AN: Hey guys. So, Hero's going to be handing Archetypal back to me relatively soon, and once that happens I'll be focusing on writing that for a while. But in the meantime, I decided to do this, sort of breather chapter of Stupor. Just something to pad things out before I start the next big arc, which may or may not happen after I'm done with my next arc of Archetypal. We'll see how things go.

While I have you guys here, however, I wanted to draw your attention to a story called Stupor Villainy, by Noodlestein. Noodle is a fan of Stupor and asked me if he could write his own story using the setting, and I gave him my blessing to do so. I think he's doing a pretty great job so far. It's definitely it's own unique flavor of story, but he's iterated on some of the things I've set up in cool ways. So if the idea of a more serious story taking place in this setting sounds interesting to you, definitely give it a look.

"Ta daaa!" Lori announced, gesturing grandly in front of them. It wasn't difficult to infer from context that Lynn was supposed to be impressed, but she had...reservations, that kept her wary. And in her opinion, rightfully so.

Lori had arrived at Lincoln's place bright and early. Not an uncommon sight these days, her anal-retentive, overworked, older sister had finally found the motivation to take back control of her life, and part of that process was Lori learning that she was allowed to set aside time where she cared for her own needs, rather than solely those of the populace she had taken under her metaphorical aegis. The fly in the ointment was that both the motivation, and Lori's favorite method of tending to those needs, happened to be their little brother, and mutual boyfriend. Learning to share Lincoln was an adjustment, to say the least, one that was still ongoing, but the positive effects the relationship was having on her sisters' mental health was undeniable, and so Lynn was able to put aside her selfish urges to keep Lincoln all to herself, and learn to co-exist with the older girl as a partner, rather than as a rival. That said, she was glad that Lincoln had finally taken the time to draw up a relationship agreement for the three of them, which included a handy chart specifically delineating when "private time", and "family time" were to take place. It just made life easier when all three of them were on the same page about things.

What had been weird, was finding out that Lori was there to see Lynn, rather than Lincoln. And that they were leaving the apartment, something that Lynn hadn't properly done in quite some time. She wasn't under any kind of official house arrest, just a very polite request to remain under the radar, but she hadn't been more than a few blocks from Lincoln's place since she'd first moved in. So Lori's vague request that Lynn "go somewhere" with her, had left the girl somewhat at a loss. She'd turned to Lincoln, prepared to ask for his input, but before she could say anything she was gently pelted by a small bundle of clothing. Her's.

"You two have fun," he'd said with a yawn as he turned and started trudging back towards the bedroom. "I'm going to try and get a little more sleep."

Lynn had wanted to be angrier that her brother and boyfriend had been so dismissive of her internal plight. But she'd finally convinced him to stop wearing pants to bed, and the view of Lincoln's retreating form was just too delightful to stay angry at. Stupid, sexy Lincoln! And so, without any other avenues available to her, Lynn had grudgingly agreed to go with Lori. She'd put on the outfit she'd been given (her costume, as it turned out, which she'd been deliberately avoiding wearing so as to not draw unwanted attention) and followed Lori outside, where a chauffeured sedan had been waiting, one large enough to accommodate her superhuman frame. They'd made a quick stop at the local Department of Meta Affairs office, where Lynn had watched Lori have a few quick meetings with some very nervous-looking people, and then they were off again, leaving them in their current situation.

"Lynn, I'm going to need some kind of reaction from you," Lori deadpanned, drawing her back to the present. "My arms are starting to get tired."

It was a gym. A meta gym, to be specific. "Powerhouse" read the lettering on the front, in bright, eye-meltingly garish colors. Lynn wasn't familiar with this particular franchise, given that she made more than enough money to maintain her own state of the art meta gym at home, the absence of which was among the few things she truly regretted giving up in her desperate attempt to get Lincoln back in her life. It wasn't elitism, however, that gave her cause for concern. Lynn had seen her share of public gyms in her time and still frequented them on a relatively regular basis. Often as part of a promotional deal, but sometimes when she felt like spending time with members of her incredibly small social circle, i.e. people she liked well enough to hang out with, but not enough to allow into her home. No, what worried Lynn was the little bit of decoration located just below the signage. A small, fairly nondescript bronze relief, depicting a single, unblinking eye set against a clenched fist. It was decidedly subdued, particularly amidst the building's vibrant, attention-grabbing facade, so much so that Lynn doubted that even regulars of the gym would have noticed its presence without someone explicitly pointing it out to them, and even then they'd likely shrug it off as a curiosity, but not an especially noteworthy one. To her eternal annoyance, however, Lynn could not claim such ignorance.

"Thank you, Lori."Lynn finally replied, trying to force a smile through her gritted teeth. "You brought me to a gym."

"A meta gym!" Lori added, completely unnecessarily. As was so often the case, the building was designed to prominently display its clientele to passers-by in a very blatant "This Could Be You!" style of advertising. That this particular clientele was exclusively dressed in costumes and performing feats far beyond those of ordinary humans, left little ambiguity as to what sort of business operated here.

"You brought me to a meta gym," Lynn corrected herself. "Just like you said you would. I...don't know what to say."

"Something to show excitement, or even just a squeal of delight would do the trick." Lori deadpanned, her eyebrows rising in suspicion. "What's the deal? You seemed really excited when I pitched this idea to you before, and I had to pull a lot of strings to make this happen."

"Nothing at all." Lynn quickly replied, shaking her head emphatically. "It's great, really. I've actually been dying for a chance to get a real workout in."

"Alright," Lori nodded after a brief pause, seemingly mollified. "Should we go in then?"

"We should," Lynn agreed. "Just..."

"Just, what?"

Lynn let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head wearily. "Just let me do the talking," She muttered, striding towards the door, leaving a very confused Lori in her wake.

A soft, tinkling chime announced Lynn's entrance, much to her annoyance. Out of habit, she stepped to the side, clearing the doorway for Lori to come in, and cast her gaze around the room. It wasn't long before she'd found what she was looking for.

There, seated at a fairly small, nondescript receptionist desk, was a woman who was anything but nondescript. Bronze skin, long, flowing blonde hair, full, pouty lips, and a rack you could comfortably stack books upon. All attached to a physique that looked like it could take on a bear with the strength of two bears, and comfortably come out on top. The two-piece metal bikini she was wearing was the clincher, the woman played to type so hard that she may as well have walked off an assembly line.

"Typical," Lynn muttered under her breath as she made her way towards the desk. As she drew close, the woman locked eyes with her, and let loose an absolutely dazzling smile.

"Welcome," She said, in a soft, velvety voice. "New faces are always a welcomed sight here at Powerhouse."

"I'll bet they are," Lynn replied, crossing her arms under her breasts as she stared down at the seated woman. She'd meant for it to sound standoffish, but much to her annoyance, the woman seemed to take her response as an invitation to look Lynn over, seemingly pleased with what she saw.

"Uh, excuse me?" Lori spoke up, stepping around Lynn and standing alongside her. "Not to be that girl, but, 'new faces'? You know who we are, right?"

"Not at all," Said the woman, giving Lori a somewhat more dismissive once-over. "My duties are confined to matters that lay within these hallowed walls. Anything else would be but a distraction."

"A distraction from what?" Lori asked, much to Lynn's horror.

"Lori! No!" She hissed, rounding on the older girl, but it was too late.

"Why, achieving the perfect swell." The receptionist announced grandly, rising to her feet and flexing both her arms, causing them to swell to an impressive size. At least, Lynn assumed that was an impressive physique by the standards of normal people, she herself played in an entirely different league from these posers.

"I and my sistren have taken it upon ourselves to seek perfection of the physical form," the woman continued, turning so the Loud girls could get a view of her shapely backside. That is the purpose of our temple, and that is the task to which we have devoted ourselves."

Her recitation complete the woman turned back towards the girls. She moved as if intending to continue, but then stopped herself, her brow crinkling in confusion.

"But you are undoubtedly aware of this, are you not?" She turned her attention to Lynn, her eyes shining with approval. "For surely you must be one of us."

"No, I musn't," Lynn growled rapping her knuckles on the desk impatiently. "And you can save the song and dance, I've heard it before."

"And you will...not, be joining the sisterhood?" The woman sighed, clearly disappointed. "A pity, but we do offer our facilities to the unlearned, in the hopes that they might wish to one day become worthy."

"And I'll bet you charge a hefty fee for the privilege." Lynn deadpanned.

"Naturally," The woman replied, fishing around underneath her desk, and producing a pair of clipboards with some forms attached, and a scanning device. "Fill out these forms, and we'll get you squared away. No cash or personal checks, please. Hero IDs are our preferred method for payment, and you will not be permitted to use the equipment without signing our release waiver."

"You gonna fill me in on what exactly that was about?" Lori asked dryly as she and Lynn settled into an empty corner of the gym. It had been significantly less empty when they'd arrived, but Lynn wasn't feeling especially sociable at the moment. A few dirty looks from Lynn and they suddenly had the whole area to themselves. She'd expected a lecture from the older girl, but the bemused smile she'd been met with instead was somehow magnitudes more infuriating.

"Gimme a minute," Lynn grumbled, plopping down on a nearby bench. As distasteful as she found the patrons of the establishment to be, the gym itself was a veritable wonderland of fitness, with no expense spared to keep it stocked with the latest and greatest toys. After her self-imposed exile from meta society, seeing so many doodads and geegaws crammed under one roof had left her in a mild state of shock, similarly, she imagined, to how a man dying of thirst might feel upon being presented with an ocean to drink. Fortunately, she'd managed to reign in her desire to run rampant and touch everything, and forced herself to start with something small.

Lynn reached for a pile of neatly arranged Gravicon Freeweights, plucking one off the top and taking a moment to admire its glossy, pristine surface. It would be small and unassuming even in a regular person's hands, and so it was considerably moreso for her, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. Twirling the weight around, the managed to find the control panel. She flicked the activation switch, and waited, staring at the device in anticipation. A low hum signaled the activation of the miniature singularity engine contained within, and then the moment she'd been waiting for. Her arm began to droop. It wasn't especially noticeable at first, but a helpfully placed readout on the surface of the weight kept Lynn appraised as the device used science so far beyond her reckoning that it might as well be magic, to double its effective weight. Then triple. Then quadruple, and so on and so forth, numbers climbing orders of magnitudes higher as reality was tricked into thinking that the small mixture of plastic, metal, and machinery held within her hand weighed far more than it actually did, until it finally reached the point where even she was beginning to find it taxing to hold the weight aloft. Lynn stretched out her arm, holding it perpendicular from the floor, and gave the weight one solid pump.

"Oh yeah", Lynn moaned, shivers crawling up and down her spine at the sensation of feeling actual resistance from something for the first time in weeks. That, was the good stuff.

"I'll have what she's having," Lori remarked flippantly. She set herself across from Lynn, mirroring her pose as she grabbed her own weight and started to work out with it, admittedly with considerably less fanfare.

"Shut up, Lori," Lynn grumbled, flushing slightly at the older girl's teasing tone.

"I'm just wondering if Lincoln should feel jealous, that's all."

"Shut up, Lori!" Lynn snarled, now openly glaring at the blonde. To her relief, Lori held up her free hand apologetically.

"It was a joke, Lynn. Lighten up, this was supposed to be a fun day for us."

"I...I know," Lynn exhaled, exasperated. "Sorry. I know that, and I'm actually happy we're doing this."

"For sisterly bonding time?"

"...Also that," Lynn agreed after a moment of consideration. She switched the weight to her other arm and began to do reps with that one. "Those kooks just really get under my skin. But you had no way of knowing that, and I shouldn't hold that against you."

"Pseudo apology accepted." Lori nodded at her sister. "Now what's the deal with you and Hulkette out there?"

"It's not her specifically, it's her whole organization," Lynn explained, gesturing to the walls and ceiling around them. "Didn't you notice all the iconography?"

"Not until you pointed it out, actually," Lori admitted. "Though now that you have...it's a little hard to miss. What's it for?"

"The Sisterhood of the Swole" Lynn explained, taking a moment to kick up the setting on her weight a few notches. "Amazons. Their organization actually owns AmazonessDotCom, which is where they get most of their funding from. But what most people don't know is that they're basically just a bunch of kooks who work out religiously. Like, as a literal religion."

"Oh." Lori frowned thoughtfully. "I know the business, obviously, Amazoness is one of the biggest corporations in the world, but I'm not familiar with the group behind it. Are they metas?"

"As far as I know, nobody really knows how to classify them," Lynn replied, shrugging. "Every member I've met is more or less built like that girl out front."

"So not necessarily meta in origin then," Lori mused. "Especially if they're just really fanatical about working out."

"There's definitely something going on there," Lynn corrected her. "A bunch of the girls from my old squad apparently joined up with the Sisterhood after high school. Not that I found out till much later, obviously, that government-run, meta boot camp we'd all joined meant that Lucy and I never actually went to high school. But I ended up running into Margo and a few of the other girls years later, and the change was pretty drastic."

"So your meathead friends grew up to be even meatheadier?" Lori asked, dryly. "I don't find that to be very surprising. You guys were all about that stuff when you were kids. I mean, look how you turned out."

"I got mutated by cosmic radiation." Lynn protested. "And awesomely, I might add. And the last time I'd seen the girls before they'd joined the Sisterhood, I could fight off the entire group with one hand tied behind my back. I actually helped them train for a few roller derby matches that way. It was fun."

"And after?"

"I challenged Margo to a friendly spar, just as a way for us to reconnect, and she came...way closer to getting me to tap out than I was comfortable with."

Lori's eyes widened in surprise. "That's pretty...wow."

"Yeah." Lynn huffed. "I mean, I still won, but healthy living doesn't get you that kind of strength. They claim it's the blessing of their goddess. I don't know if that's true, but they're definitely doing more than just eating their greens and exercising."

"I see." Lori hemmed thoughtfully. "And that's why you hate the Sisterhood so much?"

"What? Of course not!" Lynn scoffed, snorting in amusement. "That fight was one of the most fun I'd ever had. Plus, it was nice to reconnect with the girls. We still get together when we can and watch Sportsball and stuff."

"Oh." Lori blinked a few times, surprised. "Sorry, I guess I thought that was going to go an entirely different way. So then what's your beef with the sisterhood then?"

Lynn rolled her eyes in annoyance. "My beef, is that they've been trying to recruit me for years. You saw how that girl up front was eyeing me? That's how they all are. Apparently, they think I'd make a great spokesmodel or something. It's insanely annoying."

"I...see," Lori repeated herself, sounding considerably less certain this time.

"You sound disappointed," Lynn observed.

"I dunno, maybe?" Lori threw up her hand in exasperation. "I didn't realize the whole thing would boil down to you having a tiff with a group of literal gym freaks. It's just a bit of a letdown, you know?"

"Well I'm sorry the details of my life aren't always drama-worthy," Lynn replied sarcastically.

"Says the girl who literally has a tv drama about her life." Lori paused thoughtfully. "Incidentally, how is that? I hear good things, was thinking it might make for a fun thing for me and Linc to watch on date night one of these days."

"...Please don't," Lynn pleaded, her voice uncharacteristically small.

"That bad, huh?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"Oh ho! Then we're definitely doing that!"

Lynn growled in frustration, glancing down at the fantastical contraption clutched in her hand. "You know, I could probably snap this thing in half and kill us both right now."

"Pretty sure they have safeguards against that exact thing happening built right in," Lori replied, grinning smugly. "But even if you did, you'd still have a cruddy tv show."

Lynn looked to the weight, then back at her far too satisfied sister. Finally, she shut it off, returning the device to its normal state, put it aside, and lept to her feet, glaring down at the blonde.

"You know," She growled, "I noticed they've got one of those fancy gravity manipulation chambers here. I think we're done warming up, what's say you and I head in and go a few rounds. Get ourselves a real workout?"

Lori switched off her own weight, floated up out of her seat, and landed daintily on the ground, peering up at Lynn with a challenging smile.

"Whatever you say, sis."

Their course decided, the pair headed out of their corner, and back towards the gym proper.

"Hey, Lynn?" Lori queried. "There's one thing I'm not quite getting. If the sisterhood is so hard up for publicity, why haven't they tried to recruit me?"

"Dunno," Lynn replied. "I guess you're not amazon material."

"Excuse you?" Lori looked incredulous. "I'm 6'2 and I'm stronger than...insert a simile!"

"I know," Lynn chuckled tousling the shorter girl's hair. "That's just adorable." She managed to retract her hand just before Lori's energy aura flared to life.

"Hey, Lynn?" Lori asked once more, this time with a noticeable edge to her voice. "I think we're gonna need to go a few more rounds now."

Now it was Lynn's turn to smile, as she looked down at her irate older sister.

"Bring it," She said, cracking her knuckles.