Jim called Cody "Hey Cody! What's up? Wanna come over to my house and play video games? I got the newest Halo!"
Cody picked up the phone and listened to Jim blurt out before even letting him respond. With a chuckle he said "Hi". The twelve-year old was blonde haired, and blue eyed with a slim frame, but not skinny. Not muscular either, just normal and healthy for his age.
"Sorry Jim, love to, but I can't. We're going' to the beach today. Only thing is my big bro's bringing his friend and I'm not sure I can manage." he explained.
"Oh no!" Jim sighed. "Dude, that'll be a major drag for you! To be left on the beach with your bro and a friend.... Can't you ask your mom if you can take me with you? If Dave can bring someone, for sure you'll be allowed to bring someone with you, too!"
Cody thought this over for a second. "Hold on, I'll ask." he said and set the phone down. Through the phone the sounds of him calling mom and asking could be heard. A moment later he scooped up the phone and shouted "Yes!"
"Alright! Well, I live just a few blocks down the street from you! I'll ride my bike and I'll be right over, okay?"
"Great!" Cody said, and hung up the phone.
Jim ran to his desk and grabbed his small, waterproof pouch, which ties around his neck with a string. He opened the pouch and placed his magic balloon inside of it. The small pouch hung from his neck like an amulet.
"I'm taking this with me, just in case Cody needs help, or in case I need to cut down his evil brother in size!" he chuckled to himself.
Then Jim put on his t-shirt and swimming trunks and sandals, and he took his beach towel in his backpack, before he ran out and jumped on his bike. He pedaled three blocks before he reached Cody's house, where Cody, Dave, Rob, and Cody's mom were patiently waiting in their SUV so that they could head on out towards the beach.
While they were heading to the beach, Cody received no end of insults and teasing from his brother, though allot were likely meant as jokes, they still annoyed the younger boy heavily. When they got to the beach he dashed into the change room and came out wearing blue board shorts with the usual tropical/Hawaiian pattern. His skin had a vague tan and vague muscles could be seen. He didn't really care; he put his hands behind his head as his parents set up a spot on the beach.
"So Jim, wanna head to swimmin'?" he asked, as his brother and his friend ran by, each clunking him on the head once, not too painfully, but it still stung for a few moments. Cody growled briefly, but then shrugged it off.
Jim ran towards the ocean and dove into the water... He swam around and then surfaced, swimming back to shore. Then he walked out and sat down on his towel. He watched as Cody was still wading in the water, when he got his balloon out of his pouch.
"Water makes you feel heavier... so he won't notice!" Jim giggled to himself.
"Control the size of Cody's muscles!" Jim ordered, as he placed the spout of the magic balloon between his lips. Then, he slowly blew some air into the balloon, careful not to blow too much, too fast.
"Fffooooffffff!" it sounded, as the balloon just filled up a little. Jim then removed the balloon.
"Release". He looked over and saw Cody wade in the water.....
Cody barely noticed any change, maybe a slight change in the thickness of his arms.
As Cody came out of the water he felt a little heavier... Maybe it was the fact that he had just come out of the water? His arms seemed strange... As if they had become slightly thicker? His chest felt weird, too. It almost seemed as if his chest was forced out by half an inch. Was he dreaming? And then, as Cody looked down, he noticed that his legs were thicker and wider. Not only that, but his calves were harder. Was it a dream? Just then, Jim came walking up to him.
"Hey, dude, wanna play some football?" Jim saw that Cody was looking down at his chest and legs. "What.... What's the matter?"
"Do my muscles look bigger at all?" Cody asked Jim. He traced a finger along the outline of his newly appeared pecs. That hadn't been there earlier. He flexed his arm, it bulged a little.
Jim examined Cody from head to toe. "Yeah, have you been lifting weights? I bet you've been exercising without inviting me, huh? You Meany!" he chuckled! "Well, catch!" Jim said, as he tossed the football to Cody, before he turned around and ran the other way.
"But I haven't been lifting weights." Cody mused silently. On the other hand, wherever these new muscles had come from, he was gonna enjoy them. Now he'd gone from healthy, to naturally athletic and dashed after Jim at a speed much greater than he'd been able to before. And he threw the football so much better than ever before.
"Whoa!!!!" Jim cried out as the ball soared over his head! "Where did all that strength come from???"
Jim had to run after the ball, which bounced several yards further than expected. After he finally retrieved the ball, Jim flung the ball back, but he struggled to throw the ball the same distance and it landed just in front of Cody. Now, David and Rob had noticed that the boys were playing football and they wanted to join in.
"Ooh the girls are playing football..." David teased. "You can't throw... let us join you!" Then, all four of them were throwing the ball to one another.
As Cody threw the ball to David, David was kind of surprised that Cody threw it further than he had ever managed to throw it before. He wondered how that was possible.
The older boys got a mischievous look and only threw the ball between each other. Neither had noticed Cody's new physique, and didn't care. They pretty soon had forgotten about the younger boys. Cody looked out and saw a couple guys surfing. He wandered over to Jim.
"Gee, those surfers are always so fit. Wish I looked like that."
"Well, let's get back in the water, Cody!" Jim cheered. Jim turned and started running. "Last one in the water is a rotten egg!"
Cody laughed and ran, catching up to Jim with ease, and just managing to beat him. "Hah!" he said as he splashed into the water, enjoying this new athletic build.
Both boys splashed into the water and surfaced at the same time. "Hey! Since when can you run faster than me?" Of course, Jim knew what was going on, but he was playing dumb. "What has gotten into you today, huh?"
"I dunno these muscles that just suddenly appeared. I wonder if they could bulk up a little more so I look like a surfer, just so I can maybe get a four pack.”
"Oh I bet you’re just having an unexpected growth spurt, that’s all!" Jim laughed. "Hey, see if you can swim to that buoy over there and back!" Jim said, as he pointed to the large, metal buoy that was floating in the water. It was about 30 yards away from shore.
Cody shrugged. "Okay." he said and began to swim.
Jim quickly walked to the shore and got out of the water. He ran to the towel and sat down, removing his balloon from his secret pouch.
"Okay, time for Cody to bulk up some more." Then he brought it to his lips again.
"Control Cody's muscles!" and he placed the spout between his lips. He slowly inhaled and blew air into the balloon. He glanced down and smiled, as the balloon started to inflate. "Fffooooooffffffff...."
"There.... I wonder if Code felt anything in the water..."
"Release."
Cody suddenly felt his arms and legs, which were tiring, get stronger again and he began to swim, faster than before. He reached the buoy and swam back, dashing out of the water and up to his friend. He only vaguely noticed his running speed had increased again.
Jim walked over to the pier as he waited for Cody to come out of the water. There were a couple of rocks near the edge of the pier, and Jim picked up a few and started tossing them in the water. He then stood with his toes at the edge of the pier, and stared at his reflection, as he looked down at the water below him, just as Cody joined him. He noticed right away that something was bothering Cody.
"Hey dude! If you look down, you can see your reflection! Isn’t that cool? It's like staring at yourself in the mirror!" Jim said to him.
Cody laughed. "Yeah no duh, I think that's kindergarten level." Cody said, jokingly. He looked down and saw his reflection and noticed that, once again, his muscles were larger.
"So, how was your swim, Aquaman?" Jim teased. "All that swimming must be working wonders on your muscles, dude!" he said, as he stared as Cody's bulging pecs and his double-layered abdominals, which were starting to become more defined. Cody was slowly starting to look like a real swimmer, indeed! "You need to go to the beach more often, dude!"
Just then Dave came walking by.
"Hey girls..."
Cody whirled, feeling angry. "Would you cut it out!" he yelled. Dave did a double-take this time, noticing better than before how much his little brother had bulked up.
"Gee what happened to you?"
Cody shrugged.
"Bulked up a little." He was enjoying this new body. Plus his blond hair and blue eyes, he could easily have passed for one of the surfers.
Rob gasped as he walked up.
"Dave... what happened to your little bro, man? He looks... different...."
"I dunno dude..." David whispered. “But it’s freaking me out!”
Rob and Dave quickly turned around.
Cody and Jim noticed that this had freaked them out.
"Cody has never looked this ripped before.... Did you see the muscles on him? He's starting to hulk out all of the sudden!" they whispered to one another as they walked away.
"Dude!" Jim said to Cody. "Did you see the look on Dave's face? He's flat out scared of you now!"
Cody shrugged. "I wonder. If I managed runner and swimmer, any chance you think that I could end up a young bodybuilder before we leave?" Cody asked Jim.
"Only if you can keep it a secret..." Jim replied.
"What're you talking about?" Cody asked. "Keep what a secret?"
Jim just smiled, before he took three steps back from where Cody was standing. He figured he was going to go all out now, and he was going to pump him up with muscle. Without saying a word, Jim removed the balloon from his pouch, and held it before him.
"Control Cody's muscles!" he said, as he put the balloon's spout between his lips. Then, he inhaled and filled his lungs, before he filled the balloon with every ounce of air he could squeeze out of his lungs in one, mighty breath.
"Fffffooooooooooofffffffff!!!" the sound made, as the balloon rapidly filled with air. Jim then looked up at Cody...
Cody frowned at the balloon, but gasped when Jim blew it up and felt all his own muscles suddenly inflate. He cursed in amazement.
"What's that thing!?" he asked.
Jim removed the balloon briefly.
"A magic balloon. This balloon controls the size of your muscles. Do you want some more?"
"Ummm, sure why not, what the heck." Cody said all smiles at this change.
Jim put the spout in between his lips one more time and inhaled. "Fooooooffffffff!" the sound was that the balloon made, as he blew air into it, making the balloon inflate. At the same time, Cody felt every muscle in his body increase in size even more! Jim just smiled as he looked on.
"Release" he said, after he removed it, and let the air out.
Cody was thrilled at all this new muscle, flexing them in different ways.
"Dude.... Dave is gonna have a hard time bullying you around now!" Jim laughed, as he stared at his muscled friend.
Cody was standing there, looking like a cross between a wrestler, a bodybuilder and a gymnast. His shoulders were wide, his arms were thick, and his abs were incredibly defined. His pecs were sticking out like soccer balls, and his calves were two footballs implanted in his legs. His quads were like tree trunks! He could have passed for a junior bodybuilder for sure!
Just then Dave passed, and gave Cody a light shove from behind.
"Hey runt...."
Dave felt like he'd tried shoving a rock. Cody turned around and smiled at Dave.
"How's it goin' bro?" he asked, flexing an arm. Now his brother really noticed.
Dave's mouth dropped wide open. He realized that shoving Cody was like trying to shove a bulldozer. Why, Cody probably weighed even more than him now, since Dave was tall and skinny as a board! Jim had probably added over fifty pounds of muscle to Cody, and the increased weight had made it impossible for Dave to push him around. Not only that, Cody was now far stronger than Dave!
"I wouldn't mess with him anymore, Dave!" Jim laughed. "He's gotten a little stronger, in case you haven't noticed it by now.... I'd quit teasing him, if I were you! I hope he doesn't shove you back, one of these days!"
Cody smiled and reached out and actually picked Dave up and set him down on the other side.
"Now leave me alone please, or I'll use these muscles." Cody threatened. Dave nodded and ran off. Cody smiled and turned to Jim.
“So you were doing all this with your little balloon? That's so awesome, and thanks a billion."
Cody looked down at his board shorts. They were now quite obviously too small, stretched over his quads and above his knees.
"But my clothes aren't appreciative."
"All that muscle calls for bigger clothes...." Jim chuckled. He held his balloon before him.
"Control the size of Cody's shorts!" then he blew into the balloon once again. "Fffooooofff". As he looked up, he noticed Cody's shorts as they grew slightly longer and wider at the same moment when he blew air into the balloon. When he saw that the shorts had reached below the knees again, he stopped and removed the balloon.
"Release!" then he turned to Cody. "Is that better?"
Cody wiggled his legs and smiled.
"Yep! Better. Hey, can I try it?"
"Sure..." Jim said, as he handed the balloon to Cody. "Just say who or what you want to control first, before you blow into it."
Cody was about to say something when his mother called. "We're going!" Cody groaned in disappointment.
"Enlarge my clothes." he said and blew into the balloon, said “release” and let the air out. He had to try one more thing as Jim walked away.
"Increase Jim's height." Cody said and blew into the balloon. It expanded with its typical sound.
Suddenly, Jim felt an odd sensation in his body, as if he had a sudden growth spurt! Suddenly, his arms, legs, torso all began to grow longer... he was gaining height! He slowly shot up a few inches in height! He was only 5 foot 4 inches tall, and now he was growing taller... he grew to 5'5"... 5'6"... 5'7".... So, thanks to Cody, he grew three inches in just a few seconds!
"Whoa! What happened?" Jim wondered, as he looked around. He suddenly noticed that the ground seemed further away and his legs seemed longer as he looked down and stared at his feet. Then, he looked at Cody and smiled, when he realized that Cody was playing with his magic balloon.
"Give me that, muscle man!"
"You can manage until we get home can't you?" Cody asked Jim. "You're about adult height now. Come on, let's just go. I'm gonna ask if you can stay the night." Cody said, running off to ask his mother that very question. She didn't seem to notice his new muscles much. Cody pulled on his shirt and quickly dashed into the change room and came out wearing normal cargo shorts. Even with the enlarged clothing, the shirt still outlined his pecs. His mom gave an answer to the question and he turned and gave Jim thumbs up.
"Great... We can go around the neighborhood and muscle up some of your friends tomorrow!" Jim laughed. "By the way, Cody... You look AWESOME! Let me feel those biceps of yours, dude..."
Cody pulled back his sleeve and held out his arm, flexing.
"Go ahead."
"Wow.... Look at that monster! That thing is bigger than a baseball!" Jim said, as he rubbed his hand over Cody's right bicep. "Dude, your big bro isn't gonna bug you anymore! Next, we'll take care of all your best friends on your street, okay? We're gonna have a ton of fun tomorrow!" With that, Jim and Cody laughed as they walked back to the SUV where they waited to get so they could drive back home to Cody's house.