Only one will remain - Chap 4
By Neptune
Construction Worker vs Army Officer

These stories follow the premise of the "Highlander" series, where 
super-natural beings fight to the death until only one remains.  Except 
in this case, the combatants are all women in or around LA and battle 
with their super-human strength as opposed to swords.  All of the women 
received their powers at the same time. 

Barb 

Barb surveyed the large pile of bags of cement mix laying on the palate 
before her.  She had been working on the pile for a while now, and it 
was much smaller than when she had started.  Looking at the palate, she 
wondered if she could lift the entire palate with the remaining bags 
over her head and carry it.  It sure would save time over her current 
methodology of carrying a few bags at a time.  The fact that she had to 
move them a good distance around to the other side of the site made the 
idea most appealing.  The large crane that was supposed to move the 
palate had never gotten there, and her prick of a foreman had told her 
that the job had to be completed that night.  They were scheduled to 
finish up the cement pouring tomorrow, and then they would move off the 
Army base and on to the next job. 

She had been doing the trip with a few bags at a time because of all the 
people around and her mandate to not display her power until locked in 
battle.  The fact that she could carry multiple bags at all made her 
special and a big hit with her male co-workers.  Of course, the fact 
that her body was covered in shapely muscles that she displayed in an 
array of too small work outfits helped with her popularity.  While she 
could not display all of her powers for everyone to see, there was no 
problem with her proving herself to be the strongest woman they had ever 
seen.  She went out drinking with the guys, and even picked a few bar 
fights with wussy men in bars to sharpen her skills and impress her co-
workers.  The fact that she had been intimate with most of the good-
looking men on the site also added to her appeal, as most of the men had 
an image of her perfect naked form etched forever in their memories. 

Now that the hour was growing very late, the number of people at the 
site had thinned noticeably.  In fact, as she looked around, she could 
see nobody around.  She grew excited at the prospect of using her full 
strength for the first time in a while.  As she stood over the large 
palate before her, she stretched and flexed her massive muscles in order 
to warm them up for the effort ahead.  She always loved the look and 
feel of her muscles as they engorged with blood due to flexing or 
lifting.  As she squeezed her muscles tighter, she kept pumping them 
until a network of veins crisscrossed the muscles.  When she could see 
the veins atop her amazing muscles pulsing with power, then she felt 
ready to attempt the incredible lift. 

She bent forward and easily tipped up the side of the palate, with the 
cardboard bags staying neatly piled atop it.  As her hands reached the 
center of the bottom of the palate, she focused her grip and then leaned 
backwards slightly to pull the other side slightly off the ground.  Then 
Barb drove her legs and arms upward with most of her might.  She was 
gratified to soon feel the massive weight supported over her head by her 
powerful arms.  As she looked up over her head, she easily balanced the 
huge palate above her and was slightly disappointed that the platform 
had not presented more of a challenge. 

Just for exercise, Barb dropped her arms slowly to bring the heavy 
palate to rest lightly on her head.  Then, with a grunt and a Herculean 
effort, she attempted to press the weight back up using only her pumped 
shoulders.  The palate refused to move initially, merely quivering in 
place in response to the force applied against it.  As Barb's muscles 
began to burn under the isometric strain of the weight, she knew that 
she would have to press it up soon or lose her chance entirely.  Barb 
closed her eyes and visualized her arms growing larger and easily 
pressing the weight overhead.  As she focused on that mental image, the 
pain in her muscles began to fade.  

Suddenly Barb could no longer feel the palate resting on her head, and 
she excitedly opened her eyes to see her pumped arms lifting the huge 
weight slowly but inexorably upward.  Barb felt almost as if she was 
outside herself watching the veins pulse as they provided more blood to 
her engorged muscles.  As her arms moved skyward and began to 
straighten, she became aware of the sweat streaming down her arms and 
forehead due to the exertion.  She knew that she had never looked sexier 
than she did right now, with her sweat-soaked work shirt clinging to her 
pumped torso and rendered nearly transparent from all the sweat.  When 
her arms were completely straight and the palate was supported overhead 
once more, she wished she could have a photographer document the moment. 

With the palate still held overhead, Barb marched over to the other side 
of the site where the rest of the bags were piled.  When she finally 
dropped it rudely to the ground, the wooden palate shattered under the 
impact of all the weight atop it.  Barb smiled as she remembered that 
all that weight that had shattered the wood had been no match for her 
incredible arms.  For no particular reason, she brought her still 
pulsing arms into a double bicep pose over the shattered wood in 
victory. 

Anne 

Anne arrived at the gate to the base that night in her car and held her 
credentials out the window for inspection.  The young enlisted woman 

who came to the car saluted the officer and then inspected the 
identification badges.  Anne noticed the surprise on the enlisted 
woman's face that the muscular arm that she had been immediately 
attracted to as it emerged from the car actually belonged to a woman.  
Then Anne recognized the look of jealousy on the other woman's face 
about the obvious physical perfection before her.  The enlisted woman 
silently waved Anne through the gate and returned to her post.  As Anne 
watched the scene in the rearview mirror, she could see the enlisted 
woman feeling her own flexed bicep with a look of disappointment on her 
face. 

Anne knew what the other woman was feeling.  Before she had become 
Super, she had been a lowly enlisted person in the Army.  She was 
searching for a specialty in her early years of training, something 
important and exciting rather than the communication or medic jobs 
common for women.  Unfortunately, the physical requirements of the 
exciting field action jobs were beyond most women.  

When Anne had received her powers, she had thrown herself into the heavy 
artillery division of the Army to become one of the few women to ever 
participate at that specialty.  Due to her physical skills, she was able 
to handle any of the duties previously thought to be men-only.  Her 
unique skills led her up the promotion ladder very quickly, and her 
officer status now was due almost entirely to her unique abilities for a 
woman.  Her mission this evening to inspect the progress of the firing 
range being constructed was in fact something of a reward assignment for 
her performance.  The chance to get away from the unit for a while, stay 
in a hotel, and visit the facility was a welcome break from the daily 
grind. 

Anne was hoping to get a look around the facility on her own tonight 
before her organized tour in the morning.  She wanted to have time to 
really inspect the quality of the fake buildings and shelters that were 
to be used for training for the artillery division.  She knew that the 
organized tour in the morning would be more of a presentation and 
discussion period, with little chance to get down and dirty and inspect 
the area.  She also hoped to use some of her powers to really inspect 
the quality of the construction and materials used to simulate real 
construction.  As she 

guided her car through the base toward the facility, she flexed her arm 
muscles against the steering wheel appreciating their obvious expansion 
beneath her uniform.  She wondered if her muscles could closely simulate 
the impact of artillery shells and bombs on quality construction. 

Battle 

As Barb stood over the pile of concrete mix bags flexing her biceps for 
nobody in particular, a strange sensation passed over her.  She began to 
feel her pulse quicken and her muscles start to flex tighter than she 
had ever felt them before.  As she looked back and forth at her wondrous 
peaks out to her sides, she noticed them tightening and growing larger 
than they had ever been before.  She pulsed her arms up and down to pump 
the muscles further, excited beyond belief at her sudden greater 
muscularity.  She also felt an inexplicable surge of strength, and for 
some reason she knew that the palate would be no challenge to her in 
this condition.  As she watched the network of veins become more defined 
across her straining muscles, she wondered what she had done to trigger 
this amazing transformation. 

Anne's grip on the steering wheel started to deform it as her muscles 
continued to flex.  As she continued driving to the facility, she felt 
her blood pressure rising and her muscles tightening.  She could not be 
sure under her uniform, but she felt that her muscles were growing as 
well.  Anne wondered what was happening to her that her already 
incredible strength would increase again.  Anne resolved to test her new 
strength on the unsuspecting facility to see what gains she had made on 
the trip in. 

As Anne rounded a corner in her vehicle, the facility came into sight in 
her headlights.  It was a maze of small buildings and bunkers, with 
construction equipment strewn all about.  As she pulled her car onto the 
edge of the facility, she could not see anyone around.  But when she 
opened the door of the car and emerged from the vehicle, she suddenly 
knew that a battle with another Super was at hand.  She flexed her hands 
and arms at her sides as she scanned the area searching for her 
opponent. 

Barb turned away from the destroyed palate and toward the entry area to 
the facility as she noticed headlights over there.  She maintained her 
incredible double bicep flex as she focused on the intruder.  When she 
saw a dim shape emerge from the vehicle behind the glare, the certainty 
that she was about to do battle hit her.  The excitement of the coming 
duel caused a smile to rip across her face, and she redoubled her bicep 
flex as 

she watched them to maximize her confidence.  Then she launched herself 
in the direction of her destiny. 

As Anne saw the shape of a formidable woman in a skin-tight outfit 
appear from the far end of the facility, she reached over to her 

government-issue vehicle.  Establishing a grip on the roof and the 
undercarriage of the car from the side, Anne easily heaved it over her 
head.  Then she cocked her hands back ready to heave the vehicle at the 
oncoming woman as soon as she was in range.  The thought about the Army 
losing a vehicle in the process did not bother her in the least. 

Barb saw the headlights she was running toward jerk suddenly, and then 
rise up into the air.  In a second, Barb realized that the new vertical 
configuration of the lights meant that her foe had a weapon while she 
did not.  Barb wasn't sure what would happen if she was hit by a car 
thrown at her by another Super, but she knew that she didn't want to 
find out.  She adjusted her approach angle slightly to get within range 
of some loose I-beams strewn on the ground.  She crouched down long 
enough to grab one without breaking stride and continued on toward the 
other woman. 

As soon as the other woman came into range, Anne heaved the car at her 
with all her might.  The car flew through the air like a missile on a 
direct course for the other woman.  For some reason, Anne did not feel 
confident that the car would prove a killing blow, so she bent over and 
found an I-beam of her own to brandish.  As she crouched down to reach 
the metal girder, she watched her government-issue vehicle home on its 
target.  

Barb saw the outlines of the vehicle and the headlights arcing toward 
her, but she had plenty of time to dodge.  Her powerful legs easily 
propelled her far enough to the side to escape injury.  For good 
measure, she struck the car in the door with her girder as it flew by.  
The sheer power of her blow crushed the door and sent the car off at 
another angle.  Barb marveled for an instant at yet another display of 
her increased strength, but quickly returned her attention to the battle 
at hand. 

Anne leapt at the woman as soon as it was clear that her missile had 
been dodged by her opponent.  Cocking her weapon behind her like a 
baseball bat, she was ready to send the other woman into orbit with her 
incredible surge in strength.  Anne slowed her headlong attack when she 
saw the other woman's own Super swing that sharply redirected her car.  
Anne considered that her foe must have at least comparable strength, and 
that a measured attack was probably best. 

The two combatants met under the metal framework of a medium-sized 
building still under construction.  They considered each other for an 
instant, both marveling at the awesome feminine muscularity of the 
other.  Then, seemingly in tandem, they both swung their girders at each 
other's heads in home run swings designed to be killing blows.  As each 
woman viewed the other's attack, they instinctively ducked their heads 
away from the swinging girders.  The two girders met between them with a 
resounding clang that sent shock waves up the tremendous arms of both 
women.  The impact in the center of the metal beams with such force 
caused the two girders to bend into horseshoe shapes around each other 
and lock together. 

Both women stood for an instant in confusion and shock over the impact 
that just occurred.  Barb recovered first and used the interlocked beams 
to her advantage.  With a tremendous flex of her shoulder and abdominal 
muscles, she spun in place and hurled the beams and her opponent behind 
her at incredible speed.  Anne's grip on the girder was so strong that 
she flew headlong with the interlocked beams until she came to a rude 
halt against one of the load-bearing vertical beams near the center of 
the large structure.  The incredibly strong beam was dented slightly by 
the impact, but Anne was winded when her abdominals were crushed against 
it at such speed.  Of course, without her Super abdominals, the impact 
would have likely chopped her in half. 

Barb pressed her advantage by rushing over to her fallen opponent, 
frantically searching the immediate vicinity for another weapon.  Barb 
kicked the fallen woman into the main vertical girder again, further 
damaging the officer's stomach area and the main girder.  A different 
metal sound almost like rattling occurred as the woman's body struck the 
girder once again.  When Barb looked upward for the source of the sound, 
she saw a stack of about 30 girders that were neatly piled on a section 
of the structure about three floors above them.  Thinking of the 
potential harm such a weapon could cause galvanized her into action.  

Barb crouched down and placed her shoulder into the bend created in the 
girder by her opponent's body.  Setting her feet behind her in a 
runner's starting stance, she then crushed her hands as best she could 
into the hard metal.  Then, with an animalistic roar, Barb unleashed all 
the power in her massive thighs and arms into the solitary metal beam.  
Barb was filled with a warm glow as she exerted all of her amazing 
strength against the seemingly immovable object, and she was excited to 
see pulsing veins began to appear in a network crisscrossing her pumping 
muscles. 

At first, the girder resisted her efforts.  The initial resistance to 
Barb's onslaught caused her veins to appear and her already pumped 
muscles to become truly engorged with blood.  Barb bit her lip as she 
watched the transformation of her body from world-class to truly Super.  
Her feet stayed in place as her quads pushed against the base of the 
metal, and her arms aided as they could pushing against the top of the 
beam.  When Barb saw the veins across her massive straining quads come 
into full view, she achieved an adrenaline burst and pushed with even 
more 

power.  This last mighty effort caused the metal to yield as it bent 
with a terrible noise and pulled out of the foundation at her feet.  
Barb fell forward as the resistance gave way suddenly, and she rolled a 
couple of times before coming to rest.  When she finally sat up, she was 
about ten yards away from where she had been. 

While it had seemed like an eternity to Barb and her screaming muscles, 
the entire process had taken only about 15 seconds.  In that time, Anne 
had recovered enough to regain her equilibrium and sit up.  
Unfortunately for her, she had not regained her wits enough to be aware 
of her surroundings.  When she heard the terrible noise of the main 
girder giving way, she saw her opponent rolling off into the distance 
and felt a momentary relief.  She never saw the pile of deadly metal 
beams that dropped on her from above as they were shaken off by the 
other woman's efforts.  The two heavy beams that struck Anne in the head 
from that height rendered her immediately unconscious, and the others 
just entombed her in a massive network of metal. 

When Barb saw her plan come to fruition and the beams bury her opponent, 
she jumped to her feet in excitement and resumed her double biceps flex 
from earlier.  Except this time, her muscles were pumped beyond belief 
from her earlier effort.  With the veins in full display along her peaks 
and the amazing size of her flexed muscles, Barb expected them to be 
sore to flex in this manner.  But the adrenaline she felt from impending 
victory hid any pain she might have felt and so she pumped her arms to 
the side over and over, willing her biceps and the veins atop them to 
grow even further. 

As Barb proudly maintained her double biceps flex next to the mass of 
steel before her, she instinctively became aware that her work was not 
finished.  Somehow she knew that her opponent could not yet be dead.  
Twisted into rage, Barb easily threw the massive beams before her aside 
in all directions.  Barb tunneled through the metal until she found the 
officer's broken body.  While she might not be dead, Barb could see that 
she was truly defeated.  Barb reached through the beams and took hold of 
the front of the officer's uniform.  Then she jerked the officer's body 
out of the pile, not bothering to do it carefully.  As Barb lifted the 
muscular woman's body aloft over her head with just one of her massive 
arms, she looked into the face of her adversary.  A feeling of something 
resembling pity came across Barb as she looked into the battered face of 
the woman over her head, but Barb knew that she had to finish the job to 
fulfill her destiny. 

Barb dropped to one knee and gently laid the body face up over the 
horizontal surface of her massive thigh.  Then Barb placed one hand on 
the woman's lower chest and the other on the woman's upper thighs.  
Then, with a grimace of effort, Barb began to push both arms down.  
Barb's traps and triceps inflated alarmingly as she applied terrible 
pressure to the officer's body.  Once again, Barb felt the rush of her 
muscles applied to their maximum and was rewarded with the apparent 
further inflation of her already massive arms.  As she continued to 
strain against the other Super's body, Barb felt another strength surge 
come over her when her adrenaline kicked in with the reappearance of her 
veins slithering over her straining muscles. 

Suddenly, with an audible snap, the officer's spine was shattered.  
Then, before Barb could make another move, a bright light filled with 
sparks surrounded both women.  The light grew so bright and the energy 
so overcame her that she closed her eyes.  Eventually, the crackling and 
the energy receded, and Barb opened her eyes to notice that her 
opponent's deceased body was gone from her leg.  Barb smiled with 
satisfaction and stood up, this time displaying her engorged traps in a 
most muscular crab pose in victory to nobody in particular.  Then Barb 
made her way off of the site, content that she had faced her destiny and 
survived to fight another day.  She walked off the site wishing she 
could go to the gym right now and test her strength to see specifically 
how much she could lift right now.  Or maybe test her strength against 
the actual gym structure itself_