"Finally!" exclaimed Maggie Yen, the young Chinese woman leaning from her desk in exhaustion. After months of work, putting in about an hour a night and more than that when she could, Maggie had finally assembled a one-of-a-kind magic clock.
The concept of a magic clock might have been laughable to Maggie back in March, back when she and her roommate Tucker Holmes had just been typical college students with a great love for comics, both western and eastern. However during the summer Tucker had unwittingly purchased an authentic magic wand that could allow him to stop time, just to name its most used ability. At first it had been fun and games, especially for Maggie, but after her girlfriend Jamie had gotten kidnapped in Hawaii and they'd met Tasia Spiro, an Interpol agent who could freeze time with the power of her mind alone, Maggie had become restless. With such a mighty ability possible, the young woman had raided the books at Persephone's, the store where she worked at with Tucker, for references and eventually found the perfect one.
The book, Tempus, was written by a person who carried that same name and had described the procedure necessary to create a sundial that could stop time, using bells to control certain effects. After a great deal of patience, Maggie had learned that to produce a similar effect she needed to procure some unusual items and chant Latin words to enchant an old alarm clock she owned, one piece at a time, and then assemble it. The incantation was more complex than it sounded but finally everything was done, and the simple black alarm clock sat on her desk, ticking away. It was a basic circular utilitarian timepiece with four small stubby legs, a gray button on top in between two bells and glowing purple numbers on the face of a white background with red hands. Maggie had carefully rigged the device to function the way she wanted: it could stop time like Tucker's wand, but it had abilities that even that amazing artifact couldn't match.
Maggie considered how to test it out, then remembered that during dinner Tucker had mentioned Haley, his girlfriend, and her best friend Kayla were hanging out at her place. Grinning, Maggie closed her eyes, pictured Kayla in her mind, and flicked the left bell on the clock. It rang out, but nothing seemed to happen. Leaning back, Maggie waited in anticipation, her own aroused thoughts making her worry she'd have to change her underwear.
After what felt like centuries, Maggie heard a knock at the door and Tucker got up to open it. Giggling to herself, Maggie scurried over to the door to her room and leaned it open slightly, the clock in her hands.
Haley had burst into the apartment, Tucker closing the door behind her. Haley was wearing a dark blue spaghetti strap top, jeans and brown sandals, looking sexy as usual though she wasn't Maggie's type per se. Tucker was dressed a bit like a slob, wearing dirty gray sweatpants with a lighter T-shirt and plaid outer shirt, his stylish hair a mess. "What the hell Tucker?!" shouted Haley, obviously pissed.
"What?" asked Tucker, confused. "What exactly prompted this visit?"
"Oh come on, you know what!" exclaimed Haley, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at her boyfriend, her sexy eyes no doubt shooting daggers into Tucker's face. "Kayla and I were talking and then she suddenly froze in mid-conversation! What, I can't have a single night with my best friend without you–" Haley suddenly stopped, her hands planted firmly on her hips as she stared at her boyfriend, mouth open with her tongue in mid-lash. Tucker stood in front of her, standing still and perplexed with his hands on the back of his neck. Neither moved a muscle as the seconds ticked by.
"Oh, this is too cool!" exclaimed Maggie, bursting out laughing. While Haley had been yelling at Tucker, she'd closed her eyes, thought of both of them and then trigged the bell again, this time freezing the pair of them. Jumping up and down with glee, Maggie now knew her hard work had paid off, which meant she could go and have fun without borrowing Tucker's wand. Grinning, Maggie quickly put on some clothes, having been naked since she liked being free while working on something as complex as the clock, choosing black pants, a teal blouse and red flats. Concealing her clock in her purse, Maggie was set to go. She had a tutoring session back at Decker State College with Britney Summers, but now with the clock she had a lot of spare time.
"Hey kids, I'll be back later so don't go anywhere!" laughed Maggie as she walked up to the motionless Haley and Tucker, giving the former a kiss on the lips and the latter one on the cheek. Waving goodbye, Maggie moved to open the door and then saw their neighbor Lisa walking down the hall away from their rooms. Lisa was young and beautiful, a sandy blond-haired aspiring photographer with a heart of gold and a decent amount of money, and was currently wearing hot pants and tight plaid shirt with the bottom tied up, her hair damp as she carried a laundry basket on the left side of her body. Realizing she needed to see if she could in fact freeze time itself and not just people, Maggie reached into her purse and pressed down on the button on the clock. Much to MaggieŐs delight, Lisa froze in mid-step, her left foot forward. Listening intently, Maggie noted the typical minor background noises that one typically heard in an apartment complex were gone. It seemed that time had indeed been stopped.
"You know, if it wasn't for your overly-tight body and so-so breasts, I might actually go for you," remarked Maggie, wrapping her arms around Lisa as the frozen girl continued to stare straight ahead, her face neutral but her eyes still sparkling like diamonds. "Thanks for being a test subject," offered Maggie, giving the stiff woman a nice long kiss before proceeding towards the elevator, only to then remember it was frozen. Fortunately, Maggie then recalled her clock could unfreeze whatever she wanted so she reached into her purse, thought about the elevator and flicked the right bell, thus the second time she pressed the button the elevator opened and she rode it down to the underground parking lot, unfreezing the Lancer she shared with Tucker.
Hitting the frozen streets, Maggie had a few plans for the evening; she wanted to visit Jamie at work, then pop by and see her friend Cindy before going to another tutoring session with Britney, which would take place in spite of the strange experience Maggie had had last time she'd gone to DCS to help her out. Ideally she still had an hour and a half before she needed to see Brit, since she'd allotted that much, but now after completing the clock had she only about twenty minutes to spare before she'd ideally need to leave so she could make it to Malibu on time. Thankfully, with her new clock, Maggie could leave only minutes before the session and still be on time.
After navigating past the frozen cars and pedestrians, the cars appearing as if parked and the people more like statues, Maggie pulled up in the middle of the street outside of Persephone's Books and hopped out, not bothering to lock up or anything. Jamie was a stickler for working so Maggie couldn't afford to actually unfreeze time, thus she had a plan. Heading into the store she saw a decent amount of customers were around, most at the coffee bar ordering from the large-breasted barista Gloria. Maggie's rival Calista was also there, standing at the cash register looking extremely bored. John, one of the store's few male employees, who had long dark hair that he tied in a ponytail, was at the other till, eying a sexy blond who was over by Gloria. Jamie herself was nowhere to be seen, which was good news for Maggie.
"I know I told you keep a stiff upper lip, but this is ridiculous!" laughed Maggie, making a bad joke as she danced around in front of motionless Calista before jumping up on the counter and kissing her on the forehead. Maggie then headed behind the coffee counter to give Gloria a grope hello before heading into the manager's office where, no surprise, there was Jamie.
Maggie's sexy girlfriend was at the computer, wearing a white blouse and tan pants with a mauve vest, her hair tied up and a pen in her teeth. Maggie casually walked over and saw that Jamie was busy working on next month's budget, which was a bit early for her. Grinning, Maggie headed back outside, closed the door and produced her clock. Concentrating on Jamie's office as a whole, Maggie flicked the right bell and then heard the sound of typing coming from inside.
"Knock knock," greeted Maggie, sticking her head in through the door and getting a smile from her girlfriend as she removed the pen from her mouth.
"Mags, you don't work tonight!" exclaimed Jamie, carefully waiting for the door to close before she stood and walked over, giving Maggie a kiss hello.
"I know, I just came in to see if you wanted to be naughty for a few minutes?" asked Maggie, waggling her eyebrows.
"Aww, that's sweet, but..." began Jamie, then sighing. "...I got a good start on the budget and I want to get it wrapped up tonight. Plus they might need me on the floor."
"Relax, I told them I needed a few minutes with you to talk about next month anyhow," Maggie lied, glad Jamie didn't know her tell yet.
"Well..." muttered Jamie, unsure, but Maggie happily pressed her own lips to Jamie's and the pair danced around the room in a long series of lip-locks before Jamie was back in her chair, Maggie on top. On the clock and computer time ticked away, unaware that it was technically still frozen. Jamie also didn't notice her Internet connection was down, Maggie having frozen it as well.
It was a good twenty minutes before Jamie moved her head away, breathing heavily. "Oh my God Mags, I can't believe we did this!" she exclaimed, breathing in excitement. "Look, thanks for stopping by, but I really need to get back to work. We can do Italian tomorrow, right?"
"Of course, its a Thursday after all!" laughed Maggie, giving Jamie one more kiss before heading for the door. Jamie and Maggie were in a bit of a forced rut as on Thursdays; Calista and Tucker were left running the store thus Jamie and Maggie usually ordered take-out from someplace and slept together on those nights. It was ideal since they weren't needed at the store and Jamie wouldn't be jealous about Tucker, thus it could be truly relaxing. As Maggie exited the office she casually flicked the left bell of the clock inside her purse, causing Jamie to freeze once again right as she put her fingers to the keyboard.
Deciding to prank Calista, who was still a bitch in spite of being generous to charity, Maggie casually went behind the frozen co-worker and removed her bra from under her yellow blouse, then removed her panties out from under her white mini-skirt. To make things a bit more complicated and to punish John just for being a guy with a ponytail, Maggie then slid the bra and panties into the back pocket of his gray slacks, noting he did have a firm behind. "Even if I was into guys it wouldn't be enough," Maggie whispered into John's ear before returning to her car.
Anita Ave, Brentwood, California
Maggie's next stop, Cindy's place, was in a decent neighborhood. Cindy had been a model with Charlene Masters for a couple of years and had recently begun working with Miss Zoe, thanks to Maggie having introduced them at a party. Maggie herself was also on Miss Zoe's radar but she wasn't a formal model yet, only having done a total of two proper shoots, both with Charlene. Even with the money made from working part-time at Persephone's and the cash from T & M Productions, Maggie and Tucker were still students at a fairly prestigious local college, thus while they owned the second most expensive apartment in the building they lived at they couldn't afford much better, at least not yet. Cindy was in an entirely different league, owning a two-story house with a pool, garage/hobby room and even a small guesthouse, which had probably run her close to a million dollars as it had been mostly furnished. Cindy was an only child however and was spoiled rotten, though was very down to Earth in spite of it.
Pulling up on the street, Maggie considered how to approach and decided to risk it. Producing her clock, Maggie unfroze time, hoping that Haley, Tucker and Kayla wouldn't unfreeze back at the apartment. Maggie then walked up the tiled walkway and rang the doorbell as an early evening jogger passed by, glancing at the parked Lancer with curiosity.
"Oh, hello Maggie!" exclaimed Cindy, opening the front door a short time later. Cindy had apparently cashed it in for the night already, wearing pink pajama pants, a white and pink T-shirt and her hair a casual mess. Maggie thought she looked cute.
"Sorry to come by without calling, but I was in the neighborhood and had some time to kill, so you want to hang out for a bit?" asked Maggie, flashing her cutest smile.
"Sure, I'm just watching some Law & Order, come on in," offered Cindy, holding the door open wide so Maggie could enter. The floor was linoleum, not exactly classy but still tidy. The walls and stairs were painted wood, which did look nice, the house's themed color appearing to be a light blue. Maggie had never been inside Cindy's place, just seen her get dropped off a few times when they'd split a cab since Cindy didn't drive much.
"Nice place," remarked Maggie as she followed Cindy into the living room. The room was lined with bookshelves, almost a library, but also featured a dartboard, a piano and a pair of couches with end tables facing a fifty-inch flat-screen. A bowl of popcorn was sitting on the couch and an empty martini glass sat on one of the end tables next to a remote.
"Can I get you a drink?" offered Cindy, motioning for Maggie to sit and remove her shoes if she so wished. "I've got plenty of absinthe and vodka as well as gin, white rum and all the fixings."
"How about Mojitos?" suggested Maggie, having a craving for the sweet and delicious drink.
"Great idea!" exclaimed, Cindy disappearing into the other room. The model was gone for two minutes, during which time the show came back on and Maggie had casually checked out the shelves. Cindy had a mix of books, some classics like the works of Shakespeare, while others were more fitting like fashion magazines that nonetheless sat on a traditional bookshelf. Cindy, it seemed, had wide taste, some manga also visible among her staggering collection.
"I've got some mix standing by if you want another one," declared Cindy, grinning as she handed her friend a drink and plopped down, focusing on the TV. "I think the wife did it, but they haven't gotten to the part where they arrest a suspect yet."
"Eh, they're sometimes a bit more creative," remarked Maggie, taking a sit from her drink before boldly shifting in her seat a bit so she was nuzzled a bit closer to Cindy. The older Asian woman didn't seem to mind and almost seemed to embrace it though her eyes didn't bat from the TV, even when she reached for her drink.
After the show was over Maggie ended up bringing up Charlene and the two began to riff. "What about, 'Pout like your boyfriend just crushed your heart with an ice-pick!'" exclaimed Cindy, getting a laugh from Maggie. "Say, speaking of guys, you seeing anyone?"
"Well yeah," admitted Maggie, her face suddenly a bit red.
"Tell me about him," suggested Cindy, learning back with a grin.
"Look, umm, Cindy, its just..." stuttered Maggie.
"It's not a guy, its a girl," realized Cindy, nodding.
"You seem unsurprised," remarked Maggie, a bit perplexed.
"Well I've had my suspicions, and due to my own damned curiosity I had to try and worm it out of you," explained Cindy, sighing to herself. "Sorry, but you know how it is when you desperately want to know something."
"It's alright, just asking flat out might have worked better," remarked Maggie, managing to chuckle a bit. Over the course of the show both women had consumed three Mojitos and Cindy had drank at least one martini before that so it was clear both women were a little drunk. It was at that moment that Cindy noticed a stray hair hanging in front of Maggie's face.
"Here, let me just..." trailed off Cindy, leaning forward to move the hair. The older model suddenly froze for a moment however as she looked at Maggie and the latter girl worried she'd somehow triggered her clock. Cindy however was not frozen in time, just drawn in by Maggie's face and, without being stopped, leaned in to kiss her. Maggie returned the motion.
Glass shattered as Cindy casually knocked her half-finished fourth Mojito aside and wrapped her arms tightly around Maggie, the pair collapsing completely on the couch, Maggie sticking her tongue into Cindy's mouth like it was a pudding. It was an amazing demonstration of female stamina as the pair managed to keep on breathing while engaged in the kiss, causing it to not cease for a very long period of time. Maggie had long ago learned that it was easier to make out with women, as they were more likely to know how to breathe effectively without their mouths being needed. Maggie soon found herself pulling off her pants while Cindy hiked down her own legwear, revealing only a simple green G-string underneath. It was at this point, however, that Cindy broke the kiss. "Maggie, wait," breathed Cindy, her face a bit flushed.
"What's wrong, you want to lose your shirt?" asked Maggie semi-seductively, fiddling with her own pink and white panties.
"No, its just... you said you were seeing someone," remarked Cindy, gently stroking Maggie's face as she spoke with a sad look on her own face. "I'm not comfortable doing this if that's the case. Plus I'm not sure if I really want this or itŐs just the alcohol talking."
"Jamie's great, but she's... a bit of a prude," sighed Maggie, leaning back in disappointment. "And you, you're just so amazing! Why can't this happen?"
"Because it just isn't the right time," muttered Cindy, moving to pull her pants back on. Maggie however wasn't keen to end so much passion so quickly and needed to vent some sexual tension or she'd burst. With rapid movement Maggie reached under the couch, dug into her purse and pressed down on the clock's button to stop time before Cindy had even gotten the pants around her ankles. Not even bothering to admire Cindy's cute pose, Maggie tackled the now mannequin-like model and had her on the floor, completely naked with her hair like a mop before she'd even thought about Jamie again. Cindy's nice breasts, soft lips and well-cared womanhood were all stops on Maggie's tour of one of nature's greatest women, being almost totally natural save for some obvious minor bone alterations which could have been medical. After working her tongue on the front side of Cindy's body, Maggie flipped her over and proceeded to squeeze the model's breasts from behind, kissing her neck and moaning in pleasure. Finally, after what might as well have been eons, Maggie was done and cleaned up, never having removed her bra.
Done with Cindy, Maggie didn't panic about fixing the situation as she had plenty of her sleeping pills in her purse and slipped her unwitting sexual companion a couple before putting her back on the couch, in her underwear and sleeping clothes, and posed her properly, then showing herself out. "Thanks for that," called out Maggie as she closed the front door and walked towards the Lancer, having to unfreeze it again.
Student Apartments, Decker State College, Malibu
Thanks to her stop at Cindy's place, Maggie had been forced to drive to Malibu while time was frozen, which was a bit rough but manageable. Eventually Maggie made it back to DSC, found a parking place and made it to Britney's dorms where she started time up and headed inside, math textbooks at hand. Maggie was a bit apprehensive as a couple of sessions back Britney had ambushed her with help from Julie Vaughn, freezing her with a magic camera so she could be used in a photo shoot. While their intentions had ultimately been good, just needing money that the college couldn't provide to get the soccer team a new tour bus, Maggie had been very annoyed, especially since Tucker had afterwards left her frozen for a few days at Haley's place as punishment for not being more careful. Maggie was now giving Tucker a taste of his own medicine as he was still frozen back at the apartment with Haley and Kayla.
After a knock at the door a smiling Britney greeted Maggie, the sexy blond once again dressed in very little in spite of the colder weather that had been going on. Brit's hair spilled freely around her head, making it clear she'd showered within the past hour, and she was only wearing tight black shorts that were almost hot-pants as well as a purple tank-top that showed her firm belly. "Hi Maggie!" greeted Brit, letting her tutor in. The shared room Brit had with Ayane Nakamura, Britney's sultry Japanese party-girl soccer teammate, was fairly clean for once, only having a few magazines dotting the room as well as sheets of paper that looked like assignment notes. As usual Britney led Maggie to the couch, which had recently been given a makeover and was now a faded teal, her own books already on the coffee table.
"Right, shall we talk about irrationality or would you prefer to turn me into a mannequin again?" joked Maggie, putting down her books and sitting next to Brit, who had a surprised look on her face. "I'm kidding," insisted Maggie, and Brit shook her head, as if she'd actually considered what Maggie was saying.
"I'm sorry, that camera has just caused some weird quirks to come out in people," sighed Brit, leaning back. "Seriously, thank you for continuing to be my tutor after all that... stuff."
"It all worked out," remarked Maggie, producing her binder. The official story was Tucker had showed up, seen what was going on and decided to help, Julie Vaughn then using the camera on everyone so they could all be in the calendar. After that, they'd celebrated and all gone home a little drunk; no one seemed suspicious. Only Maggie, Haley, Tucker and Julie knew the truth.
"So I still don't get how to approach irrationality," breathed Brit, making Maggie's tiny body hairs stand on end in arousal as the soccer player had said that with her breath hitting the back of the Chinese girl's neck.
"It's simple, you prove its irrational by, um, treating it as if it were rational and seeing where it... it..." Maggie attempted to get to work, but Britney hadn't shifted away from Maggie her arm was behind the other girl's back, though granted on actually on her but just the backrest of the couch. Brit was smiling innocently, but Maggie knew that look. Back in high school a cheerleader had given Maggie that same look in the shower before doing something that could have gotten them expelled. Maggie hesitated, thinking of Jamie, but then remembered her girlfriend was a bit of a prude and Britney clearly wasn't, practically screaming her sexuality to the world at that particular moment. The fact that Britney was also coming on to her was actually a bit flattering as Britney spent a lot of time around very sexy women, women that Maggie felt a little inferior if compared to. Feeling her body suddenly get warm, Maggie shifted and stared down at the binder.
"You were saying something about rationality?" asked Brit, leaning down and looking at Maggie with a grin on her face. Maggie looked at the blond and at that moment her thoughts failed her, losing herself in the moment. Maggie sat by as Brit leaned in, caressing Maggie's lips with her own. It was different than with Cindy, built-up sexual frustration that led to an explosion of passion. Instead of an explosion it was a casual, but sensual, release, the kiss Brit initiated lasting only a few seconds before they broke apart and leaned back on the couch.
"You seem surprised," commented Brit, beaming like a child with a lollipop.
"I dunno, I guess I figured the signs were just images of your lifestyle, not your, you know, life-choice..." remarked Maggie, her face red. She'd now been unfaithful to her girlfriend twice in one night; it was a bit intense.
"It happens, when I came out to some people they figured it was required to be on a woman's sports team," chuckled Brit, shaking her head. "Soccer's a great was to keep a toned shape without building up huge muscle though, that's why I like it. I keep a nice figure and don't look like She-Hulk."
"Boy, I'm usually good at figuring out when someone's like me, but you totally tricked my radar," commented Maggie, shaking her head. "Look Brit, I'm flattered, but..."
"Maggie, I love you," Britney suddenly blurted, and then it was her turn to look embarrassed, the relaxed, charming socialite reduced to turning red and looking away like a shy schoolgirl. "Okay, that might have been a little..."
"No, its okay," offered Maggie, now smiling warmly as the roles were reversed; she placed her own arm on Brit's back. "I do wish I could say the same, but I'm not there yet. I do really like you though..."
"That's good enough for me!" exclaimed Brit, and then there was an explosion. Britney's arms were around Maggie and clung tight enough to make her nipples go hard as her tongue thrust down the Chinese girl's mouth to the point where Maggie was worried it would fall off. The math completely forgotten, Britney effectively lifted Maggie off of the couch and carried her, awkwardly, towards her bedroom all the while her mouth was working overtime. After knocking over Ayane's globe and a few books on an end table, the couple made it into the bedroom at which point Britney was on top of Maggie and paused to remove her top, revealing nothing but a pair of well-toned breasts while Maggie worked on her own pants and blouse. Unfortunately there was then a sound that made both girls stop. The sound of a door closing.
"Brit, Maggie, you two here?" called out Ayane, having arrived in the apartment. "Julie and Kat are here, they wanted to see if you guys wanted to watch a movie with us in half an hour."
"Crap, she'll know we're here when she sees our books," gasped Britney, her face going a mix of pale and red. "What do we do?"
"I'll go get rid of them," offered Maggie, fixing her blouse and slipping past Brit. "Don't go anywhere, this shouldn't take long." Maggie gave Britney a peck on the cheek before quietly opening the door and emerging from the room.
"Oh there you are," noted Kat, who was standing with her twin and Ayane in the kitchen area. Julie had clearly come from some cheerleading event since she was wearing her uniform while Ayane and Kat were dressed more casually, Kat in a white T-shirt with a Miss Zoe logo on it and jeans while Ayane sported peach cords and a sleeveless red top.
"I was just showing Brit a good website to get additional information from," explained Maggie, lying left and right as she moved towards the couch where her purse was. "I guess we could do a movie in a bit. Where at?"
"We were just going to watch it here," shrugged Ayane, grabbing a dip-chip from a bag she'd found in the cupboard. "We'll probably hang in my room until you guys are done with your session."
"We'll be quiet, don't worry," assured Julie as Maggie grabbed her purse.
"Okay, that works," agreed Maggie as she picked up the black leather bag, reached inside and pressed on the clock's main button. Ayane froze while leaning against the counter, a red tortilla chip raised to her mouth in her left hand. Julie had the fridge open and was looking inside, her left hand reaching for something that wasn't obvious. Kat was sitting at the table fiddling with her silver cell phone. Breathing a sigh of relief, Maggie considered her options. It was after Maggie saw Julie's backpack sitting on the floor near the door that she developed a plan, opening it up and finding the magic camera.
"Revenge," giggled Maggie, pointing the camera at the frozen trio and taking a picture, then placing it on the table next to the camera. Before unfreezing time Maggie couldn't help but sneak over and steal Ayane's chip since she was a little hungry and compare the breasts of Kat and Julie with a touch test as well as close the fridge, turning Julie around so she stood in the same pose but reaching for nothing. After she was done and had learned that Julie's boobs were firmer, Maggie let time resume and returned to Brit with a grin on her face.
"Well?" asked Britney, standing ready in case she had to put her top on again.
"I got a little revenge, it's all good," declared Maggie, Ňyour roommates arenŐt going to bother us.Ó She wagged her eyebrows before removing her pants. Not particularly concerned, Britney shrugged and removed her shorts.
Apartment 410, 286 Scorsese Ave, LA, California
"What a wonderful world...!" sang Maggie as she returned to her shared apartment with Kayla in her arms. It was now past eleven at night and it had been a wild evening for Maggie. First Jamie, then Cindy, and then finally Britney. Unlike Cindy, Brit had been a willing – a fully mobile – participant in a half-hour lovemaking session, meaning Maggie had managed to spend time with three women in one night. After the pair had wrapped up, Maggie revealed the stiffened trio to Brit who casually pranked them before Maggie tore up the picture, wrapping Julie's fridge-open arm around Kat and having her other hand connect with Ayane's chest. The three took it in good spirit and accepted it a simple revenge prank since none of the girls had really had plans for the half-hour they'd wanted to wait. Unaware of Britney and Maggie's true actions, or so it seemed at least, they'd settled in to watch a DVD. After that Maggie had driven home, stopping time so she could speed wherever possible. After arriving she'd gone to Haley's place, collecting Kayla, who wore he usual white spaghetti strap, blue jeans and pink cowboy had with no shoes or socks, and returned home. Haley and Tucker were still frozen in exactly the same pose and Maggie casually set Kayla down on one of the couches, laying her on her back with her arms stiffly at her side like a collapsed toy soldier.
"Okay, I think that's enough punishment," giggled Maggie, producing her clock from her purse after hanging it up on her regular coat rack, Tatiana, Rebecca and Candice were all put away for the night in the office. Flicking the right bell, Tucker suddenly moved his hands from behind his neck and looked at Maggie.
"You?!" exclaimed Tucker, glancing around. "The hell?! The wand's over on the couch!" Sure enough, Tucker's prized possession was resting where he'd been sitting before the now-stiff Haley had arrived.
"Your wand isn't so unique anymore," giggled Maggie, holding up her clock. "Behold, the answer to Tucker's Wand... Maggie's Clock!" Tucker just looked at Maggie like she'd completely lost it.
"A time-stopping clock?" asked Tucker skeptically. "Aren't they usually pocket watches?"
"I tried that, it was too small to make properly," explained Maggie, seriously. "Tuck, I got this book Tempus at the store and, after all this time, I now have my own time-stopping powers! Time isn't frozen right now!" At the last sentence Maggie motioned to the wall where Tucker looked and confirmed time was flowing, Maggie having unfrozen it right before releasing Tucker.
"You used a book, from our own store, to make a magic clock that can freeze time just like my wand?" asked Tucker, unable to believe it.
"Yeah, I've been working on it for months, ever since Hawaii," revealed Maggie, causing Tucker to suddenly nod.
"So that's what you were doing..." realized Tucker. "So how does it work?"
"Easy, you press the top button to stop time completely and you flick the bells to freeze or unfreeze specific things," explained Maggie indicating the bells. "Left one to freeze, right to unfreeze. You just picture in your mind what you want to stop and then flick it."
"You mean like this?" asked Tucker, casually flicking the left bell. Maggie looked at Tucker with a giant grin on her face, like a kid with a new toy at Christmas, but she didn't move, the clock held firmly between her hands. "Heh heh, too easy," chuckled Tucker, casually prying the clock from Maggie's stiff fingers. "I'm sure making me lose a few hours was payback, but so is this," declared Tucker, wagging his finger at the frozen Maggie before heading to her room. There he left the clock on her desk and found the book in question. Concerned over its power, Tucker brought it to his own room after a quick glance, revealing several potentially dangerous items that ranged from other time-stopping devices to other less-pleasant objects.
In Tucker's room, unknown to anyone but himself, there was a secret safe under his bed that he'd installed in the floor himself without the landlord's knowledge. Inside he kept his most precious items, including an autograph from Frank Sinatra and another from Jack Kirby. Now, however, everything in there seemed minor compared to the Tempus book that Tucker slid inside.
Returning to the hallway/living room/kitchen, Tucker grabbed his wand and tried an experiment. Tapping the wand twice over Haley's head, he was surprised to see her unfreeze. "–Oh, now you're in trouble!" exclaimed Haley, furious.
"I know, I'm sorry!" exclaimed Tucker, raising his hands. "Look, it was Maggie. She swiped the wand from me and I didn't notice. We were both frozen for a while, but now I've gotten her back." Tucker indicated Maggie, who still stood silently next to them.
"I want Tatiana and Rebecca for a while," declared Haley, crossing her arms. "Your wand is your responsibility, even if it gets stolen."
"Fine; done," shrugged Tucker, nodding. Haley smiled in turn and indicated the couch.
"Alright, lets make the most of this then," suggested Haley, and the couple moved to sit, Tucker grabbing the remote.
Continued with... The Split