Ah, what a long day, and it's only noon, Brad thought as he pulled up to his house. Still, he felt great that he was being so productive today. Maybe this was one of the side effects of watching the tapes. The motivation and drive to reach all his goals. Huh, why did that sound so familiar? Was it something that Vertael said to him? Probably. Although no matter how hard he tried, Brad couldn't remember. Well, best not worry about that now, but figure out what he and Janet were going to do the rest of the day. Lunch was obvious, but after that, probably more research on Vertael, homework, and if they had some extra time, a little bit of romance. Needless to say, Brad was feeling pretty good; however, that feeling slipped away when he saw his father pass out on the den floor.
"Dad!" The younger DiLaurentis dropped everything and rushed to his father's side. Janet followed soon after. Brad began trying to get his father to wake up by tapping his shoulders and almost begging him to get up. Please be alright, please! Brad pleaded to himself. Thankfully, that made Dirk begin to stir from his slumber. Brad let out a sigh of relief, but it was then he noticed that his father looked different than when he last saw him. His hair was a bit darker, and most importantly, he was much more muscular. It wasn't hard for Brad and Janet to connect the dots and guess exactly what had happened.
In the meantime, Dirk had started to wake up. His first thought was, why was he on the floor? Did he fall asleep and roll onto the floor? That line of thought, however, was swiftly replaced by another. Who was the man who was standing over him? In his grogginess, he didn't realize it was his own flesh and blood right in front of him. Thankfully he realized it was his son when the adrenaline woke him up, but now another question had to be asked.
"Wha- Brad? What on earth happened to you?" When Dirk last saw his son, he was sure he had a similar physique to himself. A thin runner's physique befitting of a track and field star, but now he beefed up considerably. Not only that but his hair and face looked a bit different than it was before.
"Uh, well, I could ask you the same question." Huh? Dirk was confused why Bradley asked that question. Well, he was confused until he started to get up and noticed his view being obscured by two bounds. Wait a minute, were those his pecs? With any hesitation, Dirk got up and lifted the helm of his shirt up to confirm that it was his pecs. Not only that, but he had abs, a shredded six-pack with another row on the way. In fact, his entire body seemed to have muscled up when he was asleep. Clearly, whatever had happened to Brad had happened to him.
"What the hell?! Brad, what happened to us?" Brad turned to look at Janet, who silently nodded. Looks like they had no choice but to explain what happened.
"Uh, well, let's talk about it over lunch."
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Brad and Janet had decided to make sandwiches for lunch. They were quick to make, healthy, and tasty. Though both of them wished that making them took a little longer. They were both dreading how Dirk would react.
Meanwhile, the older DiLaurentis was busy contemplating everything. How on earth did they get into this mess? How was he going to explain this to his wife or his co-workers when he goes back to work tomorrow? Dirk glanced over at the sandwiches that Brad and Janet were making and realized he suddenly knew all the nutrients he would be eating. Dirk really wasn't the type to count calories before. What was happening to him?
Eventually, lunch was finished too soon for all three's liking, and now it was time to explain everything. Brad was the one to explain everything to his father. How he bought the tapes, about the mysterious Vertael, and what happened when he first watch the tapes. The only thing that Brad left out was that he had already watched the tapes twice. Dirk was feeling annoyed at all of this. He couldn't be mad at Brad; there was no way of knowing any of this would happen. Just annoyed all of this was happening at all.
"Well, I think I experienced the same thing. I remember the name Vertael, but not much else. Oh! I think I do remember something else. I think Vertael mention something about Hercules." All three of them doubted that Dirk was turning into Hercules, but it was a piece of information that could help in the investigation. Dirk had to wonder why Vertael was doing this, however. He doubted Vertael was doing this out of the kindness of his heart. Unless he just wanted a world full of bodybuilders, there was always a catch. Still, despite all of this, Dirk was still tempted to watch the tape again. The older man loved how his new body looked and felt and wanted more. Another watch couldn't hurt, would it?
"So, what do we do now?"
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Unbeknownst to the group eating lunch, someone had been listening in on their conversations. It was Ethan, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Both his stepbrother and his stepfather had transformed into hunks overnight? Wait, not even overnight. Just one nap and it was instant muscles. It was like his CYOC stories had hopped out of the web pages and into real life.
Ethan had to get in on this. Part of the reason why he read so many CYOC stories was that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't gain an ounce of muscles. So he lived out his fantasies vicariously through the stories he read. But now, this was his chance to get his dream body! To have the same muscles the jocks at school had. No, even bigger than they had.
If the tapes worked for his stepbrother and his stepfather, then surely it would work for him as well, right? Just as he had done countless times before, Ethan snuck into his stepbrother's room and stole one of the tapes from the pile, and then quickly snuck back into his own room without anyone noticing. Alright, now that he had the tape, all he had to do was watch it, right?
Oh wait, it probably wasn't a good idea to watch it while Brad, Janet, and his stepfather were in the dining room. Maybe it was best to wait until the evening, or maybe he could head over to a friend's house to watch it? Oh, but Ethan could hardly wait. Would it be a bad idea to just watch it now and deal with the consequences later? I probably was.