Mike and Carl found themselves standing on a cobblestone street of gleaming gold, surrounded by buildings that looked like they were sculpted from pure, chiseled muscle. The air, instead of the salty ocean breeze, smelled faintly of sweat and victory.
"Dude," Mike said, his voice echoing in the sudden silence. "Look at those arches! The way the stonework curves… it's like a perfectly defined lat spread!"
Carl adjusted his sunglasses, a look of profound respect on his face. "Indeed. And that fountain… a perfect, six-pack shaped waterfall. This place is seriously committed to fitness."
Suddenly, a series of giggles echoed from a nearby alley. They were followed by the soft sound of bare feet on stone.
"Sounds like ladies," Mike said, his chest muscles dancing with renewed vigor. "And where there are ladies, there's always an audience for our poses."
The source of the giggles was a coven of witches, all of them impossibly beautiful and scantily clad. They wore flowing, ethereal gowns that left little to the imagination, their long hair cascading down their backs. But their eyes, a mesmerizing swirl of purple and green, held a sinister hunger.
"Oh, my," one of the witches purred, her voice like honey mixed with venom. "Look at these magnificent specimens. So much… muscle. A feast for the senses, and soon, for our souls."
Mike and Carl, momentarily distracted by the stunning physiques, began to pose.
"They're gorgeous!" Mike whispered to Carl. "Their posture is flawless. Look at her gluteus maximus!"
"The grace in their movements… it's truly a sight to behold," Carl murmured back, striking a classic side-chest pose.
The witches, however, were not interested in their showmanship. They began to encircle the duo, their hands glowing with a soft, ominous light. The air grew thick with a strange, sweet aroma that made the two musclemen feel woozy and weak.
"Come closer, my darlings," another witch cooed, her hands outstretched. "Let us take care of you. We can make all your troubles... melt away."
The enchanting voices and the intoxicating scent began to take their toll. Mike's magnificent chest muscles stopped dancing. Carl's perfect pose started to falter. They felt a strange pull, a weakening of their resolve.
Just as a witch's glowing hand was about to touch Mike's bare pec, he suddenly snapped back to his senses. The word 'melt' had triggered something.
"Whoa, hold on!" Mike yelled, his voice a sudden boom that shattered the enchanting spell. "Melt? I don't do 'melt'! My body fat percentage is single digits! I don't melt!"
Carl, hearing the word 'melt,' also shook his head, his cool veneer returning. "No melting. We are not snowmen. We are men of iron."
The witches hissed in frustration. The spell, broken by the sheer, unadulterated vanity of the two bodybuilders, dissipated. Their beautiful facades cracked, revealing the hungry, gaunt expressions of soul-eaters.
"Fools!" a witch shrieked. "You deny us our meal!?"
Mike and Carl, now fully recovered and thoroughly offended, prepared to fight back. But before they could land a single PECK ATTACK!, a series of swirling portals opened behind the witches. The witches, seeing them, quickly retreated, hissing threats as they vanished into the portals.
"They just… ran away?" Mike asked, confused.
Carl, ever the detective, pointed a tattooed finger at a crumbling, faded banner hanging from a nearby building. It showed a ridiculously muscular man flexing with such intensity that the image itself seemed to vibrate. Below it, a single word: BEEFCAKE.
"It seems," Carl said, a slow grin spreading across his face, "that even in this land of The Awesomeness, there's a pecking order. The witches are scared of someone. A man so muscled, they have to run from him."
Mike's eyes widened in awe. "A man who makes witches run? He must be a legend! A true paragon of protein-packed power!"
He flexed his chest muscles. They danced. The adventure had just begun.
"Come on, Carl," Mike said, a new fire in his eyes. "We have to find this 'Beefcake' guy. We have to challenge him. We have to see… if his muscles are as awesome as they sound!"