Zoee had been laboring diligently long enough so that she figured that she was due for a vacation ...
So during her respite from her new career as a waitress and entertainer at Aunt Chilada's Amazon Roadhouse,
Zoee had decided to make her way back through the Amazon Gate
in the hope of being able to bring other of her friends to this age of ease and plenty.
But so far she hadn't be able to locate the elusive portal and now the daylight was fading as evening drew nigh ...
Now the women who make their way through the Amazon Gate have been, for the most part,
successful in adapting themselves to the way of life that they encounter in this, the present day and age.
They are each and every one a warrior ... But too, they are women after all.
And the female of our species has ever been, and I expect ever will be nothing if not in all ways resourceful.
At long last Zoee had made her way through the elusive portal ...
But who knew who - or what - a girl was apt to bump into out here all by herself?
Caught somewhere alone in the Twilight of Time that exists between one world and another ...
The rumors around the Roadhouse had it that "Old Methusala" was determined to battle her way through the Gate ...
And woe be it to anyone who threatened to stand in her way!
And - Good Grief!
What would Zoee do if she were to happen upon that old dragon-warrior of the Netherworld?
What could she do?
Why, she'd - DUCK! If she knew what was good for her!
"My God! It's Methusala, herself!"
"Now - just who were you expecting, babe?
And who did you think t'would be?"
Methusala raised her sword to launch a savage overhead assault upon the defenseless, Zoee ...
"C'mon, Feet! Do your thing!"
"Halp! Lemme outta here!"
"What?! Would she turn tail and run?
What kind of Amazon are you, anyway?"
"A Live One!
And I wanna stay that way!"
"We'll just see about that!"
"You are all that stands between me ...
"And the Good Life ...
"In the Land of Milk and Honey!"
"And no insignificant little twerp the likes of you is gonna stand in my way!
"At least - not for long!
Huh? Now where did she get to?
Where'd you go?
Come out! Come out! Whereever you are!"
"Oh! There you are!"
"What on Earth am I doing here? Running around like a chicken without a head?"
"When all I gotta do is wait to give Ol' Thuse the surprize of her life!"
Now under any ordinary circumstances, Zoee would have been ducking about gracefully, avoiding the admiring hands of the patrons at Aunt Chilada's Roadhouse.
But here, in her excitement, she forgot that she was wearing her stiletto high-heels,
and so in turning to meet the Amazon who was by now in hot pursuit, Zoee momentarily lost her balance!
And what was worse, she had dropped the Saturday Nite Special that Aunt Chilada had been so thoughtful to give her to carry in case of just such an emergency!
And from her point of view, Zoee couldn't imagine being in a greater state of emergency than she was in at this very moment!
And so Methusala was in the midst of a death-dealing blow when she suddenly found herself confronted with Zoee's little Saturday Nite Special!
But Methusala was truly one of the Amazon Ancients ...
And being as she was such - she had no idea of what a gun was ...
Neither did she have the slightest notion of the damage it could do - of the severity of the wounds that it could inflict ...
Suddenly - Methusala was well-aware of having been hit in the belly by - something?
But what could it have been?
Her adversary held no weapon with which the Amazon was the least bit familiar!
"How did you do that?" Methusala demanded of Zoee as she pointed out the wound in her belly.
And as if she needed further convincing, Methusala dipped a finger into her navel ...
... And brought her hand up before her eyes the better to fully examine the coagulating substance.
It certainly looked like blood ...
... And it had the taste of blood ...
Yes! It was blood!
There was no longer any doubt in Methusala's mind about that!
But how?
"Why, you!" Methusala exclaimed incredulously, "You've hurt me!"
At which point, Zoee, who had regained her feet, realized that the chase was about to be resumed!
"Golly, Thuse!
Can't we be reasonable about all this?
I don't want to have to kill you!"
"What?!
You?
Kill me?
With what?
That little pop-pop of yours?
Not on your life!"
But for something that did not make such a great deal of noise,
Zoee's little gun could do an inordinate amount of damage!
"I've been stabbed through the very teat!" Metusala exclaimed. "But how?"
Perhaps it was right about then that Methusala began to entertain her first doubt concerning the outcome of this contest
as a trace of what may have been fear flickered across her visage.
Methusala's renewed attack is abandoned ...
And she pauses again to make an accessment of her most recent wound.
The Amazon Ancient was amazed to find that such severe wounds could be inflicted without her opponent so much as laying a hand upon her ...
"What is this thing? How and with what does it smite me?"
Methusala discovered that her sword was becoming too heavy for her to hold ...
The Amazon felt herself getting light-headed and she struggled to maintain her balance ...
She made a half-hearted effort to swing her weapon with one arm ...
But Zoee was ready to meet her.
For her own part, Zoee wasn't really certain just how many times her gun would fire!
It was one of those minor details that Aunt Chilada had failed to impart to her!
Almost as though she were driven by blind instinct alone, the Amazon comes one again at her enemy ...
But now, all panic placed somewhere well behind her, Zoee cooly pumps another slug into the belly of her assailant!
And once again the assault is brought to an abrupt halt!
Methusala called upon the Amazon Goddess to give her the strength to suffer and endure ...
At last the sword is lowered ...
The warrior continued to stagger about aimlessly in pain and amazement ...
And she howled in her distress at this affront of this latest assault upon her person!
Methusala gritted her teeth ...
If sheer determination could carry the day, then victory would assuredly be hers!
But at the same time it was beginning to become apparent, even to Methusala,
that she could not hope to bear much more of this punishment!
"By all of the Gods ... You've killed me!" Methusala exclaimed - not without a certain element of wonder in her voice.
"But I'm not dead yet! Not by a long shot!"
"And you! You miserable wretch! You I'll take with me if it's the last thing I do!"
And so, although she knew in her heart of hearts that she is going to her death, Methusala, the Undefeated, stumbles to the attack!
Now fully confident of success, Zoee allows the Amazon warrior to draw near ...
And then - Zoee's little gun cracked once again ...
And once again, Methusala is stopped in her tracks - another bullet to her breast!
Gone now is the sword of the Amazon warrior ... Lost ... As indeed, is all hope ...
Tenderly, she takes her wounded breast in hand ...
And then, as her legs fail her ...
She sank slowly to her knees - still gazing in wonder at her opponent - and in what has happened to herself ...
She, who at the outset, was so confident of victory!
And then, as she clasped both hands to her breasts, Methusala sank slowly to the ground.
Though the Amazon was now down on her hands and knees, Zoee still was not entirely convinced of her own safety and so she was taking no unnecessary chances.
She knew that there was no way that she would feel completely secure until this Iron Warrior was permanently laid to rest!
Zoee remained watching as the warrior toppled to the ground ...
... Where she lay, gasping for breath ...
... While Zoee kept a wary eye on the Amazon as she died ...
Because even now the sword remained within her grasp!
And sure enough, the warrior's hand came forward ...
But to her relief, Zoee saw that Methusala was not attempting to reach for her weapon ...
Instead she flopped over on her back ...
... Where it became increasingly evident ...
... That at last all of the fight had been knocked out of her ...
And that she is only thrashing about...
... In the throes of Death which has come to lay claim to her at last ...
Zoee sees that the Ancient One, so hopelessly outclassed in this day and age, had run out of time at last!
Zoee is the ultimate Victor and though she has come through this ordeal unscathed,
she takes no great amount of pride of accomplishment in the defeat of the Amazon ...
All that Zoee feels is relieved that the confrontation is over at last,
and so as she leaves the scene, she mops her brow thinking,
"There's just gotta be an easier way to make a living!"
In Nature, the ultimate survival of almost any species is based primarily upon its ability to adapt to changes in its environment ...
Nowhere does this adage hold more true than for the Amazons who make their way through the Amazon Gate ...
For them it becomes imperative that this ability to "adapt" must be in some instances virtually instantaneous ...
But for a good many individuals, being confronted with both a level of civilization
and technologies with which they have had no opportunity to gain prior experience proves to be their undoing ...
It is unfortunate, of course. But as the expression goes, it is the nature of the beast ...
And then again, perhaps it is just as well ...
For how could mankind born in this day and age, ever hope to contend
with one of the Ancient Amazons on anything approaching an equal footing?
