pain on his face as he noticed, at the same time I did, just how thick and muscular my forearms had suddenly become. I thought they looked awesome. I don’t think he agreed. In fact, I think that was the moment he realized what was happening. He looked scared. Good.

“But, you’re not one of them,” he stuttered.

“You sure about that?” I said. I could feel those hard lumps bulging and swelling under my clothes as I grabbed both of his wrists and squeezed as hard as I could. I heard some cracking as I felt his bones cracking under my thickening fingers.

“God damn it!” he shouted. He tired to pull away, but I wasn’t about to let him go. I had him now and I wanted him to know it.

My breath was coming faster now. But the sensation… Ahhhhhh fuck! I was changing. I could feel it. My muscles were shifting under my skin, changing shape, getting even bigger, even harder. And it felt so fucking good. I could feel my rock hard pecs becoming rounder, fuller, pressing out against my t shirt. They felt so fucking strong. And they just kept getting bigger. And my back…growing broader, thicker. So fucking powerful. My body was stretching out longer. My t-shirt bottom slid up, and I could feel a breath of cold air hit my bare stomach as my skin tightened and my abs began to form into solid bricks. Oh fuck, this was awesome!

Without letting go of Blotz, I stood up, pulling him with me. I was so fucking strong now. And I was taller too, even if I wasn’t as tall as Blotz. Not yet anyway. But I was stronger then him, oh yeah, much fucking stronger. I could feel him pulling against me, but I held him tight without much effort at all. And I could feel myself continuing to grow, continuing to bulk, continuing to get stronger. My iron-like thighs were thickening, straining against my pants and my t-shirt was stretching tight as my growth slowly and steadily continued to pack it with swelling, heaving, bulging muscle. My shoulders were expanding into softballs, and my biceps were becoming a couple of grapefruits, with huge, thick, pulsing veins running right down the middle, and my forarms were already pretty thick. I had large, powerful arms now. Fuck yeah!

Blotz yanked his arm, trying to break free. Not a chance.

“What’s the matter?” I asked him. “Don’t you want to finish wrestling?” Then I flexed my rock hard pecks, felt them strain against the cloth, and suddenly my t-shirt tore apart as they exploded out of it. They were huge, twin striated orbs of power. Fuck, they were beautiful.

“Let go of me, you fucking freak!” screamed Blotz.

“Don’t you like my new look?” I asked. And then while keeping hold of him with my left hand, I slowly flexed my right arm. I loved the feel of that hard mass of powerful flesh as it slowly swelled up on my upper arm. I could hear the snap, snap, snap as the threads began to break and then the long riiiiiiip as my gigantic bicep erupted out of my sleeve. It was a fucking boulder!

“For the love of God, let me go,” begged Blotz. That was good. I wanted to hear him beg. I wanted to hear him beg a lot. I wanted to completely terrorize him, the way he had terrorized me. I wanted to see him cry like a baby, the way he had made me cry. And it was starting to work. He was scared but not scared enough. I would have to get bigger for that, a lot bigger. And I didn’t seem to be changing as fast as the other kids did. I needed some time.

“I’ll make you a deal,” I said. “We’ll play a game.”

“A game?”

“Yeah, it’s called Hide and Go Seek in the Dark. You hide and I’ll seek. If you get away, then… you get away.”

“You mean it?”

I nodded. “But if I catch you, I’m going to fucking break you in pieces.” Even in that dim light I could see him go pale. I let him go and he made a break for the house. I ran in front of him and cut him off. Man, I was fast now.

“Uh, uh, uh, not that way,” I said, and I pointed deeper into the mine. “That way.”

“I’ll get lost,” he said.

“I never said it was going to be easy.”

“You’re too fast,” he said. “I’ll never get away.”

“I’ll count to ten.” And then I started counting. At first he didn’t seem to know what to do. It took him until I hit three before he turned and ran into the mine. I could actually hear his footsteps against the rocky ground as he moved away from me. I could tell exactly what direction he had gone in, and about how far away he was. How fucking awesome was that?

Some kind of seizure hit me. “Nunngh!” I cried as I doubled over. It wasn’t exactly painful, just kind of like an explosion of pressure. I felt my body expand in one quick surge. I was suddenly thicker. My arms, my back, my chest, everything felt like they were covered in even thicker layers of solid muscle. I don’t know how to describe it. I’d never felt anything like it before, but it was the most amazing sensation I’d ever had in my life. I straightened up and I was taller, a lot taller, at least as tall as Blotz. I looked down at my left bicep, bulging in the sleeve, now stretched to its limits. I flexed my left arm but didn’t even get half way before it blew the sleeve to pieces as it exploded with size and power. Fuck, I was huge. So fucking strong now. And I knew I’d be getting bigger. Much fucking bigger. I was suddenly sorry I’d let Blotz go. How fucking awesome would it be to have him watch me as I just kept getting bigger, as muscles exploded out all over me. I wanted to watch his fear grow as I did. I had to find him. I could hear him scampering around in the tunnels ahead, going this way, that way, desperately trying to find his way through the maze of passages. He’d never get away from me.. Never.

I started walking in his direction, taking my time. My sneakers were gone, blown apart by that surge of growth. But somehow I didn’t mind the feel of the rocky floor against my bare feet. My feet were tougher now. All of me was tougher now. My legs felt awesome, like I could walk forever and I’d never get tired. Every time I took a step, I could feel my thighs flex and bulge against the inside of my pant legs, stretching them tight. My pant cuffs were high now, up around my calves. As I walked I felt my engorged muscles rip through them. Awesome.

I could tell Blotz was just ahead of me. He had stopped moving around and I guessed he must have heard me coming. My enormous body wasn’t exactly quiet as I thudded down the tunnel. He was either hiding or he was setting up some kind of ambush. I flexed my right arm and felt my huge bicep ball up into a steely powerful mass. He could ambush me all he wanted. I wasn’t afraid of him, not any more.

I rounded a corner and felt something slam into my stone-like abs. I stumbled back, more from the surprise than the impact. When I looked, I saw Blotz standing there with an old sledge hammer he must have found somewhere. Holy crap! He looked really small now. I must have grown some more while I was walking. I was much taller than him, by at least a foot, and about twice as wide. Fuck yeah! I was huge, so fucking strong. I could tell from the shocked expression on his face, he hadn’t expected me to be quite this big. I hoped I kept on surprising him.

He lifted the hammer and took another swing; but this time I caught the head in my hand and held it tight. He tried to pull it away from me. He was heaving and heaving and he couldn’t even budge my arm. What a fucking trip! I began squeezing the head, harder and harder and I began to feel it compress. My fingers were slowly sinking into to the solid piece of steel, leaving indelible impressions in the cold metal.

Blotz saw what I was doing to his hammer and he suddenly dropped the handle and stood back in terror. I continued to squeeze, crushing the metal. My forearms were just bulging all over with hard corded sinew. My face broke out in a shit-eating grin. I couldn’t help it. With my bare hands I was making the solid steel collapse in upon itself like it was an aluminum can. I was a fucking monster! I dropped the destroyed hammer and turned my attention to Blotz. “Did you like that?” I said. “Next, I think I’ll do that to your head.”

“Please don’t,” he whimpered.

I was about to answer him when I felt another growth seizure hit me. “Nuuungh,” I cried as I felt my legs explode out of my pants and my arms grow longer and thicker. Pound after pound of bulk was just erupting out on my chest and back. It was like I was some kind of muscle volcano, it was just busting out of me., making me huge, unstoppable.And as I grew, I pulled a most muscular, displaying my bulking body for Blotz. He was fucking scared shitless.



“Keep away from me you freak!” He cried.

“I think its time you called me Mr. Freak,” I answered as I took a step toward him. “And pretty soon now, I’ll be calling you Mr. Greasy-Spot-On-The-Floor.”

Suddenly Blotz grabbed a pickaxe. I don’t know where he got it. I hadn’t seen it lying there. For a second I thought he was going to take a swing at me, but he didn’t. Instead he took a swing at an old wooden support beam. The thing shifted and all kinds of rocks and dirt fell from the ceiling. Holy crap, that guy was going to burry us both alive!

“What the…?” was all I got out before he swung again. Instinctively, I raised my arm to block the falling debris.

“If I have to go,” said Blotz, “I’m taking you with me.” And then he swung a third time. I raced to stop him but I was too late. The pickaxe connected with the splintered beam and it shattered. Suddenly there was a cascade of rocks and dirt raining down on me, smashing me, covering me and then there was darkness. I couldn’t breath. Desperately I forced my powerful limbs to move through the rubble, pushing against it, moving through it. It felt like each time I moved some of the rocks, even more would cascade down to fill in the gap. But I kept pushing and shoving and inching my way forward. Breathing was the worst part. Every time I opened my mouth sand and dirt would rush in. I had to rely on my nose and hardly any air was getting in. But still I struggled on, and just when I thought I would pass out, I finally tumbled out. I looked back at the wall of stone and dirt I had just emerged from. It had closed up again, like I had never been there. I laid there gasping for breath for a few minutes, just glad to be alive. I stared at my massive bulging arms and realized I had them to thank for my life. Then I saw it: a pale, limp hand sticking out from the rubble. I pushed the rocks aside and uncovered Blotz’s face. Even I could tell he was dead. The guy had tried to kill both of us, but I was so fucking strong now, he’d only been half successful. I’d never seen a dead guy before, but I didn’t feel sorry, or even happy. I was just glad it was over. He’d never mess with anyone ever again.

I heard a tremendous explosion come from above my head, as more debris fell from the ceiling. I guessed the battle must have started. I decide to go back. I may not be quite as big as the others yet, but I was still growing and I knew I could find some way to help them. So without another thought, I headed back towards the house as fast as I could.

That's what happened, I swear. You pretty much know the rest.

[COLOR=#000000].[/COLOR]

[Jaypat]

I know, I know, this isn't the end. This story doesn't seem to want to end. But I'm going to take another stab at ending it in the next chapter. Wish me luck. These humungous orphans just don't want to go quietly.

[TheMM]

Originally Posted by Jaypat

I know, I know, this isn't the end. This story doesn't seem to want to end. But I'm going to take another stab at ending it in the next chapter. Wish me luck. These humungous orphans just don't want to go quietly.

I thought that was the point?

I mean, these MG stories don't ever really end, we writers just find more details to put in them, that's all.

[tagsnola]

Well wort the wait. Can't wait to see how this pans out.
- TagsNOLA

[Jaypat]

Originally Posted by TheMM

I thought that was the point?

I mean, these MG stories don't ever really end, we writers just find more details to put in them, that's all.

Yeah, they just keep getting bigger and bigger. Perhaps its a metaphor. Yeah, that's it, a very clever metaphor! I never knew I was so smart!

[sexiscriptor]

every chapter, an achievement; every story, a masterpiece. or at least a glory unto itself; that's pretty effective too but lets you copy & paste it with some humility ;p
yeah yeah yeah--i realize it's not really "over" yet, but i think this thing's just stunning; a(n almost) harem story but wherein each growth is a little different, unique in most cases and particular to that character. If that isn't something approaching "substance" then I'll hafta go redefine the word ;p
anyway, loving it as always; i'm glad you didn't play up any kid-grows-huge fetishism, least not to any degree exceeding any other chapter's unique aspects. It's a bit funny then that i might complain caleb didn't particularly feel like a kid some of the time; even a pubescent or post-pubescent one. I dunno. what was he supposed to be, 11? 12? i just had dinner with my 10 year old cousin and, while i realize plenty monumental changes take place in those few years many more separate them (10yos, 11yos, 12yos) from us "adults" 0.o But then--and here's the funny bit, i guess--how to balance it. make the character seem like a kid without fetishising it--his innocence or whatever it is people're always fetishising about kids in these stories. But i realize not only am i being irrational (as usual) but it's your story. Entirely

One thing i'd beseech you on--

Originally Posted by Jaypat

He?d never molest anyone ever again.

"molest"
it just doesn't feel right, like seriously so. for the character, for the narrative, for the moment, for something, i don't exactly know but my writey sense is tingling again, and that's got me all on awares. If I had my way I'd make that "touch", not "molest". And not so much outta some moslestation victims awareness pathos/argument; it just doesn't seem fitting. I mean, if i'm not mistaken--and i often am, i believe, so feel free to correct me--most of the 'molestation' was blotz being weird & creepy and trying to touch caleb or get him on his own. Now, i'm not about to say he wasn't trying to molest the boy. Heavens no. More how Caleb--and the reader--interpret it. "Molest" feels too...circumspective. I dunno. I could ramble on about this, and lord knows I'll be drawn back into it to do just that, but at least take a moment, consider it, them pm me a copy of your disparagements so i can be sure to know about them; lord knows i'm awful about checking back on comments after i've already made one--too much reading!! ^.^

anyway, i'm still loving this story even if it's not entirely my bag; obviously i'm still rooting for ethan's growth (that was his name right? it's been a while for me, apparently; he grew his spindly anemic boyfriend in a spasm of dramatic irony? :P); i kinda wanna see him demonstrate what he's learned/return the favor of mega sex ;p
kudos and best wishes on the final chapter(s)!
~Chris

[lead guitarist]

This is a terrific story! And boy am I ever looking forward to seeing the battle between the megakids and the tanks. Tons of muscle versus tons of steel - my kind of thing!

Thanks for this story so far, and please, don't try TOO hard to wrap everything up in only one more chapter.

[muscl4life]

It wasn't a story chapter, it was a truly thriling action movie screenplay, it had an amazing time, great growth descriptions, and we simply couldn't get what would happen in the next line - although the whole story felt this way ever since the beggining.

In fact, I am happy it didn't end. I've always hoped the end would be told from either Mikey or Kevin's POV, especially if there are any chances for Mikey to retribute Kevin's feelings towards him

Anyway, great work Jaypat, take your time and cease all the things those massive boys keep playing in your mind, I know we will love the result.

Cheers

[Kit Werecat]

Thank the Titans, and all they tower over.

I looked at the last line of the chapter coming up, and was reading where we were in the plotline, and for a brief microsecond, thought this wonderful story might just end like that. What a relief to know we have at least one more chapter coming. Take your time, and write it when you feel you're ready..

But don't take TOO long...!

Seriously though, this is a MAGNIFICENT story, Jaypat. Absolutely inspired. Great works don't die easily, my friend; Arthur Conan Doyle seem to have a similar problem with his Holmes stories, and don't forget what happened to Paul Sheldon when he tried to end his "Misery" books...

Anyway.. TERRIFIC WORK, and Well Done.

[chocomus]

Blotz didn't suffer enough. He tryied to rape a poor small kid!
He deserved to be raped by him instead with a cock as thick as his arm. And with no lube, because he's evil and he deserve that pain. That would teach him not to do that to anyone. HM!

Awesome chapter. I wonder if Caleb will get bigger than the rest, because of his condition. And now i notice that if Kevin ends growing too it will be... forced growth! YAY!

[redkage]

I just want to take the time to say that this story ROCKED! Not only was each chapter filled with hot descriptions of teenage boys becoming huge muscle monsters, but the story, plot and variety of characters were all fun and exciting. The drawing Jaypat drew to accompany this chapter inspired me to draw my own version of it.

http://redkage.deviantart.com/art/Th...anart-87137508

Once again, you rock Jaypat! Here's wishing for the swift arrival of your next installment!


-Red

[Jaypat]

I'm glad you are enjoying the story...still. I was beginging to think maybe people were loosing interest in it. Glad to see that's not the case.

I want to especially thank Redkage for that incredible drawing. It is so much better than anything I could do.