“Okay, I’m going to knock on Alex’s door and get him to chase me out here into the trees,” Jared said. “Andy, you and Judd hide behind these two trees. When I lead Alex between them you jump out and grab his arms. Then I’ll spin around and grab him by the legs.”

“We’ll carry him over here and hold him down while Jared ties the ropes to his wrists,” Judd said. “Then we’ll string him up and give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“This isn’t going to work,” I said, but the others just glared at me. I knew what they were thinking. We were four fifteen-year-old high school guys against one twelve-year-old kid. I was outvoted, so I just shrugged and hoped for the best, expecting the worst. “What do you want me to do?” I sighed.

“Two things,” Jared said. He took a rolled length of cloth out of his back pocket and handed it to me. “This is the gag to put in his mouth when we tie him up — and this is for back-up.” A baseball bat was sticking out of his saddlebag, and he pulled it out. “If anything goes wrong, you move in and whack Alex with this.”

I took the bat from him and wrapped my hands around the handle. “You mean, knock him on the head?” I remembered swinging a chair at Alex and knocking him out cold. It wasn’t something I ever wanted to do again.

“Do whatever you have to, man,” Judd shrugged.

We rehearsed our movements a couple of times until we had it down. The woods by the creek were cut off from the rest of the neighborhood by a line of shrubs mixed with a thick tangle of wild blackberry vines, which grew like weeds in this part of the country. It was like a natural wall separating civilization from nature. A well-worn three-foot wide path was the only opening that led out to Alex’s dead-end street. We guessed the distance from there to Alex’s front door was about forty yards.

“If you get him to chase you, are you sure you can beat him through the opening?” I said to Jared.

“I’m pretty fast, and I’ve got longer legs than him,” he replied confidently.

“He caught you on your bike, remember?” I said with emphasis. “He’s not a normal kid. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell all of you.”

“Okay, chill!” Jared shouted. “I’ll just make sure I have a head start before I get him to chase me.” He strode off toward Alex’s house. My heart began to race. I wasn’t ready for this.

“Maybe we should rehearse this one more time,” I called. Jared waved his hand to quiet me and walked up to Alex’s door. We took our positions out of sight and looked through the opening in the shrubs. When Alex answered the door he was only wearing a pair of gym trunks. He had probably been working out. The bodybuilding contest he wanted to enter was only a week away. There was a sheen to his skin, like a light coating of sweat or oil, or both. Maybe he had been rehearsing his posing routine. Alex looked even bigger than when I last saw him — almost cartoonishly muscular. His tan had deepened from bronze to mahogany. He looked unreal. I swallowed hard and tried to regulate my breathing to keep from hyperventilating. My anxiety level was going through the roof. I twisted the gag in my hands and glanced down at the baseball bat at my feet. I prayed I didn’t have to use it.

We could hear words being exchanged but we couldn’t make out what was being said. Jared started shouting and pointing his finger at Alex, but he was backing up slowly as he did this. Finally, Jared said something that made Alex’s nostrils flare, and for good measure he followed it with two middle fingers pointed straight up and a volley of spit launched in Alex’s direction. Immediately Jared turned and ran as fast as he could toward us. I yelled, “Run!” as loud as I could but as soon as the word was out of my mouth, Jared was tacked from behind by the little muscle machine named Alex. The boy overtook him with amazing speed. Jared hadn’t even made it half way to us.

In an instant, Alex was kneeling over Jared and pummeling him with his fists. I saw the determined look on Alex’s face as his muscular arms threw their punches and I knew Jared was in big trouble. There was no way he could defend himself against the power of those arms. Judd shot through the opening, yelling for us to follow. Andy ran after Judd, but for some reason I couldn’t get my feet to move. It was like I was momentarily paralyzed. Everything had gone wrong so quickly!

As Judd approached, Alex jumped off Jared, who was no longer a threat to him. Jared just rolled around on the ground moaning. Judd was met with a well-aimed kick to the groin, which had him joining Jared on the ground in pain before he could even throw a punch. Seeing how easily Alex could drop Judd with a single kick, Andy tried to put on the brakes and retreat, but Alex ran after him and caught his arm, spinning him around and throwing him to the ground. He followed up with a few barefoot stomps, then fell on Andy and threw several punches that had the teenager howling in pain.

In only a few seconds all three of my friends were rolling on the ground in various stages of agony. Although I felt like a coward I was frozen in terror, unable to move. With the full fury of his temper unleashed, Alex went methodically from one boy to another, throwing a few kicks and punches to keep them helpless on the ground moaning in pain. All the while Alex was spitting out taunts and jeers that made his face turn red and the veins in his neck bulge out. I don’t know at what point my bladder gave way, but I suddenly noticed a warm wetness at my crotch. As if snapping out of a dream I ran out into the clear and shouted, “Stop!”

Alex quit pummeling my friends and turned his furious eyes in my direction. We he recognized me, his face relaxed a bit. He gave me a chilling smile.

“I remember you,” he said, pointing. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

“I know,” I said with a nod. I resisted the strong urge to turn and run for my bike. My knees were trembling.

“So this was all your idea to try and get back at me, huh?”

“No, I swear it wasn’t! I tried to talk them out of coming here, honest!”

“Sure you did,” Alex said sarcastically, taking a few steps in my direction. I started backing up and looked down at the twisted piece of cloth in my hands. In the excitement I had left the baseball bat in the woods. I looked at my groaning friends and saw they were not even able to get to their feet yet. The quiet dead-end street looked completely empty. It was just Alex and me.

I was only a few steps from the pathway to the woods, so I turned and ran. Alex was so fast I could feel him behind me almost instantly. When I got through the opening I saw the bat on the ground and managed to snatch it on the run. Alex nearly grabbed me as I tried to duck around a tree and lose him. He caught the back of my shirt and I heard a ripping sound before I pulled free. I ran around another tree and this time managed to come up behind Alex. Without thinking, I raised the bat and frantically swung it down at the back of his head. Like before, I closed my eyes and only heard the dull thunk of wood against skull.

*****

I don’t know how hard I hit Alex, or if it was a glancing blow or not. I was still standing over him, numb and trembling, when my friends arrived. I warned them that he might wake up at any moment. I suggested we go back to our bikes and leave, but I was outvoted again. The other three were even more determined to get revenge after Alex had beat them up so quickly and decisively. Judd was limping, half of Jared’s face was swollen, and all three were aching and sore, but they wouldn’t quit. We carried Alex to the spot we prepared and Jared tied the end of each rope to Alex’s wrists. Then he threw the free length of rope over the second branch to string Alex up between the two trees. Andy and I held Alex’s body up while Jared climbed the second tree to tie the rope to the branch. Alex was unbelievably heavy. His dense muscles were thick and solid even though they were totally relaxed. We heaved him up while Judd pulled on the end of the rope until Alex’s feet left the ground. Jared tied the rope securely to the branch and jumped down. Alex’s arms were held out in a wide “V” while his body dangled like a man on a crucifix. His head was still slumped down on his chest, but his lungs were heaving, so I figured he would wake up any moment.

“Where’s the gag?” Jared said.

I searched my pockets. “I must have dropped it somewhere,” I said. Jared gave me a disgusted look. I only had two things to do and I screwed one up.

At that moment Alex came to, and the curses started flowing out of his mouth. Watching him test his strength against the ropes made me feel all funny inside. I saw all the muscles in his arms and shoulders jump to attention and prayed that the bright yellow rope would hold. Jared was apparently not as afraid as I was. He stepped up to Alex with a smug smile on his face.

“How does it feel to be the helpless victim, for once?” he said. Alex just glared at him, growing red-faced with anger. I thought steam was going to start shooting out of his nostrils. “You’re used to being the bully, aren’t you?” Jared said. “Well, how do you like this?”

Jared hauled back and threw his fist at Alex’s gut. The result, I’m sure, was not what he expected. Jared pulled back his hand with a yelp while Alex’s brick-solid abs took the blow with only a slight sway of his body back and forth. The muscular twelve-year-old gave us all a confident grin.

“You pussies couldn’t hurt a fly,” he said.

Jared got red-faced and threw punches to Alex’s gut as fast as he could, throwing lefts and rights like he was trying to bust open a heavy bag. The whap-whap sound of knuckles hitting flesh echoed off the trees. Alex’s body was swaying with each blow but his defined abs were like a wall of stone. After about thirty seconds of all-out effort Jared stopped with a pained look on his face. He was panting heavily as he shook out his hands and rubbed his knuckles. They were clearly hurting him. Alex kept his grin and even gave Jared a contemptuous sneer.

“Like I said, you wimps don’t have enough muscle to hurt me. You cowards can keep me tied up here all afternoon if you want. I can take whatever you dish out. You’re just wasting your time.” To demonstrate, Alex looked down at his stomach and tightened his abs harder, showing us all that he hadn’t even been flexing his stomach muscles to the max yet. I gasped as I saw his abs stand out with such deep definition that each muscle segment looked chiseled out of solid granite. Andy was standing next to me and murmured, “Fuck!” under his breath.

Only Alex could remain totally fearless and confident while tied up like that. I got another chill up my spine just listening to him dare us to try and hurt him. Somehow it felt like he was still in control of the situation.

Judd marched over and picked up the baseball bat. “Let’s see how you handle this, big mouth!” he yelled, and took a swing at Alex’s midsection. The bat landed with a loud smack that launched Alex’s body backward. Alex swung back and forth like a pendulum, but his face only flinched for a moment. His magnificent abs were still tensed into a perfect washboard.

“Hey, that almost hurt!” Alex said sarcastically. “What a big man! Has to use a bat, and still can’t make me cry! What’s the matter — you too scared to try your fists? Think you might hurt your hands too, like your wimpy friend over there?”

Jared was still massaging his sore knuckles. His left eye had a nice shiner, thanks to Alex. He got an angry look on his face and grabbed the bat away from Judd. Jared got into position and took a swing with a windup so big I thought he was trying to kill the kid. The noise was nearly twice as loud at impact and Alex’s body flew way up before swinging back down again. Jared timed his second swing to meet Alex’s body on the rebound. This time the sound of air being expelled from the muscleboy’s lungs was unmistakable. Even Alex’s super-hard abs couldn’t withstand that kind of impact. Jared wound up again and I cried out for him to stop. I didn’t think anyone, not even Alex, deserved that kind of punishment. Jared ignored me and waited for Alex’s body to fall back toward him. After the third swing of Jared’s bat made its terrible impact, Alex moaned loudly and his stomach muscles went slack. His head dropped to his chest and his entire body sagged. Jared gave a triumphant laugh and flung the bat away. I could tell he was pumped because it went spinning off over my head and I flinched as it flew past me. With a satisfied smile Jared grabbed Alex’s body to stop its wild swinging.

“Three strikes and you’re out, kid!” Jared bragged. “You’re not such a bully now, are you, dog-killer?” He grabbed a handful of Alex’s hair and pulled his head up. Alex’s eyes were not focusing and his face was slack. Jared hocked up a load of mucus in his throat and prepared to spit it into Alex’s face. At that moment Alex’s face came alive with an evil grin and his legs snapped up around Jared’s waist. In a fraction of a second the muscles of Alex’s thighs went into full flex and Jared choked on his own spit as the air was instantly forced out of his lungs.

It all occurred so fast, it took a moment for the rest of us to realize what was happening. Jared’s eyes glazed over in shock as his waist was immediately squeezed to half its normal size. Alex’s thighs were bulging obscenely, pouring on unimaginable pressure. Jared was still making choking noises and seemed to be stunned with his arms flailing uselessly. Judd and Andy ran up, each grabbing one of Alex’s legs and tugging frantically. The boy had managed to get his ankles locked together and seemed to be increasing the pressure despite the best efforts of my two friends to pry his thick legs apart. I got that sick feeling in my stomach again. No one had thought about tying up Alex’s legs! How could we have been so stupid? Feeling helpless, I ran up behind Alex and started beating on his back with my fists. I soon discovered that pounding on the boy’s wide, rippling lats was useless. I was probably only bruising my fists against his thick, solid muscles.

One of the boys yelled for me to get the bat. I looked around frantically. Wherever Jared had tossed it, it must have buried itself in the leafy debris that covered much of the ground. I heard the ropes squeaking, and turned around to see Alex pulling his body up with his arms as he used his stomach muscles to lift Jared’s feet completely off the ground. Watching Alex’s body explode with muscle as he pulled on the ropes was an amazing sight. It was an incredible display of kid muscle. Alex’s perfect eight-pack abs were obviously not the slightest bit injured. They easily held Jared’s full weight up off the ground as his legs kept squeezing the teenager tighter and tighter. Alex’s half-flexed arms were frozen in an impressive double biceps pose. The ropes made more squeaking noises when Alex’s fantastic arms bulged again, raising his torso a bit higher and pulling Jared up with it. Now that Jared was off the ground, the intense pressure of Alex’s terrible body scissors was increased. Alex’s thighs were bulging to the max, the skin turning red as the veins and muscle fibers exploded under his tanned skin. Judd and Andy tried desperately to get a good grip on Alex’s massive thighs and pull them apart. Alex simply ignored them and with a vicious jerk of his legs he increased the pressure again. A low growl came from Alex’s throat. His legs were trembling with power now as they flexed with maximum force. Jared’s face was a mask of agony. He didn’t even have enough breath to scream.

The seconds ticking away felt like minutes. I couldn’t imagine the terrible pressure Jared was forced to endure all this time. Unable to breathe, his face finally went slack and his arms went limp. Jared’s eyes stared off into space as his head flopped to one side and drool began to flow out of his mouth. Remembering how Alex had killed Jared’s dog with these super-strong legs, Judd and Andy were in a panic. They pulled down using all their weight to overcome Alex’s strength and force Jared’s feet back down to the ground but the damage had already been done. Our friend had passed out and was as limp as a rag doll in Alex’s crushing leg vice.

I gave up searching for the bat and tried to help them pry Alex’s legs open. The three of us together managed to unlock his ankles but we couldn’t spread his knees apart. Alex’s thighs were like iron! I couldn’t get a good grip on them because my fingers couldn’t penetrate the bulging muscles. His smooth skin was as slick as a marble statue. I could feel the raw power of Alex’s legs and it was unbelievable!

By this time Jared was looking pretty bad. His face was turning blue. Judd and Andy were still pulling on Alex’s legs, shouting and cursing at each other at their failure to get poor Jared loose. In desperation, Judd finally threw a punch at Alex’s face. We should have done that much earlier but nobody was thinking straight. Alex managed to jerk his head aside and dodge the fist, but at least he finally opened his legs and released Jared, who fell to the ground in a heap.

The three of us dragged our unconscious friend about twenty feet away. We rolled him on his side and slapped him on his back to get him to breathe again. We were relieved when he started coughing and gasping. With all our attention focused on Jared, we didn’t notice that the ropes were making their squeaking noises again. A few seconds later Andy tapped me on the shoulder and whispered with awe in his voice, “Look!”

I turned around to see Alex flexing his arms as hard as he could, pulling his body up into another double-biceps pose. We watched him rise until his feet were dangling high off the ground and his elbows were level with his shoulders. Every muscle in his torso was bulging like crazy. He had a fierce look on his face and was staring intently at his right arm as if he could will it to flex hard enough to break the rope.

Andy stood up and yelled, “Hey, stop that!” but Judd grabbed his shoulder.

“No — let him struggle,” Judd said calmly. “He can’t break those ropes. Let the little fucker wear himself out.”

The three of us watched Alex’s muscles on display as he tested the ropes. The look of concentration on his face was scary. Alex’s arms were fully flexed into a double-biceps pose now, with the ropes creaking and squeaking under the tremendous strain. Judd was still smiling a little, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Andy looked anxious. The three of us were mesmerized by the sight of Alex’s body in full flex. You could almost see the blood pumping into the veins as his biceps swelled up more than double their normal size. Alex’s biceps were already bigger than I’d ever seen them, and they continued to peak up higher with each passing second. His lats spread out like wings and his shoulders and pecs were showing striations I’d never seen before. Alex’s entire upper body seemed to be growing and transforming right before our eyes. Andy kept whispering, “Fuck!” as Alex strained against the ropes with everything he had. The compact mass of dense boy-muscle in front of us was focusing all of its awesome strength into one tremendous pull. The mountain peaks of his biceps looked like they were about ready to burst through the skin. Alex’s grimacing face showed the pain of his all-out effort. His trembling body was generating a tremendous amount of energy. Alex kept up this extreme flex for a full minute, but just as I was about to turn and run, he suddenly relaxed. His body dropped like a rock until his arms were fully extended in a V-shape again, and his toes lightly scraped the ground. He had stretched the ropes but they didn’t break. Alex’s big chest heaved mightily as he gulped in deep, panting breaths. He looked exhausted and defeated. I could hardly believe that Alex had failed.

“Ha! I told ya,” Judd said. “Not even the little Superkid is that strong. As soon as we get Jared back on his feet I’m gonna work that little fucker over real good! Then I’m gonna find that bat and use it to break his fuckin’ muscleboy legs so he can’t use ’em to crush nobody else!”

We turned our attention back to Jared, who had the color back in his face but was still only semi-conscious. Judd slapped him lightly on the cheek to try and get him fully aroused. A loud grunt from Alex made us turn around once more. Actually, it was more of an angry growl. Alex was using it to get his adrenaline flowing as he tried pulling on the ropes again.

“The little bastard doesn’t give up, does he?” Judd said with a smile.

“He makes me nervous,” Andy said, frowning.

Alex pulled his body up into the same double-biceps pose. I swear, the veins that were popping out in his biceps made them look even more incredible! Alex’s eyes glazed over and he seemed to be concentrating really hard. He closed his eyes and let his head drop back, then opened his mouth and let out a yell. It looked like he was somehow drawing more strength from the heavens. We watched in awe as his kid muscles vibrated with power. He slowly pulled his elbows down toward his waist and flexed his arms even tighter this time, which caused his body to rise up another foot until his shoulders were level with his fists. It should have been impossible for Alex to hold himself in this position. The ropes were pulled so tight they were vibrating like tuning forks. I could sense that something was about to happen.

“He’s going to do it this time,” I said flatly, feeling that sickness in my stomach again. “We’re all gonna die.”

Judd turned to say something sarcastic to me and at that moment a loud snap made us jump. One strand of the rope holding Alex’s left arm had broken under the strain of Alex’s powerful muscles. We could see the frayed ends dangling down.

“I thought you said this rope could tow a car!” I yelled.

“It could!… I thought,” Judd said.

Andy was the first of us to react. He ran up to Alex and grabbed his shoulders, trying to pull him back down. “Stop that!” he yelled. Andy jumped up and wrapped his legs around Alex’s body. Alex kept pulling on the ropes, and poor Andy didn’t realize his added weight was only helping Alex. With a loud snap the remaining strands broke and both boys tumbled to the ground.

It’s hard to remember exactly what happened in the moments of panic that followed. I was sitting with Jared’s head in my lap, so I couldn’t get up quickly. Judd ran over to help Andy, who obviously had the wind knocked out of him when they hit the ground with Alex on top. I saw Alex bounce to his feet and face Judd, who was charging like a bull. The boy clasped his hands together and swung his doubled fists like an ax at Judd’s head. I’m not sure Judd even saw it coming. He dropped instantly, like he had been hit by a club, and landed on top of Andy. I think Judd was unconscious before he hit the ground.

By this time I was on my feet approaching Alex cautiously. He held out his hands and curled his fingers at me with a smile, daring me to come closer. His right wrist was still tied to the other tree, so I knew he couldn’t run after me. Alex kept a watchful eye on me as he bit at the knot on his wrist, loosening the rope with his teeth. I wanted to run and get help, but I was afraid of what he might do to my friends before I could get back. I figured my only chance was to try and find the bat before Alex freed himself.

I ran back to the area I was searching before, kicking through the dry leaves with my feet. I heard noises behind me but I didn’t dare take the time to turn around and see what Alex was doing. I needed to find that bat. It must have flown further away than I thought. I started to panic because it was taking too long. I clambered down the bank toward the creek and finally saw the bat near the rocks. It must have rolled all the way down the hill. I grabbed it and spun around and immediately collided into Andy, who was running wildly out of control down the bank and knocked us both onto our butts. I could see by his eyes he was totally freaked out. He scrambled to his feet and tried to get by me, but I grabbed his arm and pulled myself up.

“I got the bat — see!” I said. “Come on, let’s go help Judd and Jared.”

“No way!” Andy said, his eyes wild with fear. “I’m gettin’ out of here! That kid’s a demon from hell!” He shoved me away and ran for his bike. I shouted after him but he never looked back. I saw him pedal off down the path along the creek bed as fast as his legs could pump.

I hurried back to Judd and Jared, but maneuvered cautiously among the trees trying to see what was going on as I approached. It had only been a minute or two since I left, but that was all Alex needed to unite the ropes and use them on my friends. Both Judd and Jared were hog-tied with hands and feet lashed together behind their backs, their bodies bent backward into a bow. Their shirts had been ripped off and stuffed into their mouths as a gag. I could see by their terror-filled eyes that both were fully conscious again. Alex saw me approaching and smiled as he saw the shocked look on my face. He was rubbing his wrists, which had been bloodied by the ropes cutting into them. Alex’s eyes were fierce and his chest was heaving as he stared at me. He looked like an enraged wild-child of the forest, eager for revenge.

My only instincts were to turn and run, but then I remembered I had the bat in my hands. I swung it out in front of me, brandishing it like a sword.

“Untie my friends and let us go,” I said.

“No way,” Alex said, shaking his head. “It’s just you and me now. This is gonna be fun!” He went into a wrestler’s crouch and smiled. I tried to slowly circle around Alex to get to Judd and Jared, but the boy scrambled in front of me to block my path, daring me to take a swing at him.

“I’ll do it!” I warned, holding the bat up. “I’ll knock you out again if you try to stop me.”

Instead of backing off, Alex rushed me! I was so startled that I barely had time to raise the bat. The speed and fearlessness of Alex was amazing. My frantic half-swing was weak, and Alex reached out and caught the end of the bat with one hand. It then became a tug-of-war — my two hands against his one arm. Alex was treating this like a game. He put his free hand on his hip and giggled at my attempts to yank the bat out of his grip. I saw his forearm muscles ripple as he squeezed his fingers tight around the barrel. No matter how I tugged I couldn’t wrench the bat from his grip. His forearm alone was bigger than my upper arm and his stretched-out bicep was a thick slab of defined muscle with a vein running up the side. When he got tired of the game, one quick flex of that bicep was all it took to jerk the bat out of my sweaty hands.

I cringed and covered my head with my arms, expecting Alex to swing the bat at me. Instead, he grabbed the bat at each end and brought it down hard over his knee, snapping it in two. He held up the splintered ends for my shocked eyes to see, then tossed them aside.

“I don’t need a bat to whip your ass, wimp!” Alex said. He grit his teeth and went into a most-muscular pose that made me gasp out loud and made my blood run cold. Every defined muscle on his bodybuilder’s physique was developed beyond belief! His bulging traps rose up around the thick cords of muscle in his neck as his shoulders split into three defined segments. Veins broke out on his arms and they bulged with power as he drew them into a circle. His chest swelled into huge, rock-hard domes of muscle and his abs rippled into a deep-cut eight-pack. His quads and calves flexed into full hardness. Those thighs were bigger than most kids’ waists. Hell, they were bigger than some kids’ chests!

Alex stood there with his confident smile and waited for me to make my move. There was nothing left to do but run. I knew that was what Alex wanted me to do, but I turned and took off for my bike anyway. I got maybe five steps before I was tackled. Alex rolled me over and sat on my stomach as he held my hands down above my head. It was the old Schoolboy Pin with me on the ground and Alex on top — a position I knew well.

I pushed and struggled and tried bucking my hips, which made Alex laugh.

“Stop squirming! You know your ass is mine, so cut it out!”

He was right, of course, so I relaxed and he let go of my arms. Alex sat back on my stomach with his knees astride my chest. Seeing his huge torso looming over me was both frightening and exciting. He put his hands on his waist and hit a front lat-spread pose. His super-wide shoulders and those massive slabs of pec muscle looked incredible from that angle.

“Awesome, ain’t it?” Alex said proudly. “When I do my posing routine on stage I’m gonna shock everybody!” He took a very deep breath and swelled his flexing chest even more. I let out a groan of disbelief and reached out hesitantly to touch his amazing young pecs.

Alex watched my trembling fingers draw closer to his chest inch by inch, then with a lightning quick move he snatched my wrist at the last instant.

“I didn’t say you could touch, did I?” he said. Alex twisted my arm and dug his fingers into my wrist. My howl of pain made him smile. He just twisted my arm even more. Alex was in control and using my suffering for his pleasure. When he got bored with this, he let me go. I rubbed my wrist and blinked the tears out of my eyes.

“You really like my body, don’t ya?” Alex said. I didn’t say anything, but I involuntarily licked my lips and Alex gave me a knowing smile. He struck a double-biceps pose again — his favorite. From my low angle those incredible mountains of young muscle looked enormous. I managed to resist the urge to reach out and touch them.

“You want a closer look?” Alex said. He grabbed a handful of my hair with his left hand and pulled up my head so he could lean over and shove his flexed right bicep into my face. He was literally rubbing my nose in it. His upper arm was so big it covered my entire face, and his flexed bicep was so hard it felt like it was rubbing my skin raw.

“This turns you on, don’t it? You know how I can tell?” He sat up and bounced his butt up and down on my groin. “I can feel somethin’ pokin’ at my ass.” I felt my face turning red and Alex gave me his smug little smile. “You’d probably like that, wouldn’t you? You’d like to poke your little peanut dick up my ass, wouldn’t you? Well, you know what I’d do? I’d squeeze my glutes together and squish it like a bug. I’d flex my hard ass muscles around it and squeeze it flat as a piece of paper. Then I’d twist my hips with a jerk and rip it right off your body!”

This was exactly the kind of thing a twelve-year-old kid thinks is funny, and Alex had a lot of fun laughing at his own joke. But then he wiped the smile off his face and put his hands on his hips.

“I always knew you were a fag. My dad says all fags should be shot.” He paused a moment to see what my reaction would be. Alex enjoyed making people feel uncomfortable. “Remember when I said I wouldn’t be so gentle the next time?” Alex said. “Since you were dumb enough to come to my house again, what do you think I should do to you? Maybe I should just squeeze my legs together like I did to your friend.”

He dug his knees into my ribs and I saw the muscles in his thighs bulge out. I gasped as I felt my ribcage being crushed, causing a stab of pain to shoot through my chest. I tried to grab his thighs but immediately realized I had no hope of stopping him this way. Alex kept his hands on his hips and laughed at my futile attempt to keep him from crushing my torso with his muscular legs. Then he brushed my hands off and rubbed his own hands slowly over his bulging thighs.

“Yeah, look at my legs, man!” Alex said, stroking them lovingly. “My legs are gettin’ crazy strong! I can’t wait for seventh grade football to start! I’m gonna run right through the other guys and knock ’em all down like bowling pins!”

Alex bit his lower lip and demonstrated the strength in his legs by giving my ribs another long, hard squeeze. I was in a desperate situation, so I reached up and tried to poke my fingers into his eyes, figuring this was the only vulnerable spot on his body that I could reach. Alex ducked his head aside and grabbed my wrists, and I could tell by the angry look on his face that I wasn’t going to like what happened next.

Alex roughly rolled me over on my stomach. He crossed my wrists over my lower back and pinned them there with his knee. With one hand on the back of my head, he shoved my face into the dirt while the other hand grabbed my collar and ripped the shirt off my back. He used the strip of cloth to tie my hands together, then rolled me face up again.

Alex tore off the rest of my shirt and used it to lash my ankles together. Then he again sat on my hips with his knees astride my torso. Now that I was completely helpless, Alex could take his time torturing me. He teased me about my puny body, punching my flat chest hard several times and painfully pinching my nipples. My howls of pain were music to his ears. He dug his hands into my soft belly so deep that I thought he was trying to rearrange my guts with his fingers. He said he couldn’t feel any stomach muscles there at all. My tortured groans made him laugh. He threw a hard fist into my gut that seemed to penetrate all the way to my spine. I coughed and sputtered and felt like throwing up. He made a joke about how it only took one punch to make me wretch. Then Alex wrapped his hands around my throat and began to squeeze slowly. The kid bully’s evil grin was chilling. He wanted to see the fear on my face.

“Andy got away and went to get help,” I said in a desperate, wheezing voice. “His dad is going to be here any second — probably the police too!”

“I don’t think so,” Alex said confidently. “Did you see the look on his face? He probably locked himself in his room and is hiding under his bed wondering if it’s okay to come out and clean the shit out of his pants!”

I tried to say something but Alex squeezed tighter and all I could do was cough and gasp.

“Anyway — let them come. If the wimp brings his dad I’ll beat him up too, and if he brings the police I’ll tell them how you strung me up and wailed on me with a baseball bat! Either way you lose again.”

Just when I thought I was going to black out, Alex saw the large half of the broken bat lying nearby and grabbed it. He held it in his right hand and slapped it against his left palm menacingly. “Did you really think you and your other wimp friends could beat me up?” he said. “What a bunch of losers! Check this out!” He put the broken end of the bat in the crook of his elbow and flexed his arm around it. I saw his bicep bulge up and heard the crackle of the wood fibers as they were being crushed by his hard muscle. The exposed splinters began to writhe and dance as his growing bicep cut deeply into the wood. At maximum flex his fully hard bicep totally mashed the end of the bat until it was completely flattened. He relaxed his arm and held the bat in front of my face so I could see it. The end looked like it had been smashed in a vice — and I guess in a way it had.

“Look at that! You ain’t never in your life gonna have a muscle that could do that,” Alex said. “Think about it. I’m so much stronger than you it ain’t even funny! And I’m not even a teenager yet! Just think how much stronger I’m gonna get in a few years! You and your friends ain’t gonna want to find out!”

Despite my fear and helpless position, Alex’s muscle display had the usual effect on me, and I shifted my hips uncomfortably. Alex reached behind him and seized my crotch with his hand.

“You still hard, wimp-boy?” he said. He squeezed and made me see stars. I gasped and rolled my eyes up. “You are, ain’t you? Jesus, man, you are one fucked-up dude! You know I’m prob’ly gonna beat your face in and all you can think about is your dick!”

Alex scooted back a little so he could grab my hair and pull me into a half-sitting position. He swelled his chest and flexed his pecs for me.

“Is this what turns you on, faggot?” he said. With one hand behind my neck he smashed my face into his chest and rubbed it across his stone-hard pecs. “Do you like this, wimp? Do you like feeling my sweaty chest messin’ up your ugly face?”

My muffled moans were his only response. With a disgusted grunt, he threw me back down with such force that I was momentarily stunned when my head hit the ground. I felt him pulling me up to my knees and when my eyes regained their focus I was staring right at Alex’s perfect washboard abs.

Alex hooked his thumbs under the waistband of his gym shorts and pulled it down until a small nest of wiry black hairs was exposed. “Look — I got pubes!” he said proudly. “My dad says that’s because I got ’sos-trone or somethin’ flowing in my body now. That’s why I got so much stronger this summer and put on tons more muscle! Dad says my voice is gonna start gettin’ lower soon, too.” Alex gave me a leering smile and pulled his waistband a little lower. “I bet my dick is already a lot bigger than yours — you wanna see?” He tugged the waistband down a bit more, then abruptly let it snap back up. “Yeah, you’d probably like that, wouldn’t you, faggot? That’s why I ain’t gonna show you. I don’t want you feelin’ good. I want you feelin’ pain!”

I squirmed and tugged hard at my wrists, but Alex was good at tying knots. He stopped my struggling by grabbing a handful of my hair and pulling my nose closer to his belly button.

“You guys tried to destroy my abs with that bat, didn’t you?” he said. “Well, do these abs look destroyed to you?” He tightened them into full hardness and the deep cuts of his ripped abs was unbelievable! Before I knew what was happening, he grabbed my head and smashed my face hard into his rock-solid gut.

“Let’s see what breaks first, my abs or your nose!” Alex said. He pulled my head back about a foot and smashed my face into his abs again. The hardness of his stomach muscles was unbelievable! It was like hitting a brick wall! Again and again he rammed my face into his flexed abs as hard as he could, until blood began to flow out of my nose. Satisfied that he had broken my nose on his impenetrable abs, Alex threw me to the ground and watched me groan and bleed. Through my watering eyes I could see Judd and Jared squirming on the ground about twenty yards away, still bound and gagged.

“Did ya like that close-up view of my abs?” Alex said, laughing. “Maybe you’d like another close-up view while I do some crunches.”

Alex lay on his back next to me and pulled my face across his stomach. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I was helpless to stop him. Drawing his knees up, he pinned my head against his flexing abs while he lifted his shoulders with his hands behind his head. My head was being squeezed by his legs while my face was being crushed into the ridges of his iron stomach. His pecs closed in until my entire skull was surrounded with hard-flexed muscle.

Alex held this position for a long time. He seemed to be tightening his stomach muscles a millimeter at a time, and my headache grew worse with each passing second. As the pressure increased I realized I couldn’t breathe. My mouth and broken nose were being sealed shut against his hard-flexing abs by the tremendous force of his stomach crunch. I jerked my body helplessly, unable to move because of my bound arms and legs. My muffled grunts only made him squeeze tighter. I was hoping his abs would start cramping soon, but his muscles had amazing stamina. I soon realized he wanted to see if he could make me black out this way. The thick, clotted blood from my nose acted like a glue between my face and his skin. I wasn’t getting any air and the crushing of my skull intensified the light-headed sensation. Seconds later I was unconscious.

*****

When I regained my senses I was in the familiar position — me on my back with Alex sitting astride my hips. He was slapping my face to wake me up, and it hurt. At this point, most of my body hurt. Alex pinched my jaw with his hand and forced me to open my eyes and look at him.

“I’ve decided I need to break one of your bones, but I’ll let you decide which one,” he said matter-of-factly.

“You already broke my nose!” I wailed. My voice sounded different because I could only breathe through my mouth. My nose hurt terribly.

“That doesn’t count,” Alex said. “Your nose is only cartilage. I learned that in health studies. It has to be a real bone.”

“Why?” I cried. I couldn’t believe this kid was talking about breaking my bones!

“Because I warned you I was gonna be rougher on you the next time, and here you are,” he said simply. “And also I want to try out the cool new martial arts lessons I took from Mark. He’s the coolest guy, and a friend of my dad. He knows the secret deadly martial arts techniques that they only teach to crack ninja assassination teams in China. He says the Chinese government has orders to kill anyone who knows these moves if they try to leave the country! He taught me seven different ways to kill a man with a single blow. Do ya wanna know what they are?”

“No!” I said. “You’ve done enough damage. Just let us go!”

“Not ’till I’m ready!” Alex said smugly. “You need to be taught a lesson. I guess my last lesson didn’t get through to you.” He bent over my face and spoke slowly. “Here’s how it is: I am the totally muscular, super-strong jock-stud and you are the weak, loser wimp. It doesn’t matter that you’re older and taller than me. I always win and you always lose. I give pain and you take pain.” He sat back up and smiled. “It’s pretty simple. You should have figured it out by now.”

Alex was already a master of physical intimidation at age twelve. It was chilling how this unnaturally muscular boy talked about the natural order of the strong over the weak. It was clear he believed every word.

“Since you won’t pick a bone for me to break, I’ll have to pick one for you,” he continued. “How about your rib? That wouldn’t hurt too much.” He made a karate fist and took aim at the left side of my torso. I yelped in fright as he threw a practice blow that barely made contact.

“Don’t be such a baby, I’m just measuring my stroke,” Alex said. “You’ll know when I’m ready to throw the ninja power punch. If I do it right, it will be so fast and strong that the bone will snap cleanly. You’ll hardly feel it. That’s what Mark says, anyway.”

I wasn’t reassured. Alex started taking slow, deep breaths and his eyes stared at his target with complete concentration. He moved his fist back and forth, piston-like, several more times, ignoring my frantic pleas and nervous squirms. Finally, he slowly drew his arm all the way back and let out a loud yell. He threw the punch so fast his arm was a total blur. He hit me with so much force it was like he was trying to punch his fist into the ground and my body was in the way. I’d never felt anything like it before. I could actually feel his knuckles penetrating into my body, and I knew at once my rib was shattered. It was a surreal sensation. I was completely stunned for a long moment, then all of a sudden it felt like a weight was dropped on my chest and I couldn’t breathe. That was the last thing I remember.

*****

I don’t know how long I lay there before help arrived. The next thing I can recall was seeing my dad’s face in the emergency room. I had one busted rib, two cracked ribs, and a partially collapsed lung — plus my broken nose and various bruises. I found out later Andy’s mom wasn’t there when he got home, so he rode back to my house and saw my dad just arriving home from work. I was lucky he showed up instead of one of the other fathers. My dad knew how to handle this.

Alex was gone when Dad and Andy arrived. They untied us and carried me to the car. I guess I was semi-conscious all the time but I don’t remember anything. Dad drove us all to the hospital and kept his cool. I guess the other boys told Dad the whole story. I don’t know what he said to them or their parents but by the time I was ready to leave the hospital, everything was smoothed over somehow. My mom thinks I had a bad accident on my bike. My little brother Kenny knows what really happened, though. I don’t think anybody told him — he just knew.

Dad and I had a long talk after I got home from the hospital. He knew we had gone to Alex’s house to beat him up. He told me he was just going to let it drop because Alex could argue that all our injuries were self-defense. He warned me again about staying away from Alex.

I already knew all that, of course. It’s not like I want to get beat up by Alex, these things just happen. I seem to have no control over the situation. No matter how I try to avoid it, I keep getting mixed up with Alex.

And Alex always wins. •