“Can you grow everything?”

You have no idea how many times I’ve heard that line. Since puberty, I’ve been able to control the proportions of my body at will, growing and shrinking my limbs and head. It’s the kind of superhuman power that everyone and their brother seems to have developed lately. Ever since I first manifested my powers and started showing it off at parties, as you do, some wiseass implies that I can make my dick double in size just like my arms and legs. Well, I can, but I’d rather that’s not how I was known.

But I’ll tell you what. That question once lead me to the best night of my life.

It started out as a pretty bad night, actually. A few days earlier, my friend Phil and I had been at the bar deep in our cups. I had just been laid off, and was banging an oversized fist on the table. Phil had joked that I could be a superhero, what with my powers and all. These days, costumed heroes were so commonplace that the government gave them grants to focus on crime-stopping. Jokingly, we had started to come up with superhero names.

(“The Fister! No, Fist Man!”

“What about Big Boy?”

“Seth, that sounds like you’re talking about your cock.”

“Growth Man?”

“Still sounds like you’re talking about your cock.”

“You know, for someone who hasn’t been laid in six months, I get a lot of people talking about my dick.”)

That bit of conversation was the last thing I remember about that night. It had just been a joke. But when I woke up the next morning (okay, the next afternoon), I had put in an order for a blue bodysuit and had halfway completed a superhero grant application as “The Smasher”.

And so, I decided to become The Smasher. I had always been interested in superheroes, going through a particular obsession with the Three Furies, our local hero trio, in my teens. To this day I followed fan sites that tracked the activity of costumed heroes across the country, hoping to catch video of their latest battles. And Phil had been right about one thing: I did have the powers to qualify me. Hell, there were heroes that didn’t even have powers these days. How hard could it be? But before I could get my government cheese, I needed to establish myself as a hero and show that I was fighting crime.

The night I want to tell you about was my first night on patrol. I had squeezed into my new costume. It was a little too tight, and looked appropriately generic. There had probably been dozens of idiots, with powers or not, who had ordered a costume like this and gone on a night or two of crime-fighting. I took off the gloves so I could at least grow my fists. If they wouldn’t remember my costume, at least they would remember the beating.

So I did what superheroes do and took to the roofs. This proved to be a much more difficult way to travel than I thought. All of the buildings seemed to have different heights, or slanted roofs, or too large a gap between them for me to possibly make the jump. And forget about crossing the road. If I grew my legs I could make large leaps, but I also ran the risk of snapping my ankles. So there was a lot of climbing up and down ladders in alleyways. It wasn’t like I could exactly walk down the sidewalk.

It didn’t take me too long to find trouble. San Alvaro was a pleasant city during the day, but at night it was a hotbed of crime. I found a heavyset man clad all in black, including a ski mask, holding a knife to a diminutive woman. At last, here was my chance!

Of course, I had to get down from the roof first. As it happens, there were no ladders leading into this particular alleyway. So I had to rush down a rickety fire escape into the adjacent alley and rush around on the street. I hoped that the mugger was still there by the time I arrived. As it happened, he was just turning around to leave, purse in hand.

“Stop!” I said in my best dramatic voice. “Purveyor of crimes, prepare to meet ... The Smasher!”

The mugger blinked. “The Smasher ... that’s you?”

“What? I mean, of course that’s me!”

He brandished his knife. “Well, I don’t care what you call yourself, just get the hell out of my way.”

I grew my hands until my fists were the size of volleyballs. With a heroic cry, I swung at the mugger. The problem was that I hadn’t thrown a punch since playground spats, and had never trained in boxing or martial arts. This absence only occurred to me now. No matter how big my fists were, I had no idea how to use them.

Sure enough, the mugger dodged my clumsily thrown punch. His arm thrust forward in a much more efficient fashion, stabbing me in the gut with his knife. Pain shot through me, and I clutched the wound. The mugger kneed me in the crotch, and I sank to the ground. My eyes began to tear up with the agony.

“Fucking nutcase.” The thug stepped over me and made his getaway. The woman he had robbed was long gone, presumably having fled while I stood there talking.

Well. That had sucked. I felt blood trickling through my still-enlarged fingers, and knew I had to go to the hospital. Even if I didn’t have any insurance. Did the superhero grant program cover that? Or did Samson and all those other famous heroes wrack up medical debts like the rest of us? Most likely, they were just strong enough not to get beat up like a chump.

In my woozy brain, I thought that I had to get home and take off my suit before heading to the hospital. Couldn’t let the secret identity slip, after all. So I climbed up onto the roof. It was only until a little later that I realized how I had done it, stretching out my arms to grab onto the edge of the roof and then shrinking them to pull myself up. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? It did tear the sleeves of my costume off, but I wasn’t worried about that right now.

And of course, standing on that roof was my worst nightmare.

He stood eight or nine feet tall, and was covered in jet-black hair. I wouldn’t have even seen him if it wasn’t for his glowing red eyes, whose glint revealed his canine features. Even injured, I remembered the stories in the papers about the new villain in the city, one who tore his victims limbs from limb. They called him the Black Wolf.

“Well well,” he said in a baritone growl. “What do we have now.”

I felt weak as blood continued to trickle down my leg. “Please ... don’t come any closer.”

“An ittle wittle hero, out here to stop us mean old villains?”

“No! I’m not a hero, I’m ... I’m nobody.”

The Black Wolf laughed. “It doesn’t matter who you are. You smell delicious. And you know, I love it when my food wears a mask. Makes the fear all the sweeter.”

So this was it. This is how I would end my short, largely pointless life. No best-selling novel, no reputation as a superhero. Just a mangled body in a cheap mail-order suit. The Black Wolf prepared to pounce, and I shut my eyes.

But the impact never came. After a moment, I dared to open one eye. A glowing gold arrow stuck out of the ground between me and the Black Wolf. The beast fell back on his haunches, growling at the projectile. Incredibly, I looked up to my saviors.

I saw three beautiful women, each in instantly-recognizable costumes. Any resident of San Alvaro, not just the superhero junkies like me, knew who these women were. There was Artemis, a perfectly-proportioned woman in a silver bodysuit and domino mask. She held a golden bow, which had fired the arrow. On her left was a busty woman whose hair and skin-tight leotard were the same shade of emerald green, the favourite form of the shape-shifter Changeling. And on Artemis’s right was a spooky looking woman with pale skin, an ornate black costume, and six arms: the mysterious Arachne. Together, they were San Alvaro’s top superhero team, the Three Furies. And they had just saved my ass.

Artemis’s regal voice cut through the smoggy night. “Playing with your food again, Black Wolf?”

The monstrous wolf-man snarled. “My hunt concerns you not, woman.”

“I am the protector of this city, and all who live within it,” said Artemis. “Leave this man alone, or my next arrow will fly true.”

The Black Wolf seemed to consider this for a while. I was still terrified. A big beast like that could rush forward and take me in my jaws before anyone could react. He might get shot full of arrows in the process, but that wouldn’t do me much good. So, with a snarl, he turned tail and ran.

I looked up to the Furies. They still seemed unreal to me. There was a kind of haze around them, like an aura. Or maybe that was because I was losing blood. I tried to think of something to say, some witty quip that would cause them to accept me as one of their own.

But instead, I passed out.

“Shhh, I think he’s coming around now.”

“About time.”

I forced my eyes open, faintly surprised to be alive. The last I remembered, I had been stabbed in the gut, encountered a monster, and passed out in a pool of my own blood on an obscure rooftop. I thought I had seen the Three Furies, but that might have just been a hallucination. They didn’t seem like people you would ever really meet.

But here they were, squatting over me.

I was in a penthouse apartment. I could see the night sky through the large skylight, so at least I hadn’t been out that long. I lay on a sofa in the centre of a large living room whose walls were lined with costumes and weapons. Above me were the faces of Artemis, Arachne and Changeling. They seemed even more beautiful up close. And not only was I looking at them, I must be in their base of operations.

“Where—where am I?” I said, stupidly.

“You’re in our safe place,” said Artemis.

“I call it the Henhouse,” said Changeling.

I realized that I wasn’t wearing a shirt, and that my very average physique was bared for these impossibly sculpted women to see. I sat up and groped for the spot where I had been stabbed. There was nothing but smooth skin there.

“Artemis healed you,” said Arachne.

So Artemis had some kind of healing power? I had a pretty good memory for superhero powers, picked up during my teenage obsession. Most heroes’ powers were very clear – Changeling could change shape, Arachne could spin webs, etcetera. But Artemis had always been something of a mystery. She clearly had superhuman strength and reflexes, and photos had been taken of her flying. Some speculated that she also had mind-control powers, based on incidents of her calming crowds. But if she could control minds, why would she ever need to fight? Nobody had mentioned healing before, but it was certainly possible.

“Cat got your tongue?” said Changeling.

I realized that I had been lost in thought. It still felt as if none of this could actually be happening to me. “Er, sorry. My name’s Se—The Smasher.”

“We’re not calling you The Smasher,” Changeling said.

“Well, Seth then. And, uh, thank you so much. You saved my life.”

“We know,” said Changeling.

Arachne scuttled away, seemingly bored of the conversation. Artemis looked over me with a maternal frown. “You did a very foolish thing tonight. If we hadn’t come by...”

I groaned. “I know. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a hero.”

Artemis folded her arms. “I never said that. Now drink some water – you’re probably dehydrated. I’ll get you some clothes and Arachne will show you out.”

I sat up. Part of me still expected there to be a pain in my gut, but there was nothing but a strange phantom twinge. Changeling was still sitting on her haunches, looking at me curiously.

“So, Mr. Smasher,” she said. “What was your plan, anyway? You got powers, or just planned to beat guys up by flailing at them?”

“I have powers,” I said. “I can make parts of my body grow.”

“I thought all men could do that,” she said.

I sighed. Always the dick jokes. “No, like this.” I held up my naked forearm and concentrated. It swelled and inflated to twice its size.

Changeling stepped forward and felt my grown arm. She patted the hard muscle, evidently a little surprised. “That’s useful. More useful for superhero-ing than my powers, if I’m being honest. Can you grow everything?”

That question again, with the same implication, the same self-pleased stress on “everything.” I had half a mind to walk out of here, wherever here was. But I was also in the home of three gorgeous women who I had long idolized. So I decided a little braggery wasn’t going to help.

“Yeah. I can grow everything.”

It was true. When I was a teenager experimenting with my powers, I had managed to grow my toes, my ears, and yes my dick at will. It felt good to stroke a big shaft, and it was certainly flattering for the ego. But none of my girlfriends had wanted anything to do with a twelve-inch cock. They had said, quite reasonably, that it would hurt too much.

Changeling thought for a moment, and then looked over her shoulder. “Hey, Artie! We got a stud for you here!”

Artemis turned on her heel and headed back towards us. She gave me an appraising glance. “Are you certain?”

Changeling shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

Artemis spoke. “Seth. You must promise me that you will never speak to anyone else of this night, or what I am about to tell you.” Her voice was ... different. Like, different in a cosmic sense than any kind of speech I had heard before. When she spoke, it was like a cloud sprung up in my brain. It was like that moment of drunkenness when everything seems so obvious to you. I knew that if I made that promise, I wouldn’t be capable of breaking it.

So I said “Yes.” When a goddess asks you to keep a secret, what else is there to say?

“I suffer from a curse, and have for a long time,” said Artemis. “My powers are great. But if I do not receive the ... seed ... of a man every night, they will fade.”

“She’s got a need,” said Changeling. “A need for seed.”

Artemis furrowed her brow. “I don’t see this as funny, Changeling.”

“Really? Because I see it as hilarious.”

My foggy brain was trying to process what it had just heard. “So ... what do you want from me?”

Artemis blushed, a strange look on her. “I want you to, er, make love to me.”

You could have knocked me over with a breath. “What? I mean, yes. Yes. Absolutely yes.”

Changeling poked my thigh. “I think he just came.”

“Can you go away and help Arachne with something?” said Artemis. “Seth and I need some privacy.”

Changeling raised her eyebrows suggestively, but turned and walked away. So I found myself alone and half-naked with Artemis. When people called her a goddess, it wasn’t just because of the name. She had blonde hair and bronze skin, but rather than a bimbo she came across as a classical beauty. Her hourglass figure was complimented by her costume, which clung tight to her considerable bust and behind. At the same time, her broad shoulders and thick thighs made it clear that she could crush you in an instant. I was completely out of my depth.

Artemis touched me on the shoulder, and I almost jumped up to the ceiling. “I understand it’s been a difficult night for you, Seth. If you wish to just go home, I would understand.”

“No, I...” My mouth had suddenly gone dry. “It’s just that this is a fantasy for me and...”

“I see,” said Artemis. She gave me a warm, slightly motherly smile. “I receive that reaction a lot, Seth. Take a moment to settle yourself. If and when you feel you’re ready, I’ll be in the bedroom to the right.” She got up and left me to my thoughts.

Just hearing her say my name seemed unreal to me. My hands were shaking, and I couldn’t get them to stop. I hadn’t experienced nerves like this since I lost my virginity. Then I had tried to hide my anxiety from my girlfriend, act like this was no big deal for me. There had been no possibility of hiding anything from Artemis.

This was a woman I had jerked off while fantasizing about, and she had just asked me for sex. God, imagine what Phil would say if I told him. Of course, I never could. I had made a promise.

The force with which I thought that was curious. What had happened when she had told me her secret? It was definitely something unusual, probably supernatural. I decided to go to that room. Not to fuck her – I couldn’t even start thinking about that – but just to ask her what had happened.

Artemis’s room was just as classically beautiful as she was. Paintings of gods and goddesses hung on her wall, between marble columns that I assumed had to be decorative. Candles were scattered around, their soft orange glow seeming to float in the darkness. At the centre of the room was a large canopy bed whose sheets were deep scarlet. And on that bed reclined a fully naked Artemis.

Her nudity should have been expected, given what I had just been asked, but my jaw just about hit the floor. Artemis’s skin had the same bronze tone all over, save for her cherry-red nipples. Those nipples sat atop the most beautiful, perfectly-rounded, gravity-defying breasts I had ever seen. Thick thighs and asscheeks curved around a glistening bald pussy. She looked like a pin-up girl, but there was nothing of artifice to her pose. She was simply at ease, waiting for me.

Artemis cocked her head. “Yes, Seth?”

I futilely tried to hide my erection. “I was, uh, um, wondering how you, ah, did what you did to me earlier. When you made me promise.”

“Oh, that’s my geas,” said Artemis. “One of the powers I try to hide from the public. But since you’re already sworn to secrecy, I suppose there’s no harm.”

My eyes stayed fixed on her breasts. It might have been rude, but it was her fault for getting all naked in front of me. “How does it, uh, work.”

“I can command people to do as I like,” said Artemis. “Of course, as with all things, there are limits. It helps if the person has a weak will, or inwardly wants to obey me. Would you like a taste of it?”

I nodded, not sure what I was agreeing to.

“Many men do,” said Artemis. “Try to relax and open your mind up. Now... put your hand on your nose.”

There was something different about Artemis’s speech when she gave her command. I don’t think she raised her voice, but it had a slippery, hard-to-define power to it. My head got cloudy again. I found my fingers touching my nose, having never consciously decided to do so.

Artemis smirked. “Do jumping jacks.”

My arms and legs moved on their own, into wide and jerky motions. I should have been a little embarrassed by doing silly exercises in front of a beautiful naked woman, but I felt serene. Every worry was so far away.

She licked her lips. “Take your clothes off.”

And I did so. An electric tingle went through my whole body as I stopped jumping and pulled my shirt over my head. I wasn’t thinking about my physique, less than impressive for a would-be superhero. My thumbs, moving with that strange soft autonomy, undid my fly and pushed my pants down. I had gotten even harder since Artemis had started controlling me, and my cock strained at my briefs. Even without any use of my powers, it felt like a beast, the only part of me that was in full control of itself. When I pulled the waistband down and it popped up, the fog in my brain sent an intense wave of satisfaction through me.

“Do you get the picture?” said Artemis.

I began to think straight again. “Uh, yeah.”

“You want one more hit?”

I nodded. I didn’t know why, but there was part of me that really liked being controlled by her.

Artemis pursed her lips, and spoke in that ineffable voice. “Lick me.”

My legs lit up with a gentle tingling sensations, and began transporting me to the bed. I didn’t need any enchantment to obey her this time. Kneeling over this beautiful, nude woman, I licked Artemis’s face. She giggled, but the giggles switched to moans as my tongue drifted inexorably downward. I lapped at her neck and then buried my face in her generous cleavage. The fact that I was obeying her made it all the sweeter in my mind.

Soon I was nestled between Artemis’s thick legs, my tongue on her pussy lips. I bathed her clitoris in my saliva, to appreciative groans. Then I darted my tongue into her warm, wet slit. She tasted like honey. That sounds like a line, but she actually tasted that sweet.

Artemis reached down and grasped my hair. I knew that she could crush my skull in an instant, but somehow that just made me more excited. I redoubled my oral efforts, flicking my tongue up and down her pussy. With a shuddering cry, Artemis came beneath me. That sweet pussy juice surged out of her cunt, and I lapped it up eagerly.

I sat up, now kneeling in front of Artemis. She had looked like a Renaissance painting before, but now her image was something more pornographic: cheeks red, chest heaving as she breathed in and out, pussy sopping wet. She didn’t have to give me a geas for me to know what she wanted. And I wanted it a lot too.

I thrust my hips forward, burying my cock into Artemis. If her cunt had tasted great, the feeling of its velvety walls clenched around my shaft was otherworldly. And judging from her moan, she didn’t mind it either. So I began to thrust in and out. I started slowly at first, afraid of coming too early in this dream-like scenario. But Artemis was eager, nudging her hips up and trying to thrust as fully onto me as she could. So I picked up the pace, our desperate rhythm getting constantly quicker.

Artemis dug her glossy red nails into my back and wrapped her legs around my hips as I pistoned into her. The feeling of her rock-hard nipples against my chest was amazing. Our faces were inches from each other, and she looked more beautiful than ever. I kissed Artemis on the lips, and then licked her neck. With a scream, she again came beneath me, her pussy clenching down on my cock.

I kept thrusting into her beautiful cunt until Artemis held up a hand in the universal sign of “stop.” “Give me a minute. A little sensitive right now.” So I pulled out of her, my cock still glistening with her juices, and rolled to the side.

Artemis turned onto her front with a contented sigh. Arms folded under her chin, she had a feline glint in her eyes. “So, when you told Changeling that you could grow your, um, equipment ... were you telling the truth?”

This again. Well, I wasn’t about to deny a superhero. “Yeah. I just have to concentrate for a minute.”

I focused on my still-hard shaft. The process of changing my body is strange, and one I still don’t fully understand. It’s like there’s some energy that’s always flowing through me, and if I try I can concentrate it on one part of me and make it grow. I shut my eyes and tried to focus only on the sensations of my cock. That wasn’t difficult, as Artemis had started gently stroking it.