Tucker’s Wand

by FreezAntix & Zero

 

Chapter One: The Wand

            Tucker had vowed to never come back. It was now three weeks later and he found himself standing out front of Persephone’s Books once again. He had been an employee for the small and quiet book store specializing in Greek/Roman methodology and literature up until about a month ago. Tucker had gotten the job in high school as part-time job. The place had been easy to work at as it was flexible with his schedule, paid decently and had loads of interesting books so Tucker was never bored. He worked at the store throughout college as well just because it was easy and he often just brought his books in to study, Greek and Roman methodology wasn’t as popular as it should be Tucker always thought but the lack of interest among the general population kept the job easy. Income was achieved through loyal customers who would spend big bucks for authentic Greek and Roman literature. The job was so laid back that he'd often bough his laptop in and had hour-long sessions of Dungeons and Dragons Online. He had one more year left in college and he had planned on sticking around after he graduated, maybe become manager. His plans had all changed now for the worst.

            Going back six months the original owner of the small book store suddenly decided to pass the store down to her granddaughter, Rebecca Mosley. Rebecca had graduated college with a degree in psychology and had been having difficulties finding a job. Her grandmother decided to help her by giving her Persephone’s. At first everything was fine but then Rebecca, feeling the controls of the business in her hands, decided to make some major changes. Tucker had gone along with all the changes as long he could and he was surprised how long he'd lasted; Rebecca wasn’t exactly the best boss or a nice person at that. However when Rebecca had made the announcement to change the place into a type of Starbucks/Borders, Tucker had had enough and he'd put in his two weeks.

            He had only been gone for three weeks but the shop had completely changed. The friendly bell on the door the used to welcome customers in for so many years was gone. The dark green carpeting and oak shelves were all replaced now with a more contemporary styling. Tucker barely recognized the place as he made his way towards the back of the shop where the checkout and the offices were. The huge old leather-bound volumes of authentic Greek and Roman literature that had attracted a loyal customer base were all gone now. Replacing them were pop magazines and the latest works of Tom Clancy, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and other big name writers. Tucker took off his glasses and wiped them clean to make sure they were not playing a joke on him. What had become of the book store that he had fell in love with?

            A tiny voice snapped him from his thoughts, “Welcome to Persephone’s Books may I help you?” He turned towards the voice and jumped at the sight of what he saw.

            “Maggie?” Tucker managed to spit out in his shock. Maggie Yen was his best friend and long time co-worker. She was dressed in a white short sleeve dress shirt with a flight attendant-looking black neck tie and black skirt. “Are you wearing a skirt?”

            Maggie sighed, “Yeah it’s the new uniform, the second one since you left. Rebecca can’t seem to make up her mind and we all have to suffer.”

            “Damn…I’m glad that I left,” Tucker said, looking down at his friend once more. In the nine years or so that he had known her he had never seen her dress nice before. She'd always kind of dressed like him: jeans and t-shirts. She was cute and fun to hang out with, but the two weren’t into each other sexually, they just shared common interests. If anything Tucker looked at Maggie as more of sister than anything else. He also found out senior year in high school that even though Maggie was all girly she didn’t really swing the same way as other girls. She and Tucker had more in common then most boy and girl friends. They both had glasses, but she wasn’t wearing hers and she looked a bit more mature but still somewhat cute with her short stature.

            Noticing her friend staring at her Maggie asked, “What are you doing here Tuck, I thought you'd sworn to never come back?”

            “I never received my last check and my rent is past due. I have two weeks to come up with some dough or I’m in the streets.”

            “Wow, Tuck that’s really bad.” Maggie replied shocked.

            “Yeah it is. Where is Rebecca?”

            “She’s in her office. Listen, I have to get back to work, let me know what’s up later or tonight.”

            “Yeah, I will. Same server?” Maggie always met Tucker online every night to either play Dungeon and Dragons Online together or just chat.

            Tucker made his way to the back of the store. Even with all the changes Tucker still knew the building like the back of his hand. He walked passed the two checkout counters, Evan and Faith the two cashiers dressed similar to Maggie complete with depressed expressions and gave him nods as he walked passed. A left and right turn later he found himself standing in the doorway of Rebecca’s office. As usual his former boss was dressed in tight-fitting business attire that showed off her sexy figure but kept her looking sharp and professional. No way should a book store owner dress like that, Tucker thought, but she did think she was big shot since she did own the place. Rebecca sat behind her desk with her eyes glued to her computer monitor. Tucker eyed her glazed-over green eyes for moment and her flaming red locks. She was hot, if only her personality didn’t stink. He cleared his throat.

            Rebecca quickly clicked around with her mouse as if quickly closing windows on her monitor before looking Tucker’s way. “Ah Mr. Holmes, it just so happens I am short a person to close Saturdays. Are you game?” Rebecca asked, flashing a cocky smile.

            “No, Rebecca I am not here to ask for job.” The nerve of this woman, to think he thought she was hot. “I never got my last pay check.”

            “Oh? I could have sworn I gave it to you,” Rebecca replied with a grin on her face as she shuffled papers about on her desk.

            “No you never gave it to me. You told me you would mail it. It’s been three weeks and I haven’t gotten anything.”

            “Well Mr. Holmes that is odd,” Rebecca replied, looking around her desk. Tucker could tell she didn’t really care. “Well, I don’t see it. I must have sent it already. Just wait a little while longer I’m sure it’ll show up.”

            “Rebecca I have rent due. I need the money,” Tucker said seriously, almost pleading.

            “Well Tucker I don’t have anyone to close on Saturdays…we all have our problems we just have to deal,” Rebecca replied, leaning back on her leather chair, still grinning.

            “What? This problem is because of you,” Tucker said, almost raising his voice. He was about to be homeless and all this woman could think about was someone to close on Saturdays.

            “Hey calm down Tucker,” Rebecca said, smiling and leaning over her desk. “I really can’t do anything about your check but write a note to the bank and have them send another one. I’ll do that right now.” Rebecca pulled a note pad from her desk and wrote the note. “You’ll have the check within two to five weeks.”

            “Two to FIVE weeks?”

            “Hey Tucker it’s all I could do, the bank has their own procedures and what not. You know how it is. However if you were to come back and work me I could arrange a loan…”

            “No! I better have that check in two weeks!” Tucker interrupted and then stormed out. This was why he never wanted to return.

***

            It was a gorgeous day but thanks to Tucker’s mood he really couldn’t enjoy it like everyone else. He had fumed the six blocks from Persephone’s to his studio apartment. By the time he climbed the three stories to his apartment he had cooled down but was still very much stressed. There was a box waiting for him in front of his door, he picked up and looked at it. It was from Greece. He cradled it under his arm and unlocked the door to his apartment. Usually he would be excited in getting packages in the mail but he was on the verge of being homeless so he had other thoughts in his head.

            Tucker’s apartment was basically your typical studio apartment; it had three rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a room for everything else. It was simple and cozy just the way Tucker liked things. The walls were littered by anime and superhero posters; including a half-dozen cast images from Naruto. He had a life size statue of the Green Lantern, specifically the one who's real name was Guy Gardner, in one corner of the room. Tucker was actually still paying off the credit card that he had used to purchase the life-size statue of his hero. Dropping the package on his computer desk Tucker plopped down into his computer chair with a sigh. He rubbed his temples, closing his eyes thinking of what to do. He had mounting bills on top of his rent and his bank account was pathetic.

            Booting up his computer, Tucker figured the Internet would calm his nerves. Tucker sat back and tried to think of ways to earn quick cash. His mind was drawing a blank. Looking at the package that was on his desk with the Greek address he remembered that he had ordered something he saw on Ebay for the store before he had quit. He quickly opened the package up and pulled out a polished wooden wand that was said to be an artifact of the Greek God Kronos, one who was worshiped for the harvest and the continuous flow of time. Tucker thought the wand looked ancient and it had a light weight even though it felt as if it was made of polished oak. He noted the Greek writing that was inscribed on it as well but lost focus as his computer booted up. Tucker continued to twirl the polished foot-long wand between his fingers as he surfed the Internet.

            To his surprise he saw that Maggie was online. Rebecca had left the store for a meeting and left Maggie in charge so naturally she was surfing the Internet. Tucker filled his friend in on what had happened. As a true friend Maggie started throwing ideas of how they could raise money to keep him off the streets. Maggie wished she could loan him cash but she was not that well off money-wise as well. She quickly typed a dozen ideas, which were all crazy and Tucker got the sense that she was just trying to cheer him up. As Tucker read her ideas he tapped a beat with the wand. Maggie’s last idea had been a cosplay calendar. Tucker smiled at the idea knowing that he and Maggie were huge anime fans, the pair having dressed up as characters from Tenchi Muyo for Halloween the previous year. He wanted Maggie to elaborate more on the idea but when he tried to type he found that his computer was frozen. "Crap," muttered Tucker, his frustrations returning.

            He sat in silence in his room for almost ten minutes just playing with the fancy wand. His computer was still frozen. He tried to restart but even that didn’t work. Moving over to his couch Tucker tried to turn on the TV and found that it didn’t work either. What the Hell, he thought. “This is crap.” He looked at wand. Maybe he could get some dough for this thing at a pawn shop, he realized. As he had nothing better to do due to none of his expensive electronics working he decided to do it right away.

            Outside his apartment Tucker suddenly had the highlight of his day as his neighbor Haley was just getting back from work. Haley had been the object of Tucker's desires for quite some time, being the classic girl next door since two weeks after he'd first moved in. Haley was a girl of average height, supposedly his age, barely legal to drink, who constantly wore tight jeans and spaghetti strap tops since she worked at a newspaper stand her uncle owned. A sexy young blonde with a perfectly round face and nice upper to lower chest ratio, not to mention blue eyes that could put Viagra out of business, she certainly helped Uncle Mario’s business out, Tucker imagined. Haley was naturally trying to get into modeling, acting or essentially anything that could let her use her physical appeal to make a ridiculous amount of money. Haley was currently about to open her apartment door, her right hand on the knob while her left held a cheap but nice-looking leather purse. "Hey Haley, how was work?" asked Tucker. The two were casual friends; rarely talking for more than a few minutes thus had never gone past casual small talk about TV shows, work, movies and how the building manager was a tool. Curiously, Haley didn't reply, she just stood in front of her door with her hand on the knob.

            "Haley?" Tucker asked, walking towards her. Tucker's place was at the end of the hall, Haley on his left side and currently no one on the right. "Hey, is something wrong?" Tucker reached out and carefully touched his gorgeous neighbor on her shoulder, feeling her soft, smooth skin, but she didn't react. "The hell, are you on drugs?" asked Tucker, proceeding to gently shake Haley by her shoulder, still getting no response. The blonde beauty continued to stand as she was, as still as a statue. Tucker leaned over at got a look at her face, seeing it was blank, a relaxed look on her face with her eyes looking squarely ahead. Tucker waved his hand in front of his neighbor's face and even poked her square on the nose which did nothing more than cause him to admire how soft it felt, his own nose feeling like sand paper.

            "Okay, what in the great flaming depths of Hell is going on?!" shouted Tucker, half-expecting Haley to burst out laughing or someone else to peek out from their own room and tell him to shut up. Neither occurred, the latter completely surprising Tucker. In a sudden panic, worrying Haley might have had a seizure or something, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911 but he couldn't connect. Upon closer examination, Tucker even saw that his phone hadn't registered the numbers. Cursing, Tucker hurried back into his apartment, tossing the wand he'd wanted to pawn aside as he tried his home phone, which also wasn't working. It was then that Tucker glanced at the clock he had mounted on the wall and saw that the hands had stopped, the clock not even ticking.

            "Wait, wait," Tucker said to himself, suddenly realizing a pattern. "My computer's frozen, my TV's busted, Haley's standing outside like a mannequin, my phones don't work and my clock has stopped." The concept was familiar to Tucker, who was a big fan of games like Chrono Trigger and Time Shift. When everything seemed frozen then, barring some odd coincidence, there was only one explanation, one which dived entirely into science fiction or fantasy.

"Holy crap; time itself is frozen," realized Tucker, trying to figure out how it was possible. Sitting down on his couch, which doubled as his bed since it was a sleeper sofa, Tucker retraced his steps. He'd come home, looked at his mail and gone on the computer. Tucker then looked down at the wand that lay next to him, recalling he'd been playing with it when he'd been chatting to Maggie, right before his computer froze up.  Before time had stopped. The Wand of Kronos, Tucker then realized. Picking up what Tucker had assumed was a prop and reading the lettering the young man quickly managed to make out some of the Ancient Greek characters, as he'd spent a lot of time reading the materials at Persephone's before Rebecca had axed them. The words were instructions, Tucker realized, and there was no way a prop wand would be that detailed. The wand had to be authentic, Tucker concluded, which meant he may very well own an object dating back to the days of Ancient Greece when heroes like Theseus and Achilles had lived. After five minutes of attempting to translate the wording, Tucker came out with: Time is but a bull, tap it enough and it will stop or start once again. As Maggie had suggested the cosplay calendar to him, Tucker remembered he'd been tapping the wand. An idea formed in his head; Tucker headed over to his door and glanced out the peephole. Outside Haley was still standing in front of her door in the same position. Tucker held up the wand and casually tapped it against his door several times.

            After the fifth tap Haley suddenly moved her hand, her door opened. With a grin Tucker quickly opened his own door, hiding the wand behind it as he glanced out into the hallway. "Hey Haley, how was work?" he asked with a relaxed smile, trying to hide his excitement.

            "It was al-" began Haley, shrugging as she gestured towards Tucker with her left hand. The blond was unable to finish her sentence as Tucker tapped the wand another five times and thus Haley froze in mid-sentence.  The wand really worked!

            "Un-freaking-believable," breathed Tucker, walking out into the hallway and experimenting by squeezing Haley's left breast. Were time not stopped this would be an ultimate faux pas, but Tucker's shapely neighbor didn't even twitch, let alone blink. Suppressing the urge to giggle like an idiot Tucker returned to where he'd been standing before and tapped the wand another five times.

            "-right, but this-" Haley then froze again, Tucker repeating his test to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He wasn't.

            "-one guy kept asking me what was the good news like-" This time Tucker quickly ran over and moved Haley's expression hand from raised beside her head to down by her hip. Afterwards he once again returned to his spot and tapped once more.

            "-he was trying to hit on me but has no idea-" Tucker had to stop time again so he could finally let out his laugher, needing a full minute, at least from his point of view, before he let time resume again.

            "-how to talk to women," finished Haley, unaware of how long the one sentence had taken her. "How about you, things going okay?"

            "Yeah, I suppose, but I still need a new job," admitted Tucker, not going into detail about how much money he owed. "You know any place that needs a guy well-versed in Ancient Greece, Rome and is middle of his class for a business diploma?"

            "Sorry, most of the people I know are artsy," confessed Haley, offering an apologetic smile which was sincere. "Even Uncle Mario doesn't need someone at the stand right now, and until a couple of weeks ago he always claimed he wanted more help. You talked to your old boss?"

            "Sadly," sighed Tucker, getting Haley to laugh, something he liked because of her extremely cute smile. "Well, don't let my currently minor cash woes bring you down. Take it easy."

            "You're too sweet sometimes, Tucker," offered Haley as she entered her apartment, leaving Tucker alone as he leaned out into the hallway. One day, if he ever had the confidence, Tucker was going to offer to take Haley out for dinner, but at the moment that required money he didn't have. Fortunately he'd just discovered he owned a wand that could stop time, something which may be just the solution he needed.

            Returning to his computer, Tucker saw that Maggie had elaborated and then had to log off, being called away by her phone ringing. Maggie had suggested Tucker go to a random anime convention, as there would be at least five in the greater Los Angeles area in the next week, take some pictures of good-looking girls in costumes and use them to make a calendar. Tucker did have his friend Lance over at a copy store that could make him calendars cheap, but the average anime convention girl probably wouldn't be keen on his supposedly innocent pictures ending up on a calendar they didn't know about. Maggie might be game for posing, but he was going to need at least eleven more girls and that wouldn't be easy. Maggie, he knew, didn't have a single girlfriend who liked anime enough to do something like that, though she did know a few hot ones. The solution, Tucker then realized, was to recruit girls who were desperate for cash and then pay them a percentage of his sales. Still, Tucker needed a lot of money and giving up profits wasn't something he wanted to do. Then he remembered he had a magic wand.

            A grand new idea in his mind, Tucker quickly logged on to various websites, searching for information on the Wand of Kronos. Many sites offered little aside from describing what Kronos had been worshiped for and his ugly history with various gods. Finally, on a site dedicated to role-playing, Tucker found his answer.

            The Wand of Kronos

            Classification: Artifact

            Size: Small

            Abilities:

The Wand of Kronos offers the bearer a limited control over time itself, at least as how humans regard it. Waving it twice and then pointing it with a firm motion can freeze the closest object or being it was pointed at in time. Tapping the object or creature with the wand twice will unfreeze it. Alternatively, by tapping the wand nine times in rapid succession time itself will freeze, as if Time Stop were cast. Another nine taps disables the spell. The wand also offers the ability to speed up time and slow it down but the wand      itself does not explain this, while its other powers are written on its shaft.

            Limitations: 

The wand's power is infinite with no known limit to how long time can remain stopped. These durations are decided by the caster himself.

            Leaning back in his chair, Tucker looked at the wand and grinned. "You're my ticket to fortune," he declared. A grand experiment in mind, Tucker tapped his new wand on his desk again, five times he counted as opposed to the nine the website had claimed. With time frozen, checked by a glance at the clock, Tucker drifted out of his apartment and back to Haley's, this time opening the door, which had been left unlocked, and walking in.

            Haley's apartment was the same size as Tucker's and looked the same, more or less. Haley's kitchen had a lot more stuff in it; she had been trained by her Italian Aunt and Uncle on how to cook 'right.' Tucker had tasted her pasta once when she'd had leftovers and immediately knew his comely neighbor had hidden talents. Instead of anime and superhero posters Haley's pin-ups were more arty, namely pictures of beautiful locations around the world as well as a few simple still life paintings that were probably bought at Wal-mart, not that there was anything wrong with that. Haley's main room contained a small bed in the corner, Tucker had put his computer desk in the same spot in his own place, the blonde instead owned an Apple laptop which sat on her coffee table. The table in question was currently right in front of her as she sat on her powder blue couch, her right hand holding the remote up to the High-Definition TV across from her, a plate of Rosemary bread sitting next to her. The image of Katie Couric was currently frozen on the screen of the television as Haley was leaning back, her legs stretched out onto her coffee table with her left hand behind her head, a bored look on her face.

            "Hi beautiful," whispered Tucker, walking over and giving Haley a quick kiss on the cheek. Tucker then scanned the room and found a spot in the kitchen where he wouldn't be spotted, hiding behind a room divider. Following the website's instructions, Tucker twirled his wand twice and pointed it at the television, then tapping it five times.

            "What the, what's wrong with this thing?" muttered Haley a moment later, struggling with her remote and her apparently frozen TV. With a sigh the blonde stood up and walked towards the TV. Right before Haley finished circling the coffee table Tucker waved his wand and pointed again, this time at Haley herself. The cute blonde froze in mid-step as if someone was watching her on TV and had hit the pause button.

            "Oh, this is sweet," laughed Tucker, walking over to the unaware Haley and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, feeling her up and having no fear about her noticing the excitement in his pants. "I may be a bit of a loser now, but with this wand I may have a way to make me richer than whichever Uncle bought you that television."

 

Chapter Two: The Girls

            Tucker’s day had gone from the dumps to being sky high. He had spent nearly an hour with Haley, with time being stopped of course. Tucker found that a person frozen by the wand was very poseable and that he could pose them in just about any position he liked. Their faces could be molded into expressions as well. He learned all this thanks to experimenting with Haley, whom he had also decided to use in his calendar as well. Tucker also got to really check out Haley and even posed her in some seductive, naked, poses for his pleasure. Once his fun was over he redressed the blonde Italian girl and re-posed her before returning to his apartment. He was filled with excitement and he had preparations to make. This cosplay calendar was going to take care of all his money problems.

For the better part of the afternoon Tucker was glued to his computer monitor, doing research for his calendar. So far he had already selected the twelve characters to be featured. There was also a convention being held at the Staples Center that weekend, which took care of where he was going get free costumes. Tucker also found that the penthouse at the top of his apartment complex was vacant and would be ideal for the shoot. He was now just downloading images of the selected characters for reference. The biggest issue at present was the girls to wear the costumes. Who was he going to pick to play these characters? He had ideas in his head already of some girls he would use but he needed all twelve. He was going to need some help. Even with the wand, Tucker was still alone and the task of putting this calendar together was going to be a lot of work and running around to do by himself. Another problem was that he had no idea how to do make-up, and having these girls look like their characters was a key in making the calendar successful. He then remembered last year when he and Maggie had dressed up for Halloween that Maggie had taken care of everything and they were a hit. Maggie was the key.

Five hours later Tucker found himself standing in front of Persephone’s once again. This is a load of crap, he thought. He kept on vowing that he shall never return only to find himself standing in front of the bookstore again. Persephone’s was like a bad relationship he kept returning to. This was the last time, he thought. He just needed to meet Maggie before she headed home, which was far away and Tucker didn’t feeling riding the subway. He eagerly paced the sidewalk in front of the bookstore, thinking on how he was going to convince Maggie to join him and what to do if she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Tucker finally decided that the best course of action was to just tell Maggie about the wand and its power first and then tell her about his idea with the calendar. That way if Maggie didn’t want to have anything to do with the wand she would still be in the dark about the calendar. He had a feeling though that Maggie was going to join him though. Maggie was the crazy one in their relationship and she always had his back no matter what.

As usual Maggie was the first to leave the store. Back when Tucker still had a job Maggie and him would always be the first to leave. It was 10:00 PM on a Wednesday evening so the streets were pretty scarce. “Maggie!” Tucker called as he ran across the street to meet his friend.

“Oh, Tuck!” Maggie replied, happily turning Tucker’s direction. “You can’t seem to stay away from this place. It’s like a bad relationship you can’t get away from, like you see in those sappy teen movies.” Maggie joked.

“What happened to your uniform?” Tucker asked, seeing that Maggie was dressed in her usual t-shirt and jeans.

“I hate wearing skirts or anything fancy, changed right when we closed, and I couldn’t stand that uniform,” She replied, gesturing to her shoulder bag. “So what brings you here?” She then asked as they began walking towards her bus stop.

“I’ve got something I have to tell you.” Tucker replied, pulling out the wand.

“This could be done through the computer you know.” Maggie eyed the wand and smiled, “Cool stick by the way. “

“No, this awesome beyond belief; Maggie, I had to tell you this in person,” Tucker said enthusiastically.

“Well you now you've gotten me excited. Go on with your awesome self.”

Tucker explained everything from when he first ordered the wand to what he discovered the wand was and then to what it could do. He told Maggie some of what had happened with Haley and what he knew about the powers of the wand so far. Maggie listened quietly as her best friend explained. Once Tucker was finished Maggie only smiled and shook her head.

“Tuck that was a really cool story, but too much like something out of a video game or something; maybe you could write about it for money,” Maggie suggested, smiling.

“It’s true, though. How about I prove it to you?”

“Go ahead, Master of Kronos, be my guest.”

“Okay, how about I freeze time and change you back into your work uniform?”

Maggie smiled, “Okay, go for it.” She stopped walking and faced Tucker, “Change me.”

Tucker waved the wand and tapped five times. He had been practicing so the act was becoming like second nature to him. As expected everything around him stopped, even the slight evening breeze. Maggie stood facing him with her legs straight and arms slightly parted from her sides. Her face bore a mocking smile and her eyes stared at Tucker from behind her thick-framed glasses vacantly. Snapping his fingers in front of her face, confirming she wasn’t faking him out, Tucker smiled to himself as he removed Maggie’s shoulder bag from her stiff shoulder.

As with Haley yesterday, Tucker found it easy and enjoyable to strip Maggie down. Within minutes in Tucker’s time Maggie stood before him, posed in her matching white cotton panties and bra with her arms raised over her head. Maggie’s face still bore her mocking smile. She definitely had a body that would please any guy or, in her case, any girl. For a geek she did take good care of her body, Tucker thought, rubbing her taut abs and sexy smooth legs. He peeled the waistband of her panties down and peeked at her womanhood, which was nicely shaven. Tucker then looked through her bag and found her uniform. As he gathered the clothes an idea came over his mind. He looked around him. The whole world was frozen, and what better way to prove it to her than to let her experience the wand’s power firsthand. Tucker twirled the wand twice and then tapped it twice over Maggie.

“Hey… what the…” Maggie managed to say, dropping her arms and then quickly covering herself while squatting. “What the hell, Tucker! I thought you were going to change me, not strip me,” Maggie whined as she pulled her knees up to her chest to cover herself.  She hadn’t noticed the rest of the world wasn’t moving.

“I was, but figured this way was better,” Tucker replied, handing Maggie her casual clothes.

“How is nearly stripping me naked in the street better?” Maggie asked, pulling on her t-shirt.

“Get dressed and I’ll show you,” Tucker replied. Maggie wasn’t as mad as he'd expected, which meant that she partially believed him.

“I should just have you do whatever you did to me the first time and have you dress me back up,” Maggie suggested while pulling her jeans on, hopping on one foot then the other. “You’re mean, by the way.”

Once Maggie was dressed, Tucker took her down the street to a nearby bar where they found that all the patrons were frozen. Maggie was still somewhat skeptical so Tucker and she proceeded to have some fun with the patrons. There were mostly males in the bar, much to their dismay, but there was a somewhat attractive waitress and a cougar of a bartender. Tucker told Maggie to have fun with the waitress while he took the bartender. At first Maggie felt uncomfortable touching the frozen woman but that quickly passed as she starting stripping the waitress’s articles of clothing off. She even made out with the suspended girl as she removed her lacy black bra. Tucker worked from behind the bar and soon the bartender’s clothes were in a pile at her bare feet. They then moved their life-size dolls like mannequins to stand on top of the bar and posed them in suggestive stances. Both women were now in a lover’s embrace with hands cupping one another’s breasts and lips locked, tongues touching. Tucker and Maggie then took seats near the entrance and Tucker tapped the wand five times. As expected, near chaos followed with the two women nearly falling off the bar counter while the men were hollering like wild animals. As this was happening Tucker and Maggie slipped out, unnoticed and laughing.

It took almost an hour for Maggie to calm down from her excitement. She was just about as excited about wand and its possibilities as Tucker had been the day before. The big difference was that Maggie was into just having fun with it while Tucker saw the potential wealth with it. Maggie really wanted to make a trip to Hollywood and visit her favorite stars personally. Tucker promised they would go sometime after he was more financially sound. Tucker decided to ride with Maggie back to her flat and explained to her his plan for making quick dough through the cosplay calendar. He offered Maggie half his profits as way to convince her to come on board with him. She quickly declined the offer on the grounds that he needed the money more than she did, adding that she would help him out anyways for the hell of it. Tomorrow was Maggie’s day off the next day and they decided to meet up to go into more detail when they could during that time.

* * *

To Tucker’s surprise, Maggie was knocking at his door early in the morning; eager to get started with his plan. After Tucker had woken up completely, he went over with Maggie what he had so far and what he still needed. Maggie suggested that he make the calendar under another name to have the whole thing more difficult to trace back to him if anyone were to get suspicious. They came up with T&M Productions. With that settled, Tucker gave her the list of characters that he came up with to be represented in the cosplay calendar.

“This is some cool list Tuck, do you have anybody in mind yet?” Maggie asked after going over the names.

“I have a couple of names; Haley the girl that lives down the hall. You know her, that cute blonde you met when you were over here for that Anime marathon last month. I was also thinking of recruiting that ice queen Rebecca too.”

Maggie thought for a bit and looked over the list again, “Who does that match up with on this list?”

“Well, no one yet. That’s where you come in; last year you did a great job with our costumes for Halloween so I figured you could do the same with these girls.  Costuming and make-up.”

Looking at the list once more and then thinking a bit, she nodded, “Sounds good; I think I could come up with something for those two. How about the other ten?”

“Haven’t really figured that out yet; have any ideas?”

“Faith and Joy at my work should be pretty good and my sister Madison would look great too,” Maggie suggested after thinking quickly.

“The other two from work sound great,” Tucker thought. Faith had a nice body and a lovely face and Joy, who was his replacement, was another cute blonde who could look hot with some work. “Are you sure you want to use your sister?” Madison was Maggie’s older sister and, from what Tucker knew, rocky was an understatement when describing their relationship. Madison was the golden child of that family; she was working as some big shot defense attorney downtown.

“Yeah she’ll be great,” Maggie said with a smile, lost in her own world, staring at the paper deciding which character her stuck-up sister was going to be.

“Okay great… we have five of twelve now. Let’s do some hunting,” Tucker then suggested.

The rest of the day was spent touring the city in search for the remaining seven models. Maggie picked out another two quickly. There was a nice Latina named Denise that worked as a cashier at a convenience store down the block from Tucker’s place and a black-haired beauty with blue eyes named Kelly who worked at the cell phone place next door to the convenience store. In both cases Maggie made small talk with both girls and found out that they would both be working Saturday morning, making picking them up easy. Tucker was starting to see that having Maggie around was a godsend since she was able to just go over and talk to hot girls easily.

As they walked passed a neighborhood pool Tucker spotted a bronze-skinned brunette working the lifeguard tower. Maggie worked her verbal magic and found that Heather the lifeguard was going to be teaching a swim class Saturday morning at the pool. Maggie and Tucker then took a bus downtown to a restaurant that Maggie wanted to eat at; it was her treat since Tucker was dead broke. While at the restaurant, Maggie made some small talk with a cute French waitress named Tabitha and found that she would be working the day shift on Saturday. During the meal Tucker went to use the men’s room and spotted a cute redheaded Asian cook as he walked past the kitchen. Tabitha their waitress told Maggie that the cook’s name was Brooke and that she was the day time cook; Tucker and Maggie smiled at one another after the Tabitha had went back to work. They had already found five of the seven additional models that they needed and it was only lunchtime.

By the end of the day Maggie and Tucker had added the two remaining ladies to their secret list. Tucker had spotted a dance class near the restaurant that they had eaten at and when they ventured in they were met by the lead instructor, a marvelous leggy blonde with a perhaps the one of the sexiest bodies that Tucker and Maggie have ever seen. Her name was Lauren and after a brief conversation about dance classes they found out that she was working Saturday and Maggie told her they might drop by then to sign up for some lessons. On the way back to Tucker’s place, they spotted a female police officer that walked Tucker’s neighborhood on her beat. Tucker recalled her name was Regina and she was pretty much always around, especially on the weekend days. She was a little older than Tucker with dirty blond hair that she wore in a pony tail; she looked great in uniform, so Maggie and Tucker knew she would look great in costume thus she easily became the last model.

* * *

The next day was Friday, the day before D-day. Tucker started his day out early by using the wand to obtain the key for the upstairs penthouse. He then traveled downtown to a camera store and with the wand he obtained the camera and other items that he was going to need for the shoot. Tucker than traveled to a mall to pick up some choice items from the list that Maggie had made for the make-up. Tucker and his wand were becoming one; at the mall he found it easy to use it at will. He spent most of day hanging out at the mall using the wand on various unwitting customers of his choosing, mostly the bratty girls that seemed to always be hanging around. It was a fun day but a prequel to Saturday essentially.

By the time Tucker had returned to the penthouse to stash everything he gotten it was only lunchtime. Time passed slowly when the world was frozen. He met up Maggie for lunch; this time it was his treat he had “borrowed” some money from some people at the mall. Maggie had also requested a personal day on Saturday as well. Maggie then confirmed that Rebecca, Faith and Joy would all be working on Saturday and that her sister Madison was going to be at her office, being the workaholic she was. Tucker assured that he knew where Haley was going to be, so everything regarding the models would all work out. Once they had finished eating lunch Tucker stopped time once again and unfroze Maggie so the two could have some fun in restaurant with some of the help and customers. Tucker ended up nailing a customer on a table while Maggie vanished into the kitchen and returned later with a bit of a glow.

Later that night Maggie met Tucker back at his place. They had decided it was best for Maggie to spend the night so they could get ready for the next morning easily. The plan was all coming together. After their lunchtime adventure Tucker had returned home and secured the keys to his landlord’s SUV for the next day. At around ten or eleven Tucker would stop time and unfreeze Maggie. Then the duo would head out using their “borrowed” SUV that Tucker would also have to unfreeze to set the plan into play. Tucker would take Maggie to the Staples Center where she would pick up the needed costumes while Tucker went around picking up the models. Once that was done and Tucker would drop everyone back at the penthouse and then pick up Maggie at the convention center. They would have all the time they needed to prepare and photograph their models. Once the shoot was done, they would re-dress and return everyone back to where they were and Tucker would re-start everything. At the time it would be still ten or eleven in morning and Tucker and Maggie had plenty of time to get the calendars made and by late afternoon be back at the convention selling them. Tucker's friend Lance would be key in getting copies of the calendar made in time.

Like any sleepover, Maggie and Tucker spent the night playing video games, discussing comic books and watching Anime. They both turned in late and were both unable to sleep, excited about the next day’s events. It was going to be an interesting and informative day.

* * *

            Tucker was up at eight-thirty, giving him plenty of time to shower, eat and get dressed, not that time was really an issue anymore thanks to his wand. He and Maggie had shared the bed, each taking one side and both wearing underwear and shirts. Finally by the time it was ten o'clock both Tucker and Maggie were fully dressed. Tucker was wearing a black T-shirt with the Triforce from the Legend of Zelda in the middle of it along with a pair of cream-colored slacks, something that he figured would be more fitting at the Staples Center once he got that far. Maggie, meanwhile, walked into the kitchen wearing a white t-shirt with the title text from Full Metal Alchemist written on it and a pair of tight-fitting blue jeans, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail. "How are you doing?" asked Tucker, smiling at his friend.

            "I just need a cup of coffee and I'll be good to go," Maggie assured her best friend, heading over to Tucker's coffee machine on the counter in the corner. For his own part Tucker wasn't really willing to wait the several minutes it would take Maggie to brew and drink her coffee, but luckily the young unemployed college student had an idea. As Maggie opened one of Tucker's cupboards to get his coffee mix Tucker casually tapped his wand, immediately freezing time. Snatching up a couple of backpacks, which had been prepared the night before, Tucker then picked up his friend, bending her at the waist and hefting her over his shoulder, leaving her frozen while she remained fixed with her left hand reaching up above her head, her right holding in place a cupboard door that was no longer there.

            Tucker's building was a decent one, thus carrying Maggie and the two bags downstairs and outside to the borrowed SUV was no real challenge as the hallways and stairwell were wide. Tucker buckled Maggie into the passenger seat, carefully posing her legs so she'd be comfortable, then wandered a couple of doors down from his building to the nearby Starbucks, returning moments later with a large French Vanilla coffee, Maggie's favorite, and a blueberry muffin. After carefully wrapping Maggie's stiff fingers around her breakfast Tucker tapped her on the head twice with his wand, causing her to unfreeze. Surprised for a moment, she quickly realized what he’d done. "You impatient jerk," laughed Maggie, actually appreciating that Tucker had been nice enough to make her breakfast an instant one instead of her having to wait a few minutes for the pot to brew. Tucker then tapped the SUV with his wand and started the engine. Since it was ten in the morning there was no rush hour traffic, meaning while there were still several cars on the road and several pedestrians; with time stopped it was just a matter of driving around the frozen obstacles. On his way to the Staples Center Tucker had already spotted Regina on her beat as well as several stores he'd be stopping at along with Mario's paper stand but wanted to give Maggie as much time as he could to pick out the costumes, thus he ignored opportunity for the moment.

            Outside the Staples Center Tucker could already spot several people dressed in full costume including a group of Asian girls, most likely Japanese from what Tucker could tell, dressed in the short mini-skirts of Sailor Scouts from Sailor Moon. Maggie hopped out of the SUV, grabbing the backpack Tucker had prepared for her and giving her friend a quick hug. "Don't keep me waiting there too long," insisted Maggie before Tucker drove off, leaving her free to start exploring the timestopped convention as if she was shopping at the mall and everyone had become mannequins.

            Ideally Tucker wanted to start back at his place but the place closest to the Staples Center was Madison Yen's office, thus Tucker stopped there first. The office building was a typical one, renting out floors to several different companies, but Madison's firm, Foster & McBride, owned the top floor of the building thus everyone there was treated to offices with balconies. Madison was the firm's rising star; that’s why she was Maggie's family's golden child as Madison was already making more in a week than her father did in a month. On his way in, Tucker eyed a couple of blondes in bikinis who'd been frozen while heading for the nearby beach as he drifted into the building, unfreezing the elevator and taking it straight to the top.

            Madison was in her late twenties, several years older than Tucker, and easily the hot one in the family, no offense to Maggie, who wasn’t bad. The compact dark-haired girl possessed styled curly hair that several Hollywood starlets had made famous. Madison was sitting frozen at her desk with her feet up on its edge, her lips puckered as she held a bottle of water to her lips while she reclined in her two-thousand dollar leather chair in a red jacket, white blouse, black skirt, pantyhose and black leather heels. Madison's office overlooked a collection of hotels and houses that dotted the coastline, there was a small balcony connected to her modest office. Everything in the room, from the expensive-looking Apple computer to the oak desk to the emerald-colored lamp, screamed money. Tucker walked in and casually pushed Madison's feet off of the desk, spinning her in her chair slightly but leaving her pose the same. She remained stiffly in position, leaned back with her feet in mid-air, looking like an unused mannequin. Wanting to confirm a rumor Maggie had started, Tucker pulled open the older Yen girl's second drawer.

            "You office slut," laughed Tucker, discovering the drawer to have several condoms and other sexual items buried in the back, hidden behind a pile of envelopes and blank paper. Not wanting to carry Madison the whole way back to the SUV, Tucker rolled the lawyer out of her office while still in her chair, leaving the bottle of unmoving water behind. It wasn't until he got to the stairs outside of the office that Tucker finally had to pick Madison up, ditching her high-heeled shoes with the chair so she was easier to cram into the back seat of the SUV. Knowing that time would be remaining frozen for the several hours he'd be busy Tucker didn't bother returning the chair or her shoes inside, instead driving off to his next stop.

            Tucker's place was close by now, so his next stops were all around there. Since he was heading primarily east his first stop was Mario's stand. Mario was happily absent at this time of day, being gone to pick up more papers and magazines, leaving Haley by herself at the counter of the cheap stand that was made entirely out of plywood and particle board. The gorgeous blonde was wearing a teal strapless top with a denim skirt as she leaned casually on the counter, her left hand supporting her cheek as she flashed a weak smile in the direction of a few potential customers, all of them men in business suits. As Tucker had finally seen her naked it was easy for him to picture her nude in that pose, thus he didn't feel the urge to strip her now. "Come along, hotness, I'm going to make you a star," Tucker assured Haley as he carefully lifted her out of the stand and placed her in his SUV, giving her the front seat and fastening her seat belt carefully.

            Following the news stand the next stop was Persephone's Books, something Tucker was looking forward to. Sure enough, just as Maggie had told him, Faith and Joy were both working; both dressed in the new uniforms Rebecca had picked out. Both Faith and Joy, girls about the same height with similar complexions, had their hair done up in Japanese buns, another rule Rebecca had apparently instated since Maggie had mentioned having to do that as well. Faith was working one of the cash registers, or had been until time had stopped, while Joy stood near the door, frozen in conversation with a potential customer, an older woman who had probably been an actress years ago. Joy was standing with a large, fake smile on her face, clearly having been pretending that she cared about the customer, her hands behind her back and her head tilted slightly to the left. Faith meanwhile was standing with her eyes looking down at the register, her right index finger hovering over a key while her left hand held a coffee in a cheap paper cup, a bored-looking man in a suit being the customer across from her.

            Tucker quickly found his way into Rebecca's office, where she was sitting at her desk, posed much like Madison had been, only she was holding a bad romance novel in front of her face, her left hand actually touching the area around her crotch from over her cheap business skirt.  Rebecca had twelve sets of business dresses, almost all of them the same color, hence why she looked hardly any different from a few days ago save for her new fake gold watch, no doubt bought at Wal-mart. Laughing at the sight of his former boss frozen apparently touching herself while reading a crappy novel, Tucker couldn't resist having a little fun. With fingers honed from years of computer use Tucker slid down everything that covered Rebecca's womanhood, revealing deep-nested signs of sexual arousal. "Tisk tisk Becky, you aren't supposed to be touching yourself at work," laughed Tucker as he manipulated Rebecca's hand, using it to make the woman apparently pleasure herself. Since the woman was frozen in time, no reaction came, much to Tucker's dismay, but planned to take advantage of the situation when he returned her afterwards.

            "Maggie needs some more time, so how about you help me live out a fantasy I've always had?" suggested Tucker, casually pushing all of Rebecca's stuff off of her desk save her monitor, which he placed carefully aside. With the desk clean, Tucker hoisted Rebecca on top, laying her flat with her arms at her sides and her lower body stripped. For the next twenty minutes Tucker proceeded to make out with his former boss and even have sex with her, the encounter being fairly brief due to how eager Tucker had been to go at it with Becky ever since she's started working at the store. Fortunately the sex would be for only Tucker to know, following which he pulled Rebecca's skirt back up and dragged her out of the store on her heels, deciding against her being on her back because she needed to still look hot for the calendar shoot.

            Moments later Tucker returned to collect Faith and Joy, putting them in the two middle seats while Rebecca ended up next to Madison. Two blondes, a brunette, a redhead and even a dark-haired girl left Tucker's first haul looking pretty good, but he needed one more to make his first load complete. Fortunately a couple of blocks away stood Patrolwoman Regina, who managed to look attractive even in a dumpy police uniform. At the moment time had stopped the police officer had been tipping her hat to a pair of bratty little kids on the sidewalk with a warm smile on her face showing hints of perfect white teeth. One of the kids, easily twelve from Tucker's perspective, was blatantly aroused by the young officer, which made him snicker as he removed the hat from Regina’s hand and tossed it onto the younger kid's head. Regina was fitted into the final seat of the roomy SUV, which reminded Tucker more of a van due to the large number of seats, and he quickly drove back to his place.

            With the help of a an empty recycling bin the size of a bathtub that was equipped with wheels Tucker was able to bring three women up to the penthouse each trip, after unfreezing the elevator to allow this. The penthouse was large, featuring a full kitchen and a massive living room that allowed for at least a dozen large items like pianos and pool tables. Right now, the room only held two white couches, which matched the paint as well as hardwood floors. Tucker had already set up a green screen the previous day, which would allow the calendar editor he had lined up to insert the backgrounds which were already saved on a flash drive. Deciding to have a little fun while dropping off the girls, Tucker arranged them around the penthouse as if they were mannequins placed there to help show it off. Faith, Joy, Madison and Rebecca were seated on the couches and posed as if they were all in conversation while Regina sat in the kitchen at the table with an empty cup of coffee held to her lips. Haley, being Tucker's favorite, now lay seductively in the master bedroom, her head tilted to her left towards the door with a sexy smile on her face her left arm apparently asking whoever came through the door to come closer. Lamenting that in spite of time being stopped he still needed to run, Tucker kissed every one of his motionless models goodbye before leaving.

            Back on task, Tucker's next destination was the convenience store where Denise worked. The sultry Latina was wearing a pink blouse and jeans under a red smock as she stood at the till; her extremely curly hair styled perfectly to not hide her eyes. Always up for some fun, Tucker casually grabbed a bottle of pop from the fridge section as well as some chips and a meat and cheddar pack, his road food of choice. "How much?" asked Tucker, knowing fully well that Denise couldn't answer. "Oh, free? What else can I get from you?" Deciding he could use several things from around the store, Tucker began stealing everything, from food to a book to DVDs before finally snatching up Denise herself, carrying the Latina out sideways as if she were only a mannequin. Initially unsure, Tucker ultimately gave Denise one of the cherished middle seats after recalling all the other women he was going to see.

            The cell phone store that was next door turned out to have a surprise waiting for Tucker. Kelly was there, as had been expected, but the dark-haired vision of beauty stood with her hands above her head, fear frozen on her face as a gun was being pointed at her chest by a man dressed in black with a crude imitation of a ski mask on his face. Kelly stood by a display while two other employees were back by the counter; all three women were wearing nice clothing and name tags. Kelly on this day was wearing a light blue short-sleeved blouse with dark gray pants and yellow sandals. The robber held his gun in his right hand while in his left was a bag from the store, which contained a large sum of money. Unable to resist, Tucker plucked out a few hundred dollars from the thousands in the bag, sliding them into his wallet so he could pay for the calendars later and perhaps take Maggie out to celebrate. Next up Tucker decided to snatch the gun, thinking he might have a use for it later, careful to ensure the safety was on. "Let’s get you out of this stressful situation," Tucker suggested to Kelly, hefting her over his shoulder and dropping her off outside, sliding her into the back of his SUV a few moments later. As Tucker moved the saleswoman he noticed her groin was wet, and not in a good way.

            A few blocks away was the neighborhood pool, today filled with a collection of young kids while several men and women sat around nearby. In the middle of the pool, frozen while standing squarely on the bottom of the recreational area, was the lifeguard Heather, whose arms floated at her sides, the water coming up to the bottom of her nice breasts. Tucker stripped down himself, taking his time and going entirely buff since there was no fear of arrest, and hopped into the water. Due to time being stopped all liquids were fixed in place but could be disturbed like pudding; thus after a few moments Tucker decided to unfreeze the water, making it easier for him to get over to Heather and drag her over to the plastic stairway in the shallower end of the pool. Being naked, and having laid Heather down on the steps for a quick breather, Tucker couldn't resist. Heather only wore a red two-piece bikini thus it was easy to expose her womanhood and add a new item to his list of unusual places where he'd had sex, including the recent addition of Rebecca's desk.

            The water did little to weaken Tucker's position, nor did the presence of children and overweight adults, thus he took a little longer with Heather than he had with his ex-boss. By his estimate it took him half an hour to be satisfied, after which he dragged the hot lifeguard out of the water and stood her up so he could dry her. After he was finished Tucker gave Heather the second middle seat in the SUV and drove off for more collecting. Along the way he nearly rear-ended a limo but it didn't faze him.

            With only two places left, Tucker elected to go to the dance class first as he thought that Lauren was the sexiest of the final three, although they would all make excellent cosplay girls. Lauren's class was in full swing, several male and female couples frozen while doing the tango, Lauren herself was dancing with a man in a black dress shirt and dress pants whom Tucker quickly elbowed over. Lauren's hair was pulled back tightly to make a shimmering smooth ponytail as she stood grasping an invisible man, her hands having been holding the other guy's shoulders as she'd looked at him with passion. The other seven couples were in similar poses so it made sense to Tucker. The dance instructor wore a gray strapless dress with lines of sequins on the bottom and around her breasts, even showing a tiny hint of breast through partially see-through material. Over her upper body she wore a matching coat with no buttons that stopped in the middle of her back, a match to the dress save it had a flower-like tile pattern to it while the dress was plain. Expensive platinum bracelets were around Lauren's wrists. The blonde was unbelievably sexy in Tucker's eyes, possibly the only rival to Haley for his heart in terms of looks. In spite of this Tucker chose not to strip the dance teacher, merely carrying her out to the SUV while holding her magnificent rear end, giving her the front seat.

            Finally at Maggie's restaurant Tucker quickly found Tabitha, who was standing in a pale purple blouse and black skirt, the restaurant's standard attire for waitresses, frozen in mid-stride with a tray of food in her left hand which she held near her shoulder. The brunette was cute enough, and since she was French, Tucker assumed she was a passionate woman when it came to love-making, though he did feel a little bad about assuming the stereotype. On the plate was a fancy-looking breakfast spread, including Eggs Benedict and Belgian waffles, Tucker carefully collecting it and putting it on a nearby table while he carried Tabitha out to the SUV. Upon his return Tucker took the tray back into the kitchen.

            As with most restaurants in the area, there was a sad but true cliché that almost every person in the kitchen was a Mexican, usually an illegal one at that. It was true of this restaurant as well, with Brooke the redheaded Asian being the only non-Mexican in the room. All the cooks wore white uniforms and hats, as one would have expected, Brooke was even wearing a hairnet over her pulled-back bun. The cute chef had been in the middle of dicing a carrot with a knife, her right hand holding the blade level, barely cutting into the large vegetable she held with her left hand to the table. "I hope I don't end up like that," chuckled Tucker as he carefully removed the knife and carrot before dragging Brooke out on her heels, once again leaving the tray behind. After a second thought Tucker returned to the restaurant and took the tray with him, figuring he and Maggie would need an extra meal for how long they would be living in the frozen world. Tucker was careful, however, to include a plastic cover so the food wouldn't spill.

            His models collected and the SUV full, Tucker returned to the penthouse once again, using the same strategy as before to transport his living mannequins. To decorate the penthouse, Tucker chose to place Denise on the toilet with a magazine in her hands though the toilet lid was down. Heather was stripped entirely and placed in the shower, her right hand holding a bar of soap over breasts while her left hand ran through her hair. Kelly was placed in the kitchen with a broom in her hands as if she were cleaning while Brooke stood in front of the sink as if trying to wash her hands. Tabitha was returned to a walking pose and stood just outside the entrance to the kitchen with her tray from the restaurant in her hands. Lauren took a little more deliberation but ultimately Tucker put her on the bed with Haley, the dance teacher on her hands and knees with that same piecing gaze coming from her eyes.

            His calendar girls assembled, Tucker once again gave them all a kiss goodbye and hurried over to the Staples Center. When Tucker arrives Maggie was already standing outside with her backpack bulging, an impatient look on her face. "Took you long enough," snapped his best friend as she climbed into the SUV, dumping her bag in the trunk. "I was done about an hour ago by my estimate."

            "You could have played a little," Tucker reminded her, looking around at all the frozen guests.

            "Yeah, but we don't want the place to be closed down since we'll be selling stuff there," shot back Maggie, rubbing her eyes. "I'm getting hungry, can we raid a fast food place or something on our way back?"

            "Relax, I've got food back there waiting for us," Tucker promised his friend as he pulled away from the Staples Center.

            "Yeah, but that's not as easy as getting something instantly," complained Maggie, then noticing Tucker had stopped for no clear reason. "Hey wait, you don't need to-" Maggie didn't finish her sentence as Tucker had figured out the quick solution, casually waving his wand and freezing his impatient friend in mid-sentence as she stared straight ahead, her mouth hanging open with her hands on her lap.

            "Sorry Maggie, but when I hold the wand I get what I want," Tucker reminded his paused friend, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before continuing back to his building. Maggie would be annoyed, he knew, but it beat having to waste more of their frozen time to stop somewhere else when he'd already grabbed them something.

            Wanting to avoid all protests from Maggie, Tucker didn't even consider unfreezing her until he arrived back at the building and had gone all the way to the penthouse, carefully carrying his friend inside and sitting her down between Faith and Joy, then placing a plate on her lap with Eggs Benedict on it. Tucker then ran downstairs and grabbed some cans of pop from a neighbor's fridge, returning and placing a Coke in her left hand, which he raised up off of her lap. Tucker then prepared to unfreeze his friend but quickly realized his golden opportunity. With Maggie frozen he didn't have to worry about how long he would take having fun. "I guess you have no objections if I go have some wild sexual fun with our models, huh Mags?" asked Tucker with a sly grin, walking into the bedroom, knowing fully well Maggie wouldn't answer.

* * *

            Much later from Tucker's point of view he walked back into the living room, having cleaned himself and several of the models. As much as he'd been itching do it for real, Tucker wouldn't help but have sex with Haley. With a long time's worth of sexual tension built up inside of him he let loose, ruining the penthouse sheets in the process. Following her Tucker had proceeded to nail Lauren and Madison before spending an even longer amount of time with Rebecca, really sticking it to her to the point where he'd made himself sore. If not for the need to have her pose in the calendar photos Tucker may have gone as far to do physical harm to her, having wanted to slap her face since the first time she'd called him names.

            Now clean from his sexual adventures, Tucker finished reposing those he'd slept with. Madison and Rebecca were returned to their couch, the two now embracing and kissing while left in their lingerie. Haley and Lauren were both in their underwear as well, the duo standing in front of the green screen. Haley's right thumb was hooked into her panties as her left arm hung at her side, her body and head tilted slightly to the left with a seductive smile on her face. Lauren meanwhile stood with her hands raised and her head tilted slightly to the right, making her look somewhat like a doll. Tucker had even taken the time to put the swimsuit back on Heather in the bathroom, feeling he shouldn't leave naked women around for Maggie, even if she was into girls.

            "- do that, I can just wait," finished Maggie after Tucker had tapped the wand on her head, unfreezing her. "Oh, I guess not," laughed his friend, looking at the Coke in her hand. "Whatever; I get to eat, and I'm guessing you had a little fun with one of these girls while I was, shall we say, out cold?"

            Tucker smiled. His friend knew him too well. "Good luck guessing which ones," he told her slyly. "Right, let’s get this thing started."

 

Chapter Three: The Shoot

            Tucker had started to feel hungry watching Maggie eat and he decided to have a bite himself. As they ate the discussed who they thought should be which ones from Tucker’s list. By the time lunch had ended they had decided who was going to be what character and who was going to be what month. Maggie thought it was best to divide the models into two groups of six, so she could prepare one group while Tucker took pictures for the other. As Maggie prepared the first group Tucker would be getting the remainder of the first group ready as well as the second. The first group was the first six months; January through June this group was Rebecca, Regina, Heather, Brooke, Denise and Tabitha respectively. While the next group included the remaining months of July through December, which included Kelly, Madison, Laura, Joy, Faith and Haley. Tucker wanted to start off with a bang with Rebecca, his ice queen of a former boss and end with his dream girl Haley, saving the best for last. Maggie wanted Madison for August just because her birthday was in August and thought it would be fit to have her sister standing in for that month. The other girls were put into their respective months more or less at random.

            “Sorry Maddy, but your make out partner has an important shoot to get ready for.” Maggie said to her unhearing older sister as she pulls Rebecca from the couch while Madison remains kissing and holding air. Laying the stiff redhead on the floor and arranging her body to a straight position. Maggie then strips of her boss’s panties and then rolls her board-stiff body over and removes the bra. “Becks got a body on her.” Maggie observed running her hands down Rebecca’s naked form, squeezing her firm breasts and rubbing her womanhood.

            “Yeah she does. You never noticed?” Tucker asked. He was working on Faith and Joy; both book store employees were now standing upright at attention. Faith was completely naked, her uniform sitting in pile at her feet and her shoulder length brunette hair hanging freely. Joy was naked from the waist down with Tucker standing behind her pulling her blonde hair loose from the bun.

            “Not really; I’m not into redheads, but she’s pretty hot now that I see her naked.” Maggie replied, standing her doll-like boss up and steadying her on her bare feet. Moving to Rebecca’s face, Maggie molded it from a kissing face to something more relaxed so she would be able to apply make up.

            “I tapped her like twice today.” Tucker declared as he removed the last of Joy’s uniform. Standing back he admired the nakedness of the two bookstore employees. Faith had a cute body with decent size round breasts tipped with brown nipples; she had cute love handles and a neatly trimmed womanhood. Joy was on the thin side with small round perky breasts with pink nipples, a flat midriff with a diamond navel ring.

            “That’s gross Tuck. You didn’t have to tell me that; plus it’s a lame way of saying it,” Maggie said wiping her hands on her jeans. Looking back at her sister clad in her underwear kissing air, “Did you tap Madison too?”

            Tucker was playing Joy and Faith’s breasts; he looked over at his friend, who had a serious look on her face. He was thinking of how to answer the question. Maggie and Madison hated each other but they were still sisters. Deep down they had the bond that siblings have between one another. He took a deep breath; he had never lied to Maggie before and he wasn’t going to start now. “Yeah…”

            Maggie was silent for several seconds as she ran her hands through Rebecca’s flame colored hair, straightening it out. “How was it?” She then asked, still working on Rebecca’s hair and not looking in Tucker’s direction.

            Walking over to where Madison sat Tucker lifted the motionless lawyer up into a standing position and started strip the older Yen of her undergarments. “Well Mags, she was stiff... but hot.”

            “She’s a lawyer; what do you expect other than stiff?” Maggie replied with smile, “Was she better than Becks?” She asked looking over at her now naked sister.

            “Honestly… I have been wanting nail Becky for a while now… so I had totally good time with her. I don’t really know Madison so it was okay.”

            “Yes!” Maggie replied pumping her fist, and then looking over at her sister’s kissing face. “You can’t pleasure any straight guy, you slut. HA!” Maggie said pointing a finger at her frozen sister and dancing around the two naked women.

            Tucker couldn’t help but laugh; Maggie was such a funny girl. Looking at Madison, who was hotter than Maggie but not by much, Tucker thought. How could anyone not like Maggie, you’re gonna get what’s coming to you. Tucker smiled at the thought and pinched Madison’s firm breast before moving on.

* * *

            At last the complete group of cosplay calendar models was ready.  Looking down the row of costumed blank-staring girls standing at attention Tucker was amazed with Maggie’s work. She is going to get some of the money from this whether she wants it or not, Tucker thought and reminded himself to do so later.

Rebecca was representing Mikami from Ghost Sweeper Mikami; she was now dressed in tight fitting strapless purple dress with the hem sitting right under her groin. She wore nothing under the dress Tucker noted; he was able to see her nipples clearly through the dress as well as her womanhood from under the hem. She stood in a pair of shiny black heels and her face bore a seductive, evil, smile. Tucker examined the false emerald necklace and the white earrings: Rebecca had become Mikami.

            Standing next to Rebecca was Patrol Officer Regina, now stripped out of her police uniform, who was nicely dressed up as Rosetta from Chrono Crusade. The dirty blond policewoman was now wearing a sexy revealing blue and white nun’s outfit that showed a lot of leg due the long slits on either side of the dress. Regina’s sexy legs were clad in nude pantyhose and the officer stood clad in some steampunk-looking clunky ankle high boots. Tucker took note of the detail of the costume and Regina’s smiling face that was made up nicely matching her character. Even her dirty blond hair was in bangs matching Rosetta’s appearance.

            Heather was next; she represented Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda video game series. The lifeguard was dressed in a fancy white gown with a purple corset hugging and shaping her upper body. False gold shoulder braces helped secure the long white sleeves, which were also covered up by flowing fine white gloves. Her hair was combed back save for two strands near her now-pointed ears, which hung down in front, with a circlet fixed on her brow. Her hair color was a bit off, Tucker noted, but figured since it had changed from game to game no one would really care. In spite of the old-fashioned outfit, Tucker knew anyone into women would want to see what 'Zelda' wore underneath that sexy dress, but only Tucker and any boyfriends' she'd ever had would know.

            Beside the elf-like princess Heather was Brooke, who was now in the guise of Lina from the Slayers anime. Her costume initially consisted of a matching red pants and tunic ensemble, the tunic having a yellow edge and chest opening. Long light-blue gloves and boots continued the outfit, both coming close but not reaching the joints. A black belt and matching cape continued the costume, the original wearer of it not bothering with the shoulder pads that the actual anime character wore. Brooke's hair had been straightened and a black bandanna was wrapped around her forehead, large round earrings made of brass completing the costume and making her look quite cute.

            Denise, due to her Latina appearance, was chosen to portray Rose from Full Metal Alchemist. The dress Maggie had grabbed for the clerk was a simple white one, as the character's appearance was humble, being essentially a simple village girl. Old-style sandals were placed on her feet and Maggie had pinned up her hair, covering her head with a black wig that had strands of pink colored hair for bangs, completing a simple but fairly sexy costume as the dress had small straps and it fit very tightly around Denise's large breasts. Tucker liked the look.

            Brining magic into the group was Tabitha, her petite size making her perfect for Sakura from Card Captor Sakura. The waitress wore a basic white and black Japanese schoolgirl costume, her short reddish-brown hair styled to have strands from further back to come down the sides while her bangs were shortened and two tiny ponytails were done near the back of her head. In addition to this Tabitha wore red schoolgirl shoes and held a pink staff with a gold and red tip that resembled the head of a bird. If anything people would buy the calendar to see Tabitha in the popular schoolgirl outfit, Tucker figured, amazed at how iconic the sailor-like costume was.

            If classic anime sex appeal from schoolgirl outfits wasn't enough, Kelly brought blatant sexuality to the ensemble while dressed as Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, another video game that was popular at anime conventions. Tifa ideally had flowing brown hair going down to her hips, but the game's sequel had portrayed her with slightly shorter hair that was darker, this Kelly's look was fine, her hair straightened. Her clothing consisted of a white open-torso shirt, black fingerless gloves that reached to her elbows, brown hiking boots and an incredibly short brown skirt as well as red bracelets. The costume left nothing to imagination, figuring she would definitely be a hot selection due to the blatant sexuality.

            Following up the standard erotic costume of Kelly's was Madison in an android costume, namely that of Kos-Mos from Xenosaga, another video game series which also had an anime. For starters Madison wore a white metallic one-piece leotard with blue bits that looked like abs. Pale blue elbow-length sleeves reached from her shoulders to her wrists with steel shoulder-pads that didn't actually touch the shoulder itself, merely connected below it and leaning away from the body. Instead of traditional straps the maillot was held in place by a black halter neck strap. Kelly's right knee had a sock similar to the sleeves while the left had two black bands instead covering her thigh. High-heeled boots with yellow tips matching the sleeves complimented the outfit nicely. As Madison had dark hair but Kos-Mos had blue, she too was wearing a wig with her extra-long straightened locks spilling everywhere while secured by a sci-fi style circlet. Maggie had even applied red contacts to Madison's eyes to make her really look more like the character. Kelly was erotic while Madison was exotic, decided Tucker.

            Lauren, being large-breasted and blonde, was chosen to wear the costume of Tsunade from Naruto. The dance instructor wore navy shorts that stopped at the knees and were decently tight around her backside, a gray sleeveless and low-cut martial arts tunic over-top with a navy cloth belt holding it in place, preventing the woman from being exposed. The simple costume included black sandals and a blue diamond penciled in at the center of her forehead, her hair tied back in twin ponytails. The costume was simple but fairly sexy, Tucker noted, plus it probably was easy to fight in.

            Joy, the co-worker he'd never really considered sexy, was dressed as Android 18 from Dragon Ball Z, one of the first anime characters he'd ever found attractive. Her hair was short with her left side tucked behind her ear while her right hung in front of her face somewhat. She wore a short-sleeved white top with a black vest and pearl necklace, her lower half wearing tight black pants and brown boots, her waist secured by a brown belt. The costume triggered nostalgia more than anything else for Tucker, but he knew Joy was a virgin thus there was that whole appeal as well.

            Faith, being one of the last characters they'd chosen a costume for, was dressed in a schoolgirl’s outfit, again Japanese, but with a green skirt instead of black, portraying Kagome from Inuyasha. Aside from the color change and longer hair there wasn't much of a difference between Faith and Tabitha besides that Faith was holding a bow and wore a quiver on her back, both in the Japanese style rather than European, something most convention attendees overlooked when choosing the costume.

            Finally for December was Sailor Moon of the Sailor Moon anime, beautifully portrayed by Tucker's favorite, Haley. Once more the base costume was a schoolgirl outfit but the highlights were blue and a gold disk sat in the center of the red ribbon on her full chest. Furthermore her short sleeves considered of puffed up rings, making Tucker unsure if they'd been going for a pirate look or a futuristic look when they designed the costume all those years ago. A red ribbon bow also sat right on top of her rear and the bottom part of the dress almost reached down far enough to be a bikini. White gloves that came up to her elbows and had red edges were worn on her arms,. Her hair was tied up into double knotted ponytails, one sticking out each side with a jewel fixed in it.  A tiara and moon-shaped earrings decorated her face. On her feet she wore red calf-high boots and around her neck was a red choker, again with the moon symbol. Tucker loved the way the costume looked on Haley though he had to admit the hair wasn't really his thing. Maggie had added extensions so the tips almost reached her knees.

            "Okay Tucker, lets pose them and snap them," suggested Maggie, as that was all that was left to do. The shoots would be in order, Rebecca going first and Haley going last, all done one at a time on the green screen. Maggie got to work, turning on the two portable lights Tucker had managed to get to help with the photos while Tucker adjusted his camera, remembering to unfreeze all their tools so they could get the job done right.

            Once they were prepared Tucker walked over and picked up Rebecca, carefully lifting her by the waist, and placed her in front of the camera on the marked spot as if she were a statue. Maggie adjusted her pose while Tucker got back behind the camera. Rebecca was made to stand leaning slightly to her left, her left hand on her hip while her right hung at her side, the same somewhat evil-looking smile on her face. Tucker snapped a few quick shots before Maggie decided to have some fun, coming into focus and lifting up the skirt of Rebecca's dress, revealing her womanhood to the flashing camera.

            After Rebecca things moved a little faster, Maggie not bothering to have any fun during the photo session. Regina was posed in a somewhat action-like way, bent at the knees and waist slightly with her hands in front of her body as she looked slightly to the right towards the camera. Heather was next, her fingers locked together in front of her body with her head bowed slightly, apparently deep in thought. Brooke's arms were crossed and her face bore a confident smile while Maggie turned on a fan while blew her hair and cape to the right side for the picture Tucker took. Denise had her hands together, her fingers interlocked, almost as if in prayer as she looked straight ahead with sad eyes. Tabitha had the pink wand raised above her head, both hands clutching the base as if he were about to strike something, her body leaning back slightly and a smile on her face. Kelly's pose was pretty much a mirror flip of Rebecca's save the hand not on her hip was raised in a tough girl fist while her hair blew in that direction thanks to the fan, a bright smile on her face. Madison, due to her character being an android, stood in a neutral pose, her arms slightly away from her sides with a blank look on her face. Lauren stood turning to the right, her hands on her hips with a soft smile on her lips. Joy had both of her hands on her hips, a seductive smile showing with her eyes hinting at either love or betrayal, Tucker couldn't decide which. Faith had an arrow drawn and pointed her weapon at the camera, her left holding the bow while her right held the arrow, her face serious and her clothing and hair blowing in the wind. Finally there was Haley, who had a bright smile with her hands fixed the same way; her middle two fingers closed while her others were extended fully, her right in front of her face with her palm facing towards while her left was near her crotch the same way.

            "Well that was fun," breathed Maggie when it was all over, turning off the lights and unplugging them. "You want to play with them a little more or start getting them ready to be returned?" Maggie couldn't help but grin, talking about twelve women like they were mere mannequins.

            "Nah, we're good," Tucker assured Maggie, holding up a slip of paper he pulled from his pocket. "I copied down their names, home addresses and whatnot based on their personal belongings while you were in your quiet time."

            "Nice one," laughed Maggie, clapping her hands in amusement. With that the pair set to work, stripping down each girl, and then re-dressing them in their proper attire. Maggie refused to touch Madison but spend quite a bit of time undressing Rebecca, agreeing with Tucker's remark about how sexy she was. Tucker was at the same time enjoying undressing Haley once again, certain he wouldn't get bored of it. When it was all done Maggie carefully removed any extra makeup she'd applied to the girls while Tucker stuffed the costumes in Maggie's bag and put away the photo-shoot equipment, taking extra care with the camera. Faster than they thought possible the twelve women were all ready to go, standing at attention by the door.

            "Alright, lets wrap this up," suggested Maggie. Working together the pair was quickly able to take all twelve women downstairs and load the first six into the SUV. Rebecca, Faith and Joy sat in the back while Regina occupied one of the middle seats and Kelly the other one and Denise in the trunk. Maggie then took the front passenger seat while Tucker hopped in the driver's spot, heading down to Persephone's first.

            "It sure would be nice if you worked here again," sighed Maggie as she dragged Joy inside and returned her to her original place in front of the still somewhat attractive older woman in her 50s. Tucker meanwhile placed Joy back at the cash register, making sure she wasn't standing off-balance.

            "Don't worry; I think I have a solution that will make it all better," Tucker assured Maggie as he headed back outside with his friend in tow. Much to her surprise Tucker didn't grab Rebecca next, merely getting back behind the wheel of the vehicle.

            "Wait; what's on your mind?" asked Maggie, curious what Tucker's plan was. He, however, wanted this to be a surprise so once again he produced his wand and waved it, freezing Maggie instantly in her seat as she looked at Tucker with concern on her face.

            After quickly dropping off Denise at the one store and returning Kelly back to her store in the same frightened pose Tucker grabbed and quickly dragged the robber outside, pulling down his pants for all to see and tying his shoelaces together while using his pants and belt to strap him to a lamp post. Regina was then placed in front of him in a walking pose, assuring he'd be caught. Not done yet, Tucker removed Rebecca from the vehicle and dragged her, on her back like he'd vowed, into the cell phone store, standing her up. "I hope you like jail, bitch," laughed Tucker as he placed the robber's gun, which he'd gotten from the SUV, back into Rebecca's hands, pointing it at Kelly. Tucker also made sure the gun was empty, not wanting an accident to happen, and got off a little more sexual tension by giving her a long kiss. A moment later, Tucker sat back in the car and laughed to himself as he drove off, unfreezing Maggie shortly afterward.

            "What did you do?" begged Maggie, asking the question several times before she and Tucker returned to his place and gathered the other six girls, with Madison ending up in the trunk while the others were scattered in their seats.

            "You'll find out soon enough, but I expect you'll be happy," replied Tucker with a wink, making Maggie groan as they piled into the SUV once again.

            "Fine; let’s change gears," agreed Maggie, glancing in the back. "Are you ever going to ask Haley there out?  I mean, when she’s not acting like a statue."

            "I don't know yet, the wand gives me a lot of potential," admitted Tucker as the pair did their rounds. Heather, Lauren, Brooke and Tabitha were returned to as they had been without much incident save Tucker having to fill up Tabitha's tray with another order while Maggie fondled Brooke in the kitchen. When it came time to drop off Haley, Tucker ended up taking an extra-long time as he kept kissing her heavily, thus forcing him to repose her. He did this five times before Maggie complained, not having anyone nearby to play with. Tucker relented, deciding not to freeze his friend yet again.

            Outside Madison's building Maggie spotted a particularly sexy bronzed bikini babe walking a small dog and got an idea. Madison was returned to her office chair but the dark-haired beauty ended up with a blonde girl in a red and white polka dot bikini on her lap making out with her. Once the pair had been posed properly Tucker snapped a few photos while Maggie explored her sister's desk.

            "You bitch, you weren't really sick on my birthday?!" exclaimed Maggie when she found a movie stub in Madison's desk for the day of her previous birthday. "Almost makes me want to leave the two of them like that... "

            "Tempting, but she's still your sister," Tucker reminded Maggie as he removed the blonde from Madison's lap, dragging her out of the office with Maggie reluctantly following. Not able to resist entirely however, Maggie did pose Madison so her right hand was touching the top of her head while her left thumb was in her mouth, her skirt raised as she sat in her chair, the bottled water from before ready to spill on her crotch.

            "Looking real professional now, sis!" laughed Maggie as she left the office.

* * *

            It was still only about eleven in the morning when Tucker restarted time. He and Maggie however had been up for nearly ten hours. After they had returned all the models to their locations plus that extra special trip for Tucker’s former boss they had returned back to Tucker’s place to pick up the costumes. They then returned back to the convention center to return the costumes to the racks so they would not raise any suspicion and Tucker selected an ideal location to set up his sales stand. Back at his apartment, they returned the keys for the SUV and the penthouse back to his landlord after Maggie and he made sure everything was placed back like they were never there. With the camera equipment safely stored in Tucker’s closet, he restarted time and the two went on their way to see their friend Lance.

            Lance was impressed with the calendar layout and the models, making him glad to mass produce them for Tucker and Maggie. When asked how long it took to make and where the models had come from, Maggie and Tucker answered that it only took a couple of hours and that the models were from here and there. Lance never realized he, along with the other two, were the only ones within a time bubble while the rest of the world remained frozen.  Once the calendar was made they were loaded into two boxes, Tucker and Maggie each carrying one. With their boxes in hand Tucker and Maggie set off towards the Staples Center via a cab. When they arrived they found that the line to get in was pretty long. Instead of stopping time Tucker decided that they should just wait like everyone else as they had done in the past.

            “Come on Tuck, just do it!” Maggie whined as she adjusted the large box in her arms.

            “Mags if I do it we’ll look ultra suspicious. Think about it; first we’re not there and then we’re there.” Tucker explained as he looked at the long line ahead of him. The idea was tempting as the box was growing heavy for him. It must have been worse for Maggie, being that she was a smaller person then he was and her slim body did not have a lot of muscle to its name.

            “This sucks… you have this awesome wand and you won’t use it for the simplest thing,” Maggie grumbled as she put her box down and plopped herself on top of it.

            “Keep your voice down about the wand,” Tucker warned, looking around but saw that no one was even paying attention to them. “Relax, we’ll be inside in no time.”

            “Right now would have been better… it’s so hot,” Maggie muttered.

            Tucker could tell Maggie was beginning to get impatient, she was annoying and whining. He sat down on his box with a sigh and looked around at all the costumed people. It was going to be busy day. He needed his cosplay calendar to be successful; he had too much riding on it. Look up toward the front of the line he saw a group of girls dressed as Japanese schoolgirls. It was at that moment an idea hit him: he needed eye candy to attract buyers and a schoolgirl would do the trick. He looked at Maggie and smiled. A cute a sexy model was what he needed and Maggie fit the part. He pulled his wand from his pocket, looking at it. “Hey Mags,” he said, smiling.

            “What… ” Maggie replied, looking in his direction. She perked up and smiled seeing the wand. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down Tuck.”

            “Hold on just a minute, Mags. What would you for me do if I were to get us in there?” Tucker asked, lowering his voice so those around him would not hear him.

            “Oh Tuck I would do just about do anything right now… it’s so hot and the line is insane,”  She quickly replied without thinking. She quickly realized what she had said, “Wait…”

            Maggie looked at Tucker with a worried look on face and lips parted as she was about to question Tucker’s offer. The wand flicked as everything came to a halt once more. Looking into to Maggie’s blanked eyes, “Mags, everything comes with a price…” Tucker said to his silent friend with a smile.

* * *

            Tucker had moved Maggie and the boxes into the building and then into an empty service hallway that was free from witnesses seeing the pair suddenly appear when time restarted. The two boxes were stacked on top of one another and Maggie stood with her worried expression next to them.  Tucker had ventured into the convention center for the second time that day. He found a complete set of schoolgirl outfits that were for sale at one of the vendor stands and there were enough of them that no one would notice if one of was missing. He then returned to the service hallway where Maggie patiently waited for him.

            “Let’s get you ready,” Tucker said, looking his frozen friend up and down. After this, he was going to owe her big. He was glad that he was going to give her half of his profits, especially now with what he was about to make her do. She was truly his best friend for life. He laid his friend’s still form down onto the ground and began untying her sneakers. Tucker had become an expert at stripping girls, which was easy since they were stiff; Maggie was no different and within minutes his friend stood before him in her matching hot pink cotton undergarments. “Mags, you’re pretty cute; you should show it off some more and you could give Madison some competition,” Tucker said, grinning and looking at Maggie’s scantly clad body. He then began dressing her up in the schoolgirl outfit that had come with knee-high white stockings and a pair of black loafers as well. Once she was dressed Tucker stuffed her clothes into his book bag as Maggie would never give him peace if he made her walk home costumed as a schoolgirl.

            “…what do you have in mind though?” Maggie asked as Tucker re-started time. She then realized where they were and looked down. “Man…” she muttered and looked at her new costume.

            Tucker quickly explained, “I've got your clothes in my bag if you want to change, but I need you for eye candy Mags. You might not think so but you’re a really cute girl with a hot body to boot, so you being dressed like this could help us out.”

            Maggie looked down at herself, inspecting the uniform. She then shrugged, “At least I’m out of the sun and that damn line.” She smiled at Tucker. “Ready?” Maggie asked, tying her hair up into pig tails to add to her image.

            Let’s go make some money,” Tucker replied, picking up his box. Maggie did the same once she was ready and the two began walking towards the convention. “By the way, you should dress like this more often and give your sister some competition.”

            “HA! I bet you would like to see that happen, you perv…” laughed Maggie. A few minutes later a small table with the two boxes of calendars underneath it had been set up, an improvised sign on the corner of the table advertising the calendars. Maggie also stood at the opposite end of the table in a classic Anime girl pose, her right hand doing a peace-sign while her left was on her hip and she winked with one eye. In order to help her hold that pose Tucker had, on her suggestion, frozen her like that, leaving many to ask if she was a lifelike mannequin. Tucker assured his customers she was real but she was insanely talented at holding still, all the same making sure no one touched her motionless figure. As the day wore on and more people began asking for the calendars all at once Tucker unfroze Maggie so she could help handle the transactions. It was a really good day.

Epilogue

            It had been a month and many time stopping adventures later since the Anime convention. Tucker’s life was going great. Not only did he and Maggie make a bundle off the calendar, they were still receiving orders for the popular convention souvenir, thanks in part to a popular Anime site stocking the item in their online store. Two weeks after the convention Tucker was re-hired as the new assistant manager at Persephone’s. As planned, Rebecca was apprehended and arrested for attempted robbery at the cell phone store. She was later cleared on the charges, as Kelly and the witnesses had figured out Rebecca was not involved, seeing that they remembered their assailant at first being male. Rebecca’s grandmother all the same had felt that she was not fit to run the business if she was going to get into trouble like that. She then hired Rebecca’s twin sister as the general manager instead. Jamie and Rebecca were night and day when it came to personality. It was actually her idea to re-hire Tucker and promote him after she found out his experience and what had happened before with her sister from Maggie. So all in all life was good for Tucker and Maggie as they were both 'well off' and Tucker was back at his favorite book store which was returning to its old ways thanks to Jamie and himself. While the coffee aspect of the store had remained, the Ancient Greek theme had returned and it was Tucker's new specialty, especially when it came to Kronos.

            “I’m going to need Saturday off Tuck,” Maggie said from under a naked and suspended Jamie, the two laying on one of the new couches. She herself was in the nude, too, as she embraced with her manager. Tucker was across the room with Haley’s stiff form dressed in a stringy bikini, occupying the other new couch in the living room. The blonde was sitting on Tucker’s lap as he made out with her. Tucker had moved into a bigger an apartment within his complex thanks to his added funds and convinced his sidekick Maggie to be his roommate. Being the third largest type of unit in the building it had three bedrooms, one which Tucker had converted into an officer for calendar sales, a living room, dining room and kitchen as well as two bathrooms. Several life-sized statues decorated the apartment, including Tucker's Guy Gardner one and another that Maggie had bought of Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon. A few minutes earlier Tucker had actually posed statue-like Haley along with the statue for a candid picture he would be using for his new screen saver.

            “What is it now Mags? Joy hates closing alone she gets freaked out by that homeless guy,” Tucker asked, taking a break from Haley’s lips.

            “Madison is taking me out to a movie., Maggie replied as she stared into Jamie’s green eyes and wished that the redhead was bi or a lesbian, but was it fun for the time being.

            “I guess you could have the day off, I’ll take your shift since I’m not doing anything anyways,” Tucker replied, going back to kissing Haley and seriously considering asking her out sometime since she'd broken up with her latest boyfriend.

Ever since Maggie had shown her older sister the photo of her making out with the bronze-skinned beauty from that that day of the convention their relationship had improved greatly. Tucker made note he would have freeze Maggie and Madison one of these day to examine both sisters up close.

The End (Perhaps... )


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