PowerCore – Chapter 2: Strength and Will
Version 1.1 (minor grammar/spelling/formatting fixes)
By MagnusMagneto
(Author’s Note: This chapter in particular will be something of a fan-servicey power-up episode. Those of you who like reading about women gaining tremendous amounts of strength, then this is the tale for you! The narrative progresses a little, but will be focused on to a greater extent in future chapters.
Also – keep in mind that Kristi is 16 years old, and has been thrust into an entirely new world. I think you’d be a little emotionally unstable in that situation too 😉 )
The Story So Far:)
16 year old Kristi was an average, albeit tall and somewhat gawky, teenage girl. Despite possessing an extremely strong work ethic, and trying her hardest at everything she did, Kristi was never particularly great at anything — neither scholastic, nor athletic. For the most part, this wasn’t a problem, as Kristi still loved life, and was filled with determination to make the most of things. One day, in the school’s gym, she had a particularly nasty encounter with a classmate named Christine. Christine, a natural who gained flattering muscle easily, berated Kristi for trying to improve her body, stating that it was pointless to ever try and amount to anything. Later that afternoon, Kristi became metaphysically attuned to the PowerCore, an abstract force capable of channeling immense power into seemingly random individuals. From that moment on, she was inducted into The Core, an organization of individuals sharing the same source of power — these individuals often referred to as ‘Core Conduits’.
For those connected to the PowerCore, the more often they use their abilities, and the stronger they thirst for life, the greater their powers become. After induction, Kristi met Edana (superhero name Firebird), a powerful and fiery 27 year old woman with immense physical strength. She also met Edana’s ex-boyfriend, Carlos: a once great hero who now merely goes through the motions, maintaining a bare-minimum power-level to fulfill his obligations to the organization. Kristi was introduced to the concept of the three separate schools of power: Physical, Mind, and Spirit; alongside another type, the Ego — also known as one’s thirst for life.
Emboldened by recent events, Kristi begins training rigorously, and her power increases at an unheard of rate. The very same day, The Core’s leader, an immensely powerful and somewhat morally dubious individual named Balthizar, teleported Kristi to the scene of an accident: a school bus full of children teetering on the edge of a cliff. Kristi used this opportunity to improve herself in the heat of the moment, increasing her strength to the point where she could push the bus with a single pointer-finger alone. A flabbergasted news-reporter asked for her super-hero name, to which the teen humbly responded with her real name: “Kristi Evans”. In the course of a single afternoon, Kristi had transformed from a gangly young woman into a towering pillar of power that was destined to continue becoming even greater!
1.) Changes
Kristi Evans tried her hardest to resume living a normal life. After saving the bus of school children, she made a daring proclamation to the world by sticking with her personal identity instead of creating a superhero alias. Very few members of The Core publicly used their birth names. Some did this for the safety of their loved ones; most did it as a rite of passage, discarding the remaining vestigial ties to when they were mere mortals.
Shortly after saving the school bus and announcing herself to the world, Kristi was given the go-ahead by The Core to check in with her family, and decide what to do next. She had gained the ability that all Core members have to home in on the location of the Core’s floating citadel, and was an extremely competent flier – capable of moving far faster than the speed of sound.
It was difficult for Kristi’s family to accept the changes. Their kind –but somewhat gawky– daughter had transformed into a towering amazon with tremendous muscles on her frame. Muscles that were far more efficient than a regular person’s, capable of pushing an entire school bus with her fingertips alone. This same muscular girl could fly, had heightened senses, and above all else: had the potential to continuously improve to unknown limits.
Despite the immense power she wielded, Kristi was still essentially the same person. She was warm (technically much warmer than ever), vibrant, and full of love. Kristi’s mind raced with the possibilities of what should come next. She could go virtually anywhere, do practically anything… yet, she felt paralyzed. There was a part of Kristi that wanted to remain human. Sure, her life wasn’t amazing, and she had that nasty run in with Christine, but she genuinely enjoyed life. After thinking it over for some time, Kristi decided she would try to continue with school. Plenty of comic book characters did this, and there were documented instances of other PowerCore members maintaining a regular life.
–
The next day at school, all eyes were on Kristi. She wasn’t used to this kind of attention; normally only her friends, and the horniest of guys, would bother to look her way. Kristi’s attire didn’t help in the situation. None of her clothing fit anymore, and with her current proportions, something that covered her body would require a tailor. As a result, she wore a sleeveless top with the bottom two rows of her abdominals on display. The faculty tried their hardest to accommodate Kristi’s desire to continue with a traditional high school education; after all, it wasn’t as if they could forcibly remove someone with her power from the premise, not without another Core Conduit to help. There was a constant murmur among the students, but for the most part Kristi’s classes were able to be held without much incident.
Despite doing what she desired the night before, Kristi felt anxious and restless. There was a nagging voice in the back of her head that she should be outside, pushing her new body to its limit, gaining new power. Another voice urged her that she should be patrolling the skies, looking for crimes and disasters to assist with. Kristi tried to quell these thoughts by thinking back on what Carlos had said. She remembered his bitter comments about how most members of The Core had lost touch with their humanity. Kristi saw her time here as a way to help ensure she didn’t give into an aimless hunger for power.
During her classes, Kristi focused on training the Mental aspect of her abilities. To her surprise, this was fairly easy. For instance, the more she concentrated on equations and problems on the board, the easier it became to mentally solve them. Before long, Kristi found herself completing the tasks far before the teacher went through the exercise. The teen felt some relief that she could improve herself in some way, even if she was in the classroom.
–
After her first few classes, Kristi decided that living this double life was going to be simpler than she anticipated. Alright. I can do this. Easy peasy. The real trick will be finding as many ways to sharpen my powers while I’m in the classroom. she thought to herself in the hallway.
A familiar voice suddenly put a kink in her plans: “I bet you think you’re hot shit now, don’t you?”
Kristi turned around. It was Christine. “No…” she replied shaking her head, “I’m very blessed to have been given this opportunity, but I’m still not better than-”
Christine cut in: “HA! Of course you’d say that. You’re such a loser Kristi, even with all that power. You might be ‘super’ now, but deep down, you’re still an inferior being to me. The best part? You’d never dare to hurt me, or anyone else for that matter – they’d have to commit a murder or something before you’d step in.”
“Doing the right thing makes me inferior?”
The smaller girl shook her head. “Your inability to take advantage of your situation is what makes you a loser.”
At that moment in time, there were many things Kristi could have done. She could have wiped Christine off the face of the planet with a single punch, or simply fly away. Instead, she did what her morals called for and listened. “And… what do you mean by that?”
“Well, for starters… you’re weak.” Christine explained, staring the taller girl directly in the eyes.
Kristi cocked an eyebrow. “Weak?”
“You heard me.”
“This… is what you call weak?” Kristi brought her arms out before tensing them into a classic double bicep pose, causing her thick, powerful muscles to ripple with menace.
Christine looked unphased by the display.
Kristi spoke again, “Do you even know how much I can lift?”
“Reports say you lifted the bus one-handed. Let’s say you decided to get fancy, and did something silly like moved it with only your fingers, or even just one. At best, you can push roughly 10 tons of weight with a finger, with your flight powers behind it. Maybe you’re a bit stronger now since then from an incidental power up. That’s not really a big deal.”
“… what?” Kristi couldn’t comprehend the concept of lifting 10 tons with one finger NOT being a ‘big deal’.
“Come on Kristi. To, a non-powered person, that’s a lot, but for a member of The Core, that isn’t too impressive. I’ve seen the numbers on websites. I’ve watched tons of footage of empowered individuals. There’s people who can lift houses like they’re nothing.”
“Hey, I only started like yesterday. Just wait until I’ve had more time to power up!”
Christine laughed lightly before reaching up and wrapping her hands around Kristi’s right arm; she squeezed with all of her might, completely unable to budge the limb. “Funny how something so impressive can be simultaneously pathetic.”
Kristi remained silent.
Christine continued speaking: “You can’t even begin to imagine what would happen if I had this opportunity. I’d be at least ten times, possibly even a hundred times more powerful than you are now. My power would never stop increasing; all aspects of it: Mental, Physical, Spiritual, Ego; every school would be under my control. I’d be able to lift a skyscraper within a couple of days. I’d be able to read the minds of everyone around me flawlessly at all times. I’d be able to teleport day one, and my telekinesis would be similar to my physical prowess. Best of all, I’d be so immense that everyone around me would be constantly PC Displaced as their power inadvertently flowed into its rightful vessel.”
“H-how do you know about PC displacement?” The girls were referring to the known phenomenon of the PowerCore’s might literally transferring from one individual into another due to the latter’s sheer thirst for life in relation to the first’s.
“Come on Kristi. You really think I wouldn’t teach myself every scrap of public knowledge on the PowerCore?” She continued fondling the larger girl’s biceps, and before long made her way down to Kristi’s thick abs, kneading and tracing the blocks of muscle. “Such a waste. One day you’ll understand what a fool you are.”
Kristi physically backed away. “That… that’s enough. I don’t have to deal with you anymore Christine. I admired you in the past, and honestly, I’m ashamed to admit that.”
Christine smirked. “It’s cute that you’ve grown a bit of a backbone. Still, amazing how I can mentally dominate you even though I possess a fraction of your physical strength.”
Kristi gulped. Without another word, she turned around, and began to quickly walk off.
–
A few moments later, Kristi was flying, a few choice tears rolling down her cheek. Even with all of this power, she STILL manages to get into my head. she let out a loud sigh. Need to focus. I can’t let her bother me like that. I’ve got the Core on my side now. I need to become as strong as I possibly can, so I can save anyone and everyone. A familiar sensation welled within her. Yes. That’s it. Give me strength Core. Help me become everything I can be! Kristi’s speed began to increase rapidly, until it reached a fever pitch, and eventually a tremendous BOOM Holy shit. I just broke the speed barrier! Awesome! Now let’s go even faster! Kristi’s flight speed did exactly that, and before long she encroached upon Mach-2. Before she could truly push herself however, she made it to her destination: PowerCore Citadel.
2.) Basics of the Mind
As Kristi entered the citadel, she had one goal in mind: to become stronger. This flew directly in the face of what she had decided on earlier, to avoid being power hungry, but her encounter with Christine had caused a minor mood swing. She wanted to prove to Christine that she could become immensely powerful; not only that, but someone with that much power could actually be good, unlike the toxic mindset her tormentor held. Besides, if she was going to protect people, didn’t she need more power anyways? What if someone like Christine was in The Core? How would she stop them? Another thought flashed across her mind: what if there were people like Christine already in The Core? That might explain why Carlos always acted so defeated… There was no time to lose, she needed to become stronger!
There was one person that Kristi currently trusted to help her gain strength: Edana, better known as Firebird. The older woman had been Kristi’s makeshift mentor ever since she was inducted into the PowerCore, and she seemed to share a genuine interest in helping Kristi reach her full potential. There was a problem with this however: Kristi wasn’t sure how to find Edana.
The young woman began her search for Edana. It seemed useless, there weren’t many other Core Conduits on the base at all, and those who were around Kristi didn’t feel comfortable with asking for assistance. Eventually, she came across a familiar face: Darcia. The older woman, a master of the Mind and Spirit tracks of power, looked as beautiful and elegant as always.
In a reversal of things past, Kristi was physically imposing next to the slender Darcia. The teen’s muscles were easily multiple times larger, and she stood taller as well. Despite this, Darcia looked as calm, confident, and brimming with inner strength as always.
“Welcome Kristi. It’s good to see you again.” A voice appeared in Kristi’s mind – it was Darcia projecting her thoughts telepathically into the teen’s mind.
“Darcia!” Kristi greeted cheerfully.
“Hush. There’s no need to speak out loud.” Darcia telepathically cut in again. “Think about what you want me to hear. Think it loudly, imagine yourself projecting the message into your mind.”
Kristi nodded. This was another chance to prove herself, and gain even more power! “Okay! I’m thinking really loudly!” Kristi thought, sub-vocalizing a tremendous voice.
Darcia giggled before replying telepathically, “Well, that’s kind of the right idea. I could only hear your thought since I’m so adept at siphoning the thoughts of others.”
“You’re… reading my mind? I’m not willingly giving you this message?”
“Willing… is an interesting term; but no, I am currently actively reading your mind; delving into your thoughts, experiencing your memories.”
“What!? Hey!” Kristi thought loudly, causing Darcia to giggle again.
“I looks like this Christine figure did a number on you emotionally, hmm?”
“That’s… that’s private! Why are you probing me! You didn’t probe me last time…”
Darcia giggled more loudly. “Alright, I’ll cease for now. Perhaps you should pay more attention to the Mind aspect of your powers so you don’t fall victim to any future probes – learn to develop mental defenses.”
Kristi’s eyes lit up, “That would be awesome!” she thought, this time correctly directing the mental sound into Darcia’s mind.
“Hey, you did it!” Darcia telepathically replied.
“Really?” Kristi did it again.
“Yup.”
“Wow, this is awesome! Way easier than I thought it would be.”
Darcia smiled, though truthfully, she was somewhat unnerved by Kristi’s uncanny progress.
“I wonder…” Kristi started again, “If I can make it LOUDER!” she shouted, focusing on increasing her mental volume.
Darcia winced a bit, “Yes, you can. Now be mindful.”
“Oh, woops. Cool!”
The older woman smiled. “I have to say Kristi, you’ve gained a tremendous amount of power already. Your potential must be boundless. I would love to train you further, though I know you want to find Edana and focus on further developing that impressive body of yours.”
“Y-yeah.” Kristi mentally stuttered. She felt somewhat violated that this other person had peered into her mind so effortlessly. What was most frightening about the act was that Kristi wouldn’t have known it happened if Darcia never told her.
“I suppose for now I can give you the basics, and we’ll see what you learn from it. I guess you already have telepathic projection figured out, so let’s teach you how to properly project your thoughts into the minds of others. I want you to envision your mind like a fortress. Pretend that you are developing defenses for it. However you decide to do this will be entirely up to you. Some students build a giant wall, some construct a moat, others put up machine gun or even laser turrets.”
“Alright.” Kristi did as she was instructed, pretending that her mind was a physical object, and object that she could build defenses around. Darcia began to probe her again, and Kristi could actually visualize the older woman’s mental presence. Seeing it creep forward, she began constructing all of the things that Darcia suggested. Building a mental wall was an interesting sensation, Kristi could sense that she required energy to do so, energy that she kept drawing from the PowerCore. Before long, a mighty fortress with a moat around it, and turrets attached formed. The lingering presence of Darcia’s mind found itself unable to enter the fortress, futilely banging against the wall of Kristi’s mind.
“Yes, yes… that’s it! Now I’m going to increase the intensity.” Darcia warned before doing exactly that. The murky cloud of energy representing Darcia’s mental presence gained brilliance and luster. Kristi could feel it beginning to besiege her telepathic bulwark. “Okay Kristi, remember, draw more energy from the PowerCore, use it to fortify your defenses and strengthen your mind.”
Kristi could feel her mind tingling as she took more lifeforce from The PowerCore, converting this into further fortifying herself against Darcia’s advances. A few moments later, she had fended the encroaching force off.
“Very good. Very good. You’re now equipped with the tools to fend off advances from anyone in The Core who isn’t an elite Mind user.”
“R-really?”
“Really.”
“That… Seemed easy. Too easy.”
“Indeed. Your capacity for harnessing The Core is very impressive. With that out of the way, let’s teach you how to track down Firebird. Now, I have to warn you, this is fairly advanced…”
“Just like flying, projecting my voice mentally, and building telepathic defenses, right?” Kristi smirked.
“You’re very powerful already Kristi, with a great deal of further potential, but you mustn’t be arrogant.”
“Right. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. When we actually have this power flowing through our bodies, it’s easy to lose sight of humility. Anyways, try to envision Firebird within your mind.”
Kristi did exactly that.
“Got it?” Darcia asked.
Kristi nodded, wordlessly.
Darcia continued: “Alright, now think back to your time around her. Consider her… life essence, if you will. Think about the spiritual energy that makes her unique. Can you do that?”
Kristi thought about it, focusing on the task given to her. It was difficult to envision what Darcia was talking about, so she tapped into the PowerCore, drawing more energy into her mind to accomplish her objective. Soon she began to visualize a blazing aura of personal intensity that was unqiue to Edana alone.
“Got it.” Kristi mentally replied.
“Got it? You have her spiritual signature?” Darcia checked what was inside of Kristi’s mind, and was surprised to find that she had actually completed the task. “Well… very impressive. Now then, from here, you can focus on that signature, and track it down yourself. With this technique, you can theoretically track anyone, unless they’re cloaking themselves of course.”
Kristi nodded. “Thanks Darcia! I guess I’ll go find her right away.”
“Glad to help Kristi. Now after you finish that macho buff girl stuff with Edana, feel free to drop by and continue your training in the more… refined aspects of the PowerCore.”
Kristi grinned, mentally thanks Darcia for her time, and took off to find Edana.
This is just the first ~30% of this superhero female muscle growth story! Read the rest now by supporting it:
I want this!