"Does anyone here want to try a transformation? " Madame Illusia again askedthe crowd. There were murmurs but no hands were raised. "No one?" She asked, squinting to look over the individuals in the crowd before her. Men, women, various ages, heights, builds ethnicities, but no one she felt she'd like to call out. That was until she saw an athletic looking young man in the back who had just stopped by to watch. Moments after applause had broken out from her last act, this young man had walked over from the street to see what was going on. He was in gym attire, a sleeveless shirt and gym shorts, he had a big protein shaker in his hand and a curious look on his face, as if he were totally ignorant of the spectacle that he was viewing. A smile broke on Madame Illusia's lips. This kid looked perfect, aloof and unaware.
"Hey young man in the back!" she cried out "You there in orange tank top, would you be interested in volunteering for my next act? I can promise you you'll enjoy participating!" She said in a bewitchingly sweet tone. Even the audience was surprised by the lightness in her voice. The young man looked bewildered. "Me?" He yelled after a moments pause.
"Yes, you. Come on up here. I can get you a nice reward for helping me out with my show." She said.
The audience looked on at the muscular young men, but no one said a word. He began to move around the crowd to the side of the stage where Stephen, Madam Illusia's trusty assistant, helped him climb on stage.
As Madame Illusia got up close to him she could still see the sweat on his forehead and his impressively lean and muscular arms. He had a tight mop of dark brown hair and the hint of stubble. He looked to be 22, 23, maybe a little older. This young man had just come from the gym nearby.
"Whats your name young man?"Madame Illusia began in her commanding stage voice.
"Anthony" He replied somewhat timidly.
"So I take it you're just out of the gym?" She asked again.
"Yeah, I am." He said, taking a swig of his protein shake.
"So you must lift weights often." She continued
"Yes m'am" He replied.
"Well" She said, turning to the audience. "This young man even brought a protein shake up here!" She said smiling. "He clearly is very serious about his training!" She smiled. Madame Illusia then turned back to Anthony and asked. "So, do you think those protein shakes you have really work? Do you think they help you build muscle?"
"I think they do." He said a little unsure.
"Well, what if I could make you one for you that definitely worked? Would you try it?"
"Yeah... I guess...sure!" Anthony replied.
"Good. So if you don't mind..." She said, gesturing for Anthony to hand over his protein bottle. It still had some liquid inside."First I'm going to make this shake unlimited. Unending. Infinite"
She grabbed the bottle, pulled it in tight to her body and began a wordless chant, making gestures with her hands over the side of the cap.
Then a few seconds later she opened up the top part of the lid and began to pour the contents onto the stage in a theatrical fashion. There was a steady stream of chocolate colored protein shake pouring out of the lid. The contents splattered a bit on stage and began to make a little stream off to the front of the stage. Madame Illusia continued to stand there with her arm held out for everyone to see, rotated around a little to give everyone a full view. Liquid was still flowing. 10 second, 15, 20, 30. She poured that shake for a full 45 seconds. It was accumulating into quite a mess of liquid on stage. "You see?" She said to the audience "It is now always full. This bottle will never be empty of this shake."
There was an applause. Anthony himself was clearly blown away by this trick.
"And now, for the next part. Now I'm going to make this shake really work." She said. Madame Illusia closed the lid and again pulled the bottle close to her body. She again muttered something under her breath and made some arcane hand gestures
"Anthony?" She boomed "You're going to have to try this. I think you'll find it works quite well." She said.
Madame Illusia handed the bottle over to Anthony and he took a swig. "It's delicious!" he said. And then continued to tip the bottle up and began chugging the contents. He'd pause only for a second for a breath and then began chugging again.
Anthony chugged and chugged. There was an enthusiasm that surprised the audience. No one at first noticed anything, but sure enough, after about a half minute, by which the bottle still appeared completely full, Anthony was starting to change. His defined arms were starting to visibly swell a little larger. His neck looked a little thicker than moments ago, his stance broadened some as his legs grew more muscular. Madame Illusia stepped back to give full view of the young man, who seemed totally engrossed in chugging the shake. He was drinking it like he had unending thirst. After about a minute everyone could tell, Anthony was growing. His muscles were starting to pack on size. His arms, his shoulders, chest, legs, everything seemed to be thickening with muscle. With each chug of the shake he was feeding all the muscles of his body and they were quickly responding.
"Our young man here is experiencing the joys of having his hard work at the gym paid off." Madame Illusia said. "And I imagine he will continue to enjoy this effect for quite some time."
The audience once again broke out into an audible murmur. Anthony could hear it but he was too engrossed in drinking down this irresistible shake to care. Even if he could feel his sleeveless shirt growing tighter on his increasingly muscular torso, he probably wouldn't have cared. Anthony had changed from an athletic looking young man into a light weight bodybuilder, and was quickly growing larger still. His arm had gone from a respectable 15" around to an imposing 17" and were continuing to expand. His shoulders were becoming wider and rounder. His traps mounded up and became noticeable. His back was becoming more and more broad. Soon Anthony had surpassed 200 lbs and with each minute he chugged the shake, he added dozens more pounds of muscle onto his frame. The audience watched on in amazement...