User blog:MrTyeDye/Fanfiction: A Load of Bulk (Chapter 3)

[Part 1]

[Part 2]

Lana woke up the next morning as she typically did, with a good, hardy stretch. This time, however, she was knocked out of her drowsy spell by a piercing sound that rang out right next to her right ear - the sound of fabric tearing apart.

RRRRRIPPPPPPP

A bit perturbed, Lana looked to her right to see what the source of the noise was. To her surprise, in the middle of her stretch she had inadvertently flexed her right arm, causing her bloated bicep to tear right through her sleeve. A wide, open-mouthed grin broke out across Lana's face as she feasted her eyes upon her new muscle; it was definitely at least a half inch bigger than she remembered it being last night. Smirking, Lana looked to the other side and flexed her left bicep, and just like that, her left sleeve burst open, practically exploding off of her arm.

Now that's what I'm talking about! she thought. Look at these big babies!

But as she was admiring herself, she could sense someone else's gaze boring into her from the back of her head. She turned around to see Lola sitting up in her canopy bed, staring at her twin with a look of what was either horror or wonder - possibly both.

Lana looked back at her prissy sister, intent on making some kind of smug remark. But the more she looked at Lola's face, the more it seemed like she was... judging her. She couldn't help but notice a lingering sense of disgust in those gaping eyes, which triggered her ire.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped.

Lola let out a squeak and scurried away, cowering under her comforter. As soon as Lana saw her twin's timid reaction, her expression softened.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry, Lola. I just thought you were... um..."

Lana, sensing that her apology wasn't doing much good, just sighed and walked over to her dresser.

"Never mind," she muttered.

With that, she shed her pajamas, pulled a shirt and overalls out of her dresser and tried to squeeze herself into them. By the time she finally did, they were clinging to her figure so tightly that they looked like they were painted on. Figuring that her sleeves were going to be ruined anyway, Lana ripped them off, tearing the fabric as if it were made of wet tissue paper. The piercing rip quickly brightened her mood, serving as a reminder of how massive she had gotten.

Once that was through, she walked out into the hall, ready to show her new self off to the world. As she stepped out the door, though, the memory of her outburst against Lola continued to needle at her psyche. Maybe she was just surprised, she thought. I shouldn't have snapped.

She walked herself straight downstairs to the kitchen, ready to scour it for something to satiate her growing hunger. Browsing the pantry, she spied a box of Wheaties that was still mostly full.

''Ah, perfect. Wheaties, the breakfast of champions.''

She grabbed the box, grabbed a bowl, plopped them both on the table, and was just about to start pouring when an errant thought entered her mind.

Wait, aren't these Lori's? Maybe I should at least ask before taking some.

She was just about to put them back on the shelf, when her thought was countered by another one.

''Well, I don't see her name on it. And she never said we couldn't have any. Besides, I'm a growing girl. I need to keep this body fueled up.''

That was enough justification for her, so she poured herself a heaping bowl, added some milk, and chowed down. She helped herself to two and a half more bowls after that, leaving the box only a quarter filled by the time she was done with it.

''Ahh, that hit the spot. Let's see who else is up.''

Just as fate would have it, Leni happened to walk into the kitchen to grab herself some strawberry pop tarts. After she rooted through the pantry and grabbed a package, her tired eyes drifted over to Lana.

"Oh, good morning, Lan-eep!"

Leni clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her incoming yelp (so as not to wake any of her siblings who were still asleep), dropping one of her pop tarts on the floor in the process. In her defense, she hadn't expected to come face-to-face with such a behemoth first thing in the morning. She noticed that Lana was looking a bit bulky last night at dinner, but even this was beyond anything she remembered.

"Lana!" she said in a harsh whisper. "What happened to your... sleeves?"

Leni thought it would be rude to comment on her body, so she redirected her query towards a related but less sensitive topic. It was a legitimate question; the Loud family was on a budget, and they couldn't exactly afford to tear up their clothes whenever they felt like it.

Lana just put on a smug smirk, raised her right arm and started flexing and unflexing her bicep, making it bounce. "I tore 'em off," she said. "My arms just got too big for 'em."

"But-but, like, how?" squeaked Leni, shying away from the bicep as if it was going to bite her. "You're only six. Most boys my age don't have muscles that big."

Lana shrugged her thick, bulbous shoulders. "Then maybe they should start working out."

Leni shook her head. "No. No way. There's something going on with you, Lana. What have you been doing lately?"

A moment later, Lana's smirk had flipped upside down into a pointed scowl. "None of your business!" she barked. "Now leave me alone!"

The beefed-up tomboy hopped off her chair and stormed out of the kitchen, shoving Leni to the side and scooping up her dropped pop tart on the way. Once she got to the living room, she plopped herself down on the couch and gobbled down the pop tart without thinking twice. As soon as she polished it off, though, her irritation faded away, allowing her to contemplate it.

Where did that come from? she thought. ''Leni was just asking questions. What was I getting so angry about?''

On further reflection, it occurred to her that Leni was coming dangerously close to finding out about Lisa's formula - and if she stayed on her case for long enough, she very well might have.

''And then she would have snitched on you. You know she would. Little goody two-shoes always has to do what's right. Just forget about her.''

And just like that, her anger was rekindled. Fortunately, Lana knew exactly how she could blow off that excess steam: putting her new body through a little exercise. She briefly entertained the thought of finding things to lift, but she figured that she'd only be able to do that for so long before someone in the family started making a fuss. Instead, she headed out into the backyard, got on all fours and launched herself into a set of push-ups.

And another. And another. And another. And another.

To Lana's disappointment, push-ups just weren't all that challenging to her anymore. Her weight had increased by a significant degree, yes, but her gains in pound-for-pound strength were even greater. She was barely working up a sweat as her arms and pecs pumped out rep after rep. She tried sets of crunches and squats, and was met with more or less the same result.

Ugh, this isn't working! thought Lana, stomping the ground in frustration after finishing her umpteenth squat. ''There's gotta be something else I can do. But I'll still have to steer clear of nosy Leni. How, though? She could pop up almost anywhere. I'd have to hole up in the basement, or-''

Lana's face lit up. ''The basement! That's it!''

Lana was reminded that Lynn kept a fully stocked weight set down in the basement. It'd be the perfect place for her to put her muscles to the test, away from the prying eyes of others. Barely able to contain her excitement, she dashed through the living room and down the basement stairs, causing them to rattle and creak from the strain of her boosted girth. Once she laid her eyes upon that gym, she broke into an enormous open-mouthed grin, bubbling over with anticipation of what was to come. There, before her, was a fully stacked rack of dumbbells arranged in order of weight, plus a barbell and plate set positioned right next to a bench.

Go time. Lana spat into her hands, rubbed them together, and marched up to the weights, ready to get pumping. First, she grabbed a couple of five-pound dumbbells off the rack and started lifting them. As you'd expect, they provided virtually no resistance at all; it was as if she were handling two sticks of foam.

"Too light!" she cried, slamming them back on the rack. She grabbed a couple of twenty pounders and started pumping those instead. They were a good deal more challenging, but they still weren't giving her the "pump" that she needed. She dropped them back onto the rack, grabbed a forty pounder in each hand, and started pumping them up and down.

Oof...now that's more like it, she thought. This time, she could feel her muscles quiver and strain with each lift. She punctuated each rep with a tooth-clenched grunt, and she started to feel sweat seeping out of the pores in her forehead. After a couple sets, she could feel her biceps swelling bigger and bigger in response to the pressure, as her heart worked double time pumping blood to her engorged veins. By the fourth or fifth set, fatigue was starting to set in, and she was ready to give in... but one momentary glance at her beefy arms was enough to give her a second wind.

''Bigger! I want to be even bigger!''

Lana found the wherewithal to pump out two more sets of ten reps before letting the weights drop to the floor with a clang. Once the fatigue wore off and she could lift her arms again, she gave them a good, hearty flex. They were enormous. Two huge, pulsating, baseball-sized peaks, each lined with a thick, throbbing vein. Lana was so enamored with the sight of them, she almost would have been satisfied to stop working out and just watch them ripple all day.

Almost.

Lana, knowing that the rest of her deserved just as much attention, moved on to other exercises. Luckily, she still remembered how her parents put her and the other kids through weight training after they went all exercise-crazy, so she had a basic knowledge of standard exercises and proper form. She loaded up the barbell with three twenty-five pound plates on each end, hoisted it onto her shoulders, and did a few sets of squats. Then, she took that same barbell, carried it over to the bench and pressed the hell out of it. By then, her arms had more or less recovered from the fatigue of her bicep curls, so she went back to those - followed by another set of squats, and then another set of bench presses, and so on and so forth.

It took hours before she started running out of steam, and by then she was practically bursting out of her clothes. Tears were forming below the collar of her shirt because of her swollen pecs, and even the tough denim of her overalls was starting to give way to the expansion of her calves and thighs. It looked (and felt) as though a few flexes would leave her entire outfit in tatters, but as much as Lana wanted to test that, she resisted that urge for the sake of modesty.

Though that didn't stop her from getting in trouble - or almost getting in trouble, at least. Just as she was getting ready to go back upstairs, she heard a familiar, tomboyish voice calling out to her from the stairwell.

"Lana! What are you doing with my weights?!"

Lana turned around to see an irate-looking Lynn bounding down the stairs. "You know better than to handle my weights without asking!" she scolded as she descended the stairs. "I mean, you could've hurt yourself if I hadn't - AIYEE!"

All of the anger Lynn felt in that moment was replaced by shock once she got a good look at Lana's post-workout body.

Lynn had always prided herself on her exceptional fitness and muscularity, no doubt a product of the myriad sports she played and her regular use of that weight set. Lana, though... Lana, as of now, was on a whole other level. In all aspects except height, she made Lynn look downright puny.

"Lana, you're... you're... huge!"

Lana laughed, causing her powerful chest to bob up and down. "Pretty cool, huh?" she asked. "I mean, look at me! I'm the strongest kid in the world!"

Lynn didn't have any doubt that that was true - even if you expanded your definition of the word "kid" to include high schoolers. All of a sudden, she felt awfully silly for trying to lecture Lana about being careful not to hurt herself, since she looked to be strong enough to handle the heaviest weights in her set as if they were stuffed animals. Clearly, there was no risk of her "hurting herself", unless she dropped a weight on her foot.

But there was one question lingering in the back of Lynn's mind: how? What kind of genetics would let Lana get this massive and this strong in such a short time? Unless... had her growth been happening for months, under everyone's radar?

"Lana, when did you start working out?" asked Lynn.

"Yesterday," Lana said plainly.

Lynn shook her head vigorously, as her brain not only failed but refused to process what she just heard. Even if she was going to accept that Lana could get that big, there was no way she'd be able to do it in so little time.

"Lana, I... this isn't normal," said Lynn, as her throat started to dry up. "I think maybe we should take you to the doctor. You know, so he can see what's wrong with you."

Lana shot Lynn a biting glare so vicious that it made her flinch. "I think you're just jealous!" she cried, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "You wanna be the strongest one in the house, and now you're mad 'cause I am! Well, get used to it, scrawny!"

Lana capped off her statement by puffing out her enormous chest, causing an audible rip as the tears in her shirt widened. Lynn cringed at the sight, shrinking away from her "little" sister.

"I-I'm not jealous, okay? I'm just concerned for, you know, your well being. That's all."

Though Lynn wouldn't admit it, Lana's new transformation did make her feel a little self-conscious about her own body, and the "scrawny" epithet certainly didn't help. Figuring that it wouldn't hurt for her to squeeze in a workout, she started to shuffle towards the weight set.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna grab a couple of those twenties and-"

"No!" barked Lana. She threw her arms around the dumbbell rack and leered at Lynn, baring her teeth. "Mine!"

Lynn was so taken aback by Lana's outburst that she was nearly taken off of her feet. This wasn't the first time Lynn saw this kind of behavior from Lana, but it was the first time in quite a while. She still remembered Lana's infamous "Mine!" phase from a few years back, in which she'd get overly possessive of anything within her reach, even if it wasn't actually hers. But she grew out of it by the time she was three and a half, and Lynn never expected that she would relapse.

"Wha... what the heck was that, Lana?!"

Lana let out a gasp and un-furrowed her brow. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head from side to side, as if she were snapping herself out of a trance. Once she opened them again, her animalistic expression was replaced by a sheepish, bewildered one.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I-I don't know what came over me."

Before Lynn could respond, she started to walk out of the room, shuffling past Lynn with her head down and her hands folded in front of her. "You can use the weights. I'll share."

Lynn wanted to argue that they weren't hers to share in the first place, but decided not to press the issue further and let her go. Lana, meanwhile, stumbled through the kitchen in a haze and out into the backyard, where she collapsed onto her knees, grabbing fistfuls of her straw-blonde hair.

''First Lola, then Leni, now Lynn? What is happening to me? '' Lana knew it was only a matter of time before her mood swings would start getting her into trouble - if she didn't learn to control them soon, at least. The problem was that she didn't know if she could, so she'd have to seek out help. And if she sought out help from her family, they'd start asking her lots of questions, which meant that she would eventually have to come clean about stealing from Lisa. She shivered, knowing full well how much trouble that would land her in.

I'll just keep myself under control, she thought. ''Yep. Self-control. I don't have to-''

Lana's thought process was interrupted by a low rumbling sound coming from her abdomen. It occurred to her that she hadn't eaten since she ventured downstairs, and was starting to get pretty peckish.

Time to refuel, she thought as she walked back into the kitchen. A big girl's gotta eat, after all.

She opened the door to the fridge, to find a cornucopia of miscellaneous foodstuffs. Cold cuts, apples, hummus, a container of kimchi, a couple of leftover enchiladas from when they ordered Mexican a few nights ago, some spinach puffs wrapped in tinfoil... Lana salivated at the sight of such a selection.

Eventually, she settled on the spinach puffs. Most people would have opted to heat them up before eating them, but Lana showed no such concern, unwrapping the tinfoil and gulping each of them down in one bite. She shuddered with pleasure from the smooth, flaky texture of the crust and the pungent flavor of the spinach and feta. However, that pleasure proved to be short-lived, as she realized that she still wasn't even close to being satiated.

The enchiladas were next to go, as she grabbed them out of the fridge, squeezed them together and gobbled both of them up at once. But even that wasn't enough, and Lana continued to grab random items out of the fridge, without ever stopping to ask herself whether they were communal or reserved for someone else. By the time she was through, she had made a massive dent in the fridge's storage.

Ahh, that was nice, she thought, sighing with relief as she wiped her face clean. Back to the weights, I guess!

But just as she was about to make her way down to the basement, she overheard murmuring coming from upstairs. Curious, she decided to follow the noise and investigate it.

As she walked across the living room, the murmuring grew clearer and clearer. By the time she started walking up the stairs to the second floor, she recognized the voice as Lynn's. Ascending the stairs, she was able to decipher what she was saying.

"...and then, when I tried to grab some of the weights, she snarled at me! Like an animal!"

Lana cringed, knowing full well who she was talking about.

"She snapped at me, too," spoke a third voice - Lola's. "I think there's something going on with her."

"Oh, totes," spoke a third voice - Leni's. "I mean, have you seen her? Like, she's always been a little husky, but now she's... she's massive! Bigger than most men, even!"

"Way bigger," said Lynn. "It's just not normal for a six-year-old to be this size. I'm gonna talk to mom and dad about taking her to the doctor. There's gotta be some reason for these growth spurts and mood swings."

Lana gnashed her teeth at the mention of the doctor, and gripped the bannister in rage until it started to splinter and crack. Oh, no, they won't! I'm not gonna let them take me to some stupid doctor!

Lana didn't trust doctors in general; they always tried to talk to her like she were their best friend, even though she only saw them once every few months. It didn't help that a trip to the doctor often meant getting a shot, and the very thought of someone sticking her with a needle gave her the willies. But in this context, the prospect of getting dragged to the doctor made her blood boil. She knew that the doctor would poke her and prod her until he found Lisa's formula in her system, and then he'd probably give her some drug that would shrink her back.

Well, nuts to them! she thought, as she took her hand off the now-mangled bannister and stomped down the stairs with such force that the photos on the wall rattled from the impact. I like being big, and if they have a problem with it, they can go kick rocks!

With her newfound fury fueling her, she made a beeline back towards Lynn's weight set in the basement. Once she got there, she grabbed a couple of forty-pound dumbbells off the rack and started curling them alternately. This, however, only caused her ire to swell.

"They're... too... LIGHT!" she roared, slamming them back down onto the rack. In a fit of frustration, she loaded up the barbell with several twenty five-pound plates (not bothering to count them), and then lifted it up and started curling it to her chest. She actually felt a burn this time, which encouraged her to power through.

''Come on, Lana! No pain, no gain!'' she thought. ''Bigger! Bigger! BIGGER!''

The workout would continue on for several more hours, including the intermittent breaks she had to take to give her body time to repair itself. With every set completed, every time she re-racked the barbell and every drop of sweat she had to mop off of her brow, she could feel herself growing more powerful. Unfortunately, since there were no mirrors in the basement, she didn't really have any way to gauge her progress. Even so, she was certain that by the time she finished, she'd be too strong for anyone to push her around or tell her what to do.

Drag me to the doctor, will they? she thought bitterly as she bench pressed the hell out of a Schwarzenegger - caliber barbell. When I'm through with them, they'll be the ones who need a doctor.

Lana was so caught up in her iron-pumping frenzy that the afternoon and early evening flew by without her noticing. Before she knew it, she heard the familiar call for dinner coming from the dining room.

"Kids! Pizza's here!" called Lynn Sr.

Her determined scowl curled up into a stoked grin at the mere mention of pizza. She dropped the barbell mid-curl, letting it crash to the floor with a thundering clang, and sprinted up the stairs as fast as her brawny legs could carry her.

But her good mood was cut short once she took her seat at the table and noticed that at least half the family was staring at her. Scanning her eyes across the room, she picked up expressions that ranged from shock to horror to disgust to fear. Every time she caught a stare in her direction, she was sure to respond with a rigid glare, daring the other party to say a word.

A stony, uncomfortable silence blanketed the room for the bulk of the meal, as everyone else at the table was clearly perturbed by Lana's monstrous transformation but too intimidated to say anything. Occasionally, she'd hear her parents exchanging worried whispers, and there was little doubt in her mind who they were talking about.

But it was only a matter of time before the silence had to be broken. As was typical for pizza nights, they came to a point when everyone in the family had received one slice, but there was still one left over. Normally, this would be their cue to launch themselves into a cacophonous argument over who should get it. This time, all they could do was choke out half-formed mutters and let their eyes wander around the table, praying that someone else would muster up the courage to broach the subject.

"W-well, maybe I should have it," croaked Lincoln, tentatively reaching for the slice. "I... I haven't had the last one in a long time. I think-"

"Nah, I'll take it," said Lana, reaching her huge arms across the table. "I need the energy the most."

But just before her hand touched the slice, her eyes moseyed over towards Lincoln. Once their eyes made contact, she flashed him a wicked grin.

"Orrrrrr," she sang, "maybe we can compete for it."

She plopped her elbow down on the table and extended her hand towards Lincoln, making a "come hither" gesture with her fingers. "How about an armwrestle?"

Lincoln gulped, withdrawing his arm from the table and clasping it with his opposing hand. To say that Lana's arm dwarfed his would be an understatement; it was like comparing a twig to a steel girder.

"What's the maaaatter?" she sneered. "Afraid of losing to your baby sister?"

Beads of sweat started to multiply on Lincoln's brow, as he realized that there was no way out of his predicament; Lana would get her armwrestle, one way or another. Trembling with trepidation, he forced himself to set his arm down on the table and lock hands with Lana. As they did, some of the sisters averted their eyes from the massacre that was sure to ensue.

"One..." growled Lana, giving Lincoln's hand a squeeze that made him wince in pain. "Two... three... GO!"

As soon as the word "GO!" left her lips, she slammed Lincoln's hand down to the table as hard as she could. A heavy bang was heard once Lincoln's hand collided with the table, which was followed by two sharper, more piercing sounds. The first was a high-pitched popping sound that Lana's ears were barely able to pick up. The second? Her older brother's blood curdling scream.

Lana flinched at the sound and instinctively drew her hand back, freeing Lincoln from the table. Lincoln continued to howl in pain, clutching his arm.

"Oh, stop being such a crybaby," said Lana. "You're just-"

Lana's chiding was cut short once she got a good look at the damage she did. Up until then, she was under the impression that her stunt had left Lincoln with, at worst, a bruise. But to her horror, she saw that the arm she slammed down was now bent at an unnatural angle, curving outward instead of inward. It looked like someone had detached Lincoln's arm from his body and then reattached it backwards. The very sight of it made Lana nauseous.

What have I done?!

"I think she dislocated his arm!" cried Lynn, rushing to Lincoln's side. This only caused Lana's guilt to swell even further; she didn't quite know what "dislocated" meant, but it sounded pretty serious. The very idea that she did such a thing - to her own brother, no less - made her stomach lurch.

"Lincoln, are you okay?!" cried Luna.

"Oh, no, my baby!" cried Rita. "Lori, call 911. Everyone else back off and give him some air!"

Lynn, Luna and Rita then escorted Lincoln out of the dining room, desperately trying to shush him and calm him down. Lana began to speak up, and was immediately met with scolding scowls and glares from all across the table.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I-I didn't mean it! Honest!"

She wasn't lying. By no means did she intend to hurt Lincoln to the extent that she did; all she wanted to do was show him (and by extension, the rest of the family) who was boss.

But her apology fell on deaf ears. The rest of the table started berating her in unison, with her father and sisters shouting over each other as they all tried to chastise her at once. Every time Lana tried to get a word in, someone else at the table would shout her down.

"I said I'm sorry-" "I was just trying to-" "I promise I'll-" "I would never-"

Eventually, her feelings of guilt started to get overwhelmed by a new feeling of frustration, which swelled larger and larger each time her attempt to speak for herself was interrupted. Her tone of voice, once apologetic and sheepish, became snippy and defensive.

"Yeah, well-" "If I could just-" "Why can't you let me-" "I'm not-"

Finally, having reached the end of her patience, she banged the table with her fists and shouted out a sentence so loud and audacious that it stopped the rest of her family in their tracks.

"Well, maybe it's his fault for being so weak!"

Before any of them could respond, she stood up from the table and stormed out of the room, shoving her sisters out of the way as she passed. The thump of her feet colliding with the floor as she stomped towards the stairs echoed throughout the entire house. Once she got to her room, she slammed the door, collapsed onto her knees and pounded her her fist against the ground.

"They're jealous," she snarled. "They're all out to get me 'cause they're scared and jealous."

She lumbered up to her bed and threw herself on top, continuing to stew in her own bitterness. "They wouldn't even let me say sorry! All they wanna do is yell, yell, yell!"

In the midst of her ranting, she caught a glimpse of her amphibious companion, Hops, perched on her bedpost and giving her a perturbed look. Lana gave him a growl, causing him to let out a frightened croak and leap back into his terrarium.

"Oh, don't you turn against me too!"

When she, naturally, got no response from Hops, she gave off a snort before jumping up onto her bed and hammering her mattress as she landed. She was starting to develop a bit of a headache - probably from getting herself so worked up, she guessed - but she figured that it would fade away after a good night's sleep.

"Well, fine," she huffed. "If everyone's gonna treat me like a bully, I'll start acting like one."

August 1

8:30 p.m.

''Well, I just got through another day of observation. The good news is that the formula hasn't worn off yet. The rat's strength and musculature are continuing to grow. The bad news is that I'm noticing some other, troubling side effects. The rat, who was previously sociable and even-tempered, is becoming irritable and confrontational. Several times today, it bit and scratched me when I tried to handle it. It's also becoming extremely territorial, claiming any nearby object as its own and hissing at anyone who tries to come near it.''

''I hypothesize that the formula may somehow be triggering increased stimulation of the amygdala. I'll have to investigate this further to see what could possibly be causing it, and if there's a way to alleviate the side effect.''

''If the side effects continue to worsen, I may have to abort the experiment, and I've fortunately conceived of a way to do just that. Before starting the experiment, I concocted a reversal agent that can nullify the effects of the formula, effectively cancelling it out. I'll use it if I have to, but I certainly hope that I won't.''

- Lisa M. Loud