A Growth Drive – by Archie-Fan Cheryl left the mall after signing up for the Miss Mighty Riverdale junior bodybuilding contest, but she didn’t go home. Instead Cheryl went to the home of Dilton Doiley, the local genius. Cheryl had briefly dated Dilton in an attempt to raise her grades and it had worked. But they had broken up after Betty and Veronica had exposed Cheryl’s intentions. However Cheryl had actually genuinely liked Dilton and was sure he felt the same towards her and she hoped to use those feelings to get his help. As she walked up the door to the house Cheryl considered her biggest competition which was definitely Betty and Veronica. Betty had a work ethic unlike any other girl which was going to be difficult to overcome while Veronica had resources that rivalled Cheryl’s. Cheryl knew that if there was one person that could give her an advantage over both of them it was Dilton, however he was friends with both Betty and Veronica, so Cheryl had to get to him first. Cheryl reached the door and knocked a shortly thereafter Dilton answered. “Cheryl, what are you doing here?” he asked in surprise. “Well Dilton I’m sure you heard about the Miss Mighty Riverdale contest,” Cheryl said. “Yes what of it?” Dilton asked suspiciously. “Well I was hoping that you could help me win,” Cheryl replied. “I could make it very worth your while.” “What’s your angle here?” Dilton inquired intrigued but still a little wary. “I want to beat Betty and Veronica,” Cheryl replied. “Those two are always teaming up against me.” Dilton nodded, he could understand what she meant. “Okay, but what do you want me to do if Betty or Veronica also asked for my help?” Dilton asked. “If I say no to helping them they’ll be suspicious.” Cheryl thought for a moment. “Well could you provide them help but not as much as you give me? Like you know maybe half?” Cheryl suggested. “Hmm I guess so,” Dilton admitted. “So what can you do for me?” Cheryl asked eagerly. “Well there is the experimental growth serum I’ve been working…” Dilton said. “Excellent, give it to me,” Cheryl said. Dilton paused for a moment. “Alright come with me,” he said. He led the way into the garage which was also his laboratory. He went into a small refrigerator filled with vials of chemicals and pulled out one filled with a yellow liquid. He found a syringe and filled it all the way with the liquid he then handed it to Cheryl. “Take this with you and inject it before you work out,” Dilton instructed her. “It will greatly maximize the effect of your workout. And make sure you eat a lot of protein.” “You mean you can’t just grow me muscles?” Cheryl asked. “No, that’s physically impossible,” Dilton said. “The serum will only last for about four hours but the results you’ll see from working out would be the same as if you worked out for four months.” “Can you improve it?” Cheryl inquired. “In time perhaps,” Dilton replied. “Well I guess this will do for now,” Cheryl said looking at the syringe Dilton had given her. “So what do I owe you?” “I want you to film your workouts for me,” Dilton replied. “You bring me the workout video each day and I’ll give you another dose of that serum.” “That’s it?” Cheryl asked. “That’s all you want?” “For now, yes,” Dilton replied. Cheryl thought the terms were a little strange. But she wasn’t about to turn them down. “Then you’ve got a deal,” she agreed. Veronica arrived home and she immediately went up to her room. She sat down on her bed and thought about what had just happened at the mall. She’d made some pretty bold statements to both Cheryl and Betty, and now she would be forced to back it up or be made to look like a fool. The problem was how could she actually win this contest? Cheryl had been right Betty was definitely a better athlete. But then if Cheryl was confident about winning that meant she had plans to cheat, that just meant that Veronica had to cheat even more. Veronica then got an idea and made her way down to her father’s office. “Daddy,” Veronica said as she barged right in. Her father Hiram Lodge, looked up from his phone call. “Veronica I’m on the phone,” he said covering the receiver. Veronica grabbed the phone and hung it up. “Daddy I need something,” Veronica said. “Veronica that was an important business call,” Hiram stated angrily. “I don’t care,” Veronica said. “I need to win the Miss Might Riverdale bodybuilding contest.” “What?” Hiram asked confused. “I told Cheryl and Betty that I would beat them,” Veronica said. “And you don’t want your only daughter to look like a fool do you?” “Well no dear,” Hiram said. “Then I need you to get me the best personal trainers, the best growth hormones the best steroids, the best everything so that I can win this contest,” Veronica demanded. Hiram sighed. He knew that Veronica would make his life very difficult if he didn’t give into her demand. And he figured if he did this it would keep her out of his way for a while at least. “Alright, alright,” he agreed. “Let me make a few calls.” “Oh thank you Daddy-kins!” Veronica said leaning across his desk to kiss him. Hiram just shook his head as he watched Veronica walk away. Betty arrived home feeling determined. She immediately made her way down into the basement and began rummaging through the storage. After a while her mother Alice came down to see what was going on. “Betty what are you doing? What are you looking for?” Alice asked. “I’m looking for Chic’s old weights,” Betty replied. “Why?” Alice inquired. “Well there’s this bodybuilding contest and I ended up signing up for it,” Betty explained. “And now Veronica and Cheryl have both said they’re going to beat me, but I want to win.” Alice was a little surprised. “Really, bodybuilding?” she asked. “Yeah why is that a surprise?” Betty responded. “Well you may be interested to know that I was actually into that before I had your brother,” Alice replied. “What?” Betty asked in shock. Betty couldn’t believe that her 5’6” 135 lbs. mother had ever been a bodybuilder. “Yeah, I actually won a couple amateur events,” Alice said. “The Miss Mighty Riverdale contest wasn’t around then so I had to go to towns like Greendale and Midvale to compete.” “You’re kidding me,” Betty said. “I kid you not,” Alice said. “Just a minute…” She began searching through some boxes until she came to one marked Trophies. She opened it up and then pulled one out and handed it to Betty. The trophy was of a golden woman posing. “Look at the inscription,” Alice said. “First place – women’s division… Alice Barnes…” Betty read. “That was before I married your father,” Alice said. “But why did you quit?” Betty asked. “Well like I said, I got married and had you kids,” Alice replied. “Life just sort of got in the way of things. But if you’re interested I would be more than happy to help you out.” “Oh yes, thank you Mom,” Betty exclaimed. “Is there a picture of you?” Alice smiled as she reached back into the box. “I think you’re going to be surprised,” Alice said as she pulled out a picture. She handed the picture to Betty who gazed at it and her eyes went wide. Her mother was standing posing in between two other women bodybuilders. Alice looked to be twice the size of the other two women. “What the heck? Were these women midgets or something?” Betty asked in disbelief. “Nope,” Alice replied with a grin. “They were on the short side but not that short.” “But… you’re so big,” Betty said confused. “How?” “Well I’ve got a little training secret,” Alice said. “I never told anybody.” “What is it?” Betty asked. Alice reached into the box for a third time and pulled out a small little bracelet with a red stone as a pendant. “This is a magic stone,” Alice said. “It improves the results of your work outs as long as you wear it. But if you take it off the results start to go away day by day. That why I reverted back to my natural size.” Betty’s expression of awe quickly turned to a smile as she looked at the bracelet. “With this I’ll definitely be able to beat Veronica and Cheryl,” Betty declared. “That’s my girl,” Alice said. “Now let’s find those weights so we can get to work.” One week later… Jason Blossom was looking for his sister. He had barely seen her all week since she had come home and announced she was entering some body building contest. After not finding her in the house he went out to see if she was in the pool, but the pool was empty. He was about to give up when he heard noise coming from the pool house. He went to investigate and as he got closer he could hear a rhythmic metallic clanking. The curtains to the pool house were closed though so he couldn’t see inside. He made his way to the door and slowly opened it and he could hear the sound of grunt.