Chapter 1
The doors at the back of the tented field dressing
room burst open as a statuesque redhead ran in. Judy muttered under her
breath how this was the last time she was stopping at her boyfriend's house
for a quick roll in the hay before a modeling assignment. She quickly
stripped off her outer clothing and started to don the assigned bathing suit
that was hanging in her designated area. She pulled on the red and white
bikini as fast as she could noting she was the only one left in the deserted
changing area. It had taken her a lot of shmoozing and talking up the
right people to be in this year's Sexy Babes "Summer Splash" pictorial and she
really didn't want to piss off anybody by being late for the shoot. She
quickly applied her makeup and after adjusting her bikini to flatter her figure
she hurried towards the area of the private beach where the photographers were
no doubt waiting.
As Judy approached the shaded area where the equipment
was set up, she saw no sign of a photographer anywhere. Two other models
were standing there, backs to her, looking out at the ocean while two strangely
dressed women attended to them. A third woman standing off to the side,
dressed in a pink bodysuit with a matching cape and very thick looking gloves,
waved the latest model over to where she was.
"Judy, is it? Please come over here. We're almost
done setting up the other two figures here and can fix you right up," the
woman said with a bright smile. To Judy's relief, she never even mentioned
the fact that Judy had been quite tardy.
"Sorry about being late for the shoot. My car wouldn't
start and it took me forever to catch a cab that would..." Judy started
to make excuses before her words trailed off she she looked at her fellow models,
who seemed completely oblivious to her arrival. They remained as still
as statues, for a good reason.
Judy raised her right hand to her mouth in surprise as
she saw the true state of the other models. Their skins were a hard
smooth shiny plastic with not a blemish or freckle anywhere; there were lines
where pivot points would be showing at their shoulders, waist and right legs.
The hair on both motionless models seemed to be very fake, like wigs, that barely
moved in the brisk breeze that flowed through the area. Standing there
were a pair of display mannequins.
Judy ran over and touched the figure on the left, who
resembled the model she knew named Bianca. Her lips, wearing a fresh
coat of lipstick applied by one of the costumed women, seemed pursed as if she
was blowing a kiss. The other mannequin, who reminded Judy of an
international supermodel named Giselle, looked sensational in a blue and silver
bikini. One of the women was just finished posing her with her right hand
tucked behind her head, left arm hanging down and the facing down slightly.
The confused model ran her left hand through her hair
as she walked back toward the woman who seemed to be in charge. "Excuse me,
but why the heck are ya all using these plastic dummies here? Where are
the real models and the photographer, miss..?" She asked the woman with a note
of uncertainty clear in her voice.
"My name is Cosmetica, my dear, Ms. Cosmetica,"
The woman said with after a haughty pause, then indicated the two who were working
on the mannequins. "These two are my assistants Lipgloss and Facial.
As to where your fellow models have gone, perhaps I should explain to you first
why I am here to begin with," the woman intoned as she settled
down in a wooden director's chair. She flicked back dark hair from her slightly
freckled face and crossed legs that looked squat and fat compared to the tall
leggy women that surrounded her. Although she obviously kept herself in
shape by the way her bodysuit hugged her slender frame, she wasn't quite the
raving beauty Judy was used to seeing around shoots like this.
Lipgloss and Facial looked at each other knowingly
and rolled their eyes when they heard this. Cosmetica always had to tell
her life story to anyone she encountered, out of sheer vanity they suspected.
However they weren't about to say anything, recalling clearly the fate of the
last aide who had incurred her wrath: The assistant Cosmetica had called Cuticle
had attempted to deceive Cosmetica and lure her into a trap set by government
authorities eager to discover the secret of her Midas-like touch. Cosmetica
escaped the predicament and punished the duplicitous traitor not only by transforming
her into a trademark plastic mannequin but also by separated her parts and leasing
them to various stores throughout the US Cosmetica kept the head
of her former aide, along with the shipping receipts, for the day she decided
to recombine the deceptive woman as a warning to any who might betray her in
the future.
Cosmetica looked at the unsuspecting Judy. "You see,
my dear, a long time ago in a far off land, I was just another scientist employed
by the government at one of their bioengineering research departments.
My work involved trying to find a composition that, if applied to human skin,
would protect them from small arms fire yet be light enough as to not burden
the user with excessive weight. My colleagues had all but given up on
finding such a miraculous substance, yet I persevered; determined to show everyone
the brilliance of my scientific genius."
Judy listened patiently, wondering where this pointless
digression was leading to, not knowing it would involve her in a very short
time.
Cosmetica continued, "I was working alone late one night,
reviewing a new batch that I had just created when there was a large explosion
that ripped through the lab building - something had gone terribly wrong. The
force of the explosion slammed me into the hood area where my experimental formula
was polymerizing, resulting in a concentrated version of it spilling over my
hands. Despite taking an antidote quickly to counteract the effects, it
was already too late. My hands were forever changed as a result..." Cosmetica
intoned as she removed her long black gloves.
Judy gasped a little as she saw Cosmetic's hands now
were entirely plastic in nature, of an even color that seemed slightly more
pale than normal skin. The plastic effect stopped just above her wrists
but below that boundary was nothing but smooth plastic with nary a blemish or
freckle to be seen anywhere. Her fingernails were also unusual, having the same
color as the rest of her hands and seeming to blend into her fingertips.
"I managed to get out of the building before it
was consumed by fire, making my way slowly back to my private lab where I ran
some tests on my hands and body. I discovered that while the plasticization
effect had been slowed considerably by the antidote, it was continuing nevertheless.
I've had to continue taking large doses of the antidote to this day. Even so,
the effect is so far unstoppable. One other interesting side effect that I found
out at the same time was that the polymer compound had been concentrated in
my hands to the point that now any living matter that I touch turns immediately
to plastic." She held her hands up, turning them over to examine them and
watching the light glint of their smooth surfaces. "I can even decide what
type of plastic the resulting object will be... hard, soft; smooth or rough.
The possibilities are endless..." Cosmetica then smiled at the model standing
next to her, thinking of choices.
Judy grew wide-eyed as she put two and two together,
then looked back at the mannequins standing rigidly behind her once again. "You
mean, you...you changed Gisella and Bianca to plastic! Why?" she shouted, unaware
of the implications to her own safety.
Cosmetica stood up and walked over to the seething woman.
"You see, my dear, it costs quite a lot of money to find myself a cure; in the
end I may never find it. In the meantime, however, continuing the antidote
applications are also expensive. Plus, I always need subjects both to test my
possible cures with as well as to remind me of what I might ultimately wind
up as. Not to mention the payments I can get by selling amazingly lifelike
mannequins to the stores. You and your fellow models will make excellent elements
of my summer display back at the mansion," she whispered cattily as she reached
out and grabbed Judy by the wrists.
Realizing at last what frozen fate Cosmetica had planned
for her, Judy desperately tried to pull away from the madwoman but found her
strength rapidly draining away. As it did, her skin was rapidly becoming
smooth and shiny around her wrists and the effect was spreading up her arms.
She saw Lipgloss and Facial moving up beside her and starting to adjust her
still human form as it started to stiffen.
"No!! I..don't... wantt.. too.. bee.. plllaaassticc...
pllleasee.. nooooo!!.." Judy pleaded feebly with a
voice that was growing ever weaker by the second. She felt herself growing
lighter as her skin seemed to crackle with the transforming energy that surged
through her slim body. Her rapid breathing and all voluntary movements were
growing more sluggish with every passing moment and she saw through a haze fine
lines that became separations at pivot points already appearing on her wrists.
She knew the same effect was happening at her shoulders and waist.
Cosmetica released her grip Judy and stepped back to
see the completion of a change she had watched many times before. Facial
was quickly adjusting the expression on the plasticifying woman's face so it
would reflect one of serenity rather than the surprise and horror she was showing.
Lipgloss was posing the frozen woman's legs and arms so that she would seem
like someone basking at the beach with her legs slightly crossed and her right
hand tucked behind her head.
The two women stepped back from the model as all movement
had ceased now. Her voice now forever silenced, Judy could only wonder
now where she would ultimately wind up as she stared out at the world through
eyes made of glassy plastic. Her breasts were now rigid plastic domes and a
smooth plastic mound marked where her sex once was. She then felt herself
being lifted and impaled upon a steel display rod like the other two models-now-mannequins
had been. Judy wondered how she could have been so foolish and realized she
would have a long time to contemplate that question.
"All right, you two, pack my newest acquisitions away
in the boxes marked 'Camera Equipment' like we planned. Dispose of their
vehicles and personal effects via the usual routes and then meet me at the mansion
in 72 hours," Cosmetica told her two aides. "Make sure that no one will suspect
what's happened here today. If anyone asks, the models headed off to a
Caribbean lingerie shoot and won't be back for several weeks."
Facial looked at her boss. "Where are you going in the meantime,
Cosmetica?" she queried.
The leader looked back at her aide with a slight grin. "I've
recently heard there is a group of heroines operating out of this area called
the Femforce. If ever there was a set of individuals who could be useful
as 'subjects' for my research, they're it. I intend to have them all pay an
extended visit to my laboratory before I am finished," she intoned before
breaking off into a long evil laugh....
Next chapter : Femforce's first encounter
with Cosmetica...