Veronica and the Cube

The following story was written and illustrated by KissTheManiac over on Deviant Art, and was inspired heavily by my story Best Friends For Never (part 1 here), I?ve taken it and done a little editing to post the story here.

You can find his original work on Deviant Art at this link.

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Veronica Lodge had never seen anything like it before. The day started like countless other ordinary summer vacation days spent with her best friend Betty Cooper. Her latest attempt to steal the attention of Archie Andrews was interrupted by an earth-shattering noise.

Veronica and her friends' attention were focused on what appeared to be a giant hole open in the sky. Veronica could see that on the other side of the hole, a battle was ensuing. It was hard to make out, due to how far away the hole was in the sky, but it looked like an army of blue-skinned aliens were fighting against an opposing army of green-skinned aliens. Her attention quickly diverted to a bright object shooting through the hole and straight towards the beach. As the object impacted the sand, it created a deafening explosion that caused most of the occupants of the beach to flee in panic. Veronica, although slightly rattled, could not be more curious about the mysterious bright light.

Despite Betty nagging her that they should not go anywhere near where it, Veronica made her way to where the object had impacted the earth. It was as if there was some other-worldly power calling her to it. Arriving at the impact spot, Veronica found what looked to be a glowing cube settled gently into the sand. What was strange about the scene was that despite creating an explosion that could be heard from where Veronica had been standing, the ground around the cube appeared to be unaffected as if nothing had happened.

Against more nay saying from Betty, Veronica took the cubes into her hands. The cube itself emitted a bright glow and mysterious energy swirled and pulsed inside. She couldn't help but think that as she looked into the cube, it was somehow looking into her as well. It was as if the cube was looking into the deepest corners of Veronica's mind, asking what she desired the most in this world.

Her deep trance was abruptly interrupted as Betty in her nagging tone suggested that the authorities should be contacted and the object itself should be examined by experts. Veronica however calmly responded that no actions would be necessary as the cube seemed completely harmless. She suggested that no one needed to be contacted and that everyone should just forget about what they saw and move on with their lives.

Betty wasn't convinced though, she felt this strange cube and the hole in the sky were too bizarre to pass off as something forgettable. When she got back to the spot where she and her friends were hanging out at the beach, she tried to bring up the subject with anyone she could. Strangely though, not a single one of her friends could ever remember a giant hole or bright light shooting into the beach despite it happening less than a few hours earlier.

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Part 2

Betty woke up the next morning to her cell phone ringing. Veronica wanted her to come to Lodge Mansion as soon as she could. As she made her way to Veronica's house, she went through the events of yesterday in her head. While at the beach with her friends, a giant hole opened up in the sky and a mysterious cube landed on the beach. Yet she had been the only one to remember this happening. What was even stranger was that there was no mention of the event on any of the news channels. Had she been caught in the middle of some conspiracy? Were some government agents going to show up on her doorstep one day and take her away for questioning? Maybe Veronica could help her make sense out of the situation.

As she pulled up to Lodge Mansion, she couldn't help noticing it looked different from how she remembered it the countless number of times she had visited it in the past. Even stranger was that when she knocked at the door it wasn't Smithers, who had been the Lodge Family's loyal butler for as long as she could remember, who answered the door. Her confusion had apparently been expected as the butler who answered the door was not phased in the slightest by her look of confusion.

"Ms. Lodge has been expecting you, this way Ms. Cooper." he calmly said.

As she walked through the hallways of the Mansion, she couldn't shake the feeling of how unfamiliar it had looked to her. Her trance of confusion was abruptly interrupted as she heard a familiar voice.

"Thank you Jarvis, if you don't mind I would like to have a private conversation with Betty," the voice said

As Smithers bowed to take his leave, he gestured Betty into the room. What came next took her already abundant confusion to a whole new level.

Placed on top of a body standing over 6 and a half feet tall and weighing almost 400lbs of dense but finely sculpted muscle was the familiar face of her friend Veronica. In the truest sense of her fashionista nature, she was garbed in a fine red dress cropped to show off her now generous cleavage and robust arm musculature. A pair of thigh-high boots struggled to contain her seismic quads and beefy calves and a pair of satin gloves wrapped around her massive forearms and stretched to their limits as they came around her gigantic upper arms. In her hand was the strange glowing cube that had landed on the beach yesterday. The sight of her Olympian physique almost caused Betty to faint, but she held on to consciousness as best she could.

"I must apologize for the drastic changes around you.? Veronica said, ?I would have liked to have kept things the way they were, but me in this world wanted to renovate and requested Smithers to stay with Mommy and Daddy in their retirement to Europe. Jarvis is from... well... far away, he wasn't being used much there. Something about being replaced by a computer, the details kind of get muddy."

A million questions started swirling though Betty's mind but before she could take a breath in to start speaking, Veronica interrupted her.

"I know you have many questions about the new and unfamiliar world around you. It would take far too much time to explain every change individually so I'll simplify it by explaining the source." She said as her gaze glanced down to the object in her hand.

"The cube." Betty gasped.

"Yes the cube," Veronica said in response "it looked into my mind and changed the world to make my deepest desires a reality."

"So the Lodge Family fortune is now completely yours, and you possess a body that is as strong as you are wealthy. How incredibly selfish of you." Betty spat, "Let me guess, Archie is now solely yours and you're the most unanimously popular girl in school?"

Veronica couldn't help but let out a small giggle. "Oh Betty, such trivial things are a concern of the past. The cube has potential to do so much greater good for the world. Besides, my popularity at Riverdale High is a long fleeting concern as I graduated years ago."

Veronica continued, "To use my family's wealth for the greater good, Lodge Industries needed to be out from under Daddy's control. His selfish nature would only allow the company to focus on acquiring more profit while dodging as many taxes as it could. In this reality, I have a genius intellect which allowed me to graduate High School and College before my 10th birthday. With several advanced degrees in engineering and theoretical physics, I was able to advance Lodge Industries into the new millennium. The quickly budding prodigy of the Lodge Family became a media darling, which allowed me to easily assume control of the company and force Daddy into retirement. With the company completely under my control, I used the company's money in a much more responsible manner in the public's eyes. Through the company, I donated to several charities, funded construction of several hospitals across the country, and started campaigns to aid impoverished nations. Despite all the good Lodge Industries has been doing, there still remains all the darker aspects of the business world. In this world, Lodge has become a leading manufacturer in military weaponry. And for all the good it does, Lodge still has some unfair business practices that help keep it thriving."

"This still doesn't explain why you're a giant amazon." Betty questioned.

Veronica glanced at her arm as she gave a small flex of her bicep, the ball of muscle swelling in response.

"Oh this?" She casually commented "Admittedly, this is a bit of the selfish nature of my desires. As you know, I always want to be the best at whatever I can. In this world I am the best at everything I do, this includes athletics. This 6'10", 375lbs body is the peak of human athleticism. The Veronica Lodge you see in front of you was the all-star athlete of all the High School and College female teams, as well as some of the male ones that she could legally compete in. She also holds every major weightlifting record in the world, regardless of gender."

Veronica took a brief pause with a slight flash of disappointment.

"I hold numerous track and field records, but sadly I can't hold them all. This gargantuan body, as unnaturally agile as it is, still falls prey to much smaller frames in sprinting events. At first I had a body that had pure athletic dominance, but I feel this one commands a lot more respect" She said as she squeezed her bicep tighter, causing the muscle to bulge to even greater size.

Betty gave an inquisitive glance and as if reading her mind Veronica responded "I'm gaining greater control over the cube's power, I'm able to change reality with my conscious mind rather than relying on the cube to read my subconscious desires. I'm now able to change the world in much finer detail, like this..."

At the end of that statement, Betty felt an odd jump in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly she realized she wasn't wearing the same form fitting cotton blouse she put on this morning. She looked down to find she was now wearing a t-shirt with Veronica's face on it.

This was enough to push Betty over the edge.

"You have all this power, yet you still use it for personal gain! You say you want to help the world, but there are still wars, there are still impoverished nations, there's still famine and disease! All you've done is to help make the world better for you!" She angrily exclaimed, "Nothing has changed Veronica, all this power and you're still as selfish as ever!"

As Betty angrily stormed out of the room, Veronica glanced down at the cube with a slight sense of disappointment. Despite all the good she has done for this world, there were still some evils needed to be purged. With renewed determination, she vowed she would use her growing control over the cube to remake this world until it was perfect. Then she would show Betty that the cube had found the right person.

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Part 3

Betty was startled from her sleep by the sound of an unfamiliar alarm. Looking around, her surroundings were completely foreign to her. The room looked like something out of a science fiction movie, everything in the room constructed out of a firm white plastic. Reaching into the back of her mind, she concluded this was in fact her room. Her room was a single-person dormitory in the Riverdale Intermediate Education Facility. She realized that the grip on her previous life in Riverdale was slowly ebbing away as Veronica made more changes to the world.

Reaching into the newly formed memories of the world she now lived in she familiarized herself with her new reality. Riverdale, as with many cities around the world, is what people would consider a utopia. Science has advanced several thousand years into the future and the world now lives united as one. The world's population is divided into two classes, the ordinary humans and the greatly advanced ?sir.

The ordinary population, which Betty was part of, lived without responsibility. The advancement in science had removed the necessity of menial labor, robotics had taken over all of these tasks. The ordinary population was educated to take over the mid-level management positions. All upper-level management and politics were the responsibility of the ?sir.

The ?sir were the genetically gifted side of humanity. They were the result of advancements in the science of genetic research. Isolating the peak of human genetics, mankind created a breed of humans superior to the ordinary population in every aspect.

But as with every good thing, there was always a darker side to things. There was an underground militant rebellion that believed this utopian world was nothing but a sham. Their belief was that the ?sir were subjugating the ordinary population. Their militant front however, had been easily thwarted due to the superior physiology of the ?sir.

The ?sir were stronger, faster, and vastly smarter than the ordinary population. A single unarmed ?sir trained as a soldier could overtake a group of more than 20 armed ordinaries. Most regard this as a boogeyman tale to instil fear of the ?sir into the ordinary population as a means to keep them in line.

Betty?s knowledge of this was due the fortune (or possibly due to some other worldly power) that her educational path was in ?sir/Ordinary Population relations with a specialization in propaganda. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the warning bell for morning classes.

As she walked down the hallway, she couldn't help but notice how different her surroundings looked. The plain white walls of the Education Facility, combined with her plain grey uniform couldn't shake the feeling that maybe the rebellion's propaganda might hold some truth to it. As she made her way down the hall, she caught a glimpse of a few ?sir students. From her memories she knew that ?sir teenagers attended intermediate education alongside the ordinary population to aid the relationship between the two classes.

?sir teenagers on average stood above 7 feet in height and weighed in excess of 500lbs, all of it densely packed muscle. Deceptive to their bulk, their bodies were incredibly agile and their minds are incredibly sharp. Every ?sir student would be considered top of their class if they were included in grading scale, their exclusion was a means to encourage the ordinary teenagers to perform at the best of their abilities.

The faces she passed were familiar from her previous life. Faces like Ginger Lopez, Reggie Mantle, and Veronica's cousins Marcy and Harper. It was strange seeing Harper out of her wheelchair and Marcy without her trademark glasses, although it made sense as Harper's accident never happened and the ?sir's superior genetics gave Marcy superior vision. But things got stranger as she saw faces like the formerly overweight Brigitte Reilly with a body of massive muscle; and Midge Klump, who previously had only stood shoulder height to Betty, but could now rest her generous bosom on top of Betty's head. Things started to become infuriating once she saw Veronica's rival Cheryl Blossom and her brother Jason striding down the hallway graced with ?sir physiques and a superior sneer on their faces.

As if on cue, the next face she saw was Veronica. To somewhat of her relief, her crush Archie Andrews was one of the ordinary population however he was ogling Veronica who either didn't notice his glances or pretended not to. As she made her way to confront Veronica, Archie made an attempt to stop her.

"Betty, what are you doing?!" He exclaimed, "You know that ordinary students aren't allowed to interact with the ?sir students!"

"I think this might be an exception to the rules." she calmly responded.

Standing before Veronica she took in the sight of her, admiring it with some reluctance. Standing 7'5" and weighing 585lbs of monolithic muscle, Veronica was a sight to behold. Taking the Education Facility's leniency on ?sir dress code, Veronica wore a simple red bikini with a pair of white heels and pink gloves. As the queen bee of the school, she took every opportunity to flaunt her superior physique over the ordinary population as well as her fellow ?sir students. Looking down at Betty, who she could see just past her giant breasts, she gave a confident smirk.

"What's the meaning of this Veronica?" Betty spat.

"I have no idea what you talking about." Veronica coyly responded.

"Don't play stupid with me," Betty said with a bitter sharpness. "You could have included me and Archie into the ?sir population. But being the selfish bitch you are, you kept us with the ordinary population."

"Oh Betty, you again jump to the conclusion that this is about some petty feelings of selfishness." Veronica responded, completely placid to Betty's anger.

With a wave of her hand, the glowing cube materialized in front of her.

"As I absorb more of the cube's power, the secrets of the universe are beginning to unfold before my eyes. My desires have transcended the petty needs of ordinary humans. This world has moved beyond the need for money. Without the hunger for capital greed, the world has completely united as a single whole. Mankind is free of disease, poverty, famine. Sure there's the rebellion. But they're easily held at bay by our superior ?sir soldiers." She calmly said.

Veronica looked down at Betty and smiled.

"I can see how your petty ordinary brain would perceive this segregation of class is unfair. I mean, we ?sir do have some perks." as she finished that statement, she gave a casually rhythmic flexing of her pecs. "But we are being more than charitable to you ordinaries. We've completely taken any responsibility and political decision making away from you, the ordinary population lives a completely stress free life."

With a casual flick of her wrist, the cube vanished. She turned her attention back to Betty, giving a coy smile in her direction.

"Besides, you being part of the ordinary population is to your benefit." Veronica added.

"In what way is this to my benefit?" Batty frustratingly exclaimed.

"Firstly, you were supposed to be part of the ?sir population. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn't make Archie-kins part of the ?sir population. No matter how much I tried to include him, the cube kept stopping me with the warning that his inclusion could cause an accidental tear in reality. I suppose Archie is just to plain a person to be part of superiority. Secondly, you're much happier with this configuration of reality. You as an ?sir were what in our ascended sense of emotion would have been considered 'mopey'. You still had a crush on Archie; nothing sexual, more along the lines of how a girl would love to have a cute pet puppy. But in our segregated classes could never be with him, so you spend most of your time resigning to your studies rather than spend time with us ?sir girls. Thirdly, the ordinary population has a much more fulfilling sexual lifestyle. ?sir fuck on a much more casual basis, kind of like bonobos or chimpanzees. Our mental state has ascended beyond the need for companionship, so sexual interaction is more of a pleasure activity when we're in need or just bored. Plus, due to our class having many more responsibilities compared to the ordinary population, we have no time for a significant other in our lives. And lastly, you ordinaries have a much less stressful lifestyle. You have plenty of time in your lives to finish your leisurely 9 to 5s and come home to a lifestyle without worry, regret, or fear. All in all, I should be the one envious of you. So just admit you're wrong, sit back, and enjoy the good life Betty."

With a look of absolute rage Betty once again lost control

"Has your 'ascended' sense of morals blinded you even more?!" She exclaimed. "Your selfishness has only grown with your power. The population's class segregation is even worse than when money was involved, and the lower class is just as angry. This is an even perverse version of a 'ruling class' than what used to exist. This reality you've created is a hell on earth compared to what we used to live in and I don't want to live in it. I'm going to join the rebellion, and I'm going do my damnedest to make sure you ?sir go down."

As Betty once again angrily strode off, Veronica couldn't help but once again feel disappointed. She again tried to do what's best for the world, but she couldn't make everyone happy. The world was free of disease and had progressed into the height of achievement far sooner than anyone from before she changed it could have dreamed. With a relinquishing sigh, she knew what needed to be done. She knew she had to stop being selfish and truly be charitable to the world.

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Part 4

Betty woke up a bit confused. She could have sworn in the dream she had the previous night, she was walking through a heavenly white hallway and had an argument with the Goddess Veronica. She shrugged the idea off as a ridiculous fantasy, and would remember not to eat so much before she went to bed. After padding away the wrinkles in the leather covering on her bed of straw, she put on a clean fur and said her morning prayers to the Goddess.

Upon exiting her hut, she stretched herself and letting out an audible grunt of satisfaction. She took a moment to enjoy the morning sunlight and take in the scenery. She lived in the village of Riverdale, a small but lively village. Although the village itself was very self-sufficient, it was the Goddess that facilitated the needs of the people.

The Goddess ensured that every loyal village thrived, so long as they prayed to her. If the crops were dying due to a dry spell, a prayer to the Goddess would be answered with rain. If meat stores were running dangerously low, a prayer to the Goddess would bring an incoming herd to the hunting grounds. If building supplies were in short supply, a prayer to the Goddess would bring visions of where a thriving forest nearby could be located.

Betty herself had a few of her prayers answered in the past. Once when she was journeying with her selected mate Archie, she got lost in the dense wood. Growing very hungry and without any edible plants around her, she prayed to the Goddess for aid. Her prayer was answered with a vision of a fruit-bearing tree nearby to her. She found the tree and ate its fruit, she found it to be the sweetest fruit she had ever tasted. In her humility, she would have graciously taken just a berry patch. She gratefully thanked the Goddess for this act of charity and has never missed her daily prayer since.

The village of Riverdale saw many visitors, some making months long journeys from across the world. It was believed that the Goddess Veronica was born where Riverdale lay. The ancient scriptures told of the heavens, which the people named Hiram, merged with the earth, named Hermione by the people. At the point where the two converged, the Goddess Veronica was birthed from the void. With might of her indomitable form, she tilled the earth and brought down water from the clouds to give earth its form. Scriptures told the Goddess crafted the human race from a single hair from her head planted into the soil of the earth. It was believed the first humans grew out of the soil, using the Goddess's form cast in shadow against the sun as inspiration for their shape. These first humans, with guidance from the Goddess, traveled to where she was born and formed the first village which they named Riverdale. As was written in the scriptures, Riverdale is the holiest of holy cities. It was believed that a prayer from the highest peak of Riverdale would reach the Goddess's ears the easiest.

Betty's selected mate Archie soon arrived at her hut, inviting her to a prayer session on the highest peak of Riverdale. While hiking up to the high peak, Betty contemplating with herself what she would ask during this prayer session. The last time she had gone to the peak for a prayer session, she asked the Goddess for a mate and the next day Archie asked her to be his selected mate. Even though that was only a few months ago, maybe she would ask the Goddess to have Archie be her bonded mate in which they would start a family together.

After arriving at the peak, the group began their prayers. Deep in thought she wished to see the Goddess. It was a bit of a selfish prayer, but she wanted to confirm that who she saw in the dream was indeed the Goddess Veronica. In response to the words spoken to by her heart, a booming voice came from the heavens.

"My children, one of you here has asked of me presence before," the voice said in a commanding yet soothing tone. "Give thanks, for today I grant your request."

The group of teenagers stood from their kneeling positions to look up into the sky. A bright light flared in the sky, causing those below to shield their eyes. They could barely make out through the brightness, a large form floating down toward them.

"The Goddess Veronica has graced us with her presence!" Archie exclaimed as he prostrated himself into humble bow before her.

At a towering 13' tall, the Goddess Veronica possessed a body no earthly human could ever hope to have. Arms capable of lifting mountains, legs strong enough to sink a continent into the sea, a bosom that would feed the world's population to satiation, her form could only be described as perfect. A heavenly glow surrounded her body and her eyes glowed with a mystic blue energy.

Betty was stunned silent by what was before her. As she gazed upon the glowing form of the Goddess, Betty couldn't shake the feeling that someway, in some form, she and the Goddess Veronica once shared a life. But before she could think upon it any more, she quickly snapped out of her trance before anyone could accuse her of heresy and prostrated herself before the Goddess.

As Veronica stood upon her heavenly perch, gazing upon her loyal masses, she couldn't help but admire her work. This was truly her ultimate act of charity to the world. With the full power of the cube absorbed into her being, her perception had ascended beyond space and time. Looking at all the possible outcomes of the human race, she came to the realization that progress was mankind's lethal flaw. As advanced and progressive as the human mind was, it was barely competent enough to handle running water. These frustrations over the inability to progress as fast as they wanted and the envy of those who were able to progress was what lead to unhappiness and eventual demise of the human race. By removing all of science and religion, the human race would thrive far beyond its previous expectancy. Now the world lived by only one creed, service to the Goddess Veronica.

The End?