Red Kryptonite
âOhâŚno I love itâŚThanks.â
John had to concentrate all his effort to dull down any and all feelings, especially the one that reared its ugly head the most, disappointment. When he and his friends agreed to do a sort of âSecret Santaâ for cosplay ideas for Comic-Con, he was ecstatic. He never had the confidence to cosplay before and a place like Comic Con would be perfect.
Their small southern town wasnât exactly the best place for a bunch of skinny nerds who still liked comic books in their twenties to be around. To most people they were just kids who refused to grow up and that meant all the asshole jocks from high school who then went on to become cops could continue their bullying and harassment whenever they were unfortunate to run into one of them.Â
It would be nice to get out of state, nice to go somewhere where they were included and nice to cosplay. But John, who had diligently gotten his friend Noah a great and pricey Green Lantern suit, was now looking at his own sordid present. In a gift box there was just a cheap and tacky Superman suit that was slightly baggy, the colours a little off and the gravest sin for nerds who cared enough. It was the Superman Returns version of the costume, raised logo, maroon cape and all. He wondered if it had been used, smelling faintly of some cheap detergent and as his eyes glanced over the costume, he noticed a random red ring tucked among aâŚClark Kent wig.Â
The wig itself was synthetic, like a big plastic piece of LEGO hair with Supermanâs iconic curl jutting out the front. He tried to think back to red rings in Superman comics but was too marred by disappointment and putting effort in not showing it to really care right about now. Instead he looked up and glanced at his friends.
âI hate it.â John said at once, causing a few blinks and one of his friends to stiffen suddenly. He blinked, eyelids fluttering, not realising what he just said at first before he broke out in laughter. âIâm kidding. I love it, come on guys I doâŚâ He lied with a wide smile that didnât reach his eyes. He hadnât realised he was wearing the red ring.
It was a couple weeks later when John was the one driving them to Comic Con. He waited outside Noahâs place with his other two friends, Lee and Troy in the back, dressed as Batman and Deadpool. Lee was scrolling through his phone, half-asleep behind his black cowl, and Troy kept fidgeting with his katanas, making clacking noises every few seconds that grated on Johnâs nerves more than usual.Â
John was already annoyed when he looked down at himself, in the cheap spandex of the Superman costume. It was worse than he thought, a baggy red and blue mess with cheap rubber for the logo and some thin fabric that made his wrists itch. The red ring was on his finger too, though he didnât know why. He hadnât taken it off since the night he got it.Â
âTroy...the katanas are fine,â assured John with a slight smile to his friend, once again trying to play the polite friend. Troy ignored him and continued to toy with them, muttering something about them not fitting right. John took a deep breath in and tried to ignore him, his fingers drumming with a sudden uncharacteristic impatience as he waited for Noah. He hadnât noticed the slight burning emanating from the ring, only making him more annoyed as the clinking of the plastic katanas sounded again.
Johnâs jaw flexed. He stared dead ahead, knuckles tightening around the steering wheel, hearing it creak slightly. The more annoyed he got, the more of that burning he felt not that he noticed where it came from, just a heat that came from nowhere and was felt everywhere. âYouâre gonna break them.â His voice came out lower than intended as he glanced sharp in the rearview mirror. His eyes looked over to Lee, wanting him to get off his phone and say something, but the man yawned and kept scrolling.
âIâm not breaking em just-â
Clink.
âShut up!â John snapped at once. As soon as he did the heat flared within him and the ring suddenly felt tighter, John had forgotten it was even there. He didnât even remember putting it on. Nor did he remember when his feet suddenly felt like they were heavier and bigger, suddenly fitting snugly into the boots that were a size too large for them. His toes brushed the front as they lengthened, the thin lining of the boots stretching as they were pushed against and the arches thickened.
The boots creaked, seams tightening as if pulled by invisible hands as Johnâs feet grew denser and the floppy awkward boots suddenly fit more snugly. The bright red rubber of them began to darken, compressing as flimsy rubber turned to a deep rich crimson stitched and clinging tightly around both his boots and the calves, the material richer and thicker. His calves themselves inflated with muscle, fitting the ankles of the boots better as they looked at odds with the cheap spandex material of the rest. The boots looked like they had come from Man of Steel compared to the cheap Returns design.
âHey! Sorry it took so longâŚâ Noah was suddenly at the side of the car, hopping into the front seat. âWe ready?â There was some excitement from the backseat as John just nodded, adjusting the rearview mirror again and thankful Troy had stopped playing around. If anything the man looked subdued, his body held closer and tighter and John felt the ghost of a smile haunt his lips.Â
He liked it.Â
It was only about a half hour into the drive, about to leave the outskirts of their sprawling town when John saw sirens. Great. His already tight grip on the wheel grew tighter and he sighed as he pulled off to the side. Troy was nervous, Lee had finally looked up from his phone for the first time during the drive and Noah was assuring everybody theyâd be okay and to just get their IDs out just in case. John just sighed, hoping to get this over with and felt a cold dread wash over him when he saw the familiar face approaching.Â
âJesus christ, Noah..JohnâŚthat you?â An obnoxious guffaw sounded out from the cop, officer Kyle Taylor, police officer and old high school bully. âHoly shit you guys uhâŚwow you lookâŚâ He didnât even pretend to hide his judgement as his eyes trailed over their costumes. âOh my god and John youâre Superman? Jesus, you uhâŚthat little job youâre doing not paying well? Kidding. Okay come on, let's see your IDs.âÂ
âWhy?âÂ
The word slipped out of John before he was even aware of it. His brown steely blue eyes glanced up at Kyle, making the officer blink.
âUhâŚcus I just said so? Come on, I pulled you over. IDsâŚâ Kyle tapped the top of the car twice, one arm leaning against as he peered into the driver side window at John. âYou get contacts or something?âÂ
âNo. Why did you pull us over?â John couldnât control the irritation and sharpness of his words as the rest of his friends shifted.
âJohn-â Noah started.
âNahâŚâ Kyle held up his hand to silence Noah and leaned closer. âWe got a problem, John? Cus from where Iâm standing youâre lookinâ awful mouthy for a guy dressed like heâs in some dumb porn. You forget who I am, Johnny?â Kyleâs smug face leaned further into the window, breath reeking of coffee. The name made something crack behind Johnâs eyes, the smirk and the smug tone and just the way he sounded like they were back in high school. In a flash John felt the heat pulse from the ring and his eyes flash red, long enough to be seen but not long enough to be definitive. Kyle flinched back like he had suddenly been pushed and swallowed, suddenly shuddering like he saw more than just the eyes change. âUhâŚyâknow on uh second thought man itâs just a taillight. UhâŚyou guys have fun. Whatever.â
âThanks officer,â said John, mirroring the manâs smug grin as he saw Kyle shakily nod as he watched the man quickly go back to his cruiser. All three of Johnâs friends exchanged looks, none of them seeing what Kyle saw, feeling what he felt when Johnâs ring pulsed. And none of them, not even John noticed that the angrier they got, the more bulbous his biceps had grown, thickening and stretching and pulling the spandex taut as the sleeves began to look like they were a deeper blue, thicker too.Â
The texture of them had changed so that it seemed the sleeves were almost stylised with how different they looked compared to the thin fabric. The sleeves were textured with a deep blue interlocking pattern, making them look almost like scales as he rolled his broader shoulders.Â
âUhâŚdude you been working out?â Noah asked, glancing down at Johnâs arms. He swore they werenât that thick a few minutes ago, but the more he tried to remember, the more he and John and anyone else could only picture those toned arms in their minds.Â
âNo.â And with that, John started the car and they drove off again.
As they drove, John could feel himself continuing to shift, something within him continuing to change as his friends made scattered comments rather than conversation with him. His grip on the steering wheel grew even tighter, his hands growing larger and the fingers stretching. As he continued to listen to the others talk during the drive, the suit began to shift over the hours as the suit clung tighter with every mile.The blue continued to darken, deepening into a royal shade that shimmered faintly and took on the same patterned texture with the sleeves, fitting seamlessly.
The once thin fabric suddenly had a weight to it, one that made it thicker and denser as it looked smooth and cupped the growing muscles. From the swelling pecs to the fast forming abs, the suit took on the interlocking patterns that now crept beyond the shoulders, expanding across his chest and made the suit almost look like some kind of armour. Even the emblem on his chest, the famous S for Superman, was no longer rubbery or raised but sat firm and darker as Johnâs shoulders continued to broaden.Â
As John continued to drive, he felt a heat of both pleasure and anger filling him as Noah kept sneaking glances over. The occasional mutters turned into some awkward silence as no one could put a finger on what had changed, but something had. At best, they thought John was just having a rough day.
But at worstâŚwellâŚthey couldnât really define what the worst could be. Johnâs thighs pushed wider apart in the seat, stretching the fabric tighter and tighter as the legs were the next to be consumed by the same pattern, the same darker shade of blue. Even the maroon cape started to grow slightly brighter, a different dark shade of crimson, something recognisably red and longer too as it looked like well spun cloth than cheap flimsy fabric.Â
It was only a couple hours later throughout the drive when they arrived at the convention and when John stepped out, he was no longer the same John that came into the car. He was a John that was taller and broader and he could feel his cock stirring in his bulge that the suit didnât do much to hide. His friends trailed behind him, a little nervous and wary of John and his mood.
But John just smiled as he saw the looks he was getting from both men and women, trailing over his impressive form as he glanced around, only his face still recognisably his old self even with the cold blue eyes that glanced around. He was about to turn to his friends when someone had bumped into Noah and almost shoved him aside.
âWatch it man,â he heard over his shoulder and John instantly turned to see what happened. The red ring glowed again on his hand and he scowled.
âHey!â John called out, the word coming out sharper than he thought as the man, tall and wearing a bulky Iron Man cosplay with flickering lights, turned to him. A group of people John assumed were his friends flanked behind, some not in costume, others as an array of different characters all Marvel themed. âYou bumped into him?â
âSo?â The man scoffed like John was being the weird one. He could feel that familiar twitch of irritation behind his eyes that came with Kyle and his smug tone, returning full force as he looked at this man.
âSo apologise.â John stepped forward.
âDude itâs a crowded convention you canât just yâknowâŚâ The man gestured at Noah. âJust stand there man, people bump into each othe-â
âSay it.â John was only a few inches from the man. Noah swallowed.
âUh John man itâs oka-â
âNo I wanna him hear say it. Say it. Apologise.âÂ
âLook man just rela-â
At that John didnât even wait for what stupid thing he was sure the cosplayer was going to say, grabbing him with impressive strength and lifting him up. There was some faint twang of worry from his old anxious mind that was concerned about security. But he drowned it out when he heard the sounds of the manâs friends (and his own) gasping. He was sure it was because they were scared, but he had to admit, part of it must have been how strong he was to lift a guy and his bulky cosplay off the ground one armed.Â
âYeah?â John tilted his head, his jawline suddenly seemed sharper the longer he held the man in the air. The cheap wig that was meant to resemble Clarkâs hair looked like it had melted away as Johnâs hair was real, not some cheap synthetic but a real head of hair with a slick curl sprouting from the front.Â
âIâm s-sorry! Fuck Iâm sorry man please put me down!â The man whimpered much to Johnâs delight and he held him there for just another second, then another and then finally he let him down. âThanks,â said John casually with a friendly smile that didnât reach his eyes. He turned at once to see Noahâs horrified expression, ignoring them though it only made the heat from the ring worse. His nose had grown sharper and straighter, larger too to fit better on his larger square head.
His face continued to subtly reshape itself as the cheekbones rose higher, his lips bloomed and any and all softness of his features, of the pudgy faced nerd from before, were gone. Noah would have been even more scared if he could realise this wasnât Johnâs face and if he wasnât blushing, finding him handsome.
Johnâs smile widened as his senses could pick up Noahâs heartbeat, the flutter of it, the quick breaths and the dilated pupils. It could have been fear, sure, but then John looked down at himself and knew that there was no way it could be that. His eyes lingered on his friends and then he made his choice as he wrapped an arm around Noahâs shoulder.
âUh Jo-â
âLetâs go get a drink,â John declared at once as he grinned down at Noah, the friend who was once the âtallâ one of the group was now a couple inches shorter than him.
âUh John I donât really drink this early man-â
âYeah you do,â said John with a wolfish smile and at that, he began leading Noah, looking for somewhere to drink. He didnât even look behind if his friends were following. He just assumed they were. He assumed because thatâs what he wanted to happen and if there was anything John knew, what he wanted, he would always get.
Much like an apology and much like Noah, as he heard the rattling of ice in glasses and bar music somewhere in the building, many many rooms away. Thank god for super senses, he could lead Noah to the bar and smell the manâs arousal all the way there. Just like he wanted.
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