Author's note: Really, I'm not kidding, this is going to be dark. Turn back now, oh faint of heart!

After what seemed like hours, the van came to a halt, and she could hear the door being rolled up somewhere behind her. Daylight flooded the compartment, and she once again heard the melodic voice of Donna DeOuro.

"Rise and shine, Golden Girls! Down the ramp and into my parlor, said the spider to the fly!" Again the metallic laughter rang out.

The girls being moving as one towards the ramp, a few with normal strides, most with an almost robotic motion. A few of the girls, didn't seem to be moving at all.

"Oh bother!" Donna exclaimed.

"Mistress?" Gilda seemed to materialize beside her.

"The spell seems to have affected some of the real dimwits more than I thought, they can't even follow simple commands anymore! I have details to attend to, I can't animate them all. At least the suspension effect will make them easier to handle." She cupped her hands and shouted to the girls on the truck. "Those of you who are not walking celery right now, assist the others. Pick up the ones that can't move."

Melissa found herself moving towards a perky blond in a black mini dress and matching gloves, who had a vacuous 'Valley Girl' look on her face. The black girl she had noticed earlier also moved up, and Melissa saw that she was very pretty, with an overdone hair and makeup style that reminded her of Donna Summer from the 70's. The long silver gown with high slit sides added to the effect, as well as her silver strappy heeled sandals and shiny tan pantyhose. Melissa picked up the Valley Girl's feet, while Disco Queen grabbed her shoulders. Melissa enjoyed the feeling of the blond girl’s muscular calves under her silky block stockings. The blond stayed stiff as a log, and the two girls carried her down the ramp.

"Easy girls, one at a time, my my, you are all in such a hurry to meet your fate!" Again Melissa could not control her body as it walked her down the ramp and into the sunlight. She only had a fleeting glimpse of an imposing stone edifice, like a medieval castle before she strode into a dark looming opening and into a brightly lit chamber. She and Disco Queen stood Valley Girl back upright, still rigid as a board.

The room was filled with all sorts of arcane artwork, with odd symbols in gold painted on the walls in regular patterns, much like those on DeOuro's kimono. There were all sorts of mechanical apparatus around, a network of overhead trams with block and tackle arrangements, and piping running everywhere. A large crucible dominated one corner of the room. Everything about the place filled Melissa with dread. In the center of the room stood a golden statue of a woman. On further observation, Melissa realized it was the model from the commercial, still wearing her coat of gold paint and standing in her pose.

Donna walked over to the statue and began running her hands along its gleaming surface. Beautiful, isn't she ladies? DeOuro turned and addressed the ranks of women standing silently behind her. "Of course, Gwen here didn't know what hit her, unlike yourselves. On second thought, most of you didn't know either. Well, for those that can comprehend, particularly you Miss Sanchez, I will continue with the dénouement." Again the tinkly laugh filled the chamber.

"I am what you would call an Alchemist. Those of you whose minds can hear me are smart enough to know what that is, so I won't bore you with the dreary details. Since I am the only female among my colleagues, I like to call myself 'The Alchemtrix' . Just a little Metaphysical humor there girls. But the truth of the matter is, transmuting base elements to gold was a pipe dream that was never realized, despite centuries of attempts. Believe me we unlocked all the arcane secrets of the universe, elixirs of life, and control over all aspects of the physical world, except for actually transmuting things to gold."

DeOuro continued to pace back and forth.

"You see, this is a balancing act on the part of nature, as gold is the key ingredient of all, for lack of a better term, magic. It is the fuel so to speak. And simple thermodynamics will tell you that you can't burn fuel to make more fuel." She put an index finger thoughtfully to one side of her forehead. "Well except for a Uranium-Thorium converter reactor...

She waved her hands in the air in an erasing fashion. "Anyway, sorry, sometimes I get sidetracked . As I was saying I can't use my sorcery to make gold." The Alchemtrix turned and ran her hands along the Gilded Gwen statue. "Gwennie here may look solid gold, but she is really just encased in a fine layer of gold dust, hardened into unbelievable strength by my magic. And therein lies my problem. The gold dust that covers Gwen, in addition to the small amount that was consumed as 'magic fuel' to power the spell, is hard to come by. I accumulate all the gold I can through normal channels just to power my spells, and keep myself young and beautiful."

She placed her hands defiantly on her hips. "Why I had to scrimp and save for months just to accumulate enough Precious Yellow to immortalize Gwennie. And governments tend to notice people accumulating large amounts of gold. Sure, I'd love to just waltz into Fort Knox and take all the gold I need, but powerful as I am, I can't take on the entire US Army. A sly look came to her face as she jutted one hip out in an exaggerated fashion and placed the other behind her head, doing a classic 'Mae West' imitation. "Not in combat, anyway. Rowrrr."

She returned to her pacing, hands clasped behind her back.

"And besides, that would destabilize the world's economy, cause financial and social chaos, make things generally miserable. No, no, that would never do! But I found the answer! I, Donna DeOuro, Alchemtrix, have after centuries of research, found a way to make gold!" She raised her fists triumphantly. "You see, we were on the wrong trail, attempting to work with base metals, we needed to think outside the box, so to speak. I have been preparing for this day for years, weaving the energy field, preparing the arcane materials, for the time that I can turn one genuine Grade 'A' Virgin Maiden into solid gold!

Pausing dramatically for effect, she placed one fist under her chin. "Aye, and there's the rub, though, one and only one. And it will be another century before I can again manipulate the ether for another transformation."

Melissa's blood ran cold, as the logical import of that statement came to her.

Donna walked slowly towards Melissa. "Dear Miss Sanchez! As I'm sure you've already surmised for yourself, you are going to be the subject of this special process. For one thing, you are probably the only virgin out of this group of bimbos. But more importantly, If only get one shot, I need volume! The spell will completely convert the mass of one Bona Fide Virgin into solid gold, regardless of starting mass. So why should I waste it on someone like twiggy here? She paused to caress the face of one particularly thin 'Ally McBeal' type, "When I can get much more bang for my buck!" She stopped and looked Melissa straight in the eye, and then threw her head back in a fit of musical laughter.

Unable to fathom the weirdness of the situation, and hoping desperately that she would wake up safe in her own bed, Melissa slipped away into unconsciousness.

She awoke naked lying on a metal table. Probably her body had continued to obey DeOuro's puppeteering even while her mind slept. She felt like a slab of meat on he table, and with her eyes straight ahead, could only see the ceiling and the large expanse of her belly bulging upwards. Gaining a little eye movement, she looked to either side, and saw all the other girls standing around her table nude. She noticed that several, including Pumpkin Girl and Disco Queen, held small earthenware containers in their hands.

"Ah, you are awake! I really wanted you to be conscious of what was happening, and we are running out of time. Now, I want to assure you, that after this procedure, you will not 'die' in the normal sense. In all of what will come to pass, you truly have the best situation, for you will retain your consciousness, your being, in a vastly changed form.

Donna caressed the side of her face. "Beauty is fleeting. It is the only redeeming quality most of these women possess, and I will preserve and and utilize that beauty for my own, nefarious, purposes." She giggled merrily, "You will be the instrument of my power. You will be entwined in the very fiber of my magic. Girls! Prepare her."

She snapped her fingers, and the five nude women with the pots moved forward. They began anointing her voluminous form with some kind of warm oil from the containers. "I could get used to this", she sighed inwardly, as Pumpkin Girl begin massaging the glittery oil into her. Pumpkin Girl's almost perfectly round double D's contrasted sharply with Melissa's, which were exactly the same size but hung down floppily like large flour sacks to either side of her. The girls continued rubbing the oil all over her, missing no areas, pouring it deeply into every fold of blubber in her massive bulk, until she glistened like a large blob of flesh pudding on the table.

"It is time! Step back Golden Girls, into the waiting area. The five girls retired from Melissa's form, and with the other left her field of vision. Melissa was sorry to see Pumpkin Girl and Disco Queen go, both because of the sensual massage and because she was deathly afraid of what was coming. The Alchemtrix begin reciting something in a strange language. It didn't sound like Latin, or anything that she had heard before. The sound of her voice rose in volume, and the frightened girl felt the table she was on was lifting upwards towards a skylight that was slowly cranking open. "Oh my god!" she wept to herself.

Above, in the night sky, she could see storm clouds brewing above, with arcs of electricity beginning to light their undersides, a peal of thunder shook the building paralyzing her mind with sheer terror. As the table reached the level of the roof, Melissa saw a circular hole forming in the dark storm clouds, through which a shaft of moonlight shone straight down on her. The hole was only as wide as her table, and the full moon was dazzling in its cold blue brightness. She offhandedly remembered something on the radio about how this full moon was the brightest of the century, due to some solar alignment and the winter solstice, and she conjectured that it must be a factor in her current predicament. Suddenly, she heard DeOuro's voice rise to a crescendo, and four bolts of lightning lashed out from the sky onto the four corners of her table. Her vision went white, blotting out her moonbeam spotlight, and she passed out in sheer terror as a searing pain shot through her.

She awoke seconds later, as the table descend back to floor level. She could see the hole closing up in the sky, the storm clouds dissipating, through the closing skylight. She realized that her perception was altered, as if she weren't looking out through her own eyes, but viewing everything in a 360-degree panorama. She seemed to be inside her body, but outside it simultaneously. She was aware of everything in the room, every current of air, every heartbeat. She could not move. Her awareness was able to take in herself from the outside, almost abstractedly. She was solid gold. The table stopped at the bottom, with a shuddering groan.

"I did it, I did it! Solid gold!" Donna began caressing her body, which sent waves of pleasure coursing through her. She was hyper aware of the physical contact, and she almost slipped into a fugue from the shocking pleasure. "Every crease, every fold turned into solid gold! Lovely, so beautiful now. Sorry about the lightening, but it was the only way to get the 1.21 Gigawatts of power I needed." The table groaned underneath her again. "Oh dear, I thought I designed this to be strong enough." Donna looked worried. "We need to get you moving right away! 6200 pounds of pure gold! That's what you weigh now, Dearie, 3.1 good 'ol US tons! And all mine!"

Melissa could feel her own weight pressing down, her golden form was becoming slightly flattened due to its own tremendous density. The table jostled slightly, and she realized that a conveyer had been moved into position. With a clattering of oiled wheels, rollers began turning. "Now my dear, I know you can still hear me, don't be too frightened by what's about to happen, that was just the beginning! Remember, some of the girls are already mindless zombies, so if you just let yourself relax, you might even find yourself enjoying it.

"Miss Gilda! is the furnace ready?"

"Yes Mistress, 2500 degrees Fahrenheit, as ordered."

"Excellent! Say good by to your old form Miss Sanchez, I'm afraid it wasn't very popular with anyone, anyway. But I have big plans for your new being, and our lovely 'Golden Girls'. And you are really in the best position to enjoy it, if you ask me."

Melissa mind was numb, she just could not comprehend what was happening. The conveyer passed her through two sets of double doors, and into what seemed like the glowing pit of hell itself. She was in terrible fear, but strangely felt no pain, as her form flattened even more, and rivulets began to pour down her sides. She began to glow white hot, and again the sheer terror, the experience outside any that her human mind was prepared to bear, caused her to mind to escape into a dreamless sleep, blocking out the insanity as she collected in the crucible has a liquid pool of bubbling gold.

.....to be continued

Basilisk