"What is it now, Allen?" I said, wearily looking up from my econ book. Only two days of studying for finals; my brain was already a little to the left of mush. This wasn't the time for Einstein Junior to start explaining his physics theories.

"I tried it, and it works! It works! I am going to be SO fucking-"

"What works?" For all Allen's brainpower, his success rate had been nil on virtually every experiment. "The flying car? The plants that talk? The Mike Tyson Nuclear Self-Cleaning Countertop Sandwich Grill?"

"You're close on the last, dude,"Allen grinned.

I smiled. Even though he looked like an unmade bed, showered only when he felt like it, and hadn't had a haircut in over three years, you couldn't help but like him. And he was smart-almost TOO smart. One day he'd rig up a handheld receiver to jam the campus cops' radios, then call you two hours later because he forgot to put gas in his car. "OK, I give. What is it?"

"This,", Allen said, dropping something on his desk with a loud THUNK. "You know, I'd been playing around with triboluminescence, and piezoelectric crystals, so I figured if I polarized an element with a cross-reversion wave and fused it into a transducer-"

"English, Allen," I groaned, taking a closer look. All I saw was a large, dull rock with pointy spikes and-an electrical outlet?-stuck on the front of it. Kind of like the geode the prof had brought to geology class, but not nearly as pretty.

"Dude, let me show you," Allen said, rummaging through his drawer, finally pulling out an old worn hairdryer. He fumbled with it for a second, then plugged it into the outlet at the front of the rock.

"Allen, I don't….." my voice trailed off as the rock began to sparkle….what looked like dancing lights starting to twinkle inside each of the points. Faster and faster the lights started to whirl, then pulse-and Allen flipped the switch. WHIRRRRRRR!

"Holy cow! Wait a minute….there's got to be batteries in that-"

"No batteries, buddy," Allen grinned. "It's really making electricity!"

"How does it work?" I said wonderingly, coming over and staring at the glowing rock. "I never heard of anything like this before!"

"Dude…well, I……I don't know," Allen muttered sheepishly. "I've got some more of these crystals, so I'm trying to build another one…but I don't want to keep this in the lab. If one of the assistants tried it- "

"There goes your Nobel Prize," I breathed. "Do you think it's safe to have it in here?"

Allan shrugged. "It's not radioactive or anything. I just have to test it some more, see if I can figure out how it works. If you can cover for me, I'll cut you in on part of the profits."

"Man, you've got yourself a deal," I chuckled.

__________________________________________________________________

"Sheesh, I'm late," I muttered to myself, throwing my books on the bed and quickly slinging off my backpack. Why did those professors have to write three-hour essay tests? No time to shower, I thought- get changed quick and go pick up Denise. Better call her and tell her I'm a little behind-shit, I left the cordless off the charger again!

The phone beeped feebly as I tried to dial. Another hour to charge, I groaned. Allan had found this phone at a surplus sale and, in his words, had "hopped it up a bit". The base had a quick-charge setup for the handset, but the last time I'd tried using it, I'd blown every fuse in the danged room.

No way I can get this running in time….unless….I looked over at the "Electric Rock", as we'd dubbed it. After three weeks of testing, Allen still had no idea how it worked or why he couldn't recreate it. A collage of miniature melted crystal clumps sat around it, leftovers from his numerous attempts.

Maybe if I….I picked it up, brought it over, and plugged in the phone… flip on `Quick Charge'…..and the red light on the charger lit up reassuringly.

"Better living through mad science," I chuckled, turning back to my closet. Let's see…dirty, dirty, more dirty, ah, a clean shirt…..wait, what's that buzzing?

I turned around to see sparks flying off the phone. "Crap!" I yelled, tripping over piles of clothes and shoes as I ran over to the desk. The lights inside the rock were spinning crazily, looking like mad fireworks on the Fourth of July, pencils and notebooks vibrating and bouncing on the desktop. Frantically, I stretched out my hand to pull the plug, and--

_____________________________________________________________________

"Good to see you back, dude," Allen grinned as I staggered in the door, loaded down with the last of my Christmas presents and the month's worth of clothes that my mom had so helpfully washed. "How was break?"

"Not too bad. How are your experiments going with that thing," I asked delicately. I had been on pins and needles all through the holidays, wondering if the little fiasco with the telephone had caused any problems with Allen's invention. I didn't remember anything breaking--but then again, I didn't remember anything between touching the plug and waking up on the floor of the room in a pile of paper, sweatshirts, and assorted stuff from the desktop.

He grimaced. "Nothing yet, man. I've got some ideas about how it works, but they're so far out, you'd think I was toking if I told you." He looked at me strangely. "You sure you're OK, dude? You look kind of--weird. Not like yourself."

"I'm OK--must have just been the drive," I mumbled quickly. "Maybe I'll take a quick walk over to Sorority Row--get some fresh air, go see Denise, you know...."

"Suit yourself, dude," Allen said, turning back to his desk and staring at the Electric Rock, already lost in thought.

______________________________________________________________________

The snow crunched under my feet as I made my way across campus, shivering both from the cold and the recollection I hadn't told Allen about--things had NOT gone well over break. In fact, they had gone well past strange, and into all-out weird!

It had all happened so quickly. Things had been great at home--Mom's good cooking, seeing the family, the Norman Rockwell kind of stuff. Then, the last day of break, I decided to go work off some of the turkey and cookies. I'd headed down to the gym in town, the one my family had been members at for years. George Thomas had founded it--a former Mr. Olympia, now back and content running a small-town fitness club.

George was manning the front desk as I came in, the door bells jangling, his massive trophy smiling down from the shelf on the lobby wall. His broad face split into a grin, teeth showing through his silver-streaked mustache. "Matt! How have you been, buddy? How's college treating you?"

"So far so good, George," I chuckled, marveling at how well the years had treated him. George wasn't exactly in competition form anymore, but even a few years of benign neglect couldn't diminish the astonishing width of his shoulders, the broad bulges of his legs in his workout pants, the clear outline of his pecs in his tight T- shirt.

He laughed. "Well, it's good to have you back. You seem to be the only one out today--I was going to lock up and go in back, work on the books."

"I won't be too long," I said...my thoughts drifting to the immense bulge of his biceps in his shirt...how cool that looked...whoa, what? "Just do a few sets, get back to the house."

"No problem," he said, looking at me a bit oddly. "You OK, kid?" He reached out his hand, touched me on the shoulder....and I gasped softly as what felt like a sudden electric charge pulsed over my skin. He stepped back slightly...his eyes...so...

"Sure--better get to work," I squeaked, dodging by the desk and trotting into the weight area. I heard the sound as he moved into the office, started rummaging through paper. Quickly I pulled off my sweatshirt, starting to stretch out, looking down approvingly at the curves showing through my T-shirt. Those days in the Rec were beginning to pay off, I thought...and then....like a quick whisper through my brain....yeah....really pay off...c'mon, take a closer look....and without thinking, I pulled off my shirt, my hands moving up to cup the front of my pecs, feeling their hardness under the skin. I looked up....only to see George looking through the window of the office at me.

Quickly, I turned around....embarrassed....but it came again.....so he likes to peep? Show him something better...and I felt my hands move down to my waist, sliding my sweats down....the biking shorts I had worn underneath hugging my glutes like warm, caressing hands. The sound of paper moving stopped....I knew, could feel that his eyes were boring into my back. A hot flush crossed my cheeks....I couldn't believe what I was doing...better put them back--No. Keep 'em down. He wants a show....give him one...my hands moved down my legs, feeling the ropy twists of my quads....in horror, I realized my cock was getting stiff....hard....I can't possibly be doing this.....I heard the office door slam...."I gotta go," I blurted, turning around- -

George stood in front of me. All of George. T-shirt gone, his chest a pair of mountains with a deep valley, thickly forested with gray- flecked hair, trailing down to a thick 'roid gut ...legs powerful, wide, the muscles coiling around them, a restless movement of snakes....puffing calves over his bare feet....and...my god...a growing, throbbing bulge, a wet spot growing, on the front of his blue posing briefs....the only thing he was wearing. He looked down at me....his lips moving soundlessly...the lust in his gaze almost palpable.

Something cracked in my brain.....before I knew what was happening, my hands were groping, feeling over the steely expanse of his shoulders, moving down his arms, tracing his enormous horseshoes. He moaned.....I felt his great paws squeezing my nipples, brushing over my abs, frantically pulling down my shorts....I cried out as I felt his hot breath graze my cock, then his lips close around it, sucking, pulling on it frantically as I grasped his delts, my hips pulsing, shoving it deeper into his hungry mouth.

I wanted to run. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to get away...but I wanted...more. MORE, the voice in my head echoed....ME WANT MORE! I felt a strange surge of power go through my body....I looked down to see my forearms swelling, rippling with muscle....my feet spreading wide apart as energy pulsed through my legs, my calves ballooning....what the fuck is going on, I gasped....my voice echoing deeply through the empty room....ME HERE NOW...FREE...WANT MORE!!!!! thundered in my head, or my ears, I couldn't tell...pecs swelling with strength....lats flaring out from my side...I threw my head back and roared, a scream of triumph...YES....ME....WANT IT!!!! George looking up....his eyes widening in fear....then disappearing as my hands enveloped his head...forcing him onto me...TAKE IT....GIVE YOU POWER.....

I came back to reality with an almost-audible slap....my heart pounding, gasping for breath, the wind whipping through the nearby trees. The next thing I had remembered was waking up in my room, in my bed, in my parents' house.....drenched in sweat, the sheets stained with a pool of cum. I'd showered quickly, thrown my stuff into the car, and headed back to campus at top speed, my mind racing the whole way. It had to have been a dream. Had to. I couldn't have been....it isn't possible.....

"Hey, Matt!" a voice came from nearby. I looked up to see my lifting buddy Jim standing in a pool of light from a nearby doorway--a very familiar doorway. The--the Rec? How'd I get here? "Come on in before you freeze to death!"

"Sure thing," I said, jogging over to the door....then as I went inside, a sudden pall of cold washed over me. Jim? Yes...Jim! the voice whispered inside of me, cackling evilly.

Jim grinned, panting slightly, the sheen of sweat accentuating his lightly-tanned skin, his tank top sticking to his chest. "Perfect timing--I was just getting warmed up! Ready for a good workout?"

"No...I can't...I mean...YES," I suddenly breathed heavily. "I'd LOVE to work out with you!" Horrified, I felt my arms and legs start to move....walking towards the locker room....yes...this will be so perfect..."Come on! I've got something to show you!" NO....the last shreds of my self-control wailed, as I shoved the door open.

"Yeah?" Jim said, following me inside. I turned to face him, standing there in front of the mirror....oh, those delicious abs, showing through that wet top.....those sexy (NOOO!) legs....those handsome lats visible in the reflection behind him....so much potential...."What, did you get some new gear for Christmas?"

"Better," I growled, my cock growing inside my pants. "I got something even better--and now I'm going to give it to you!" I gritted my teeth....feeling it release from deep inside me...grimacing as I felt my shirt pulling tight....

"Really? What....." Jim's voice trailed off....his eyes opening wide....

"THIS!" I screamed, flexing my biceps, feeling my sleeves peel apart, rip open....I roared as I saw my feet tear out of my Nikes, leather and nylon twisting, the laces snapping....my hands grasping, pulling down my collar as the buttons exploded off my shirt, ricocheting off the lockers....seeing the thick pecs rise, glorious mounds of pure power, my stomach fat melting away as my abs popped into being.....the cuffs of my jeans rising above my ankles, catching, then shredding on the pulsing protuberances of my massive muscle calves, the seams groaning, little splits and shreds appearing in the denim above my knees....moaning with pleasure as I felt the final wave pass over my body...yes...Yes....YESSSSS!

Jim's eyes were filled with terror.....his mouth moved....body trembling....his mouth moving, but only fragments coming out...."You...y-you...y-y-you're...."

"I'm..." I looked past him....and saw my reflection....ohmigod...six- and-a half feet tall....chest at least over 60"....arms like a man's legs....legs like tree trunks wound in writhing snakes.....shaved head, tight goatee.....thick fur like fog over mountainous pecs...and it's all green.....GREEN...I'm...ME..."ME HULK!"

Jim lunged desperately for the door.....not fast enough! My jade hand whipped out, grabbed his shoulders....with a heave, his feet lifted off the ground, his body whipsawing as he tried to get away. "Hulk want YOU," I rumbled, pulling him over to me, my other meaty hook grabbing, tearing away the tattered remains of my pants. I growled in ecstasy as I saw my emerald cock rise thick and hard from its forest of tightly-curled hair.

"No...n-no, please, Matt, don't--"

"Me HULK!" I growled, forcing him down to the floor...down to his knees. "Puny Matt gone. Hulk now....Hulk want puny Jim...give him power!"

"AGGGGHH!" Jim screamed, as my hand reached out, turned his face towards my thick rod. "Matt...Hulk...no...I can't....I'm not--"

"You be soon," I roared, forcing him onto my throbbing cock, his cries cut off, gagged as it pushed into his mouth. "You take Hulk cum...make you strong...make you powerful....make you GAY.....make you Hulk...like me!" Mercilessly I shoved myself into him, his body pinned in my unbreakable grasp....bubbles pushing around his lips....my moans of ecstasy rattling the walls, the metal lockers trembling....spending my lust....my balls quivering, raging, begging for release...so...close....NOW...."RRRAGGGGGHHHHHH!" Gallons of surging, throbbing, hot spunk, splashing, exploding......

"What....happening"......world spinning......my muscles feeling limp....drained....power flowing back into me.....slumping......sinking....Hulk....Matt......

Like a switch had been thrown, the world suddenly cleared. I'm naked....kneeling on the floor.....staring at my hands....my pale skin.....clenching them, so puny....

"JIM!" Sprawled on the floor nearby....ohmigod.....breathing shallowly, almost drunkenly....his eyes looking up, glazed....his limbs starting to move....his lips, his cheeks, dribbling down onto his chest....green...c-cum.....oh shit....grabbing clothes, putting them on....run, run, get away....the dorm door.....stumbling up the stairs....crashing into my room..."ALLEN!"

___________________________________________________________________

The words tumbled out of me as I sat on the bed....my head in my hands......Allen's eyes a mixture of horror, sympathy, and curiosity....telling him the whole story, everything that had happened. "Allen...you've....you've got to believe me," I sobbed.

"Dude....I do," Allen said, very quietly. He reached across the desk to his radio, his hands trembling as he plugged it into the rock.

"Allen, I don't have time to--"

"Just listen," he said, his voice cracking. The radio crackled as the lights in the rock flickered, began their steady pattern of blinking.....wordlessly, he punched a station button.

"And now, fellow listeners, it's time for the Dave Davidson update. The holidays went by great at this house, and thanks to the good folks at Price Ford, my son Allen is back at college with his brand new Explorer. Now here's a song for my son...." and music started playing.

I looked up at Allen...his eyes shining and wet. "Allen...Dave Davidson...that's your...but I thought he...."

"Yeah, he did, dude," Allen said, sniffling. "But that's his voice...and it's talking about me now. I've...I've been listening to it since....."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Allen's dad had been a radio DJ....but he had been killed in a car wreck when Allen was four. Maybe a tape...b-but..."Allen....how???"

"It's this," Allen said, patting the rock. "I didn't think this was possible...but it's the only explanation. That's why I could never track the energy source or figure out how it was producing it. It's a tessaract."

"A what?"

"Well, think of it this way. There are worlds--dimensions--that run parallel to ours where things are the same...but just a little different. Maybe in one, Kennedy was never shot, or Hitler conquered England....an infinite number of possibilities, combinations, all occupying the same universe, but never overlapping."

He looked at the rock. "When I hit this with the energy wave, it must have created a stress point in the spatial fabric--kind of like putting a waterwheel in a stream. The clash of dimensions meeting is the energy it produces....but if you draw too much through, it can pull one dimension in on top of another--like if you were to dam the stream. What happened with you...when you overloaded it, it pulled another dimension on top of this one....and the single change is that...you are the..." his voice trailed off.

"I'm...I'm the Hulk....and I'm...." I sat there, stunned. "B- but...why..."

Allen looked at me. "Because you willed it that way. Just like...I wanted to hear my dad so badly...the tessaract made it happen....you wanted to be...."

I fell back on the bed...."No...this can't...I couldn't have...." But I knew it--deep down inside. Those years with the comic books....the dreams I wouldn't even admit to myself I'd had...the fantasies...they're all coming true...even...."No," I whispered...the last of them....

The radio suddenly beeped. "This just in from Middleton. A large creature is attacking several buildings and vehicles in the downtown business district. Witnesses have claimed the creature is man-shaped and...green. Authorities are urging residents to evacuate the area immediately."

Allen and I looked at each other...."George," I whispered.

_____________________________________________________________________

The streetlight cast an eerie shadow across the dark alley behind the Rec. Allen's eyes strained into the darkness as I staggered under Jim's bulk, guiding him towards the open door of my idling car. "I think we're OK--the guard is still following that fake call I sent him."

"How long do I have," I panted as I pushed Jim into the back seat.

Allen shivered. "It was about twenty hours for George, given what you told me. What are you going to do, dude?"

I slammed the door. "Drive back to Middleton, try to get George--then I don't know what. Maybe somewhere, somehow, I can find....something to help it....and until then....I just gotta keep going."

"I'll keep looking," Allen said. "Man, I'm so sorry, I--"

"Don't be," I said, forcing a smile. "Maybe...it was just meant to be or something."

He smiled back. "Good luck, dude."

The red taillights illuminated his sad face, waving as I drove away into the darkness. •