A FEM-FANTASTIQUE, INC. ADVENTURE
BY CMQ 03-98
What has gone before: The fabulous femmes faced the petrifying peril of the menacing Madame Medusa and barely escaped from becoming true hardbodies were it not for the holographic gem and quick thinking of Shadow Lady. The breached security of the FF INC HQ, in the meantime, has left the team vulnerable...
TWO YEARS AGO
The girl walked slowly across the pristine white sandy beach in the late morning. Her exotic Hawaiian looks coupled with the skimpy neon yellow colored bikini turned heads whenever she walked by. The way her hair was styled, so full and fluffy, showed she wasn't here to swim, but to show off herself and get a great tan. She picked an isolated spot near some rocks and stretched out on her beach towel, her mirrored sunglasses reflecting the blazing sun beating down on her.
From behind the rock outcroppings two skulking onlookers gazed down at her. "What do you think?" said the woman raising her sunglasses and stroking her long dark ponytail.
"She's perfect," replied the man trying to get a better look at the sunbather.
"Okay, then get down there!" the woman almost shoved the man off the rock in her eagerness. She brushed some sand off of her shorts as she watched the man clamber down the rocks onto the beach.
He trudged across the sand until he stood directly over the woman in the yellow bikini. "Excuse me but..."
She sized him up in a glance and interrupted, "I'm sorry, but you're really not my type."
"Huh? Oh no, you misunderstand," the man said. "I represent the Golden Touch Suntan Lotion and Oil Company, and judging by your excellent tan I was wondering if you would be interested in modeling our product. Here's my card." He handed a business card to the woman, who pushed up her sunglasses. "Oh, and I have a free bottle that you can try out," he reached into a canvas bag slung on his shoulder. "One of our newest products. I think you'll like it. Don't worry about making any decisions on the modeling right now. Think about it and call me back if you're interested."
"Wow, Golden Touch is one of the biggest tanning corporations around!" The girl was impressed. "Sure, I'll be glad to try it." She took the bottle of suntan oil in her hand and popped open the top.
"Good, good. I hope you will keep in touch with us," said the man as he waved and walked back across the beach to the rocks.
"Well? How did it go?" asked the woman hiding behind the rocks.
"According to plan," smiled the man. He peered over the rocks with the woman as they watched the stunning girl rub the suntan oil over her body. The girl was spreading the tanning oil evenly over her body, starting with her chest and shoulders, taking care to cover her incredible bosom. After coating her breasts she started working it down her arms and torso, eventually moving down to massage the slippery substance onto each of her lusciously long legs. As she lay there face up in the sun, the man looked at his watch. "Do you think she used enough?" he asked. The woman next to him nodded. "How long?" he asked.
The secretive woman checked a temperature gauge she was carrying, a rather futuristic looking calculator device and did some quick mental formulating in her mind. "At this temperature and considering the UV exposure, maybe...20 minutes?" They waited together, impatiently watching the girl in the bikini bake in the hot sun. Then after about fifteen minutes she got up and started walking. The mysterious pair followed her at a discreet distance, trying to stay hidden behind the rocks.
The girl strode across the pristine sand. The beach was fairly secluded, and she enjoyed her privacy. As she looked at the cool, inviting sea, she began to feel strange. She looked down, her body was really looking tan now. But it was a strange, golden tan, with the emphasis on golden! Her body was taking on a metallic look, shining and reflective. She tried to move, but found she could not take another step or even flex a muscle. Her body was becoming stiff, more rigid with each passing moment. As she stood, motionless on the sand, even her long dark hair was becoming golden strands. She tried to move, failed, and continued to think 'What is happening to me?' as she continued to become a figure of gold. A perfect gilded representation of herself, albeit one incongruously wearing a neon yellow bikini was the end result. A statue of the purest gold sparkling on the hot sands.
The man and woman began to race across the beach to the immobilized golden girl. The man looked her over. She was a beautiful golden statue now. Solid gold through and through. He looked around to see if there were any other beach goers and was relieved to see no one else. "Get the truck!" he ordered. The mysterious partner left the man to obtain a four wheel drive vehicle, which she drove right onto the sand. Using a built in winch in the cargo bed, they succeeded in loading the heavy golden statue of the girl into the truck and threw a blanket over the golden statue. They spirited her away with no one on the beach knowing what had happened.
At the secret laboratory the man and woman studied the golden statue. "She's solid gold, confirmed," the woman said, putting her portable monitor down and slipping on a lab coat over her t shirt and shorts. It was a weekend, so the building was mostly deserted. All the better to make secret progress on the fantastic discovery she had made.
"I coulda told you that just by how much she weighs," the man replied as he rubbed his back. He too donned a lab coat over his bermuda shorts and sport shirt. "Let's just hope she stays this way. Think of it! She's worth maybe a million bucks like this!"
"I know," the woman sounded annoyed. "But if she doesn't stay gold like all the others we've tested before her, it won't do us any good."
They were so engaged in their scientific findings and bickering that they failed to notice the most imperceptible amount of movement from the golden statue as the fingers began to flex...
FIVE MONTHS AGO
A striking woman in an off-pink business jacket and skirt glanced at her watch. The low cut of her buttoned jacket revealed a silky pearl white chemise beneath and just a touch of upper cleavage. She took a look throughout the penthouse, admiring the Greek style faux-marble pillars, at least she thought they were faux-marble, and the bright and airy view of the buildings outside. She held a simple leather folder under one arm and waited impatiently for the woman who let her in to return. Veronica Blake stood in the foyer of the upper class penthouse belonging to one Gilda Grace. She looked at her watch again, and continued tapping her foot on the marble floor.
Veronica had spent the last six months tracking down the reclusive Gilda Grace, now one of the richest women in the world. Seemingly coming out of nowhere in the past year, the mysterious Ms. Grace had made her fortune allegedly in stocks and commodities, but actual records of her dealings were so difficult to track down it seemed deliberately suspicious. It only came through an unusual tip that Veronica had even gotten this far. She studied the surroundings, there was an abundance of golden trinkets throughout the lavishly decorated penthouse. Gold, in fact, seemed to be the prominant decorative element as it showed up in furniture, goblets and framing. There were even golden cabinets, electronic devices and curtains. The golden glow throughout the sunny room was almost blinding with the sunlight reflecting off of everything. I shoulda brought my sunglasses, Veronica was telling herself. This woman has this much gold just lying around she's got to be either crazy or have some bizarre fetish for it. And if she does have any skeletons in the closet, it's my aim to uncover the secret behind Ms. Grace's instant wealth and expose it in a tell-all article for News Today magazine. There had been so many others trying to get the goods, so to speak, on Grace, but none had succeeded in unraveling the myriad leads and paper trails to get anywhere near the truth. And Veronica had made it such a secret personal goal to uncover Grace's wealth that she hadn't even told her editors what she was working on.
"I'm afraid Ms. Grace is quite busy," the 'butler' was telling Veronica. The butler was a striking woman dressed in a skimpy pink Greek style toga and sandels. Her headband looked to be gold and she wore a copious amount of the same yellow metal on her person in the form of bracelets and armbands. "She just doesn't have the..."
"It's all right, Daphne," said a voice from behind the 'butler'.
Veronica looked at the striking woman walking toward her. She was tall, with exotic Pacific Island looks, possibly Hawaiian. Unusually, her hair was luxurious blonde, down to her shoulders. She was dressed in a white mini-toga not unlike the 'butler', which showed off her tanned legs and left her right shoulder daringly bare. Her calfs were wrapped in criss-crossing golden strands which ended in petite high heeled golden shoes. She wore a golden headband around her forehead, but had her hair styled so that it covered all of the band except in the front. It almost looked like a tiara, or a crown, like beauty contestants wore. Her left upper arm had a golden bracelet, and around her wrists were more golden jewelry. She looked at Veronica and ushered her inside.
"I've heard a lot about you, Miss Blake," Gilda Grace said. "You've made it quite your personal mission to find out all about me."
"Well, when someone just appears on the top 100 richest people in the world list AND happens to be a young woman, I'm afraid my journalistic instincts go into overdrive. You're a difficult woman to get a hold of. In fact, you seem to make it your business not to have anything traced back to you."
"Yes, I do enjoy my privacy. But since you are now here, perhaps you would like a little tour of my penthouse?"
"I would rather have an exclusive interview.," Veronica replied. "Unless you want me to go public with what I've managed to find out. It would be better, for appearances, if you had some input into the story."
"Of course," Grace smiled. "This way," she led the reporter through the spacious penthouse. Expensive looking gold knick knacks decorated much of the shelves, there was an indoor wading pool, and the floors were richly tiled in marble. Veronica noticed more servants, all young and female, like the 'butler' and all wearing the pseudo Greek style togas. Grace sat down in what could only be described as a golden throne, mounted on a base of marble and a few steps above the floor, which caused Veronica to look up slightly at her. Great, rich and eccentric, thought Veronica. This is going to be a great story regardless of what she ends up telling me.
"Now then, you supposedly made your fortune in stocks, but there's no records of any purchases by you over ten months ago. In fact there are virtually no financial reports on you at all older than a year. Where'd you get the wealth to afford all this? Inheiritance? Lottery winner? Favors from a rich suitor..." Vickie pressed.
"Would you like something to drink, Miss Blake?" Grace asked the reporter.
"No thank you," Veronica answered. "What I would really like..."
"Danielle! Bring me water!" she ordered, holding up a golden goblet resting on the armrest of her elaborate chair. A pretty serving girl with flowing brunette hair and an aqua colored toga rushed to her promptly, carrying a gold pitcher and passed Veronica. In her haste, the girl stumbled on the steps and spilled the pitcher onto the feet of the reclining millionariess. A look of anger flushed throughout Gilda's face. "Clumsy fool!" she roared, standing up and grabbing hold of the servant girl's wrist. She lifted the girl to her feet and clenced her free hand into a fist.
Hoo boy, Veronica thought. Not only is Gilda Grace rich and eccentric, she's also a completely spoiled, insensitive and arrogant bitch. The sales of the magazine will skyrocket once I expose her for all she is. Veronica stepped forward to try and dispel Grace's wrath. "Hey, don't go ballistic. It was an accident..." she began.
"My servants know the penalty for displeasing me!" Grace said maniacally as the frightened serving girl began shaking her head and pleading with her mistress.
"No! Please no! Forgive me mistress!" Danielle said in fearful tones, struggling to get away from Grace's grasp. She sounded absolutely terrified.
It was then Veronica noticed something odd. The hand Grace was holding the serving girl's wrist in was glowing! A very perceptible golden aura being emitted. And the serving girl was taking on that very same golden hue as well! The skin of the serving girl's hand and arm took on a golden glow and started spreading throughout her lithe body. Veronica stared in horror as the golden wave swept under the girl's toga and re-emerged on her opposite arm and down her legs! The girl froze stiffly as her body became solid gold. Her face stiffening in an expression of fear as the golden touch of Gilda Grace finished immobilizing the hapless victim into a pure 24 karat gold statue. Only the aqua- colored clothing of the girl remained soft and natural. The rest of the poor girl was now unyielding metal.
"This is the price of displeasing me," Grace said, letting go of the golden statue's wrist. "Fascinating, isn't it?" she commented on the statued maiden's fate.
"No..." Veronica stammered as she took a step backward, away from the approaching Grace. She was restrained from behind by two more servant girls, who each took hold of one of Veronica's upper arms, restraining her from escape. Veronica's leather folder fell to the floor.
"I've been most careful to cover my tracks," Grace began. "Working my gold trade through various contacts numerous times removed from me. My golden touch is only viable for 72 hours I'm afraid, but repeated touching can prolong the effect indefinately. Whenever I have dealings, I make sure they can never be traced back to me and I always make sure they are accomplished within that 72 hour time span. It just wouldn't do to have someone expecting a shipment of gold bricks find out until it's too late that they really only have a shipment of common masonry now, would it?"
Veronica couldn't take her eyes off the golden serving girl. She had been turned into a statue of gold, as if Grace possessed the mythical Midas Touch and realized all the gilded furnishings were also the result of Grace's golden touch. She saw Grace step closer towards her and she tried, unsucessfully, to free herself.
"And I'm afraid the girl who leaked the information to you has been taken care of, much like Danielle here. Isn't Danielle so much lovlier now? Gold is eternal...the most precious of metals...so beautiful in color, form and figure..." She raised her hand, glowing with the same golden aura as befor, towards Veronica's face. "I'm afraid you know too much, my dear," she said as she stroked the astonished face of the reporter on the cheek, moving her hand across the trembling woman's jacket and chest.
Veronica barely had time to realize what was happening to her before she became a solid gold statue. Her blazer and skirt, all her clothing in fact, had taken on the same goldtone as her skin and body. Gilda took one look at her newest golden acquisition and laughed heartily. Grabbing the golden statue around the waist, Gilda hefted the heavy gold figure into the air and carried the figure horizontally to a room behind her throne. There were three rows of modeling platforms in the room, two against the walls and one down the center. About half of the platforms were filled with about were about a dozen golden figures, all female. Some were dressed in golden servant costumes like poor golden Danielle, a few in golden evening gowns or revealing gold clothing, others were like beautifully nude gold sculptures. All were standing on two inch tall, two yards squared platforms with digital timers mounted on the front. As Gilda set the auric body of Veronica squarely on one of the empty square platforms, she set the timer. It read 72:00:00 and began counting down. As she walked past the other figures she stroked each one liberally, in turn and reset the timer for each statue. The last statue was a surprised looking woman dressed in a golden lab coat over golden shorts and t shirt with her hair in a long ponytail. A pair of sparkling golden sunglasses upon her head.
"What about Danielle? She'll make a beautiful addition to your collection," offered a servant girl with her black hair styled up into a high wrap.
"Bah, leave her where she stands, a reminder for the other girls, Romana," Grace replied. "I feel the need for more...unique additions to my collection." She looked at the News Today magazine inside of the leather folder Veronica had dropped. The cover photo was of five spandex clad heroines with the headline 'Meet the Fabulous Femmes of Fem-Fantastique, Inc.!' in blazing orange text. "And I know just where to start looking..."
TWO WEEKS AGO
"Well, we can't just turn her back into a statue again. She's a living, breathing woman now," the Crimson Sorceress said. She twisted a few brown strands of her hair as she spoke. It was early morning the day after Fem-Fantastique, Inc. had used the molecular transformer to turn what they thought was a girl turned into a statue by Madame Medusa back into living flesh. They had found out, however, that the statue was originally really just a statue, and now had a sentient woman sleeping in one of the guest rooms at FF INC HQ.
"I think we're all in agreement that we can't just change her back," Flamestar agreed. She sat opposite to Wanda in the monitor room at the meeting table. "But what do we do with her now? Let her go and live out a normal life? She had no life until yesterday!"
"Well, she could stay here," offered Shadow Lady, sipping on a cup of mocha coffee. Dee fingered the mug's rim as she tried to shake the cobwebs out of her head.
"Yeah, she really doesn't have anywhere else to go, you know," Cosmic Girl added. Darlene was munching on a bagel topped with lox.
"All right. It's decided then," Transparency Girl said. "She can continue staying in one of the guest rooms until she's comfortable leaving us. Or until we get any better ideas." Susan stood up. "Let's go tell her the good news," she lead the group of heroines to the residential level.
Dee knocked on the door to the newly animated girl's bedroom. There was no answer. "Hello? Are you there? Can we come in?" Dee asked. There was still no answer. Dee tried to open the door. It was unlocked. She stepped into the room, followed by the others. A figure was visable under the sheets. Dee nudged the figure beneath and suddenly pulled the sheets back. There was a marble statue in the bed! The girl the five heroines had accidentally brought to life was now a statue again, nude and posed in a reclining position on the bed. The statue had one hand on the inner right thigh, and the other between its breasts. Its legs were apart and slightly bent. It looked almost like it was masturbating.
Wanda gasped as she saw the motionless statue lying on the bed. Dee shook her head sadly. "I guess the molecular transformation was only temporary."
"It's probably for the best," Sue tried to comfort them. "She wasn't sup-" Sue stopped as she heard a voice. The heroines all stared at the statue as it began moving!
The statue's coloring was becoming flesh tones as the statue slowly stretched it's limbs, as if from awakening from a deep sleep. The now living girl looked at the staring heroines quizzically. "Good morning?" she offered.
Later that morning, after a battery of tests had been run on the statue-come girl-come statue-come girl again, Dee had determined that the girl had reverted to a statue state for about eight hours, the time while she slept. Not only that, but her texture in compositon while she was back in her statue state had changed. Where she was originally a gray granite like statue while displayed on Madame Medusa's island, her sleeping mode was more of a white marble like stone. Dee speculated the molecular transformer had endowed the statue with the ability to alter her very form in her statue state. Because of the fact that she was once a statue, she had been named Galatea, after the creation of the mythical Pygmalion. Dee went one step further, creating a 'civilian' name for Galatea, Stacey D'Estatua, in a moment of whimsy. Galatea took a liking to her coined names and asked the others to continue to address her by either one. In the meantime, Susan asked Shadow Lady to perform an extensive series of biological testing on Galatea to confirm Dee's suspiscions.
THE PRESENT
Dee called the rest of the team to the medical lab. She was seated behind the control desk when the others arrived. "Well, she seems completely normal in her awake mode," Dee reported, completing the last of the tests. The statue-girl was standing nude on a circular stand, surrounded by a battery of mechanical testing units and bio sensors. The rest of Fem-Fantastique, Inc. was standing behind Dee's control desk.
"So you think her reversion to a statue is still only temporary?" Susan asked. The girl had reverted into a statue each night. Sensors attached to her while she 'fell asleep' had confirmed
"It's actually more like a hibernation mode, how she sleeps," Dee replied. "Galatea says she thinks she can even stay awake in her statue form, at least for a little while. It really is like her at-rest state, so it's not as if she can stay awake forever in her statue form."
"And that statue state lasts eight hours?" Angelica lasts. "Talk about being out cold while you sleep..."
"It's been pretty consistent so far. There's been a few variations, a couple more minutes here or less there," said Dee.
"What else have you found out all about her?" Sue asked as Galatea smiled.
"Well, she can replicate not only the stone like material she was originally, but all sorts of statuary compounds as well like I thought. Apparently the molecular transformer has endowed her with to ability to molecularly convert herself."
"Is that the whole of her abilities?" Wanda asked.
"Just about," Dee responded. "In fact, Galatea thinks she can create a statue state for other people as well as herself. I just need a volunteer."
The other four heroines looked at Dee as if she was kidding. Dee assured them she was not. After a moment of silence, Darlene offered to be the guinea pig. She stood in front of the bemused Galatea. "Well, what do I do?" she asked Dee.
"Well, for starters, you'd better take off your clothes. Stacey's ability seems to only extend to living forms," Dee explained.
Darlene took off her yellow gloves, and lifted her feet to unzip her boots. As she pulled her blue and gold miniskirt costume over her head, her lovely bra-less breasts jiggled as she turned the outfit inside out. She stood next to Galatea, clad only in her white panties. "Do I need to take these off too?" she queried.
"No, I think that will be enough for her to work with," Dee elaborated. "She needs to have contact with your skin to achieve the effect. Anytime you're ready, Stacey."
"Don't worry," Galatea reassured Darlene. "You won't feel any pain. Just relax, and let me work..." she said as she touched Darlene's bare shoulder. Moving her hand down the almost-nude Cosmic Girl's arm, Galatea brought her other hand up and rested it on Darlene's chest. Galatea ran her hands down between Cosmic Girl's exposed breasts to her abdomen. It was if she was gently caressing the naked heroine's body, exploring all the curves and details. Galatea bent down on her knees and used her right hand to run the lenght of Darlene's legs. Her other hand was caressing her own shoulders now. She looked almost as she was sculpting both her body and Darlene's, switching back and forth between rubbing either her own body or Cosmic Girl's.
Angelica stifled a brief laugh. She could tell Darlene was getting excited based on how erect Darlene's nipples were becoming. Dee hushed her. "Watch," she scolded.
Darlene's thoughts were becoming more and more dazed, dreamy almost. Her sensation of touch was becoming less and less acute. Her body seemed to be unresponsive, as if she was no longer in control of herself. Galatea continued her long, lingering touches, as the other heroines stared in disbelief. Darlene was losing her tanned tones and becoming a statue! A statue of bronze, or so it seemed, based on the antique-looking patina her skin was resembling. The effect crawled over Darlene's body where Galatea had touched her. It was spreading evenly over every inch of her near-naked body. Not only that, but Galatea herself was apparantly becoming a shiny coppery tone, her own movements slowing where Darlene's had now ceased.
Darlene's body, with the exception of her bright white panties, had now become a statue of dark bronze, streaked with green age marks. Even her curly dark brown hair had taken on the aspects of metal, individual strands blending together to create an immovable hairdo. She was completely motionless, indistinguishable from an actual statue. Galatea stopped her touches and stepped back, her own body freezing into a glossy copper hued statue. Her immobile hands were touching her stomach and neck. She too, was frozen stiff now.
Dee stepped up to the two statues. She ran a quick scan on Darlene's bronzed form.
"Darlene's okay, right?" Angie asked.
"She's perfectly all right," Dee said. "Her body has become a sort of organic bronze, alive but with her life processes indistinguishable from the naked eye. The monitors show she's awake, mental activity is present. She can probably even hear and see us right now, but I guess we won't know for sure until she comes out of her statue state."
I can see you! And hear you too! Darlene thought. It was as if her consciousness was separated from her immobilized body. She could hear their conversation, see her reflection in the copper statue of Galatea in front of her, she just could not move her body anymore than an actual statue could.
"That's amazing," Sue finally said, impressed with what she had seen.
"They're gonna be like that for the next eight hours?" Wanda asked.
"More or less," Dee looked at her watch function hidden on her weapons bracelet. "We need to check in on them at about...midnight I guess," she calculated.
"Well then, I've got to get ready for that charity benefit," Sue said. "And you've got to cover Darlene's monitor duty tonight, Angie."
"Oh great," answered Angie. She strode out the door, her waist length red hair trailing behind her. Leave it to Cosmic Girl to discover a way out of monitor duty.
"I should be back by midnight, so keep an eye on those two," Sue grinned, her thumb indicating the two motionless maidens.
"Will do, Sue," Dee said. "Well Stacey, Darlene, if you can hear me I'll see you two later. Don't move!" She giggled as she left with Wanda, leaving the two statues standing on the medical platform. It was blissfully silent, the two petrified women left alone in their thoughts amid the blinking medical readouts. Their statued figures facing each other, frozen in beautiful immobility for the next few hours...
Susan slipped into the figure hugging red evening gown. She decided not to wear any undergarments, as it would have let unsightly lines show through. The last thing I need is to show up on the pages of Inquiring People as worst dressed heroine, she thought. The dress was cut high on the leg, and revealed quite a bit of cleavage. Her arms and shoulders were virtually bare, except for the two straps holding the dress onto her. She had pulled her long blonde hair up while she was at the beauty salon, it took about an hour to do her hair, but because she was the famous Transparency Girl, defender of the city, she got a rush job at the stylish Enrique's Beauty parlor. After getting dressed and checking in on Darlene and Stacey, still as statues, she bid goodnight to the others and caught a cab to the charity function at about 6:30 p.m.
Angie continued watching the monitors. It was going to be a slow night. It always seemed as if her nights on monitor duty were slow. Dee said she was going to work out in the gym a while, until Darlene and Stacey were ready to come out of statue mode. Wanda decided to take a quick swim in the pool and get the paperwork for the remodeling of the breached wall in the residential level done afterwards. Madame Medusa had turned a portion of the wall into stone and rammed her hovership through the fragile section. A complete rewiring of the security system was in order when work began. It was about 8:00 p.m. now and nothing was happening.
Angie yawned and thought about how Darlene and Stacey were doing. She tuned in the monitor covering the medical bay and saw the two statues standing silently. Looking around the headquarters, Angie checked the rooftop pool. It was quiet, Wanda must have finished her swim. She looked in on the hanger deck. Artie was in his recharging recepticle. The elevator to the reception level. Quiet. Wait...there was someone in the elevator, slumped on the floor against the wall. Angie looked closer at the monitor. The figure had blonde hair and was wearing a blue and white bodysuit. Sue? Angie leapt from her chair and ran to the elevator without thinking. It dropped to the low level security reception/maintenence floor. Angie ran across the carpeted floor, past the reception desk normally staffed by Artie and to the public access elevator which allowed visitors to travel from the street level to FF INC HQ. She knealt by the still figure. "Sue?" she asked in worried tones as she reached out to touch the fallen figure. "Are you o-"
The fallen woman awoke suddenly, planting her gloveless right hand upon Angie's startled face. Before Angie even realized that the woman's hand had an eerie glow she found herself frozen gold. Unable to move at all. Her face took on a glittering golden color, which spread down her neck and through her body. Her form fitting yellow bodysuit hid the transformation but there was no doubt in Gilda Grace's head that Flamestar was now totally solid gold beneath. She grabbed ahold of the open neck portion of Flamestar's costume and tore downwards, exposing the golden flesh beneath. "Consider these a gift from, Miss Midas!" she leered at the statue-like Flamestars golden breasts. "You know I consider you much more pretty like this...so much more attractive that I think I'll keep you like this forever!" Miss Midas stripped off her imitation Transparency girl costume, revealing her white toga miniskirt underneath. She got into the elevator and pushed the button for the third level. "You know I couldn't pass up this wonderful opportunity to visit you, what with your security problems and such. It just made it easier for me to take you unawares!"
Wanda's head was spinning. The financial calculations, the work orders she needed to get from the city were beginning to overwhelm her. She rubbed her temples. The swim had refreshed her, but the sheer amount of paperwork had drained her. I was never good at this accounting stuff, she thought to herself. I should just hand it over to whiz-kid Dee and let her handle it, but she's got her hands full with Galatea's testing. Wanda was leisurely dressed in a short and thinly transparent nightdress. Her breasts hung out of the open front, between the lacy edges of the dress. She wore simple pink cotton panties beneath and nothing else. The doorbell to her joint apartment, shared with Sue, rang. "Come in," Wanda said, happy to be distracted from the boring number crunching. No one responded. Wearily, she got up from the couch and slowly walked across the living room shared by the two heroines. She pressed the door activator on the side of the wall. "I said 'Come-' " and stopped as the door slid open. A glowing hand planted itself upon Wanda's bare chest. An instant later Wanda was frozen into a gold trophy. A statue not unlike her teammate Flamestar, or even Darlene and Stacey in their own unique immobile states.
Miss Midas looked at the astonished reaction frozen on the golden Wanda's body. "You look delightfully surprised," she slid the open negligee across Wanda's golden shoulders, revealing perfectly mid-sized breasts. Miss Midas stroked the dewdrop like nipples with her open hand playing across the golden globes which were Wanda's breasts and delighting in the feel of gold. Gold. Beautiful gold. And more beautiful in this form, a lovely figure of a woman. She pulled the pink panties away from Wanda's frozen body and let them fall to the floor. Miss Midas touched the delicate golden pubic hairs, like golden twist ties in appearance and closed her eyes in ecstasy. "I do so enjoy the feel of gold, and how it feels in its most pure form. How cold and hard, yet warm to the feelings and soft in my mind--" she stopped in mid sentence. "I forget sometimes you can't hear me, my dear. You can't even think in your golden form. You're frozen solid! A statue for my amusement!" Frozen like this for the next three days, and hopefully longer, if Miss Midas had anything to say about it.
She checked around the rest of the level and found no activity. There are still two more heroines somewhere she thought. Two more golden statues to create by my golden touch. She imagined how beautiful they would be, just like their two golden teammates. She peeked into a room, nothing here but two statues. And lovely looking statues at that. One looked to be made of bronze and the other solid copper. Miss Midas gazed longingly at the two figures, imagining they would look much better in gold. But there would still be time to do that later. Right now she still had to find the other two heroines before Transparency Girl returned and disable the security systems, chief among them, that robot...
Artie was still recharging when Miss Midas happened upon him. In his dormant state, he was unaware of the intruder reaching out to him with a glowing hand.
Dee was lying on a bench press, extending her arms to raise the barbell. She was covered in a good deal of sweat, her skin glistening in the lights. Having decided against changing into any exercise wear, her skimpy Shadow Lady costume was darkened with perspiration. Her cape hung on one of the metal exercise bars next to her green goggles, dangling around the end of the handlebars. Straining, she did two more reps and set the barbell down on the rack above her. Dee sat up and got a towel to wipe the sweat from her brow. She looked at her bracelet and saw it was 9:00 p.m. I may have time to take a quick shower before checking in on Darlene and...her thoughts were interrupted by a cold hand touching her bare back. She instinctively arched her back but suddenly found she could move no more. Her exposed flesh was now shining, her figure solid gold. Miss Midas delighted in sneaking up on the distracted Shadow Lady. Her surprised look, frozen wide eyed, delightful! "You know a costume like this is really quite a disadvantage to someone with my abilities," Midas purred, slipping the two strips of cloth from the statue of Dee, revealing her massive golden bosom. "I certainly appreciate you keeping your body in shape. How could you know that you would be able to keep your pretty figure forever!"
Miss Midas searched the rest of the headquarters for any sign of Cosmic Girl but found not another living soul. I would have loved to touch her lovely legs, Miss Midas thought dreamily of a golden statue of Cosmic Girl. She's probably out galavanting in some club. Too bad, but Transparency Girl should be back anytime now, and I need to take her by surprise because she'll be the most difficult one to acquire now...
"Thanks for the ride, cabbie. Keep the change," Sue smiled as she handed the taxi driver a twenty dollar bill. It had been an exhausting night, but well worth it. The children at the charity function were all so eager to meet with her. Even though it was way past bedtime for most of them when she had finally left at 10:00 p.m. Sue had given them all autographs and examples of her abilities. Performing so many transparency tricks for the eager audience had left Sue drained. I'm going to hit the sheets and not wake up for a week, she told herself. She placed her hand on the private elevator call panel. The express elevator took her directly to the residential level, bypassing the frozen Flamestar, still in rigid postion, at the public elevator one floor below. Sue walked down the hallway to her quarters. She pressed the activation button and jumped back, surprised, as the door slid open. In front of the door stood a life sized gold statue wearing Wanda's negligee. Sue looked closely at the statue. It was Wanda! Her face had an astonished look, as if she were taken by surprise.
Instantly Sue activated the commlink on the wall. "Angie! Dee! Respond!" No answer. "Artie, go online and respond....Artie?" Still no response. Sue dashed to the elevator and emerged on the command level. No one was there. She checked the monitors, all had static on them. She tried to enable the security lockdown activation protocols. Nothing worked. Damn, she thought. Suddenly she had a frightening thought. The statue we brought to life, Galatea! Is she responsible for this? Sue ran to the medical bay, shaking her feet free from the high heeled pumps she wore. She looked into the room, Darlene and Galatea stood motionless in the dimmed lights. They were still in the same statue forms as before. "Darlene! Can you hear me!" Sue yelled. "You have to wake up! What's happen-" She saw a reflection in the coppery body of Galatea and spun around. A woman dressed in a toga was lunging towards her. Instinctively, Susan activated as self-defense transparent bubble in front of her and was shocked to see a wall of gold instantly appear before her eyes. "My field!" she gasped.
"Ah, your vaunted transparent force field!" Miss Midas exclaimed. "Even it too is not immune to my golden touch! Prepare to join your teammates in their golden glory, Transparency Girl! Courtesy of Miss Midas!"
Sue ducked around the inch thick golden barrier as it toppled over. Only the control consoles prevented the golden wall from hitting the ground. The Midas woman hefted the barrier out of the way. Super strength too? Sue thought. She concentrated on creating an invisible ram which propelled Miss Midas out into the hallway. It took a great deal of concentration for her for she was really wasted, mentally, from expending her transparency ability at the charity benefit.
Miss Midas, pinned against the end of the hall laughed. "Is this the best you can do? I'm sorry, but it won't be enough!" At her touch the barrier solidified into a golden cylinder and crashed to the floor. She clambered onto the golden tube and began closing in on Sue. "Just one touch, my dear! That is all I ask! One touch and you will become immortal!" Midas cackled.
Sue tried something different, desperately projecting a transparent globe around her attacker. Maybe I can suffocate her into unconsciousness, she thought. But her hopes were dashed as the girl with the golden touch rendered her bubble into a golden eggshell and tore it to pieces with her enhanced strength. That...took almost all of my ability, Sue thought. She turned the corner and stumbled into the devastated guest quarters which Madame Medusa had destroyed. Just as she reached the doorway, she felt her long dress trailing after her snag. Sensing Midas was right behind her, she erected a transparent field as thick as she could mentally imagine. With supreme effort she succeeded in blocking the hallway, but not before Miss Midas' glowing hand brushed the hem of Sue's dress.
Instantly, and almost simultaneously, the hall was blocked off with a two foot thick golden wall as Sue's evening dress converted to rigid, unbending gold. Unable to run in the restricting garment, Sue toppled over, falling down the short stairway into the joint living room of the guest quarters. She stared in disbelief at her golden clothing, molded to her body in like a molded form-fitting cast. "Got to get free..." she muttered, projecting a small transparent bubble within the space between her body and the golden garment and expanding it so that the dress shattered into a dozen glittering fragments. Sue lay naked on the carpet, breathing heavily. She had expended herself fully this night and wasn't sure she had enough to fight off this new menace.
Miss Midas was pounding on the golden wall separating her from Sue. The wall of gold was showing stress fractures. It would not hold much longer. She looked around, there was no escape except the wide breach in the wall that lead to the lighted city outside. She felt cold. The night air was sweeping into the room. No way out, she thought, except one? It was a desperate choice, to be sure. And she didn't know if she had the energy or stamina to make it work. The gold barrier exploded as Miss Midas came crashing into the room. "Just stand there and become gold! Immortal gold!" she screamed, leaping over the stairway at Sue.
Sue ran to the bedroom, her desperate plan hatching in her mind. It would take incredible concentration in my depleted state, she figured as she turned from the dead end of the bedroom to face the advancing Miss Midas.
Miss Midas reached out with her glowing right hand and touched Sue's shoulder as the heroine stopped to turn and face her. She was rewarded by the sight of Sue's lovely nude body turn to gold before her eyes. Transfixed into a beautiful statue of gold. Miss Midas was impressed with Susan's fantastic figure. It was a work of art, even more so now that she was now priceless gold. Ah gold...the most incredible thing in the world. Midas wrapped her arms around the statue of Sue and lifted her newest prize into the air over her head like Sue was a human trophy.
Miss Midas gathered the four golden statues of the heroines on the hanger deck. Their golden bodies gave a warm golden glow to the steel surroundings. Angelica, in her keeling position, was next to the standing figure of Wanda. Dee was sitting on her golden buttocks at an unusual tilt, her body frozen from sitting on the exercise bench didn't allow her to sit upright on the floor. Sue's nude form was standing next to Dee. Miss Midas opened the hanger door and called her airship to land. A small airshuttle, not unlike the Inc Jet, landed by remote control inside. Midas loaded the gold statues onto her craft. Not bad, she thought. Four out of five heroines in one night. Still, there was one more heroine, Cosmic Girl, who was nowhere to be found. Hopefully, she too would become another piece to be displayed in my statuary. Sitting at the controls, Miss Midas set her course for her penthouse. Behind her, four silent, unmoving statues of gold stared into empty space. Their eyes washed over in gold, except one...
Sue was feeling claustrophobic within her golden shell. She had managed to project the slimmest of transparent fields around her body. So slim that it followed the very contours of her figure. It was probably only micro-molecules thin at most, but it saved her from becoming solid gold like the rest of her friends. The golden shell encasing her disguised her, making her appear to have been turned to gold. Fortunately, Sue had been inhaling when the field turned to gold and had the barest of room to breathe slightly through holes in her golden shell where her nostrils were. She had used the last of her transparent powers to turn her golden eyelids clear so that she could see through them. She doesn't think anything is amiss, Susan thought as she relaxed and let her transparent eyeholes become gold again and tried to recover completely from her exertion. A few minutes, or was it hours later? Sue had no idea of how long it had been, only that it had been almost unbearably claustraphobic in her tight golden shell in which she was immobilized.
Miss Midas was arranging her heroic statuary onto proper display stands. She had stripped whatever costumes and clothing she could from her golden girls. "Just one more heroine and I will have a complete set!" she said aloud. Wanda stood naked on one pedestal, her body straight except for one arm bent as if touching a door activation panel. Only her surprised face betrayed her serene pose. Angie was next to Wanda on a separate platform. Miss Midas was not satisfied with her kneeling pose. It covered too much of her nude body. But it would be difficult to touch her again if she ever could erect her flame powers. Better to leave her like this. Frozen in her last moment of awareness. Dee was sitting in that awkward pose, her gold body stripped nude. Miss Midas decided that she would revisit the gallery when Dee's duration as a gold statue was almost up and let her become alive again. I'll try to catch her in a nicer standing pose, she thought. Better to display her fabulous figure in action. Sue was placed on the empty platform next to Dee and a golden servant girl dressed in a gilded-over toga. "You are my masterpiece! Such a pose, the asthetics. A perfect monument to be preserved this way forever for my collection!"
Susan was encased in her inflexible golden shell. A living statue in appearance, if not fact, due to her inability to move inside her gilded disguise. She had feared that the field would not have been close enough to her body to create a believable statue-like impression of her, but her doubts proved unfounded as Miss Midas continually gloated over her new statue's beauty. It's getting hot inside here, Sue thought. And getting harder to breathe normally...
"I'm sure you are wondering just how I received my miraculous powers," Midas said to no one but her gallery of gilded heroines. "Who would have thought my body would have an unexplainable mutation effect on an experimental formula discovered which could turn human flesh into solid gold? The ancient alchemists would be green with envy, no doubt!"
She's utterly mad in her love of all things gold, Sue thought, trying to bide her time to recover her depleted transparent powers, but afraid that she wouldn't be able to stand her confinement much longer.
"It was fortuitous indeed, that I was the one picked on the beach by those two research scientists. That it was I who found out in their quest to create a better tanning oil, they had secretly stumbled upon the greatest of discoveries. The creation of gold itself! And how they had tested its permanence on many unsuspecting subjects, with the same unsatisfactory results. Until I came along, they thought they had perfected the formula, but it mixed with my unusual body chemistry and, instead, endowed me with the ability to create gold with a touch! As the two discovered, my ability was not limited to mere flesh and blood. I could turn anything I desired into lovely gold. The stuff of dreams! I could be rich, have anything I wished! But who would want more than precious gold itself?"
Incredible..., Sue thought. She is completely...obsessed with gold and wouldn't ever be satisfied with...having enough...If only I could...take a deep breath...
"It was then that I took quite a liking to creating unique golden works of art, and selling them to unsuspecting patrons under an assumed name. How shocked they were when their beautiful gold baubles or jewelry became regular, worthless knick knacks once again three days after I had touched them!" Miss Midas continued to no one in particular.
Three days? Is that...is that how long her...golden touch lasted? Sue was relieved that the others would be just fine. I...just need to...get out of here..., Sue contemplated, sweating heavily inside her skintight shell. Before...she discovers...I'm not...really a statue...or before I go...crazy...from sensory...deprivation...
"Of course I made sure no one I sold my golden works of art could trace me, and after a while I became quite enamored with my ability to create beautiful golden statues. My entire staff knows they will become additions to my statuary, perhaps permanently, if they ever fail me. But I've come to appreciate my talents in sculpting, as it were, statues of gold and I think I'll branch out into this territory. Who wouldn't want to buy a perfect statue of you?" she touched Wanda's golden breast, "...or you?" she said caressing Sue's perfect golden derrierre, "or even you?" stroking the legs of a lovely statue wearing gold lingerie. Miss Midas strolled leisurely down the aisle, admiring the golden bodies.
I can't...take it...any...more..., Sue mentally seethed from her imposed motionless state. She concentrated on creating a transparent field between her body and the restricive golden shell around her. It was difficult, she wasn't fully recovered yet from her ordeal but she had to make a move. The golden encasement was threatening to drive her mad.The coating began to crack and exploded outwards, spraying the statue gallery in gold dust. "Y-you know, you're...quite insane...," Sue declared, taking deep breaths. Her body was glistening with sweat.
"What's this? One of my statues come to life again?" Miss Midas said shocked at seeing Sue in the flesh again. "Well, all the better to create a new, more permanent pose for you!" She lunged at Sue who ducked around a nude gold woman combing her golden locks to the opposite side of the wall.
"I know...your secret now, and I'll do anything it takes...to stop you!" Sue yelled defiantly, trying to catch her breath.
"Daphne! Romana!" Midas screamed. The two servant girls rushed into the statuary room. "Take her!" she ordered. The two attempted to tackle Sue.
"Not on your best day!" Sue kicked Daphne hard in her midsection, causing her to topple back into Miss Midas' glowing hands. Daphne froze into a golden statue instantaneously, bent over with her limbs awkwardly posed.
Miss Midas heaved the statued servant to one side and attempted to outflank Sue. Romana was approaching from one side when Sue dropped to the floor and used a nasty leg sweep to take Romana's legs out from under her. She dropped in a heap out cold.
"That just leaves you and me..." Sue taunted. "And I'm ready for you this time..." Sue darted down the gallery, past empty platforms and statues of golden women. Miss Midas followed Sue's progress, trying to get an opportunity to touch Susan's supple body.
"You're only making it more difficult..." Midas challenged, trying to find an opening between a statue of a surprised servant girl and the gilded reporter Veronica. "Why not give in and join you friends in the ecstasy of being solid gold?"
Sue tried to fake out the villainess, "I'm afraid I've got better things to do than become a statue..." She darted left towards the statue in the business suit and skirt and again to the right. When Midas fell for her lunge, Sue darted away.
"Damn you!" Miss Midas roared with fury, as she snatched empty air. Both her hands were glowing brightly all the way up to her elbows. "Stand still!"
I've gotten to her, thought Sue noted, making a break for the exit. She entered Midas' throne room, astonished as to the immensity of the penthouse as well as the sheer amount of gold throughout. A surprised servant girl in a light blue toga looked at her. Sue elbowed her and she dropped into the wading pool, splashing water around. Miss Midas came bursting out of the gallery, grabbing the door jams which turned to gold. She rushed out of control towards Sue, who sidestepped her and elbowed her in the back.
Miss Midas' hands plunged into the wading pool, turning the water to gold. The poor servant girl was encased in solid gold from her breasts down, her right and left forearms sticking out of the solidified water, yet unable to move a muscle of her body below. "Ohh!" she exclaimed at her unusual golden bondage. "Help me!"
"Be quiet Stephanie!" Midas snapped, wrenching her hands free from the golden water. Tiny chunks of gold flew in all directions, cracking the windows nearby. Her hands free, she touched the trapped girl's head. Stephanie turned to gold as well, an immovable statue which blended in nicely with the golden pool she was stuck in.
"Is that how you're going to do me?" Sue taunted again. She's getting really sloppy now, I just need to get the right chance.
"You will pay for this!" Midas screamed as she ran smack into a curved transparent field Sue had erected. She slid against the suddenly visible golden shape and fell to the floor, one of her glowing hands was touching her bare shoulder. "Noo!" she realized in that instant before she froze solid into a silently sprawled golden statue.
Sue peeked around the golden slide she had created. It was a gamble to be sure, for she didn't know if Miss Midas was immune to her own touch. The sight of the gilded villainess was quite a relief to the tired and sweaty Transparency Girl, as she slumped her naked body against the wall and slid to the floor in a sitting postion. "Talk about going for the gold..." she muttered.
Back at FF INC HQ, Darlene's bronze body began to move. Her fleshtone was restored as she grabbed the copper statue of Galatea and shook her. "Hey wake up!" she yelled trying to shake Galatea into consciousness. "Wake up!" The copper statue began to become flesh in appearance.
"What, what has happened?" Stacey asked. There was a huge mess in the medical bay, a large golden shell wedged between the consoles and the floor.
"Something bad! Omigosh! They must need our help bad!" Darlene grabbed her costume off the chair and slipped it over her head. Galatea slipped into a black leotard and followed Darlene through the debris to the control room. There was no one there, and the screens were all out of commission. "Come on, let's see if the Inc Jet is gone!" Darlene made a mad dash to the hanger deck, running across what looked like golden fragments and dented-in walls. She and Galatea emerged to a surprising sight.
Sue was there, using hover clamps to cart four golden figures around the hanger deck. She was stark naked, and so were the three of the four statues floating in the air.
"Sue?" Darlene asked. "What happened?"
"Yes, Susan, we saw that the corridors are lined with...gold?" Stacey added.
Sue blushed as she realized she was standing nude in front of a stranger. She folded her arms over her breasts. "Well, suffice it to say, we all got a taste of what it would be like to be touched by you, Galatea."
Darlene and Galatea looked at each other without understanding what was going on. "Susan, is this Wanda?" Galatea asked, closely inspecting the motionless Crimson Sorceress statue.
"And is that Angie? And Dee?" Darlene squinted at the nude gold figures next to Wanda.
"Long story. I'll fill you in later," Sue finally relented. "Now then, I need an electro containment cell set up for our captive here." She motioned to a golden statue clad in a white toga. Miss Midas would be in for quite a shock if she tried to touch the energy bars when she reverted back to normal. Hopefully by then, there would be a more permanent way of dealing with her dreaded touch. "I'm going to get dressed and call the police to get the other statues in Miss Midas' private gallery transported here for safe keeping. Its going to be a few days until the others come out of their golden statue states, so we're going to have to pick up the slack." Sue left the golden figures with Darlene and Galatea and headed for her quarters.
"That's just great," sighed Cosmic Girl. "I figured I could get out of monitor duty for tonight and look what happens...I get stuck with it for the next three days..."
Galatea smiled, "So that's why you volunteered to become a statue. Was it worth it?"
"You know...in a strange way, it was..." Darlene answered to Galatea's surprise.
TO BE CONTINUED IN... "TRAPPED!"
author's note: this story is inspired from an old 80's suntan lotion ad which stated in more or less the same words, "all over the country, girls are turning to gold..." and with my asfrish mind the rest fell into place. I thought it was a pretty bright idea, till I saw that JLS pic turn up and realized that it probably wasn't all that unique...Anyways, Galatea is welcomed into the fold with this story, and plans are afoot to introduce yet another character in the next installment.