Atomic Mass

Gainsville was popping. Jake looked around at his swollen kingdom with pride and love for everything he built. To celebrate his success opening the hottest gym in Big City, he called out to the lifters. They all dropped their weights mid-set and turned to face their hero at the front of the building.

“Bros!” he shouted confidently. “You’ve made this sanctuary of beef the strongest in the city.”

The crowd cheered for Protein Jake. “Not without you!” someone replied, fueling a secondary cheer.

“To honor all of you, I’d like to host a competition.” Jake walked down a row of benches and one by one curled each of the bars with the various amounts of plates loaded up, showcasing his strength. “Who among us is the biggest Yoker? Who can lift the most… the hardest… the longest?”

“LET’S GO!” the meatheads yelled out.

“Tomorrow, the first annual Massters of the Universe takes place in the parking lot of Gainsville. Be early. Be juicy.” Jake announced.

Lifters returned to their machines and racks, working out harder than before. They eyed each other down and gauged the competitors. The smarter ones went home and saved their strength for the following day.

Jake and his team set up all the equipment outside, including many different unconventional lifts. He welcomed competitors as they filed in for the first event and made an announcement to the hundred or so men and women before him.

“Today, we push the earth and we pull the heavens. First place will be awarded $100,000 dollars. BEGIN!”

Everyone cheered and rushed through to the first event, a simple bench. Anton Swolnov, a clear favorite to take home the prize, went first. He set the record at a staggering 905 lb bench for two reps. The crowd awaiting their turn thinned out immediately watching Anton. The only two others left were Stephanie Crawfish and Dario Limit. They were renowned for their strength and determination, though Anton scoffed when he saw them up next.

Stephanie laid down and gripped the bar. She immediately realized that she would need a miracle to lift it upon pressing gently upward to get a feel for it. With a deep breath and all her strength, she pressed the bar up and held it with her arms locked for a moment. They failed quickly. The bar came down fast and pressed into her chest. She still tried to raise it, getting minimal movement, but something. It seemed impossible to her that Anton could do two reps of this weight. As she again began to struggle, she saw Jake step near her and uncap his arm. She opened her mouth and received a squirt of his delightfully thick protein shake. The wondrous liquid worked its magic before she even swallowed. She knocked out both reps before reracking, not willing to risk another. Walking off, Anton gave her a stink face and both turned to watch Dario.

Limit laid on the bench confidently and hammered out a quick rep, shocking everyone, being the smallest of the three contestants. As he attempted the second, the bar slipped from his grip. One half of the bar tilted and pinched his neck and shoulder against the bench. Jake moved to help him, offering protein. Dario shook his head at the hero as much as he was able, and PJ backed off. The determined lifter picked up the half his hand still held so high that it released his pinned arm and allowed him to complete the rep and one extra.

The crowd of lifters, disappointed in themselves, cheered mildly. Jake announced Dario’s lead and moved the three onto the next event. He had called in a favor from some hero buddies and had lined up three marble slabs. They could each lift between one and three slabs to gain points. Crawfish went first for this portion. She got one of the slabs, which doubled her height, onto her back and squatted it powerfully. Her nerves hit her before she went to add another, so she did a few more reps with the one.

Anton followed. He grabbed two marble slabs off the bat and squatted them slowly, a cocky smile annoying the audience. While squatted, he reached for the third slab to add to his back. As it hit the other slab he was visibly affected by the addition. He struggled to finish a single squat, and failed a second, though it put him well ahead of the other two in terms of points.

Dario was stone faced. He approached the slabs and took hold of all three. Anton laughed loudly before Limit got his first rep. Dario looked at his competitors and began to do his reps, maintaining vicious eye contact. To everyone’s disbelief, at five reps, he had already won the entire contest. As Jake walked forward to congratulate him, he went for a sixth rep. It went smoothly until the weight became unnaturally heavy. Dario’s feet pressed into the asphalt below. Bones were heard cracking and snapping.

Anton and Stephanie stepped in to stop their fellow lifter from being crushed, and the same began to happen to them. The sizeable slabs were pressing towards the Earth much more than before. Jake squirted his shake at them to give them strength, holding off their demise. But he had to do more.

Atop the stone, Protein Jake saw a spec of gray. A long forgotten villain, Tun, stood on the marble, cackling evilly. He blasted shake from his arm to fly up and move the enemy, but as his hand touched the tiny creature, he remembered its power. It could manipulate its own mass and density at will, effectively becoming immovable. He had to save them another way.

Jake landed beside the lifters, who groaned and growled, feeling Protein Jake’s protein shake wearing off quickly. The marble pushed them down into the ground further. Jake turned to the astonished crowd and announced Dario as the winner before walking under the marble and lifting it with one arm.

“MOVE.” he told the others, adding his other arm as the marble increased in weight. They fled the ditch being made and Jake put up a good fight against Tun’s efforts. People were in shock at how well he lifted the slabs when the other three could barely survive beneath it. Jake knew there was only one way to survive this. He deactivated his arm. The protein in his body rapidly stopped being synthesized, building up in his body instead of in shake form. He grew in form into a wild muscle monster and the slabs rose up higher than before.

In response, Tun stopped playing games. He activated his weight in full force. Even peak Protein Jake, swollest of the swole, the Yoker, count Jockula, etc. couldn’t hold it. The slabs pushed him down deep into the Earth. Tun increased the weight further and compressed Jake’s massive body in the pressure of the planet. He became the size of a speck. Tun increased the weight again. Jake was a mere particle. Then, the pressure was so great that a single atom of Protein Jake remained. Tun increased the weight again to his own misfortune.

As PJ’s last atom was pressed, it caused a violent, explosive reaction, blasting the marble and Tun all the way out of the hole they made. The explosion itself manifested behind them and landed on the ground. It took the form of molten metal and fire before cooling down. Then it grabbed Tun and threw the little guy into space. Onlookers were shocked as they witnessed the rebirth of Protein Jake into Atomic Mass.

Dario asked from the side, “Do I get my prize from him?”