The Spell -- Part II
By Mark (Marknew742@aol.com)
Todds fights an ever more powerful Marta



"Todd, this is Madame LaFarge.  It is very important that you come my 
office.  Bring your friend Arnold as well.  This is of the utmost 
urgency." 

Todd put down the phone and redialed Arnold. 

"Sorry I hung up on you.  LaFarge left me a message.  She wants to see 
us right away.  Why don't you conference her in?" 

"Sure, but why didn't she just zap you over there if she needed to see 
you right away.  Voice mail is a funny way for a witch to communicate, 
don't you think?" 

"Yeah.  I didn't think of it.  Let's ask her." 

"Hold on."  The line went dead for a minute, then Arnold came back.  
"I've got her.  Can you hear me Todd?" 

"Yes.  Madame LaFarge?" 

"I'm so glad you called.  How quickly can you get here?" 

"Well, if you can zap my car back to my house, you can take me as fast 
as you can." 

"And if you have a spare broomstick, send me over too," Arnold added. 

"I'm afraid that's not possible just now boys.  You'll have to get here 
on your own." 

"Well, then, I can be there in about two hours." 

"That will have to do.  This may have gone too far already." 

"I'll meet you there buddy at, man!, is it really four a.m.!?" 

"Michelle will let you in." 

Todd checked out drove quickly toward New York City, marveling that the 
Bruckner was busy even at this early hour.  He arrived at 5:30.  Arnold 
was already there. 

Michelle stared at the floor while Madame LaFarge spoke. 

"My daughter has precipitated a major crisis.  Due to her incompetence 
in casting the spell and her failure to explain our rules to you, Todd, 
her actions may destroy us all.  I knew this modern way of doing things 
would end like this.  Now, only with your help do we have any hope of 
stopping Marta's transformation." 

"Wait a minute.  Our help?  What happened?  What can we do?" 

"As I told you the last time we met, Michelle used an ancient and very 
powerful spell, one she did not fully understand.  I must confess I was 
not fully familiar with it myself."  She turned to Michelle.  "This is 
what comes from working out of books instead of our tradition!" 

"Mother!  Please.  We've been through this a hundred times!" 

"You boys asked me before whether Marta would become a witch, and I 
laughed.  Well, I should have thought harder before I answered. She does 
not, and never will, have the magical powers our coven possess by birth.  
As a mortal, she is still limited by cause and effect.  But there is a 
boundary line between the forces of magic and the workings of the 
physical universe in which you reside, and on this boundary line it may 
be hard to distinguish the difference between magic and intentional 
action.  Just as your philosophers and scientists struggle with the 
question of whether the action of the human will on the physical body is 
a purely chemical one that is completely determined at the atomic level 
or whether it is evidence of the free will of the mind acting on the 
physical plane." 

Todd looked at her blankly. 

"Mom!  This is way above their heads.  Would you get on with it?" 

"I'm sorry Michelle.  I'm not stupid.  I just didn't study philosophy.  
It conflicted with my Advanced Marketing class,"  Todd said defensively. 

"Quiet you two!  The point is, Marta is gaining the power to work her 
will directly on the physical world in a manner that is functionally 
very similar to witchcraft, although of course without our uniquely 
elegant relationship to the spiritual forces of the universe." 

"Hey, that's right!  She, uh"  Todd stopped in mid-sentence. 

"What is it Todd?   Has she already gained this ability?  What did she 
do?"  Madame LaFarge looked at him intently. 

Todd's face grew red.  "She, uh, could touch me from a distance." 

Arnold stifled a laugh.  Then he looked curious.  "I know what he's 
talking about.  Don't you?" 

Now Madame LaFarge looked uncomfortable.  "This is the problem.  So much 
of the energy we witches utilize is now flowing to Marta that there is 
little left for us to practice our arts.  Our powers are dramatically 
weakened, and the flow to her continues to increase.  Why, we've 
determined that within a few days even the most powerful witches will be 
unable to cast a spell.  Poor Michelle has had to close her practice for 
weeks." 

"That's interesting.  Marta told me yesterday that in a few days she 
expected some kind of momentous change that would allow her to go 
outside again without, uh, being mobbed by men.  She said something 
about becoming a goddess." 

Madame LaFarge nodded.  "She knows, then.  Well, you must stop her 
before then." 

"Stop her?  Me?  Why I can't even be in the same house as her without, 
uh, without 

"Without wanting to mount her every two minutes like a rabbit Mr. 
Bartel?  You needn't be shy with us, dear boy.  We know you're merely a 
mortal man and are not in control of your primitive urges.  But while 
she is still mortal, you must either help us reverse the spell, or kill 
her." 

"Kill her?!!" 

"It's the only way.  If you fail, by the end of the week she will be the 
most powerful being in the universe, and those powers will grow 
geometrically, beyond your comprehension.  Perhaps even beyond mine." 

"Still, I" 

"You are the only one who can do it, since you are part of her momtuu.  
We can strengthen your will to provide you with certain protections 
against her charms.  We will do what we can to cast a corrective spell, 
but there are portions which can only be delivered at close range and 
only by another member of her momtuu.  It is up to you." 

Arnold got up.  "Wait a minute.  You told him before you couldn't 
reverse the spell or help Todd out by giving him a boost too.  Now you 
say you can, but only if he helps you.  What's the straight story, huh?" 

Madame LaFarge looked very uncomfortable.  "You have caught me in a bit 
of a lie.  There are ways, but we normally do not expose our clients to 
the dangers.  This is an exceptional situation." 

"But why should Todd to do your dirty work for you, just to preserve the 
powers of your coven or something?" 

"It isn't just to help us.  Do you really wish to live under the 
unchecked will and boundless power of a goddess?  Have you read your 
Ovid?  Your Greek tragedies?" 

Todd and Arnold looked at each other and shrugged.  Todd said, "Well, 
maybe in high school or something." 

Arnold added, "I think I read the comic books." 

"Take my word.  It would not be pleasant.  However, good a person Marta 
may be, her powers would range far beyond her understanding. Inevitably 
she will use them to satisfy her own caprice.  You would have no 
protection from her, no privacy, and ultimately no protection against 
her ability to reshape the entire universe .  You would be like toys to 
her." 

Todd glared at Michelle.  "Like I was to you.  What is your game 
anyway?" 

"Don't push your luck Mister.  I gave you what you paid for, no more, no 
less." 

"Silence child!  You've caused enough trouble.  Mr. Bartel, we witches 
operate according to a very strict discipline.  My daughter may have 
skated close to the line, but not over it.  At least, that is what I 
told the council.  Her judgment is another matter.  But, the important 
thing is your Marta will be subject to no such limitations and her 
powers will be far greater.  Let me ask you.  How will Marta feel once 
she becomes able to see the past?  Will she punish you for your 
infidelity?  Will she make you a fly?  A microbe?  Make you obese, or 
feeble-minded?  Turn you into a plaything servant boy for a cruel master 
or mistress?  Or even transform you into a fire hydrant endowed with 
consciousness, sight and feeling, but no power to move or communicate?  
She will have the ability to do any of those things, at any time, 
without warning, at any distance." 

"She knows.  She said she's forgiven me."  Arnold looked at Todd.  
"Well, maybe she doesn't know everything.  But she has the general 
idea."  He thinks.  "On the other hand, some of the things I've said and 
done could be taken out of context 

"Or put into context," added Arnold playfully. 

"Maybe you have a point.  But what can I do?" 

"Come upstairs with me.  I've assembled our greatest practitioners.  
Their combined powers will endow you with the will to resist Marta's 
sexual energy and will enhance your strength to the extent that the 
limited energy available to us permits.  Then they will review with you 
what you must do when you see her.  Michelle, you wait here with 
Arnold." 

Todd and Madame LaFarge left.  Michelle buried her head in a magazine. 

"So, uh, Michelle, are you going to lose your license or something?" 

She looked up and hissed.  A small cloud appeared over Arnold's head and 
let loose a torrent of rain, soaking his hair and clothes. 

Madame LaFarge's voice boomed from above.  "Michelle, stop that at once!  
We have little enough power available without your wasting it on your 
parlor tricks!" 

The cloud disappeared.  Arnold shook his head, spraying water throughout 
the room, and on Michelle, to her disgust.  Arnold grinned.  "It would 
be pretty tough for you to live without your powers, wouldn't it?" 

Michelle rolled her eyes.  "You have no idea how unbearable it is!  I 
don't understand why you mortals don't all kill yourselves.  How bland 
the universe is when you can only manipulate matter physically." 

"Oh I don't know.  Getting physical has a lot to recommend it." 

Michelle stared at him and shivered, then turned her back on him and 
went back to her magazine.  Arnold sighed, then closed his eyes and took 
a nap.  He awakened suddenly when Todd knocked him on the shoulder. 

"Hey WHAT happened to you?!!  You look like Arnold Schwarzenegger to the 
third power." 

"I know.  It's amazing.  They took out these tokens, then they all put 
their hands on me and recited this endless spell.  I'd never seen so 
much mumbo jumbo.  I would have fallen asleep, but I kept feeling this 
energy pour into my body.  I thought my clothes were going to split, but 
these witches think of everything.  Part of the spell made my clothes 
bigger too." 

"You're about six feet six inches tall!" 

"Yeah.  I weigh over three hundred pounds too.  And it isn't just 
muscle.  They did something to my mind too, strengthened my willpower so 
that I can resist Marta's pheromones." 

"So what's the point?  Are you going to beat her up or something?" 

"No, no.  I wouldn't want to do that.  Besides, it wouldn't change 
anything.  They gave me some kind of box that contains the spell.  How 
it works, I don't know, but I have to get within two feet of her, open 
it, make sure the opening is parallel to the plane of her left earlobe.  
I guess that's where the energy enters her body." 

"That's it?" 

Todd shrugged.  "I guess so.  I have a feeling it's not going to be so 
easy, but I have to try.  Come on.  I'll drive you home and crash at 
your place for awhile.  Then I gotta head back to Newport."  

By three o'clock, Todd had left the city traffic and was speeding along 
the Connecticut Turnpike wondering about his mission.  Why was he taking 
the witches' side against Marta's?  He liked Madame LaFarge, but 
Michelle was bad news, and some of the other old ladies treated him more 
like a toad than a man.  Marta scared him, but she had never gone out of 
her way to hurt him.  Why should he injure her?  He shook his head.  On 
the other hand, who knows what Marta would do with the immense power she 
was gaining?  Todd's life wasn't easy, but he liked it, the position 
he'd gained, the fun of being a man in a man's world.  Hey, and in less 
than an hour, those witches had built him up like a fullback, probably 
stronger than any fullback.  The idea that his wife would suddenly have 
more power than any of them, with complete freedom to act on any whim 
made him uncomfortable, no matter how kindly she might feel toward him.  
Why, she might treat him like some pet or something.  And what would she 
do if, as the witches said, she gained the power to manipulate matter 
and energy, to create matter from nothing, advance or reverse time, be 
anywhere or everywhere at the same time?  Things that even the witches 
couldn't do.  What if she had some hidden agenda, some dream she had 
never admitted to him, but that she could turn into reality with a flick 
of an eyelash, immune from any reprisal?  He thought uncomfortably about 
some of the discussions they'd had, early on, before her depression, 
when she railed about the injustices of being a woman in her family, how 
her male cousins were all in the family business while she was expected 
to organize charity benefits.  What if she were a closet feminist and 
wanted to "fix" the world and even the score, or even tilt it the other 
way.  Looking down his newly powerful arms, he shuddered at the thought 
of seeing those muscles on women, remembering with embarrassment and 
anger how Marta had beaten him up in their house, and how only yesterday 
she had lifted him with such ease as he shuddered through orgasm after 
orgasm, unable to control his own body.  The witches had given him the 
strength and willpower to take care of himself, but how long would that 
last?  What would happen if he failed?  There was really no choice.  He 
had to succeed. 

Feeling more determined, he pulled into Newport up the deserted shore 
road, but just as he neared the settled areas, he saw Marta speed past 
him in her Mercedes, going the opposite direction.  He turned the car 
around and chased her.  She was driving an incredible 140 mph and he 
struggled to keep up.  When they neared the interstate again he had to 
slow to avoid traffic, but she headed north toward Boston, continuing to 
drive at high speeds, slowing occasionally, but then accelerating again 
suddenly (after she passed a radar trap, Todd assumed), weaving expertly 
through the lines of cars, and he lost her.  He continued down the road 
and then pulled over to call Madame LaFarge. 

"She left just as I was arriving." 

"Hmm.  She must be gaining some rudimentary future sight.  We will try 
to track her.  Go on toward Boston and call me in thirty minutes." 

Todd complied and called as she asked. 

"We think she is heading for Logan.  Call us again from there." 

Todd hung up.  Almost immediately, the phone rang.  He picked it up 
warily. 

"Hello?" 

"Todd.  What are you doing?!" 

"Marta.  How did you 

"Don't ask stupid questions.  Stay away from me.  I'm warning you.  I 
know what you're up to and I won't let you do it.  Just keep clear." 

"Marta.  This is dangerous.  You don't know what this may lead to." 

"And you do?  I don't know what was worse:  your bowing and scraping to 
Uncle Richard for the sake of money or your acting as the errand boy for 
that band of misfit magicians.  You're usually good at reading markets. 
Take my word.  You're betting on the wrong side here.  Trust me on this 
Todd." 

"Where are you?  Let's see each other so we can talk at least." 

"Oh Todd.  So you can carry out their plan?  I'm asking you again. Give 
it up, please!" 

She hung up.  Todd got back into his car and headed toward the airport.  
At the terminal he called Madame LaFarge. 

"She's chartered a jet and filed a flight plan to fly west.  Take a 
flight to L.A.  Call us from over Chicago." 

"What's the point?  I'll never be able to catch up with her." 

"Do as you're told.  There isn't much time.  She's managed to accelerate 
the process.  We'll talk over Chicago." 

Todd replaced the receiver, wondering if Marta was right.  But she was 
so clever; maybe she was just playing on his fears.  How was he to know?  
He walked to the counter and booked a ticket and handed his Amex card to 
the agent.  She punched it in, then looked at him suspiciously and 
refused it. 

"I'm sorry sir.  That card was reported lost.  If you recently found it 
you'll have to notify the issuer and apply for a new number." 

"Lost?  Impossible, I.  Never mind."  He handed her his VISA. 

She scanned it and spoke to him more sharply.  "This card has been 
canceled.  May I ask you to step aside?"  She motioned to a police 
officer. 

"This must be a mistake, I" 

The officer took his elbow and asked for identification.  It took him 
half an hour to convince the police that he was actually Todd Bartel and 
that someone had improperly canceled his cards.  He ran to a phone. 

"Madame LaFarge, how could she have done that?" 

"Well, she could have manipulated the electrons on the computer disks at 
the credit card companies, which would be very impressive, considering 
the difficulty of finding the precise computers, the locations on the 
disks and reading the information stored in electronic form to find the 
precise spots containing your card information.  It isn't impossible.  
But she probably just used the telephone to report your cards as stolen.  
You'd be surprised how much trouble even an ordinary mortal can cause 
with a telephone.  Listen, go back to the counter.  There will be a 
prepaid ticket for you.  And do remember to call from over Chicago.  Use 
my Amex number: 3710 456893 42561." 

"Ok, got it.  But, wait.  You have an American Express card?" 

"JUST GO!  Call me over Chicago." 

"Hey!  Alright, no need to yell.  I know how to get on an airplane, ok?" 

Todd hung up the telephone picked up his ticket, then checked his watch.  
He still had an hour before the flight, time enough for a drink in the 
airline club.  He picked up his bag, inwardly thrilled at how light it 
felt with his added muscle.  He loved being strong! 

He showed his card at the door and headed for the bar, enjoying the 
attention his outsized frame drew from men and women alike.  He ordered 
his usual scotch and sat down opposite a stunning, athletic blond, who 
was drinking tomato juice and eyeing him openly.  She arched one 
eyebrow. 

"Hey.  Are we in the same business?" 

Todd smiled and shrugged.  "Well, I don't know."  She motioned to him 
and he moved over to her table. 

"Do you compete?  I know most of the bodybuilders but I haven't seen 
anyone with your build before." 

"Uh, no.  I work at a private investment firm." 

"You mean you got that body while working at a real job?  I'm impressed!  
Either you never sleep or the Lord's given you some pretty special 
genes." 

Todd blushed.  "Well, yeah, you're not so bad yourself." 

"Why thank you."  She slipped her hand on the table and pulled, the 
effort pumping up the sleeve of her dress.  The woman stuck her tongue 
in her cheek as she watched Todd's eyes follow her growing bicep.  "My 
name is Sally.  I won a few amateur contests in Alabama last year, but 
with the Lord's blessing I've been working hard the last six months and 
I've gotten a lot bigger.  I believe the Lord wants me to turn 
professional, to spread the good news as I show my strength.  I'm also 
trying for some modeling jobs.  What do you think?" 

Todd shrugged.  "My name's Todd.  And I'd buy anything you were selling, 
Sally, but what do I know?" 

"I bet you know a lot Todd.  I'd love to talk more, get some of your 
training secrets, but I've got a flight to L.A. for another interview, 
and I think they're boarding."  She pulled out her ticket.  "The 
modeling agent flying me out first class.  Can you imagine?" 

"Hey, I'm in the next seat. Let's go down together."  Just then Todd 
heard himself being paged.  "Shit!  Oh, excuse my language.  I forgot to 
call in at the office.  I'll meet you on the plane.  This will take a 
minute." 

They stood up, Todd admiring the graceful power of her posture as she 
rose and easily hefted her bag onto her shoulder.  "Maybe the Lord meant 
for us to meet."  She winked at him and turned slowly, her tight ass 
nodding to him as she left the room.  Todd knew that with his new size, 
his erection was plainly visible to the rest of the bar.  Well, let 'em 
die with envy he thought to himself.  He walked stiffly to the office 
cubicles and picked up a phone. 

"Todd, is that you?  Mr. Whitney thinks you're AWOL.  I've been trying 
to calm him down, but he's mad as can be." 

"I can't talk now Becky.  I've got to get on a plane.  Tell him 

"You tell him yourself.  Here he is." 

"Bartel?!!  Where the hell are you?  All hell is breaking loose with 
these internet stocks and you're up at Logan Airport.  What the fuck are 
you doing there?  There's nothing going on in Boston!!" 

"Uncle Richard.  I'm on my way to L.A.  I've got to find Marta. She's 

"No, no, not L.A.  I want you in Silicon Valley.  You've got to find out 
why those companies are tanking.  Something about intranets, and China, 
and a CDA.  I don't know, but I pay you to know, don't I?" 

"Yes sir, I'll do what I can, but first 

"You've got to learn to manage your life.  Work first, then family!  
That's the rule here, son!  Learn it or get out, understand?!"  He hung 
up the phone with a bang.  Todd sighed, then looked at his watch.  Two 
minutes to departure!  He jumped up, grabbed his bag and sprinted for 
the door, then barreled through the terminal, his elongated legs eating 
up the yardage.  He arrived just as the gate agent was closing the door. 

"Please, please, you've got to let me on." 

She looked at him disapprovingly, then checked his ticket.  "I'm afraid 
we've given away your seat.  This is a very full flight."  She spoke 
into a phone.  "Hold on, we've got one more!"  She consulted her 
console.  "We've got one seat in coach, in the back.  It'll be a squeeze 
for you.  Do you want it?"  Todd nodded vigorously.  "OK, but hurry 
please!" 

Todd sprinted down the jetway.  He walked through first class.  Sally 
looked at him questioningly, then resumed her conversation with a long-
haired man wearing sunglasses and an Armani suit.  Todd grit his teeth 
as he entered the coach section, always a trial, but now certain to be 
doubly uncomfortable with his added size.  He pushed by several families 
with screaming children, an elderly couple pushing shopping bags into 
the overhead bins, a line of passengers waiting to use the one rest room 
before the plane left the gate, and a poorly stowed beverage cart to 
arrive at the last row on the right of the aircraft, the window seat, 
36A. 

A woman with dark, tangled hair wearing a tie-die t-shirt and shorts 
looked up at him unpleasantly.  "Shit.  I thought that seat would be 
empty.  And just my luck, a gorilla!  Well, you can't use the middle 
seat.  It's for my stuff, and I paid for both, so just squeeze your 
hulking body in and don't ask for my sympathy 'cause I don't have any 
for you!" 

Todd's mouth hung open.  The flight attendant cleared her throat.  
"Please be seated quickly sir.  You can avoid this problem in the future 
by arriving earlier, at the recommended time." 

Todd climbed over the dark haired woman and folded himself into the 
seat.  He reached over to lift the armrest. 

"It doesn't go up in this row, but I wouldn't let you anyway.  I need my 
space." 

Todd looked over at her.  "Hey, lady, what's your problem?  I didn't do 
anything to you.   It's not my fault these seats are so small.  I was 
supposed to be in first class anyway." 

"Don't think you can impress me.  I know how the system works, and you 
can get more space for less money buying two of these coach seats 
anyway.  That's what I do.  Then you get two meals too.  You big shots 
always arrive at the last minute and expect the plane to wait for you.  
What are you, an investment banker or something?"  Todd nodded.  "I 
thought so.  Just my luck, a capitalist tool, reeking with testosterone, 
blocking my view all the way to L.A.  You'll probably talk on that damn 
phone the whole trip.  At least you can't pull out one of those little 
computers.  No room to put it!  Ha-HA-ha!"  She laughed loudly at her 
joke. 

"Hey, if you want the view, I'll switch seats with you." 

"Not a chance!  I like to get up to stretch my legs, and I'll be damned 
if I'm going to climb over you to do it.  Besides, there's more room 
here for me where I can put my legs in the aisle." 

"Stretching out your legs?"  Todd looked her over.  She had nice 
features even though it was clear she didn't spend more than two minutes 
on her appearance.  "You're not so big." 

"I'll thank you not to make comments about my body.  Some people have 
more important things to do with their time than pull on resisting bars 
and weights." 

Todd smiled smugly.  "I didn't have to work that hard for this.  One of 
the benefits of reeking with testosterone, as you say." 

"So.  Big deal, hulk.  What does it get you, except being cramped on the 
plane?  What do you use those muscles for?  Bending paper clips?  
Pounding the ol' keyboard?  Carrying your boss's bags?   Ha-HA-ha.  
That's probably it."  Todd grit his teeth at her.  "Oh, you don't scare 
me.  Not here.  But I bet some unlucky women have some broken bones here 
or there from when you get angry. Huh?  Men!" 

"Hey!  I don't hit girls!" 

"Well, so you display civilized behavior toward children, then.  And 
what about women?  What about us grown, double-X's with more brains in 
our fingers than you've got between the muscles in your ears?  But that 
doesn't scare me.  Or maybe it does, a little, but I won't let it 
intimidate me.  I stand as tall as I can for woman.  And you men may 
beat me, but you won't keep this woman down."  Todd turned toward the 
window.  "Ha!  I'm getting to you, aren't I?  A woman's mouth is a much 
more potent weapon than your meaty brainless fist.  We understand how to 
conquer you, wear you down, bit by bit 'til we've got you so cowed all 
the muscle in the world won't help you, and we'll throw you in jail if 
you try to use it anyway."  Todd closed his eyes.  "I know you can hear 
me.  Closing your eyes just makes my voice sound louder doesn't it.  I 
can whip any man twice my size with just my tongue.  You'll see.  It's 
six hours to L.A. and by the time we're halfway to Chicago you'll rather 
pee in your pants than ask me to get up to let you by.  Ha-HA-ha!"  Todd 
started snoring.  "Shit, he really is asleep.  Jerk!" 

But Todd's nap lasted only thirty minutes, until the announcement of the 
beverage service woke him up.  They were still over Pennsylvania, not 
time to call Madame LaFarge.  He opened one eye.  That women was 
watching him.  Damn! 

"Aha!  You're awake.  Hey.  I'm an honest woman.  I admit it; I am 
curious.  Why did you bulk yourself up like that?  I mean, what's the 
point?" 

"I really couldn't explain it to you." 

"Oh, don't be bashful.  It's not like I'm flirting with you, not like 
that blond bodybuilder who came by while you were sleeping.  Now she 
looked good!  I'd never waste my time on it, but I have to admit, a 
woman with muscle is a thing of beauty.  Too bad you missed her.  They 
won't let you up front in first class either, and I won't make room.  
Nope.  You're stuck with me. And you won't fall asleep again.  Those 
little naps, not enough to catch up, but when you're uncomfortable, 
they're just enough to prevent you from falling back to sleep.  So tell 
me." 

"I don't want to talk about it." 

"Silly.  I can tell you, that blond must have a lot of fun shocking men.  
And she's probably stronger than a lot of them.  But not all.  And 
what's the point?  She's still just an toy for them, the way she dolls 
herself up.  Probably wants to be in magazines or movies.  What an 
ambition to have!  In the end, she's just trying to please them. 

"You think you know everything, don't you?" 

"I'm smart.  I'm not shy about it either.  What's your IQ?  Oh, don't 
bother, I can tell it's not over 120.  You're a high normal at best, an 
overachiever, probably thanks to your looks and a few lucky connections.  
Mine's over 160.  I've got brainpower to burn.  And I have burned more 
than a couple of cells, you know what I mean?  Ha-HA-ha!"  Todd turned 
toward the window.  "Hey, you don't have to look at me, but you can 
still hear me.  That's the thing about hearing.  You can't shut it out.  
You can close your eyes but you can't close your ears.  Even with those 
headphones, you can still hear what's going on around you.  My voice 
especially.  It's very penetrating, and I'm very animated.  It's 
impossible not to pay attention to me.  Am I right?"  Todd sighed.  
"Yes, I'm right.  So answer my question.  Why are you so damn big?" 

Todd turned and stared at her.  "I'm on a secret mission to save mankind 
from its greatest threat in thousands of years." 

The woman looked serious and put her hand over her heart.  "Whoa!  This 
sounds important.  It must be true.  You're not bright enough to make it 
up.  Ha-HA-ha!  Don't you love that laugh?  Ha-HA-ha!  It's the most 
irritating thing about me, I think." 

"You are irritating." 

"I work at it.  My voice is my best weapon against men.  Now, if I were 
built like you, I wouldn't bother being irritating and offensive.  I'd 
just dominate, flat out, directly.  I'd steamroll over any man I saw, 
good or bad, just for the fun of it.  Not to hurt him, I don't care 
about that, and the man doesn't care either, you know.  Why, whether 
your on top or bottom doesn't make a difference to you, does it, just as 
long as your thing's being squeezed.  A woman's needs are much more 
complicated.  You can never understand us.  A man just has to know how 
to grunt and to groan.  If it were up to you men, there'd be no 
language, you have nothing to say anyway."  Todd opened his mouth, then 
closed it again.  "I've got you don't I?  Ha-HA-ha!  Well, I'm having a 
good time.  I may as well introduce myself, since you won't.  Sandy 
Stein, from Brooklyn, New York." 

Todd looked in her eyes and shook his head.  "Todd Bartel."  He looked 
out the window.  "Hey, Chicago already.  I gotta make a call."  Todd 
struggled to pull his wallet out of his back pocket, then remembered his 
credit cards were no good, and instead keyed in the number Madame 
LaFarge gave him.  The phone rang ten times without an answer. 

"Secretary's goofing off Todd?  When the boss is away 

Todd punched it out again.  This time it rang twenty times before the 
operator cut off the call.  Then he pulled out his Spelling Bee card, 
rang Spells By Michelle, and using the automated commands connected to 
the "Alternative Service."  Madame LaFarge picked up the phone. 

Todd was pleased with himself.  "I thought I'd never reach you, no one 
was 

"Aagh!  I know I shouldn't have picked up.  Hang up NOW!  Marta can 
trace these phone calls and can use the carrier signal as a medium to 
... to ... cast spells!" 

"Spells, but she 

"They're not true spells, but that's a technicality.  No time to 
explain.  Just hang up and don't pick up any phones.  I'll find a way to 
get in touch." 

Todd dropped the phone like it was the wrong side of a hot iron, then 
fumbled putting it back in place.  He finally settled it into the slot.  
His face was flushed and he was breathing heavily. Sandy looked at him 
and started laughing. 

"That was interesting.  I don't think you were talking about a secretary 
who doesn't pick up her phone and doesn't spell well, were you?  You're 
really in a panic, aren't you?  Are you failing in your mission?  Is 
mankind doomed after all?" 

Todd set his mouth firmly closed.  Just then, the phone rang.  He didn't 
move. 

"Would you look at that!  I've never seen one of those phones ring.  
Aren't you going to answer it?"  Todd shook his head.  "Well, I will." 

"No!  Don't!"  Todd put his hand over the phone.  Sandy nimbly reached 
up and hit the call button.  The flight attendant appeared instantly 
from the rear galley.  

"Excuse me, but this passenger won't allow me to answer the phone.  I'm 
expecting a call." 

"It's not for her, it's for me!" 

"Sir, how would you know that if you don't pick it up?  I'm afraid I 
must ask you to allow her to answer." 

Todd's eyes bulged.  He couldn't decide what to do.  He took his hand 
off the phone, and Sandy snatched it. 

"Hello.  This is Marta Bartel.  Is my husband there?" 

"Who?  Todd?  Hey, do you want to speak to your wife?"  Todd shook his 
head.  "He doesn't want to talk to you.  Hey, how does it feel to make 
love to him?  Does he crush you?" 

Marta laughed.  "Why no, not at all.  It was very good with him, at 
least the last few times." 

"You had to think about it.  Sounds like it's been awhile." 

"You are nosy.  What do you think of him?" 

"Well, he's too big for me.  I've got him pretty intimidated just 
talking to him, but men are so emotional and unpredictable.  They can 
turn on you in a minute, and strong as he is he could do some real 
damage.  So, I'd pass.  Why doesn't he want to talk to you?" 

"Mmm.  Self-defense I guess.  Listen, I don't mind if you take him home 
with you, it would keep him out of my hair.  If you let me talk to him 
for a minute, I can make sure he won't threaten you." 

"Ha-HA-ha!  You sound like you have him trained.  Well, I won't make any 
promises, but thanks." 

"Don't mention it.  Just hold the phone against his ear if he won't take 
it.  Oh, and if he falls asleep, try caressing his left ear.  It always 
worked for me." 

"Hey, thanks."  She looked over at Todd, who was pressed against the 
window as far away from her as he could go.  "Hey Todd, you sure you 
won't take the phone?"  He nodded, turning away.  Sandy quietly held the 
phone against his ear. 

Marta spoke.  "Remember, Todd.  I warned you.  This is just the 
beginning."  Todd turned with a start and grabbed the phone to push it 
away.  As both he and Sandy were holding it a charge surged through the 
instrument, binding her fingers and his ear to it for several seconds 
until both dropped it.  Then Sandy picked it up and held it to her ear.  
The line was dead.  She replaced the phone in the slot. 

"That was weird.  Something funny is going on, isn't it?  That didn't 
sound like a normal, marital spat to me." 

Todd yawned.  "Man.  Suddenly I'm sleepy again.  Maybe I can sleep all 
the way to L.A. this time."  He put his head back and fell into a deep 
sleep. 

Sandy looked at him.  Typical man, sleeping at the strangest times, 
without any regard for what was happening around him.  She read for 
awhile, ate lunch and a part of the second portion from her other seat.  
She got up to stretch her legs and looked out the window at the 
mountains.  She was getting bored with him sleeping so long.  She read 
some more and then looked back at him.  There was something cute and 
puppylike about him under all that muscle.  

She thought about what Marta had said and lightly brushed her hand 
against his ear.  A warm sensation flew up her arm and filled her body.  
What was that?!  She tapped his ear again, and the same feeling returned 
briefly.  She liked it.  She held the tip of her forefinger gently 
against his ear lobe now, careful not to wake him.  Aaaah!  It was 
continuous now.  The feeling was like a long, slow orgasm, filling her 
with warmth, pleasure, life.  She wanted more.  He shifted in his seat, 
brow furrowed.   Concerned, she took her hand away until his breathing 
became quiet again, regular.  Poor fellow, so much bigger than she was, 
taking up so much space, so inefficiently.  But those huge globes of 
muscle on his arms, what would it be like to push people aside like they 
were scraps of paper, instead of "begging pardon, excuse me," and 
keeping their nasty hands from groping?  Power has its prerogatives.  

He was out cold again; she put her finger back and, oooh, the glow 
returned.  How strange.  She could stay like this for hours.  She looked 
down at her arms.  Why, they looked different; there were little ridges 
along her forearms. She didn't feel like she was tensing them, quite the 
contrary. She'd never felt so relaxed.  How would it feel if she put two 
fingers on his ear?  She tried it.  The surge of pleasure washed through 
her, twice as much as before.  Hey, why stop here? She lay four fingers 
across his ear.  Wow!!  That was a real jolt!  She looked over at him.  
He had opened one eye and was looking at her quizzically. 

"Shh!  Go back to sleep.  I like your ears," she purred.  He smiled.  
She stroked his face with her other hand.  "There, there, now.  Just 
sleep."  He closed his eyes.  She looked at her arm.  It was bigger, 
definitely!  There was a real bicep poking up into her sleeve.  What was 
going on?  Some kind of weird magic.  Is this was Marta meant, that she 
wasn't going to have to worry about handling him?  Well, it would take a 
long time before she got as big as he.  Wait a minute.  He didn't look 
quite as much like a gorilla anymore. 

Thick, vascular muscle was pushing out her frame, covering her body like 
a new growth of skin.  Already her upper arms sported softball sized 
biceps pulling insistently at the sleeve of her t-shirt.  And Todd was 
definitely looking smaller, still outrageously massive, but less so.  
She held her whole hand now against his left ear, flexed her arm and 
watched transfixed as her muscle grew before her eyes, bulging above her 
shoulder, now much larger than Todd's rapidly diminishing physique.  
Suddenly she heard a scream and turned back to the aisle.  It was the 
blond bodybuilder again.  Todd stirred slightly, but still slept. 

"What's happening!! What are you doing to him?" 

For once in her life, Sandy was caught without words.  "I-I don't know.  
His wife, I 

Sally shook her head, frightened, and looked at Todd, who was now only 
slightly larger than before his last visit to Madame LaFarge.  "Poor 
man!  This is the devil's work!  Holy Jesus, cast out this demon!" 

Sandy rolled her eyes.  "I may not be a saint, but I'm no devil.  I 
didn't do this to him."  She withdrew her hand and put it on hers.  "Why 
don't you try touching his ear," she added impishly.  "Maybe you can 
wake him up." 

"Poor dear Todd.  You must have worked so hard for your body and the 
devil has robbed you of your reward.  You're lying there so still, so 
small."  She reached over and caressed his face, brushing her finger 
against his ear.  Her eyebrows shot up.  She locked eyes with Sandy, who 
remained expressionless, then her hand drifted back to Todd's ear again.  
"I've got the power of the Lord, His almighty power, flowing through 
me!"  Sally's body started to grow, her already ample muscles expanding 
quickly. 

"Yes, yes, it's his power all right, but not "his" with a capital "H".  
Look at your dear Todd now." 

Sally looked over at Todd, whose body was now reduced in size to that of 
an average teenaged boy.  Sally looked at her own fullback-sized 
forearms and Sandy's massive frame and then screamed, jerking her hands 
back and wrapping them around her expanding chest.  The passengers 
nearby stared at the outsized women. 

Todd opened his eyes briefly, then closed them and stretched.  "I feel 
so relaxed and comfortable.  What did they do, make the seats bigger?"  
He opened his eyes and focused on Sally.  "Hey, what happened to you?" 

"What happened to me?  Look at you!  There's some kind of devil's work 
here.  Pray Todd, pray to Jesus." 

Todd looked down at his thin arms, swimming in his suit, then over at 
Sandy who now loomed over him.  "Oh no!  All my strength is gone.  I'm 
as weak as a child!  You did this to me!"  He jabbed his finger at 
Sandy, jamming it painfully against her hardened body.  "Oww!" 

"Jesus, help this poor man," wailed Sally. 

Sandy snorted.  "Oh stop moaning.  It's not Jesus, it's not me, and it's 
not the devil; it was his wife.  And just remember Miss Holy Roller 
Blond, the muscles that were the difference between making Todd a man 
and a boy are right there in your body now, and I'm not shy to say they 
look better on you than on him." 

"We are beginning our descent now into the Los Angeles area.  Please 
fasten your seat belts, move your seats to the upright position and 
restore your tray tables.  Please also turn off all electronic devices." 

Sally pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows in sympathy.  "Poor, dear 
Todd.  But you can be sure I will use this power for good, for the work 
of the Lord."  She looked at Todd a little sheepishly and raised her 
hands, shrugging, her new biceps erupting through her sleeves.  She then 
looked over at them excitedly, licked her lips, and returned to her seat 
in the front of the plane without another look back. 

"I wouldn't waste my time working for them, but I really do think 
muscles look good on women, don't you Todd?" 

"What am I going to do?"  Todd opened his sleeve and was staring at his 
smooth thin arms.  He tried to make a muscle and looked with dismay as 
only a narrow bump peeked out where his biceps used to be.  Sandy 
chuckled, touched his ear again and then watched as even that small 
irregularity subsided into his arm.  She reached over and felt it. 

"Wow!  Your arm's not just small.  It's soft too.  You really don't look 
like you're ready for battle anymore Todd-o.  Ha-HA-ha!  Maybe you want 
to come by my hotel instead.  Marta says you're pretty good in bed, and 
I'm willing to try you out.  With the changes in our bodies it will be a 
new experience for both of us.  I love novelty in sex.  I'll even let 
you go on top, some of the time at least." 

Todd was silent, eyes downcast, staring at his lap.  The plane taxied to 
a stop and they waited as passengers in the rows in front of them left 
the plane.  Finally, space in the aisle opened up and Sandy stood up, 
followed by Todd.  Sandy took her bags and started to head out, then 
looked back when she heard Todd's bag tumble to the floor.  He strained 
to lift it, his face reddening with the effort of raising it a few 
inches off the floor, then he dropped it again and started to drag it 
slowly toward the front of the plane.  Sandy watched him struggle, his 
jacket much too large for his body, his face perspiring heavily. 

"Ha-HA-ha.  Your poor thing.  Let me give you a hand."  She reached back 
and lifted the bag with ease.  "I don't believe it! You're really weak, 
Todd.  I could have managed this on my own even before." 

"I probably still could have done it myself if you hadn't taken that 
last little bit of muscle from me!  Why'd you do it, anyway?  You 
already had enough." 

"Well, I'll give you that one; you're right, one point for Todd.  I 
admit I just was curious to see what would happen, and I've never been 
able to resist temptation.  I get an idea and then just go ahead and do 
it.  That's the way I've always been.  It's gotten me into jams more 
than once, but I've always figured a way out.  I guess that's what 
you'll have to do now.  Why don't you get one of those bags with 
wheelies or something?  They have stores right in the airport, 
overpriced, sure, but what choice do you have at the moment?  Anyway, 
it'll be easier than dragging it all around town.  Hey there's one right 
here." 

She dropped the bag in front of a store.  Todd looked in forlornly.  "My 
credit cards have been canceled.  Marta did that to me." 

"She must be quite a formidable lady.  Well, you've sure got yourself a 
few problems.  I gotta go.  I'm staying at the Embassy Suites Airport, 
if you change your mind about tonight.  Think about it.  And if I don't 
see you, good luck with your mission." 

*** 

She bounced away, swinging her bags like a young girl carrying her 
dolls.  Todd watched her disappear, then slowly dragged his bag to the 
airline club and called his office from an empty conference room.  There 
was a voice mail from Madame LaFarge. 

"Call Michelle's number and leave a message telling us where you are.  
I'll find a way to get to you.  There's still time if you don't make any 
more mistakes." 

He complied.  Half an hour later, Madame LaFarge walked into the room. 

"How did you get here so quickly?" 

She sighed.  "I've had to spend precious energy to do that, and it 
wasn't very comfortable either.  I can restore you to the physical state 
you were in before our spell, but no more.  You'll have a major 
disadvantage now when you face her, but you have to try." 

"Why?  She's threatening me.  Frankly, Madame LaFarge, I'm afraid.  Look 
what she already did to me." 

"Take heart, Todd.  You must.  That's nothing compared to what she'll be 
able to do if we fail."  Madame LaFarge then spread several tokens on 
the table and mouthed a long series of words.  Todd quickly grew bored, 
but soon started to feel his strength returning.  His arms began to fill 
out slowly.  Just then, he turned and saw Sally in a room across the 
hallway, staring.  Surrounded by photographers test shooting an airline 
spot, she was dressed as Supergirl, her glowing blond hair falling 
across her shoulders and cape, the tight fabric clearly showing her now 
prodigious muscular development.  As soon as they finished, she excused 
herself and walked over to Todd. 

"Who is she, Todd?  What is she doing to you?" 

"She's helping me." 

"She's a witch, isn't she?  Those look like tokens of the devil!" 

"Oh no, dear,"  Madame LaFarge interjected.  "Lucifer has nothing to do 
with this.  He's quite feeble these days."  She walked around Sally, 
holding her hand out.  "Very interesting, the energy is very stable.  
This was good work.  Marta has certainly made the most of her power." 

"What is she talking about?  Who is Marta?" 

"My wife, future ruler of the universe." 

"Don't let her mislead you Todd.  Only Jesus is Lord.  Only Jesus is our 
Master." 

"Oh yeah?  Just look at yourself Sally.  Where did all that muscle come 
from?"  Sally unconsciously flexed her arm.  Todd stopped to stare at 
the mound that now bulged from her shapely arm, then swallowed and went 
on.  "Marta did something that transferred muscle and strength from me 
to you, but that's nothing compared with the powers she'll have if I 
don't stop her."  

Sally tossed her head.  "I see now that you're all allied with the 
powers of darkness.  My trust is with the Lord, not the schemes of man, 
and he has given me strength far beyond even these massive muscles.  If 
it is His Will, then your Marta shall be defeated, but black magic shall 
avail you not!"  She reached over and snatched the tokens from the table 
and with her hands compressed the ceramic pieces into dust.  Madame 
LaFarge cried out, then fainted.  Todd jumped up to help, while Sally 
stood to the side, looking very satisfied with her work. 

"What have you done?!"  He reached out to push Sally away, but she 
intercepted his hand and with a snap of her wrist, twisted his arm 
around his back.  "Oww!  You'll break it!" 

"Yes, I am made powerful by my faith.  More powerful than your magic."  
She pointed her hand down, forcing Todd to bend to the floor, then 
twisted her wrist and lifted him high above her head, her softball sized 
muscles rising prominently on her arm.  "See?  My strength is far beyond 
that of any mortal man!" 

Madame LaFarge stood up shakily and pointed a finger at Sally.  "That is 
merely the power we gave to Todd, and now you have used it to destroy 
our only weapons against Marta.  We have no power left, no hope." 

"But I have power and hope.  The Lord is my Shepherd, I 

"You silly fool.  Our coven was the source of Jesus' parlor tricks.  We 
revived the dead, gave sight to the blind, turned water to wine, good 
wine too, as I remember.  It was a wonderful way to deprive the pagan 
gods of the worship they needed to survive and it left us in charge.  
Oh, those Christians went further than we would have liked, but they 
were never a threat to us.  But now..."  Madame LaFarge sat down, 
dejected.  "Now there is no chance.  A new era will begin.  I don't even 
have the power left to see when, but it will be soon." 

"But Madame LaFarge, the spell you gave me, the box...." 

"No, my dear, with the destruction of these tokens, that spell would 
simply dissipate.  There's no need for you to resist.  Relax, Todd.  We 
must all now await the inevitable." 

One of the photographers was nearing the group.  "Sally, we'd like to 
finish now.  We got some shots of you crushing those stones and 
wrestling that man.  Magnificent!" 

"Then I've got the job?"  She tossed Todd onto the table. 

"Yes, yes.  We'll have a contract for you in a day.  Just come with us."  
They left the room.  

Todd rubbed his elbow and climbed down next to Madame LaFarge.  "So what 
will happen now?" 

"That's up to Marta."  She looked up.  "Oh my!  I must leave you now.  
Farewell Todd, and good luck."  

Todd looked up but saw nothing.  As he turned back to Madame LaFarge he 
saw one last image of her, then she faded away. 

Todd reached over to the spot where Madame LaFarge had stood, but it was 
empty air.  He waited for something else to happen, but other than the 
stare of a businessmen who was walking by and watched him finger the 
vacant space, there was nothing unusual.  Closing the door for some 
privacy, he rubbed his sore wrist and rolled up his sleeve to check the 
effects of Madame LaFarge's last spell.  Flexing, he was disappointed to 
see that he had not quite regained all of his size, but he was still a 
lot stronger than he had been when he entered the club.  He tried 
phoning the office, but Becky and his secretary had both left for the 
day, and he had no desire to talk with Uncle Richard.  He thought about 
driving up to San Jose to meet with the internet companies, but his 
heart wasn't in it.  What he really wanted was sleep.  He settled back 
into a chair, and closed his eyes. 

Three hours later, he awoke with a start.  What was he doing?  He 
couldn't sleep at the airport.  He wanted a hotel room, but without 
credit cards that didn't seem likely.  Becky or Sharon could get him new 
credit cards tomorrow, but what about tonight?  He thought of Sandy.  
Well, Marta had practically pushed them together, and she was right 
nearby.  Why not?  He rang her room. 

"Sandy, this is Todd.  Listen, I 

"It's a miracle you got through, I've been on the phone the whole time 
I've been here.  I just hung up.  What do you think of that?  So, you 
decided to pay me a visit.  Well, well, I don't know.  If I were you, 
and in a way I used to be, I'd be a little frightened of me.  Aren't 
you?" 

"Uh, well 

"Don't answer me.  I have such a big mouth.  You can tell me when you 
get here.  I'm in room 711.  Don't bother to call, just come up."  She 
hung up. 

Todd gathered his belongings, pleased that he could at least tote his 
bag around again, and took the shuttle over.  He knocked, heard her yell 
that she'd left it open for him, and entered. 

"I'm in the back room, just walk through." 

Todd edged through the front suite, trying not to step on the clothes 
that spilled onto the floor from the couch, the TV, the chairs and the 
table.  He saw Sandy, in a blouse and skirt, standing in front of the 
mirror examining herself. 

"I guess you've been shopping for larger clothes." 

"Well, no I haven't.  All of my things got larger, and they all fit 
perfectly!  I can't believe it, although I should know it's no harder to 
believe than my body doubling and tripling in size, whatever, in half an 
hour.  But the level of detail is so impressive.  You can tell it was a 
woman who did this.  Even the labels are different.  Look at this bra!  
It even says 48D right on the tag now!  It used to be a 34B.  And the 
clothes have all been altered in such subtle ways, like the way the 
pattern falls across the shoulders and the bust, or how wide the sleeve 
is.  My favorite is the way the waists are gathered.  I mean, my waist 
is actually smaller now than it was before, and I never had curves you 
would want to call attention to, but now I do and all these clothes show 
them off.  And another thing about the sleeves on these dresses, the 
material stretches so it won't tear when I . . . No, no I have a better 
idea, watch how it works!"  

She smoothed the long sleeve of her blouse, held her arm out and started 
to tense it.  Todd could see her skin press against the sheer fabric as 
the material expanded to cover the large ball of muscle growing out of 
her arm.  As she tightened further, he could see every separate ridge of 
her tissue, even the extra peak on top that he remembered had given him 
such pride during the brief time he had carried it on his frame.  He 
felt a surge of jealousy.  He didn't know why looking at that damn peak 
sitting on top of her biceps brought out his feelings like that, but 
suddenly he just wanted to leave. 

"I'm showing off for you now, but it really doesn't take much to make 
them big.  I'd rip through an ordinary blouse just reaching up to get a 
taxi.  Wait, where are you going?"  She reached out, took Todd by the 
wrist and pulled him back. 

"Oww!  That's the second time ...." 

"Sorry.  I guess I don't know my own strength.  Ha-HA-ha!  Never thought 
I'd say something like that." 

"It's not you.  Sally bruised my wrist at the airport." 

"Sally?  That blond?  What did you do, try to get fresh with her?  Ha-
HA-ha.  I bet she defended her virtue with spirit, get it?  Well, you're 
not such a big man anymore.  I bet old habits die hard.  Would you 
believe I actually let the bellboy take my bags up?  I could have 
carried him, the bags and his cart, but it's a habit.  Hey, I can see at 
least you're a little bit bigger now than when I left you in the 
airport, aren't you?  Sure you are.  What happened?  Did Marta take pity 
on you?" 

Todd looked at her.  She was speaking more quickly than he could think 
and his eyes kept focusing on her bust.  It struck him that she was more 
three dimensional than anyone he had seen.  That powerful chest thrust 
out at him from her wide shoulders, then disappeared into a tiny waist 
which itself flared out into hips that attacked the room's open space in 
a wholly different direction.  Out of the corner of his eye, he also 
perceived impossibly thick thighs, but that chest kept grabbing his 
attention, as if at any moment she would take a breath and absorb him 
whole, to wear him like an ornament. 

"You're staring at me.  Go ahead, I don't mind.   I would have minded 
before, but that was a woman's defensiveness, the instinctive fear I 
always felt.  Well, that's certainly gone.  Hey, I've been staring at 
myself too.  Isn't it something the way these muscles look different on 
me than they did on you?  You were all blocky, like a thick slab of 
meat.  But even with all this size, somehow I'm more graceful now than I 
ever was.  I feel as though I am composed of spheres and figure eight's.  
I've got these large muscles that grow out of nothing, with my thin 
waist and wrists.  I always thought of a woman's curves as soft.  After 
all, most of it was just fat.  Now I've got curves of steel.  Do you 
like the sound of it?  Ha-HA-ha. Oh I know, "Buns of Steel" was first.  
It's probably even trademarked, but you get the idea." 

She stood between him and the door, blocking him.  He felt hot.  The 
jealousy was transforming into something else, a throbbing in his groin.  
Was he attracted to her?  The idea of muscles on a woman bothered him. 
Not that he ever minded the muscle tone on Becky, but she had other much 
more noticeable attributes, and Sally was a real stunner too, even after 
she'd bulked up on his muscle.  But he'd never seen a woman so stacked 
with power as Sandy was.  And what about that grating voice.  Well, it 
wasn't so annoying anymore, it had gotten deeper somehow, or maybe it 
was intentional.  She had said she used it to be annoying on purpose.  
That laugh still got to him, but ... that body, that shape.  What would 
her soft breasts feel like on that hard-muscled chest, or those round 
hips on top of those thick columns of power where her thighs should be?  
He moved toward her, whether out of desire or curiosity he wasn't sure. 

"Wait.  I'm not ready for you." She stepped forward, put her arms gently 
around his sides and tossed him onto the bed.  "Ha-HA-ha!  You have no 
idea what it's like for me to stand here, a big man like you focusing on 
my body, wanting it, and not having to think about how I can get you to 
slow down or stop, not worrying about whether you'll hurt me, or rape 
me, or both.  Just wait there a bit.  Undress or something.  Let me see 
your body.  I never used to get turned on just by looking at a man's 
body, but maybe now it will be different.  My mind's going too quickly 
just now to think about sex.  I've got some questions and you're the 
only one who can answer them.  What's this mission you were on and what 
happened?" 

Todd looked up at her.  He decided he wanted her, badly.  He didn't care 
why.  If he had to talk to her awhile, well, he could do that.  Besides, 
she'd never believe him. 

"It's very simple, really.  My wife was sickly.  I arranged for some 
witches to cast a spell on her to make her stronger.  They used too 
powerful a spell, and now she's gained so much power that there's none 
left for the witches.  They gave me a spell to recite over her, as well 
as some additional strength for the mission, but she outsmarted me, I 
guess.  The mission is over.  So now I'm back to my old life, and we'll 
just have to wait to see what happens." 

She looked as if she was going to burst with laughter.  "And where did 
you go to get a witch to cast this spell?" 

"A little storefront near Times Square." 

"No kidding?  Was it called, 'Hell's Spells," or maybe 'Casting Calls?'  
Ha-HA-ha!!  You have more imagination than I thought Todd!" 

Todd replied with a straight face.  "Actually, it was 'Spells by 
Michelle.'" 

Sandy suddenly stopped laughing.  She looked at him seriously.  "Is that 
so?  That's a real place.  I did the decorating.  I thought it was a 
tourist gimmick, like those palm reading acts." 

Todd shrugged. 

"So what do we do next?  Hey, we could be a team and finish your 
mission.  I'll supply the muscle, you cast the spell." 

"It's too late.  Sally, the blond bodybuilder, smashed some magic tokens 
that would have given the spell the power it needed to work.  The 
witches can't do anything.  In fact, I saw Madame LaFarge, Michelle's 
mother, fade away a few hours ago.  For all I know, there are no more 
witches anymore." 

"So, there really were witches right in New York City and I worked with 
them?  You mean they actually cast spells on demand and I never got to 
use them?  I don't believe it.  How could I have missed it?  I've always 
prided myself on knowing exactly what I could buy, where to get it and 
how to get the best price.  I'm very put out that I didn't know a thing 
about it.  And it was right under my nose!" 

"If it's any consolation to you, I didn't believe it either.  I never 
imagined any of this could happen." 

"Todd, it's NO consolation to me at all.  I've missed the sale of the 
century."  She sighed.  "So what's Marta going to do?  Set herself up in 
Michelle's store?  Sell her own spells three for a dollar?" 

"I doubt it.  Frankly, I have no idea.  I don't even know what she can 
or can't do," he looked at Sandy, "other than what she's already done."  
He sat silently, while Sandy looked vacantly toward the window.  "I do 
know the witches were very worried about it.  They said they operated 
under some kind of strict code, while Marta would be free to do as she 
pleased." 

"Absolute power?  Corruption of the will?  So they think only a witch 
knows how to exercise power?  Well, I bet any real woman would know more 
about using that sort of power for good than a witch.  Certainly more 
than a man!  She'll probably just make the world a nicer place to live.  
More food, less sickness, more flowers, castrating the rapists, the 
wife-beaters, the ones who won't pay child support or make their beds.  
Things like that.  I have all sorts of ideas.  Wish I had known when I 
talked to her. I could have ... hey, are you falling asleep?"  Todd's 
head started sinking. 

"Wha-?  Sorry, I just suddenly got so tired.  I haven't slept in a bed 
for days." 

"Poor Todd.  Do you want big Sandy to carry you out to the couch?" 

"But I thought we were going to 

"So did I, but this bed isn't big enough for the two of us to sleep in, 
not with my size.  I'd share it with you for making love, but you'll 
never last in your condition.  Maybe some other time.  Now are you going 
to argue with me?"  She puffed out her chest and tensed her arms, 
enjoying the power she displayed, but then felt disappointed that Todd 
was too tired even to try her, as he shook his head, stood up sleepily, 
walked to the front of the suite and flopped onto the couch, asleep in 
no time. 

*** 

He awoke early the next morning.  Sandy was still asleep, and he phoned 
his office.  Sharon answered. 

"Mr. Bartel, I'm so glad you called.  You have a million calls from all 
those internet companies we've been selling.  Boy are they angry!  
They're all threatening to sue the firm, and you personally.  Do you 

"What!  Why are we selling them? 

"Sir?  Mr. Whitney gave the order this morning.  I thought you knew.  
Maybe you'd better talk to him.  I'll transfer you to Becky." 

"Hi Todd.  Isn't it a wonderful day?" 

"Becky.  What's going on?" 

"I wish I knew.  I woke up today and, I don't know, the world just 
seemed like a better place.  I'll put you through to Mr. Whitney in a 
minute, but first let me tell you what I know.  He came in at 7:00 today 
and started phoning all our brokers, telling them to dump all the things 
you got us into and to take all our cash and buy women's apparel 
companies, on an indexed basis for now.  It's amazing.  I've never seen 
him so decisive.  It's really very cute.  And then he told me that our, 
you know, thing is off.  He was very nice about it, said I don't have 
anything to worry about, I can go back to you, whatever.  Maybe he got 
up the same side of the bed I did.  Wait.  He's free now." 

"Becky.  Wait.  Go back ... uh, good morning Uncle Richard." 

"Huh?  Oh, good morning Todd.  I want you back here right away.  New 
York's going to be where the action is, not Silicon Valley." 

"But wait, what's happening?  Those are good companies you're selling." 

"I had a nose for investing before you even had a pecker, boy.  And I'm 
telling you, I woke up this morning and it just came to me.  This is the 
age of woman.  Don't ask me why, but internet tools are toys for boys 
and clothes are toys for girls and it's the girls' turn." 

"But how?" 

"Can't you smell it boy?  You just don't have the nose.   Take it from 
me, son, an old pro.  There are figures, sure, but you have to have a 
sense for these things and I have a feeling that the tide has turned for 
women and they are going to get their toys!" 

Todd didn't say anything.  "Were you talking to Marta by any chance?" 

"Marta?  No. What's she got to do with it?   Did you ever find her?  You 
know, son, Adrienne said she wanted to talk to me tonight about Marta.  
Is there something I should know?  But enough of that.  Just get back 
here.  New York's still the fashion capital of the United States of 
America, and this is going to have all sorts of implications.  Real 
estate, construction, communications.  You're not going to get anything 
done out there!" 

"Yes sir.  I'll be on the next plane."  Uncle Richard had already hung 
up.  Todd looked around.  He felt better after the long sleep, but he 
had no idea what affected Uncle Richard so much.  He called Sharon back 
and had her make flight reservations, then tiptoed out of the room.  He 
didn't have time for Sandy now. 

He hurried through the airport and settled into his familiar first class 
aisle seat.  This was better!  The flight attendant greeted him with a 
big, glowing smile, and Todd found himself smiling back, almost 
involuntarily. 

"Would you like something to drink before we take off, sir?" 

"Whatever you had.  I could sure use your good spirits." 

She laughed.  "Oh, thank you!  I don't know what it is, but I woke up 
feeling that the world was smiling at me today and I just have to smile 
back." 

"That's a good policy.  I'll just have some orange juice, then." 

"I'll have it for you right away!"  She bounced away cheerfully.  

He turned to the woman next to him.  "I know they're supposed to be 
cheerful, but I've never seen such enthusiasm." 

The woman put down her paper.  "Well, it is a beautiful day.  It would 
make anyone smile.  Don't you feel it?" 

"I don't know.  I had a good night's sleep, but then I had to rush over 
here to get back to New York.  It feels like a regular day to me." 

"You sound like my sister's husband.  I've been staying with them for a 
week, and am I glad to be heading home. But this morning, when I woke up 
I told him nothing he could say or do would dampen my spirits.  Even the 
newspaper won't!"  She folded it neatly and put it in the seat pocket. 

"Don't think I'm a grump or anything, but why exactly is it such a good 
day?" 

"Don't you smell the fragrance in the air?  Doesn't it seem richer 
somehow, like there's twice as much oxygen?"  She breathed in deeply and 
sighed.  "I don't know; it fills me with energy.  It just feels like 
Spring to me!" 

Todd looked at her quizzically.  "We're on an airplane, breathing the 
exhaust from jet engines.  And it's not Spring, it's late summer, in 
L.A. even." 

The woman sighed.  "You men."  She reached into her bag and pulled out 
her paperback, "My Heart Cannot Spell," and buried herself in it for the 
rest of the flight. 

After the long cab ride from JFK, Todd arrived in his office at five.  
The sexless Sharon was waiting for him. 

"Mr. Whitney gave me this list of companies for you to research.  And 
this letter appeared on your desk during the afternoon.  I don't know 
how.  I was outside your office all day.  I hope nothing is missing from 
your office." 

On the envelope was Todd's name, in Marta's handwriting.  "Don't worry, 
it was Marta." 

"But I didn't see her!  I wanted to meet her too." 

"Sharon, how are you feeling?" 

"Sir?  Honestly, I feel wonderful.  I should be tired.  We've all been 
running around like mad here all day long, but I feel fine!  Is it 
alright if I leave now?  Becky will be here.  I have a few errands to 
run and then I'm leading an aerobics class." 

"That's fine.  I'll see you early tomorrow?" 

"I can be in at 6:00." 

"Seven-thirty will do.  Thank you Sharon.  Good night." 

Todd almost collapsed when he saw the piles of paper on his desk.  But 
he closed the door and quickly opened the envelope.  The note was brief, 
in Marta's small, neat hand. 

"I no longer consider myself married to you, Todd.  A legal divorce may 
wait, but as between us, I release you from all of your vows." 

"I have not forgiven your disloyalty.  You took the side of the witches 
against me. You have shown me how shallow your love was." 

"You are free from obligation to me Todd, but know that you are not free 
from me.  The world is mine, and you must live in it, under my will.  Oh 
Todd, mere man you are, how will you fare?  You are not my creature, and 
I have no love for you." 

"Marta" 

Todd shivered.  Was she threatening him or just stating facts? How much 
did she know?  Would she strike him down with a bolt of lightning?  
Torture him?  He tried Madame LaFarge.  No answer. He decided to call 
Arnold. 

"Hey, it's the Schwarzenegger man!  Well, what happened?  Did we win?" 

"No.  I didn't even get to fight.  And listen to this."  Todd told 
Arnold the story and read the note. 

"Pheww!  Where'd she learn to write that stuff?  It's almost Biblical.  
Maybe you'd better bone up on your Job, Todd, you know, the story in the 
Bible.  Poor Job was rich until the big man took everything away from 
him.  His land, his family, his kids.  Even his health.  It was all the 
plagues at once." 

"Why did he do that?" 

"I think it was a bet or something with Satan.  They were arguing about 
whether Job was really good, or whether he just behaved himself because 
life was good to him." 

"What happened?" 

"Oh, at first Job cursed his fate, but he finally accepted that the Lord 
has the right to do what he wanted, even though it wasn't fair.  And 
then he got everything back as a reward." 

"Really?  His wife and kids too?" 

"Well, a different wife and new kids.  The old ones were dead." 

"So they were the real victims?  Did they get some kind of heavenly 
reward?" 

"I don't know.  That wasn't part of the story.  They were just in the 
way.  But you'd figure that would be the fair thing, at least in the 
Bible." 

"Yeah, but this isn't the Bible.  This is my wife, or ex-wife to be.  Do 
you think she's threatening me?"  He read the note again. 

"Well, the best way to read it is she hasn't forgiven you and she 
doesn't love you anymore.  I'd say that's more negative than positive 
Todd.  But it's not a threat.  Not a direct one anyway." 

Todd grimaced.  "On the other hand, I don't like the way 'mere man' and 
'under my will' sound.  I think I'm in trouble, Arnold."  He started to 
hang up. 

"Wait!  I just thought of something.  You know it isn't Job you should 
be reading; it's the Greek myths." 

"Oh, why?" 

"Didn't Madame LaFarge say that's what Marta would be like, you know, 
from before when the witches defeated them." 

"I know even less about that than I do the Bible.  So, is that good or 
bad for me?" 

"Didn't you even read them in the comics?"  Arnold was silent.  "Well, 
it's worse.  Those guys did whatever the hell they wanted, for their own 
enjoyment.  No rules.  No ethics.  You're in a tough spot.  Hey, but 
don't worry.  I'll stick with you.  I'm your friend." 

"I feel a lot better, Arnold.  Like you're going to be able to do much 
against her." 

"I'm better than nothing.  And now there are two female Atlases running 
around.  Hey, look on the bright side.  At least it will be interesting.  
Ha!  Hey, I have to go meet a client.  I'll be in touch." 

"Yeah.  Bye." 

Todd hung up.  He spent a few hours reading through the more important 
correspondence and reports, then he went to a hotel; home was too far 
for the short night he had left and the early morning he faced. 

Todd shook himself awake at six the next morning and stumbled into work.  
Sharon showed up at seven. 

"You look fresh.  I feel lousy.  Would you make some coffee?" 

"Sure.  I'm rarin' to go.  What do you have for me?" 

Todd pointed to a pile of reports on his desk.  "Digest these and make 
me a list with the names of the CEO's, the marketing guys and the 
designers.  Damn, this stuff is like a foreign language to me.  Do you 
follow fashion, Sharon?" 

"Not really.  I mean, I look at the pictures, but it's out of my league, 
you know, dollarwise.  Is there something I should learn to help you?" 

"No, that's alright.  The coffee would be fine." 

Todd looked her over when she brought it back in.  She looked somehow 
more vital than he remembered.  She was certainly more cheerful.  
"Sharon?" 

"Yes sir?" 

"You seem, uh, very happy again today?" 

"Why, I do feel happy.  Is it bothering you?" 

"No, no.  It's just....  It seems every woman I run into these days is 
bouncing off the ceiling." 

"You know, I was talking about that with my girlfriend last night at the 
health club.  The aerobics class had twice the usual turnout for the 
second day in a row, and they were all shouting out the numbers, you 
know, really enthusiastic.  It really inspires you when you're leading 
the class.  Maybe it's the break in the heat.  That always makes me feel 
better." 

"Well it hasn't helped me." 

Sharon looked sympathetic.  "You've been working so hard and traveling 
so much.  And," she looked embarrassed, "I know it's none of my 
business, but I heard you and Marta might be splitting up.  I'm really 
sorry." 

"How did you ... never mind.  Becky I suppose.  There's nothing official 
yet." 

"You still love her?  I understand how it is.  When my boyfriend and I 

Becky was standing at the door.  "My, my, it's only seven fifteen and 
we're all working hard.  Todd, Mr. Whitney wants to see you.  He looks 
... thoughtful.  I think it's something important." 

Todd sighed.  "Wish me luck girls." 

"Oh I do Mr. Bartel," Sharon said fervently. 

Becky walked with him to the corner office.  "Don't you love her, Todd?  
Didn't I find you the perfect secretary, for now.  So loyal."  She 
elbowed him in the stomach.  "Miss me?"  Todd grunted.  They were ten 
feet from the office.  "You're in for a surprise, Todd.  Be prepared." 

Todd walked in.  A young, petite, sharply dressed woman was sitting 
opposite Mr. Whitney.  She eyed Todd appraisingly. 

"Good morning Todd.  This is Sarah Phipps.  She's a cousin of 
Adrienne's.  Sarah, Todd Bartel." 

Todd extended his hand.  "Pleasure to meet you Sarah."  She grasped it 
firmly and held it a moment.  Her hand was cool. 

"I've heard so much about you, Todd." 

"Very nice, Sarah, but enough pleasantries.  Let's get to the point.  
Todd, you've been a splendid addition to the firm.  You'd done solid 
work for years, and we would have missed the whole internet phenomenon 
if you hadn't pushed it so strongly, but as you know I've liquidated 
that portfolio and 

"But why, Uncle Richard?  Sure there's been a bit of a pullback, but in 
the long term 

"Todd, I've made up my mind on this.  Never bet tomorrow's money on 
yesterday's horses.  I told you there are changes coming, and I want to 
profit by them.  Now, I let you take the lead in the technology sector 
before, and thanks to my quick action, we've profited handily.  I could 
send you back to the research work, but I want to continue giving you 
more exposure.  You have a good head, and I value that, whether or not 
you're my nephew.  No, don't say anything. We'll talk about Marta later. 
Now, where was I?  Yes.  Unfortunately, I think you lack any sort of 
feel for the area where I want to invest. 

"Women's apparel?  Yes, but I can 

"Of course you can learn.  You will.  Now, Sarah here has studied at the 
Fashion, what is it? 

"Fashion Institute of Technology.  I earned my degree there." 

"Yes, yes.  Sarah has a terrific eye for quality and fashion.  She's 
also quite clever Todd.  She doesn't plan to work here, but I think that 
if she wanted to make this a career she could would be a great success.  
So I'm going to take her on as an intern and assign her to you. She can 
educate you on fashion, you will teach her about our business.  And 
Adrienne will be very pleased with me.  Do you understand, Todd?" 

"Yes Uncle Richard." 

"Good.  Now, Sarah, if you'll excuse me for a moment, there is a matter 
I must discuss with Todd privately."  She nodded, knowingly.  They all 
stood and Sarah left. 

"Todd, Marta has spoken to Adrienne, although I haven't seen her.  
Adrienne said I'm to tell you she wants to divorce you.  This isn't a 
surprise to you, is it?"  Todd shook his head.  "I don't understand it.  
I was just complimenting myself, and you for that matter, on how Marta's 
returned to health.  But between us, she's gotten a little funny the 
past few months.  Went up to Newport on her own.  Wouldn't return my 
telephone calls.  Didn't even write her own letters to me.  I'm not 
blaming you Todd.  These things are usually the woman's fault.  Most 
importantly, I know you'll take care of this quietly.  We all appreciate 
it.  You understand of course that the house must stay in the family.  
But we'll take care of you.  You understand me, right?" 

"Yes, of course Uncle, I mean, Mr. Whitney." 

He smiled.  "Good lad.  Now, you take good care of Sarah.  She's one of 
Adrienne's favorites." 

"Sir, if I may ask you?  What exactly do you see in women's apparel?  
It's been dead for years.  Liz Claiborne.  Ann Taylor." 

"Todd, if I had to explain every hunch I had, I'd be sitting with the 
$25 million Father left me, instead of the $200 million I have today.  
Of course I rely on you to find me the few real winners.  But take my 
word, there's something new in the air.  Even Adrienne, bless her, looks 
like a new woman.  That's all Todd."  He stood up.  Todd joined him and 
then walked back to his office, legs weak. 

Becky watched as he walked by, waited briefly, then followed him inside 
and stood in front of his desk. 

"If you ask me, that Sarah is another Marta.  These Whitneys are all 
cold fish.  Remember, you deserve better, Todd.  You deserve 

Todd looked at Becky.  He put his hand to his head.  It was 
disconcerting to see her, a few days after he had been so overwhelmed by 
a Marta whom he had refashioned to resemble Becky.  But something was 
different about Becky too. 

"What's happening Becky?" 

"Well, the way I see it, that Sarah may be your real rival to taking 
over this firm some day.  She's 

"No, I mean, what's happening to women?  What's happening to you?" 

She stiffened.  "I don't know what you mean.  Is something the matter?  
Did I say the wrong thing?  If you don't want to talk to me, just say so 
and I'll go."  She added sarcastically, "Should I send Sharon in with 
some coffee for you?" 

"Becky, please.  I want to talk to you.  I asked you a question." 

Becky looked flustered.  She replayed Todd's words in her mind and 
realized he wasn't criticizing her.  "I don't know what to say.  I feel 
fine.  Maybe even a little better than usual.  Why?  Don't I look 
myself?"  Gaining confidence, she pretended to tuck her blouse in, 
tightening the top to accentuate her bust even more. 

"I can't put my finger on it.  Uncle Rich-, uh, he noticed something, 
although he couldn't say what it was.  And all you women, you, Sharon, 
the stewardess yesterday, you all seem so cheerful." 

Becky shrugged, knowing Todd's eyes couldn't help but follow her breasts 
as they resettled themselves in her blouse.  Men were so easy to 
distract and to attract, she thought, but interesting him wasn't enough.  
She had lost him once, to Marta, and that wasn't a fair fight.  But he 
was asking for her opinion.  Maybe she'd have another chance. 

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but maybe we can talk about it more 
later, like over lunch?" 

"I can't Becky.  Not today.  I have to meet with Sarah.  But ... how 
about tonight?  Damn, no.  I can't.  Soon Becky, soon, I promise." 

She pouted.  She turned to leave then quickly back again, watching with 
satisfaction as Todd's eyes again followed her swaying breasts.  "Ok 
Todd.  Whenever you have time.  But remember, I can get busy too."  She 
rose again and left, confident that Todd saw every swish her skirt made 
as she walked out the door. 

Todd noticed he was breathing hard.  Becky always did that to him.  
Things were changing too quickly.  Divorce, his privileged position at 
the firm gone, a new industry to learn, Sarah to contend with, and most 
of all, Marta. 

Sharon peeked in.   "Sir?  Miss Phipps called ten minutes ago.  I didn't 
think I should interrupt you.  She wanted to know whether you would like 
to begin today, otherwise, she would come back tomorrow."  

Todd looked up at the ceiling.  "She's already try to set the agenda.  
Oh no!  I 'd better start now if I'm going to stay in control.  Sharon, 
tell her we'll start at lunch today, and we'll have two appointments 
this afternoon, which you will arrange as soon as their offices open, 
right?" 

"Yes sir!" 

*** 

He dreaded lunch with Sarah, but she proved adept at conversation, and 
to his surprise, Todd quickly felt at ease with her. 

"This shouldn't be hard Todd.  The apparel industry isn't Paris Couture; 
it's like pop music or MTV: more marketing than anything else. If you 
like real music, it's a bore.  These companies aren't leaders.  They 
don't even care what's new in Paris, unless for some reason it makes the 
covers of the magazines their customers read." 

"But explain to me, Sarah, how do you know which lines are going to be 
better?  With other industries, you can compare product specifications, 
marketing surveys, financial strength.  This looks even worse than the 
movie industry.  All the production commitments are made before there's 
even any product to look at, before anyone even knows what women want to 
wear." 

Sarah laughed.  "You look like a man struggling with buying his wife a 
Christmas present.  I'll never understand why men think it's so 
difficult.  Can't you just visualize how it will look and decide?"  Todd 
shook his head.  "Oh dear.  Well, I can't explain that.  Oh!  I have an 
idea.  Let's go shopping together!" 

Todd made a long face.  "We have meetings this afternoon.  Ann Taylor at 
2, Liz Claiborne at 3, Bloomingdale's at 5." 

"Cancel Liz Claiborne.  They're history.  I'll go with you to Ann 
Taylor, take me shopping afterwards and then you can decide whether you 
need me to go to the Bloomingdale's meeting.  By the way, Todd Uncle 
Richard has me all wrong, although he's being really sweet making me an 
intern here.  I love to design clothes, especially for a few friends of 
mine who have the bodies and the style to show them off.  But I couldn't 
give a hoot if any of these mass merchandise houses buy them.  I don't 
need the money anyway.  And the last thing I'd need is to work here, in 
an office.  So let's just be friends, ok?" 

Todd agreed.  

They sat through a dull presentation of last year's troubles at Ann 
Taylor:  management instability, overexpansion, poor quality of 
merchandise, and, as Todd feared, their complete failure to sense the 
styles that would sell.  Next year would be better, they promised.  Then 
they showed the next season's clothes.  Sarah perked up, sketching 
pictures, wrinkling her nose.  In the cab on the way to Bloomingdale's, 
she asked Todd his impression. 

"Well management is weak, and so is their financial position.  It seems 
they hit the market right two years ago, then overextended themselves." 

Sarah shrugged.  "I don't know about that.  I would never buy their 
clothes.  Too serious." 

"But that's just you.  Why wouldn't a woman executive shop there?" 

"I don't know.  I've never been an executive, and I don't plan to shop 
for one.  I'm sorry.  I don't think I'm being much help.  Sometimes, a 
woman wants to look professional, but that's becoming less important 
lately, and not just to me." 

"Why?" 

"I don't know.  It's just fashion." 

"That's what I'm trying to understand.  How do you know these things?" 

She thought a minute.  "I guess it's in my soul.  My female soul," she 
added with a laugh.  "Maybe you'll see it too when we get to 
Bloomingdale's." 

They entered on the Third Avenue side in the quiet of the tie 
department, but the energy level tripled once they reached the women's 
clothing sections. Sarah pulled him quickly to a small boutique selling 
a wildly colored assortment of wispy blouses.  Todd was astounded at the 
women working the racks, pulling off clothing, laying it against their 
bodies, disappearing into the dressing rooms, piles of cloth draped 
across their forearms. 

"Is it always this crowded on a weekday afternoon?" 

"No.  But something's in the air.  I feel it too.  Can't you?" 

"No.  What is it?" 

"I don't know.  A freshness.  Optimism.  Everyone I know feels it.  
We're all buying new clothes because we feel different."  Todd pulled 
her aside.  "Hey, is something wrong?  What did I say?" 

"I've just heard that again and again the past few days.  I want to know 
more about it." 

"About what?  Feeling different?  That's nothing special.  I go through 
this kind of thing at least five times a year." 

"Maybe, but don't you think it's odd that everyone feels it?  At least 
every woman?" 

"I don't know.  We're all much more sensitive to change than men.  
That's probably all it is." 

"Yes, sure, but what change?" 

"You're being very persistent with this, you know," she said with a 
touch of annoyance.  "Oh well, I know I'm supposed to help you develop a 
sense for fashion.  I guess this is part of it."  She stood very still, 
thinking.  "It was two days ago.  I was working on a bustier, feeling a 
bit peeved about some lace I had bought that wasn't the right color.  
Suddenly a wave of pleasure just washed through me, and I felt a bit 
like I could breath more deeply.  No, I know.  It was how you feel when 
you've had a headache and it's just gone away.  Except I didn't have a 
headache.  I felt fine, and then, I felt even better.  And it's funny, 
because my friend Marie, who was modeling for me, looked at me and I 
could tell she felt the same thing, and we both laughed and hugged each 
other.  I guess I still feel that way." 

"Two days ago." 

"Yes.  Oooh, look at that!"  She walked off to another boutique.  Todd 
thought a minute, then joined her. 

"I'm going to cancel the five o'clock appointment.  Will you be in 
tomorrow?" 

"Yes, yes.  I have to give this a try.  Maybe you can show me how to 
read The Wall Street Journal or something." 

"If you like.  Shopping with you was a good idea. I've learned a lot 
Sarah.  Thank you." 

"You're very welcome Todd.  I enjoyed it too.  See you tomorrow." 

Todd need to talk to someone.  Arnold was as deaf to this as he was.  
Sandy!  The thought of being in the same room with her still gave him a 
confusingly mixed sense of anxiety and excitement, but she was the only 
one whom he could talk to about this without seeming like a fool.  And 
he could ignore her muscles if he tried hard enough.  He walked to the 
lounge and found a kiosk with a Brooklyn phonebook.  There were two 
listings of a Sandy Stein and four of S Stein.  Todd guessed she would 
be an "S."  He hit it on the first try. 

"That was quick!" 

"What, I 

"Oh, you didn't get my message.  I just called your office to let you 
know I was back in town.  I HATE L.A., and I couldn't wait to come home 
and shock my friends.  It was so much fun.  Mom loved it, but Dad 
couldn't wait to leave.  I think he's afraid of me.  Ha-HA-ha!  You 
should have seen Mom and me.  We were bouncing off the walls, laughing 
and talking.  Dad thought we'd both lost our minds.  Hey, are you busy 
tonight?" 

"Just the usual work, I wanted to talk to you about 

"I don't have time right now, but I will later.  Come to the Nassau 
Coliseum, out on Long Island.  There's a show that you'll enjoy, I know, 
because I'm going to be in it.  That's what I was calling you about." 


"What kind of show?" 

"Ha-HA-ha!  You wouldn't believe it if I told you.  Just come.  Don't 
try to look it up or anything.  They don't advertise anyway.  You just 
have to know about these things.  I found out about it on the plane ride 
back.  My treat.  I'll buy you a ticket.  How many "l"s do you use?" 

"Just one.  No 's.'" 

"Got it.  Wait in your seat when I'm finished.  I'll come to you and 
then we can get dinner and you can talk all you want, if you can get a 
word in, but you never do around me.  Ha-HA-ha!  Who knows, maybe we can 
even have a little fun, if you don't fall asleep!" 

"I really just want to talk." 

"Well, whatever.  You men are so funny.  You should have seen the way my 
next door neighbor reacted when I came home.  He'd never even given me 
the time of day before, and once he saw the new me, he kept trying to 
get into my apartment for one thing or another.  He wanted to feel my 
muscles, again and again.  Hey, it takes all kinds.  I could see his 
cute little cock just straining to get me, so I took pity on him and 
practically raped the guy.  He was so grateful I laughed.  Ha-HA-ha!  
It's a lot more fun when you're in control.  Well, see you soon." 

Todd picked up his car and drove out to Hempstead.  Whatever the show 
was, it didn't attract much of a crowd.  He was searched when he 
entered, and only then did he get a program.  Extreme Fighting!  Oh no.  
What was Sandy doing?  

The arena was only one-third filled, but the crowd was very 
enthusiastic, mostly middle aged bikers, it seemed.  Todd figured Long 
Island probably was not the most likely place for this.  He settled into 
his seat, next to a bearded man wearing a black Megadeath t-shirt, who 
was with a tough looking woman wearing black leather pants and chewing 
gum vigorously.  On his other side was a big, long-haired biker who 
pounded his right fist into his left hand every couple of minutes, 
shouting "Let's get going and KILL somebody," at the top of his lungs.  
Everyone around Todd, who still wearing his suit and tie, looked at Todd 
like he was a Martian. 

Todd wasn't squeamish; he loved the smash of linesman against linesman 
in football and enjoyed the hockey fights more than the goals, but he 
found this display utterly disgusting.  The first three fights had two 
gouged eyes, a nose broken so badly that the fractured bone penetrated 
the man's cheek, and, in a horrendous overmatch, the loser's arm was 
broken in two separate places.  The screams of the victims were 
horrifying, but the enthusiasm of Todd's neighbors was worse.  The biker 
pounded his fist harder with each bone crack and shouted, "Punish him, 
wimp nuts.  Crush his guts" so often and so loudly that Todd was tempted 
to do the same to him.  Even the woman's eyes glowed brightly at the 
carnage, her mouth chewing more rapidly each time the victor stomped on 
his opponent's arm and laughing when he spit up blood. 

Todd was wondering how much more he would have to sit through, when he 
heard this announcement: 

AND NOW, IN A SPECIAL OPEN MATCH, FOR A $50,000 PRIZE, BONECRUSHER SMITH 
WILL TAKE ON ANYONE IN THE HOUSE WILLING TO RISK $20,000 AND THREE 
ROUNDS WITH THE DEMON OF DESTRUCTION.  ANY FIGHTER WHO CAN SUBDUE 
BONECRUSHER IN THREE ROUNDS WILL EARN $50,000.  BUT IF YOU FAIL, YOU 
WILL FORFEIT YOUR $20,000 STAKE, AND SUFFER BONECRUSHER'S SADISTIC 
BEATINGS.  ARE THERE ANY TAKERS? 

The crowd buzzed.  Even Todd's neighbor fell silent, looking with awe at 
Bonecrusher's six foot seven inch, three hundred fifty pound frame.  The 
woman's mouth hung open in admiration of his physique, pink saliva 
dripping down the side of her chin. 

WE HAVE TWO VOLUNTEERS AND ONE IS A WOMAN!  AND CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS 
FANS?  A WOMAN HAS CHALLENGED BONECRUSHER SMITH. 

A roar filled the arena.  The two men next to Todd were laughing so hard 
that tears spilled down their faced.  The woman looked serious and 
stopped chewing. 

THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED, BUT IN THESE TIMES, WHO ARE WE TO DENY HER "EQUAL 
RIGHT" TO EARN $50,000?  SO, SANDY STEIN, LADIES FIRST.  STEP RIGHT INTO 
THE RING. 

Todd couldn't believe it.  But he was even more shocked when she stepped 
into the ring and threw off her robe.  She was wearing a frayed muscle 
t-shirt, which revealed more than it hid, and then with a burst of 
power, she flexed her chest muscles and shredded the shirt into two 
strips of cloth hanging from her shoulders.  The crowd hooted her 
arrival, cheered when she exploded her shirt and let the remaining 
pieces drop into the canvas, then lapsed into silence as they examined 
her mighty physique.  Even the announcer seemed temporarily at a loss 
for words. 

Meanwhile, Bonecrusher was looking over his opponent carefully.  He had 
never imagined there could be such a woman.  She was a good foot shorter 
than he.  But even disregarding her breasts, which bounced defiantly as 
she moved around her corner, her chest was more densely muscled and her 
arms seemed thicker than his, though perhaps that was because of her 
smaller stature.  Like an ape signaling his dominance, he put his arms 
at his sides and puffed out his chest.  If he had been a lion, he would 
have roared. 

Sandy looked at Todd and winked, then turned her attention back to 
Bonecrusher.  "Hey, you big lug.  Guess how I'm going to spend my 
$50,000.  I'm going to Paris to buy a closet of new dresses, made just 
for me, full of frills and bows, some silky nightgowns, perfume, hair 
styling, shoes.  Is that what all your opponents plan? 

Bonecrusher grimaced.  "You're no woman." 

"Oh yeah?  Just try to kick me in the balls and see what happens Mr. 
Crushedboner.  Ha-HA-ha!  Or maybe you want a taste of these?"  She 
cupped her breasts with her hands.  "They may not look very big with all 
this muscle underneath, but most men find them pretty sweet.  But you'll 
have to get past these first."  She held out her arms and flexed.  A 
groan rippled through the arena as the crowd admired the boulders of 
might that erupted from her arms.  She rested her hands comfortably back 
on her hips where they curved away from her tiny waist. 

"I'm no poser; I'm a fighter, and I'm not taking it easy on you, woman 
or no woman.  A bucks a buck."  He rushed at her and powered a punch at 
her stomach.  Todd winced at the impact of the blow, but instead of 
hearing Sandy cry out, he heard the deeper sound of Bonecrusher 
groaning.  

Sandy quickly took his arm and twisted it behind Bonecrusher's back. 
"Ha-HA-ha!  Not so easy, eh big guy?"  She tightened her hand around his 
wrist and he let out a low groan.  "Say it louder.  I couldn't hear 
you."  She tightened her hand further and Bonecrusher's face grew white.  
She put her other hand on his ass and squeezed lightly.  "Hey, nice 
buns.  But what if I really pinched them?"  She dug her nails into his 
ass." 

"Aaah!," he moaned. 

"I thought ass-pinching was just one of the things you have to put with.  
Or is that just for women?"  The crowd was quiet, except for some high 
pitched titters sprinkled throughout from the women.  Todd looked over 
at the couple next to him.  The man was stony faced, while the woman was 
staring intently at Sandy, eyes bright, jaw still. 

Tightly grasping his rear, she lifted him above her head, seemingly 
without effort, then swung him around, first slowly, then more and more 
rapidly as she pivoted gracefully on the canvas.  Then slowing down, she 
used her momentum to toss him high into the air.  He landed heavily on 
the canvas as the bell rang. 

THAT'S THE END OF THE FIRST ROUND.  WELL, SANDY, YOU'VE SHOWN YOU HAVE 
THE STRENGTH TO STAY IN THE RING WITH BONECRUSHER, BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO DO 
MORE THAN THAT TO EARN YOUR $50,000.  AND, HEY BONECRUSHER, ARE YOU 
GOING TO LET THIS GIRL SHOW YOU UP? 

Bonecrusher shook his head, clearly frightened by her strength.  Sandy 
reached back to straighten her hair and keep it out of her eyes, 
incidentally thrusting out her monstrous chest.  The second round 
started.  Sandy walked forward, nonchalantly, then reached out with her 
hand to slap him.  Bonecrusher caught her wrist, but then Sandy pulled 
him closer and wrapped one arm around his back, then another, crushing 
him into her.  Bonecrusher struggled to get free, but his arms were 
caught in her bear hug.  "Don't you want to give me a hug, big guy?  I'm 
not going to let you get away now that I have you."  He kicked at her 
legs to knock her off balance, but she was as sturdy as a tree trunk and 
seeing he had one leg in the air, toppled him onto the floor.  She stood 
over him, hands on her hips daring him to get up. 

NICE MOVE SANDY, BUT YOU ONLY HAVE TWO MINUTES LEFT IN THIS ROUND AND 
THREE IN THE NEXT TO FINISH HIM OFF OR LOSE YOUR $20,000. THIS IS A 
FIGHT, NOT A DANCE.  HEY BONECRUSHER, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET TO WORK? 

Sandy seemed momentarily unsure how to proceed, then jumped down to pin 
him, but Bonecrusher rolled away and got to his feet, shakily.  Sandy 
closed in, but Bonecrusher ripped a vicious kick at her kidney, which, 
unlike her abdomen, was not protected by layers of muscle.  Sandy was 
clearly surprised by the pain, and stepped away from him.  Bonecrusher 
followed her, and using his greater reach rained blows on her shoulders.  
From the distance he lacked the leverage to hit hard enough to damage 
her, but the force of his blows against her joints, where she had no 
muscle to shield her from his fists, left her off balance.  The round 
ended with Sandy rubbing her arms and looking unhappy. 

A COMEBACK FOR BONECRUSHER.  HE'S USING HIS SIZE AND FIGHTING SKILLS TO 
BATTLE THE POWERFUL LADY BACK TO A DRAW!  WILL HE SETTLE IT IN ROUND 3?  

Sandy looked over to Todd, her tongue silenced.  Would she stop him?  
The bell sounded.  She waded in, slowly, then charged through his blows 
and fired an overhand jab that hit Bonecrusher's chest and knocked him 
backwards.  She reached up to grab his shoulders and started to squeeze 
the bones with her powerful fingers.  Bonecrusher's eyes grew wide with 
pain, but seeing an opening he hurled his fist upwards at Sandy's face 
and hit her squarely in the jaw, knocking her teeth together and 
throwing her hand backwards.  Seizing his opening, he followed with two 
quick jabs at her eyes, then reached back and let loose with all his 
strength at her temple.  Sandy jerked backwards again at the force of 
the blow and seemed dazed.  A cruel smile crossed Bonecrusher's lips and 
he started pounding her head repeatedly.  Sandy's arms rose to cover her 
face, and Bonecrusher unleashed a mighty kick to her left kidney and 
then to her right.  Sandy screamed with pain and dropped to the canvas.  

The man on Todd's left was now pounding his fist into hand again, 
yelling, "Kill the dame, smash her face!  Kill the dame, smash her 
face," rhythmically, like a chant.  Other men around him took up the 
call.  Encouraged by the crowd's roar, Bonecrusher kicked her cheekbone 
with the full force of his leg, and blood spurted from her nose and 
filled one eye socket.  He then lifted his foot to stomp on her neck.  
Blinded and moaning loudly, Sandy couldn't see the blows, but she 
luckily caught his foot and deflected the blow.  She twisted his ankle, 
keeping Bonecrusher off balance, but he left his feet, dropping all of 
his weight onto his knees, and fell directly on her neck and upper 
chest.  Sandy gagged and started to spit up blood.  Bonecrusher laughed 
and started slamming punches at Sandy's head.  With each blow, Todd 
thought he heard something break, a nose, a jaw, a cheekbone, and eye 
socket.  Sandy lay limply on the canvas when the bell rang, her face 
unrecognizable. 

AN AMAZING COMEBACK.  BONECRUSHER DEFEATS THE FEMALE ATLAS.  SHE WAS 
STRONG, BUT IT WAS ALL FOR SHOW.  SHE DIDN'T HAVE THE KILLER INSTINCT, 
DID SHE MEN?  NOW FOR OUR NEXT .... 

Todd stood up and made his way to the ring, shouting, "Sandy, Sandy, are 
you alright?"  She didn't respond.  A guard blocked Todd's way.  "Let me 
get to her.  She's hurt," he pleaded. 

"The company'll take care of her, Mister.  This isn't your concern." 

"But I'm a friend of hers.  Let me help." 

"If you were supposed to be in her corner, you'd a been there already.  
Now sit down or I'm gonna throw you outta here myself." 

Todd watched helplessly as he saw the ushers roughly lift Sandy onto a 
stretcher and carry her out of the ring.  He walked backwards, keeping 
his eye on her progress, and left the arena looking for the manager's 
office, only to see an ambulance speed away before he could reach her.  
He found out where they took her and headed for the hospital, only to 
learn that she had already died from internal bleeding and massive 
injuries to her head. 

Todd drove silently back to his house and threw himself onto his bed for 
the first time in nights and immediately fell asleep.  He didn't set the 
alarm, but slept fitfully anyway, imagining Marta's voice instructing 
him on playing a new computer game only to find the program crashed each 
time he'd tried to save his work.  When Sharon woke him with a phone 
call, 14 hours later, he couldn't remember what it was about, although 
his fingers ached as if he had furiously pushed mouse buttons all night 
long. 

*** 

Although he was shocked by its violence, Todd felt strangely relieved by 
Sandy's death.  Somehow, it gave him closure on the strange events of 
the past week.  True, he knew that Sally was still running around 
putting his old strength to her own uses, and females everywhere were 
acting as bright and cheerful as if they lived in a perpetual May day. 
He also was sure Marta had something planned, but he felt that life 
might yet return to normal. 

Todd let the lawyers handle the divorce and was pleased they were able 
to arrange it without any confrontations with Marta.  He moved out of 
the Whitney estate, and looking only for a doorman highrise new enough 
and tall enough that the cockroaches wouldn't reach his apartment for a 
few years, he found a place on the East Side for his few possessions and 
a garage space for his Porsche in no time at all.  Ten days later he was 
settled and he was soon busy returning to the life of a Manhattan 
bachelor.  

Sarah gave him a new tip on women's fashions: fitness was coming back in 
a major way.  Todd quickly added a few makers of exercise suits to his 
buy list, along with a health clubs and sellers of swimsuits and 
exercise equipment for women, and started to accumulate positions for 
the firm. 

He tried to find Madame LaFarge, or even Michelle, but their phones had 
been disconnected and there was no answer at either of their "offices."  
Michelle's assistant Joan, whom Todd found after Sharon spent an entire 
morning on the phone checking Canettis in Brooklyn and Queens, couldn't 
help him.  Michelle had let her go two weeks before, and her severance 
checks bounced. 

Perhaps seeking the comfort of the familiar, he had renewed his interest 
in Becky, who seemed more appealing to him than ever.  He had always 
loved her breasts, but there was a new energy in her step, as well as a 
new firmness to complement her soft curves.  Besides, if he was 
interested, she was easy, and Todd was in no mood for another 
challenging woman. 

Becky and Sharon were both enthusiastic about The Vertical Club, an East 
Side fitness center, so Todd joined too and started the long, slow 
process of building himself up again.  Most nights, Becky waited for him 
there after her aerobics and body sculpting classes, and they worked the 
machines side-by-side for an hour before a hearty late dinner at an 
Italian restaurant, after which Todd went home, alone.  

Why alone?  Why wasn't Todd sleeping with Becky, who would have gladly 
made herself available?  He didn't really want to admit why he was being 
more discreet now than he had been during his marriage; he told her he 
it was just until the divorce was final, and that he didn't want to do 
anything that might jeopardize the financial arrangements that would 
soon leave him with over ten million dollars.  This was an explanation 
she didn't have to hear twice. 

But that wasn't the real reason.  It still bothered Todd that even after 
Madame LaFarge had helped him, he had ended up with only 90% of his 
original strength and size.  And although he was working harder than 
ever before, except when he was preparing for football during college, 
he seemed to be making less progress than ever.  In fact, he was barely 
even holding his own.  His arms were firm enough, his muscles 
tightening, but he wasn't getting any bigger.  He wondered if it was his 
age, the tension from all of the changes he had gone through recently, 
or just impatience.  

What bothered him even more was that Becky was adding weight to the 
stations a lot more quickly than he was.  True, working only nine to 
five she had a lot more time to spend at the club, and generally had 
been through two hours of classes before he even started.  Becky had 
always worked out and had been in pretty good shape for a woman even 
before they started doing the club together.  But still, she shouldn't 
be happening getting stronger faster than he was.  Each night, he looked 
nervously at her upper arms, and each night they seemed a little bit 
larger to him.  And each time she quietly moved the settings just a 
little bit higher, Todd wondered.  He still could do almost 25% more 
than she could on the upper body exercises, and 10% more on the lower. 
But why did it take him four or five days to move to more resistance, 
when it was taking her just one or two?  He could see the trend lines 
converge in his mind, and he didn't like what he saw. 

The lines on the machines were growing longer.  Was it his imagination, 
or were more and more women using them, and fewer and fewer men?  Even 
Sharon was starting to work the weights.  With the conservative suits 
she wore, he'd never noticed how supple and shapely her legs were.  He 
remembered from the few really warm days at the beginning of her term as 
his secretary, when even she had worn short sleeves, that she had arms 
like sticks.  Now he could see small biceps growing, popping out like 
mini-muffins each time she did an arm curl.  Sharon seemed bashful about 
it, making sure that there was no man, and especially not Todd, next to 
her when she did her routines.  But long practice at the gym had taught 
Todd how to look at women out of the corner of his eye, in the 
reflections of mirrors and windows, even off the equipment itself.  He 
saw. 

As he always did when faced with a challenge, Todd buckled down and 
worked harder, leaving work earlier to add an extra half hour, then an 
hour to his routine.  After a week, he felt he was making more progress, 
increasing the resistance a bit more quickly even though he wasn't 
gaining much size.  He felt relieved, that is, until Becky told him she 
was dropping aerobics so that they could lift together for the full two 
hours.  Her arms were really popping with muscle now, and before too 
long he was lifting just 15 pounds more than she was.  Convergence 
suddenly looked just a week away. 

Todd was sleeping poorly too.  The dream about the computer game 
returned nightly now.  He felt as though his life depended on winning 
and saving his game board, but the program never let him.  Each night he 
was further behind than before.  Each morning his forearm was stiff, his 
eyes were bleary, and he could remember nothing of what he was fighting 
about. 

Finally, the divorce came through.  The funds were in his account.  Todd 
paid off his debts and set up a dinner in two days' time with Arnold, 
Arnold's girlfriend, and Becky to celebrate.  He skipped the after 
workout dinner with Becky and went home to write out his investment 
plan.  At last he could start his new life. 

When he walked into his apartment, he saw a light in his study.  He 
looked in.  Marta was there, playing with the computer.  She looked like 
her old self again, thin, darker hair, but healthy, like she was when 
they'd first met. 

"I'm so glad you're back early tonight Todd.  I wanted to play while 
you're awake." 

"What are you doing here?  What are you talking about?" 

"You remember.  We've been playing every night.  You always lose, but 
you do try so hard.  I thought you might play better when you're not 
asleep." 

"You've changed again." 

"Yes, I look like my old self.  Actually, this is just an astral body.  
I prefer it to my real body, the one that you made to look like Becky.  
I can appear in thousands of astral bodies now, all over the universe.  
It takes a lot of mental energy to control them all, so I only add a few 
hundred a day, as my powers continue to increase.  Can you imagine being 
in thousands of places at one time, having thousands of different 
conversations, many in non-human languages.  Just mastering the 
appearance of a ypurturru body one hundred eighty light years away took 
me several hours.  I've really been so absorbed with my travels that I 
haven't been devoting enough attention to Earth.  But as time goes by 
that won't be a problem." 

"Why, Marta?  Are you losing interest in us?" 

"Oh no, not at all.  I find that Earth is just beginning to get very 
interesting for me, especially as our game develops.  It will just be 
easier for me to do, that's all." 

"What is this game?  I wake up every day remembering a dream about 
playing something on the computer.  I keep waking up so frustrated." 

"Yes.  I call it SimHuman.  It's just like those Maxis games, SimAnt, 
SimCity, SimEarth you like to waste your time on.  That's why I designed 
it that way, because I knew it interested you and I thought you'd play 
better.  But of course you're no match for me.  There are virtually 
billions of factors to consider in designing DNA-based life, and you 
cannot be expected to understand them.  You never play with more than 
the first dozen or so, and as a result, your creatures never get beyond 
the simplest strands of protein.  Each time you lose, your design gets 
wiped out and mine gets saved as the basis for the next game." 

"But that's a dream!" 

"No it's not.  It's really quite a simple matter for me to speak to your 
mind directly; that way I don't have to worry about getting you too 
excited.  After all, I can always leave when you get frustrated and let 
you go back to your dreamland.  You don't question why I come or go.  
You just accept it." 

"So if that's so good, why are you talking to me tonight?  I'm not 
asleep, am I?" 

Marta laughed.  "Of course not.  Can't you tell?  Well, I thought we'd 
play for real tonight.  Since you're so close to figuring it out 
anyway." 

"What do you mean?" 

Marta ignored his question, turned around and pushed an icon on Todd's 
computer.  It was a crudely drawn picture of a man and a woman, each 
naked, looking at each other.  A logo that looked like Maxis appeared, 
although it said Marta instead, then the screen was awash in static, 
like the monitor had broken. 

"Ok, let's start." 

"But I can't see anything." 

"Of course you can't.  I have all of the controls on one screen at the 
same time.  I've enhanced your monitor and video card to a resolution of 
about 10 billion by 7 billion so it can display all of the options for 
me, although the resolution is much too fine for your eyes.  Don't ask 
me to explain the other changes I've made to the electronics.  The new 
parts are microscopic, and they only work when I activate them with a 
code, so you can't access them.  I wouldn't want them to get into the 
'wrong hands.'  Now, I'll take my turn, and then I'll shift the 
resolution back so you can see it.  We'll see whose creatures achieve 
more, scientifically, culturally, etc.  It's really quite fun." 

Marta took ten minutes at the computer, her hands moving more rapidly 
than Todd could follow with his eyes.  He wasn't sure, but it seemed 
that it took her longer than it had in his dreams. When she finished, 
she hit Ctl+S. 

"There.  Before it was just practice.  Now I've made all of the changes 
I've been thinking about.  We'll see how they work.  Your turn.  Take 
all the time you need."  She changed the resolution of the monitor and 
then stood up.  The monitor blinked into focus for Todd and he saw a 
familiar display of sliding controls, except that in the lower left hand 
corner there was a ribbon with a slider and the number one next to it. 

"What does that mean?" 

"Oh, that allows you to move from page to page in the controls." Todd 
moved the slider and saw the numbers rapidly change, rising to 
3,452,190,679,575.  "Those pages have controls for all of the factors 
that affect the development of living beings.  How quickly they grow, 
when they mature sexually, how tall they are, how resistant to disease, 
how long they live.  Of course, they're not labeled that way.  That's 
for the child's version of the game.  Our version is more scientific.  
The sliders are all expressed in terms of genes, biochemical and 
biomechanical reactions, even the interaction at the subatomic level.  
You can remake the laws of physics, chemistry, rearrange DNA.  It's much 
more interesting that way." 

"But, I have no idea what all this means." 

"We have the same discussion every night Todd.  Each time, I relent and 
end up letting you play the child's version of the game after you fail 
miserably even to put together a simple one celled organism.  You always 
insist on trying to save your changes, as if it's the real game, but the 
program won't let you.  You get so excited about it too.  That's when I 
leave.  Now try to play.  I'm not going to play the child's version with 
you tonight.  Just see how you do with the real thing." 

Todd stared blankly at the screen.  "I don't have any idea what these 
formulas mean.  What's the point of playing?"  He fiddled with some of 
the controls on page 34,693 and then hit save.  The screen went blank.  
"What happened?" 

"The form of life you tried to create wasn't viable.  Looks like I win 
again.  We'll just see how my changes work." 

"But where do we see it?  I can't see anything on the screen." 

"Do you expect to be able to see the whole of humanity on that little 
thing?  I'm running a larger simulation, where we can follow it easily." 

"But where?" 

Marta started to fade away.  "Haven't you noticed?"  She laughed. "I'll 
see you in a while Todd.  Next time I'll let you play the child's 
version.  I promise," she added as she disappeared completely. 

Todd returned to the computer, but Marta had closed the program, and 
when he clicked on the icon again, it produced only an "insufficient 
memory" message and then crashed.  He didn't know why, but a feeling of 
dread rose up inside him.  

He was restless the next morning at work, and decided that a hard 
workout was the only thing that would help.  He slipped out of the 
office and parked himself on the gravitron.  He set the resistance at 
the same level he had been stuck at for a week, cursing inside that he 
had still not regained the strength Sally and Sandy had stripped from 
him.  Without the distraction of Becky's heaving chest beside him, he 
put maximal effort into each repetition.  It felt good moving through 
the stations, working his body as thoroughly as he could.  He began to 
relax and started to look around him.  It was a different crowd than the 
after work group, younger, mostly students.  He saw the men working hard 
like he was, grunting with each lift, while the women worked more 
evenly, talking.  He eavesdropped on their melodious voices. 

"This club you got me into is really working.  All the fat's just 
melting off.  Look at this flat tummy!" 

"You look great." 

"And I have to tell you.  Something's just clicked for me with the body 
sculpting.  I'd never had any muscle before, but I'm really getting one 
here.  Do you think it's cute?" 

"Fabulous.  You know that new trainer, Jim?  He showed me how to use 
this gravitron two weeks ago and I swear by him.  It's like my body just 
woke up when I started up on it." 

"I'm kind of worried about getting too big, you know?" 

"Mares!  It's the thing to do!  Look around at all these women.  Don't 
we look great?" 

"I know. It's like, where were we?  Why did we ever think biceps were 
just for guys?" 

"Did you see Melanie?  She was always big, but she's just exploded the 
last couple of weeks.  I mean, she's bigger than Raymond now." 

Maret giggled.  "Hey, I'm going to move it up another notch.  You know, 
it's the second time I've done that today.  I'm just really into it.  
Oooh!  It's like I can almost see them grow!" 

"Hey, let's take a break. I'm famished." 

"Wanta go downstairs to the health bar?" 

"Uh, uh.  I don't want rabbit food.  Let's get something real." 

"Cheeseburgers," they squealed in unison, "Mass quantities."  They 
laughed again, unhooked themselves, and walked out quickly, arms around 
each others' waists.  Todd stared at their young bodies, firm bosoms and 
the bulges that emerged from their upper arms as they gripped each 
other.  He looked around.  All of the women had biceps.  Not the long 
thin tunnels women usually had, which looked like the outer part along 
their arm had collapsed around the center, if they had any muscle at 
all, but round, dense balls of muscle that rose above the plane of the 
inside of their arms like a generous scoop of ice cream on a cone. He 
was perspiring.  What was happening?  He felt a hand tap him on his 
shoulder and he turned around.   A teenage girl wearing a sweatshirt, 
arms crossed in front of her chest, was standing behind him impatiently. 

"Are you just going to sit there and gawk?  You know, there are people 
waiting." 

"I'm sorry, I just felt a little tired."  He carefully did two more 
repetitions. 

"Come on!  I've got homework to do.  You've been on there five minutes 
already." 

He turned around and stared at her, then got off the station and watched 
the girl settle into place.  Without touching the controls she quickly 
did five curls, then reset the resistance.  She was increasing it!  She 
turned around and looked at him smugly and then did fifteen repetitions, 
cleanly, easily, and got up. 

"Go on, you can finish your turn now.  I'll turn it back down for you." 

"I really was done." 

She smiled and flexed her arm.  Todd saw the bulge push up against the 
soft fleece material of her sleeve as she felt it to her evident 
satisfaction.  "Man, I am getting HARD," she said, boastfully, and 
swaggered off to the next station. 

He decided it was time for a swim.  He waited for the elevators, then 
got impatient and headed for the stairs.  It was the one thing he hated 
about the club:  waiting for the elevators.  He walked down slowly, 
feeling his legs throb after the pounding workout he had given them.  He 
heard someone skipping down behind him, then felt an arm around his 
waist. 

"Hey, didn't you hear me calling you?" 

It was that girl.  He pulled at her wrist to free himself but instead he 
felt himself being lifted in the air and carried down two more steps to 
the landing. 

"Wow!  This is so cool.  I can't believe I'm actually doing it!"  She 
put him down, but kept an arm around him and moved in front.  She had 
shed her sweatsuit and was now wearing only a t-shirt and shorts, 
displaying incredible arm and leg development. 

"What do you think you're doing?" 

"Like, pushing you around, duh.  I wasn't sure I'd have the nerve to, 
but, like you're sooo cute, and I could tell I was a lot stronger than 
you."  She kept her left arm around his waist.  With the other, she 
started to massage Todd's crotch.  "I'm Melanie, what's your name?"  
Todd reached down to push her hand away, but she grabbed it and caught 
it between her knees forcing his head down into her chest.  She was 
rubbing him more rapidly now, and he was responding in spite of himself.  
"Come on, I've seen you here before.  You're usually hanging out with 
that brunette with the huge tits.  Is she like your girlfriend?"  Todd 
kept his mouth closed as he brushed against her young breasts.  "Admit 
it.  You like this don't you?  Come on, I can tell I'm turning you on.  
Why don't you just be nice and play?"  

She started squeezing Todd's ass.  Todd realized how close he was to 
coming and struggled harder to get away, but he was caught fast in her 
iron hold.  Realizing it was inevitable, he shifted slightly, turning 
his body more directly onto hers, but she quickly caught on and deftly 
took her hand away and held him away from her, now cupping his ass and 
lifting him slightly into the air. 

"Hee-hee!  Now you want me.  Am I a tease?  Well, you'll have to be 
nicer if you want me to finish you off.  Come on, tell me your name."  
She ran her finger lightly across his penis again, to remind him how 
close he was. 

He looked down at her arm more closely.  Her biceps bulged out of her 
arm a good three inches, and she wasn't even flexing hard.  "How did you 
ever get muscles like that?" 

Jeez, I don't know.  Aren't they amazing?  Like, I've always been strong 
for a girl.  I've been swimming in meets since I was eight, and even 
before I got this big, I used to beat a lot of guys in arm-wrestling at 
school and even regular wrestling, you know, fooling around just, but 
like, this last month my muscles are just exploding!  My Mom took me to 
the doctor, cause she was worried I had a hormone problem, but I'm 
totally normal, in that way at least.  And they're like growing faster 
and faster.  The last two days I've gone from benching 400 pounds to 
like 470.  I feel like that Supergirl on the American Airlines 
commercial." 

"Yeah.  Sally." 

"You know her?"  Todd nodded.  "Wow!  Like, she's my idol.  She's just 
started this amazing bodybuilding show on ESPN 2!  I saw how smashing 
she looked, and I decided I wanted to get as big as I could.  I mean, my 
friends used to think muscles were gross on girls, but they're really 
not.  My old boyfriend, Raymond, told me I was disgusting, but he's just 
jealous, cause he's a bodybuilder, and he isn't bigger than me any more.  
Even my big sister, she was working out near you before, now she's 
getting into it, but she's never been as big as me and I'm not going to 
let her catch up.  I have to work hard though to stay ahead, I mean, 
like suddenly all of the girls I know who do weights are just piling on 
muscle." 

Todd turned his head to look at her.  "You mean, it's not just you?" 

"Uh-uh, but I'm the biggest on my swim team."  Todd could feel her hard 
biceps digging into his back.  She slipped her free hand under the 
waistband of Todd's shorts and started to stroke him again, lightly, 
Todd's semi-erect member springing to life.  "Hee-hee.  Got his 
attention again! You are so cute.  I have to kiss you!"  She lifted Todd 
closer to her face and pushed her lips onto his, her tongue roughly 
exploring the inside of Todd's mouth.  

He was amazed at her strength.  He still weighed almost 200 pounds, yet 
she was supporting him with one arm without any sense of strain, her 
fingers lightly kneading his member, her lips brushing delicately across 
his, while her right arm held him completely immobilized against her.  
She was quickening her pace again.  Would she make him come now, or was 
she just teasing him?  Suddenly he heard a door slam and footsteps in 
the stairwell. 

"Todd!  Are you in here?" 

Todd stiffened.  It was Becky!  He tried to break Melanie's hold on his 
lips, but she reacted threateningly by digging a finger into his ribs.  
He was caught like a fly.  He heard her coming closer, as Melanie 
started pumping him ever more rapidly.  Despite all his efforts at 
distracting himself, he was losing control and came right into her hand, 
just as he heard Becky stop short and scream. 

"Todd!! What are you doing??!!  So that's what it takes to.... Well, 
damn you, you bastard.  Take your fucking tickets!"  She threw an 
envelope down at Melanie's feet, while Melanie released his lips, 
allowing Todd to turn his head toward Becky.  "Look at you, cuddling 
with this musclebound little girl.  So this is what turns you on?" 

Todd stared at her helplessly.  "Becky, please, I'm sorry, she" 

Melanie studied Becky while she wiped Todd's cum off her hand and onto 
his shorts.   "No, I'm sorry, Becky," she said, mocking Todd's voice as 
she interrupted him.  "I guess he just likes a little muscle on a girl.  
You're just a titty-babe.  That's so old."  She flexed her free arm, and 
a twenty-three inch cannonball of power shot upwards. 

Becky wailed and bolted from the stairwell through the nearest door. 

Todd tried to follow her, but Melanie still held him fast.  "Oh, don't 
go so soon, sweetie.  I like having you in my arms." 

"Why are you doing this to me?" 

"Because I can, you little cutie, hee-hee!  And you won't tell, will 
you.  Like, guys think they should be in control.  Like, sure.  Well, 
control this!"  She held out her arm again and tightened her muscle more 
deliberately this time.  The tissues gathered force, then her biceps 
pushed upward like a time-action film of a souffle rising, while her 
triceps thickened below to make a solid block of thick muscle.  "Isn't 
it incredible?  It's almost as big as my waist!  Being a girl was never 
so much fun."  She looked down at Todd's arm and then spotted his watch.  
"Ohmagod!  I was supposed to meet Jennie at The Gap!  I gotta go.  Next, 
'Todds'."  She dropped him, then charged back up the stairs, four steps 
at a time, to the women's locker room. 

*** 

Todd sat down stiffly on the step, rubbing his back where Melanie had 
held him, and trying to stretch his t-shirt to cover the stain.  The 
shirt was still loose on him.  Damn!  He still wasn't making any 
progress getting his old body back.  He remembered the envelope and 
reached onto the floor.  It was a note from Sharon: 

"Miss Phipps said she and you were taking a trip tonight to Paris to 
attend a fashion show this weekend.  I would have taken your tickets to 
you myself, but Becky said she would be seeing you at the club.  I hope 
that was alright." 

Well, dinner was off now.  Todd stood up numbly and left the stairwell 
to look for a phone. 

"Arnold, I have to talk to you." 

"You're telling me!  I can't wait to introduce you to Felicia at dinner 
tonight." 

"Huh?  Oh.  Well, maybe."  He looked around him at the crowded locker 
room.  "Hey, Arnold, can you leave work early?  Let me come by your 
place now.  We can talk about dinner.  Becky, uh canceled, and anyway, 
suddenly I've got to run off to Paris with Sarah." 

"I guess ... alright.  I can blow off my 3:30.  He never pays his bills 
anyway.  How about 3?" 

"Yeah.  See you then." 

Todd hurried into the shower, then took a cab to Arnold's apartment.  As 
he got out, he saw Arnold walking briskly down the street. 

"Hey!  It's the ten million dollar man!" 

"Cut it out Arnold.  There's something we have to discuss." 

"Oh, don't be so serious all the time.  You're close to becoming 'Mr. 
Gloom and Doom!'   And for what?  Instead of smiting you down, like you 
probably deserve, Marta's given you your freedom, and ten million bucks.  
Her cousin, who you thought was ready to take away your job, turns out 
to be a real pussycat and is helping you cover yourself with glory at 
work all over again.  And now you're going to Paris with her?  Oooo-la-
la!" 

"It's not like that," Todd protested, as they walked inside. 

"Sorry."  He laughed.  "I'm a little keyed up about Felicia." 

"What are you, in love or something?  Who is this girl?" 

"Todd.  Now listen.  Promise me you won't laugh, ok?  Todd, she's the 
girl of my dreams.  The girl I've fantasized about my whole life." 

Todd stared at Arnold.  "Are you kidding me?  You?  You've never said 
that about any girl before.  You've always gone through girls like they 
were tissues, you know, 'get 'em dirty and throw them away, they're all 
the same anyway.'" 

Arnold shrugged.  He looked his friend in the eye.  "Yeah, well, like, 
no one I've even gone out with has ever given me what I wanted.  Like, 
I've always had this picture of this certain kind of girl but I never 
really expected to find her.  So it didn't really matter to me who I 
dated, or fucked.  I mean, it's not like I didn't enjoy it, but I knew 
they weren't what I really wanted.  Well, those days are over." 

"So what's so special about Felicia?  Is she a model?  Big tits?"  Todd 
shook his head.  "What then?  Is she rich?  Really smart?  Really dumb?  
Come on Arnold, help me out." 

Arnold blushed and looked down at his feet.  He said softly, "She's got 
big muscles, Todd." 

"What did you say?" 

"She's got....  Look Todd, you can think I'm weird or something, but my 
dick's got a mind of its own.  I've never been so turned on by a woman 
in my life.  I met her a couple of months ago, at a party my friends at 
the beach house were giving.  She had a good figure and a nice face and 
all that, and she was easy to talk to, but I noticed her shoulders, 
really broad.  And then, I don't know, she reached down to move a chair 
or something and I saw she had real biceps, you know, as big as mine, no 
kidding.  Hey, I'm no jock, Todd, not like you always were, but what was 
fine on me looked spectacular on her.  My breathing just kind of stopped 
for a minute and I decided, right there, I had to have this woman.  I 
tried to be cool about it and made some small talk, but I was very, very 
motivated, and she could tell.  I think it turned her on too.  Anyway, 
we ended up going to bed that night, and I had never been such an 
athlete in bed.  I couldn't get enough of her body.  She was impressed."  

"We started seeing a lot of each other.  She lives downtown, East 
Village.  She's a sculptor, working with metal.  That's probably how she 
got so strong, it's really a physically intense kind of work.  The 
amazing thing is she really liked me too.  She said I made her laugh 
more than any other guy.  I mean, you never know what's going to impress 
a girl, right?"  

"Pretty soon we were getting pretty intimate, you know, talking about 
our lives, our futures, what we liked about each other.  I couldn't 
really bring myself to tell her why I was falling for her so deeply.  
But after a few weeks I was deliriously in love with her and I decided, 
hell, either go for it all the way, or forget it.  So when we were at 
her place.  We'd eaten some kind of pasta she'd made and then settled 
down on some pillows she had on the floor.  It was warm and she was 
wearing long sleeves, so without too much effort I got her to take off 
her blouse.  The sight of her thick arms affected me again but this time 
I started stroking her biceps.  Her face reddened." 

"'They're kind of big for a girl, aren't they,' she said."  

"I nodded.  'You know, Felicia, I really like them.  I think they're a 
tremendous turn on.'" 

"She was thrilled.  She kept asking me over and over if I really meant 
it.  It took me a long time to convince her, and then she put her arms 
around me and squeezed, and now I felt the full power of those muscles.  
She had held back before.  I was so excited, like I had just been given 
everything I'd always wanted. I held her and pressed against her more 
tightly, and under her soft skin I felt her defined muscles, which were 
so much firmer now that she was holding me so strongly.  Hey, Todd, are 
you ok with this?" 

Todd shook his head and put his hand on Arnold's shoulder.  "Hey, it's 
not for me.  I don't want a woman who's as strong as me.  It makes me 
feel, I don't know, like I'm not the man.  But, whatever turns you on, 
Arnold.  He looked at him a little uneasily.  "You're sure you're not 
gay, though, right?" 

"Come on Todd!  Positive.  Yeah, well, you probably don't want to hear 
the rest of it, but it gets even better.  From my point of view anyway.  
So, Felicia and I had another wild night of sex, and in between I was 
running on and on about my fantasies and stuff.  She listened, satisfied 
now I was really telling the truth.  I have to admit I got her a little 
concerned for awhile about my interest.  I mean, it's not like she 
wanted me to worship her muscles or anything.  She wanted me to love 
her, not her biceps.  But I caught the drift and started back telling 
her all kinds of stuff women like to hear about how I loved her as a 
whole person. You know the routine.  That got her feeling comfortable 
again.  So then she asks me, a little embarrassed even, whether I would 
like it if she were even bigger.  I didn't know where she was going, so 
I asked what she meant.  Well, she told me she'd always been afraid to 
work out much, because she didn't want to get any bigger than she was, 
but one of her girlfriends had been pushing her to join a local gym on 
some two for one deal, and she would do it if I liked.  I said, 'sure, 
that would be fine, I mean, if you want to do it,' playing it cool, 
because while the thought of her growing even more was like adding 
gasoline to a fire, I didn't want to freak her out again." 

"Anyway, it's been amazing.  She quickly left me far behind.  You know 
me, I haven't worked out since we stopped compulsory phys. ed. after 
freshman year.  But after a couple of weeks at this gym, she was almost 
as built as you are now.  I really am excited about tonight.  She's been 
down at some artists' retreat in Key West, so I haven't seen her for the 
last two weeks." 

"Arnold, why didn't you tell me about this before?" 

"I don't know.  You've been pretty absorbed in your own problems.  I 
didn't think you'd be very interested.  Besides, it's, you know, its not 
the sort of thing we usually talk about.  I figured I knew what you'd 
say." 

"Yeah, well, Jesus Arnold, this is un-fucking-believable!" 

"Now wait a minute Todd.  We've been friends a long time, but this thing 
with Felicia is important to me." 

Todd smiled.  "Of course, Arnold.  I understand." 

Arnold looked suspicious, but said, "I hoped you would.  Well, anyway, 
you had something to talk about.  What's this about Becky blowing off 
dinner?" 

Todd pursed his lips.  "Oh, she saw a teenage girl beating me off at the 
club and took it the wrong way." 

"Get out of here!  Are you crazy?  What you mean she 'took it the wrong 
way.'  How's she supposed to take a thing like that?" 

"I don't know.  I think that it should have been easy to tell the 
difference between sex and rape." 

"You're asking me to believe that you a teenage girl forced herself on 
you to beat you off?" 

"It surprised me too, to say the least." 

Arnold looked at Todd in disbelief, unable to decide whether Todd was 
putting him up to something or whether he was serious.  "Well, you don't 
look any worse for wear," he said tentatively 

"What do you ...  Of course I'm fine.  She was really quite good at it.  
I mean, I was a little embarrassed, and it's screwed things up with 
Becky royally, but I'm not in trauma or shock or anything.  I just, 
I...."  He looked at Arnold and suddenly he shuddered.  He took a deep 
breath, then another, but his heart was still pounding.  "I don't know 
what's happening to me.  I just ... Arnold, she was huge!"  He was 
talking more rapidly now.  "She had such power in her arms.  She was 
holding me with total control!  I, I, I tried as hard as I could to get 
free, but she had me trapped using just one damn arm.  I couldn't do 
anything.  She was j-j-j-just playing with me, like I was a f-f-fucking 
toy.  All I could do was just hang there, pressed against her while she 
beat me off, for kicks, in front of Becky, while she just la-la-laughed 
like it was a game." 

"Hey, Todd.  Hold on.  Are you alright?"  Todd was shaking.  He reached 
out for Arnold's arm and gripped it tightly, then slowly relaxed. 

"Yeah, I guess so," after a couple of minutes.  "I don't know what 
happened to me." 

"It looked like some kind of post-traumatic stress thing, like you were 
suppressing how you really felt about what that girl did you and then it 
suddenly came through.  You know, I never would have guessed it, but 
having a high school girl jerk you off really bothered you didn't it?" 

Todd glared at him.  "Hey, you don't have to psychoanalyze me or 
anything.  Just forget it, Arnold.  I'm fine." 

"Sure.  Anything you say." 

"Do you have a beer or anything?" 

"You sure you're up to ... 

Todd glanced at him. 

"Yeah, sure.  In the fridge, I think." 

Todd popped open the can and drank half of it in one gulp, spilling part 
of it on his chin and shirt, then letting out a large belch. 

"Now listen.  After what you said about your, uh, thing for lady 
wrestlers or whatever, you're probably the wrong guy to say this too, 
but you're my best friend.  I think Marta's behind this muscle thing.  
I've been noticing a lot of really built women at the gym the last few 
weeks." 

"So?  I've noticed it too.  It's the latest thing.  We're even looking 
for models with a little muscle for our ads.  It really helps the 
response to show a little biceps here and there.  But it's just one of 
those fashion things.  I figured everyone else is catching up to me." 

"I don't think so.  I can't tell you exactly why, but I think Marta's 
done something big.  You know, she visited me last night." 

"Really?  How'd she look?" 

"Like her old self.  She said she was in some kind of astral body, and I 
can tell you, she didn't come in or leave through any doors.  She just 
kind of disappeared when she left.  Anyway, she did this demonstration 
or something of a program she called SimHuman.  She made it out to be a 
kind of competition, but I think she was teasing me.  I think she's 
really monkeying with something important in the human body." 

"I don't know, Todd.  How could we tell?" 

"I haven't felt anything, but all the women around me seem more high 
spirited than usual.  I mean when's the last time you saw a woman look 
depressed?  There's usually some group of them whining about something 
at the office.  You know how they all comfort each other.  Well, I 
haven't seen that for awhile." 

Arnold was looking off into space, thinking.  "You know, you've got a 
point there.  Me neither." 

"The other thing is women seem like they're growing.  Like Becky, for 
example.  We work out next to each other, and she keeps lifting more and 
more weight, while I'm barely making progress.  And th-th-this Melanie 
g-g-girl ..."  Todd's hand started shaking.  He turned around, took 
another big swig of beer, spilling half of it on himself again, then 
settled down and turned back to Arnold.  "She was as big as anyone I've 
seen except those freaks Marta created on the airplane." 

"Are you sure you don't need some help Todd?" 

"Wh-what are you going to do?  Send me to some rape crisis center for 
group therapy with a bunch of women?"  His lip was quivering.  "Dammit!  
I just can't control it!"  He started pounding on the wall with his 
fists. 

"I think you need a vacation, Todd." 

"Yeah, Marta's out there, remaking the world.  It doesn't matter where I 
go.  It's gonna be the same.  But I'm probably talking to the wrong guy.  
This whole thing must just turn you on even more." 

"I don't know.  I don't like seeing you like this, Todd.  But, I have to 
admit.  You've got me feeling pretty curious.  If you're right, Felicia 
will have changed a lot in only two weeks.  Actually, I can't wait to 
see." 

"Look, sorry Arnold, but I don't feel like meeting her tonight.  Ok?" 

"Yeah, yeah.  Sure.  She's not coming for another couple of hours." 

"Anyway, I have to pack." 

"Hey Todd, it's really not so bad, I mean, even if Marta is making women 
stronger, it's not like they're all going to go around raping men.  That 
was just one girl, you know.  You might just get to liking being able to 
let go, and, you know, not worry about having to be so gentle.  I mean, 
a strong woman is still just a woman." 

Todd looked down at the floor.  "Right.  Sure.  I don't know.  I better 
go.  I'll see you Arnold." 

He walked outside.  His hand was shaking again, and he ducked into 
SportsBar, a multiscreen extravaganza.  There was a loud hubbub, and a 
local TV news correspondent was standing by the door, interviewing the 
patrons.  She turned to Todd. 

"What's your name, sir?" 

"Uh, Todd Bartel." 

"So Todd, what do you think of the Robin Givens' challenge sir?" 

"The what?" 

"Robin Givens has just challenged Mike Tyson to a three round fight.  
Any reaction?" 

"That's crazy.  She'll get killed." 

"Let's get a woman over here too.  Hey, miss, will you join us?  Who are 
you and what's your opinion?" 

"I'm Terrie Montale, from New Jersey!  Hi Mom!!  Well, I don't know.  I 
think women are making great strides in training.  Who knows what she 
can accomplish?" 

"Any comment Todd?" 

"Women don't belong in the ring with men.  They, uh, don't have the 
killer instinct." 

"Terrie?" 

"That's just a typical man's point of view.  Ever see a mother bear 
defend her cubs?" 

"Well there you have it.  You can be sure that everyone in America who 
watched the Bobby Riggs matches years ago will be glued to their sets on 
Thanksgiving Day for the fight.  Back to you Bill." 

The camera lights dimmed.  Todd looked around, suddenly blinded in the 
dark pub.  He indistinctly saw Terrie go into a boxer's crouch and 
mutter "Grrrrrr!" in a low tone.  He ducked defensively and heard her 
laugh.  "Had you going there, didn't I?  Hey, buy me a drink?"  Todd 
looked at her as his eyes adjusted.  She was cute, but he was definitely 
not in the mood.  He shook his head and as he turned around to leave he 
heard her say to no one in particular, "Oh well, scared off another 
one!" 

*** 

Arnold checked the beef stew for the eleventh time.  It was still 
bubbling.  He knew if he kept opening the lid it would dry out, but he 
had to do something while he waited.  He was too restless to watch 
television, and he had already moved all the clutter into a closet.  He 
hoped she didn't open that door.  He checked the stew again.  Why had he 
offered to make her dinner anyway?  What did the cookbook mean by, 
"brown the meat?"  It still looked gray to him; even after he'd let one 
side get completely dark, it never went through a brown stage.  He 
didn't bother with the other side, hoping they'd average out somehow in 
the sauce. 

What if Todd was right about what Marta had done?  He probably was.  
Marta wasn't the "smiting" kind.  She would be subtle.  She surely knew 
exactly what would bug Todd the most.  He was a real "man's man;" he'd 
always used his size as an implicit threat, pushing or gripping too hard 
if he didn't get his way.  Back in college he'd always be horsing around 
with the cheerleaders, lifting them, daring them to try to do the same 
him and laughing when they'd try and fail.  Arnold knew better than to 
get in any kind of athletic contest with him.  But Todd knew how to have 
a good time, and he was loyal and generous as could be.  But would Marta 
really change the whole human race just to get back at Todd?  Then 
again, what was it to her? 

He thought about Felicia.  Could she get too big?  He imagined her 
larger and larger, growing in height as well as bulk, seven feet, eight 
feet tall, shoulders as wide as the doorway.  He felt his insistent 
erection pound away under his pants.  Well, it doesn't bother me, he 
decided.  But what if she bullied him, as Todd used to before Arnold 
learned better?  He saw himself lifted in the air effortlessly by a 
massive arm, looking down at her barrel chest, hearing her laugh at his 
helplessness, then hurling him across the room to do some petty errand 
before he returned for a kiss.  He didn't like it at all.  But he still 
felt turned on by the image of her. 

The buzzer rang, he rang back, opening the door downstairs.  She was 
coming.  He looked down.  Fuck!  Gravy on his shirt!  Too late to 
change.  The bell rang.  He peeked through the hole.  She smiled up at 
him.  He opened the door and she walked in.  He reached over to hug her 
but she held up her hand. 

"Down boy," she laughed.  "A little patience." 

"Ok, but what's with the raincoat?  It's warm!" 

"Silly.  I wanted to surprise you.  Just look at me." 

She untied the waist belt, then unbuttoned the coat.  His heart pounded.  
She opened the front and removed her arms slowly, the sleeves giving way 
only with difficulty.  Arnold's chin dropped.  She wasn't any taller, 
but her arms were so thick!  She wore a low cut sleeveless minidress, 
which was made even shorter by the way her expanded chest consumed the 
fabric.  She smiled demurely and turned around halfway, then turned back 
and looked at Arnold, waiting for his reaction. 

"Felicia.  You're incredible!" 

"You like it?  I know.  I wouldn't have believed it myself, except that 
I saw it happening.  And this dress, it fit perfectly yesterday, but I 
was working on a sculpture since I got home this morning, one of my 
really large pieces, and in just four hours my arms and my chest grew 
even more.  I don't even look decent wearing it now."  She laughed.  
"But I don't care.  I'm so strong now no one would mess with me."  She 
put her hand out and stroked Arnold's arm.  "Unless of course I wanted 
him too." 

"But how did you 

"I don't know.  The meetings took up the mornings, and instead of 
spending the afternoons in the usual group criticism sessions I just 
retreated into the hotel exercise room and pounded away at the weights.  
I was doing more than six hours a day, and it seemed that every day I 
grew more and more quickly.  There was a guy there who thought I was 
using some kind of trick.  Here I was, at the beginning, doing hundred 
pound two arm curls, and in the three days he was there I almost doubled 
it.  By the end of the two weeks, the weights weren't enough, so I just 
did more reps, and faster and faster.  I even broke a couple of the 
cables, because I pulled too hard.  Are you sure I'm not grotesque?" 

Arnold nodded.  "But, uh, didn't it surprise you, how much you grew?" 

"It sure did.  Even though I always figured I could put on muscle 
quickly, I had no idea how easy it would be for me.  And you know, there 
were some other women there working out who have been doing weights for 
years, and they said it was suddenly a lot easier for them too.  I have 
to say, even if it sounds like I'm bragging, that I worked harder and 
got bigger than they did.  But Arnold, I wouldn't have done it without 
knowing that you wanted me to.  I think I would have felt like a freak 
or something." 

"Felicia!  No." 

"Hey, what's done is done.  And like I said before, I can already see 
the advantages."  She stepped forward and put her arms on his sides, 
picking Arnold up like a doll.  "You feel so light.  Did you lose 
weight?" 

"Actually I did, a little." 

"Well how does this feel to you?  Any second thoughts?" 

Arnold looked down at her.  He could feel the strength of her fingers 
gripping him, see her biceps now partially pumped as she held him a foot 
off the ground.  He reached down to touch the firm mounds under her 
delicate skin.  She smiled and tightened them.  Arnold was shocked as 
they expanded beyond his wildest expectations.  His hand failed even to 
cover the portion that extended upward from her arm, much less allow him 
to span it to feel them. 

She chuckled.  "They're hard as rocks, sweetheart."  She lowered him now 
and brought him to her lips keeping one arm around his waist and pulling 
on his leg with the other, wordlessly asking for him to curl his legs 
around her back.  He wrapped his arms around her too and they dissolved 
into a long kiss.  

"Mmmmmm.  You have something hard for me too, don't you?"  He nodded, 
grinning ear to ear.  "Then let's."  Then she sniffed.  "What's that?" 

"It's my beef stew burning." 

She walked into the kitchen, still holding him, and turned off the 
burner with her free hand. 

"First things first, sweetheart.  Ok?" 

"I'm all yours Felicia." 

"And I'm yours Arnold.  Forever." 

*** 

Todd was packing for the 10:00 pm overnight flight to Paris from Kennedy 
Airport.  He tried not to think about what was happening, but he 
couldn't stop his mind from working.  What if all women became like 
Melanie, or even stronger?  That girl in the bar flirting with him, what 
if under that puffy sleeve lay softball-sized biceps, primed with the 
power to pin him against the wall if she thought he was getting out of 
line?  Was Molly, his younger sister, still back in Gettysburg working 
as a secretary in an accountant's office, laying in wait for him on his 
next visit home to use her new strength to capture his arms and tickle 
him unmercifully as payback for his childhood bullying?  He thought 
carefully about other girls he knew.  At least he didn't have any real 
enemies.  

Then he remembered Christina.  He'd dated her on and off for almost four 
years.  She was a great fuck, wildly passionate with a supple dancer's 
body, long black hair and vibrant green eyes. She would do anything he 
asked, as well as many things he never would have thought to ask.  But 
she was completely unsuitable.  She was not terribly bright and did not 
realize it.  She had strong opinions about everything, most annoyingly 
about the New Ages ideas she deemed to be spiritual truths, and a hot 
temper that she would direct at anyone except himself who believed 
differently.  After taking her to one or two dinners with colleagues and 
clients, he'd learned to keep her well away from the rest of his life 
and then dumped her abruptly when he started dating Marta.  She called 
him for months afterwards, until he finally agreed to talk to her. It 
was ugly, with her moaning and crying at the bar where they met, and 
then clinging to him desperately when he had enough of that and tried to 
leave.  He had to go back to her apartment to keep from creating a 
public scene on Second Avenue, and then had to pushed her around a 
little to scare her.  He hadn't heard from her since.  

He hoped she'd forgotten about it now.  But that damned interview.  When 
she wasn't working on a dance project she worked as a news video editor 
at one of the local stations.  He had no idea which one interviewed him.  
The last thing he wanted was to remind her of his existence.  Not now. 

He looked at his watch.  He still had a couple of hours to kill.  He 
flipped through the mail from the last week.  It seemed like months 
since his life had been settled enough to look at mail.  Most of it was 
forwarded from the old house.  He counted the disks from the on-line 
services.  2 from CompuServe, 3 from Prodigy, 14 from AOL.  What was 
this?  A CD-ROM in a plain folder?  He slipped it into the computer.  
Marta's name in the Maxis-like logo sprang up, then SimHuman: Child's 
Version.  Very cute.  So she was letting him play.  He sat down and 
started the game.  One of those Windows warning notices popped up. 

"This is a special children's version of SimHuman.  This version begins 
play after the creation of the species Homo Sapien.  You will be unable 
to create new species.  You will also be unable to save any changes.  
You must purchase and register the adult version to utilize the full 
capabilities of this program." 

Todd smiled.  He clicked "OK".  Several icons filled the screen: 
"current status," "load prior game," "begin a new game," and "quit."  
Todd tried the second option.  One icon, a larger version of the start 
icon appeared on the screen with a game named "Martatod"  He chuckled 
that Marta hadn't moved on to Windows 95 and long file names yet and 
pushed the icon.  Ten boxes appeared on the page:  Aging, Creativity, 
Disposition, Growth, Immunity, Intelligence, Maturation, Perception, 
Reproduction, Vitality.  He clicked "Intelligence" and saw a number of 
slider controls appear:  Abstract Reasoning, Association, Calculation, 
Comprehension, Expression, Plasticity.  At the top of the page were the 
usual Windows items.  He clicked on "Options," and a pull down menu 
appeared:  "Color Coding", "Confirmation", "General Preferences", 
"Layout", "View by...",  "Zoom".  He tried General Preferences, which 
covered detail, sound cards, fonts, scaling, etc.  Confirmation was an 
on/off toggle for the annoying "Do you really want to do that?" button. 
He tried View by ..., and another menu cascaded down with the words: 
age, race, sex.  Heart pounding, he hit "sex".  Immediately, all the 
sliders on the Intelligence page divided into two, one for M and the 
other for F.  He quickly glanced through.  All the levers were exactly 
in the middle.  That seemed strange.  He knew men were better at math 
skills; women had better verbal.  He clicked on Help, then How to Play.  
That answered it.  The sliders showed only the variations from the 
starting point.  So Marta hadn't done anything here.  At least she 
wasn't making him stupid. 

Nervous, he tried Disposition.  Controls appeared for Adaptability, 
Aggressiveness, Anxiety, Contentment, Determination, Empathy, 
Independence, Initiative, Optimism, Patience.  There were some changes 
there.  Aggressiveness and Independence were slightly higher for 
females, but Optimism had been moved halfway between the middle and the 
end.  That was it. He checked Reproduction and Vitality.  No changes.  

Damn, he said to himself, quit stalling.  He clicked on Growth.  There!  
Bone Mass, Cellular Reproduction, Height, Muscle Mass, Rate of Growth, 
Regeneration, Response to Stimulus.  They were all moved to the right 
for females and to the left for males. Response to Stimulus was moved 
the most.  It was pushed almost all the way to the right for females and 
90% to the left for males.  What did it mean?  He clicked on Help, 
Search for Help on ... and typed res.  There it was.  "Response to 
Stimulus in the Growth menu will affect the body's reaction to 
stimulation of muscle tissue.  Movement of this control to the right 
will increase the rate at which muscle tissue grows in size and density 
after exertion and strain, while movement to the left will reduce the 
rate."  

He sat back in the chair.  We must be the simulation!  And that's why 
the effect is so uneven.  Women who are engaging in intense physical 
activity are growing rapidly, the others more modestly depending on 
their individual characteristics and the amount their normal activities 
stress their muscles.  Whatever equilibrium those activities reached 
before would now start shifting in favor of greater mass and strength.  

But how much did she change things?  He scrolled down on the topics to 
"scale" and "scaling".  The program supplied a calculator to show the 
effects of the change on a relative basis to the beginning of the game 
and between the "view by" categories!  Heart pounding again, he went 
back to the page and highlighted the M Response to Stimulus bar, clicked 
"Tools" "Calculator" and hit the button.  The male response to exercise 
was now reduced by 80%.  He gulped.  He highlighted the F Response to 
Stimulus bar, clicked on calculator again.  She had increased the female 
response by 800%!!  Grimly pursuing it to the end, he highlighted both 
and clicked and then for comparative purposes moved the sliders to the 
middle and tried.  He swallowed hard.  Whereas women had previously had 
a 30% smaller response than men, they were now superior by over 1100%!  
Females would surpass men in size and strength with ease once they 
started exercising, probably, he thought, even without working up a 
sweat.  And no wonder he was having so much trouble making progress at 
the gym.  If a man's response was cut by 80%, the average male would 
have much more difficulty adding strength and muscle mass than a woman 
would have had before Marta changed things.  Even being stronger than 
average, he still would be very limited in how big he could get.  And 
what would happen if he slowed down his furious regime?  Would he keep 
what he had, or would he start losing mass until he reached a new, 
smaller equilibrium?  He didn't know enough biology to answer the 
question.  He didn't want to know. 

He didn't want to see more. This was horrible.  He reached for the 
on/off switch and heard a clucking sound behind him. 

"Now Todd.  You always used to tell me I had to exit Windows before 
turning off the machine." 

"Marta!  But you look like Becky again.  What have... you-you," he 
sputtered. 

"Yes, I'm here in person!  I wanted to see at first hand how you liked 
the program.  It _does_ bother you a lot, doesn't it?  But you haven't 
even seen the results of the simulation yet.  Oh my, I forget, you can't 
see into the future.  Poor Todd.  Just look at these statistics, one 
year from today."   She waved her hand at the computer and print filled 
the screen. 

Assaults on women                     down 99% Rape				       	  down 99% 
Alcohol and Drug abuse                down 37% Average earnings by women               
up 49% Female participation in 
  professional sports              up 531,245% 

"Of course there's a downside too.  Among other things, assaults on men 
do increase and fewer men end up playing professional sports.  There 
will be a few mixed games of football, but that won't last long.  The 
men's injuries will be quite gruesome." 

"You can't do this!" 

"Todd, it's already done.  It will take a little time before the effects 
are felt, but the changes in male and female physiology are already 
becoming known.  The Chinese sports scientists are quite excited; they 
don't realize yet it isn't their new training techniques.  But women 
everywhere are discovering new capabilities and men, new frustrations." 

"Why, Marta, why?  Don't you have better things to do?" 

"Of course, and I'm doing them too.  I've got thousands of astral bodies 
all over the universe, exploring, learning, meddling.  And why shouldn't 
I try to improve the human race?  But I'm not being honest with you.  
Can you imagine how godlike I feel?  How rich my life has become?  If 
you had succeeded in casting the witch's spell, you would have deprived 
me of the most wondrous experience anyone could imagine.  So, in return, 
I am going to enjoy watching you struggle with being the weaker sex, the 
much, much, much weaker sex, that is.  I've purposely not looked into 
your future so that I could enjoy seeing how, little by little, day by 
day, you adapt to your physical inferiority." 

"But it's not just me you're doing this to.  What about other men?" 

Marta shrugged.  "For every man who's made unhappy, there's a woman 
who's happy.  You saw the statistics.  And there are plenty of men who 
are excited by strong women, your friend Arnold for one.  Men are very 
adaptable generally, so long as they get squeezed in the right places.  
Look what they do when they go to prison."  

"But, my dear Todd, you're not adaptable.  I know that.  You're a 
reliable, old-fashioned man who likes things exactly the way they've 
been.  I'm counting on it.  Ha-ha.  You already look so sad.   You were 
thinking of Molly before. Would you like to see how she looks now?  
There, using one of my astral bodies, I've taken on her form over there.  
You can barely see the outlines of her new muscles forming in her 
shoulders and her back.  She does a lot of filing, and some of those 
files get quite heavy.  Now, I'll project a second image.  Look at her 
in two months' time, those thick, round biceps.  Go on over and feel 
them Todd.  She won't tickle you, I promise.  Feel that hard, dense 
muscle?  Remember what that felt like, when you had it?  Just try to arm 
wrestle your sister on your next visit home. 

"And Christina!  She's never been too pleased with me, of course, since 
you left her for me, but I don't held that against her.  On the 
contrary; look what I've done for her.  Let me project an image of what 
she's doing right now.  Why look, we're just in time.  She's editing 
that tape of you talking about the 'killer instinct.' She's still very 
angry with you, Todd; look how her lips are pulled tight.  She has a 
nice body, a real dancer's body.  She always had those long, lean, 
strong legs and tight stomach, but look at her arms!  She has so little 
fat you can see every ridge of muscle fiber pushing through her skin.  
She's very emotional too; see how her knuckles are white from gripping 
the desk while she watches you expound on the 'killer instinct.'  Just 
look at those meaty forearms!  Now, just how do you think she got those?  
Oh, she's replaying it again.  Now she's making a fist.  Hey, nice 
biceps, Christina.  Todd, I honestly think she's already almost as big 
as the man I used to be married to.  Hey, she's picked up the phone.  Do 
you think --

The phone rang.  Todd glared at Marta and walked to his desk to pick it 
up. 

"Todd.  It's Christina." 

"Oh, hi." 

"Aren't you surprised to hear from me?" 

"Uh, sure." 

"Hmmph.  I heard, uh, that you broke up with Marta and moved back into 
the city." 

"Yeah, how did you find out?" 

"I keep tabs on you Todd."  

"I didn't think you still, I mean, I haven't really 

"You probably just forgot about me, didn't you?  Or maybe you figured I 
wouldn't call you again, not after the last time I saw you.  Do you 
remember what you did Todd?" 

Todd looked over at Marta's astral projection of Christina's image and 
saw Christina feeling her very substantial biceps.  He swallowed 
involuntarily. 

"You're not saying anything.  I saw the interview you did, Todd.  You're 
going to be on the ten o'clock news, you know.  Maybe I can come by, see 
your new place, and we can watch it together." 

"I really don't 

"You don't scare me anymore you know." 

"I won't be here, Christina.  I'm going away tonight." 

There was a pause.  "Oh, well some other time then."  Todd was silent.  
"I'll give you a call, or maybe I'll just run into you somewhere, ok?" 

"Christina, I don't think we 

"You know, I don't CARE what you think!"  Todd watched her slam down the 
phone and then hit her desk twice with her fist.  She took a few deep, 
calming breaths, then walked across her office to a rack of video 
equipment.  Firmly grasping the bars and keeping her back perfectly 
straight, she lifted it off the stand and started curling it, first 
slowly to make sure the cables were clear of obstructions, then more 
quickly.  With each lift, her veins rose more prominently against her 
skin, her muscles contracting into hard balls of power.  "Just you wait, 
Todd Bartel," she muttered. 

Marta laughed.  "You shouldn't have been so rough with her Todd.  She's 
very motivated, and disciplined.  Look at that posture!  She's a real 
powerhouse, maybe even, dare I say, stronger than you." 

"Marta!  You can't keep doing this!" 

"Do try to stop me.  I'd like to see you try."  Todd hurled himself at 
her, but Marta put her hand up against his chest and threw him across 
the room.  "Ha!  I'm just a little bit stronger than I look, aren't I 
Todd?  Who needs muscle when I have powers greater than millions of 
stars flowing through me." 

"Perhaps I'll get her a winning lottery ticket so that she can quit her 
job and buy an apartment in your building, perhaps even on your floor.  
She'd watch you like a hawk, Todd, follow you everywhere.  Wouldn't you 
feel safer that way?  I'm sure she wouldn't let anyone ELSE bother you."   
Marta watched her go back to the rack of equipment.  "Just look at her 
work those biceps!  Of course, they'll just keep growing at a remarkable 
pace, especially if she keeps working out."  

She advanced on Todd.  "What about you?  Wouldn't you like to see how 
you're going to look in a couple of years.  It's just a matter of time 
before you get frustrated as you see that all of your hard work is just 
to stand in place.  Something will happen, maybe a few months of work on 
a deal or something, or an illness, or a broken arm, and then, you'll 
wake up and find yourself soft and small, and you'll never gain that 
muscle back.  Maybe a little toning here and there, keep that butt firm, 
those abs hard, but bye-bye biceps, Todd, bye-bye pecs.  Look down at 
them and know that's as big as you'll ever be for the rest of your 
life." 

Todd was staring at her, growing more and more frightened by her wild 
talk.  He looked back at all of the images moving about his room.  
Molly, now and later.  Christina, strong as a bull and eagerly flexing 
her massive biceps with an avid gleam in her eye. He reached in back of 
him, and felt his hand close on the box Madame LaFarge had given him.  
It was empty now; the tokens smashed.  He was sure there was no chance 
it would work, but he still remembered the incantation, drilled into him 
by that coven of witches.  What did he have to lose?  He walked slowly 
over to Marta, hands in front of him, palms facing up. 

"What a pleasant tableau, you look like you're walking in to surrender.  
Sorry Todd.  The battle never ends.  As I said before, the world is 
mine, and you must live in it, under my will.  I will give you no 
terms." 

Todd stood facing her.  He put his right hand on her shoulder.  "Please 
Marta.  I'm begging you."  He placed his other hand on her left 
shoulder, his fingers extended toward her ear.  With a quick move, he 
touched her left ear and intoned, "revo si lleps eht, revo si lleps 
eht."  

A small spark leapt from his fingers to Marta, then connected all of the 
astral bodies in the room in an arc of light and energy that threw Todd 
backwards.  He heard a scream, and a cloud surrounded Marta, then slowly 
dissipated.  Todd waited eagerly, wondering.  Marta stood, hands 
covering her face.  But Todd could see it at once, in her posture, the 
way her clothes were hanging on her.  She was her old self again! 

"AAAARGH!!!  What have you done?  You've ruined everything!"  She 
reached out to slap him, but Todd caught her hands easily and held them 
firmly.  "I hate you!  I hate you!!" she screamed, then burst out into a 
coughing fit and collapsed weakly on the floor, sobbing.  Todd watched 
her, pleased as he could be, but as she cried, he felt a little twinge 
of sympathy. 

"Well, aren't you at least going to get me some water?!  I can hardly 
breathe."  She coughed more, and Todd went into the kitchen.  Marta 
grabbed eagerly at the glass and drank it down.  "I feel so wretched." 

"I must have returned you to the way you were before all of this 
happened.  Your body must still be going through withdrawal or 
something." 

Marta held out her arms.  "I feel so weak, so limited.  I can't even 
concentrate.  You have no idea what this feels like." 

"Sure I do.  I live like a normal man every day." 

"But you've never had the power I did.  And to lose it!  You bastard!  
How could you do this to me?!" 

Todd stared at her.  "Dammit Marta, I didn't want to do anything TO you.  
Remember, I'm the one who did this FOR you.  But you went too far, 
really too far.  I mean, you were changing everything.  Well, that's 
over now."  Marta sniffed, whimpering on the floor.  "Uh, listen, can I 
get you a cab?  I'm meeting Sarah at the airport." 

"Todd!  You can't just leave me here like this.  I'm sick again.  Can 
you at least give me something to eat?  I haven't had to eat in months, 
you know, and it must be catching up on me, all at once." 

"Are you crazy?  You taunt me, divorce me, torture me even, and now you 
expect me to take care of you?"  He looked down at her.  She did look 
pathetic, her face drawn, "Becky's" clothes just hanging on her thin 
body.  "Oh alright.  I got half an hour or so.  Leftover Chinese ok?"  
She nodded meekly.  "I'll warm it up.  You want something to drink?  A 
beer?" 

"Some wine maybe?" 

"Wine?!!  You really are the old Marta again.  Yeah, I got some.  White, 
right?  Rhone?" 

"I'm glad you still remember." 

"Well, it's too sweet for me, but we used to have a lot of it.  I think 
I took some when I moved." 

"Really?  I'll have to tell my lawyer."  Todd looked at her, amazed, 
poking his head out of the wine closet.  "Just a joke, ok?" 

Todd went into the kitchen to dump the food into the microwave.  Finally 
it beeped, and Todd emerged with a large bowl of Hunan Chicken. 

Marta ate and drained the glass.  "More, if you would." 

"You're just going to get drunk." 

"I don't need you to tell me what to do.  I know how to make myself feel 
better.  Just fill it up." 

"You still have that old pleasant personality.  You know, for a few 
weeks when this all started, I really liked you again, I mean, before 
you became all-powerful and stuff." 

"Well, that says it all, doesn't it?  You 'liked me again.'  Not good 
enough Todd.  Here I was, grateful to you for making me feel better.  I 
thought you really loved me.  It made a difference.  Oh, I know now it 
was the spell, but thinking you loved me made me see you in a totally 
different light.  I would have done anything for you.  Then I saw that 
you were just using me, and that you never loved me.  Not at all.  Well, 
what woman wouldn't want revenge?  And you just made it worse and worse.  
With everything you did." 

"Yeah?  Well, sorry.  It wasn't easy being married to you either, you 
know.  Why did you marry me, anyway?  Did you even love me?" 

"Of course I did.  You made me feel special.  I finally thought I was 
finding myself.  At least at first."  

"That's not how I see it.  You were just using me too.  To help rescue 
you from your family." 

"Is that what you think?  That's a lie.  I love my family.  Oh what's 
the use of talking to you?  It's over. We're divorced.  You have my 
money, right?  That should be enough for you now."  Todd stared at her 
as she finished a bowl of warmed over rice.  "Well, say something." 

"I have nothing to say to you.  I don't have to either.  Now that we're 
not married, and I don't have to deal with some goddess anymore.  You 
can finish your dinner and leave and then I can ignore you.  And life 
will go on, just as it did before I ever knew you."  Marta downed the 
second glass and held it up to be refilled.  Todd scowled, then shrugged 
his shoulders and poured more wine.  "It's just going to make you sick." 

"That's no concern of yours, is it?" 

"Nope, guess not.  You can drink yourself to an early grave, for all I 
care." 

Marta sipped her wine and leaned back in her chair.  "There you are, the 
real Todd.  You know, I don't feel sorry for you at all now."  

"Sorry for me?  Why should I expect that?"  Marta giggled, then burst 
out laughing.  "Great, you're really drunk now.  I'll call you a cab.  
You're going to the Carlyle, I assume.  You're not staying here, so 
don't pass out on me." 

"Don't bother.  When I go I'll get where I'm going on my own.  But wait.  
I'm not finished talking to you."  She started laughing again and 
slipped down further in the chair. 

"What's so funny?" 

"You.  You think everything'll be just like before, except that you have 
money.  Ha-ha-ha-ha.  What makes you think so?" 

"The spell's undone.  Hey, I can see it with my own eyes." 

"You fool.  How do you know that everything else is changed back?  Huh?  
How much do you weigh, big shot?  Let's see if you've got your old 
football weight.  Go on, check yourself." 

"I don't have a scale." 

"Turn on the TV.  See what the women look like on the news then." 

"What are you saying?" 

"I'm saying that just because you've used some mumbo-jumbo to cancel the 
spell those witches cast doesn't mean that everything I did was undone.  
Remember, I didn't cast any spells.  I changed DNA, and physics.  That's 
completely different." 

"You mean --

"I mean that all I would have to do is work out for three months and I'd 
have more muscle than you've ever had or could ever dream of having.  
You're still going to have to deal with being the weaker sex, big boy." 

"How do you know?" 

"I know." 

"No!  I can't believe it." 

"Believe it.  Go on, show me your muscles.  I'll remember.  I used to 
know your body pretty well." 

"I don't need you to tell me."  Todd tore off his shirt and flexed his 
arm.  "Dammit, you're right!  Look at that.  You can hardly see the peak 
that used to be there.  Or the veins.  Arrgh!" 

"Ha-ha.  I love seeing you so frustrated.  It makes it all worthwhile." 

Todd turned to her, eyes wild.  "Get out of here!!  Get out now!  I 
won't be responsible for what I'm going to do to you if you don't get 
out this instant." 

"I'll go when I'm ready.  You won't hurt me, I know you well enough." 

Todd was breathing heavily, trying to restrain himself.  "Damn you, 
Marta!  I don't care what you say; you're the real witch.  All I can say 
is I hope you always remember how powerful you were.  It's the only 
satisfaction I'll have, knowing I've brought you down.  And the fact 
that you'll have to live in that pathetic drug wrecked body you've made 
for yourself.  And don't tell me how strong you'll get with a little 
working out.  I know you; you'd never have the discipline to do anything 
in a gym more than two days in a row." 

Marta looked up at him, nearly horizontal in her chair, and smiled 
lazily.  "Maybe.  Maybe not."  She gathered her energy and stood up, a 
little wobbly.  "Thanks for the dinner.  Just one more thing.  How about 
a goodnight kiss?" 

"You're crazy, Marta.  Stay away from me!" 

She staggered closer to him and Todd backed away, then held out his arms 
to ward her off.  She leaned over and nibbled on his fingers.  "Come on 
Todd, for old time's sake.  Don't you want to play, even a little?  You 
can tell Sarah you were caught in traffic." 

"Not for anything in the world." 

"Really?  Not even for three wishes.  I'll grant you three wishes for a 
kiss." 

"I don't want anything from you." 

"More money, a bigger job, a bigger apartment.  I'll help you get big 
and strong again."  She giggled.  "Poor little Todd." 

"That's enough.  You're pushing me to the limit.  If you don't get out 
now I may do something we'll both regret." 

"Poor little Todd, weaker than he's been since he was a teenager and 
declining more and more with every passing second." 

"Cut it out!  I'm still stronger than you.  I'm warning you." 

She danced back and forth, bumping into his hands. "Last chance. The 
price is dropping.  A wish for a kiss.  A wish for a kiss." 

"I wish you'd get out of here." 

"It's a deal, but first my kiss."  She puckered her lips and looked up 
at him. 

"Anything."  He bent down to touch her lips. 

"A proper kiss."  Marta put her arms around him and touched his lips.  
"And now you may have your wish.  But first, I have to pee." 

She brushed by him and wandered down the hall to the bathroom.  "Ewww!  
Don't you ever clean the toilet?"  After a minute, Todd heard the flush, 
then Marta came back with a container of pills.  "These are mine!  I 
can't believe you took them." 

"What?  Great.  Now I'm going to get arrested for drug possession.  What 
are those anyway?" 

"They make you feel great, like you can do anything.  Want one?" 

"No.  God!  I'd forgotten how obnoxious you were when you got drunk.  
Are you really going to take that on top of the wine?" 

"They work best that way.  Are you sure you won't join me?  Last 
chance."  Marta showed him the open bottle, then popped one in her mouth 
and swallowed.  Her eyes closed and she sighed.  "Mmmmmm!  I can feel it 
already.  I feel a million times better." 

"I want you and those pills out of here.  Now!  Do I have to throw you 
out?" 

"Oh yes!  Throw me out." 

She stood in the middle of the room, hugging herself, eyes toward the 
ceiling. 

"I've had enough.  Well, you asked for it."  Todd strode over to her, 
put his arms around her and lifted her, struggling with her weight as 
she hung limply in his arms.  He staggered toward the door.  "This is 
harder than it should be," he grunted.  "I hate what you've done to me." 

"One thing," she said brightly.  "What about a coat?  You have to give 
me a coat.  It must be cold outside."  Todd looked back and dropped her. 

"Jesus!  What do you weigh?" 

"I don't know.  I used to be around one-ten.  The coat?" 

"You can't.  I'm sure I can lift that much." 

She shrugged.  "I don't know.  Maybe I still have Becky's weight or 
something.  Who knows how that spell worked?  Too bad you don't have a 
scale.  So can I have a coat of yours?  I didn't come in with one, you 
know, and I don't want to get pneumonia." 

"Take one.  Take anything.  Just get out of here.  I have to go to the 
airport." 

"Don't be such a pain.  You have time.  Tee-hee.  I remember when you 
could lift me like I was a feather.  Remember when you carried me two 
miles to our house, the first time we moved in?  So romantic.  Looks 
like those days are over.  Kind of a shame for you.  And weak as I am, I 
have nowhere to go but up!"  Marta pointed to the ceiling for emphasis. 

"You're headed right for the gutter, Marta." 

"Think so?  Why, I feel stronger already."  She unzipped the front of 
her dress, which fell loosely on the floor.  "That feels nice.  It's hot 
in here." 

"I don't believe this.  You must be out of your mind.  You're totally 
blitzed." 

"No I'm not.  I'm a fucking amazon.  Look at my muscles!"  Marta puffed 
out her chest, her small breasts hanging limply.  She held out her arms 
and flexed, producing an infinitesimal tightening of her biceps. 

"I'm very impressed." 

"Huh?  That didn't work right.  Lemme try again."  She held out her 
right arm, took a deep breath and strained.  "There, see?  It went up." 

"No it didn't.  You've got all the muscle you ought to have, with the 
way you live.  None!  Now will you get dressed?" 

"You don't like my body?" 

Todd ignored the question and looked at his watch.  "Now I really am 
going to be late.  I've got only an hour to get to Kennedy, and it's 
Friday night." 

"I'm sure I can make a bigger muscle.  I just have to get the right 
angle or something.  Maybe another pill will help."  She popped open the 
container and swallowed one quickly.  "They always help." 

"You've really lost it Marta.  I better take those away from you before 
you kill yourself."  He grabbed it out of her hand. 

"Give them back!  You have no right!  Give them to me!" 

"You promised to leave.  It was my WISH, remember?" 

"Oh, yeah.  Your only wish.  Well, ok.  Just give 'em back to me when I 
go out, ok?"  She bent over to pull up her dress.  Todd was staring at 
her.  "What are you looking at now?" 

"Nothing."  But Todd continued staring. 

Marta put her hand on her forehead, brushing the hair out of her eyes.  
"Men!  Typical.  They start wanting to play just when you're about to 
put the toys away."  She posed like she was bashful, covering her 
breasts with her hands, squeezing them. "Oh this is so embarrassing, to 
be caught with my dress down in a man's apartment!"  She pulled her 
dress up and started to put her arms through the sleeves. 

"No, wait!" 

"Changing your mind?  I knew it.  You really are attracted to me!" 

Todd scowled.  "I am not . . . it's just that . . . you looked different 
suddenly." 

"Oh?"  She put her hands on her hips.  "You just liked the little miss 
innocent look."  She put one hand over her eyes and affected a southern 
accent.  "I just can't bear the humiliation of being caught topless!  
You like that, huh?  Well, sorry.  I'm going back to the amazon pose, 
because that's what I am!"  She cocked her arm again, pushed out her 
chest and flexed.  "See my mighty muscles!" 

Todd stared at a small bump on her arm.  "You do have a muscle!  Where 
the hell did that come from?  I'd hardly call you an amazon, but you 
didn't have anything a minute ago." 

"I told you I was going to be strong.  Watch me."  She flexed her arm 
again. 

"Look!  It's bigger again.  But that's impossible.  Even with all the 
changes you made in women's bodies, you can't be growing this quickly." 

"Don't YOU tell me what I can and can't do."  She poked Todd in the 
chest to emphasize her point.  "Maybe my body's just catching up for 
lost time.  See, my breasts are looking perkier too.  Things are looking 
up for Marta.  Down for Todd.  Up for Marta.  But I want another pill." 

"Cut it out Marta, you're whacked out enough as it is!" 

"Don't order me around!  I hate when you do that!"  She grabbed at 
Todd's hand to get the pills back but he was too quick.  "You really 
know how to piss me off!"  She advanced on him again, but he held the 
bottle in the air, out of her reach.  "Oooh, you're so mean!  I'm going 
to get them, you know."  She grabbed his arm and started to pull on it. 

"Don't make me get rough Marta!  I've reached the end of my rope with 
you." 

"'Warning, warning, tempers storming.  Go to bed until the morning!'  
I'm not afraid of you, you little blowhard.  Not in the least bit."  She 
pulled on his arm again, harder.  Todd's arm shook as he struggled to 
keep his hand in the air while he looked worriedly at the growing size 
of Marta's biceps.  "Do you see that?  Do you think I can make them grow 
just by flexing them?"  

She held both her hands up and flexed her arms, straining every muscle.  
Todd held his breath as he watched the flesh tighten in her right arm, 
condense into a hard ball, and rise into a small hard peak.  Then, 
incredibly, he saw the peak grow, right before his eyes.  Almost 
imperceptibly at first, until he realized that the raised portion was 
thickening, extending toward her elbow and her shoulder, while it rose 
higher and higher like cake rising.  Then a thin, blue vein appeared, 
hardly visible at first, then darker and darker, until it lay pressed 
hard against her skin, and before he knew it, he was staring at an angry 
solid mass of muscle, twinned by a second mass on her other arm. 

"I AM an amazon.  Look at me!"  She reached up again for Todd's arm and 
pulled on it.  Todd strained to hold it up, but steadily she forced him 
to lower it far enough that she was able to snatch the pills out of his 
hand.  She moved quickly away and popped two more into her mouth.  "Oh 
yeah!  Now I'll really fly!"  She shook her head.  "Wow!  I may not be a 
goddess anymore, but I'm feeling great!" 

"Good for you.  Go ahead.  Kill yourself." 

"Don't count on it.  Not with this body.  I bet I can drink ten times as 
much as I used to and not even pass out.  Go on, try to push me out 
now!"  She stood with her hands on her hips, daring him to move her.  
Todd looked at her widening shoulders, the mounds of muscle rapidly 
forming on her abdomen, the round bulges of muscle on her arms. 

"I don't understand it.  None of this makes any sense." 

Marta grinned at him.  "That's because your mind is so, so limited."  
She lifted her arms toward the ceiling, puffing out her chest which was 
now solid with muscle, her arms bulging even when straight.  "SHAZAAM!" 

Suddenly, the room was filled with flashing lights, thunder and smoke.  
Todd covered his eyes and fell to the floor, coughing.  When the noise 
stopped, he looked up at Marta, who was once again a blond, with Becky's 
body, and clothed in red tights with an M in the center of her ample 
bust.  She held out her right arm and rotated her wrist gently upward 
while her biceps rapidly expanded, reaching a peak twelve inches above 
her arm. 

"You-you, that was all an act!" 

"Had you going there, didn't I?  You're so easy to fool."  

Todd collapsed onto the couch, covering his face.  "No.  No.  I can't 
take this anymore." 

"Just think, I was even going to give you three wishes, but you couldn't 
bring yourself to play along.  Even one would have been enough to bring 
things back to the way they were.  I would have done it too.  I think.  
Well yes, because I keep my promises." 

"Marta, you've got to end this.  I'm begging you." 

She looked at him with a touch of pity.  "I almost feel sorry for you.  
But you see, I believe that even apart from considerations of my own 
personal satisfaction I'm doing the right thing.  Did you know that of 
all the civilizations I've encountered in the universe, less than 15% 
are patriarchal?  In most worlds, males exist only long enough to 
impregnate the female, as they do in some species right on earth.  As 
far as I can tell, what evolved here was a bizarre mutation with no 
underlying rationality.  You should be thankful I haven't gone any 
further.  Why, on the Grrlia world, males live most of their lives as a 
small appendage attached to the female's breast.  Although they are born 
as independent beings, with their own consciousness, if they fail to 
find a willing female upon maturity they just die.  It seems that as 
they reach puberty their bodies lose the ability to digest food.  They 
have to find a willing host who will then feed them enough to sustain 
life for a number of years, although not any kind of independence.  They 
quickly lose their limbs and most of their internal organs other than a 
rudimentary circulatory system and their reproductive system.  When the 
female is ready to mate, she just plucks the male off her breast, 
inserts him in her vagina and when he's released his sperm, she throws 
him away.  You know, there's a nice idea.  I could change the power 
balance on earth just by making males unable to live without ingesting 
breast milk at least daily, don't you think?"  

Todd watched her go on in horror.  "There are so many possibilities.  
Why, you know there is a world where the females actually draw strength 
from the males who are attracted to them? Describing the Mriblian mating 
process might be a little offputting to you, but it's actually quite 
pleasurable to both male and female.  Well, actually, it's orgasmic for 
the female, while the male is put into a type of narcotic high.  You 
see, when the female senses that the male is interested in her, she 
attaches herself to him, and his body undergoes changes that produce a 
morphine like neurotransmitter, which renders him happy and docile 
during the process, and at the same time transforms most of his 
musculature into a enzyme, which is then absorbed by her body through 
the skin and reconverted into muscle.  The process takes about two 
hours.  The sex symbols of that world become immensely powerful, which 
then further increases their attractiveness, as well as their ability to 
nurture their children.  The males of course try to resist their fate.  
They struggle not to allow the female to interest them, but they can't 
help themselves, the poor dears, once they mature sexually.  Imagine 
what middle school would be like in a place like that.  One year, the 
boys are stronger than the girls, and then one by one the girls acquire 
immense strength overnight, and the boys become thin husks, too weak 
even to walk.  Of course there's no need to send them to school there, 
they don't survive very long in their weakened state.  Once a male has 
given his strength to the female, she decides whether he is genetically 
desirable and mates with him if she does, killing him of course in the 
process to prevent other females from acquiring the same genes for her 
offspring.  The successful females can store the sperm from their chosen 
males for years, bearing children as they wish, thus ensuring that the 
fittest survive.  It's a much better system for evolution, and you can 
imagine how the sexual differences become more and more strongly 
reinforced with each generation." 

"Then there's the planet of Ontuk.  It's my favorite, because 
superficially it is so much like Earth.  The males are larger than the 
females and more aggressive, always fighting each other and trying to 
outdo the other males in the most obvious ways, but there's no rape, no 
violence against women, and in fact women control the entire society.  
You know how they manage that?  It's really quite wonderful.  You've 
heard of adrenaline of course.  Well when the women of Ontuk are 
frightened, or in danger, or even just angry, they produce an enzyme 
that in a matter of seconds makes their relatively small muscles ten 
times more powerful.  And if they are still in danger after that, in a 
few seconds more they become ten times stronger again.  You can imagine 
that there are few problems you can't resolve when you increase your 
strength by one hundred times.  Wars don't exist there; the women 
realize their futility and they quickly kill any man who directs his 
aggression against a woman, a child, or another woman's man.  They do 
have difficulties with the few women who are mentally ill or social 
misfits, but every society has its problems.  Overall, Ontuk is a very 
pleasant place to live." 

"So you see, Todd, it could be worse for men than I've made it.  And it 
may well become worse, for you.  I'm still learning you see.  Still 
developing my powers, my understanding.  Where this energy that feeds me 
comes from, its nature, its limitations, all remain shrouded to me.  But 
in time, I will penetrate its source, and then I will be a true 
goddess." 

"But for now, as you wished, I will be on my way.  See you later Todd.  
Enjoy your trip!"  She disappeared in a burst of light.  Moments later, 
Todd found himself in the Air France terminal at JFK, dressed for his 
night flight, suitcases in hand. 


continued ...