1st N.A. Serial Rights All Rights Reserved. GLAMMAZON by Anthony Durrant As Fauntleroy walked into the library, he looked at the glass doors at the front of the building and smiled to himself. He pushed open the doors and walked inside, smiling as he went up to the counter. For a moment, he thought of how easy it had been to open the doors. Smoothing out the wrinkles in his neat tweed suit and red bow tie, Fauntleroy went into the library. He was, as always, a very neat fellow, although a series of recent break-ins had made him nervous. "Glass doors are a great help," he said to himself, "to the knock need." He walked up to the girl at the counter and laid his books down on it. "These are to go back," he told her. "They're due today." "All right, Fauntleroy," she told him. "I'll put them on a cart." Fauntleroy nodded and walked up the stairs to the main library. Sitting at a table near the reference section was Battling Barry Bosco, a boxer and comic book fan. In front of him were at least two comics in a bag from the comic book shop in the mall. Barry was reading a third. "Say, Fauntleroy," Barry called tauntingly, "Would you like one of my comics?" "No, thank you," Fauntleroy snapped. "I think I'm old enough now to pick out my own." Eager to get away from the slovenly Barry, Fauntleroy hurried up the staircase to the third level, where the young adult books and graphic novels were kept. He was so eager, he didn't see Barry coming up behind him. By the time he sat down at one of the four tables on the right side, after picking out a book, he didn't see the powerful Barry come up behind him and throw one of the comics he always carried around with him onto the clean white tabletop. "Here's one of my older comics," Barry whispered into his ear. "Have fun!" With that, Barry walked downstairs combing his jet black hair and laughing as Fauntleroy put down the book and picked up the comic Barry had left. On the cover was a powerfully built, purple-skinned woman who dwarfed a handsome-looking fellow she was hugging warmly. With a puzzled frown, Fauntleroy read the title of the comic book: MIGHTYGLAMMAZON. He smiled to himself as he stared at the comic's glossy cover. "I wish I knew," Fauntleroy thought, "why Barry likes this kind of comic so much." Just then, the gentle rain outside turned into a thunderstorm; Fauntleroy had been so eager to get his books back, he hadn't really noticed the change in the weather. "Blast it!" he said to himself. "I'll have to wait until after the storm's over to go home." He picked up the comic and his book, and as he got up to go down to the second level, an unusually large lightning bolt struck the comic, burning it to ash in his hand in seconds. Fauntleroy saw tiny bolts of electricity surge down his slender body as he fell to the floor. He felt a pain in the pit of his stomach, then realized he was getting bigger. His sweater strained against Fauntleroy's rapidly growing body, and his legs soon filled his trousers. His face grew larger, rounder; he saw that his hair was growing longer and more full. That was when the curves came out. His breasts grew larger and burst from the front of Fauntleroy's red sweater and his hips grew wider, bursting the sides of his trousers as if they were tissue paper. Fauntleroy wondered just when his trousers had come up to his calves while he watched the wooden button pop open and the zipper snap off. Looking down, he saw his feet burst out of his socks and loafers. He was astounded to see that now he was standing ON his old loafers instead of wearing them; they were torn beyond repair. Even as he was growing, he realized his life would never be the same again. "What's happening to me?" Fauntleroy wondered. "I'm feeling good - full of energy!" That was when the muscles came out. Fauntleroy's sleeves couldn't contain his powerful biceps, and they burst apart. His chest and back muscles burst out of his shirt, leaving only a few rags clinging to his body as they expanded; Fauntleroy felt as if he was being pulled every which way as his muscles grew. Fauntleroy watched his belt snap as his growing leg muscles shredded his pants, exploding with power and strength. He could feel hair growing between his legs as the odd change completed itself. Just then Fauntleroy's head hit the library ceiling, almost knocking down the ceiling lamp, and the Amazon swayed for a few minutes before slamming a hand down on the table to steady herself. What was once Fauntleroy rose to her full 7'5" height, and headed to the stairs, every muscle rippling as she climbed down step by step. She looked round and saw no sign of Barry anywhere. Taking the book to the checkout counter, she opened it up to the last page and handed the surprised lady her library card. She scanned the serial number on it into the computer, then stamped a date on the tag on the back page of Fauntleroy's book before putting it on the other side of the electronic gate as what was once Fauntleroy passed through. Barry and his friend Simon were standing by the window of a house, and Simon was trying to pry the window open with a long crowbar. Barry was getting fed up with Simon, who was not getting very far. Finally, he shoved Simon aside and walked up to the window pane. "You're almost as weak as Fauntleroy!" he cried. "Here - I'll smash it open for you." With that, he raised his fist and smashed the window apart. Simon climbed on his shoulders and jumped off Barry into the house. At that moment, a tall shadow fell over Barry, and the young man looked over his shoulders. He saw a huge dark-haired woman looking down at him a few feet behind him. She was beautiful - her dark hair falling in waves down her back, her body powerfully built, her blue-green eyes twinkling merrily and her lips curved in a smile. "Now I think I know," she told him, "why you like your comics so much." "My God!" he cried, looking at the woman. "My God! My God! It's Fauntleroy!" "I wish I could give you your comic back," she told him, "but lightning destroyed it." Shrieking like a madman, Barry fled into the night. Shortly afterward Simon put a large toaster on the window ledge, and Fauntleroy took it and put it in the sack Barry had left. "You've got the toaster," Simon said. "Now hand me the crowbar. There's a lot more." She tossed him the crowbar, and he took it and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he came back with a microwave oven which he tossed out the broken window. Smiling, what was once Fauntleroy waited as Simon tossed out a toaster oven, a strongbox full of cash, and one very shiny blender. She saw her reflection in the blender and smiled quietly to herself. "He's stealing everything," she thought, "except the kitchen sink!" At that moment, Simon tossed the kitchen sink out the window, and she put it in the sack along with the strongbox, toaster oven, microwave, and toaster. Grabbing the window's edge, he swung his right leg over the side of the window, then his left. Simon dropped down to the street, then dusted himself off. When he turned toward what he thought was Barry, he got the shock of his life when he saw the huge woman looking down at him, the remains of Fauntleroy's suit dangling from her powerful body. She kneeled down and picked him up by his shirtfront. "You're in deep trouble," she told Simon, "very deep trouble. In fact, little boy, you will be going to jail for the series of robberies you've pulled off over the last week or so . . . and don't ever think of breaking into another house, or I'll make sure you never do it again." Simon felt like a weakling next to this beautiful muscular lady with Fauntleroy's face. It was painfully evident to him that he'd be seeing more of her in the years to come - for the prissy, weak Fauntleroy was gone forever: transformed into a beautiful, powerful Amazon. "It's either the police," she told him, "or me!" Grabbing his crowbar, she put him down and twisted it into a pretzel with her bare hands. Then she grabbed a pair of garbage cans and crushed them flat with her powerful grip. Dropping the pair of cans, Fauntleroy raised her arms and flexed her 40-inch biceps. Watching this display made Faunteroy want to wet his pants, but he was able to restrain himself from doing so. "Will you turn yourself into the police," she asked, "or will I have to drag you there?" "Y-yes . . ." Simon said. " 'Yes, my lady.' " "Y-yes, m-my l-lady!" "Much better!" she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Now, run along to the nearest police station with the loot, and turn yourself into the authorities. I'm sure they'll be quite interested to learn you've been robbing people blind. Go ahead, little boy, before it gets dark." "Yes, my lady!" Simon cried. As he turned to leave, she grabbed his arm. "Wait a minute!" she cried. "I didn't say 'Simon says!' " With that she slung him over one shoulder and threw the bag of loot over the other shoul der and began to walk toward the nearest police station. Defeated, Simon began to cry. "When they ask who brought you in, little boy," she told him, "tell them 'Glammazon!' " Later that afternoon the police found Simon and the loot on the doorstep of the station, in a nearly comatose state. When they took him into custody he kept muttering "Glammazon!" "How could a fictional character," asked one officer, "catch a real-life burglar?" "I don't know," another officer said softly, "but I do believe we're about to find out." Smiling proudly, her muscles rippling, Fauntleroy walked home as the storm clouds parted and the sun came out. Flexing her muscles again, she jumped up into the air, and landed right on the other side of the park. From now on, the library would be protected by Glammazon, so no one could ever steal books again. They'd just have to borrow them from the library. - THE END -