Chapter 4 -  Life can be so cold
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            Sersi sat down on her home's sofa for a second as she looked over the two receipts for the remaining guests she hadn't retrieved as of yet.  The first one was a sale of an item to a  Jacques Chaq Chirraque, a local artist who often enters local art contests.  The second was for a fairly large amount of money to Ferdinand's, a local auction house who she recalled was having an auction tomorrow afternoon.  Putting the Ferdinand's bill of sale down on her coffee table, she mulled over the Chirraque sale as she got up and wandered around her home.

             Rubbing her left hand on her forehead,  the buxom heroine walked into the spacious kitchen she used when she was entertaining guests and wanted to show off the culinary skills she had accumulated over the past century or so.  Sersi walked around the food preparation table and noticed there was a fairly large puddle of water on the floor nearby.  She looked at the water for a second or two trying to figure out where it came from when she suddenly remembered why it was there....

              Previous night.....

              Sersi's party was in full swing with her guests wandering her home admiring her various antiques and ancient furnishings.  The immortal heroine had just walked into the kitchen to whip some desserts she learned to make from a woman named Antoinette in France, who was apparently quite fond of cake and other such pastries.

               Sersi had put the sugar and flour on the counter to prepare the treat ( she could have just made the treats appear out of thin air but she always felt food tasted better when done by hand) when in wandered the blue and white clad heroine known as Ice Maiden (Tora to her fellow heroes and heroines).  Diminutive in stature, she was feared by her opponents due to her awesome ability of generating a wide variety of cold attacks in combat.  However, judging by the look of despair on her face, the heroine was far from happy at the present.

                "Tora, what's wrong?  You look like you've just lost a fight with a villain by tripping and knocking yourself out."  Sersi said as she dug out several desert trays from her mammoth sized fridge.  She managed to put them on the counter a little clumsily as she was still feeling the effects of her heavy drinking earlier.

                "I'm... I'm sorry..yousee, after I attended a meeting with some other heroes and heroines about a crisis we had  managed to avert, everyone left to go home for the day to be with their significant other.  After they had left, the only people left in the room were myself and a few of the bachelor heroes.  Those guys totally ignored me as they sat around talking about how sexy Rogue looked and what a big rack Wonder Woman had and if Jean Grey was still attached to that Cyclops guy.  It was like I wasn't even in the room!" Tora said while banging her fist on the counter top.

                 Sersi looked at her guest slightly bemused by the anger Tora was showing.  "Well, they are single guys with a lot of time on their hands.  When they're kicking back, conversation will inevitably turn to women that interest them.  Is it that so surprising?" she said chidingly.

                 Tora shook her head no. "You misunderstand.... I'm not upset that they were talking about other women and how great looking they are.  I'm angry because they never mentioned me whatsover... even in passing!  I mean, I know I don't have the physique of some women like Wonder Woman and such but I'm attractive and available.  Why wouldn't those guys want me?" she saidin a pouting voice.

                 Shaking her head,  Sersi poured herself another glass of wine while letting her fingers run through the bowl of brain mines she was carrying around ( and using ) with her.  "Well, maybe if you knocked off your whining and paranoia about every time a guy didn't mention you in his conversation, you might be able to get a date occasionally."  she said bluntly while taking a deep drink of wine.

                  Tora slammedher left hand on the counter in anger "Whining?.... Paranoia?..... How dare you say that!"  she screeched at her host in reaction to the criticism.  At the same time, a wave of cold flowed from hand out over the counter and covered everything including Sersi's dessert fixings in a thick layer of ice.  Tora stepped back while her emotions ran the gamut from anger to regret over what she had just done.

                  For Sersi, her emotions were clear-cut, albeit fueled by generous alcohol consumption.  Angry over her desserts being ruined by a careless use of powers, she grabbed a brain mine and lunged at Tora, who didn't have time to get out of the way.   She slapped the powerful device on the forehead of the Nordic heroine and saw Tora's will drain out of her eyes.  The ice powered heroine stood rigidly at attention with her eyes staring forward into nothingness with only the rise and fall of her chest indicating she was still conscious.  The device this time was similar in nature to the bracelet Vampirella had worn earlier in the evening allowing Tora to respond to verbal commands willingly and obediently.

                  Sersi smiled as she leaned against the frosted counter and looked at her guest who was oblivious to everything around her.  She sipped on her wine as she ran her finger under Tora's soft chin and tried to decide what to do next.  The buxom immortal walked around the transfixed guest in a slow circle before stopping suddenly and looking intently into Tora's face.

                   "Well, my sweetie, if you wanted to be admired for your beauty, I think I can arrange for just such a thing.  However, before I get that started, I'll have to take off your clothes to see if you need any 'help',"  Sersi said as she looked around somewhat sluggishly to see if any of her other guests might be nearby.  Once that was done, she started to take the clothing off Tora's rigid body, nearly falling down several times in the process.

                   With the brain mined heroine's clothing lying in a heap next to her, the buxom immortal stood up in front of Tora and took a moment or two to admire her nude body.  Although Sersi preferred the company of men in the areas of passion and romance, she couldn't help but admire Tora's classic form.  From her soft face down to her smallish but firm breasts and supple torso, the Nordic heroine was quite the beauty who lacked self confidence when dealing with men.

                     Sersi stood back and leaned against the counter that was now covered in ice, water and soggy desserts.  "Well, you are quite the little beauty, my dear Tora... yes, you are.... you are indeed.  In fact, why don't you pose like one of those beautiful nude statues that you see in the local museums?"  she said to the nude beauty while wiping the the counter off.

                   Tora nodded slightly and, a few seconds later, started shifting her body in response to the request.  Her left hand rose up and settled on her hip with her right hand slowly ascending until it was behind her head just touching her hair.  She then slightly spread her legs apart and tilted her head so that she was looking slightly to the right with a slight smile visible on her face.

                   Sersi clapped her hands lightly in appreciation of the pose that Tora had taken.  "Oh, you are such a pretty little statue... a living statue of an ice princess.  In fact, that gives me a great idea how to display that beauty of yours for everyone to see,"  she said with a wry grin.

                   Moving over in front of the transfixed heroine, the immortal beauty raised her arms in front of her as her eyes crackled with energy.  Seconds later, the energy flowed from her hands and enveloped the Nordic heroine completely from head to toe.

                   Almost immediately, the effects of the energy became evident as Tora's skin started to become translucent and an aura of cold was visible all over her body just like the powers she used regularly.  As the seconds ticked by, Tora's whole body started to resemble the ice she generated in battle as skin turned to frozen water and her body quickly became a beautiful statue of solid ice, incredibly lifelike in appearance.  Her last breath came out as a cool mist as Tora's chest froze in mid motion with her nipples noticeably stiffening due to the cold before they were claimed by the process.

                  Once the process was done, Sersi slowly circled Tora once again running her hands across the icy torso and back noticing how there were still little bumps in the surface indicating flaws that were there when the subject was still a living human being and not the inanimate piece of glistening ice she now was composed of.

                  After that, like much of the night seemed to Sersi, the events grew hazy as to what happened next.  She remembered wrapping the statue in several large blankets and securing the covers with rope.  After that, she called... someone... to pick it up and that was all she could recall.


                  Glancing at the receipts, the immortal heroine saw the recipient in question was the Chirraque sale.  He was a local artist who made sculptures out of elements found in the world around him.  She picked up a nearby phone and dialed the number listed for the artist's studio.  To her consternation, she got an answering machine with a message saying that the artist was at an art show called Earth Works at the local arts and entertainment complex on the outskirts of town.

                 "I could have just turned them all into wind-up dolls and sold them to a toy store but noooo.... I had to have an imagination even when drinking just like when I told those Egyptian fellows about how they should have buildings in the shape of pyramids for holding parties and celebrations.  Boy, did that idea turn out different..!"  Sersi said as she flicked a lock of black hair out of her face.

                 Sersi then turned and headed out the door determined to pick up her transformed guest before Tora was nothing more than melted water to be poured down a drain.  Once she got the ice powered heroine home and changed her back to her human form, it would leave only one guest left to retrieve from her party.  "Next time, I'll arrange to have a good old fashioned orgy... they're much safer than a party like this was for my guests... "  she thought as she strolled towards the entertainment complex off in the distance.


                 The heroine had almost reached her destination when she found herself surrounded by a group of young men in their late teens and early 20's clutching laptop computers and notepads.  The men all started firing questions at her about her previous exploits and the various characters she had run into during them.  At first, Sersi was flattered by the attention of the fans but that quickly dissipated as they pressed in tighter by the second with their computers pressing tightly into her in an uncomfortable way.

                 When she felt one of the fan's hands come to rest on her ass, the immortal heroine's anger boiled over and a mighty blast of energy emanated from Sersi's hands.  A few seconds later, the glow dissipated and the young men had been transformed into tall muscular men clad in what looked like Greek togas with their computers fused together into a sedan chair for Sersi to lie in while they carried her to her destination resting the carriage on their shoulders.

               Once Sersi arrived at the complex and was on the ground, she flicked her fingers in the direction of the 'servants' and, a few moments later, six very disoriented young men stood looking at each other and the computers they had on their shoulders.  They wandered away muttering about how Wonder Woman was supposed to make a speech at city hall later that day.


               Sersi smiled as she opened the door to the complex and walked inside to the sights and sounds of an active setting. Ordinarily, a woman dressed as she was would have created a stir in crowds like the one currently coming and going. However, it seemed like every second person in the place was dressed up in some outrageous way with more than a few looking like they were semi or fully nude.

              "This looks like some of those wild parties that I went to in Rome with Emperor Claudius though the guests here don't include a horse it seems...."  Sersi said softly to herself as she mingled among the crowd who were busy looking at the various exhibits.

              As she wandered through the exhibit area, the heroine paused two or three times to look over several of the more provocative exhibits.  One entitled Safe Sex had two models covered in grey paint so they resembled statues and, wearing just enough to cover their private parts, were locked in a passionate embrace.  Another exhibit showed an oversized painting with three women dressed as sea nymphs posing in the center who blended in so perfectly that when they shifted their poses ever so slightly, the viewers gasped in surprise.

              Sersi smiled as the sight before resuming her search for her missing guest.  At the back of the hall, there was a curtained off area with signage indicating visitors should dress warmly.  "Hmmm... seems like just the place to find my missing guest....."  she thought to herself as she went to enter the cordoned off area.

             However, just as she was about to enter the exhibit area, screams were heard emanating from across the hall.  Sersi sighed audibly at hearing the noise.  "What is it with this town?  Every place I go, some idiot shows up and creates a commotion just like that little guy Napoleon did when I wanted to have only a little party in Paris.  This had better be just some little old lady that thinks a skimpy bikini represents full nudity.  Sheesh...."  she muttered as she walked briskly towards the disturbance.

            Interlude
 
           
           "Hey, did you hear that, Penny?  It sounded like there's something big happening on the exhibition floor.  Should we go have a look and see what all the commotion is about?"  the dark haired woman said as she sat up straight in the make-up chair she was in and looked at the woman next to her.

           "Unless someone comes bursting through the dressing room door armed and dangerous or Ed, the show's promoter, runs in and tells us things have been canceled, I'm not budging.  I've spent three hours here already getting shoved into this swimsuit and I'm not taking off now, Janice."  Penny said as she pushed her sizable left tit back into the red bikini she was wearing that looked at least two sizes too small for her voluptuous curves.

           Janice returned to her make-up chair and parted her robe slightly revealing the satin blue bra and panties she was wearing.  "Well, I hope that it's nothing serious.  I really need the money from this gig.  I remember when..."  the redhead started to say before being interrupted by the sound of the room's door being opened.

          "All right, ladies, eyes front!  We've got a lot of work to do here before you two are ready to strut your stuff,"  a blonde haired woman with a large grey smock called out as she hustled into the room toting an oversize bag with her.  She set it down behind the women and walked behind the two models humming a tune to herself.

         "First thing for both of you to do is take those stupid robes off.  If I'm going to make you two look beautiful for the onlookers today, I've got to rub in my special body oil on your shoulders and bodies.  Hurry up, though, because I don't want you two to be late getting to the stage,"  the make-up artist said with an obvious note of impatience.

         Penny and Janice glanced at each other for a second or two before taking off their respective robes and settling back in their chairs.  A minute or so later, the two found their shoulders and upper chest having a healthy amount of an ointment dabbled on and vigorously massaged in by the make-up woman.  To both models, the lotion smelled of potpourri although there was something else that neither one could figure out.... something unusual.

         The two models both reveled in the massaging the technician gave  both of them and closed their eyes as they let their minds wander.  Thirty seconds or so later, Penny opened her eyes to discover her arms and legs were shrinking rapidly!  She tried to yell out for help but found she no longer had the ability to move or talk in the slightest.  Although her transformation was producing feelings of intensely erotic stimulation, it was also providing a strange feeling... one of a new purpose... of being put on display... showing something....

         Seconds later, Janice opened her eyes to discover she could see nothing but blue in front of her.  Just like her fellow model, she found she could no longer move in the slightest.  In fact, she couldn't even feel any part of her body as if it had disappeared altogether.  She could still 'see' and the sight that greeted her in the mirror was puzzling to say the least.  The image was of the bra and panties she was wearing but there was no sign of herself anywhere.  Janice also had the feeling of being incredibly light yet sturdy just like the lingerie she was seeing in the mirror.  Suddenly,  it hit her like the proverbial ton of bricks... sheWAS the bra and panties now!

       "What.. what the hell is happening to me? Why do I feel so strange? Why ... do I need to display lingerie.... need to display...."  thought Penny as her arms and legs completely disappeared followed quickly by her head which seemed to be sucked into her neck in an almost cartoon like manner.  Strangely, she could still see and hear though she had no eyes or ears any more.  The display form that was, until a few minutes ago, a vibrant model named Penny settled back in the chair waiting to be acted upon.....

       From Janice's perspective, her change was more profound as she laid in the chair as two pieces of sexy lingerie that showed no sign of the woman it used to be.  Suddenly, she found herself being plucked off the chair by the make up artist who had been attending to her and Penny.  "What's going on?.... is this woman responsible for what happened to me? .... why did she do this?"  the lingerie thought as she saw the woman hold it in front of her for several seconds.

      "Hmmm.... just my size; this beats having to go down to the local department store and buying off the rack.  I should do this more often..."  the woman said with an evil smirk visible on her face.  She then walked over to the display form and swiftly put the bra and panty set on it so that it looked just like one people would see in the lingerie section of the local department stores.

      "Yes!!... lingerie to display... I am being used for what I am made for... I am wearing lovely lingerie..."  the form thought as it basked in the feeling of the bra and panty stretched across its' breasts and what was her pussy.  It was completely comfortable in its new existence as a bra and panty display form and all thoughts of its' previous life as a model named Penny were gone.            

       For the newly created bra and panty set, it also was accepting its' new place in life.  "Mmmm... this feels good... I'm being used to give support... I feel so fulfilled being used..." it thought as it fel titself being stretched across the plastic boobs and the smooth pubic area of what was the pussy on the display form.

       "Hmmm.. well, you two have turned out quite nicely indeed.  I think I'll use the form for taking a look at what my lingerie might look like at home before I put it on.  As for my new bra and panty set, I think I'll be wearing you when I inflate the former owner of my home, Angie Johnson, and show her the latest victims of.... Matter Mistress!"  the villainess said with an evil laugh.

       "Hmmm.. I might want to whip up a costume some time in the future in case I run into one of those heroic idiots..." Matter Mistress mused to herself as she picked up the inert form and put it into the oversized canvas bag she had brought in with her.  After looking around for a minute or two and picking up anything that might have indicated her presence, she headed out of the room whistling a pop tune she heard on the radio earlier in the day.

        She had just exited the change room and was going to head for the exit when the show promoter came running up to her, gesturing towards the room she had just left.  "Have you seen Janice or Penny today?  Are they in the change room that you just left?" the man inquired in an impatient tone.

        "Nope, I haven't seen either one of them since I got here.  I've been waiting in the change room for the past 45 minutes and was just heading out to go look for them myself,"  the villainess said innocently, reveling in the role of the innocent worker.

        "Well, those two better show up soon and do a better job in entertaining the crowd than being on time.  I swear.."  the promoter running his right hand through his thinning hairline as he turned around and looked out at the throngs milling around the exhibits.

        "Whenever they show up, I'm sure they'll give you everything have and everything will be in tip top form."  the villainess said just before the promoter dashed off to take care of an upset exhibitor.  Laughing to herself at the nasty irony in what she just said, Matter Mistress walked briskly towards the exit to head home with her newest 'possessions'.

   Elsewhere.....  


          The artist known as Chirraque to his contemporaries and fans looked over the three exhibits that he was responsible for  judging in his own eye if they needed any final touch ups.  The first was a large set of aluminum cans that were welded together into a shape of a female body with the particulars represented by paper labels from the same cans it was made of.  Chirraque had then put the form on top of a clear plastic base that was hermetically sealed and filled with thousands of brown leaves and small twigs.  He had labeled the figure BACK TO NATURE and figured it was pretty well set as is.

           The next exhibit had taken a different approach depicting a woman in a chair with the chair made out of plastic that was painted in flesh toned colors and the nude female figure was composed of vinyl and leather sewn together like one would see in furniture with seams visible only on the edges.  The exhibit was titled RECYCLED HUMANITY and Chirraque was quite happy with it though he debated whether to include a throw pillow with a baby's face painted on the front.  After a few seconds of contemplation, he decided against it as it might distract viewers from the true vision his work was supposed to portray.

   The third and final piece Chirraque had based around a figure he had acquired from a private collector just the other day.  An ice statue of a nude female with a pose that was quite spectacular had left Chirraque with a multitude of choices as to display possibilities.  He had decided to line the space around the figure with several dozen ice cube trays, long icicles made of clear plastic and snowmen that were formed from sand painted white.  Chirraque placed an igloo in the center just under the statue which he made from scratch based on a picture he had of typical housing in the country of Canada.

   Chirraque added a few twigs and branches around the edges of the display and stood back to look at the work he now called WINTER BEAUTY. The artist stood looking at the exhibit for a minute or two and slowly shook his head in disappointment.

"I think I'll have to do one final adjustment to make this work look like I want it to,"  the man said as he stroked his black goatee in approval before moving over to where he kept his tools for working on his masterpieces.  Sorting through his various chisels and picks, he selected his favorite tool for bigger works: the Husqurvana 3500 chain saw with steel cutting blade and leather padded handle.  Starting up the saw with a mighty roar, Chirraque walked towards the statue preparing to cut off the arms in imitation of the famed Venus de Milo statue.

    Just as the artist was lowering the chain saw onto the right arm, he saw, to his shock and amazement, that the saw was changing before his eyes accompanied by a bright yellow glow.  In a second or two, the glow faded and Chirraque saw that the saw had been transformed into a giant Twizzlator (cherry flavored) that simply slapped against the cold surface of the icy figure.

   Turning around, he saw the green costumed heroine Sersi standing behind him with her right hand pointed at what was his chain saw with a stern look on her face.  "Sorry but if I'm going to be able to set things straight at home, I can't have you carving up my former party guests, can I?"  the immortal said as she lowered her hand and walked over to where the artist stood in shock.

   "What.. what.. what..?" Chirraque sputtered as he found a check being shoved in his hand while the heroine plucked the ice statue off the pedestal he had set it on and looked over at him with a small smile.

   "That check will cover the money you paid for the figure plus a little extra to cover your expenses.  If you don't make too much of a fuss, I'll even come visit you and pose for one of your future art pieces,"  Sersi said while leaning over and kissing the flustered artist.

   "But.... you... I don't understand..." Chirraque babbled as he tried to figure out what was going on.  He watched the heroine walk to the door easily carrying the ice figure effortlessly as if it weighed next to nothing.

   Sersi paused at the doorway to the area, which had a throng of people near it now, and looked back at the stunned artist with a sly look on her face.  "By the way, keep up your work.  Your style reminds me of a fellow I knew in Italy a little while back... colorful fellow though had a hard time hearing at times."  she said before blowing Chirraquea kiss and heading off.

   Chirraque stood stunned for what seemed like a long time with two thoughts running through his mind.  One was that a sexy heroine had just walked off with the centerpiece of one of his exhibits leaving him with a fairly hefty check and a red face.  The second was what he was going to do for a piece of art based on her voluptuous look if and when she came by to model for him.

   As his friends came rushing up to him to console the artist, they noticed a broad smile becoming visible on his face as Chirraque contemplated the latter more and more.....

   30 minutes later....  

   Sersi set down the ice statue of Tora in her private museum next to the immobile figure of Rainmaker, still standing proudly with no sign of intelligence behind her eyes.  Leaning over, the heroine gestured towards Tora and brilliant energy flowed from Sersi's hands to envelop the cold powered heroine's body like before.  However, in this instance, cold and lifeless ice became warm flesh from head to toe in a matter of seconds.  Tora's eyes once again took on a light green and brown look to them and her hair was the sultry short mop of white strands it was before.  Sersi noticed, with some amusement, that the effects of the cold transformation had left Tora's nipples quite stiff and showed no sign of softening.

   Once the change was done, Sersi stepped close to Tora's nude body and put her right hand on it.  "Maybe this time I'll have a guest who returns completely to normal..." she muttered as she plucked the brain mine from Tora and stood back in anticipation.  Unfortunately, like before, Tora stood with her hands posed as they were before and oblivious to all around her still.

    "Sigh....next party, I'll have simpler party games like 'Pin the tail on the captured super villain' or ' Skiing down Mt. Everest with the mountain being changed from rock to jello'...."  Sersi muttered as she went out to the living room and picked up her last receipt.

    "Off to Ferdinand's for my last guest.... assuming I haven't forget anyone or anything..." Sersi muttered as she turned to leave and head for yet another trip.....


    Unaware she had forgotten about her guest house.... and what was presently inside it.... waiting....

    Next:  The high bidder is.....