One fateful Saturday, Tetsuko and Sonya were catching up on work from the past week; Tetsuko finishing up some filing and typing while Sonya continued work on what she called an "anti-agapic", a serum to arrest and possibly reverse the aging process. The lab was suddenly invaded by a quartet of goons sent by the elderly crime lord Hamilton Slade; Slade had learned of Sonya's work on the anti-agapic and was determined to obtain it for himself.
Sonya tried to explain that the serum still had years of formulation and testing to undergo, but Winston, Slade's "head goon" would hear none of that. Winston was to bring Sonya and the serum back to Slade. "But the serum could kill him!" Sonya protested; whereupon Winston "suggested" that the serum be tested before they go to Slade... tested on Tetsuko!
Under the watchful eyes (and gun barrels) of Winston and his fellow creeps, a nervous Sonya administered a shot of the serum to a frightened Tetsuko. Sonya's worst fears were realized when Tetsuko almost immediately suffered a massive seizure and fell as though dead!
Sonya of course is devastated, but Winston (who acts as if the beautiful blonde's death was a mere annoyance) insists that Sonya "accompany" them to meet with Slade himself. Sonya protests; she has to make final arrangements for poor Tetsuko. But Winston growls, "she ain't goin' nowhere" and hustles Sonya out to the car, followed by his goons. The lab is empty, except for Tetsuko's body... which lurches as she draws a long shuddering breath!
At the mansion of Hamilton Slade: Slade is apprised of Sonya's (lack of) progress on the anti-aging serum. Slade (who's been given only a few more months by his doctors) "suggests" that maybe Sonya is too "distracted" by other work to make satisfactory progress on the serum... Slade is all too willing to "rectify" that situation by forcing Sonya to be a virtual prisoner in Slade's home, devoting all her waking hours to perfecting the serum. Sonya manages to convince Slade that it would be much more feasible (not to mention economical) to allow Sonya to work out of her own lab. Slade finally agrees... but now Sonya is to become a prisoner in her own lab!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch... I mean, the lab...
Tetsuko regains consciousness, amazed that she's not only still alive but seemingly none the worse for having suffered an apparent heart attack. She climbs to her feet, only to be knocked back down by agonizing pains that rack her body! Through her pain, she sees that her body is changing... swelling, growing... her muscles growing larger and larger! Her breasts swell to almost twice their original size, while her hair lengthens before her very eyes. Before the phenomenon ends and the pain disappears, Tetsuko will have added six inches to her height, eighty pounds of solid muscle to her weight, and stupendous strength that she finds hard to believe even as she tries it out, lifting various formerly-unmoveable equipment around the lab. But her excitement over her new-found might turns to anxiety over Sonya; where is she?! Have Winston and his goons...
The sound of a car engine prompts Tetsuko to hide, just in case the creeps have returned for some nefarious purose. Sure enough, it is indeed Winston and his henchmen, and they've got Sonya! But they're also accompanied by an elderly, decrepit figure in a wheelchair. This must be that b-----d Slade!
Winston, Sonya, Slade and company enter the lab... and see that Tetsuko's body has disappeared!! Tetsuko appears, and everyone gasps at her spectacularly muscular new physique! She makes short work of Winston' and his goons, but Slade manages to get his hands on the serum, swallowing it down before Sonya (or Tetsuko) can stop him. Slade's body begins to undergo a similarly startling metamorphosis... his hair grows darker and longer, and his muscles rip his tailored suit to shreds! By the time he's finished, he looks fifty years younger, a foot taller, and powerful! The stage is set for a climactic confrontation between Tetsuko and Slade...
...which of course will be resolved in the comic!
©1998 David C. Matthews.