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. All in all, the project was advancing quickly. Dr. Wang’s involuntary input proved to be especially valuable. However, his wife’s recent upsurge of muscularity had modified his behaviour. Since she voluntarily kept him at bay, his sexual obsession was becoming much more acute towards Valerie. When she visited him for her ‘medication’, she couldn’t help noticing his almost permanent hard-on.
Beyond the progress of their scientific work, the women’s physical progress was coming along just as nicely. They had maintained their methods, furthering their achieved results.
Valerie had continued slimming down while at the same time increasing her muscle mass. She had shed most of her remaining body fat making her swollen, massive muscles much more defined. Sometimes, striations appeared on her arms or her pectorals. Still, she maintained a certain minimum level to prevent herself from looking too gaunt. Overall, she was close to a bodybuilder in contest shape, but nowhere as dry. Anyway, her face had slimmed quite a bit, giving her a certain elegance she hadn’t witnessed before. However, she still wore practical clothes mostly, preferring tracksuits and tank-tops to more feminine dress.
Raffaela, on the other hand, had gone the other way. Her training had provided her with a powerful and massive build. Her shoulder width had almost doubled since the beginning of her training, her slim waist giving her a tremendous V-taper. Her arms had filled out, giving her huge biceps and triceps. Overall, there was more of her. She maintained her good looks furiously, dressing perfectly for her outrageous shape. Her huge breasts further enhanced her hourglass figure. Her sex-life was even more active than before. For several weeks, her craving was near-insatiable. Kieran was happy to perform, but found her voraciousness a tad disconcerting. He also hadn’t quite become accustomed to her new residence. Even though Valerie had indeed cleared the whole flat, moving her books and materials into tidy shelves and a depot in one of the rooms, the musty smells still lingered in the corners. Also, meeting the wiry owner of the flat sometimes surprised Kieran. She usually gave him a spiteful glare and disappeared into her room. Any attempts to engage in conversation were roughly refused.

Also, several other events had begun to estrange him from his lover. The first thing had happened two weeks ago, when they had gone out to a party at a club. They had dressed up for the evening, him wearing an excellent white shirt and his best trousers, gel in his hair, an expensive watch on his wrist. Raffaela had chosen a neck-holder top, showing off her powerful abs and her huge shoulders, as well as a short skirt. No mini-dress, but chosen to showcase her perfect thighs and calves. Add some high heels and presto, night on the town.
As they arrived at the club, the bouncer greeted them with familiarity. He took a second to recognise Raffaela, but once he did, he smiled and asked whether she worked out. Inside, they soon found themselves in a shouted conversation with several friends who naturally inquired about Raffaela’s training. The comments were positive at first, but when Raffaela was on the toilet, enjoying the relative quietness of the stall for a second, she overheard Renée, one of her ‘friends’ explain her view on her situation.
“Have you seen her?”
The interlocutor, Brittany, answered in-between a snort of coke.
“Oh boy, yes. Whatever happened to her? She must be out of her mind! I don’t want to know what kind of shit she’s shooting. Also, what for? She looked nice before, but now, she’s really going down the drain!”
“Seriously. She’s like a man. I mean, she still has boobs and everything, but the muscles, they look like shit. It must be that idiot, Kieran. He must have got her on some kind of muscle-drug.”
“Yeah. He’s a muscle-head himself. It doesn’t look pretty on him either. It’s not natural or anything.”
“Still, can’t blame him for bad taste. Got some of that for me?”
“Sure. Enjoy.”
Snort.
“Oh shit, that’s great. Wow. Just what I needed. Where was I? She’s got to be really careful. You know she’s all high and mighty about her science stuff. Sociology or something. Don’t know, don’t care.”
“She’s really wasting her talent on this shit. She could be making a fortune right now, but she prefers to muscle up and be a scientist.”
Renée laughed.
“Of course, with muscles like these, she’d better stay at the university. The geeks there probably take what they get.”
“Enough about this. We’re wasting our time on her. There’s something much more interesting: Phoebe told me you had your boobs done…”
A nod from Renée. Brittany continued:
“Can I see them? I’ve never had the occasion, and I’ve been thinking about getting them done myself.”
“Be my guest. Let’s just go into a stall, don’t want everyone to get a peek. Only VIP, you know.”
“Sure.”
They tried to open the first stall.
“Shit. This one’s taken. Someone’s crying. You alright? Can we help you?”
Raffaela gave no answer.
“No? Okay. If you need anything, tell us.”
“Come over here, Britt, this one’s free.”
“Right on. Let’s free those puppies! Wow. Those are huge. Can I touch them?”
“Go ahead. They’re still pretty tight, but the doc says they’ll soften in a couple of weeks.”
“I want mine to be even bigger.”
“Why? They’ll look odd on you. You’re way too skinny…”
“Odd? I want fake. You know, like a stripper. I love the style. I even thought about getting my lips done at the same time. Maybe take some pole-dancing lessons. Brian’s into it as well.”
“So the new guy’s name’s Brian? Great to hear.”
“Didn’t I tell you? Ah, yes, I forgot about that after I’d seen our muscle-babe.”
“Was hard to miss anyway.”

Raffaela had overheard the whole conversation and had quietly started to cry. Sitting in her stall, her knickers down, she was desperate. These god-damn bitches! It was high school all over again. She had spent the last years to blend in, to be the best at everything, but there was no tolerance whatsoever. She had fooled herself. There was no respect for anybody who wouldn’t fit into their little boxes. She cried, tried to hold back her tears, but couldn’t.
She calmed down and touched up her make-up. Since she was aware that they were still examining each other’s tits, Raffaela slunk out of the stall silently, trying to escape from the restroom and go home as quickly as possible. Just as she was out in front of the sinks, the stall behind her opened and out came Renée and Brittany.
“Hi, Raffaela! How’s it going? You should tell us about your trainer! Renée and I could use a good workout!”
Raffaela turned around, looked at them and tried to hide her anger. However, the two girls couldn’t help notice the faint traces of runny make-up on her cheek. Finally, she snapped:
“Indeed, you could!”
She advanced on them slowly, her hands shaking with anger. The girls shrieked in fear and ran back to the stall. As they stumbled, Renée gave her fellow fugitive a little blow with her elbow, throwing her off-balance. Brittany tumbled, falling on her face. Raffaela was steaming. She quickly slipped out of her heels and clenched her fists. Brittany tried to escape into the stall, but Renée tried to shut the door. Brittany found herself grabbed by the legs and lifted.
Raffalea held her upside-down, shaking her until her bra-inlays fell out and her hair was dishevelled. She then simply tossed her aside, the victim landing bluntly by the waste-basket.
Meanwhile, Renée had locked the stall. She was shouting helpless pleas from inside as the muscular woman approached. At first, Raffaela merely beat against the door, but she soon realised that this was pointless.
“Open or I’ll break it down!”
“Help! Help!”
Raffaela took a step back, concentrated and kicked at the door, heel first. The row of stalls shook. She kicked again, this time breaking the bolt. The door flew open, revealing a very scared Renée, standing in panic on the toilet seat.
“Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it. I didn’t want to hurt you! I was just concerned about your well-being! I’m your friend, I was just worried!”
“You’re concerned about my well-being? Are you? Oh really? God, how I despise you and your kind! I really should stuff your mouth right now!”
Suddenly, a voice rang out behind her:
“Raffaela, calm down!”
She turned around. It was the bouncer, William. He had walked in as the commotion inside got too loud.
“Please, Raffaela, calm yourself. I don’t know what happened, but I don’t want you to hurt her. We’re here to have some fun after all. Regardless of what she said, don’t let her spoil the evening for you!”
She was on the verge of tears again. Between sobs, she tried to explain what had happened.
William slowly walked to her, keeping his hands low and making calming sounds. She was extremely angry at herself and just wanted to disappear right now. He reached her and took her in his arms.
All of a sudden, he was interrupted. Brittany had recovered and shouted:
“What’s the matter with you muscle-brains? Are you all on drugs?”
Raffaela exploded. She struggled, trying to free herself from William’s grasp. Of course, she was no skilled fighter and had no experience whatsoever, but she hit him clumsily in his face and her great strength was bound to cause some damage. She broke his nose.
For a second, she slipped from his grasp, jumped at Brittany with a shriek and found herself tackled by both William and Kieran, who had arrived by now.
The two grown men tried to restrain the raging woman, barely able to hold her down. She dragged herself towards the screaming Brittany on all fours, trying to shake her assailants. However, after two feet, their combined strength and weight proved to be too much. She collapsed into a pile of despair. As she cried, William shot a spiteful gaze at Brittany. He stumbled over to the first aid kit and stopped his nose-bleed. He then took the security blanket from its box and gave it to Raffaela. Kieran helped her up, closing the restroom door with his foot.
When William was done, he said:
“Okay. Are we calm again? Good. Listen up, all three of you. You’ve been guests at our club for years now and I know you well. However, I never want to see you together again. You’re invited to come on your own, but never together. Besides, I won’t sue you for this.” He pointed at his nose. “It’s not the first time, but I would have preferred it not to happen. Is that clear? Perfect. Raffaela, come with me, I’ll let you out in the rear.” He turned to the other women. “You stay here for a moment. I’m not finished with you.”
He took Raffaela and Kieran with him. They got out in an alley behind the club. William said:
“Kieran, you take care of her. Please help her and get her home safe.”
Kieran nodded, said “Thanks” and led his girlfriend to the street to catch a cab.
In the cab, she told him what had happened. He really tried his best to react correctly.

Still, the second thing happened a little later. Kieran and her had gone to visit her parents. To cut a long story short, they spent the whole evening accusing him of destroying their daughter’s body. In the end, he was angry about the whole situation and couldn’t think of a way to get out of it. All in all, the relationship was starting to collapse on itself.