If I Had My Druthers...

A short story about a small woman who gains the power of Mighty Mouse.

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Minivera "Minnie" Hughes was rather tired of being a shrimp. Only 5'1" in height and 90lbs wet, she always felt incredibly intimidated by those around her. So, one day, she decided to finally do something about it. She decided to change her life. She decided to get buff.

"I can't grow in height, of course, but maybe I can add a few extra pounds of muscle," she said to herself.

A trip to the local gym seemed like a fine idea at the time. However, when she actually walked inside, Minnie couldn't believe how toned and strong everyone appeared. Oh, there were also those who were just starting out themsleves, and others who wanted to stay nothing more than aerobically fit, but they weren't the ones that caught Minnie's eye. They weren't the ones that she felt would truly dwarf or look down on her. And, honestly, she didn't even know where to start....

Lift some dumbells? Try the barbell? But how heavy should she go? Any time she even reached over for a weignt someone bigger than her would casually move in front and grab them first. She was too meek to assert herself, too, so just let them do their thing as she watched on for a while.

Eventually she got hold of some weights but they were paltry compared to what others were heaving around her. It wasn't exactly easy for them, but they still got their reps in, grunting and moaning as they did so, slamming the weights back down before getting a quick breather and moving onto the next set.

"I'll never be that strong," she whispered to herself.

"Do you need help?" someone then asked her.

Minnie turned around and found herself staring into the chest and neck of a gorgeous female bodybuilder. She lifted her head then and followed the lines of sweat up to her face. The woman smirked mischievously at her while placing her fists on her hips.

"W-What?" asked a confused Minnie.

"I said, do you want some help? You look lost," she replied.

Minnie gulped and nodded. "Yeah, I'm just a beginner and I don't know how much to really lift."

"Oh, I can help you," she said, putting her muscular arm around Minnie and leading her over to a nearby barbell. She wrapped a belt around her tiny waist then and instructed her to try and lift the bar off the ground, informing her that there was only one plate either end so it wasn't too heavy.

Minnie tried and tried but struggled to budge it. As she did so, others in the gym stopped and had a quick look over. They couldn't contain their laughter as this pint-sized woman lost her grip and fell back onto her ass. She couldn't figure out exactly what had gone wrong, but as she lay there she noticed that while the plates were indeed thin enough, they both had 50kg on the side.

"I can't lift 100kg just like that!" she said to the woman.

The bodybuilder offered her hand then and pulled Minnie up aggressively.

"I'm sorry," she responded. "I thought you might be stronger than you look. My mistake. My name's Maria Doughlas by the way. What's yours?"

"Minnie. Minnie Hughes."

The woman tried not to laugh.

"Her name is MINNIE everyone!"

"What's her middle name," another pumped-up gym-goer chimed in, "Mouse?"

Minnie had heard this all before. Even back in school due to her diminutive size and name she'd been mocked and ridiculed, and yes, branded Minnie Mouse. From then on she returned to her corner of the gym and worked out on her own.

A few weeks passed, and, to her credit, she continued turning up to the gym, doing her best to bulk up; yet no matter what she tried there was little to no evidence of serious weight gain or her body becoming more toned or stronger, and, sadly, the bullying didn't stop.

One day, she even tried to lift higher weights to see if it would make some kind of difference, and she was shocked to find she could actually move the barbell. But, when she opened her eyes, she noticed that another, much larger woman had grabbed the bar and had actually lifted it while standing directly behind her.

"Nice try, Mighty Mouse, but looks like you needed my help in the end" said Daphne, a friend of Maria, winking over to her buddy then.

'Mighty Mouse'? This was a new one. A nickname Minnie was unfamiliar with. She sensed it was an old cartoon character they were referring to. One before her time. Either way, she was still sure they were making fun of her by calling her that.

But they used it so often now that it got to the stage where Minnie finally looked up the character in question. She discovered it was a small mouse in a yellow and red costume who had powers similar to Superman. When she got home she even watched a few of the episodes. It was a silly but classic show.

"I wish I did somehow have his powers," she muttered to herself. "Then I'd show them all. I'd be Mighty and no longer regular old Minnie!"

However, she kept going up to the gym very much as the latter, toiling away at the weights again, only getting a tiny bit stronger as time went by. It wasn't until George, one of the few half friendly members came over to her that the penny finally dropped.

"You do realize that we're all on some sort of gear, right?" he revealed.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're all on something to aid our growth and physical development. I, myself, am midway through a cycle as we speak."

Minnie didn't know what any of that really meant, but understood he was likely talking about some sort of performing enhancing drugs.

"Would they make me stronger?" she asked.

"Not really. It's more about increasing your size and volume whilst working out. They help you build muscle faster. You still have to put the work in, of course. But the results will come at a more rapid rate. That's how so many of us are jacked at such a relatively young age. It isn't just about bulking and the like."

He then quietly started pointing out people in the gym that sold "stuff" she could try, and coaches that might take her on and explain how and when to use said stuff provided.

"What about him?" asked Minnie, pointing at the biggest man in the gym. He lifted bare chested and had a bald head and greyish beard.

"Him?" said George sheepishly. "You don't want to go anywhere near him. He's nicknamed the Wizard. Anyone who has bought stuff off of him were apparently never the same. I hear it's toxic stuff. The guy is into all types of occult shit, hence the title. Makes promises of not having to put the work in, that you'll just grow big and strong without needing to even workout. Dangerous, disingenuous nonsense."

"I like the idea of getting big without having to lift much weights, though," she replied.

"Well, it's your funeral," replied George, shrugging his shoulders and stepping back to the rack.

Indeed, Minnie didn't lift another weight that day, instead waiting for the Wizard to finish his session, and as he made for his truck, she was waiting.

"Well, what can I do you for, Minnie Mouse?" he joked.

"Does everyone just call me that?"

"Seems so," he replied. "That, and Mighty Mouse."

"Well, I want to live up to my nickname, like you do."

"Oh, so someone told you about me?"

"They told me you're different. You can use the dark arts of doping to allow someone get big, fast. It's all I want. I'm tired of being so small and weak."

"I like your ambition," he replied. "Personally I prefer keeping my head down, using my knowledge to build myself up to a certain point, to just be the biggest in there, and enjoy to still lift some weights, but one can go far far beyond that. If you really want it, that is. Lord knows, you wouldn't be the first."

"I do, believe me," she replied without hesitation.

He placed his bag down gently onto the hood of his truck, zipped it open again and reached inside.

"You know, it's been a while since anyone had the guts to ask me for this type of help. They all think I'm some kind of dangerous freak, but truth is I help people become who they truly want to be."

He then handed a small bag to Minnie which had a syringe inside.

"This is something more advanced I've come up with recently. Something new. Inject it into your veins and say the phrase "If I had my Druthers..."

"Druthers?"

"Yes, that's what I call this special mix. It comes from an old phrase that's fallen mostly out of use these days, but I also set it as the trigger for the substance. Say it just after you inject, and then add on whatever it is you want to be, and you will be permanently changed."

"What's actually in it, though?"

"The blood of a changling. You get one transformation out of it. That's all."

"How much do you want for it?" she asked.

"No, this one is on the house. That's what you get for trusting me," he said. "Unlike the others who are happy with the poison they inject instead."

Minnie rushed home then and placed the syringe out on the table.

"Can such a small thing make such a huge difference?" she wondered. "Surely not."

She wondered then if she'd been had? Maybe George was right. Maybe this stuff was lethal. Maybe this Wizard character was having a joke at her expense. But then she thought of the others laughing in her face, calling her names. It enraged her on some level, so much so she wanted to take the terrible risk and inject the concoction into herself.

"OK, I'll do it!" she declared, picking the needle up off the table.

She stabbed it into her arm then and let out a light yelp. When she'd pushed the contents in she felt a little whoosie and a warm flush passed across her entire body.

"If...if..." she started. "If I had my Druthers..." she continued, "I'd have the powers of Mighty Mouse!"

There was a huge flash and her body was suddenly engulfed in light. She floated there for a time in her kitchen, and she could feel her gym clothes tightening.

"W-Whats happening to me?!"

She grabbed her zipped hoodie then and tore it asunder, before ripping off her sweat pants for good measure. Next her sports bra and underwear lay in tatters on the floor. Her muscles started to grow and she felt superhuman strength fill her entire body.

"Yesss, it's working! It's actually working!"

On her hands white gloves magically appeared, and a yellow skinsuit covered her new form, and a red cape flowed down behind her.

She landed then on the ground with a huge thump, cracking the floor beneath her. She slowly stood up in awe then, checking her body out.

"My god, I actually have their powers! I am Mighty!"

She threw herself forth and crashed through the wall and ceiling of her apartment. She didn't care about the destruction she was already leaving behind her. There was only one place she wanted to go now: the gym.

The usual suspects were there, too. Maria, Daphne, George. All were horrified when they heard a loud bang and then noticed an enroumous crack spreading across the roof of the building. Was it an earthquake, was the gym coming apart? All would soon become clear as Minnie tore back the ceiling and held it aloft, revealing her new self to everyone below.

"Hello, folks," she laughed. "Having trouble with those weights? I can help you with that!"

She flung what was left of the roof onto the street outside, and floated down. She then grabbed a retreating Maria in one hand and a barbell in the other.

"Oh look, 100kg with just one finger!" she joked, "Who says hard work doesn't pay off?"

She then threw Maria to the ground and started bending the barbell around her, trapping the panicked woman on the floor.

Next, she turned and noticed a retreating Daphne. With superhuman speed she fled across the floor of the gym and grabbed another barbell, quickly placed weight after weight onto each end, and then cut Daphne off by placing the weight down upon her chest. She struggled to breath as a result, so Minnie pulled it back off of her.

"Looks like you needed my help in the end, Daphne, I guess," she laughed.

Then she noticed a dumbfounded George close by and flew over to him. Picking up a heavy dumbell beside them, she squeezed each end together until she warped and crushed the dumbell. It was as if it were made out of molding clay.

"My god," said George, "You've become so strong, Minnie."

"I prefer Mighty now," she smiled. "But these weights are beneath me now. I need a new challenge, I fear."

"What do you mean?"

Before she could respond to his question, Mighty Minnie had smashed her way through the floor and disappeared. The remaining gym goers stared down the hole she'd just made and we're confused as to what was happening. Suddenly, though, the whole building started to rock. Using her newfound super strength, Minnie was indeed attempting to lift the whole gym off of its foundations.

Sure enough, the building budged and cracked off the ground, and was then carried into the air. As it became airborne it began to crumbled but not before the occupants inside could hear Minnie laugh.

"How many reps do you think I can muster before it falls apart?"

Up and down she lifted the gym over her shoulders, and twenty reps later she let it fall with an enourmous clatter, leaving those inside struggling to get out of the rubble.

Mighty Minnie, however, just floated proudly overhead, completely untroubled. She loved her new yellow and red supersuit, and her incredible power, squeezing her biceps and rubbing her abs.

"I'm so glad I signed up for this gym," she said to herself. "It literally did changed my life! But now I've grown beyond it, and I'm off to find something even heavier to lift!"

As she flew off and scorched across the sky, the aforementioned Wizard watched on from his truck, and smiled. He had never seen anyone with such vision. It left him wondering then, what would happen if others had their Druthers...?