Grinning, Jeremy fired up a game on his screen.
"Sweet!" said Ty. "Time to kill some Nazis!"
Dustin, still staring at Jeremy nervously, mechanically punched the buttons on his controller to join the game.
While they played, Jeremy, feeling the game play out through his bust-like body, called out a running commentary. "Nice shot, Ty! ... Whoa, Dustin, look out behind you! ... Careful, there's a whole team of them just around that corner!"
Ty was grinning too, watching Jeremy enjoy the game playing on his screen. He made a silent wish, and then sat back to play.
At first, it was unnoticeable. But before long, it started to add up. Every time Ty or Dustin scored a point, Jeremy's half-body added a tiny amount of muscle. Ty watched as Jeremy's shoulders slowly inflated millimeter by millimeter, Jeremy's already large arms swelled with even more muscle, and the abbreviated six-pack below his chest-monitor became even more cut and defined.
Suddenly, Ty and Dustin scored a huge combo bonus, and Jeremy's body swelled. His shoulders broadened, and his arms added a whole inch.
"Whoa," Jeremy said, as he shook his head, dazed. Then he raised his right arm, and flexed.
"Whoa!" he repeated, as the bicep peaked higher than ever.
Dustin dropped his controller as he watched Jeremy flex.
Ty laughed. "Lookin' good, dude!"
Jeremy turned and flexed his other arm. "Don't stop, Dustin!"
Dustin, intimidated, quickly picked up his controller and started firing.
"Oh, yeah!" said Jeremy, flexing both arms at once.
Ty laughed again, and helped Dustin rack up more points, and more muscle for Jeremy.
Since Jeremy was already pretty big, he started to funnel some of the muscle to himself, and even a little to Dustin. When lunchtime rolled around, Ty's dresser was groaning under the weight of Jeremy's muscle, Ty was looking like he should be playing quarterback, and even Dustin was looking more like a short 14-year-old with a lot of potential than an underdeveloped 13-year-old.
Then Ty's mom called up from downstairs. "Boys? Lunch?"