Gregg met Jim and Wally there, and Josh and Chuck met Tom and Terry. In the locker room, the men changed. Chuck commented to Josh that Gregg looked bigger than either of them. Terry and Jim joked about how their need for extra large posers on stage made the other competitors jealous. Nobody seemed to notice that Tom and Wally had grown quiet.

Gregg expected Wally to follow him to the weight area, but he stayed behind. Chuck and Josh waited for Tom, but when he and Wally walked out, they ignored the pair of lifters.

Jim and Terry were the last to come out, and saw the three teens. "Looks like the boys are working out together today."

"Hey Wally!" Gregg called out, but Wally didn't answer. He and Tom were stretching, loosening up before lifting and watching the other with suspicion and admiration.

Jim and Terry has started their cardio. Jim was on a treadmill doing 8.5MPH. Terry was doing 10MPH.

"What's up with them?" Gregg asked to Chuck.

Chuck shrugged. "Looks like we're on our own."

Tom was the first to break the silence. "Time to grow."

Wally nodded, a serious expression on his face.

"I went light the last month," admitted Tom, "preparing for last night."

"Me too," admitted Wally, "but I'm ready to lift real heavy."

"Chest and back today?" Tom asked.

"Maybe legs too, if that's not too much for you," Wally said.

"I recover real fast," said Tom, "don't you worry about me."

Wally walked over to the bench press. "225 to warm up OK?"

Tom nodded. He positioned himself, and Wally got behind the bar in case Tommy needed a spot. In Tommy's eyes, he saw the huge shelf of Wally's chest that obscured the boy's face. Tommy lifted the bar with determination, and did a set of 25 before slamming the weight down.

"Kinda light," he said as Wally laid down. He positioned himself. An expression of surprise on Wally's face as he saw Tom's pec shelf hovering above him, ready to spot him if he needed it.

"I know," said Wally, who easily lifted the bar. He did 30 reps with speed and determination.

Tom added two 25lb plates to the bar. Without a word, he did 18 reps before slowing down and forcing out a final two. Wally was next and did 25, though he too struggled with the last rep.

Tom had a serious look on his face now. He removed the 25s and replaced them with 45s. 315 had been his workout weight, but he was determined to do more today. He got under the bar and did a set of 12, Wally spotting him on the last couple.

"I guess I can do another warm-up set," said Wally, twisting his back and flexing his thick pecs. Tom scowled. Wally laid on the bench, and positioned his hands close together. He lifted the bar and did 10 fast reps, then repositioned his hands farther apart and did 8 more.

Tom put on another 10 pounds of weight. He lifted the bar, then did eight reps.

"Come on Tommy. Work it! Two more!" Wally spotted Tom, helping him get two more, though it was clearly a struggle.

Tommy sat up, breathing hard. "That's a new max, but I'll go higher next time," he said panting.

"Getting swole there!" Wally said as he grabbed another 50 pounds of weight and added it to the bar. "But it's my turn now."

Wally got under the weight and easily did nine reps before Tommy helped him with the tenth. "Ya!" said Wally, jumping off the bench. "Last time, I could only do six of those!"

Tommy watched with a bit of awe and jealousy as Wally stetch out his pecs. He removed the two 25lbs and put on another ten. He got under the bar, a look of serious concentration on his face. He raised the bar, and slowly lowered it before raising it again then again and again. His pecs burned, but he didn't care. He wanted to grow. He needed to. He did eight reps, and Wally spotted him for the last two. He was red faced and sweating when he stood up, and massaged his pecs.

"Way to go!" encouraged Wally, who put the 50lbs back on. "I'm going for a new max! I wanna make these pecs even bigger! "

On the other side of the gym, the opposite was happening. Terry and Jim were working out, but Terry was easily outlifting Jim. On the bench press, Jim maxed out at 450, but Terry was cranking out reps with 500. "Now you see where Tommy gets it," Terry bragged.

Jim looked over at the boys, and saw Wally doing reps with 385. "Looks like Wally's teaching Tommy something about heavy weight over there," Jim bragged.

Tom eventually did three sets of six at 340 pounds, but Wally did sets of seven at 390. In every exercise, Wally added more weight and lifted heavier than Tom. And while Terry was outmuscling Jim, Jim never missed an opportunity to point out to Terry Wally's muscular superiority.

Terry watched as Tom seemed frustrated, pushing himself harder and harder only to be out-lifted by Wally. He overheard Gregg bragging to Chuck and Josh. "No wonder Wally trounced Tom yesterday. You guys are wusses!" as Gregg got under 405 and did 8 reps. "Wally trains with strong guys like me."

Terry worried about Tom. He watched as the boys worked chest, then back. He and Jim then went into the locker room, telling the boys to come in when their done. In the shower, they heard Gregg, Josh and Chuck come in. Terry and Jim came out of the showers, towels wrapped around their waists. The teens were flexing in the mirror, checking out their progress.

"Check it out, dudes! Totally ripped!" Gregg bragged. Both Chuck and Josh were flexing behind Gregg, but the powerlifter was really showing his stuff.

"Pretty good for a kid," said Jim. He stepped forward, pushing the smaller teens aside to confront Gregg. Gregg had known Jim as Wally's father, but never seen him like this before. Even though he was a decade older than Gregg, Jim still had a trim, hard body. A thick coat of wet hair covered his pecs, and the size and shape indicated that the extra decade of age had been spent building power into his body. Jim struck a side chest pose, and his pec shelf easily eclipsed Gregg.

"Shit!" said Gregg. "Now I know where Wally gets it!"

"Pretty good, but check this out," said Terry, striking the same pose. His man tits swelled over his own ripped abs, and were noticeably thicker than Jim's. "You're looking at 56 inches of solid USA beef here, boys."

"And that's where Tom get his!" said Josh with a grin. Everyone laughed as Jim and Terry showed off like the teens.

Suddenly, as Terry sucked in his gut to flex his abs, the towel wrapped around his waist slid to the floor, and the laughter stopped. All the boys stared wide-eye at Terry, who kept on posing.

"Hey man, you'll give them an inferiority complex," Jim quipped. "Better grap the towel."

"We're all men here," Terry said, reaching for the towel.

"Ya, but you and I got something over these boys obviously."

"Keeps Monica happy," Terry said.

"Keeps them ALL happy," Jim noted.

Jim and Terry got dressed, as the teens went into the shower. They both smiled when Gregg was overheard saying, "I'd kill for that horsecock, man. Didja see it! Halfway down to his knees."

Jim and Terry waited for Wally and Tom to finish their workout. When they came out of the locker room, the boys were doing heavy squats. Once again, Wally was lifting the heavier weights, but Tom was trying to keep up.

"Their machines!" said Jim. "Look at them. They're still going at it!"

"Their our boys," agreed Terry.

The two went into Terry's office to talk while the boys worked out. Over an hour passed as Terry and Wally lifted. Finally, Jim came out of the office. "Almost done there Wally. We gotta hit the road."

Wally and Tom had stipped down to their briefs, and were checking out their pumped bodies. "Ya Dad. Just finished." The two started walking slowly to the locker room. "Man Tom. That was the best workout ever! I can barely move! That's never happened before."

"Me too!" agreed Tom. "That was totally intense. I wish we could always work out together."

Wally grinned. "Ya. You did like trying to keep up with my muscle, didn't ya?" He smiled, and bounced his pumped chest.

"As much as you liked proving how much stronger you are," Tom said, then added, "for now."

"Hulk stronger than Thing!" Wally said gleefully. "Hulk the strongest!"

The boys quickly showered and changed. When they came out, each grabbed a protein drink and chugged it down, then started their game once again, pretending to be the two comic book behemoths battling for superiority.

"Come on Wally! Let Tommy up. It's time to go!" Jim called to his son, who was sitting on Tommy's struggling chest. Wally had Tommy pinned to the ground, and although Tommy's abs and arms struggled to get up, he couldn't overpower Wally.

"I'm not Wally," he replied. He let go of Tommy's arms and struck an impressive crab pose, his pumped muscles looking larger than ever. "Hulk smash!" and he pounded his fists into Tommy's flexed abs.

"OK, Hulk. Let To..."

"I'm the Thing!" said Tommy. "I may not be as strong as Hulk, but I put up a pretty good fight too."

Wally stood up and offered his hand to Tommy, who took it. Wally pulled, his lats flaring and Tommy flew up from the ground.

"Can I come back and play with Tommy again Daddy?" Wally begged. "Please!"

"Yes Daddy," Tommy said to his father. "Please! There's no other kids that I can play with that are as tough as Wally. I hurt them."

"Just like me. I hurt the other kids too!" said Wally.

"But..."

Before they could continue their pleading, Jim interrupted. "We're coming back next weekend. Tommy's father and I are planning on starting a new business, and we need to talk more about it."

Both boys jumped up and hugged their fathers.

"I'll see you next week Wally."

"Ya Tommy!"

As they drove away, Tommy turned to his father. "Daddy, can I have a protein drink. I'm hungry."

"Didn't you just have one?" Terry asked.

"Ya, but..."

"But what..."

"Well, if I'm going to get bigger and stronger than Wally, I really need to push myself."

"I thought you like Wally?"

"I do. But I want to be the Hulk, and I want to win the trophy next year!"

Terry smiled.

---

For the next six months, Tommy and Wally saw each other almost weekly. Wally was now the darling of the muscle world, the muscle kid to beat all muscle kids. He appeared in several magazines with his father. But Wally would complain to Tom that he didn't like doing that because it interfered with his training.

Six weeks after they met, Wally broke 405 on his bench press. Tom's large shirts were too small for him to even put on, so they had to change their game from Hulk vs Thing to Superman vs Doomsday, where Wally was the more powerful Doomsday.

The week that Wally benched 405, Tommy benched 375. A month later, Tommy was benching 405, and Wally was benching 420. When they played, it was harder and harder for Wally to overpower Tommy, but he still did it. Wally was still bigger, but to anyone watching, Tommy was clearly catching up. His arms were fuller, and his pecs created a huge shelf. His lats were almost as wide as Wally's, and his legs almost as full.

Tommy was eating and lifting with a drive that scared even Terry.

Tommy didn't see Wally over Christmas, so Terry trained with his son.

He was impressed to see the boy benching 450, squatting 600 and curling 170. The next time Wally came, he walked over to the boys. Wally benched 450 for 5 reps before Tommy had to help him. Tom removed 30 pounds, then started his set. Terry was confused, but didn't ask. He continued to watch as Wally did 300 on lat pulldowns, but Tom only did 250. And when Wally did squats with 590, Tom did 550. When he saw them playing, he saw Wally dominating his son. When they left, Terry asked.

"Tom, you were working out kinda light today, weren't you son?"

"I had to Dad."

"Why?"

Tommy looked down, an expression of guilt on his face. "I don't want Wally to know."

"Know what?"

"That I'm as strong as he is now."

"You are?"

Tommy smiled. "And as big." Tommy made a bicep. A titanium-hard canonball bulged from his arm. He twisted his hand, making his bicep pop and flex. Before Terry could say anything, Tommy smiled and flexed even harder, making striations appear on his kid muscle.

"Why don't you want Wally to know?"

"The contest is coming up, and if he finds out, he'll start training and eating like me and may beat me! I'm gonna win that trophy Daddy!"

Over the coming months, Terry watched the boys closely. Tom tried to hide his growing physique from Wally and Jim, and Terry didn't say anything. When Terry noticed Wally benching 480 a month before the contest, he had to see what Jim knew.

"Looks like Wally's stronger than you now!" Terry said as Jim finished his set of benches at 450.

"Ya," Jim said, obviously impressed. "Kid's stronger than his old man. He's going to blow away all the competition next month.

Probably be as strong as you by then," he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his shirt.

Terry scowled. "Doubt that."

"Oh, I'm sure Tom will do well too," Jim said. "It's just that Wally started off better, and the boy just keeps growing. Tom will get there soon enough. See. He's doing 430 right now."

Terry bit his lip. Tom had benched 510 last week. That was more than even Terry could bench. He tried not to think it, but he couldn't help himself. The boy's power was freaky.

Tom and Wally rarely played shirtless anymore. Neither one wanted the other too see exactly they would be up against. That changed the day before the competition. Tom was now benching 535, curling close to 200 and squatting over 700 pounds.

"Dad," Tom asked, "when's Wally getting here."

"Excited about tomorrow?"

"Ya, I guess so," Tom said pacing.

"Hey Tommy. Why don't you play with me while we wait?"

Tom looked at his father. "Sure, but ah...."

Terry pushed the couch into a corner and moved the coffee table.

"Come on Tom," Terry said, lifting off his shirt. "See if you can take your old man down."

"Terry," Monica called from the kitchen. "If you break anything..."

Tom looked at his father, and grinned. He took off his shirt. "Grrrr..." he said flexing. "I'll be the Hulk!"

"I thought the stronger one was the Hulk?" Terry asked. "That's me!"

"No it isn't!" said Tommy, who jumped at his father and knocked him onto the couch.

"Umph," said Terry, winded by the weight of his boy. "Gee Tommy, how much do you weigh now."

"175," he said matter-of-factly. "And I'm five feet tall now too!"

Terry grabbed Tommy's arms and tried to roll him over onto the floor. Tom began to struggle, but instead of rolling over, he jumped off and Terry landed on the floor with a thud. Tommy was on him in a second, landing on Terry's chest.

Terry had seen Tom and Wally do this before. He knew he needed to flex hard, and lift Tommy off of him, then hold him down. Terry flexed his 56 inch chest, raising Tommy up with his powerful muscles. Tommy had his hands, but he pressed his 22 inch guns hard, forcing them up.

Tommy just smiled. It seemed like slow motion to Terry. Tommy's arms inflated in size as he pushed against his father's cannons. Tom's kid muscles rippled into a relief map of corded power as Terry's arms were slammed to the ground. Terry struggled as the realization of his son's superior strength dawned on him. He redoubled his efforts, but Tommy flexed even harder, controlling Terry's power with ease. Terry's arms began to shake, and his muscles cramp, but he couldn't move them. Tom looked almost relaxed.

"I'm the Hulk!" Tommy asserted, "And I'm Strongest of them all!"

There was a look of shock on Terry's face. Tommy had just wrestled him to the ground. A boy just ten had beaten him, a champion bodybuilder, by out muscling him.

"Say it!" Tommy demanded. "Say Hulk is stronger."

"You are," Terry admitted with a certain shock in his voice. "You are stronger. Tommy, let me up."

With a big grin, Tommy jumped up. Tommy jumped around the living room, his quads rippling with power as he propelled himself. "Hulk can leap for miles with his strong legs. Grrrr..." Tommy said as he played.

Terry walked into the kitched, and grabbed a tape measure from the drawer.

"Come here, Hulk," he said.

Tommy lept to him.

"How big is Hulk?" Terry asked.

Tom shrugged, his thick traps lifting his cannonball shoulders and crashing into his thick neck.

"Hulk make a bicep?"

Tom smiled and extended his arm. Slowly, he bent it at the elbow, and a thick hill turned into a huge, round mountain.

Terry wrapped the tape over the thickest part of the peak. "Is that as hard as you can flex."

Tommy giggled, and shook his head no. Terry felt the tape slide in his hand as Tommy powered up his flex, adding another half inch to the height of his bi.

"Holy f..." Terry said, catching himself. "It's over 20 1/2 inches."

Tommy smiled a huge smile.

"OK," Terry said, moving the tape and putting it around Tommy's back. "Flex hard. Real hard."

The tape jolted as Tommy's wide kid lats. His pecs became semi-spheres of ripped muscle, and Terry pulled the tape around them. His eyes couldn't believe what he saw. "57," he said in wonder. "That's an inch bigger than me!"

Just then, they heard a car pull up. "Wally's here!" Tom shouted. He grabbed his XXL shirt and pulled it over his chest.

Terry opened the door, and Tom ran outside. Wally was leaping out of the car. "Come on Wally! Let's go upstairs and play!"

Wally started to run, and got a bit of a head start, but Tommy caught up to him at the door and lept 3 steps at a time upstairs. Tommy got to his room first. He sat on the bed grinning as Wally came in.

"You got faster," Wally said. "Maybe you should be the Flash this time, and I'll be the Hulk."

"Maybe," said Tommy.

"So, ready to see what you'll be up against tomorrow?" Wally said.

"I'm ready, but are you?" asked Tommy.

Wally smiled a confident smile. "Got any t-shirts you want to get rid of?"

"Got a few extra larges, ya." Tommy walked to his dresser and pulled out two. "But to keep it a suprise, I'm gonna change in the bathroom." He tossed Wally a shirt and left the room.

Wally pulled off his XL shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror. He was huge. His 55 inch chest looked massive compared against his 27 inch rock gut. His thighs were 33 inches, and calves 21. He had the body of a Mr. Olympia on a 4 foot 11 1/2 inch frame. Some thought Lee Priest was huge, but compared to Wally, he was a wimp. He pulled the sleeve of the shirt over his arm. It started to rip even before he got the second one on. He had lots of trouble pulling it over massive pecs. When he did get it on, his traps bulged so high he thought the shirt would explode. Some things never change. He could barely wait to start flexing and hulk-out of the shirt.

Tommy came back into the room. The shirt looked painted on his powerful body. Wally felt like he was looking in a mirror, Tommy looked so huge. His arms were still at his sides, and there were tears already visible on the sleeves. Tommy looked like he was holding his breath. Tommy smiled. "One," his voice was muffled, as if he had exhaled all his air yet still trying to talk, "two, three."

Wally expanded his chest and hit a double bicep pose. The sleeves of the shirt exploded around his 19 inch arms. The shirt split down the back as his lats expended, then ripped between his massive pecs. He started to do a crab pose, but stopped when he saw Tommy.

Tommy's chest expanded, and the shirt ripped on the sides even before he flexed. He lifted his arms, and the shirt ripped under the sleeves. He struck a double bicep with such force that fabric actually flew from the shirt and hit Wally in the face. As he expanded his wings, the shirt ripped down the back in two places around his shoulder blades. Tommy just smiled at Wally. "What's next? A crab maybe?" It sounded like a dare.

Wally stood frozen, trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

Tommy saw the hesitation. His grin grew bigger. He went to do a crab, causing the shirt to literally explode from his body. The neck burst around his traps and thick wrestler's neck. The tears from his lats, pecs, delts and arms merged. The shirt continued to rip as Tommy powered his flex more. When he stood, the shirt fell from his torso and draped over his hips.

"Come on Wally!" Tommy said. "Your turn!"

Wally tried. He growled loudly and struck a most muscular, flexing as hard as he could. He heard the shirt ripping around him. He flexed his neck, bursting the collar. He powered his delts and traps, trying to destroy the fabric like Tommy had. He flexed hard, then stood up. The shirt looked like a tank-top, but remained on him.

He stared at himself in the mirror. "Tommy," he said disbelievingly, "you won."

"I'm the HULK now!" Tommy said, jumping up.

Wally shook off any hestitation he felt, and ripped the shirt from his torso. He was more ripped than Tommy had ever seen him. But Tommy was ripped too.

Wally lunged at Tommy. Tommy grabbed him, and they locked arms. Wally flexed his back and pecs, trying to pull Tommy's arms down. He felt resistance like he never felt before. "Aaaarrrrrggggghhhh..." Wally screamed as he tried to force his arms down.

Tommy started to whistle. He flexed his delts, which burst into three ripped heads. He and Wally's arms started to move upward.

"Arg.... No..." Wally said, as his muscles cramped.

"Yes," said Tom, as he forced Wally's arms above his head. Tom then flexed his chest, and pressed into Wally. Wally tried to flex back, forcing his hard pecs into Tommy. Tommy growled, and flexed harder, pressing his bigger pecs into Wally.

Wally tried to let go, but Tommy got him in a bear hug. Wally flexed hard, knowing that this always broke Tommy's hold. But not this time. Wally felt his powerful muscles crushed back by Tommy's hold.

"Hulk crush phoney hulk!" Tommy said with a smile.

"You're the hulk!" Wally said.

Tommy put him down.

"Tommy! You're huge! What happened? When?"

"I'm sorry Wally. I've been lying to you. I really wanted to win tomorrow, so I've been going light when we worked out. I've been stronger than you for months."

Wally smiled. "You wanted to win that bad?" Wally asked.

Tommy shook his head.

"That's OK. If you win tomorrow, I'll just have to beat you next year!" Wally said. "Now, I'm Thing and Thing is stronger than Hulk!"

Wally jumped on Tommy, knocking him down.

The magazines called it Tommy's come back. No one could conceive of a ten year old as huge as he was. When Wally stepped on stage, there were gasps at his size, but the crowd roared when Tommy appeared. The pose down was between these two super kids. Wally was huge, but couldn't compete with Tommy's superior size.

Back stage, the photographers couldn't get enough of the boys. Tommy and Wally posed together. When the fathers appeared, the photographers wanted pictures with their super-sons.

"We have an announcement," Terry said.

"Terry and I," added Jim, "know there are other kids like Tom and Wally out there. People think they are freaks. They don't have friends because they are too big or too strong."

"They aren't freaks," said Terry. "They are just kids. We bought some land upstate and have been developing it. We've created Muscle Camp where these kids can come, learn, play and just be kids."

"Did you hear that Daddy?" a young voice said in the audience. "Can I go? Can I?"

A small boy pushed through the crowd. He was about four foot five and looked about seven or eight. He wore a very baggy sweatshirt. "Tommy!" He ran up to Tommy and picked the bigger boy up like a doll. "You're my hero!"

Tommy grabbed at the younger boys hands and tried to pry them apart, but found that he couldn't.

"Ben," a man said, "put Tommy down."

"I'm sorry," Ben said, lowering Tommy. He looked around. "My name is Ben, and I'm strong like you!" Ben grabbed the top of his sweatshirt and pulled. It ripped like tissue paper, revealling globe-like pecs and ripped abs that looked like the bed of a brick road. Ben peeled the shirt off his arms, and raised them in a double bicep. His arms were so thick, it seemed impossible that he could move them at all. When he flexed, peaks that rivalled the Rocky Mountains emerged below his skin. The kid was a muscle monster.

Tom shook his head, then flexed his arm next to Ben's. The boy's bicep was a good two inches bigger than his own. Ben giggled, and flexed harder, making his peaks bounce with new size.

"Ben has a 60 inch chest, 24 inch arms, 35 inch quads and a 24 inch waist," said his father. "He benches over 600, squats close to 900 pounds and curls 250. And he's only eight years old." •