Author: [Fonk] Florida Crane and the Temple of the Amazons | #WIP

[Kuner]

Florida Crane and the Temple of the Amazons
by Fonk


Part 1

Deep in the Amazonian jungle, a lone archaeologist muttered to herself. Dr. Florida Crane was cutting a path through the dense foliage with a machete.

"Jerks," she said. "I know I'm right. I just know it." She walked on for a couple more minutes, hacking things out of her way, stepping over tree roots and keeping a sharp look-out for snakes. Then Dr. Crane found a clearing and stopped. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, brushed a loose hair out of her face and set her backpack on the ground.

Say "female archaeologist" these days and most people think of Lara Croft, the stick-thin balloon-breasted heroine of the Tomb Raider videogames. 26-year-old Florida Crane is almost the exact opposite. She stands at a modest five feet tall, with straggly, greasy black hair tied in a short ponytail. Her eyes are brown and obscured by thick glasses, which she constantly has to push up her small nose. This isn't her first work in the field; she has a 'working' level of fitness but is nothing like the lithe Amazon of Tomb Raider: there are pockets of fat in various places on her body. Despite this, her breasts are A-cups. At the moment, she's wearing a sweat-soaked white T-shirt and khaki trousers. The outfit is not designed to blend into the background but she is at least cooler than she would have been in proper camouflage.

Dr. Crane leaned over her backpack, rummaging around inside it for water and her map. She remembered that getting to a clearing meant she was close but couldn't remember how to proceed. The young woman pulled a water bottle out and started to drain it. She reasoned that the more she drank, the lighter her backpack would be, so gulped the last of the water and put the bottle back. The young archaeologist then brought out her map. She pushed her glasses up her nose and peered at the markings on the paper. She found the clearing she was in.

"Turn to the north and walk forward forty paces. You will find what you are looking for," she read and then sighed. The translation of the document that her fellow academics had dismissed as a "comic-book treasure map" had taken up the last six years of her life. There was no way that Florida Crane was going to leave the expedition to anyone else. With the money left from her research grant, she had paid for a small team of undergraduates to join her. However, it soon became apparent that they were only in it for money and prestige. They had abandoned their professor a day ago. She had taken the necessary supplies, left the rest for her 'team' to get back to civilisation and carried on alone.

Sighing once more, Florida put the map back in her backpack and drew out a compass. She found north, picked up her backpack and began counting paces. Her mood changed from one of sullen anger to mounting hope. She even began to smile. "... twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five..." She strode more and more confidently towards her goal, whatever it was. The weather-beaten and visibly ancient scroll she had translated ended with those enigmatic words: "You will find what you are looking for." They had haunted Florida's dreams ever since and now she was so close! "... thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-thOWWWWW!" Deep in the Amazonian jungle, Dr. Florida Crane screamed. The snake slithered away and Florida fell to the ground in pain. The stricken woman cursed her luck. So damn close she had let her guard down! "Moron!" she hissed, clutching her already-swelling ankle.

Although Florida knew that moving was a bad idea, her curiosity got the better of her. She crawled forward, looking for the goal of her expedition. Pain immediately shot out in all directions from her foot. The archaeologist winced but carried on. She pulled herself forward a couple of feet before needing a rest to stop the stars exploding in front of her eyes. Slowly, carefully, Florida looked around. The jungle didn't look any more pleasant from the ground. She scanned the undergrowth for a clue as to her destination: there was nothing unusual anywhere. Unconsciousness was about to settle the issue of how Florida would manage her pain when, for no reason that she could ever recall, the young archaeologist reached out and grabbed a tree root that had burst through the ground.

Despite her hard panting, Florida could now hear a powerful rumbling deep underground. The noise grew louder until the ground itself shook. Florida felt the vibrations rock her beaten body. Her ears wanted to shut down. Then a different noise joined in the general cacophony: the sound of ground being torn up and not simply shaking. Florida raised her head slowly and was rewarded with an astounding sight: a temple was rising out of the dirt in front of her! Fighting against her own weak body, the young woman stared at the incredible event unfolding ahead. The emerging temple looked like a pyramid made out of Lego. The rumbling got closer and closer to Florida until she was lifted from the floor on one of the pyramid's layers of rock. Curiously, as soon as the rock touched her, the pain tearing her body into pieces disappeared.

Dazed, she lay still until the disorienting, deafening sounds subsided. Then, very carefully, the young archaeologist got up. The pyramid looked like four sets of stairs, all leading up in the same direction and narrowing. First, intellectual curiosity getting the better of her, Dr. Crane descended to the bottom of the pyramid and walked all around its perimeter. During the walk, the professor checked on her injury. The snakebite had vanished from her skin. In fact, she felt better than when she had started the trip. Excitement stopped her worrying too much about it. The joy of success washed her pain and fear away. The pyramid's perimeter was about a kilometre; it took Florida about twenty minutes to walk around it. Occasionally she paused to take some photos of it with her digital camera.

Halfway around the third side, Florida found the entrance. It was a large passageway, simply left to the open air. It was flanked by two statues. Florida took plenty of pictures of them: they were made from gold and depicted two identical women, both impossibly muscular and clad only in loincloths. Their naked breasts were larger than the biggest melons Florida had ever seen. They each held a spear that was about their own height. Florida chuckled to herself that she might like to have some of that strength, or better yet, cleavage, on her side. Instead of entering, Florida completed her circuit of the temple.

"Hmmm," Dr. Crane mused to herself. "Should I go up to the top or go inside?" Florida did what she always did in such situations and flipped a coin. "OK, heads for the top of the temple, tails for going inside." The coin arced into the humid air and fell into her palm. Heads. "Temple top it is!" she said. As climbing the temple would expose her to the full glare of the sun, Florida put sunblock on before starting and drank a bottle of water. Then she started her ascent.

It was nowhere near as arduous as Florida had feared. She was almost skipping up the side of the harsh grey rock. Florida climbed onto the last step with a grunt of triumph. She began a thorough search of the pyramid's top floor. There were markings on the floor: she frowned and crouched to get a better view of them. They were written in the language of the Amazons! Part of the reason Florida's research had been rejected was that she had proposed the existence of this whole new language. This would have caused a century of well-established research to be thrown out, so Florida had toiled alone. She translated the engraving out loud: "Find the blue stone inside and you will be rewarded." She stood again. "Guess that means I'm going inside!"


--- To Be Continued ---

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Part 2

The decision made, Florida headed carefully down the entrance side of the pyramid. The blazing sunshine gradually receded under the canopy as Florida approached her target. She landed on the ground, bending her knees to absorb the impact. Again she admired the enormous statues guarding the entrance. She shook her head wistfully, knowing that only a few small differences in genetics could have given her some strength or beauty. The archaeologist then fished a torch out of her backpack and headed for the entrance. She stopped just before the opening and looked back out at the jungle. "Well," she whispered, "can't stop now." She flipped the torch on and entered the Temple of the Amazons.

Florida was grateful for her torch. The temple seemed to have been undiscovered for centuries and was pitch black inside. The walls of the passage were made from the same grey rock as the exterior. They were covered in the Amazonian language, which Florida resolved to translate... just as soon as she'd found that blue stone. There were no signs of life and no thick layer of dust. The corridor was wide enough to fit a couple of trains. "The temple must have remained perfectly preserved underground," Florida thought. She proceeded carefully, running her left hand over the cold stone and feeling the rises and bumps of the engraved symbols. Her footsteps began to echo as the light from the entrance dwindled into nothing, leaving the torch as the only source of light. Florida gulped. She pushed her glasses up her nose.

"Can't stop now," she repeated to herself. The young archaeologist was awash with emotions: triumph and excitement ranked pretty highly but fear was gaining strength. There was no way to get an idea of the structure's stability. For all Florida knew, it could collapse at any minute. Seconds after this thought, she came to a junction. The young woman paused and pointed her torch at the markings on the wall ahead of her. She frowned. "I don't recognise any of these symbols," she muttered. "That one looks similar to 'queen' but that one looks similar to 'pain'. Huh." She stood for a few seconds, wondering which direction to take. The entrance was now only a pinprick of light. Common sense prodded her brain to say that going in the 'pain' direction was probably a bad idea. The archaeologist grinned and turned right: the 'queen' direction.

The scenery didn't change much in this new direction. The same grey rock, similar markings floor to ceiling. Florida had only taken a few paces when she heard a squeaking. Barely a second later a bat flew down the corridor towards her. She screamed but the creature passed just overhead. The young archaeologist leaned against a wall to get her breath back. "God," she whispered to herself. "Where did he come from?" Florida got a water bottle from her backpack. She took a big, calming slug and wiped her mouth. Then she heard it. A deep, animalistic roar echoed down the corridor towards her. Panic rooted her to the spot. The young woman only unfroze to push her glasses up her nose. The echoes died away. A mere minute later, Florida's heartbeat returned to something approaching normal.

Deciding to make the best of the moment, Florida set her backpack on the temple floor and got out some of her rations. She ate quietly, sitting cross-legged on the floor, trying to keep her mind from the fear. Idly she started to translate the symbols on the walls. The messages were not comforting: "Death to those who enter." "Abandon hope if you have reached this far." "Better to live than die at our hands." Florida shuddered. Clearly the Amazonians were once very powerful. She wondered how they had died out.

This thinking got the archaeologist's thirst for knowledge drooling hungrily. She finished her food and stood up, a newly determined expression on her face. She walked forward quickly and purposefully, shining the torch dead ahead and not stopping for any reason. Soon enough she reached another crossroads. There were no indications as to which way she should go; Florida was going to have to make a choice.

"If I head right, I'll just be going towards the temple exterior again," she said to herself. "Logically, I should go right. Which is probably exactly what they want me to do." Florida took out her coin. "Heads for right, tails for left," she said to herself. Once again the coin flipped into the air. It came up heads. Unsure, Florida headed off in that direction.

Again the scenery did not change. Florida had stopped translating the markings but still they were all over the walls, which were still very far apart. Her footsteps echoed loudly and the archaeologist felt quite small compared to the enormous size of the passage. "I wonder if I'm getting closer," she thought. "I sure hope so. My feet are killing me." The torch revealed another junction ahead. Florida's sense of expectancy increased. "Surely I'm close!" she breathed. She started to run forward. It was then that the spider dropped from the ceiling right in front of her.

Florida couldn't get breath to scream, which was just as well. The spider was the size of a hatchback, all gleaming eyes, slimy body and hairy, twitching legs. Eyes wide in utter horror, she watched as it scuttled ahead of her and turned left at the junction. Dr. Florida Crane leaned against the temple wall, heart beating faster than it ever had before. A sly thought popped into her head. "No wonder the passageways are so wide," it grinned. Florida felt little comfort. Aloud she breathed: "I think I found what killed the Amazonians."

She had to reach a decision: either carry on and risk meeting more of the creatures or leave and risk never finding out about the Amazonians. The debate raged in her mind as, once more, her heartrate returned to normal levels. Eventually, despite a fear factor that was through the roof and halfway into space, Florida decided to carry on. She reached the same crossroads she had just seen the spider take. This time the symbols on the wall did offer clues. Florida translated.

"'Blue jewel'," she read, her heart sinking. That was left too. There was no indication of what was right. Florida lifted her left foot to go left when fear stopped her. "Am I making the right decision?" it mused, knowing it held all the cards and then some. Florida lowered her leg and pondered. "The spider didn't seem to notice me," she thought. "Maybe it won't be interested in me." With that scant comfort, Florida Crane took the left turn.

This passage was not as long as the others, though it was still very wide, covered in the same symbols and made from dull grey stone. Florida could see it open out into what appeared to be a large room ahead. She ran towards her target, footsteps echoing around the corridor. When she got close enough to clearly see the opposite wall of the huge room, Florida stopped dead, all breath expelled from her lungs. "S - S - Spiders..."

The chamber ahead of her was huge, about the size of a football stadium. Around a hundred of the enormous spiders were creeping around, scattered over most of the floor, ceiling and walls. In the middle of the horrific scene, Florida could see a small altar, the top of which was glowing blue. She shut her eyes in an attempt to will the scene out of her mind. Her imagination hit her even harder and she stepped back from the chamber. Tears streaked down her cheeks. "I, I, I can't - carry on," she moaned quietly. She slumped against a wall and then down to the floor. Dr. Florida Crane wept.

Her tears dried up. Florida turned again to the scene in the altar chamber, looking for any way to get to the blue stone. She frowned. "Is it my imagination," she mused, "or is there actually a path to the altar?" She looked again, screwing her eyes in concentration. The more she stared, the more she convinced herself that there was a way through to the altar. The spiders were large but did not cover the entire surface by any means. A kind of fearful determination filled Florida. "I'm going to run for it," she said quietly. "I've got to solve this puzzle!"

Knowing that another moment's thought would only give her time to think of a few reasons not to put her plan into action, Florida stood up, pushed herself off the wall and ran into the chamber. The instant her foot hit the chamber floor the spiders roared deafeningly. It was the same roar that had chilled Florida to the bone earlier on, only a hundred times louder.  Horrifically the spiders started to skitter in slow motion towards the archaeologist as she ran to the altar, dodging, ducking and diving around the enormous arachnids.

The spiders closed in on the fear-driven girl. The twitching hair on their legs brushed her as she ran past them through any gap she could find. Several of the monstrosities fell from the ceiling in front of her but adrenaline pushed Florida on and she ducked around them. She ran as she had never run before. The altar glowed like a beacon but, as Florida approached, she realised that a wall of spiders surrounded it. She circled them, looking for a weak point. It took about twenty heart-stopping seconds as the spiders closed in but she found it.

Dr. Florida Crane took a deep breath and hurled herself at a slight gap in between two of the huge monsters guarding the shining altar. She held her breath and squeezed past their disgusting legs and slimy abdomens. The monsters turned their heads to bite at her as she ran through but Florida had proved too fast for them. Heavily sweating and almost dizzy from using so much energy, Florida made it through to the altar and slammed her right hand down on the blue stone embedded in its centre.

[Kuner]

Part 3

Instantly the spiders vanished. Florida didn't even blink: one instant they were there, closing in on her, and the next they just didn't exist. She looked down at the hand she had placed on the altar, her heart still beating fit to break her chest. The unearthly glow of the blue stone shone around it. Dr. Florida Crane frowned. She remembered her miraculous recovery as soon as she had touched the temple. Wary now, she took her hand off the altar and stepped back. She thought for a few moments. "Can't stop now," she concluded, and stepped forward again to examine the altar.

She brushed its surface and found it to be very smooth, given the level of technology that must have existed when this temple had been built. Its main feature, the rectangular sky-blue stone, shone with never-changing brilliance. It was set slightly lower than the surrounding altar. Florida checked the altar for the Amazonian language to give her a clue as to what might happen next. She looked all over the huge slab and all around its two supports. There was nothing. The archaeologist frowned again. She stood upright and looked at the altar's top, looking for some sort of clue. There was a slight noise.

Florida stared at the altar. The Amazonian language was appearing before her on the surface of the rock! The altar, which had been smooth as an ice rink just a second ago, was now being carved onto it by an invisible hand. Florida gulped but still tried to read the markings as they appeared. Again there were symbols that the young woman did not recognise, so she decided to wait for the invisible hand to stop. Fortunately the sentence it had carved was only short. "Well, that one means 'reward'," she said, "that one means 'you', and that one means 'naked'." Florida took a couple of seconds to digest this and jumped to a conclusion. "I have to get naked to be rewarded?!" she thought, disgusted. Frowning unhappily but still eager to find out what her reward would be, Florida stripped and stepped back from the altar.

She stood naked in the middle of the throne room, wondering what on Earth was going to happen. She waited. "It is fortunate that the temperature is warm enough for casual nudity," she mused, and laughed. After about twenty seconds Florida began to feel understandably uncomfortable and embarrassed. She absently scratched at the mole on her left thigh. She sniffed and brushed a hair out of her face. She pushed her glasses up her nose. Just as she was mulling over reaching for her clothes and leaving, slight shivers of pain started to run through her body and rooted her to the spot.

"Wh-what's going on?" she cried as the pain intensified. "I don't like this! Stop!" she yelled. Vicious stabs of pain tore at her bare and vulnerable flesh. Dr. Florida Crane shut her eyes and screamed. Had the good doctor kept her eyes open, she might have had a chance of witnessing the most incredible transformation. Her whole body was growing, changing and improving.

Firstly, she simply grew. When Florida had entered the temple, she had been just five feet tall. As if being stretched by an unseen hand, Florida's body grew upwards. Her torso, arms and legs grew in perfect proportion. The previously unsightly fat that had cursed the young archaeologist's body got absorbed in the changes. Her bones lengthened and widened to support the new body. Her skin stretched and grew to cover the newly enlarged limbs, taking on a sultry tanned colour as it did so. When the process was finished, Florida had sunk to her knees, just seconds before passing out. Panting hard, she got to her feet. Which were suddenly much further away: the young woman had miraculously grown to be eight feet tall!

Florida gaped in astonishment. She tried to take a step forward and nearly fell over. "This body is going to take some getting used to!" she said, looking herself over. Although she was very skinny, her new height filled her with confidence. She brought her hands up to her chest and sighed. There had been no change there. "Still flat as a board," she muttered. To console herself, Florida tried to walk again. Soon she was wandering over the chamber with the grace of a dancer. She had returned to the altar by the time the second change hit her like a runaway train, knocking the enlarged woman to her knees.

Raging torrents of strength and power flooded Florida's skinny body like a tidal wave. The pain was immense but Florida was determined to witness some of the changes that raged through her slight frame. She gritted her teeth, stood up and watched as her legs pulsed, layer upon layer of pure, raw power filling them out in all directions. Her slight calves balled up and pushed out, forming perfect diamonds of gargantuan, twitching, strong muscle. These formed the basis for her thighs, which were next to expand. Their size doubled and redoubled until Florida's upper legs were thicker than tree trunks and as solid as steel. Each humungous,power-packed leg weighed as much as Florida had when she entered the temple. The massive hunks of perfect, vein-covered strength steadied the young woman as the changes moved inexorably upwards.

Her previously shapeless, flat butt took on the perfect shape. Each ass-cheek resembled a bowling ball, both in terms of size and firmness, yet it was made of glorious tanned flesh. Florida felt her new butt and smiled. "Finally I've got something to fill out a pair of jeans with!" she smiled. Her torso grew all over: back muscles expanded and rippled into being, larger and harder than any male bodybuilder's could ever be. Her obliques burst out, hard, ripped and ready to prepare the way for a glorious set of abs to thrust out of her flat belly. First a line appeared down her middle, joining her slight breasts to her grape-shaped navel and sinking slightly beyond. Then either side of the line two sets of enormous muscles exploded outward. Each rock hard, power-packed ab pulsed and bulged to the size of a bag of sugar, etching strong grooves and ridges in the young woman's abdomen. Florida's navel all but disappeared in the swells of her outrageous stomach muscles. Inevitably the rush of power reached her chest.

The slight fat of her bosom disappeared entirely as the growth tore onward. Florida's small tanned brown nipples became erect as the power passed through them. Her pecs grew, slowly and gently, until they were three times as big as Arnie's at his peak. "Finally!" Florida thought ironically. "Cleavage!" She gritted her teeth as the flood of power passed her chest, arriving squarely at her shoulders. They began to ripple with power, widening, lengthening and strengthening. When they had finished growing, Florida was as wide as a bus, with criss-crossing veins rushing the length of the immense muscles. The archaeologist's neck followed suit. Florida could feel it growing thicker and longer. Gently she touched it but moved her hand away immediately: her body was far too hot to touch. Once her neck was twice as thick - packed with tough yet shapely muscle - the flow of growth seemed to split in half and travel down both of Florida's arms simultaneously.

As her triceps powered up into perfect horseshoe-shaped masses of brawny, dense strength, her biceps burst outward, forming swells so large that they threatened to break through her skin, coating her upper arms in thick layers of solid, brawny power. Experimentally, Florida flexed the biceps of her right arm. Her eyes widened in awe as her arm seemed to explode into new, powerful life. The split heads of her right biceps glistened in the thin layer of sweat that covered her body and towered at a mighty forty-five inches around. The final step began as her forearms put on fantastic quantities of muscle, growing and lengthening to fit in with the rest of her now colossally hulking body. They did not stop growing until they were five times the size of the originals. The pain stopped and Florida sank to her hands and knees, letting out a roar of relief that could be heard for miles around. Cracks appeared in the temple floor under the massive woman.

Carefully Florida stood. Each and every part of her body was covered in obscenely huge and beautifully tanned muscle. She had muscle in places she didn't know could have muscle. Dr. Florida Crane moved her hands over the unfamiliar terrain of her new frame. Her nipples, previously small yet perky, now pointed downwards under, she felt, the weight of those enormous pecs. Each of her abdominals stood in proud relief. Her shoulders were like miniature mountain ranges. Even her vaginal muscles had strengthened beyond belief. It was her thighs that fascinated her most: huge valleys and peaks of cut, vascular strength that felt as if they were cut from granite. "I just can't exist!" she gasped, feeling and staring at her unbelievably mighty body. She frowned.

Because it was then that the third change took over her body. Fortunately from Florida's point of view, this one was relatively painless. A slightly unpleasant stretching sensation struck the musclewoman's hips, cheeks and chest. A tingly sensation filled her lips and scalp. Florida looked down at herself to find out what was going on: her hips were widening, turning her from a towering strongwoman into a curvy sex goddess. Her lips were filling out into lush, bee-stung rose petals of beauty. Her cheekbones grew to give her a classically beautiful face. Her greasy, sweat-filled black hair broke the bobble as it lengthened. Her hair reached her waist within seconds and started to shine like a waterfall in the sunlight. Suddenly Florida was having difficulty seeing. Realising what was happening, she took her glasses off and found she had perfect vision. It was then that Florida's greatest wish came true.

Balanced perfectly on top of her enormous pecs, the archaeologist's breasts began to blossom. The mammoth muscles started being eclipsed as Florida's boobs passed from the size of lemons to the size of oranges and way, way beyond. The superwoman's eyes widened in sheer delight as her orbs bulged further and further outward, past the size of softballs. The growth of the breastflesh pulled her nipples up until they tilted slightly upwards. She reached around her inflating chest to tweak them and found that their sensitivity had gone through the roof. Still her bust inflated, past the size of soccerballs. The superb musclewoman no longer cared about anything as her lust built up to a crescendo. Her boobs reached the size of volleyballs and Florida could feel herself on the edge of the most powerful orgasm of her life. Still her inflating mammaries grew on and on. It was becoming difficult for the muscled-up beauty to reach her nipples now, though they had inflated to the size of shot glasses due to her towering arousal. She was at full stretch when her breasts stopped growing, having attained the size of beachballs, with areolae the size of saucers. They looked small compared to the awesome size of her inhuman boobs, held perfectly in place by her massive underlying pecs. Florida came at the same time as the growth stopped, unleashing another powerful and throaty roar throughout the temple.

A bit of dust fell from the ceiling onto her nose and Dr. Florida Crane laughed. "This is my wish come true!" she cried, tears of joy running down her cheeks. She caught sight of her old clothes on the floor and grinned. She picked up the T-shirt and tried to rest it on the enormous shelf of her breasts. It barely covered one of her breasts now. The shorts were a joke: the archaeologist doubted she could get her stupendous arm through them, never mind one of her incredible legs. She was about to put her now useless garments in her backpack when she heard a rumbling. It was, for the moment, far-off but it was getting nearer. Instinct nearly made Florida panic. Then she grinned. "What do I have to fear now?" she said to herself. "Bring it on!"

The rumbling grew louder and louder. It was coming down the passageway that lead to the chamber Florida was standing in. She moved to face the entrance she herself had used. Florida tilted her head to one side and frowned: she could now make out what the rumbling was. It seemed to be an army marching. They rounded the corner and came into view. Florida gasped in amazement. Hundreds and hundreds of women were walking four abreast down the passageway towards the chamber. They were all between six feet six and seven feet tall, all naked, all incredibly muscled and deeply tanned with long, dark hair. None of them could get close to Florida's strength or beauty but they were clearly built along the same lines. As they marched into the chamber and began to fill it out, Florida noticed that they were each holding a weapon of some sort. Many held swords but some had spears, some bows and quivers of arrows slung on their backs and some of the others had what Florida could only describe as a pair of large forks.

Florida's eyes darted this way and that, trying to take in the scene. If they all rushed her at once, she would stand little chance of making her way out alive. The chamber filled up and Florida estimated that there were a thousand other women in there with her. She swallowed. The last woman to enter the chamber was holding two swords and she approached Florida, setting the smaller of the two down on the floor some way away. The woman walking towards her was seven feet two, a little taller than all the rest. Her massive muscles - still not as big as Florida's, but the biggest that Florida had noticed of all of the intruders - moved in perfect time and with perfect grace as she walked towards the archaeologist, holding the larger sword flat with one hand cradling the hilt and one gently cushioning the blade. She genuflected in front of Florida, head bowed, and held out the weapon in her two hands. Florida took it.

"Oh. My. God." she whispered, realisation striking like a hammer on an egg as she looked at the massive weapon in her hands. "I'm Queen of the Amazons."

[Kuner]

Part 4

Florida was looking at the sword she had just been given, turning it over in her hands, when the fourth change happened. It felt briefly as if her brain were going to bubble out of her skull. Fortunately this change was quick. When Florida opened her eyes again a couple of seconds later, she had access to a completely new set of memories and knowledge, as well as her own. She quickly sifted through it all, looking for a clue as to what exactly was going on. A new memory presented itself.

In it, a woman was standing in the chamber that Florida and a thousand others are occupying in the here and now. She was seven feet six tall and, unusually for the Amazonian women Florida has met so far, she was not naked. Just mostly naked. All she was wearing was a headdress made up of a hundred feathers whose colour changed constantly: from white to yellow to orange to red, through green and blue to indigo and violet and back to white again. Her body was a testament to the intense beauty of the incredibly strong woman: her gigantic muscles bulged and rippled with each of her movements. Her tan gave her a deep and healthy glow. Her dark brown eyes were the colour of chestnuts. The only hair on her body hung in raven-black torrents from her proud head. She held a huge wooden staff aloft; her arms bulged beautifully with the effort, and spoke the Amazonian language, which Florida now understood. With a gasp she realised who the woman was.

She was the last Queen of the Amazons.

In the memory, she invoked the power of a being called The Goddess. "O Goddess, hear my prayers! Heed the tortured cries of your beaten and unworthy servant!" she hollered. "Protect my people now! We own this land and have conquered many others but now Nature seeks to take it all from us!" Florida frowned. She was experiencing emotions entirely inappropriate to the situation. She felt afraid: mortally, horrifically afraid. "I'm feeling her feelings!" she gasped. The reverie broke when the woman who handed Florida the sword took her by the tremendous, basketball-sized shoulder.

"Mistress?" she said, sounding worried. Florida shook herself and spoke to the woman in her own language. "I am fine," she responded, taking the woman's arm. Her muscles felt more solid and real than anything she had ever touched. The woman bowed and stood back. Florida addressed the crowd of musclebound women.

"I am your Queen!" she roared, pumping her mighty right fist. Long, strong cords of muscle flexed and bunched as she did so. The women raised their fists too to roar in approval and the sound was deafening. A different memory presented itself during the crescendo. In fact, Florida was not technically Queen of the Amazons until she passed three tests: a test of strength, a test of beauty and a test of wisdom. The newly wondrous woman held her palms out flat for quiet. Her triceps flexed out to unimaginable sizes. The clamour died down and she spoke again, more quietly this time. "I need time to prepare for the tasks that face me," she said. Her voice, though quiet, had steel running through it. "Stand outside the temple and wait for me. The tests shall begin today. Challenge me and I will prove my worth to you!"

The Amazonian army trooped out, satisfied with the speech. Florida stood still to watch them leave, trying to look as queenly as possible. As their footsteps died away, Florida returned to her new memories. The last Queen's final emotional state imprinted itself once more onto Florida's psyche. She couldn't understand: "What could possibly render a woman this strong so afraid?" she frowned. The answer came quick: she noticed that lava was filling the temple floor around the Queen as she stood on the altar. The last Queen's prayers continued.

"Bury this temple underground! Let one who is truly worthy find it again and receive The Power of the Amazonians! She will be the new Queen and lead us into the future!" She paused. "Save my army as well. Save them... in exchange for me." Florida's eyes widened in horror. A voice echoed down from the sky. "IT IS AS DONE," it proclaimed. The Queen smiled a horrible, twisted smile: the smile of victory in defeat. Her task completed, she jumped into the lava. Dr. Florida Crane screwed her eyes up tight and tried to shut out the memory of the screams.

"So," Florida whispered to herself. "They lead me here. Nice." The rest of the relevant memories unfolded quickly: the title of Amazonian Queen was not given on a hereditary basis. When a Queen died, any woman could challenge for the right to succeed her. All the challengers would then compete in three tests: Strength, Beauty and Wisdom. The Royal Power then entered the winner and she became stronger, wiser and more beautiful than the previous Queen. By Florida's reckoning, she was the twenty-ninth Queen of the Amazons but seemed to have received the power without the need for the trials. "Maybe it was a condition of the last Queen's sacrifice, poor woman," she thought.

Setting her face with a determined expression, Florida walked out of the chamber and towards the temple entrance. The Amazonians had ruled the land mostly by fear, which was why the walls were covered in messages telling the unwitting trespasser to flee. Of course, when it was necessary they were fierce, unflinching and unequalled warriors. She chuckled. Before the passageways had seemed so vast - now there was little room between the walls for the superbly strong superwoman. Daylight beckoned her as she turned the final corner.

Emerging into the sunlight, Florida could see the same squadron of bulging, massively-muscled nudes arranged around the temple entrance like an other-worldly painting. She smiled at them all. "What is the first test you have set me?" she inquired. The woman who had handed Florida the sword, which she was still carrying, stepped forward from the throng and bowed so low her hair touched the ground. "Mistress," said the woman, whose name was Nefla, "follow me." Florida smiled and bowed at the woman and started off after her. The rest of the Amazonian army followed on.

Florida was almost overcome by the messages her newly attuned senses were giving her. She could make out the scents of animals who had passed by a fortnight ago. She could see further into the distance than any of her contemporaries, though that scarcely helped, so dense was the jungle foliage at this point. Her surroundings looked more vivid and real. She could hear the cries and screeches of the jungle's abundant wildlife coming from miles away, as well as the hearts of all her fellow warriors beating. Happiness overwhelmed her. "I'm a goddess," she thought. "A goddess."

After five minutes of walking through the jungle, easily brushing back branches that before the change she would have had to avoid, Nefla stopped in front of what looked to Florida like a cliff face. The archaeologist looked up at the hulking rock. She looked further up at the hulking rock. Nefla spoke. "Lift this, hold it for two minutes and then destroy it," she demanded. The attendant stood back to let her Queen through. Florida smiled grimly. "With pleasure," she said. The rest of the Amazonian tribe lined up to watch or were vying for good vantage points. Florida rubbed her hands together and approached the foot of the cliff face. She bent carefully at the knees and dug her fists into the ground, trying to get some purchase on the towering rock, the size of three warehouses. When the archaeologist felt she had her hands deep enough, she very slowly tried to straighten up.

It was nearly a mistake. When Florida looked back on the first test, she realised that she should have walked around the rock and found out how large it was. As it was, she was not prepared. However, slowly, inexorably, the gargantuan boulder ceded to the Queen's immense strength. Gritting her teeth, Florida slowly brought the rock out of the ground. All of the muscles on her body were tensing, bulging and spasming wildly under the strain. Huge veins popped out, bringing more and more blood to her thirsty muscles. Her quads had doubled in size and her biceps were exploding out of her skin. Dr. Florida Crane yelled as she started to straighten her legs, slowly moving her arms to get a better grip of the rock.

Her muscles swelled to incredible dimensions, far beyond even the immensely powerful stature she had begun the test with. Her thighs had swollen to a hundred inches around. Her pecs had ballooned up and pushed her unbelievable breasts further up and out, which did not help at all. Her biceps had inflated to a solid sixty inches. Her glutes bunched up and inflated too, granting her greater stability as well as a butt to kill for. Her thrusting abs finally overcame her navel, which disappeared like a sinking ship. The rock, dripping clumps of soil and frightened insects, rose inevitably into the sky.

Florida straightened up, grunting with the effort, and held the boulder straight out in front of her. Her breasts bulged so far away from her body that she was using them as support for the giant boulder. Her body was awash with tearing, searing pain. With great difficulty, she turned to Nefla. "You said - hold it. How?" Nefla raised her arms over her head. Florida rolled her eyes. "I thought you might - say that," she replied. Groaning loudly now, Florida slowly moved the rock over her head. The stress her body was now under would have wrecked many construction vehicles but somehow the superwoman held on, counting down the hundred and twenty seconds she needed to hold the rock. Her muscles had reached a point at which they no longer needed to grow, which was just as well. Florida's biceps were now so large that had they been unflexed and down by her sides they would have bulged straight into her breasts. Speaking of the archaeologist's mammoth mammaries, they now extended to just over one metre away from the rest of her awe-inspiring body. Her nipples, which were erect and tingling, were the size of Coke bottles. Her shoulders were as wide as a jet and her legs as thick as saloon cars. "Thirty seconds left," Nefla said. The archaeologist sank into the jungle floor under the combined weight of the boulder and her own impossibly outrageous body but still she held on. "Ten seconds," Nefla announced. The crowd of naked warriors sat in rapt silence as their Queen proved her worth. Dr. Florida Crane hollered her pain out into the jungle sky.

After what seemed like a day to Florida, Nefla announced that the lifting challenge was over. With great relief, the Queen summoned all of her prodigious strength and launched the boulder into the air. She followed its arc and wound back her incredibly inflated right fist. At just the right moment, she unleashed her strongest punch and connected with the unfortunate rock. It broke instantly into a billion tiny pebbles, which scattered out over the jungle for a couple of miles. Florida turned around to face Nefla, who nodded. She smiled wryly and turned to, justifiably, milk the crowd's applause.

"Round One to me," she said, grateful relief all over her face.


--- To Be Continued ---


more comin

[Constantius]

Lots of thoughtful effort. I like the archaeologist angle. Karma to you!

[Kuner]

Thanks for the K+

Just to clear things up, I'm not the author. This story was posted on another forum some 4 years ago, and some parts aren't accessible anymore. I fished it out of google cache. It goes on for several more parts

Part 5
The cheers and whoops of delight rose high into the sky. Florida raised her arms to call for silence and several things happened at once. The first and most obvious was that two colossal arms soared into the air, veins like lianas running all over them. This caused her titanic pectoral muscles to rise, making her incredible assets jump up. The tremendous breastflesh then obscured the Amazonian academic's face. Giggling, Florida quickly lowered her arms. She addressed the hordes of massive naked beauties in their language.

"I will be crowned your Queen," she announced. The women all raised their arms and cheered. Each arm was covered in large, thick and powerful muscle but paled into insignificance when compared with Florida's simply gigantic limbs. "I want to pass straight to the next test to prove myself to you!" This was greeted with a loud roar of approval. Nefla took her by the hand. "Mistress," she said, "please come this way." Florida followed her, the Amazonian warriors falling in behind. They were heading back for the temple.

Let's take a look at Dr. Florida Crane as she cuts a wide path through the jungle. Her legs are the width of cars and she has trouble bending them to walk, so thick and dense are the muscles covering them. You could lose a hand in amongst the vast network of veins and rippling power there. Florida's torso has also widened and enlarged considerably. Her abs are a perfectly symmetrical trail of superb, jutting, massive muscle, each one as wide as Florida was before entering the temple. They lead up to - and are partially obscured by - a pair of breasts so large that scaffolding would be more useful than a mere bra. Well, that would be the case if her pectorals weren't so developed that they could hold the monstrous mammaries easily in check. As it was, Florida could now crush cars in her cleavage. Each breast was perfectly spherical, topped off with a huge, thick, dark brown nipple that pointed slightly upwards. Her areolae were the size of manhole covers.

Further upwards, Florida's shoulders were nothing short of incredible. They were as wide as a jet and flowed into arms that were thicker and wider than the largest male bodybuilder's chest. Her biceps were so large that, when fully flexed, they reached four inches beyond the top of her head and so wide that she could not bend her arm to make a right angle. Her triceps were similarly huge in order to keep her immense upper arms balanced. Her forearms were terrifyingly massive examples of feminine strength. In her current state, Florida could have wrestled with dinosaurs and won. Her body easily eclipsed both the largest male bodybuilder and the sexiest female porn star.

The insanely huge woman used the short journey to think about her future. Trees cracked and splintered as she walked past, oblivious. All of her academic work, as well as the rest of what she had begun to think of as her previous life, would have to be abandoned. The benefits, though, far outweighed the disadvantages of the situation. She counted them off: legions of followers, wisdom and intelligence beyond that of the highest-flying academics ever known, sexiness off the scale and a set of muscles that could wreck cities.

The group arrived back at the temple. Nefla entered silentlu but Florida had to stop. "Erm, Nefla," she signalled the woman. "I've got a spot of bother." The enormous attendant turned to face her Queen, whose shoulders alone were much too wide to fit down the passageway. The humungous historian turned sideways on and still could not make it through due to the combination of her three feet plus boobs, traffic-stopping pectorals, superwide torso and hugely rippling back muscles. Nefla smiled to herself and whispered some words that Florida didn't catch. She then raised both arms towards the gigantic girl, who promptly started to shrink. Florida looked around at her body as her titanically sprawling muscles returned to the state they had achieved just after the transformation.

Florida entered the temple with ease, clapping a hand on Nefla's warm and hard shoulder. "Thank you." The attendant bowed her head. "It was my pleasure, Mistress." She smiled coyly before turning to lead the army back to the main chamber. Florida waited again as all the troops filed in, their heads held proud and high. The enormous doctor smiled at each and every superwoman as she walked in. When the last of them had entered, Nefla spoke.

"The next test is that of beauty!" she cried. "I need two witnesses, women of strength and courage true." She chose the first women to raise their hands, who then came forward. Their names were Runea and Falbla. "Form a circle with me," the priestess ordered. In truth it was more of a square but that did not seem to matter. Nefla chanted some words over and over, steadily getting louder and louder. Suddenly the world of the temple began to blur. Something that looked an awful lot like a hurricane came over the four women. Once the swirling vortex descended, Florida could only make out the three Amazons who were sharing this situation with her. None of them seemed afraid. Then everything vanished in a blink of light.

The next instant Florida was somewhere else. The three other women were in the same positions they had been before the spell, though they were now wearing clothes. Runea wore a sky blue bikini, Falbla had a silver one-piece swimsuit on and Nefla had acquired a black negligée. Florida looked down at her own body: she was clothed in a bikini that depicted the American flag. The light was dim but Florida could see perfectly. She looked around: she was standing in a dark, narrow passage.

Behind her was some sort of stage with a drawn pair of purple curtains in front of it. Beyond the enormous woman the passage lead onto a crossroads. Occasionally a bikini-clad girl would walk past, muttering to herself, or a woman dressed as a schoolgirl would stumble into view, adjusting her pigtails. An awful suspicion came over the awesome archaeologist. She turned around to get a better look at the stage. Sure enough, there was a metal pole stretching from floor to ceiling. Florida grabbed Nefla and took her aside.

"We are in a strip club," she hissed. Nefla frowned, having picked up on the notes of menace in her Queen's voice. "Of course, Mistress," she replied timidly. "This is how we test beauty. An Amazonian who wishes to be Queen must earn as much money as possible in one session of pole dancing." Florida's eyes narrowed. She had deliberately not looked into her new memories for any mention of the tests for fear of it being branded cheating. Now, though, there were so many questions. "Nefla," she growled, "my biceps are bigger than these girls' breasts. They'll think I'm a freak." Nefla shook her head. "The last Queen took two thousand and seventy-three dollars. A record, for any woman at this establishment. We selected the club very carefully." Florida opened her mouth to argue further when a greasy-sounding male announcer cut over them.

"And now, gentlemen, the climax of your night. We've brought her in all the way from Brazil - would you please give a warm welcome to Cyndi!" The curtains shifted back and Florida groaned. "That's me, right Nefla?" The priestess's eyes were shining as she nodded. Florida rolled her eyes but turned to the stage. "Wish me luck, girls?" she said, addressing Runea and Falbla. Both women complied, smiling broadly. Dr. Florida Crane, who used to make a note of where the dirty movies section was in all her local stores so that she could avoid wandering in there by accident, stepped forward.

Slowly the delectable doctor strutted onto the stage. Her supermusculature shifted and twitched under her gorgeously tanned skin. Carefully she relaxed her pecs so as to get maximum bounce from her monstrous mammaries, milking the moment. Florida heard several gasps as she padded, barefoot, into view. On reaching the pole, she turned to her audience. The room was filled with smoke but Florida could see each and every man there with perfect clarity. There were about forty people sitting at various circular tables dotted around. She reached out casually with her right arm and grasped the pole. She stroked the metal up and down, the muscles in her arm contracting and relaxing in perfect time. The smiling sexbomb watched the guys stand, one by one, and move as close to the stage as they could.

"Evening, boys," she whispered in her huskiest, sexiest voice. "Glad you could join me." She took her hand off the pole to run both hands down her body from neck to thighs, spending time plumping her massive melons to maximum advantage, tweaking her nipples into erections that threatened to pop her bikini top off and fondling each and every crevice of her enormous abdomen and thick thighs. Slowly the huge hottie moved her hands around her thighs to grasp her beauteous butt.

Florida licked her luscious lips and began to thrust her pelvis back and forth, still grasping her unbelievable ass. During all this, the stunning strongwoman had managed to shoot a smouldering glance at each and every guy in the room. They all stared, hypnotised, jaws hanging loose, at the woman pumping away on-stage. So far they hadn't even thought about their wallets.

Florida's eyes were closed and her head tossing from side to side as her thrusts increased intensity. She started to release little gasps of pleasure. After a minute of this, one of the men remembered where he was and slapped a twenty dollar bill on the polished wood of the stage. 'Cyndi' shot him a wink in the midst of her thrusting as the rest of the crowd tried to top his contribution.

Florida slowed down the pace and finished the first part of her act with five big thrusts, each one accompanied with an orgasmic squeal. She turned to the crowd, strands of hair framing her stunning face, every muscle alive and fully pumped. "Thanks, guys," she breathed, eying the pile of bills at her feet. A quick calculation showed that there was some way to go to top the previous Queen. She looked up and with dismay spotted about eight men leaving. "Right," she said to herself, "A tour-de-force is called for."

For the start of act two, Florida simply stood in the middle of the room, hands on hips, and started to flex her pecs. The remaining punters watched in salivating disbelief as Florida's boobs began to swell larger, or so it seemed to them. The superstrong stripper's bikini top began to stretch. The Stars and Stripes deformed as her nipples tented the fabric further and further away from her body. After a minute of pumping her already enormous chest, Florida's shotglass-sized nipples tore holes in the top. By this time, the crowd was baying for her to take it off.

Wearing the sauciest look she could muster, Dr. Florida Crane kept on pumping her pecs, tearing the holes wider and wider. A few seconds later and all of her awesome areolae were on view. Many of the men just emptied their wallets, hypnotised by the overwhelmingly erotic act taking place on stage. Once the flood of money had settled into a trickle, Florida whispered to them: "Don't make me horny. You wouldn't like me when I'm horny." With that, she began to tremble and give off a series of short gasps, still flexing, releasing, tearing. Then she started a growl which turned into a roar. The superbabe threw her head back and ripped the remains of her top clean away, exposing her jiggling beachball-sized boobs to the crowd.

The loudest roar of the night went up. Cash was practically flying onto the stage. Florida fondled her large, sweat-covered breasts for the punters' pleasure. Again more men left, which puzzled Florida somewhat. "Maybe they've run out of money," she thought, and smiled wryly. Then a surprising cry came: "Flex!" Florida stopped feeling herself up. "Really?" she said, looking through the crowd for the man who'd spoken. This time the whole crowd shouted: "Yes!" The stunned superwoman grinned broadly. "All right!"

Florida hit a double-biceps pose, her upper arms exploding into forty-five inches apiece of solid power, and never looked back. With each muscle-packed pose, another flutter of bills landed at her feet. By the time Florida turned to show the guys her massively muscled back, she had earned enough money to top the previous Queen. Suddenly the doors at the back of the room opened. Florida spun around to see what was going on: at least forty men ran up, gawping at the impossible near-naked beauty on stage. Ten men strolled in after them; Florida recognised some of them as the punters who had left earlier. She grinned broadly.

"Come for the finale?" she said, placing taunting emphasis on the word "come" and her hands on her hips. For the start of her final act, Florida did some simple tricks with her breasts: bouncing them up and down; first in time, then perfectly out of synch. She leaned over, as if to do press-ups, and pushed her body up and down by her gigantic globes. Then, realising that she had not actually used the pole, she climbed it... using her boobs for grip instead of her legs. The gorgeous muscle girl held her legs straight out and inched up the pole slowly. When Florida reached the top, she hung on by her breasts and undid the screws holding it in place. Next she carefully dropped to the floor, holding the length of metal in her hands.

By that time Florida had earned well over four thousand dollars but wanted to hit five. She bent the pole around to form a crude circle and mashed the metal together, turning it into a Hula Hoop. Next she began to flatten the metal out on one side of the hoop, using just the palm of her hand. The punters looked on, puzzled. They were keen to see what the erotic entertainer would do next and couldn't figure it out. Eventually Florida was satisfied with her handiwork and slipped the circle of metal around her torso. She carefully settled it in place around her breasts and then the guys clicked. She had turned the pole into a new bikini top.

Florida hammered the metal tight to her body and began to flex her mighty chest again. A huge cheer went up while the metal creaked and groaned loudly. Just as before, Florida's nipples began to press against the material. There was a shower of notes as, inevitably, the metal ceded to the Amazonian Queen's awe-inspiring body. Eventually the metal clanged to the floor, beaten by an archaeologist's pectorals. Florida bowed to the drooling crowd, who were madly cheering, whooping and whistling, collecting her cash as she did so. As she headed back to Nefla and the others, some of the men got onstage and tried to grab pieces of her clothing. Florida sighed to herself. She presented Nefla with the money.

Instantly the attendant said, "You have collected five thousand, six hundred and twenty-two dollars, Mistress." Florida grinned at Runea and Falbla, who were rooted to the spot. "Does that mean I win?" she asked innocently.

[Kuner]

Part 6
The four women silently formed the circle, trying as much as possible to be in the same positions as before. Nefla intoned the magic words and teleported them all back to the temple. Runea and Falbla, naked once more, broke away from the circle. The powerful pair stepped forward to address the crowds of Amazonian women, who were waiting expectantly. The silence of the thousand waiting women was eerie.

"She has passed the second test!" they cried in unison. Instantly the familiar cheers rang around the chamber. Florida, slightly shaken from the teleportation spell this time, managed to smile at the mass of women and raise her awesome arms in celebration. When the cheers had died down, Nefla nudged her mistress. "Mistress, the next test will take time to prepare. You should rest after your exertions." Florida smiled at the priestess. "Anything you say, Nefla," she replied, bowing. Then she paused. "Where will I sleep?"

Nefla lead Florida through the hordes and down a passage the Amazonian academic had not noticed before. Though Nefla had said she must be tired, Florida felt more alive than she had ever done, filled with a seemingly infinite source of power that made her more alert and more real than ever. Her attendant stopped outside a doorway, which was covered by, appropriately enough, a royal blue curtain. She drew back the veil and beckoned to Florida to enter. The archaeologist smiled briefly, thanked Nefla, and stepped forward into the room.

To say it was sparsely furnished would be to waste an opportunity to use the word "Spartan". It contained a slab of rock which had been carved into something roughly bed-shaped if you were an eight foot Amazon and what, on closer inspection, seemed to be the fur of some monstrous creature to serve as a blanket. There was not even a window or wall hanging. Florida grinned widely: she had certainly slept on worse. Nefla stood in the doorway, waiting on her mistress, as she climbed into the bed. It was surprisingly comfortable. "What is this room, Nefla?" she asked.

"It is one of the chambers in which women competing to become Queen are housed after each test," she replied softly. "This is the most comfortable and, seeing as there is only you, I chose it," she continued simply. Sensing that Florida had no further need of her, Nefla bowed to her charge. "Good night, Mistress." "Good night, Nefla," the recumbent musclewoman replied. Despite the incredible amount of energy running through her body, Florida promptly fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Florida awoke with a start. Someone else was in the room! Falling into instincts she didn't know she possessed, the huge historian stood up and put the intruder in an unbreakable headlock before the other person could blink. "Mistress!" came a strangled voice. "It is I, Nefla!" Florida released her and apologised profusely. The attendant, who was rubbing the soreness out of her neck, shook her head. "I apologise, I should have awoken you." She bowed, then paused and looked Florida in the face. "We have need of your skills, Mistress," she continued. "Please follow me."

Nefla promptly lead the way back into the main chamber, with her slightly puzzled mistress in tow. As the pair turned into the final corridor before the vast expanse, Florida heard the sounds of an argument echoing down the passage. She frowned and strained to hear better. One of the women seemed to be complaining that the other had stolen something from her. The built beauty turned to Nefla, who just rolled her eyes at the larger woman. Frowning yet smiling, Florida walked into the chamber.

She announced herself politely and spoke to the two women, who were both being held back by friends, their enormous bronzed muscles straining against those of their captors. "Can one of you tell me what the cause of this argument is?" she inquired. They both started shouting at the same time. Florida closed her eyes like a school teacher dealing with two particularly troublesome pupils who had gotten into a fight. "One at a time, please," Florida said, with a hint of steel in her voice. She pointed to the woman on her left and said, "You first. What is the problem that causes disharmony in the tribe?"

The woman lowered her gaze before looking Florida in the eyes with a burning passion. "Please, Mistress, she stole my baby!" The other woman's eyes narrowed. "I have done no such thing! It is she who has stolen my child!" From somewhere in the crowd that had gathered, a third woman appeared, holding a baby in a blanket who was, incredibly, sleeping through the argument. Florida walked to the third woman to look at the child. It was tiny, fragile, beautiful. She smiled at it and stroked its forehead. In response the baby gurgled but did not wake.

Then she turned to the arguing women. "One of you is the mother of this fine child. But the other is a liar and a thief. I intend to find out which is which." An idea had formed in her mind whilst she looked at the baby. She turned to the woman on her left, the one who had spoken first. She smiled her most radiant and calming smile. "What is your name?" Her gut instinct said that this was the true mother but she needed a way to show the women of the tribe that this was the case.

"Beleria, Mistress," she replied. "Beleria," Florida repeated, running a hand through the woman's thick brown hair to reassure her. "Do not be alarmed." Without warning, Florida bent down slightly and gently took Beleria's large and proud right breast in her hands. She then leaned closer and began to suckle from the stunned woman's nipple. Her milk promptly flowed into Florida's mouth. It was rich and creamy: the most delicious milk the academic Amazonian had ever tasted. There were a few gasps from the crowd but Florida carried on regardless. She let it trickle down her mouth a little to show the others that Beleria could produce it. Then she stood and looked around at the crowd.

"Beleria can produce milk," she said, making sure that they had all seen the milk on her face as proof. She turned to the other woman, wiping her mouth as she did so. "What is your name?" The second woman looked frightened. "Tanza," she said timidly. "Mistress, there is no need to suckle at my breast, for no milk flows within me." She looked wretched as she spoke but Florida gently lifted her head so that the two were looking face to face. Quietly she asked, "Why did you do it?" Tears appeared in Tanza's eyes when she had the strength to continue. "I am barren and desire a child above all things," she answered.

Florida was filled with compassion. "When I pass the third test and am crowned Queen, I will pray to the Goddess on your behalf that she might bless you with what your soul desires. For now, you must apologise to Beleria with all your heart." Tanza turned to Beleria and bowed deeply. "I am sincerely sorry for the worry that I must have caused you, Beleria." Beleria smiled. "I accept your apology, Tanza. If you wish it, you may care for the child from time to time." Tanza nodded gratefully and tried to choke back her tears. Both women smiled at each other. The woman who was holding the baby returned it to its mother as Florida smiled at them all.

All of a sudden the room was filled with cheering and celebration. Florida was stunned when all the women who could reach clapped her on the shoulder. Above the noise she heard Nefla's voice proclaim: "Florida has passed the third test! She is our Queen!" Slowly a huge smile broke over the massive woman's face. That show of wisdom had been the third test and she hadn't realised. Florida tried to make her way through to Nefla, grinning widely and thanking all the women whose paths she crossed on the way to her attendant. "It's not easy to get through a crowd when you're an eight-foot Amazon," Florida thought.

The priestess was smiling widely. "Mistress, you must stand on the altar holding this sword so that the coronation ceremony can begin!" With that, she handed Florida the same sword that she had given the first time that the two had met. Florida took the blade from her and examined it again. It was a fantastic piece of craftsmanship; a weapon worthy of the Amazonian Queen. The hordes of huge women parted to show Florida the way to the altar. She walked with a determined stride to the centre of the chamber and looked once more at the blue jewel that had started her on this amazing journey. It was glowing with such fierce light that the huge heroine got spots in front of her eyes.

Dr. Florida Crane stood before the altar and took the time to look around at the women who would soon be her subjects. She picked out the smiling faces of Runea and Falbla, along with Beleria and Tanza, who now seemed to be firm friends. Nefla was standing behind her, smiling the most of all. Florida smiled widely as she thought to herself, "This is where I am meant to be." On that thought, she raised the sword aloft. Immediately a bolt of lightning tore through the ceiling and struck her. Florida screamed.

--- To Be Continued ---