Fifth World of Superman

The Fifth World of Superman By Ellie Dauber Copyright, 1999

(With Thanks to Steve Zink for his help with some of the technical details of this story.)

Background: DC recently ran a four part story based on the premise that Jor-el, Superman's father, ran a number of scenarios to decide where to send his infant son before Krypton exploded. He recorded these, and they fell into the wrong hands. Superman was captured and made to experience the lives that might have been. The four worlds were Oa, the homeworld of the Green Lanterns; Rann, world of Adam Strange, a superhero from Earth; Thanagar, Hawkman's homeworld; and the Mars of J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, who's been mentioned in some of the other posts because of his multiple human identities (some of whom are female).

But were those the only scenarios Jor-el created?

"My Queen, a falling star!"

Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, looked in the direction Alcestes was pointing. Something was falling from the sky, but to Hippolyta's keen eye, it looked man-made. Yes, she could clearly see fins on the sides. "Not a star, Alcestes. A rocket."

"Are we under attack?" Alcestes was one of the Amazon healers. Any sort of attack meant that her skills would be needed in a way that she hated to use them.

"I doubt it. It doesn't look big enough to be carrying a bomb, not even one of Man's World's foolish nuclear bombs. Perhaps, it's from the American's space program."

"Or their military, but how did it find us?"

"We'll know shortly." Hippolyta's eyes had tracked the rocket as they talked. "It's heading for that small island just offshore."

She launched herself into the air, a trick newly learned of riding the air currents. The rocket slowed somewhat, but the landing was still a rough one. Mud and water shot up at Hippolyta. She dodged in midair, then landed gracefully beside the ship. The technology looked far beyond anything from Man's World.

As she studied it, there was a sudden loud click from the side of the rocket. Hippolyta braced for attack. A hatch opened, but nothing emerged. Then, from inside, she heard the cries of a small child. Hippolyta slowly moved to the side of the rocket. She looked in. There, swaddled in a mass of blue and red blankets, was a baby. It looked to be no more than a year old. It was the age her own daughter, Diana, had been, when Hippolyta had created her out of clay at the goddess Aphrodite's instruction. Diana was three now, a happy little girl with no idea of her magical origin.

"She'll love having a little sister," Hippolyta said. She reached in and lifted the baby.

Just then, Alcestes arrived by boat. She ran over to her Queen, just in time to see something. "Little brother, My Queen."

"What?"

"The baby is a boy. You cannot keep him. Men are forbidden on our Themyscira."

"This is hardly a 'man', Alcestes."

"Would you care to argue that with Athena or Aphrodite?"

"I see your point." Hippolyta looked around. The small island was almost 1,000 meters long and more than 600 meters wide, with a small hill near its center. There was a small natural spring on the side of the hill. "This island will more than do," she said. "Have my builders construct a cottage suitable for Diana, this baby, and myself."

"What! Why not return him to his own world?"

"Look at the rocket, Alcestes. I do not think that he was born on this planet. And his parents would not have sent one so young away, unless his life and theirs were in great danger. I will care for him for a time. Perhaps they will come for him someday."

"Hey, Diana, not so fast," Kallis yelled at his older sister as he ran after her. He was tall for a boy of fifteen and strong for his age, but his older sister had the benefit of the Amazon physical training that he could never receive.

Diana rode the air currents ahead of him, holding the picnic lunch that the Queen herself had packed. She lifted the basket above her, knowing that he could never reach that high. "You want it? Then come and get it, Kallis. Or don't you think that you can?"

Angry and frustrated, Kallis leapt for the basket. He sprang into the air and pulled it free from Diana, who was caught by surprise. Then, most amazing of all, he didn't land. He floated in place, a short distance away.

Kallis grinned. He'd discovered his ability by accident a few days before, and he'd been practicing.

"Now, you try and get it, Sister," he said. He turned and flew off towards another island, as Diana watched in amazement. Lunch would be late that day.

Captain Steve Trevor, USAF, doing an exchange tour of duty with the USN, scanned the horizon in vain, looking for the aircraft carrier that he'd launched from almost an hour before. There'd been no sign of it since he'd flown through that strange, glowing cloud. His directional instruments and radar didn't seem to be working, either. Now he was almost out of fuel. His best chance was to try to ditch. Fighter jets weren't built to float, but his plane should stay above water long enough for him to get out his gear, and launch a raft.

Then, through the clouds, he thought he saw an island below him, a big one. 'I must really be lost,' he thought. 'There wasn't any land within a thousand miles of the ship on those briefing maps they showed us.' He dove the jet down for a better look. 'Maybe, I found a shortcut back to Hawaii.'

Just then his flight avionics, the electronic systems that really flew his plane, cut out, a final gift from the clouds that Athena had sent to hide the Amazon's island home. Trevor fought the controls as the jet spiraled down towards the ocean.

Kallis was reading when he heard the roar of an engine. He looked in the direction of the sounds, but saw nothing. But he had learned a trick that greatly extended his vision. He mentally refocused. Yes, perhaps 8,000 meters above him was a strange plane tumbling down towards the island. He could fly up to reach it, but he might need help.

Diana was practicing her archery on a field on the main island. He saw her clearly, though the field was almost 800 meters away.

Kallis refocused his eyes again. The straw target suddenly burst into flames. "Kallis!" Diana spat, and ran towards the water. She launched herself into the air and rode the air currents towards her younger brother's island home.

He was waiting for her in midair. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I needed to get your attention. Look." He pointed skyward. Diana followed the direction that he was pointing.

"A plane," she said. "And the pilot's in trouble!" She caught an updraft and headed towards the plane as quickly as she could. Kallis followed, then shot past her, creating a new current for her to ride.

By the time they reached the plane, Trevor's instruments showed that it was at 18,000 feet and falling at almost 300 miles an hour towards the ocean. Kallis had seen the pilot inside, and slowed. He didn't want to hurt the pilot when he caught the plane. Diana flew past him, high enough that the pilot could see her.

"An angel," the pilot said. "I must be dead." Dead or not, he kept fighting to regain control.

Just then, Kallis caught the plane. He let the impact drive him back over 30 meters to minimize the shock to the pilot. It wasn't enough. Steve Trevor experienced far more G's than he'd ever encountered in any dog-fighting or the few Navy arrested landings he'd made, and blacked out, suffering greatly from internal injuries. Kallis landed the plane on his own island and carried the unconscious pilot to his own bed. Diana arrived a few moments later with Alcestes. While the two women watched over the injured man, Kallis went back to examine the plane.

In the weeks that past, Steve Trevor healed. Diana acted as his nurse, spending far more time with him than in her studies or her military drills. Without realizing it, she was falling in love with the handsome young man. Trevor returned her growing love.

Diana was 23 now. Her athletic figure had blossomed into female perfection.

Her long black curls hung down past her neck. She wore a short white tunic that did nothing to hide the charms of her body. Her breasts were round and firm, 38D. Her narrow waist widened into broad hips and a delightfully rounded butt. Below these were long shapely legs.

Kallis listened intently while Diana, Alcestes, and the scholars of the island questioned the pilot about his life in Man's World. He was fascinated by what he heard, and he found himself yearning to go there.

Alcestes told the Queen that Trevor had recovered from his injuries. Although the bruises on his ribs had been minor, he had suffered more serious damage from the same electrical charge that had almost destroyed his plane. It had taken weeks for his nervous system to recover, but now he was almost ready to be returned. The problem was: how? He could hardly just reappear, after being lost for so many weeks. Alcestes had the means to remove his memories of the island, but the methods could not be used while his system was still recovering from the damage to it.

Hippolyta had a solution, but it was hardly one that she liked. From what she had learned from Steve Trevor, she had decided that Man's World needed an example to teach them the Amazon's way of peace. She would send one Amazon back with Trevor as her ambassador. The choice would be made by a series of contests, to determine which of her subjects was best suited for the task.

Both Diana and Kallis were thrilled at the opportunity. They both began training for the contests. But the day before the contests were to begin, Hippolyta confronted the both of them on Kallis' island.

"Neither of you may compete," the Queen said.

"But why?" the pair said, speaking almost as one.

"First, because you are my children, and I love you too much to want to part with either of you. Diana, you are to remain here and continue your studies, for the day when you shall reign in my place. Kallis, the Amazon ways must be taught by an Amazon, a beautiful woman who can show what the human mind and body are capable of, not by a strapping boy...excuse me, man, almost two meters tall, who looks enough like Hercules to be his own son."

Both Diana and Kallis argued with the Queen. The discussion went on much of the afternoon, with each arguing for his or her own merits while trying to say nothing that could be held against the other going.

Finally, the Queen rose. "Both of your arguments are eloquent, and if I could send you both, I would. But since I can send only one person, I will send neither of you. I forbid you both to compete."

The two bowed low and left. Hippolyta's tone was one she rarely used to either of them. She made it clear that her order came, not just from their mother, but also from their Queen.

And both planned to disobey.

Diana had heard the story of the Mask of Morpheus many times. When Hercules had betrayed and captured the Amazons many centuries before, her mother had donned the mask. She was magically changed into a duplicate of Hercules, and, in that guise, had rescued her Amazons and led them on the journey to Themyscira.

The mask was still on the island, hidden in a chamber of the palace. Only Hippolyta was supposed to know exactly where it was, but Diana had discovered it some months before. She waited until midnight, then, certain that everyone was asleep, she hurried to the small room where the mask was hidden. Her plan was to use the mask to disguise herself as just another of her mother's subjects, and enter the contest.

She crept into the room, and walked quietly over to the chest where the mask was kept. It was locked, but Diana knew that her mother often kept spare keys near the lock that they were supposed to open. After a search of the room, she found a key in the drawer of a cupboard across the room from the chest. She tried it, and heard the tumblers click. The chest sprang open.

Empty. 'Mother must have suspected that I'd try something,' Diana thought. 'She moved the mask, and I'll never find her new hiding place in time.' She considered the situation for a moment, then realized that she had a second alternative. "The Purple Ray," she said quietly.

The Amazon's Purple Ray was a wonder of technology. Far beyond any other instrument of healing on the planet, it had been inspired by Athena herself. It was based on magic as much as science, and Alcestes had improved it still more, based on the technology she had discovered in Kallis' rocket. The Ray had been used to heal Trevor, and was still on Kallis' island.

Diana had seen Alcestes use it often enough that she was certain that she could operate it. She made a number of adjustments, and lay down on the table beneath the ray.

It was a different woman who rose from that table moments later. Diana had been a voluptuous brunette almost six feet tall. This woman was a willowy blonde, no more than five foot six. The disguise was perfect. Smiling, she rode a wind current back to the main island. A number of women had slept in the fields near where the trials were to be held. Diana found an empty patch of grass near the edge of a field, and was asleep within minutes.

The Mask of Morpheus had been taken, but not by Hippolyta. Kallis had known of the Mask's location longer than Diana. He had discovered his ability to see through stone over a year before. He had found the Mask while trying his new power in the palace, and had recognized it from Hippolyta's description. No man, including him, was allowed to touch the soil of Themyscira. But Kallis could fly. He had waited until dark to sneak into the palace, and had taken the Mask back to his own island.

Now he held the Mask in his hands, ready to put it on. He was terrified. According to the stories Hippolyta had told him, the Mask transformed the wearer totally into whatever physical form was desired. Hippolyta had become the very male Hercules to rescue her Amazons, so he knew that it could change his sex. He had to become a woman to enter the trials; he was the only male on the island. No other disguise would be believed. But to do so would be to disobey his mother and his queen. He had been raised to obey, but he truly wished to see Man's World, and this seemed to be the only way. Kallis took a deep breath, and raised the Mask to his face.

The effect was like an electric shock going through his body. The Mask disappeared. It seemed to be absorbed into his skin. A tingling spread through his entire body as the magic overcame the resistance of Kallis' alien body. Then it was over. Kallis opened his eyes, and looked into the mirror in his room.

A woman looked back. She was a brunette, some inches shorter than he had been, her hair hanging down to the small of her back. Kallis's short tunic was now cut in the style of an Amazon's war tunic. It did little to hide the swell of the woman's full breasts, the nipples pushing against the cotton cloth, erect with excitement. Her waist was small beneath a brass belt that had been leather a moment before. Her hips were wide, and her legs long and athletic. 'Yes,' Kallis thought, 'a body worth admiring; a body that would win in the trials the next day.'

Kallis decided to join the woman sleeping out near the trial fields. He...no, Kallis had to get used to thinking of herself as she...had never touched the soil of Themyscira. Sleeping on it seemed like a wonderful way to start. She flew quickly to a section of the field, and fell asleep quickly on a bed of soft grasses.

• • • • • Morning.

The sun rose over the island of the Amazons. Many were already awake, and many more rose at first light.

Every field, every open space within the City was filled with Amazons. They were doing warm-up exercises, practicing routines with sword or javelin. Some simply ran, for speed, for distance, or over obstacles.

Diana, calling herself Tsianne, joined a group doing balancing exercises, walking blindfolded across a slack wire. The wire ran the four hundred meters from the spire of the Royal Palace to the roof of the Grand Assembly. If an Amazon fell, there was only air between the wire and the concrete pavement of the Concourse, some ninety meters below.

Kallis had awakened to the sounds of battle. A melee of thirty Amazons were practicing with sword and shield in the field where she had slept. She introduced herself as Kara, and borrowed a sword and shield. She knew how to fight, having watched the Amazons for many years, and actually practiced with Diana and Hippolyta on 'his' island. But she had to learn how to hold herself back, to not use the incredible speed and strength that were within her.

At the 3rd hour past dawn, there was a grand flourish of trumpets. All practicing stopped. Contestants and audience alike moved as one to the Concourse. Hippolyta, in her crown and royal robe of state, addressed the crowd. "My Fellow Amazons, today begins our return to Man's World. This competition will test the best among us, and she who wins will lead that return. She will go not as a conqueror, however, but as a teacher. She will go into the places of War to bring Love and Peace. This is the mission. Let all who would undertake it, come forth to prove their worthiness!"

Almost 1,000 Amazons stepped forward to compete.

The women were split into groups of 80 to 100, and sent to different parts of Themyscira to compete in different events. Only the winners were allowed to continue, and the groups moved from place to place. By the end of the first day, each group had performed in every type of competition. Barely 100 remained.

Kallis and Diana, Kara and Tsianne, were among the 100. They had been in different groups and had not competed, one against the other, that first day. Now, the remaining competitors were all gathered in the field where Diana had slept the night before. The Queen's own cooks prepared and served them that night's meal in a great tent erected for that purpose.

Wine and words flowed freely. There were only three real topics: what had happened that day; what was to happen tomorrow; and where was Princess Diana.

Helena, a tall, slender redhead who was chief of the Queen's Archers, put down her mead. "It isn't a real contest, unless the Princess competes," she said. "Diana is one of our best."

Oresta, a tall Black with the muscles of a wrestler, laughed. "Perhaps, the Princess couldn't be bothered to compete."

Diana bristled. She could hardly reveal herself. Word would be at her mother's ear in a matter of moments, and she would be out of the competition. "Perhaps, the Queen wouldn't let her."

"Why not?" Oresta asked.

"Diana is our Queen's child and heir. Besides Kallis, she's the only child on Themyscira. Maybe the Queen thought that she should stay here."

"That wouldn't stop Diana," Helena countered. "I've known her all her life, and she's as stubborn as the Queen. She'd find a way to be in this contest."

'Too close,' Diana thought. She rose to her feet. "She is, Helena," she said. "I am Diana." She tapped herself with her thumb, then winked and sat down.

"Very funny, Tsianne," Oresta said. She began to laugh, as did most of those within earshot "And it serves me right for thinking such things."

Tsianne/Diana laughed at her own joke. 'Telling a truth that no one thinks is true is better than lying,' she repeated to herself. It had seemed silly when she learned it years ago, but now she could see the wisdom in Machiavelli's centuries old statement.

Kara/Kallis had been listening from across the room. She was listening to all the conversations, enjoying the talk of the day's events by switching from group to group. She'd been a little surprised how often Diana's name was mentioned, and how seldom her own was.

"I wonder why Kallis isn't competing," she finally said aloud.

"How could he," asked Petra, a tall brunette sitting across from her. "He's a man, forbidden to even set foot on Themyscira. Besides, how could a man represent the Amazons?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking out loud, I guess."

"Well, don't. It's silly. What's he going to do, turn himself into a woman?"

Kara decided to change the subject. Quickly. "I guess not. What sort of contests do you think they have in store for us tomorrow?"

"I don't know, but I'd rather get a good night's sleep than stay up worrying about it."

"You're probably right about that." Kara drank a bit of mead, relieved to have deflected the conversation. Then someone picked up a recorder. "Play 'After the Stag'," she called out. Soon the field echoed with 100 voices, as they all sang the old Amazon hunting ballad. Kara had heard the song so many times, but this was her first chance to join others in the singing of it. Lying on the grass later that night, Kara decided that this song and the feelings she felt while singing it with the others was worth all that she had risked with her disguise.

Now that only the best of the competitors remained, the competition grew more fierce and exotic. The first event was a race across the island on kanga, a wild beast native to Themyscira that looked like a cross between a horse and a kangaroo. Kangas were seldom trained. Each competitor had to capture and saddle a wild kanga, break it to being ridden, and guide it along the course. The event took most of the morning, and by the end, a quarter of the contestants were eliminated. Not a few of these would be spending time in the Healers' Hall, recovering from injuries.

The next contest was Surf Running. Contestants climbed to the top of the cliffs at the north side of the island. There, they threw themselves out over the sea far below, gliding on air currents, to dive finally into the sea as much as 500 meters from the shore. The final part was to ride barefoot into the beach at the top of the great waves churned up by a storm at sea over 1,000 kilometers away. It was well into the late afternoon before the contestants had completed this event. While no one was seriously hurt, the 100 Amazons who had started the day were now down to a mere thirty-one competitors.

The final event was Bullets and Bracelets, a fierce test of reflexes and nerve. A contestant stood twenty paces from a marksman armed with a machine gun. At the signal, the marksman began firing at the other woman. The woman wore no special armor beyond two special metal bracelets on her wrists. Her task was to deflect the bullets, using only the bracelets to keep them from harming her.

After all of the contestants had taken their turn, those who were left repeated. This time, there were two marksmen firing at each contestant. By

the start of the fifth round, only two contestants, Tsianne and Kara, remained.

Tsianne went first. Five Amazon marksmen, the Queen's own champions, each fired fifty rounds at her within two minutes. Of the shots fired, Tsianne deflected 249. A single bullet left a small wound as it grazed her right arm.

Now it was Kara's turn. If a single bullet were to strike her, it was a tie. Each would go again, this time against six marksmen. If she were unharmed, Kara would be the Amazon champion. The marksmen fired. Kara was a blur, and every shot was deflected into the ground.

The crowd cheered as the Queen stepped forward to crown Kara as the champion. Tsianne stepped forward as if to accompany the Queen, and congratulate the victor. At the last moment her hand reached out, too fast for Kara to react. Tsianne's hand brushed against Kara's face as if pulling something. Then she raised her hand into the air, holding the Mask of Morpheus for all to see.

As the crowd watched, Kara grew taller. Her long blonde hair darkened as it shrank into a short bob. Her lush female curves gave way to a masculine angularity, and her Amazon's war tunic altered to become once more a boy's short tunic. In a moment, Kara, the victorious Amazon, was once again...

"Kallis!" Hippolyta ordered. "Lift yourself into the air before you invoke the curse of Aphrodite. No man may stand on the soil of Themyscira."

Kallis rose a few inches into the air. He had been caught, and he felt ashamed. "How did you know, Tsianne?"

"During the fourth round, just before she was hit, Dura got careless. She deflected one bullet right towards you. You were so busy watching the competition that you didn't notice when it bounced off you."

Kallis suddenly realized something about Tsianne's body language. He decided to play his hunch. "You always were the observant one, Diana."

"How did you--" Tsianne/Diana realized her mistake, but it was too late.

Hippolyta turned to Diana. "It would seem that both of my children have disobeyed me. And in doing so, have ruined this contest." She turned to face the crowd. "My Sister Amazons, we have been tricked by these two. The contest will continue tomorrow, for its seems we still do not have a champion to represent us." She turned back to Diana. "When you have regained your normal form, you will join Kallis and myself on his island." Without another word, she wrapped her cloak about herself in a huff, and returned to the Palace.

Kallis put his hand on Diana's shoulder in sympathy. They were both in very serious trouble. "To answer your question, Diana. Tsianne walked like you. Besides, you were the only person I ever met with fast enough reflexes to be able to pull off the Mask."

It took Diana almost an hour to reprogram the Purple Ray and regain her normal form. She was in the air, gliding back to Kallis' island even before the transformation was completed. Hippolyta and Kallis were waiting for her besides his small home.

Hippolyta still wore her robes of state, but now she also carried the staff given her by Athena when the Amazons landed on Themyscira so many years ago. It was called the "Staff of True Justice", and Hippolyta only carried it when she sat as high judge.

Diana landed next to Kallis. They took each other's hand for support, and walked slowly towards their mother. When they were about five feet away, they both dropped to one knee and lowered their heads. They had both watched the ritual many times, never expecting to be a part of it themselves. Still, they repeated the necessary words, "We, who have committed a great wrong, submit ourselves to the justice of our Queen, and of the gods in whose name she wisely rules."

Hippolyta looked down at the pair, trying to keep an impartial expression on

her face. When Kallis and Diana looked up, they saw her stern face, but they also saw the tears in her eyes. She blinked and continued the ritual.

"Kallis, Diana, you have disobeyed my orders...as both your mother and your queen. By doing so, you have almost destroyed the competition to select our advocate in Man's World. Why did you do these things?"

Diana, as the older, spoke first. "Mother, I have come to love the pilot, Steve Trevor. I want to return with him to Man's World. To prove myself to him and our Sister Amazons by acting as the advocate for our way of life. You yourself taught to me to always try my best, to be my best. When you forbade me to enter the contest, I felt that you thought I was not capable of being the Advocate. I had to prove myself to you as well, and entering the contest as Tsianne seemed the only way to do this."

Then Kallis spoke. "I've always been the odd one out, the only male on an island full of women. I love you, Mother, and I'm proud of what you've taught me. But I wanted to see what Man's World was like, and what it was like to be a man in that world. The only way to go there was to win the contest, and the only way to win was as Kara."

Hippolyta stood for a time as if she were talking to someone. Or just listening. Her eyes were closed. Her head moved every so often as if replying to something, although she did not speak. Eventually, she opened her eyes and looked at her wayward children. She was not smiling.

"Diana, Kallis, I have spoken with Aphrodite and Athena. Guided by their wisdom, I will let your own words form your punishment."

Hippolyta pointed the staff at Diana, who knelt down. Hippolyta reached forward and touched the top of Diana's head. "My daughter, you shall accompany the Captain back to Man's World, but the Amazon prowess that you sought to prove will not go with you. The moment that you land, all memory of you shall fade from his mind. You shall still be with him, but as an ordinary woman. Everyone but yourself will remember you as Sergeant Diana...Diana Prince, a mortal woman assigned to his office staff some weeks ago. You will have all the background, all the skills you need for this new life, and it will be your only life for the next five years. Then, and only then, will your abilities return, so that you may fly back to Themyscira."

The staff glowed for a moment, a glow that spread out through Diana's body. She grew shorter and a bit thinner. Her hair formed itself into a tight bun atop her head. She blinked as glasses suddenly appeared on her face. Diana took them off and looked at her mother a moment, then hurriedly put them back on. Her eyes had become so weak that, as close as she was, Hippolyta's face looked blurred to her daughter. Diana felt a weakness flow through her body. She tried to rise to her feet. As she did, she discovered that her Amazon tunic had transformed into an Air Force woman noncommissioned officer's uniform. She felt the constriction of the closely cut garments, the sensation of stockings on her legs.

Diana took a step forward and tried to catch an air current to ride into the air. She wobbled for a moment, then she became comfortable in the heels she was wearing for the first time. She leapt into the air, casting out her senses for an air current. All she felt was the wind on her face, and then the thump as she fell to the ground. She could no longer glide. Staff Sergeant Diana Prince, U.S. Air Force, sat on the grass and cried.

"Kallis, you will also go to Man's World, but you will go as the designated Advocate. Kara won the right to be that Advocate, and Kara is who you shall be."

Kallis tried to avoid the Staff of Justice, but Hippolyta, guided by both Athena and Aphrodite, was too quick. She tapped his head with the glowing rod, then stood back to watch the results.

Kallis froze in place. His body began to shrink from over six feet tall to just under five feet five. He lost his impressive male muscles as the soft curves of a woman took their place. His breasts grew out from his chest even larger than before, swelling to 38D. At the same time, his male organs shrank away, shrank and changed into the genitals of the young woman that Kallis would be for the next five years. His hair grew out, down past his shoulders, lightening from black to blonde. His features changed as well, his square chin and rugged features softening to a perky and very female prettiness.

At the same time, Kallis' garments changed. His sandals became boots that went most of the way to his knees, and slowly grew two-inch heels that made the gentle curve of his leg look even more feminine. His tunic became a pair of blue satin shorts that hugged the curves of his hips and ass, while gaining a red bustier top that revealed much of his new lush breasts. What was concealed was behind a stylized golden eagle that only served to call attention to them. He felt a tightness at his waist.

When Kallis...no, Kara, now and for the next five years...looked down, she saw an Amazon girdle of strength about her waist. Its buckle had the same stylized "S" that had been inscribed on her rocket so many years ago, and was the only thing of her real home that she had ever had.

"Kara, my new daughter, tomorrow you will be proclaimed the winner of the competition. You will receive the tokens of the Advocate, the Amazon bracelets, the lasso of truth, and the tiara that proclaims you a member of the royal house. Then you, Captain Trevor, and Ms Prince will leave Themyscira for Man's World. I suggest that you spend the night meditating on your new life."

Without another word, Hippolyta caught an air current and glided back to the island.

Kara gently helped Diana into the cabin. Diana had stopped crying, but she was still trembling at the thought of just being another frail female. Kara sat with her a while, then went outside to think about her future. Somehow, her thoughts kept straying to Captain Trevor. She found herself thinking of him in ways that she had never thought of a man before. Her body tingled at the thought, and she suspected that the next five years would be very interesting.

Finis

Copyright by Ellie Dauber, 1999.