The superheroine team FF INC encountered the mysterious Mannequin and her ally, Oaf, while doing a charity mannequin modelling exhibition.
Now they are being petitioned for help in another crisis.

CMQ 05-00

“And so you see there really wasn’t anywhere else we could turn.  All our leads have panned out, and quite frankly we think there’s something beyond the ordinary which would fall under your area of…expertise,” said the Federal agent dressed in black.  Even indoors he didn’t take off his dark sunglasses, and his dark blue (bordering on black) suit made him look like the stereotypical MIB/Secret Service Agent.

Gathered around the conference table in FF INC HQ reception room were Transparency Girl, Crimson Sorceress, Flamestar and Shadow Lady.  Cosmic Girl was off on a West Coast trip with Galatea to investigate some strange reports of petrified coeds.  Meanwhile, Agent Samuels was briefing the remainder of FF INC on the details of some mysterious disappearances.

“And you say one cheerleader from the squad has disappeared from almost every pro football team?” Wanda asked curiously.  “Not that we aren’t concerned but isn’t this more of a matter for the for the FBI or local police for that matter?”

“And why haven’t we heard about it on the news?” asked Shadow Lady.

“We have tried to handle it internally and discreetly,” the agent said calmly.  “In addition, the
disappearances were somewhat random and scattered.  It’s only been in the last few months that the abductions have increased.   One of our own agents has disappeared when we placed her in an undercover operation a few months ago and our leads have come up empty,” Agent Samuels opened a manila folder and showed an 8 x 10 glossy of a dark haired woman with braided hair.  “This is Kimberly Maxwell, whom we recruited from the police department of…”

“I know this woman,” Shadow Lady spoke up.  “Or at least I’ve met her once.  The first Paralyzer case, down the coast a few years ago before I joined the team.  She’s missing?”

“Yes, she went undercover as a new member of the Los Angeles cheerleading team to observe and report back to us at the beginning of the season.  Now she’s disappeared completely and we’re at the end of our rope. The Foxes are the only cheerleading team which hasn’t had a disappearance yet and the season is closing down in a couple of weeks.  We’re sure the perpetrator behind these abductions won’t be able to resist but we don’t want to either endanger the other members of the squad nor scare off the perp with increased security during the Foxes’ next games.  We were hoping that one of you with your extra…edge could go undercover on the cheerleading squad and flush out whoever is behind this.  Can you help us?” Agent Jones asked.

“Of course we can,” Sue replied.  “Shadow Lady, considering your background I think you would be the best choice of us to go undercover at the cheerleader’s practice.   Keep your eyes peeled for unusual characters or happenings.  And keep in touch with your femcomm.”

“Can I go too as backup?  Two sets of eyes are better than one!” Flamestar inquired.

“I don’t need backup!” Shadow Lady said somewhat indignantly.

“It would seem prudent to take every precaution,” Wanda added.  “Just in case…”

“Very well, it’s Shadow Lady and Flamestar then,” Agent Samuels said.  “We have been in contact with the owner of the Foxes and we’ll get you set up to fill in some vacancies in the squad.”

TWO DAYS LATER:

“Let’s go Foxes! Let’s go!  Let’s go Foxes!  Let’s go!” the chanting cheerleaders kicked and shook their pompons in unison in one of the endzones.

“So nobody on the team knows we’re  undercover?” Angie asked Dee as they walked onto the field dressed in full Foxes cheerleaders regalia.  Their burnt-orange tops featured plunging cleavage which squeezed their breasts tightly together in a pleasing display.  Black and gold
trim outlined the edges on the top and long sleeves. A stylized Foxes head logo adorned each breast.  Their belts were glittery gold and the high-cut on the sides of their orange skirts showed off plenty of leg.  Dee and Angie both carried twin black and orange pompons as they walked over to the practicing team.  They slowly traversed the playing field to the squad practice in the other end zone.

“That’s right,” Angie replied as she tried to keep her panty bottom from riding up on her.
How did they expect anyone to perform in these outfits with any modicum of modesty?  “Other than the team owner, who Agent Samuels assured us was completely cleared, it’s top secret, trust no one.  And we’ll have to impress the cheerleaders’ boss too…Which means we’ll have to really prove ourselves.  I hope you’ve been practicing your moves at the clubs.”

“Nothing like on the job training.  Don’t worry about me though, it will be just like cheerleading for the old high school team…” Dee quipped.

“Don’t tell me you used to be a cheerleader in high school?  Is that what Sue was referring to in the conference room?” Angie asked as she adjusted her top.

“Let’s go Hamilton wolves! Gimme an…” Dee said coyly.

“Spare me…Geez and I thought my own costume was tight…” Angie looked down at her swelled bosom.

“Not as revealing as my old high school uniform.  We used to have these skirts which were more like cellophane paper and the guys would just love watching us in case the wind played tricks…”  Dee grinned.

Angie shook her head.

 “And those times when we did pyramids the guys who would hold us up with their sweaty palms between our legs…”  Dee chattered on and blew a big bubble from the chewing gum in her mouth.

“Why am I not surprised you were a flirt back then?” Angie rolled her eyes.  They crossed the field and stopped in front of a woman wearing glasses.

“Excuse me, are you Trixie Russell?” Dee asked to a slightly older woman dressed in a tight sweater adorned with the Foxes logo.

“Yes, and you are?” Trixie responded.

“Danni Snow,” Dee stuck her hand out.

“And I’m Adrian Taylor,” Angie said from behind Dee.

The cheerleading coach looked up but didn’t accept Dee’s gesture of friendship.  “Yes, you’re the two new members of the squad according to the front office,” she said uninterested as she flipped through some papers on her clipboard.  “Well let me tell you one thing, I don’t agree with this appointment of members who haven’t even gone through the tryouts.  It’s not fair to the girls on the squad now nor to the girls who didn’t have a chance to make the squad before.  Just because you two have a cozy relationship with the owner doesn’t mean that you won’t have to work hard.  There’s a lot of girls who would kill to be on this squad and you two will have to bust your butts to impress me before I accept you as Foxes cheerleaders!”

Dee and Angie looked at each other a moment, dumbfounded.  We truly are out on our own!

 Trixie motioned for the sound system on the field to be turned off.  The cheerleaders still practicing stopped and turned their attention to Trixie.  “Girls, these are the two new cheerleaders, Danni and Adrian.  I want you to show these two what it means to be Foxes cheerleaders.”  Trixie pointed at the sound system operator to reactivate the soundtrack.  The two dozen cheerleaders instantly jumped into the beat and proceeded to do a dazzling routine of splits, spins and grinds.

“Now let’s see what you two can do!”  Trixie barked as the cheerleaders left the field and let Dee and Angie take the vacated playing surface all to themselves.

The music began again, and Dee and Angie began to dance.  Their moves were more or less in sync with each other and varied only slightly from the routine they had just seen minutes earlier.  As the music ended, Trixie stood with her hands on her hips.  “That wasn’t too bad, but now let’s see if you can stay in step with the rest of the group!”  She motioned for the music to begin again as the other cheerleaders rushed onto the field and took up positions in two lines.

Dee and Angie stood near the end of the rear row of cheerleaders.  Some of the other girls shot them withering glances of jealousy.  Nothing like being the object of scorn and targets of envy to promote good old comraderie, Dee thought.  But there’s no way I’m letting these stuck-up song girls top me.

For the next three hours Dee and Angie bumped and grinded to loud music, mimicking the other dancers’ steps and moves and enthusiasm. Dee even thought one of the cheerleaders tried to trip her at one point in the routine.  Fortunately her trim body was up to the rigorous task before her.

 It was apparent to most of the other cheerleaders that these two new girls were fast learners, and the newcomer’s good-natured attitude eventually won the day as they were more or less accepted onto the squad by the end of practice.  As the routines got harder and more difficult, Angie and Dee shone through in their ability to quickly pick-up moves.

The rest of the squad had been dismissed for the day after going over the newest routines,  but Trixie insisted on teaching the two new girls more steps.  After another two and a half hours of dancing and memorizing the moves, Trixie finally relented and sent the girls to the showers.

Dee and Angie dragged their tired, wooden bodies to cheerleader locker room.  “Oooh man, I ache everywhere!” Angie moaned.  “Give me Miss Midas or Plaster Master any day!  This is tough work!”

“Ahh…” Dee stripped off her uniform, drenched in sweat.  “I cannot wait to hit the showers,” she said as she slid her panties off and jiggled into the relaxing spray of water that awaited her tired body.  The hot spray of water loosened up her tired, aching muscles.  “The water feels great,” she called out as she soaped up and cleaned her soiled body.

“I’ll join you in a minute,” Angie said, slumped against her locker.  “Ohh, I’ll never dis cheerleaders again for having it easy…or dance again for that matter…I’m beat…” she groaned as she rested on the bench.  Finally, after a few minutes, she stood slowly and undid her top, allowing her restricted breasts to burst free from the sweaty uniform.  “I hope you left some hot water for me!” she called out.  “And don’t let your guard down too much Dee, that kidna-“ Angie began when she saw a man standing in front of her!  “Who ar-“ she started to say when he shot something-a raybeam?-at her.  Instantly she found her body totally immobile and her mind drifting away to unconsciousness.  The man had some sort of handheld device which had totally froze up her body.  She stood, wide eyed and mouth agape with her top undone and skirt-less. Her arms were raised in surprise and in the instinctive desire to cover her breasts.   Stiff as a statue she didn’t budge as the man admired her frozen body for a moment and carefully lifted her up around the waist.  She didn’t flinch at all from her motionless pose as he began walking as fast as he could with his precious rigid cargo.

“Angie?  Did you say something?” Dee peered out from the showers with a towel wrapped around her wet torso just in time to see the strange man carrying out the frozen Flamestar!  “Angie!” Dee raced after the mystery man and burst through the exit door.  The corridor outside was pitch black and she couldn’t see a thing.  “Angie are you-ooohhhh” she moaned as she was struck from behind by a blow to the head.  Her towel came undone as she collapsed naked to the concrete floor.  The stranger set his frozen statue down and admired the fallen woman for an instant before making a decision.

“Uuhhnnnn…” Dee groaned as she slowly came to.  Her vision came into focus agonizingly.  She found herself lying naked, arms and legs bound behind her with heavy rope that chafed against her bare skin.  She focused on some colorful figures standing before her and realize she was in front of a lineup of professional cheerleaders, all standing stiff legged and motionless!  “What the?” she said, confused at her change in surroundings and still groggy from the blow to her head.

There were well over two dozen women here, all in the colorful uniforms of cheerleaders from all around the league.  Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle.  Each cheerleader dressed in a distinctive costume, whether it be tiger-striped, or lightning-bolted.  A cowgirl here, tied off top provocatively baring her middle.  A sheer sleeved  naval motif on another.  Long and leggy looks were the running theme.  Denver, Washington, Carolina, Los Angeles!

Dee recognized that Officer Maxwell was here too, frozen stiff with her arms in the air as if she was waving her pompons during a game. She still had her hair tied in an elaborate braid, just as Dee remembered from years ago.  Her perfectly white uniform with blue and gold highlights combined with her motionless state made her look like a museum exhibit.
Her face revealed no emotion, nor did any of the other captive cheerleaders who were arranged in a horrible mockery of a motionless chorus line.

Each was standing on a metal pedestal, about a foot tall and engraved with the team name on the front.  There was a lighted, plastic surface ringed by metal on top of each pedestal.  All the rigid cheerleaders’ feet were squarely on the illuminated plastic surface.  None moved a muscle at all.

Only the barest movement from any of the women was observable.  And that was only in their hair being just barely and minisculely blown by the air conditioning.  Electronic displays and wires snaked out of the back of each pedestal, which hummed softly in the eerily quiet, darkened room somewhere in the bowels of the stadium.  Track mounted spotlights shone on one empty pedestal next to Officer Maxwell labeled for the Foxes cheerleader!

Rolling over to her side Dee saw the strange man who had kidnapped Angelica and herself.  He was dressed in a jumpsuit with the Foxes logo on it.  Standing next to him was Angelica, frozen still, but being reposed in the same position as the other cheerleaders!  He was adjusting her arms so that they matched the angles of the other women.  Stepping back, he brushed the frozen heroine’s shoulder, dusting her shoulder off and smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt.  “Angie!” she whispered.   “Can you help me!  What’s the matter with you?  Why aren’t you moving?”

“She can’t help you!  She can’t even help herself!” the man turned around.  He had curly black hair, and a lean pointed face.

“Who are you?  What have you done with her?” Dee demanded.

“My name is unimportant.  What I have done to your friend here is to place her in a state of stasis, suspended animation if you will.”  He positioned Angie’s right arm so that it was slightly higher than the other then took a step back to look and nod approvingly. “I would have done the same to you too, but unfortunately my portable stasis ray has only enough energy for one charge.  And although the effect is temporary, your friend is beginning to lose her stiffness, I have ways of making it quite permanent!” he motioned to the collection of pro cheerleaders standing rigid in their imposed paralysis.

“They’re all frozen in stasis!” Dee exclaimed in awe.

“Yes, once immobilized, they have all become beautiful living mannequins in my cheerleader collection.  It took quite some time to collect the entire set, but when you work as the equipment manager there’s all sorts of things you can pack up and transport and no one questions you whatsoever!  This secret room beneath Fox Stadium is where I’ve been storing my collection for the past couple of years.  I knew if I had started by kidnapping a Foxes cheerleader, this stadium would be thoroughly searched, so I left that one for last. I was able to secretly build this trophy room right under their noses with the access I had to the stadium!  With the disguised panels, no one will ever find my private collection!”  He strolled around his collection of cheerleaders and stared into their beautiful emotionless faces.

 “It was so tempting to watch these gorgeous women every time they performed on the field.  Their perfect bodies, so lithe and so sensuous!” he kissed the immobile Kansas City cheerleader on the cheek.  “Their hair and makeup done just so beautifully. I couldn’t help myself from thinking they were like the epitome of beauty, destined to be immortal,” the man said as he lifted the skirt of a San Diego cheerleader to admire her crotch.

“Leave her alone you sick-“ Dee growled despite her state of helplessness.

The man smiled and dropped the skirt’s hem.  “They don’t know what I can do to them.  They are totally oblivious to my touches…”  Dee frowned to his delight.  “From my secluded perch it was delicious to watch the lovelies in their flirty skirts, flashing their bodies off on the field, tempting me and the crowd with their bodies…” He stopped as he realized his voice was being raised and stroked the shiny fabric of Officer Maxwell’s shoulder.  “Their costumes, so beautiful,” he ran his hand down Kim’s chest to her exposed stomach.  “Their pretty bodies all so luscious!” he held the slim waist of the Miami cheerleader and leaned over her paralyzed shoulder to whisper in the paralyzed woman’s ear.  “Soooo…perfect….”

“I knew I would have to have one of each for my own personal pleasure!” he was careful to step only on the metal rim around the plastic surface as he ran his hands up the pirate-motif clad cheerleader to his right.  “So, I turned all my resources to being able to preserve their precious beauty for me and only me!” he continued to walk past the Seattle cheerleader and readjusted the criss-crossing ties to her front to show a little more cleavage.  “Your friend will become the final piece in my collection, my personal collection…my trophy room.”

He left his collection of cheerleaders and stroked the long, red hair of Angelica.  “She’s so pretty, destined for immortality now…” He grasped Angie’s waist and slowly lifted Angie and gently set her down on the empty pedestal.  The pristine white sneakers squeaked on the plastic surface of the pedestal as he righted her body until she could stand free from aid.  “The stasis effect is beginning to wear off, which allowed me to pose her properly.  But once I power up her pedestal, and as long as she remains in contact with the pedestal, the immobilizing energy will keep her body in continual stasis forever!  Thanks to the power flow I’ve diverted from the stadium generators, she will remain immortally young!”

“Y-you madman!” Dee screamed.

“Mad that I’m preserving their beauty forever?” he glared with a tint of maniacal glee.  “Mad that I’ve ensured their bodies will remain so taut and tight forever? Mad that I’ve immobilized them at their pinnacle of glamour?  Mad??  I think not!”

Oh my gosh, he’s a full blown looney! Dee realized.

“I’m an Immobilizer!  Ha ha! I am an artist!” he ranted to the precious rigid women around him.  “An artist whose only mission is to preserve fragile looks and appearances.”  He caressed the bosom of an Oakland cheerleader and then suddenly turned to stare at the bound nude Dee quivering on the cold cement. “But an artist can never stop creating!  And now I’ve been inspired by your own luscious beauty!  I may have run out of cheerleaders to collect and immobilize but now I can start that new collection!  A frozen nude statue collection!  Of which you will have the honor of being the very first!”

“No…” Dee softly gasped as she realized he was truly intent on following through with his insane desire to transform her into an inanimate statue.  She didn’t realize her salvation was slowly coming to.

“And when I get tired of collecting nudes, maybe I can turn my attention to those foxy superheroines of FF INC!” he raved insanely to his frozen collection of women.  “There!” he said in triumph as he flipped a switch on Angie’s pedestal.  “Within seconds she will be in stasis forever!  And then we can find a suitable pose for you!”

ooohhh my head….what’s happened to me?  I can’t move!  Angie began to regain consciousness.  Her body remained utterly stiff but she could hear the gloating and mad plans of the diabolical Immobilizer.  I’ve got to do something before I become a strange sort of museum exhibit!  Can’t aim my arms…can’t shoot my flame…but maybe I don’t have to…

“You-you won’t get away with it!” Dee yelled.  “I’ll fight you!”

“You won’t be able to put up much of a fight once I immobilize your body!  You’ll be so helplessy stiff and rigid that you won’t even be able to bat your eyelashes!” the man bragged.

Angie felt the energy of the pedestal begin to flow up her body…All I have to do is get hot…burn out the pedestal I’m standing on and the stasis effect will be cancelled…the numbing stiffening sensation was reaching up her legs…hurry…it was like her mind was mired in cement or the thickest mud.

“How would you like to be posed my dear?  Perhaps a classic statue pose?  Maybe I’ll even paint you over to look like a real statue?”  the villain pondered.  “So many possibilities!  I never imagined I would complete my collection so soon!  Your coming has opened so many doors!  I have a chance to express true creativity with your body!”

“You diabolical fiend!” Dee hissed when she noticed Angie was glowing…but not from anything the immobilizer pedestals were doing to her.  She was trying to flameup!  I’ve got to distract this nutso, she thought to herself…distract him from Angie before he realizes she’s more than she appears.  “You won’t succeed because even if you do turn me into one of your statues there will be someone looking for me!” she threatened.

“I’ve been very careful to cover my tracks,” Immobilizer gloated with glee.  “I don’t think anyone will ever find your glorious nude statue anytime soon!”

hotter…hotter…Flames began to lick at Angelica’s body.  Her Foxes uniform began to smolder and burn.

“I-I think you’re dead wrong!” Dee improvised.  “I bet the cops will be here in minutes and find this secret stash of statues you’ve secreted here!”

“So defiant!  I like that!  I never had the opportunity to speak to any of my other statues before I preserved them!  Soon you will see that my way is the best.  My-What’s that?” Immobilizer sniffed the air and turned to see Angelica’s uniform burst into flames and incinerate into ashes right off her body.  “N-No!” he screamed as the pedestal she was standing on began to shoot sparks as the plastic and metal melted and precious wires fried.  “NOOO!” he screamed again as Angelica was surrounded by her flaming aura like a shining angel.  She began to move her limbs slowly and found her powers regenerating her body’s muscles.  Enveloped in flames, she flew off the pedestal, full mobility restored by the destruction of the nefarious immobilizing pedestal.

“Hold it sparky!  You’re not going anywhere!” the nude heroine Flamestar ordered as she corralled him with a ring of flame to stop his escape.

“Noooo!”  he screamed at the flames surrounding him.  “Don’t hurt meeeee!  I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Flamestar circled the Immobilizer a few times to ensure the villain didn’t get any crazy ideas about trying to escape the intense flames and gently set down next to the naked Shadow Lady.  “You okay?” Angie asked Dee as she untied the bound heroine.  They made quite a sight, two stark naked women in a cement storeroom surrounded by dozens of frozen cheerleaders and one insane madman.

“Yeah,” Dee answered.  “Now let’s turn the power down all those pedestals and get those girls out of stasis!”

“It shouldn’t take too long, since all they’re being held motionless by is the pedestals now.” Angie replied.

“Maybe we can find some spare clothes too before we call the cops?” Dee grinned as she crossed her arms in front of her breasts.

“Uh, yeah good idea” Angie smiled.  “Maybe there’s some spare cheerleader uniforms around here?”

Dee laughed.

EPILOGUE:

“And so all the girls came out of stasis no worse for wear,” Shadow Lady explained to Trixie and Agent Jones.  “Some of them have been in stasis for a couple of years, but they’re adjusting to the situation.  Since they were perfectly preserved in stasis, they haven’t actually aged at all during that time, but it will be a bit of culture shock for them.”

“We’ll do anything in our power to help them,” Flamestar added.  She and Shadow Lady were once again wearing their famous heroic costumes.  The sun shone brightly in the sky above Foxes Stadium.

“Thank you for your help, the government appreciates it,” Agent Jones replied.  “We’re sorry about whatever uncomfortable situations you were placed in.”

“It’s all part of the job. Glad to help,” Flamestar smiled.  “And we’re just sorry we couldn’t tell you that we were undercover, Trixie.”

“Well you two sure did impress me,” the cheerleader coach smiled.  “And anytime you want get tired of superheroing  you just let me know and I’ll get you back on the team asap!”

“Thanks, but I think we’ll be sticking to superheroics!” Dee giggled.  “Agent Jones, what will you do with all those stasis projectors?”

“We’ll find a way to put them to good use,” he reassured the heroines.

“So what was it like?” Trixie asked.  “If you don’t mind answering, that is…”

“Well, now that I had a small taste of what if feels like to be a mannequin,” Flamestar replied.  “I think that’s the only time I could be legitably called a dummy!”

“As if!” Shadow Lady countered as the two heroines slowly walked off the field.
 
 
 
 
 

TO BE CONTINUED IN..."WAXED WORKS"

Authors Note: There are plans to bring the villain in this story back…under a new name and in a very unusual competition…more details to come…I almost called this story The Ultimate Sports Collectible, but that was too unwieldy and I settled on the more descriptive title Collectibles…for info on Dee’s reference to the first Paralyzer case, read the flashback episode “Enter the Paralyzer” for some early adventures of FF INC!