★Memorable Author: [El_Roy_1999] And Tomorrow...The World! •22pp•

[solitariodude]

Here we go

[El_Roy_1999]

Gladys strode through the ward, the shorter scientists scrambling out of the way. She was angry and confused, but mostly just wanted to take the professor to task. She reached his office's door and found it locked. She rattled the doorknob and suddenly tore the door from its hinges. The resounding crack this produced shocked her. She stared at the door, looked at her hand, dropped the busted piece of wood and swooned. As she collapsed, she heard several guards run at her, shouting. She could also hear the professor in all this chaos, then she passed out.

She woke up in her bed. The professor was there, so was the nurse and the Captain. They all looked at her anxiously. She looked at them and asked:
"What is it? Did somebody die? Have I done something wrong?"
The nurse wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by the professor:
"Not at all, Miss. Not at all. Indeed, the experiment was a total success. You can be proud of yourself. Your selfless act has propelled the world of science into a new orbit!"
She recoiled from his enthusiasm and asked:
"So it went well? What exactly did you do to me?"
"Weren't you told? Ah, I'm really sorry for trusting Markwart. He's a sloppy worker and even worse at communicating. I should fire him." He took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on and said: "Well, since you asked: The experiment was to turn you into a supersoldier. A paragon of humanity, powerful enough to win any battle."
"And ..."
"And it was a complete success! Unexpected, yes, especially if we look at the failures, but, there you have it. Fortune favors the brave! Consider yourself lucky."
"What did you do? What happened to me?"
"Ah, this doesn't need to concern you. We mostly worked on your hormonal makeup, but there were some more things. All of this may be hard to understand for an uninitiated person to understand. Still, show, don't tell! Nurse, could you bring us the mirror?"
"Yes, professor."
"You will see!"

[El_Roy_1999]

The nurse returned, an assistant following behind her, pushing a large mirror on wheels into the room. Once the thing was ready, Gladys looked at herself. All the color drained from her face when she realized what she had become. If she had been strong and muscular before, she was now truly heroic. It took her a while to take in the changes she had gone through. Finally, she just tore off the nightgown and let it fall to the ground. Her eyes went wide. She stared at her chest and saw that it had become broad and powerful, covered in hard, tight and very visible muscles. It tapered down into a small waist once again covered by tight abdominals and leading to large and strong legs. Her mouth fell open as she lifted her muscular arms and flexed her biceps.
The spectators seemed as stunned as she was. She took a while to recover, then asked:
"This is incredible. Just how tall am I now?"
The mute watchers hesitated. Eventually, the Captain offered:
"Maybe 6'4"?
"Marvelous. I feel wonderful."
The professor recovered:
"No doubt. It was a success beyond expectations."
"I want to see just how strong I am."
The nurse cleared her throat.
"I may also need a uniform."
The nurse offered her a set.
The group left to the gymnasium, leaving the confused helper standing in the ward.

[El_Roy_1999]

Meanwhile, the other members of the company were training as hard as they could to be able to use the new weapons. The drill sergeant had set up a routine to increase their strength and endurance, but there was clearly a lot of work ahead of them. Right now, they were doing sets with barbells and sweating a lot. This aside, everybody was preparing for the upcoming mission in South Africa. The local authorities had already been informed, the military mobilized discretely and the operation prepared. Still, no one was entirely sure how the Master and his followers would attempt their strike. The nervousness was tangible. Aside the information they had collected, they had little to no data on which to plan their actions.
As a result, they were quite surprised when the horde of people burst into the gymnasium, led by a statuesque amazon in tightly fitting fatigues.
It took them a while to realize who had just come in. Finally Yorkow recovered his voice and asked:
"Is it you, van Rothe?"
She smiled at him and said:
"Yes. It's me. Don't worry."
"What happened to you? What did they do to you?"
"That's what I wish to find out."
She walked past the gaping looks and laid down on a bench. Then, she grabbed the bar and pushed the weights up. They felt like nothing. She turned to Yorkow:
"Corporal, could you assist me and add a few plates. This is hardly a challenge."

[solitariodude]

  been looking forward to this!

[El_Roy_1999]

Gladys gave the barbell a few tentative lifts, then said:
"I'm going to need some more. Would you kindly ..."
"Certainly."
Soon, the bar was loaded with weight-plates. Gladys grunted as she lifted and lowered it rhythmically. Finally, she racked it and stood back up. The other soldiers stared at her. She said:
"That was actually exhausting. Thank you, Corporal."
He nodded. She stood in front of them, pointed at the mirror and added:
"Do you mind if I take a look?"
"Do so, don't mind us."
She walked to it and rolled up her sleeve. It was quite difficult for her to free her bulging biceps from its textile frame. In the end, she lost her temper and just tore it open. The others stared at her, but said nothing. She saw a big vein snaking over the tight muscular mass and said:
"Wow. I'm bigger than Charles Atlas now."
Yorkow smirked:
"I don't know what they did to you, but the guns aren't going to be much of a problem for you anymore."
Someone added, whispering:
"A husband, on the other hand ..."
Gladys felt the sting, but at the same time, she was enthralled by her sheer size and power. She was a true amazon, beyond any male. Somehow, there was a weird feeling in her nether regions.

[solitariodude]

Somehow, there was a weird feeling in her nether regions.

[El_Roy_1999]

She took a deep breath, almost destroying her uniform in the process, then turned to the professor:
"I would like to have a moment of privacy. Is it acceptable for me to go to my quarters?"
"Of course. You'll have to report to the lab every day, though. We'll have to monitor any changes in your situation. After all, we're still in the prototype stage. We wouldn't want anything unexpected to happen to you."
He gave one of his assistants who had since arrived a meaningful look. The man paled and nodded. Gladys felt their nervousness. Maybe everything wasn't perfect, but she still needed some time. Turning to her squad-mates, she smiled, saluted and said:
"I'll see you soon. I hope to be able to participate in our mission."
On the way out, she noticed that they all sat a little uncomfortably as if they were hiding something. She wondered what was going on.

By the time she reached her quarters, she was sweating. She tore off her clothes, actually ripping them apart in the process, flung herself onto her groaning bed and did the unspeakable. She had resisted this for years, always careful not to besmirch herself, but this time, she could no longer fight it. Sinking her fingers between her legs, she soon found a sweet spot and groaned ecstatically as she touched it. The bed squeaked, but she couldn't care less. Hadn't she turned her body into a work of art worthy of the Greek classics? Maybe she was Athena, not Artemis?

[El_Roy_1999]

Something was going on. Willem Kroenstat was vaguely aware that there had been some changes lately. Somehow, the workers at the mine were losing their respect. He was used to have them keep their heads down when in his presence, even if they were taller. However, lately, there were some men who just nodded at him. Nodded at him! As if he were their equal!
Willem Kroenstat was a white man and him being in charge of the biggest gold mine in the country, maybe even in the World, filled him with a certain pride. Now having these men lose respect of him made him angry. He wasn't perfectly certain, but they also seemed a little different. It's not as if one black man looked like the other, but they were strange.
He had asked the spies the company had set up in the work gangs, but they didn't know anything. There had been an accident with one of them. Maybe this was the reason they weren't saying anything. Superstitious lot, all of them.
Now, the next problem was on the horizon. The army had moved in, all canons and machine guns and had begun fortifying the mine. Wonderful. Now the work was going even slower. He had no idea how they would fulfill their quota now.
What was that noise? There was a kind of buzzing in the air. Like masses of aeroplanes. Now there were shouts. He decided to go outside and take a look. This was typical: Everything had to be done by hand nowadays.

[El_Roy_1999]

Above him, large shapes loomed in the sky. It took him a second to realize that these were dirigibles. Around them, several smaller planes were buzzing, ready to defend the main airships. The army troops ran to their guns and tried to ready them to fend off the attackers, but a few warning shots from the aeroplanes sent them cowering on the ground. Kroenstat cursed under his breath, ran to his office and took his revolver from his desk. At least he meant to. He suddenly found himself threatened by the woman that usually cleaned the office. Or was she the one? They definitely looked the same. She said:
"Put up your hands."
He did as he was told. He asked:
"Who are you?"
"Do you really care?"
She had a point. Instead, he asked:
"What do you want?"
"We're going to do something to free the world. Something you won't like."
"Will you kill me?"
"I'd love to. After what the workers told me, you and your henchmen would deserve it. But the Master insisted: No unnecessary casualties, no revenge killing."
"That's nice of him."
She shrugged.
"I couldn't care less. Who'll need revenge in a world without power for people like you?"
"So I guess you aren't the charwoman?"
"No, I'm not. But she's fine. Thank you for asking."
"I wasn't ..."
"Just keep it this way, shall we. I'll tell her you asked."
He nodded slowly, seeing her point. He looked out of the window and saw the airships disembark some strange armored giants. She grinned:
"Impressive, huh?"
"How is this even possible?"
"It's the Master. His will is mighty. Now, please, get on your knees, I'll have to tie you up."

[El_Roy_1999]

Ruth climbed aboard the war machine and signaled the airsailor that she was ready. She heard the drop-hook latch to her armor and saw the bomb-door open below her. The mine's enormous spiral shape below her was quite impressive. She could see several nests of resistance. She longed to strike them down. She gave the thumbs-up and felt the rush as the machine dropped a few hundred feet in seconds.
The war machine touched down, the hydraulics groaning. Ahead of her a few gunners scrambled to align their pieces on her. She ordered the other troopers to charge and put the pedal to the floor, launching the massive humanoid machine on the defensive position. She dodged the first shot, jumped over the next and landed in the fortification. With lightning speed, she directed the machine's arm on one of the guns and effortlessly threw it on the next one. The gunners screamed in terror as she tore threw their position.
She was elated. Somewhere in the depths of her mind, she felt repulsed by her mindless aggression, but at the same time, she felt free. Hilde's work was excellent. Without any hindrances, she moved intuitively and without hesitation. Within seconds, the position had fallen and she advanced, the other troops moving behind her. She roared in triumph, barely managing not to salivate as her feral aggression overruled her reluctance.
One of the other pilots called her. There was trouble. Finally! She grinned with glee.

[solitariodude]

MechaRuth vs SuperGladys? Just have to wait and see

[El_Roy_1999]

That would be the plan, yes.

[El_Roy_1999]

Gladys watched the tanks rumble by, swiveling their guns to point at the attackers. After what she had heard from the technicians, these wouldn't do much good against the walking machines. There simply hadn't been enough time to refit them, besides, the tankers had scoffed at the thought of not being able to pierce their opponents armor. She just hoped that it would work. An abrupt explosion told her it didn't. Suddenly, the walker emerged amidst the wreckage, its machine gun spraying death on the fleeing tankers that had abandoned their vehicles. She heard a screaming, half-insane laughter from one of the machines, as the next tank found itself torn open and savaged by the steel claws of the massive battlesuit.
She grabbed the gun, removed the safety and aimed calmly at the roaring monster. She held her breath, waited and pulled the trigger. The gun's shot was almost drowned out by the screams of the battle going on around her. The missile roared through the air and ... struck one of the other machines that had just thrown itself into its path. A screaming, burning man escaped from it, ran, dropped and flailed as he tried to put out the flames. Ignoring him, the pilot of the head walker turned her machine to Gladys' position and fired. There was no pause, no moment of spotting or aiming. She just saw her target and unleashed a volley.
Gladys ran. She ducked into cover, adrenaline flushing through her body. She rolled, set up the gun again and fired. The machine just twisted, evading the missile with ease. In response, it fired a few shots, then she heard a bellow:
"There you are! I'll kill you! You can't escape!"
Gladys charged at the machine. Around her, the other troopers managed to stop the advance of the aggressors. Time for a counter-attack!

[solitariodude]