From: "lewj99" <lewj99@yahoo.com>
Subject: [SuperStrengthFantasies] THE ROOKIE - Joe prequel

THE ROOKIE
by JL

The door swung open, letting in the morning sun.  Actually, not much 
light could get through, because the figure standing in the doorway 
filled up most of the space.  "Shit," Gary muttered.  Christ, what an 
animal!  The distance was far, but it actually looked like he had to 
turn his shoulders slightly to get through the doorway.  He didn`t 
look tall, no more than 5`8", but he was as solid as a Sherman tank.  
If not more, Gary thought.  His face was every inch the new recruit, 
young, clean-shaven, even a little apprehensive.  But his 
physique..."He musta said `twice as big as a bull`", Gary muttered to 
the captain, who nodded in agreement.

The new guy tossed his duffel bag on the table and went over to meet 
the two other men.  Though he was wearing a long-sleeve shirt, the 
size of his gorilla arms was apparent.  Had to have been specially 
made, but even so, the seams were still straining.  The concrete 
blocks of his pecs stretched the fabric in the other direction.  A 
little bit of hair was visible under the wide collar, which looked 
like it had torn slightly trying to accomodate his dome-like 
lats.  "Hey guys.  I`m Joey Miller.  Are you Captain Franklin?" he 
asked, sticking his hand out to Gary.  

"No, that`s him," Gary said.  "I`m Gary Berkovits, guess you could 
say I`m second in command around here."

"Jesus, you after my job again, Berky?"  Captain Franklin 
laughed.  "Just cause you can tear a car apart, doesn`t mean you`re 
any closer to bein captain."

Joey`s ears perked up at the mention of the car.  "Aw, it was nothin, 
I`ll tell you about it later," Gary said.  "You work out, kid?"

"Yeah, guess you could say so," Joey said.  "But I`ve been big ever 
since I was a kid.  Just sort of comes natural."  Joey looked at the 
assorted weights in the corner, bars loaded with heavy iron plates.

"Gary here is one helluva guy.  7 time winner at the powerlifting 
championships.  Benches, what, 800 pounds?" the captain said.

"More like 850," Gary said, with pride.  "How much you bench, kid?"

"Don`t really know.  They don`t make `em that big," Joey said, 
picking up one of the iron plates in his hand.  He tossed it up in 
the air and grabbed it, like it was a frisbee.  "850`s not too shabby 
though."

Gary was taken aback.  What was this kid talking about?  He was big, 
but there was no way in hell he could bench more than 850.  Gary 
opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get anything 
out the alarm went off.

Joey dropped the weight (it landed on the pile with a resounding 
thud) and headed toward the engine.  Martin, the other fireman on 
duty, rushed into the room.  "Just got a call, there`s been a robbery 
down at Third National, sounds like there may be hostages.  May be a 
rescue operation.  Police are on their way."

Captain Franklin looked straight at Joey.  "Looks like trial by fire, 
kid.  Hope they trained ya well."

                ---------------

By the time the reached the bank ten minutes later, it had been 
cordoned off.  Two of the police officers was leading a pair of 
handcuffed suspects away.  The others still looked quite concerned 
though.  As Franklin and the others jumped down from the engine, an 
officer ran over to brief them.  "We got the suspects, they gave up 
without much of a fight...but we got a bigger problem."

"What`s goin on?"

"The perps herded all the employees into the vault soon as they 
busted into the place.  Musta been an inside job, cause they managed 
to lock it tight."

"Why can`t you just open it again?"

"They pistol-whipped the manager, he`s the only guy who knows the 
combination, and he`s out cold.  We`re tryin to get in touch with the 
head office, and they`re runnin around looking for it, but no luck so 
far.  We called in a team, but they`re fifteen minutes out and may 
not even have the right tools.  Just our luck, damn vault was just 
rebuilt.  That door`s eight inches thick, solid steel.  Walls around 
are two feet thick, concrete with steel reinforcing beams.  We 
believe there are people in there who need immediate medical 
attention, and we don`t have a helluva lotta options."

Just then, Joey approached the duo.  "Don`t mean to interrupt, but I 
think I have an option.  You said it was eight inches thick?"

"Who the fuck are you?"  the officer asked. 

Joey shot him a glare.  "The guy who`s gonna save those hostages.  
Take me to the vault.  Now."

Gary ran up to the two men.  "Whoa, calm down, kid.  Didn`t you hear 
what he said?  Ain`t nothin gonna move that door til the safecrackers 
get here."

Joey looked up at the taller man.  His eyebrows wrinkled, but 
otherwise his face was strangely calm.  He ran a hand through his 
dark crewcut, and Gary thought he looked damn mature for a rookie.  
And pretty damn confident of whatever he had in mind.  "Let me do 
this.  Trust me.  I`ll have `em out in ten minutes."

Joey strode toward the entrance.  The captain went to stop him, but 
Gary held him back with one strong arm.  "He`s got an idea, and we 
sure as hell don`t have anything better to try," Gary said.  Franklin 
reluctantly let him walk into the building.

Joey walked through the deserted lobby, with its high ceilings and 
cheap office furniture, then took a left through a small office 
area.  Gary followed him inside, his curiosity getting the better of 
him.  Just what did this kid have in mind anyway?  He was big, damn 
big, but this was a solid steel vault door, not the cheap metal door 
of a Honda.  This was no time for games.

The door was imposing, to say the least, almost eight feet tall and 
four feet wide, its shiny steel surface reflecting the flourescent 
light.  Joey stood about two feet in front of it, hands on hips, as 
if studying it.  "That motherfucker`s solid all right," he said to 
Gary, turning around, "but I think I can take it.  Fuck, it`d be 
easier to just pound it in, but the hostages might get hurt.  Guess 
it`s comin off."

Gary just stood there, more confused than ever.  "I told ya man, 
trust me.  This muscle ain`t just for show."  Joey faced the door 
again, peeled off his shirt and tossed it aside.  The thickness of 
his upper body shocked even Gary.  Joey`s back was a broad vista of 
mesas and valleys, capped with a volcanic set of traps.  His arms 
jutted out like sequoias, with ham-like triceps clinging to the back 
of his upper arms.  On one of the arms was a tattoo of a horseshoe.

Joey leaned into the door, then said in a booming voice:  "My name`s 
Joseph Miller, I`m with North Metro Fire and Rescue.  There`s no need 
to be alarmed, but it`s imperative that you stay away from the door.  
Repeat, STAY AWAY FROM THE DOOR.  The situation is under control.  
You`ll be out of there in ten minutes.  You have my word."

"Sweet Jesus," Gary whistled.  It was finally sinking in, what Joey 
had planned.  It was impossible, but it was all they had to go on.

Joey ran his hand over the door.  It was state-of-the-art, operated 
by keypad, and had no sort of handle.  He moved his hand over the 
frame, then to the rough concrete wall next to it.  "Should be about 
here..." he muttered, cocking his right fist and driving it home into 
the wall.  The concrete cracked instantly; no, shattered was more 
like it, Gary thought.  Joey pulled his fist out and RAMMED it in 
again, knocking an even deeper hole into the wall.  Smaller cracks 
radiated out in each direction.  With the hole now three inches deep, 
Joey reached in and started pulling chunks of concrete out, hurling 
them backward.  One of them cracked a computer screen.

He kept digging til he was six inches in, then abruptly stopped.  His 
right hand appeared to close around something...one of the locking 
bolts, Gary guessed.  Joey took a deep breath, then grunted loudly.  
And pulled.  His entire right arm swelled like a nest of pythons, 
thick cables and veins visible beneath the hair on his forearms.  
Those forearms looked solid enough to suport a bridge.  There was a 
horrible squealing noise as the locking bolt struggled to stay in 
place, three inches thick of specially engineered iron.  "C`MON!" 
Joey roared, the determination setting in on his reddening face.  He 
placed his left hand on the wall for support, and it immediately 
cracked.  Small bits of concrete were ground into dust.

Gary`s face dropped as he thought the bolt was holding...the kid was 
obviously incredibly strong, but there was no way...then he noticed a 
new crack spreading horizontally along the wall.  Joey grimaced and 
slowly pulled his arm back, his bicep crowding the space between his 
forearm and bulky shoulder.  The squeal got louder, forged iron being 
bent out of shape, a bit like the sound Gary had heard when he 
wrenched that door off.  The horizontal crack spread, bits of 
concrete fell to the floor...then, with one sudden tug, Joey yanked 
the whole fucking thing of the wall.  That part of the wall appeared 
to EXPLODE outward, then Joey was just standing there with the 
twisted bolt in his hand.  It had sheared clear off from the door, 
and was bent outward where Joey had pulled at it.  A fine layer of 
dust covered the craggy peak of his bicep.

Without slowing, he tossed the twisted bolt aside (Christ, you could 
even see the indentations his hand made! Gary thought) and started 
kicking the wall below.  The battered concrete cracked and split 
open, and within seconds he was leaning down.  This time the hole was 
big enough for both hands, so he crouched with his ass inches off the 
ground and pulled again.  His back separated like a land mass after 
an earthquake, huge mounds of muscle bulging and swelling outward.  
With both arms working, the bottom bolt didn`t stand any chance.  The 
familiar crack spread out again, the twin lobes on his triceps peaked 
hugely, and the entire bolt blew out.  Joey stumbled backward and 
nearly fell on his ass.  Amazingly, Gary had to fight the urge to 
laugh.

Gary looked at the twisted bolts, three inches thick, designed to 
protect the door against an explosion, but no match for this kid`s 
muscles.  He felt woozy.  What kept him standing was when Joey looked 
him square in the eye.  "Make sure the paramedics are standing by," 
he said in that uncannily mature voice.  Then he allowed a small 
smile to cross his lips.  "This is gonna get a bit freaky, dude."  
Like it wasn`t freaky enough already, Gary thought.

Joey leaned back, then rammed his shoulder into the wall.  Huge 
chunks of concrete fell away, and the entire room seemed to shake.  
He kept ramming until a sizeable portion of the wall was simply 
crushed...but he wasn`t trying to get at them through the wall.  
Small glimpses of steel were evident through the cracked concrete - 
the side of the door.  Joey grabbed the corner of the door with both 
hands, his fingers on the inside, his thumbs digging into the front.  
Even from across the room Gary could see his hands were compressing 
the steel.  Holy shit.  Joey planted his legs (causing cracks to 
spread across the floor as well), threw back his head and ROARED.  
His hands dug into the door frame, all that steel warping under his 
insane power.  He leaned back, pulling, yanking, tugging, anything to 
dislodge that 5-ton slab of steel.  Inside he could hear voices, 
confused, scared.  

The vault door had been designed to contain a short-range dynamite 
blast, and it proved remarkably resilient to Joey`s muscle 
assault.  "Think you can take me, you piece of shit?"  Joey said, 
infuriated, through sharp breaths.  "I`ve levelled buildings with 
these fuckin arms.  Bent I-beams in half.  Ain`t no way you`re gonna 
stand up to this."

Suddenly the door emitted a loud creak, shifting slightly in its 
frame.  "Yeah man, keep doin it!"  Gary shouted.  "You got it!"  The 
sweat was pouring off Joey`s face, but he seemed far from 
exhaustion.  He leaned farther back, his arms swelling impossibly, 
stronger and harder than the steel he was challenging.  With the 
locking bolts broken off, that side of the door was significantly 
weakened.  Wavering vertical bends started appearing in the door, 
tiny, barely noticeable at first.  Joey kept yelling, swearing, 
pulling backward.  The bank filled with the sound of steel being bent 
out of shape, an awful screeching sound that sounded completely 
unnatural to Gary.

"AARRRRGGHHH!"  Joey screamed.  He had pulled that side of the door 
far enough out that he could wrap his hands around the entire side.  
He stopped long enough to take three quick breaths, then pulled 
again.  Where he was getting this power from, Gary had no idea, but 
incredibly, it seemed to be working.  Joey`s back resembled a 
continental map, his quads had split clear through his pants, and his 
neck had damn near merged with his traps.  A couple of veins snaked 
their way across the surface of his shoulders, and his hairy pecs had 
swelled enormously.  Only a rookie, Gary thought.  Unreal.

Joey could feel the growing weakness in the steel slab.  He tugged 
harder, and other, smaller locking bolts began to pull out of place.  
That entire side of the door was now bent noticeably outward; from 
Gary`s perspective, it looked like he was peeling the damn thing off, 
like the lid from a can of sardines.  The entire wall was shaking, 
the door shuddered in its relentless tug-of-war with this 20-year-old 
rookie firefighter.  Joey stopped only long enough to wipe the sweat 
from his eyes.  "OK motherfucker.  We`ve dicked around too long," he 
muttered.

Before Gary`s shocked eyes, Joey seemed to pull even harder.  The 
steel groaned and bent, the entire slab pulling further out from the 
wall.  Gary could hear the excited shouts of the hostages 
inside.  "Almost there man!  Rip that fucker out!"  Gary yelled.  
Bellowing, his arms shaking with the effort, Joey gritted his teeth, 
crushed the steel in his grip...and pulled half of the vault door 
clear out of the wall.  It stuck outward, bent into a noticeable 
curve, half in and half out of its frame.  But there was enough space 
to get at the hostages.  A man stuck his head outside, looked at the 
bent door, then looked at the monstrous man leaning on the wall, 
breathing like a jackhammer, his face red.  "What in the hell--?"  he 
said.

Gary took over.  "Is there anyone injured in there?"  he yelled.

"Yeah, a couple of the tellers are bleeding.  Better get someone in 
here."

The paramedics were standing by at the entrance, so Gary shouted at 
them to hurry the hell into the vault.  They rushed right by Joey, 
then looked at the bent door with obvious confusion.  Explosives?  
They hadn`t heard anything...but the opening was wide enough for them 
to get into, and would be wide enough to get the injured out, as long 
as they didn`t need a stretcher.

Gary rushed over to where Joey was standing.  "Fucking hell man, that 
was incredible!  How in the hell did you ever get so strong?"

Joey managed a smile.  "Told ya man...just sorta comes...natural," he 
said, his breathing slowly returning to normal.

After checking that the situation was under control in the vault, the 
two muscular men walked to the bank`s exit.  "Jesus, what am I gonna 
tell the other guys?  That the rookie just ripped a fucking vault 
door outta the wall with his bare hands?"

Joey chuckled.  "Yeah.  Somethin like that."

"Looks like I`ll have to give up my title at the powerlifting 
championships," he said, clapping a hand on Joey`s pumped 
shoulder.  "Guess second place ain`t so bad."

   --------------------------------------

Later that evening, Gary and Joey sat in the firehouse , shooting the 
shit like a couple of old pals.  The other guys hadn`t believed Gary, 
until Joey had demonstrated his strength by bending one of the weight 
bars over his traps; the u-shaped bar now sat in the corner.  

"Fuck man, I`m glad you`re on our side,"  Gary said; it wasn`t the 
first time he`d thought it that day.

"Yeah, well, I`ve just been pissing around for too long.  Got kicked 
out of the Navy when I went a little outta control.  Figured I`d find 
somethin where I could put this strength to good use."  A sly smile 
crossed his face.  

"What?"

"Just that I ever since I started gettin strong I  wanted to try 
somethin like that, take on a vault door, but I always wanted to see 
if I could bust it right outta the fuckin wall.  Then maybe play with 
it a bit, try ta bend it or something.  I knew I had to stop to let 
the paramedics in, but now...think they`ve cleaned up the bank yet?"

"With what?  It`d take a fuckin crane to move that slab.  Guy said it 
was five tons, in case you didn`t hear."

Joey smiled.  "Looks like we get off in an hour.  Wanna head back and 
have a little fun?"

Gary could only laugh.  "Whatever you say, buddy."

END