At the same time, Valerie’s life was taking a step into a new direction. The balding man with huge arms, who went by the name of Ron, was actually spending a lot of time watching her work out. He was a software engineer in his thirties, with a pronounced muscle and superhero fetish. Valerie was the first woman he’d met at the gym who had brought an authentic size obsession with her. This excited him to no end. Her aggressive demeanour did the rest. He fell hopelessly in love with her.

Two months had flown by. Valerie and Raffaela had grown accustomed to their new environment. One could say that they were living besides each other, not together. Their lives revolved around training mostly, occasionally putting in a break to discuss the progress of their work. By now, they had compiled a very complete compendium of all material regarding strength fetishism and muscle worship. They had also created a collection of observations of the reactions of people to their growing shapes. This included video data, transcripts and interviews.

When Kieran returned the next day, he found Raffaela busy packing. Her stuff was slowly disappearing into boxes, her books and data packed away and ready for transport. He looked around, confused about the growing disorder and tried to draw her attention:
"Darling, I'm back. We won!"
Raffaela looked up, dropped the cardboard box she was assembling and ran to him, embracing and covering him in kisses.
"That's great! I'm so happy for you. Have you got a medal to show me?"

The next day, Valerie and Daniel went to see his friend. He had a beautiful office downtown, with a flat for his private use attached. Dr. Wang was a rather well-known doctor of sports medicine and since Daniel had called him beforehand, he opened himself. Wang was a rather lanky, tall man of Chinese descent, who had been a professional athlete in his youth. He had long since abandoned his athletic pursuits, but had specialised in the field. He smiled as he greeted his guests:
“Hello Daniel, good evening miss. I’m done for today, so we can just go over to my flat. Want some tea?”

This night, Valerie barely slept. She had committed to something she’d have preferred to evade all her life. Still, the next day would bring a rupture in her perspective. Coming to terms with her body would be her challenge. She got up at five am, restless and desperate. At first, she just sat in the kitchen, unsure of what to do. Finally, she decided herself, packed a tracksuit into her bag, grabbed a towel and some shampoo and went to the next gym. When she arrived, the entrance was flooded by greyish neon light. Outside, it was still dark. However, there was already some activity.

The woman stepped inside, put down her suitcase and examined the room. Not having had any idea about what was usual in such an environment, Raffalea had taken care to create an environment similar to what she had when she was with her boyfriend. As a result, the room was illuminated by candles only, giving it a welcoming and romantic flair. The woman was clearly indifferent, but said:

After a few moments of anger, they finally resigned. Even though the seminar had started in the worst possible way, they were both ambitious enough not to take this too hard. Getting some more coffee, they started planning their research.

Beat ‘em up

As they came in, Nina quickly assessed the situation, saw that the two warrior-women had caught up with Jacob, and acted. She took both of Kim’s wrists, threw herself around, and sent her friend spinning in a wide arc. Kim stared in horror as she left the ground, centrifugal forces propelling her towards her foes. They turned around, but everything seemed to happen in slow-motion. Kim hit the first one’s helmet with her foot, pushed herself back while still hanging in mid-air, and did a big step to hit the second one as well.

Temples and Trolls

As we approached the ruins, I pulled out an arrow and nocked it on my bowstring. I crouched, trying to blend in the background. The others were staying behind, expecting me to scout the area before them. We had been looking for the savage raiding party for days now. At last, we had found their lair. I ducked behind a fallen wall.

Call me Dorcas.

I don’t think of myself as an adventurer; my endless roaming across the world is for own survival, not for my amusement of anyone else’s. I have real physical strength, but I prefer stealth and a passive approach to a problem.
One thing I found out fairly early, is that I’m not
immortal. So that means I have to be quick, flexible and
full of surprises.

I’ve suffered. Suffered at the hands of men and by my own kind. I am what you humans call a doppelganger, a double
goer. Originally, this term was applied to a ghostly