Grace and Shawn – Chapter 1: The Therapy (Female Muscle Growth)
by MagnusMagneto (MagnusMagneto23)
Commissioned by up2nogd1 of Deviantart
Originally Published: June 15, 2013
Part 0.
Grace Ellsworth’s crystal blue eyes were transfixed on the television screen. If the announcer on the show was to be believed, a human being was about to attempt bench pressing a literal ton of weight on live television; without wearing a bench press shirt. Then again, there was no reason for Grace to doubt the man’s capability or the challenge’s legitimacy. After all, the man of the hour was none other than Shawn Masterson – Grace’s, and millions of other women’s dream crush.
As expected, the incredibly muscular athlete managed to properly press the cartoonishly large 2000 pounds weight to his chest. The crowd went wild, especially the female portion. Masterson had done it again, he broke his own record. Grace stared longingly at the screen. While the 18 year old was no slouch herself, a blonde beauty with an immaculately tight and toned body, there were no men that caught her eye the way that Shawn did.
Part 1. A little back story.
As the first, and only, person to successfully undergo the Human Achievement Center’s controversial advanced gene therapy, Shawn was the strongest, toughest and fastest human being alive. Almost everyone in the civilized world knew about him; The unstoppable billion dollar man they called him. At the young age of 21, he stood a proud 6 feet tall with over 300 pounds of pure muscle on his frame. Not just any kind of muscle, but muscle three times denser than a typical human’s.
Of course, Shawn wasn’t always an invincible iron man. In fact, as a 18 year old he was essentially average. Three years before Shawn was able to lift 2000 pounds, the Human Achievement Center finally figured out how to actually manipulate genetics. The process only worked after birth and was extremely contingent on many factors. Originally, the dream was for all human beings to be granted equally strong, healthy and fertile bodies. Unfortunately, due to their relatively primitive understanding of trait doctoring, the Center was only capable of modifying incredibly specific genetic codes. The Center’s supercomputers estimated that only one in a million individuals were capable of being extensively transformed. Of course, with over seven billion people living on the planet, that meant over seven thousand people would be viable candidates.
In an attempt to reach as many potential testers as possible, the Human Achievement Center announced that anybody could submit a saliva sample in order to enter their name into the greatest lottery of all time. Despite the entire being incredibly controversial amongst various humans rights groups, the Center received more than enough potential candidates. As fate would have it, amongst them, was Shawn. The Center decided to select him based on the facts that he was average in every possible way, and was the youngest possible consenting age – 18.
The gene therapy was an extremely expensive procedure, costing an estimated 1 billion US dollars. It also provided the Human Achievement Center little to no monetary gain beyond a few scientific grants. As a result, the Center was only able to perform the therapy on one individual – Shawn.
The process was surprisingly painless, and only took a few hours for them to perform. While he didn’t feel different initially, it wasn’t long before the young man started to notice changes. Not wanting to lose their billion dollar investment, the Center had Shawn live there. They heavily monitored him, placing him in a rigorous strength training program. Shawn quickly found that his strength was increasing with each passing day. He was capable of lifting more and more weight as his body packed on pound after pound of muscle.
Shawn was not only getting considerably stronger; He was growing much faster, and far more durable. After undergoing the therapy, Shawn never fell sick or ill ever again. A year after of living in the Center, he had eclipsed almost every physical world record imaginable. Satisfied with their creation, the Human Achievement Center released him to the world.
Back in civilian life, Shawn needed a way to support himself. A myriad of companies were eager to have the world’s strongest man advertise their product, practically throwing their money at him. He found himself invited to talk show after talk show, his fame increasing with every appearance. Before long, hordes of women began throwing themselves at him, desperate to have a taste of the real life superman. As fame overtook him, Shawn’s ego began to spiral out of control. The young man viewed himself as the ultimate alpha male, and the media served only to constantly reinforce his belief.
Over the next two years, Shawn continued to train his body. He still made strength gains regularly, but they were slowing down considerably over time. Still, he was the strongest person alive, and from what he understood, the odds of anyone else ever undergoing the same therapy were slim to none. After all, not only was there a one in a million chance of somebody having the correct DNA, but the procedure itself was too expensive with little to no commercial benefit for.
Unbeknownst to Shawn however, the Human Achievement Center viewed him as merely a prototype. While they publicly boasted of their scientific accomplishment; Within secret board meetings, the Center viewed Shawn as almost a failure. Granted, he was the strongest human being alive, but the Center knew they were capable of far more. As Shawn paraded himself around, increasing his fame and popularity through a myriad of antics, the Center secretly worked on refining the gene therapy process.
Part 2. Back to Grace
After Shawn’s feat of strength was finished, the host brought over a microphone for a post performance interview.
“Mr. Masterson, you just benched TWO THOUSAND POUNDS. How do you feel!?” the much smaller man asked excitedly.
Shawn gave a playful grin. “I feel pretty good. Just wait until next year.” he confidently said before flexing his massive 28″ bicep. “And the year after that, and the year after that!”
“Is there anybody you’d like to thank or give a shout-out to?”
Shawn scratched his head, slightly confused. “Uhh.. Not really?” he replied with a puzzled inflection. “Just wanna thank myself for being so great.”
The host was slightly unnerved by the response. “Err… Anyone who inspired you perhaps?”
Shawn merely replied with a snicker. “Yeah, I’m inspired by ME!” he proudly exclaimed, pounding his large chest with pride.
“Uhhh…” The host was truly at a loss. “What about, you know, the Human Achievement Center, the guys who, you know…”
“I guess they’re cool.” Shawn interjected. “Although they should really be thanking me for giving them so much publicity. I mean I’m the one who-”
“Alright, well there you have it folks!” the host interrupted before the massive man was effectively played off the stage by booming music.
After Shawn was corralled off the stage, the host announced that there was a very special message from the people who made his achievement possible. The massive television screen on the stage began running a prerecorded video.
A calm, confident voice began a narration over a bunch of images of DNA and the human body.
“Tonight, you’ve met the Adam of the next level of human physical achievement. Now we want to bring you Eve. That’s right, we are accepting applications yet again for our world famous genetic therapy program. You’ve seen what glorious gifts we can unlock, and now’s your chance to stand by Shawn as the world’s first super woman. If you’re a woman who wants to become something greater, send us your saliva samples immediately! Remember, only one out of a million individuals are fit for the therapy, so get your application in early!”
Grace was absolutely floored. She was too young to enter her DNA sample the first time around, but now she was of age. Without skipping a beat, the young woman ran out of her apartment and began sprinting down the street to the nearest Super Pharmacy. While it was a long shot, Grace wanted nothing more than to stand by Shawn as a super girl.
Part 3. Six months later, at the Center for Human Achievement.
Shawn was annoyed. He thought he was finished with the stupid Achievement Center. He needed to focus on his weight training. In the past 6 months, he managed to only increase his bench press by 100 pounds – the slowest progress he had ever made. How could he go back on TV in six months only to break his record by such a small amount?
Regardless, he was back at the Center against his will. The previous day, a bunch of large (relatively small to Shawn) men appeared at his doorstep, and presented him with the contract he had signed three years ago. What Shawn didn’t realize, was the Center had the right to call him back for almost any reason they saw fit. Not wanting to tarnish his fame by attacking the men, or acting against his word, he agreed to go along with what they wanted.
“This is so pointless.” The young man said flatly to the intern recording data. “Why even bother wasting money on a WOMAN?”
“Well, it only seems fair, right?” the intern responded matter-of-factly.
“I guess. But who cares? Even if you make her the strongest woman in the world, she won’t be as strong as the strongest regular man. Let alone me.” Shawn shot back.
“Since when are you a genetic scientist?”
“Pfft. It’s just common sense.”
Just then, the door opened revealing a thin scientist with none other than Grace at his side.
“Hello Shawn, it’s been a while.” the scientist greeted. His mostly jet black hair had a few gray streaks; indicative of his long working hours.
“Time hasn’t been too kind to you, eh, Newman?” Shawn responded, remembering that particular scientist with a head full of thick dark locks.
“Ahem. That’s Doctor Newman to you now. Besides, I’m only 28…” the scientist responded. “Anyways. This is Grace. She will be working with you.”
Shawn cocked an eyebrow as he looked up the girl. She stood at 5’2″ with a slender, but toned body. He had to admit that she was quite pretty with her golden blonde hair and blue eyes, but he had been with a myriad of women with “real curves” as he put it. He had been with Olympic athletes, actresses and porn stars.
“This is the chick who won?” Shawn asked, slightly annoyed.
Dr. Newman nodded. “Not only did her genetic code match up greater than anyone we’ve ever seen, but she’s the perfect age too.” He flashed a confident smirk. “I’ll also have you know that she’s got a at least 50 IQ points over your average 100. Almost as high as my own.”
Grace blushed from the praise.
“There’s also a good chance that Grace here is so intellectually gifted, that she might be working with us full time. I reckon we could bring her up to speed around here in almost no-time flat.” the scientist added. “Just imagine, the first person to undergo the next generation of genetic therapy could eventually lead the team for the third generation.”
While it was true that Grace was a rather gifted woman intellectually, she was still weak kneed at the sight of Shawn. Even though he was a jerk, she couldn’t take her eyes off of his shirtless form. Every muscle in his body appeared to be engorged to superhuman levels, and, she knew that they were even harder than they looked.
“Like what’cha see babe?” Shawn asked with an arrogant smirk as he noticed Grace staring.
The petite girl blushed and looked down. “I-uh… well…” she started.
“Don’t worry about it kiddo. While I’m sure you could rock the world of any normal guy, I’m afraid in my book you’re a 6 outta 10 at best.” Shawn explained with a condenscending chortle.
Grace let out a gasp. She wasn’t sure whether to feel complimented by the first half of his statement, or incredibly offended by the second.
“That’s enough.” The scientist butt in.
“What am I doing here anyways?” Shawn asked.
“Shawn, we need you as a comparison point for Grace.” Newman explained.
“Seems pointless. You already know I can bench one ton. Gracie here doesn’t have a chance of coming close.” Shawn sneered.
“Look. We gave you a very nice gift Shawn.” Newman started. “Just because Grace’s procedure is newer, and as a result twice as expensive as yours, doesn’t mean you need to get upset.”
Both Shawn and Grace’s eyes grew wide. “Twice as expensive!?” they both asked in unison.
Newman smiled at their reaction. “Yeah. The female version of the therapy required a lot of changes to the procedure. Almost everything we did for the male body was incompatible with the female body, and vice versa.”
Grace was confused by this statement. “But the original contest allowed women to enter…” she stated blankly.
“Good catch Grace.” Newman praised. “Choosing Shawn was a blessing in disguise. With what we know now, we’re quite confident that the old procedure would have been completely ineffective on a female.”
A thought crept into Grace’s mind. “Say, uh, is the procedure better than the first one? Could a person become even stronger due to it?” she asked.
“No way! It’s the girl’s version!” Shawn butt in.
Newman quickly reacted. “Well, the procedure is certainly different now. We’ll have to see if it’s more or less effective than the original.”
Shawn rolled his eyes while Grace dreamed of godhood.
Part 4. A few hours later.
Grace’s genetic therapy was not only painless, but surprisingly fast as well; Especially for a procedure toted as being so incredibly complex that it would cost two billion dollars. The young blonde did notice that she felt more energetic than usual, and was eager to undergo any and all tests the scientific team had for her.
Without hesitation, the research team had both Grace and Shawn begin strength training, or “capability assessment” as they preferred calling it. Both young adults were instructed to strip down and change into rather revealing attire: a tight sports bra and hip-hugger panties for Grace, and what was essentially a speedo for Shawn. Despite having a rather desirable body, Grace felt slightly nervous and ashamed to be wearing so little, especially after Shawn’s comment of her being a “6 out of 10”. Shawn on the other hand was more than eager to show off his body, well aware that he was essentially the living counterpart of the Greek god Adonis.
As they entered the “capability assessment testing chamber”, which was essentially a large gym, Shawn noticed that there were a lot of new machines added since the last time he was there. The room was also environmentally isolated, going so far as to have an airlock near the entrance. Dr. Newman soon walked in with what appeared to be a tube of lotion in his hand. “Here Grace, put this all over your body.” Newman said, handing the blonde the container.
Grace took it with a perplexed look on her face.
The scientist quickly realized how strange his order was. “Oh. Right. This is actually a specially formulated protein cream, designed to give the body as much muscle building material as possible. It’s actually magnitudes more effective than orally consuming protein.” he explained.
Without hesitation, Grace opened the container and squirted some onto her fingers. A clear viscous substance came out. Grace started applying it onto her arms.
“You’ll want to apply a bit more than that.” Newman explained. “Don’t worry about running out, we have tons more.”
“Yo doc!” Shawn interrupted. “Where’s my cream? World’s strongest man still has room to grow you know!”
Newman frowned at the young man’s interruption. “Sorry Shawn, but the protein cream wouldn’t be very effective on you. Normally human skin can absorb around 60% of nutrients applied onto it at a rather slow rate. Part of her genetic therapy has granted Grace’s skin the capability of absorbing over 98% of all desirable nutrients at a remarkably fast rate.”
Shawn merely scratched his head, slightly dumbfounded.
“In other words, you’re going to have to stick to old fashioned protein shakes Shawn. Don’t worry, we still have plenty of those.”
“Speaking of new things…” Shawn started again. “What’s with all this new equipment? And why was the girl’s therapy so fast compared to mine?”
Newman let out a sigh. “Well, the new equipment is all super-magnet based. Meaning a single plate can now weigh anywhere from 10 pounds up to tens of thousands depending on a few variables. As for your other question, I’ve told you this many times, Grace underwent a different genetic therapy…”
“Tens of thousands!?” Shawn interrupted again. “Seems like overkill when the world’s strongest man can only BENCH two grand! Then again, give me a few years with that protein cream…”
Newman sighed again. “First off, that cream wouldn’t be very effective on you. For starters, we’re not even sure that your skin can actually utilize caloric nutrients through skin… With Grace we know for a fact that she can. In fact, Grace here not only can absorb specially made creams for optimal nutrition, but even gets more out of sunlight. On that note, the lights in this room are specially produced to help beam a huge array of nutrients directly into Grace here.”
“Whatever. Don’t know why you give a girl all the cool toys when it’s going to amount to nothing.” Shawn spitefully jeered.
“Um, sorry to interrupt, but I’m having difficulty getting this stuff onto my back…” Grace said, motioning to the cream in her hands. “Err, Shawn, could you help me out?” she offered with a shy smile.
Shawn sneered. “Buzz off blondie. I already told you you’re a 6 outta 10 in my book.”
Grace turned to Dr. Newman, who without a word took the container and plopped a large amount into his hands before rubbing it onto Grace’s back. “Thanks Dr. Newman!” Grace cheerfully exclaimed before shooting Shawn a dirty look.
“I think you were right about that nutrient light stuff.” Grace started. “I feel like I have waaay more energy than usual!” she noted excitedly.
“Just a placebo…” Shawn interjected.
“Ahem.” Newman cut in. “You’re absolutely correct Grace. The light should be feeding you more energy to help you work out longer. Now then. You know the drill Shawn, show Grace all of the exercises to build up her body.”
A large, menacing grin spread on Shawn’s face. He couldn’t wait to show Grace how a real man lifts. He didn’t care if she had special cream and magic light. He had sheer testosterone and will power.
“It’ll be my pleasure.” Shawn said before striding over to the nearest machine.
The 21 year old Adonis stared at the bizarre futuristic device, unsure of what exactly he was supposed to do. Grace picked upon on his witless stupor and decided to try to help out.
“What exercise do you want to do?” she asked in a pleasant sing-song voice.
“Bicep curls, not that you’d have any idea what that means.” he responded dismissively.
“Hey!” Grace quickly shot back. “Just because I’m not buff yet doesn’t mean I don’t work out!” she blurted out in a huff. “I mean, I’ve worked hard for this tone!” she exclaimed, flexing her right bicep, causing a small but definite bump to rise up.
Shawn brought his hand over her arm and gave her arm a sharp squeeze.
“Ow!” Grace yelped out in pain.
Shawn snickered and tightened his grip slightly, bringing even more suffering to the blonde.
“That hurts! Stop!” Grace begged.
The arrogant man let go. “That was only using an ounce my strength.” he lauded. “Now enough fooling around. How do we do bicep curls with this… thing?”
Grace fiddled with a computerized interface and quickly figured out how to use the machine. With each stroke of her confident fingers, the machine instantly morphed into various positions, allowing for a myriad of exercises. The young woman explained to Shawn how the device was currently capable of producing up to 100,000 pounds of resistance through super powerful magnetic resistance, but could be setup to provide more.
The blonde set the machine to bicep curls with 20 pounds of resistance. She performed a slow set of curls with good form. Shawn let out a laugh, and quickly moved her aside as soon as she was finished with the exercise. He set the weight to 200 pounds and repeated the motions she made.
“Ten times your weight babe.” he declared, bringing his arm up for a repetition. “Go on, feel what REAL muscles feel like.” he offered.
Against her better judgment, Grace placed her hands around the massive muscle. It was like steel, significantly harder than any muscle she’d ever felt. Her face flushed red with embarrassment, as much of a jerk as Shawn was, she couldn’t help but feel attraction to his impressive body.
“Now do you see why it’s stupid that those dumb scientists wasted so much money on you?” he asked.
“We’ll see what happens.” was all Grace could respond with. She was determined to push herself as far as possible; not only for her own sake, but to prove Shawn wrong as well.
The genetically altered young adults proceeded to go through every exercise in the book. Shawn took it upon himself to point out just how superior he was at each and every exercise, mocking Grace constantly. In almost every workout, Shawn was capable of lifting at least 10 times as much as she was. In particular, Shawn had a field day with Grace’s relatively measly 80 pound bench press.
After two hours, the “Adam and Eve” of the Achievement Center completed every strength training exercise they could think of. Dr. Newman entered the gymnasium and offered them a chance to rest. Shawn, who was both thoroughly tired and hungry, immediately took off. Grace however, still felt full of life.
“It’s like I’m still bursting with energy…” she explained to the scientist after Shawn had exited the room.
With Shawn out of earshot, a wide grin spread on Newman’s face. “That’s to be expected. Not only was your therapy far more efficient than Shawn’s, but the lights here are literally feeding you energy.” he explained.
Grace’s eyes lit up. “I knew about this from your earlier explanation… But I had no idea it would be so effective.” she responded, slightly awestruck. “Am I solar powered now or something?”
Newman shook his head. “Not quite. One of our biggest hurdles with the original program was Shawn’s biological needs. Constantly he’d have to eat large quantities of calories and sleep for long periods of time in order to build muscle. In order to circumvent that, we devised a way to directly inject large amounts of nutrients into your system. As impossible as it sounds, the lights in this room are modified to produce a wide variety of vitamins and nutrients for your system. That, coupled with the cream you put on, has caused to you essentially feel no hunger or fatigue.”
Grace was grinning widely. “So I can just keep working out?” she asked.
Newman nodded. “Of course. Additionally, your muscles will grow without sleep thanks to the modifications we made to your brain. You have no need to sleep at all actually, so long as you’re provided the proper nutrients. In fact, your body is already starting to show the fruits of your labor.”
Grace looked down towards her midsection and noticed that a faint outline of a six-pack was visible. She lightly ran her fingers over it, smiling widely at the changes. Each bump was significantly harder than it used to be, a fact that pleased Grace immensely. “Wow, they’re pretty hard already… Wanna feel doc?”
Newman blushed slightly. “Well… if you’re offering…”
Grace giggled and flexed her abdomen, causing the faint outline to shift to a full fledged six-pack. Newman gave them a solid poke. “They’re definitely quite hard… harder than I expected.” he admitted, his face turning a shade redder.
“I’m glad that you appreciate my progress.” Grace said with a playful wink.
“So…” Newman started, trying to change the subject. “Would you prefer to take a rest like Shawn, or continue training?”
Grace grinned. “Was that a rhetorical question doctor?” she asked with a wink. “I’ve got a lot of work to do!”
To be continued in Chapter 2!
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