After classes were over, Tony and Brian head back to the gym to meet Shane for Tony’s regular workout session. Football season had been over four a few weeks; and the weight room had been abandoned, by most. When Brian and Tony came in there were less than a half dozen guys there including Shane who was chatting with a pair of the linemen that were working to increase their already freaky bulk that was only slightly thicker than Shane’s more defined mass. They were huddled by the squat rack. On the side of the weight room a couple wrestlers were working to further chisel their already shredded fat-free bodies. The sort of body Tony had always dreamed of having and since this afternoon he had. Tony ran his hand under his t-shirt and across the cut ridges of his tightly knotted eight-pack abs and up his serratus anterior to the warm steel plates of his pecs and grinned. Brian put a hand on Tony’s shoulder and returned him to reality saying, “Come on bro lets see what that ripped chassis of yours can do and what adjustments you want to make.”

A wave of panic gripped Shane as he saw Tony walk into the weight room followed by Brian. Remembering Tony’s admonitions against Brian learning about Shane’s agreement to be Tony’s trainer and help Tony get leaned out and build some muscle. Shane shivered as he remembered the pre-pubescent wimp that Tony had reduced him to for hurting Brian. In return Shane’s help Tony had promised that whatever gains he made Shane would get too. Shane quickly figured out that the gains he was getting from Tony were related to how hard Tony worked and not to how much Tony actually grew. Shane had been exploiting this for several months now. Shane had come to like the feeling of being big. And his deal with Tony was making him bigger than he could ever have gotten on his own. Letting Tony over-train was making Shane bigger faster and limited Tony’s gains so that Tony would continue with the their deal longer and make Shane even bigger than he might otherwise get to be. Shane relaxed a bit as he realized that since Tony and Brian were coming in to the weight room together and both with smiling it was unlikely that Tony intended to make good on the “Teeny Weenie” threat that he had made at the start of their arrangement. “But Brian’s presence might complicate my getting maximum benefit from Tony’s workouts,” Shane thought to himself. “Brian is sure to see that I’ve been letting Tony wear himself out, and is sure to say something to Tony about it… and that might be enough to set Tony off on me again.”

Shane dropped his conversation with the linemen and walked over to Tony and Brian. As he got closer the change in Tony became apparent to Shane. Cords of muscle and sinew were now clearly visible in Tony’s arms and legs, and his shoulders were now much broader than his hips. The baby fat that had given Tony’s face a little boy quality had been replaced by chiseled features that many guys would envy, including Shane. The surprise showed in Shane’s face and Tony grinned saying, “Yeah, I decided to reevaluate my position on a few things. And since Brian had figured out our arrangement on his own, I asked him to workout with us and the two of you can help me decide what Tony Canton, the ultimate jock stud, is going to be.”

Relaxing a bit at Tony’s grin, Shane breathed in inaudible sigh of relief. Moving to place Tony between himself and Brian, Shane grabbed Tony’s shoulders from behind and started to knead them playfully. Saying, “Yeah, Tony, my man, has come along way from the chubby wimp he was when school started, hasn’t he Brian…”

Brian gave a slight smile and said, “Yeah, you helped my little buddy here get leaned out and solid Shane. And he’s help you a lot too hasn’t he Shane?” Shane’s grin faded a bit as Brian’s gaze locked onto Shane’s eyes.

Shame stopped kneading Tony’s traps and slapped him on the shoulder as he broke eye contact with Brian. And said “Come on Tony lets hit those weights and make you bigger. And the three started their workout.

Over the next hour as the two football players challenged Tony to push his limits the other guys drifted out of the weight room. Then Coach Coz came in to announce that he needed to leave but the boys could stay to finish up. Noting their sweat soaked t-shirts and matted hair he added, “And the bunch of ya hit the showers on the way out. Especially you…” Looking at Tony whose t-shirt clung to his surprisingly lean torso. “You’re Canton right?” Tony grinned and nodded. Coz continued, “Looking good kid… too bad you waited ‘till senior year to strip off all that baby fat… you might have made a decent wrestler or gymnast if you started back as a freshman…” Tony shrugged sheepishly not wanting to continue that line of discussion. Coach Coz shook his head and left, leaving the three teens alone in the gym area.

Tony, Brian and Shane returned to their workout until they heard the clanging thud of the outside doors closing and locking behind the coach. Shane left to check if anyone else was still around as Tony pushed out the last reps of a set of bench-presses with Brian spotting for him. The grimace of effort on Tony’s face shifted to an impetuous grin. And Brian understood the workout was over for the day. Brian returned Tony’s grim and helped him rack the weight.

Shane returned from checking that they were alone, to find Tony shirtless examining his body in one of the mirrors spaced along the walls of the weight room. Brian sat on a nearby bench using his shirt and towel to wipe the sweat from his body as he and Tony spoke quietly. Shane cleared his throat and said, “Well guys we are the last ones here…”

Tony looked at Brian with a grin, and turning to Shane and said, “Cool, now we can have some fun.” Tony turned his gaze back to his reflection in the mirror. “So where should I start…”

“Well that’s up to you little buddy,” chuckled Brian. “You’re all ready more ripped than those wrestlers you were drooling over when we got here. Add a few pounds of muscle and they will be the ones that envy your bod…”

Tony turned his intention back to the mirror with a grin… ********

Meanwhile in the alternate reality where the studly jock body of the quarterback and captain of the football team, the Tony of that reality, is currently occupied by the Inua of the original Tony. The Tony whose less then jockish body is about to be remade by the Inua of the jock Tony.

Since he had become aware of his deal with Saint, Tony had used his ability carefully so as to avoid drawing too much attention to either himself or those in whom he took an interest. The wrath of Tinsley and his cohorts had continued and was taking a toll on both Hossler and Tony. If it weren’t for his newly discovered ability; they would both have found themselves in the hospital on several occasions. Coach Coz eventually noted that, although Canton and Hossler were always able to shake it off, some of the team appeared to be actively trying to hurt Brian and Tony during practice. The coach announced that if he saw anyone intentionally trying to injure anyone or taking any cheap shots at anyone they would be bounced of the team before they knew what happened. Coz had picked up that Tony being friendly with and training a couple of real geeks had caused Tinsley and his disciples’ ire with Canton. Because of Hossler’s loyalty and support of Tony he had quickly become a target too. When Canton had asked him for access to the weight room so he could help a guy get into shape Coz had figure Tony had a younger kid that, like Tony had been, wasn’t a jock type but had potential and just needed some size, strength and confidence. So he had given his okay to Tony. But when Tony showed up with Mike, the hippo, in tow Coz didn’t really know what to make of it. And then, ‘the hippo’ had been joined by that lanky metro-sexual if not gay kid Seadar. But they both seemed serious about working out so Coz let Tony and Brian continue to train the other boys.

Coz stood in the doorway of the weight room watching as the boys started their workout. In the months that Tony had been training the non-jock boys changes in all four boys had been remarkable… Mike was still a big boy, but the hippo was no more and had been replaced by a rhino that might be a match for most of the linemen on the football team. And the lanky kid had filled out impressively to and was starting to get a build that was a cross between a swimmer and a fitness model. Hossler had grown and filled out quite noticeably too and it was likely he would soon pass Tony in size. Coz had heard that Tony was planning to enter a bodybuilding competition and had gotten leaner and more cut, but he had not only held his weight having gained a few of pounds of muscle in the process.

Coz shook his head and grinned to himself as he walked back to his office thinking, “The kid does has a beautiful body but he would be a better player if he’d bulk up a bit and let go of his razor cut abs at least during football season.” Coz’s grin faded as he thought, “I wish that brouhaha between Canton and Tinsley would blow over it’s hurting the team and is likely to get somebody hurt… It’s a miracle that nobody has so far…” Coz turned away and started towards the front office to check his mailbox, “I wish I could get Tony to work the same sort of magic with some of the boys on the JV team as he has with those two deweebs he and Hossler have been working with… That Matthews kid would make a good lineman now, that is if he were going to be around for another year or two and I could get him interested in playing.”

Calls of “Come on Mike… You can do it… Just a couple more reps… It’s all you man… Easy weight… Go for it man…” came from the weight room as Brian, and Andy cheered Mike through his last set of Bench Presses to finish another of their increasingly grueling workouts. “Come on Mike, just one more, you can do it man, that last one you got on your own,” said Tony quietly as he stood over Mike spotting the weight as Mike finished another rep. Tony smiled down at Mike and said, “You can do it,” and Mike started to slowly lower the barbell back to his chest. Mike looked up into Tony’s eyes for reassurance as he had the first time Tony added additional weights to the bar. Tony had assured Mike that he knew Mike could handle the weight and that he would be there to help Mike if he did have trouble. A couple of times Mike did have trouble after a few reps but Tony was there to help as he had promised. By now Mike had come to trust Tony and believed that when Tony told him he could handle a weight Mike knew he could.

As Mike felt the cool metal make light contact with his chest through the sweat soaked fabric of his t-shirt, he stopped the bar and began to slowly push it back up. Tony’s hands hovered just over the bar in the event that Mike faltered. As the weight began to rise, the barbell had begun to shake slightly as Mike’s fatigued muscles tried to complete his last rep. Tony gave Mike a smile and a barely perceivable nod of his head, and the bar became as rock steady as Mike’s first rep had been. Mike then pumped out three more easy reps before Tony started to tease him about showing off.

As the four teens headed for the locker room to shower and change, Mike was the only one still wearing his sweat soaked t-shirt. It felt cold and clammy against his pale skin. The other boys had peeled off their own shirts during their workouts when they had first begun to become uncomfortably damp. Brian and Tony as long time jocks had a casual comfort in their bodies, a level of comfort for which Mike longed. Brian and Tony’s athletic bodies had intimidated both Mike and Andy at first. Remembering the years of abuse they had endured at the hands of other jocks Andy and Mike were reluctant to invite any comparison between themselves and the pair of young muscle demigods that had offered to help them start to approach their level of physical perfection.

Starting with a low level of body fat Andy’s slim body had quickly begun to show the effects of working with Brian and Tony, and the added boost Tony had given to all three of the boys training with him allowed them to grow much faster then they could have on their own. It had taken little more than a month for Andy to start to adopt the jocks casualness about his body. But Mike remained reticent about revealing his body, even to the three teens he had come to consider his only friends. The rolls of fat were almost gone now and he didn’t feel his body jiggle anymore when he moved. Mike could easily out run Andy now and was starting to began to approach Brian in strength although Brian and Tony could still leave him in the dust when they ran together and if they choose to do so.

When Mike looked in the mirror he could see that he wasn’t fat any more but the transformation his body had under gone was not exactly what he had hoped it would be. His body had become hard and the rolls of fat replaced by thick slabs of muscle but without the glorious definition that he saw in the other boys. Just as the taunting nickname, ‘Hippo,’ the more athletic kids had given Mike back in grade school had been apt for Mike’s old build, the new ones of ‘Rhino’ and ‘Bull’ given him by the few jocks that had accepted the new Mike fit him now but it still stung because of the truth Mike saw in them, although the jocks had intended them as compliments.

The four teens showered and dressed. As they left the gym Mike turned to Tony and asked “Are you in a hurry to get home tonight Tony? I want to talk to you, privately, about a few things… And I was thinking we could walk home together like we use to do.”

Tony was a bit puzzled that Mike wanted to talk to him privately but he grinned and playfully grabbed Mike’s backpack and took off at a brisk jog saying, “Okay Mike, but you have to catch me first...” Mike rolled his eyes to the others boys and sprinted after Tony, who accelerated to more than match Mike’s pace. Once the pair was well out of sight and earshot of Brian and Andy, Tony let Mike catch up to him. Tony smiled to himself thinking, “Mike really has come a long way in the past few months, he stayed within a few paces of me all the way and he’s hardly breathing heavy… When we started just to walk this far would have had him panting and soaked with sweat.”

As Mike trotted up to Tony he said, “Why the heck ‘d ya do that man???”

Tony grinned and tossed Mike’s backpack back to him; and then laughed, “Well you said ‘like we use to’ so I figured that I should hump your pack like I use to do too…” Turning serious Tony continued, “You’re not the same kid you were when we started this you know. I really am proud of you for sticking with it and pushing yourself to get to where you are now. And you should be proud of yourself for making it happen.”

Mike smiled back and said, “Yeah Tony, I am; but if it weren’t for you being there to tell me that I could do it, I would still be the fat turd I was. And I’m grateful for you and Brian for working with me the way you have… I know now that not all jocks are ass holes like Tinsley and his crew…”

Tony chuckled saying, “I’m glad you feel that way, because you could pass for a lineman… at least until you opened your mouth… being smart isn’t a requirement but knowing at least a little bit about football is.”

Mike blushed slightly and gave a forced chuckle, “Yeah Tony I know and that’s sort of what I wanted to talk to you about…” Tony looked at Mike quizzically and Mike continued, “I wanted to be like you and Brian… Heck I would have be happy as the proverbial 98lb weakling… anything but fat… Well I’m not fat anymore… Now I’m the ‘Hulk’… No not ‘Bruce Banner’… ‘Ben Grimm, The Thing,’ from the ‘Fantastic Four…’ I intimidate people just by standing there… that’s not what I wanted… I wanted to fit in and be accepted by everybody… or at least the people that are important to me…” Although Tony saw tears start to well in Mike’s eyes he managed to blink them away as he continued, “I wanted to change because I didn’t want to be a freak any more… I changed… From a fat freak into a muscle one… My family hates me they won’t eat with me anymore… They won’t talk to me… Don’t get me wrong Tony, having muscle beat the heck out of being fat… It’s just that I didn’t expect to stay so ‘big’ in the process.”

It took Tony a while to understand what Mike was telling him. “In Mike’s mind his size is what made him an outsider,” Tony thought, “and by having him pack on muscle as fast as the fat came off I kept him ‘big’… And since Mike is so strongly an endomorph, he developed thick blocky muscle… Not the sort of body an overweight teenage boy would dream of having. He’d want to be like those guys on the covers of the men’s health and fitness magazines or an underwear model…Hell, that’s what I wanted… And I was lucky enough to have a body that naturally grew in that direction… If I hadn’t ‘helped’ Mike to grow as quickly as I did he would have come to accept his body as it is… So since I’m the cause the problem I need to fix it, but how?” •