“Um, Dee?” Heather asked.
“Yes?” The girl answered. She had just slid her finger from the inside of Heather’s elbow up to the cleft between the two portions of her biceps.
“I was told that I shouldn’t do anything that’ll distract people while in class.” Heather replied.
“That’s pretty much impossible. Every muscle that you have shows off.” Dee turned in her seat to face Heather. She fumbled her free hand around in her desk and reached towards the superheroine’s abdominals. Within seconds, there was a metallic squeal. She then raised her hand to show that she had an oven mitt holding a pair of crushed scissors. “You warned me against putting my fingers where you can do this to them.”
“I see that you’ve come to class prepared to deal with metal that gets heated from my crushing it.” Heather said.
“I see that you didn’t even flinch when I put sharp metal objects against your bare skin.” Dee added.
“Why should I worry about that?” Heather asked.
“I could have been under some kind of evil mind control and stabbed you with them. What if it were a knife or gun or something?” Dee sat the flattened scissors on her desk and took off the mitt.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m showing off, but..” Heather paused for a second, “nothing that you can do could possibly hurt me.” She took out her own scissors from her desk and held up her other arm, looping her fingertips through the handles, with the points sitting on her biceps. Heather bent her elbow slowly, so that her peak rose up to her fingers, flattening the blades lengthwise.
“Wow..” Dee’s stared, along with that of nearly everyone else in the room. They were interrupted when the bell to start the class sounded. “What does it feel like when you do that?”
“I just feel a tiny bit of pressure where the points are, but that’s all. It doesn’t take any effort to squish things. My resting biceps are a lot harder than the scissors. Do you have anything else you’d like for me to flatten?” Heather asked.
“I’ll bring a bag full tomorrow.” Dee replied. “How about if I were to bring some coal for you to squeeze into diamond?”
Heather chuckled. “If that’s what you want, then okay. How’s this for now?” She rolled her scissors into a ball and squeezed it a few times, until the metal glowed a bright red. Heather pulled off a small amount to twist into a braid, and shaped the rest like it was modeling clay. She attached the handle onto the small basket and set it on the corner of Dee’s desk. Wisps of smoke rose from where it charred the surface. “It’ll cool off eventually.”
“Your pulse makes it sound like there’s a rave party going on, but it’s worth it to sit next to you during class.” Dee peeked over to see the clock, and then their teacher getting out a stack of papers. She leaned over to look at Heather’s arm and said, “Thank you Goddess. May your omnipotent biceps guide and protect me.” Dee gave Heather’s peak a kiss and sat up just as the bell rang.
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“Hey, Defender.” Candi said as she walked over to her classmate. “I’ve been wanting to ask you about something. Let me know if it’s not too personal.”
“You’re an exhibitionist. What could be too personal for you to talk about?” Cindy replied. “You also don’t have to call me that all the time.”
“I think it’s fun to call people by their hero names.” Candi replied.
“Then why don’t you have one?” Cindy asked.
“I haven’t thought of one that sounds good. ‘Mouse-girl’ or ‘Squeak’ aren’t all that impressive. Anyway, what I want to ask about isn’t about me. It’s about you.” Candi said.
“I’m not the most shy person in the school, either, so go ahead.” Cindy replied.
“You’ve got slightly different color skin on either side on your shoulders, neck and upper torso. It’s in two patches that look like they meet in the center. I can only notice it when I’m really close to you. I don’t think it’s a birthmark, because it is nearly perfectly symmetrical.” Candi stepped behind Cindy and pulled the neckline of her shirt down. “I see that you’re also getting your build back. It looks good on you.”
“That happened when I was with Heather, at Lord Entropy’s underwater pyramid.” Cindy turned to face the other girl. “Do you really want to hear what happened? It was a bit gory.”
“You’re standing here with me now, so whatever happened, you made it through.” The mouse-girl put her hands on her hips. “I’ve got a pretty strong stomach, so you don’t have to hide anything.”
“I wasn’t awake for all of what happened, but Heather filled me in on it.” Cindy replied. “I remember the part where we were rushing to get out of the billion ton iron pyramid. We had destroyed his teleportation gateway to mars. He retaliated by turning off the force-fields that were holding the pyramid above them. Heather caught it and held it up until I got out. She then tossed it in back of her. The shockwave from it hitting basalt sea floor knocked me out. From what I know about biology, I’d bet that the blast turned my internal organs to jelly.”
“Ew. That is not something that I’d want to have happen, but that doesn’t explain the marks.” Candi said.
“We were down really deep, and didn’t have our air tanks. Heather’s light spell let her see that I wasn’t moving, and that clouds of blood were coming from every orifice in my body. She wanted to get us to the surface fast, so she could work her healing spells on me.”
“And why wasn’t she affected by the shockwave?” Candi asked.
“I’m a super-powered person. She’s a Goddess. There’s a big difference.” Cindy answered.
“I should stop interrupting, shouldn’t I?” Candi added.
Cindy nodded. “Only if you want to hear the rest of the story. You know how her biceps fill out to go past her wrists to her fingertips whenever she bends her arms? Well, in order to get me to the surface, she cupped her hands beneath my armpits and swam upwards.”
Candi flinched.
“Yeah,” Cindy continued. “When she lifted me, the Goddess’ biceps filled out in front of her, crushing me instantly. I’d bet that there wasn’t much of anything left. Instant red mist. If that’s what happened, Heather isn’t telling me.” She paused. “If I didn’t get better, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. Anyways, she zipped us up to the surface in order to take care of me.”
“Don’t you have hyper-strength and durability?” Candi asked.
She nodded. “There’s a bit of a power level difference. Lord Entropy’s device had hit me with a dampening ability, but it hadn’t really taken full effect yet. Let’s just say that her regeneration and healing spells are really, really good.” Cindy swallowed hard. “I think that all of me, from my chest upwards, was re-created when Heather brought me back to life.” She smiled. “That probably explains why I have no more birthmarks.
“Wow, that is some high level stuff.” Candi said.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
After morning classes had ended and Heather was headed outside, she spotted one of her classmates. “Uri! Wait up.” She jogged over to the younger girl.
“Oh, um.. Hi, Heather.” Uri looked around them.
“I’ve noticed that you’ve been pretty quiet lately.” Heather said.
“I’m usually quiet.” Uri answered.
“This is more than usual, or should I say less than usual? More quiet seems like a misnomer.” Heather added.
“It’s just that I don’t have much to say. What is it like now that you’re more powerful than Comet Girl is?” Uri asked.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m more powerful than her. She’s got so many things that she can do, like flying or traveling in space..”
Uri cut Heather off, “How much physical ability do you have? Your muscles out-class hers.”
“So that’s it. It’s not that I’ve got more than she does. You’re not happy that I’ve got more than you do.” Heather said.
“It is kind of my special thing.” Uri replied.
“Don’t you ask people not to think of you as being different, and that you only use your powers when absolutely necessary?” Heather asked.
“Well, yeah..” Uri answered.
“Then why does what I’m able to do bother you?” Heather sat a hand on her hip.
“It just makes me..” Uri looked down towards her feet, “a little less special.”
Heather clenched her fists, causing her arm muscles to swell out. “Gyah! You’re not making any sense. Do you want any attention, or do you not want any?
“I guess what I’d like is for people to notice me, but not to say much about it. It would be like having fans that are secret about it.” Uri replied.
“You want a secret fan club?” Heather cocked her head. “That’s very.. Different.”
“I hardly ever overhear anyone talking about me anymore. Now it’s all about how Cindy’s gaining her buffness back, and how cute Candi and Nik are, and how gorgeous Cherry is.” Uri paused for a couple of seconds. “They also talk about Tina a little bit.. And how you’re a Goddess.”
“I’m not asking anyone to come up with a religion..”
“You don’t have to. That kind of thing just seems to be happening.” Uri replied.
“I know. It’s an awful lot of pressure. I feel like I have to act perfectly whenever I’m in public. Gymnasiums are my temples, and people have to pursue physical fitness to show their respect for me. I guess I’ll have a positive impact on public health.” Heather said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
“It’s really nice of all of you to show up for dinner.” Heather said to Cherry and her parents. “I thought it was just gonna be Cherry over tonight.”
“We’re not going to turn down home-cooked farm-fresh cooking.” Cherry’s father, Max replied.
“Is mine not good enough?” Alice elbowed him.
“It was my turn to cook tonight, remember? This is an improvement.”
“You know sis, anything that you eat is, by default, the ‘food of the gods’.” Lucas grinned, then pointed to Heather and Cherry. “Do either of you really need to eat?”
“I don’t know.” Heather replied.
“I just eat things that I like the taste of.” Cherry added.
“Honey, you’ve been really quiet about whatever it is that you’ve been doing when you’re out and about.” Heather’s mother, Hilda, said. “You don’t have to keep all of your superheroine things secret if you don’t want to.”
“I’m not sure you’d want to hear all of the details. Is it really something you’d be interested in?” Heather asked.
“Of course we’d be interested. Being open about things is so much easier. We worry about you, after all.” Hilda continued.
“If you want to know, I went with Genie. You know her, the fairy that’s helping me to learn magic, right? I thought it was going to be a simple adventure, but I ended up stopping a robot invasion by destroying their world. When I got back I sort of built up a line of hills in the state park by flexing through the ground by mistake. I then found out that I really am the representation of Gaia.” Heather paused, seeing the blank looks on peoples’ faces.
Cherry leaned over to whisper, “I think you might have given a little too much detail.”
“I miss you being my little girl. Can’t you let others face dangers like that?” Harry Hall asked. “You can live like a normal teen sometimes, too.”
Heather’s eyes narrowed. “Can other people give up being mammals and go back to being reptiles? I can’t just stop being what I am. I also can’t just sit by and let other people be in danger or even killed.”
Alice interrupted, “Cherry, could you and Heather leave us parents for a little while? There’s some things that we would like to discuss.” She paused, then added, “Lucas, also.”
After leaving the dining room, Heather said, “That came out wrong, didn’t it?”
“You might not notice it, being so close to them, but your parents are in that ‘shock and awe’ stage that people seem to have when meeting superheroes.” Cherry said.
“It probably didn’t help things when I blurted out like that. I didn’t think before talking.” Heather paused for a few seconds. “They are a bit frightened of me. That’s not easy to take.”
“I don’t think that’s ever going to fully go away. People are going to either be scared of you or worshipful of you. I find that it’s part of the price that’s paid for having an obviously superhuman physique,” Cherry said.
“I’d prefer less of the former and more of the latter.” Heather replied. “Actually, I’d like to try something out. I occasionally feel a kind of tingle that seems to come from nowhere. I have a feeling as to what causes it.” She looked to her brother. “Lucas, can you, um.. Please pray to my biceps.”
“Uh. I thought you didn’t like me doing that when you are around,” He answered.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to be telling people about what you do,” Heather replied.
Lucas sat on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes. He spoke in a whisper.
“Wow!” Heather cupped her left palm over her right bicep. “I felt that. Thanks.”
“Any time,” Lucas replied.
“From what I can tell, the closer the person is to me, the more I notice it,” Heather looked to Cherry. “When Cindy had us compete, with my flexing against you, I don’t think it was done all that fair. You were all surprised and didn’t have a chance to get ready. Would you like a rematch?”
“How would it be done differently?” Cherry asked. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“We’ll go with my left against your right, to give you a bit of an advantage, like we did last time,” Heather took hold of Cherry’s right hand with her left one, so that their palms were against one another’s. “I’ll keep myself relaxed, and you can flex your arm out against mine. Since you can ‘hyper-flex’, you’ll be able to use that against me.”
The two girls faced each other, with Heather bringing their clasped hands up in front of them, so that their arms were held out to the side, with their elbows bent at about 90 degrees. As they got into position, Cherry’s bicep swelled so that it’s peak out up along her forearm. Heather’s peak filled out at the same time, going to its resting size, which would have it just past her upraised fingertips.
Cherry winced as her nanites screamed damage reports to her. She hopped backwards before their elbows were fully bent. “I can’t do it. Your one would crush through my arm if I got into that starting position with you.”
Heather took a couple seconds to think. “How about if you stayed where you are? We’ve got our hands together, so you won’t push us apart when you flexed against it.”
“What do I win if I can get you to back down?” Cherry asked.
“You get my help on any literature assignment,” Heather replied. “I’m not looking for anything if you can’t do it.”
“You’re liking this, aren’t you?” Cherry asked. When Heather nodded, she continued, “Okay, for the title match, here goes.” She had her bicep fill out slowly, until it met Heather’s. “I can feel your pulse echoing through me.”
“You don’t know how much I have to concentrate to keep relaxed right now. My bicep really wants to flex,” Heather took quick breaths as her excitement built.
Cherry closed her eyes, grunting with effort. Her arm ached where the vein over Heather’s bicep pressed into her one. Her shirt pulled tight over her expanding lats and pectorals, threatening to split along its seams. The heroine’s quadriceps and calves took on definition as her body shook. “How’s that.. Feel?”
Heather half-closed her eyes. “It feels really nice, like you’re giving my peak a squeeze. How about if we change the contest a little. Instead of getting me to back down, you just have to be able to dent in my biceps.”
“You really are enjoying this. Okay. Now to push it as far as I can go.” Cherry took a few breaths as she got ready. She clenched her teeth and strained for a few seconds, grunting with effort., then relaxed her arm. She let go of Heather’s hand and used her left hand to rub over her right arm. “Okay.” She took a breath. “That was my best. What do you get for winning?”
“How about if I just get to do something that’ll be fun for both of us? Would you like to take a ride on top of my peak?” Heather asked.
“You mean like what you do for Candi or Sadie?” Cherry asked.
“We can do it somewhere private, so no one else has to know,” Heather looked to Lucas. “I’m calling Goddess privilege here. You aren’t to tell anyone what we’re talking about.”
“I’ll agree,” He replied.
“Cherry and I am going to go outside for a little bit. If you’re asked where we are, just say that we have important superheroine business to do,” Heather said.
Once they were outside, Heather lead Cherry around to the side of the house. She cupped a hand beneath the superheroine and was about to lift her when Cherry said, “Won’t you squish me between your hand and bicep if you picked me up like this?”
“Oh.. I forgot. How about if you were to just climb on top, then?” Heather asked.
“It might not be the best advertising for people to know that I’m riding on top of your biceps.” Cherry said as she reached one hand onto Heather’s peak to lift herself to sit, straddling it. “Wow, I can..” She blushed, “I can feel it pulsing against me.”
“That’s what Candi likes. Okay, she likes it a lot. I won’t tell. I know that you want to keep the impossibly pure image,” Heather said.
“I can see why she likes it. Wow!” Cherry replied. “This is so not city protector superheroine stuff.”
“You’ve got to have some time to do things that are fun. You can’t be on duty permanently. Don’t we all need a little time off?” Heather flexed a little, so that Cherry’s legs were pushed out to the sides by her expanding biceps.
“This is fun, but it’s a little bit humbling for me, too,” Cherry said.
“What is?” Heather asked.
“Being overpowered by your resting biceps.” Cherry answered. “Wow, your pulse is thumping through my whole body.”
“You’re a generalist, with a whole bunch of powers; a high level generalist. I’m a specialist, so I’m better in my one area.” Heather said.
Cherry arched her back, her shirt tenting over her firmed nipples. “It is kind of fun having you pass me in this area. It takes the pressure off of me.” She held her lower lip in her teeth.
“What pressure is that?” Heather asked.
“World’s strongest,” Cherry’s breath came in short gasps.
“You don’t mind me passing you in that?” Heather asked.
“Do you mind that I have flight and you don’t?” Cherry asked.
“It doesn’t bother me at all. There’s one fun thing about my strength that I think you’d like to try out. My pulse gets stronger the more I flex. Candi can’t take much more than my resting amount,” Heather said.
Cherry’s legs were forced out to the sides, nearly into a split as Heather grew her biceps beneath her. Her nanites screamed warnings which blended into the pounding that filled her hearing. Her triceps flexed into rolls on the backs of her arms as she pushed against the pulsing vein that was lifting her above the bicep. “Oh, Goddess!” Cherry’s fingertips blanched as she squeezed them against the pulsing vein.
Heather thought, ‘Okay, Cherry really, really likes riding my biceps. I’ll just give her a bit more.’
Cherry shivered as she was lifted to the level of the house’ roof. Her body shuddered in time to Heather’s pulse. She held her lower lip in between her teeth, trying not to make noise as her body climaxed. She was lifted onto the pulsing, firehose-sized vein. The shockwaves of Heather’s heartbeat slammed through her body like a jackhammer was hitting against every part of her body. The superheroine screamed out and collapsed, slumping forward onto the throbbing vein.
The width of her biceps prevented Heather from seeing Cherry on top of it. She thought, ‘She’s quiet. Probably afraid to let anyone hear her really enjoying herself. This should make her lose control.’ Heather’s peak rose further, going to treetop level. When she didn’t hear anything, Heather shouted, “Cherry? Cherry?”
Heather relaxed her arm down fully, so that her bicep came down to just above her fingertips. She held her arms out in front of her as she caught Cherry’s limp body. “She’s sloshing like a water balloon.” Heather whispered, “Set her down gently. Don’t crush her.” She let the girl slide along her forearms to the ground. Blood was trickling from Cherry’s mouth, nose, ears and closed eyes. “My pulse tore her apart.”
She took a couple of breaths and took her centering pose. Heather held her hands out in front of herself, letting her biceps’ peaks press into each other. “Need divination to see what needs healing.” She heard her own heartbeat as her pulse quickened. “Her bones are shattered and her organs are ruptured. The nanites are damaged. I.. I liquified her..”
Heather’s aura flared into incandescence as she cast her healing spells. The girl’s eyes glowed green, while Cherry’s body was bathed in gold light. The blonde superheroine floated into the air as Heather poured her efforts into her. “Gotta save her. I can’t kill my friend.”
Once her spells had been cast, Heather sat her palms on her knees and panted for breath. When she heard a groan and a series of coughs, Heather looked to the other girl. “Cherry! You’re back. I’m.. I’m so sorry. I..”
The blonde heroine held one hand up as she knelt. “I can hardly hear you. My nanites are telling me a hundred things at a time. Damage and repair reports are coming in. Everything aches. My vision’s coming back. Corneas reforming. Catastrophic disruption being reversed. Most systems offline.” She lifted her head to face Heather. Cherry’s eyes went from milky to blue as she got to her feet. “No hugs. Not until you learn some control.”
“I didn’t mean to do that to you,” Heather clasped her hands together in front of her waist, pressing her biceps together. “I thought you were enjoying it, and that you’d want..”
Cherry pushed a finger vertically against Heather’s lips, “You don’t have to say it. I know that it was an accident. You’re going to need a lot more practice in self-control.”
“Are you okay?” Heather held her lower lip in her teeth.
“Yes, Goddess.”
Heather’s eyes opened wide, “Do you mean that?”
“Giving a direct answer would ruin the mystery,” Cherry leaned forward to give a quick kiss to the peak of Heather’s bicep.
Heather swallowed hard as she felt a tingle run through her arm.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
The glow of the pre-dawn sun had just started to light up the sky as Heather walked around the edge of the familiar lake. The dim light reflected off of her skin, as the girl had on a bikini bottom and halter top. She picked up a rock and smoothed it into a disk before sending it skipping across the mile wide surface. A second rock was sent into the water, with a trail of bubbles following it into the depths.
“You executed the summoning spell almost perfectly,” Iphigenia said. She was disguised as a human woman in a trendy blouse and designer jeans, standing behind Heather. “I received your thoughts clearly.”
Heather jumped nearly a foot as she tensed, squeezing in her toes. “Genie? You startled me.” She turned to face the woman. “Is that you?”
“Of course! Who else could possess such unearthly grace and beauty?” The nymph in human form smiled teasingly. “Now, tell your magic teacher what troubles you.”
“I’m sure that Madam Crowley would have a little to say about who my teacher is.” Heather pursed her lips, “I can have more than one magic teacher. Only one of my instructors makes house calls.” She looked down to the ground. “I’ve been up all night.. Thinking. Yesterday, I..” She paused for a breath. “I killed Cherry and brought her back to life.”
“Your healing spells have gotten that powerful?” Iphigenia couldn’t keep the shock off of her face for a second.
“Bringing her back wasn’t easy, and left me feeling a bit drained afterward. If I hadn’t cast it right away, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
“And why did you kill her?” Iphigenia raised one eyebrow. “I believed that was considered impolite on this planet.”
“Oh, it’s very, very impolite. I didn’t do it on purpose. She finally agreed to ride on top of my biceps. I noticed that she really liked how it felt to have my vein pulsing against her, so I flexed a bit. You know how my pulse gets stronger the more I flex, right?” Heather replied.
“So you flexed her to death?”
Heather nodded. “I really didn’t mean to. She’s really resilient and I thought it would push her to.. climax.”
Iphigenia shivered. “You are a terrifying woman, Heather.”
“I am?”
The nymph looked out over the lake and thought for a few seconds. “I can try to devise a spell to restrain your strength,” she said. “I don’t know if it will work, but it might make it safer for people to be around you.”
“I need to learn how to limit it on my own. Your spell might fail at some point.” Heather looked towards the nymph. “There’s also a chance for feedback if I overwhelm the spell, and I don’t want to hurt you. What I’ve been thinking about is how people are now treating me. After I healed her, Cherry kissed my biceps and prayed to them. She’s a top tier superheroine, and she prayed to them..” She blushed and subconsciously flexed a little, swelling out nearly all of her muscles. The thumping of Heather’s pulse got louder.
“Your top is about to explode,” Iphigenia pointed out.
Heather relaxed her pectorals down to their usual size. “Thanks. I don’t want to ruin too many more outfits.”
The nymph looked at Heather’s hulking physique for a few seconds quietly. “Heather, may I ask you for a favor?”
“Of course. How could I say ‘no’ to you?”
Iphigenia bowed her head. “I would like you to train me, Heather. I wish to become stronger, and there is no one in any world who knows more about building muscle than you.”
“Of course. I’ll do what I can. Are you trying to distract me from what I was thinking about?” Heather asked.
“I am not sure,” Genie confessed. “I do not want you to be sad, but I do want to be stronger. If Queen Gouda is ever threatened by someone as strong as you, I will be useless as I am now.”
“You aren’t a combat monster and you are definitely not useless. As I was trying to say before, It’s not easy for me to accept what I now am.”
“It isn’t easy for me to accept it, either. Ever since I met Uri, I feel like I’ve been in a dream.” Iphigenia shook her head in disbelief. “How is it possible for anything to be as strong as you are?”
“I can’t answer that. It’s been a bit like a dream to me, too. I guess that I’ve gotten what I wanted, and now I have to learn to live with it. I have to think about limiting my strength all the time. There’s no mental ‘switch’ like what the others have that goes between lower and higher power levels. My strength scares me a bit,” Heather replied.
“It scares me, too,” Iphigenia said. She put her hand over Heather’s. “That is why I am glad I can rely on you to keep us safe from it.” The nymph smiled. “Or was that too overdramatic?”
Heather shook her head, “Not at all. It would be a lot worse if I was fully comfortable with it. I need to accept people seeing me as a Goddess. I may never be able to fully live up to it, but I won’t stop trying.”
“Think not only of the harm you can do with your strength, but also the joy you can bring to people with it,” the nymph advised. “Think of how lucky people are to be able to see your beautiful physique! You bless people with your, um, what is it called. Bodybuilding!”
“I was thinking of rescuing people and using my spells to help them, but you just reminded me. Candi wants me to try out modeling with her. I’m not too sure of it, as I’m not super cute like her or intensely beautiful like Cherry.” Heather paused, “I don’t think it would be right or fair for me to compete for prizes in bodybuilding any more. Maybe they’d let me pose for exhibition.”
“Oh, my,” Iphigenia said happily. “I do hope they’ll let me watch.”
“It would be counterproductive if anyone was prevented from watching. People are going to look, anyway, so why not pose for them and make them happy? I’m not going to be one of those types who holds something in front of my face and jogs away from fans,” Heather replied. “I’ve got to think things through. People worship me as a good Goddess. If I treat them badly, they’ll shun me as an evil one. That would be the most awful thing I could imagine happening.”
Iphigenia nodded. “Wonderful! You would have made an excellent nymph, Heather.”
“I don’t think I possess all of the qualifications for that,” Heather replied.
The nymph looked at Heather for a minute. “It’s true,” she said. “You do have an overdeveloped sense of modesty.”
