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“FELNIOUS FEATHERED FIEND FINDS FREEDOM!” decreed the latest newspaper headline. Seventeen year old high-schooler Tina Drake frowned as she read the text of the article. The story went on to say how the archcriminal Penguin, as he escaped from the city’s maximum security prison via hot air balloon, had sworn revenge on the city’s law enforcement community, especially on herself and her crimefighting mentor Batman.
“Oh, just great,” sighed the beautiful young girl, lounging on an overstuffed sofa wearing her prep school uniform of navy blue sweater, plaid pleated skirt and white tights. Her brown loafers had been kicked off and she sat with her legs folded beneath her. “Penguin escapes from jail, Batman’s out of town, and I have a chemistry final this Friday. Oh well, a heroine’s life is never dull.”
With that the shapely young brunette stood and walked to the desk in the center of the study, upon which sat a marble bust of playwright William Shakespeare. Pulling back on the head of the statue revealed a hidden switch which activated the Bat-poles located behind the book-laden shelves of the study. As she had countless times before, the lithe young girl grasped the metal pole and slid downward. Midway down she threw the Instant Bat-Costume Change lever.
Emerging at the bottom of her slide upon a cushioned platform, Tina was now outfitted in the uniform of her crimefighting alter-ego, Robin the Girl Wonder. She stopped a moment before the Bat-Costume Checking Mirror admiring her appearance. She now wore a bright red vested tunic with yellow laces on the chest and her famous “R” insignia, short green sleeves, green trunks, boots, & gloves, short yellow silken cape, small black eye mask, thin utility belt, and sheer tan tights over her trim, athletic legs.
“I always thought this uniform would look better on a girl,” she muttered to herself as she ensured her costume’s completeness. Turning, the closely-cropped brunette descended the few stairs into the main area of the Batcave. She made her way over to the control console for the powerful Bat-computer. Seating herself at the keyboard, she began piecing together all known information that could indicate the Penguin’s next move.
After several minutes of work the computer produced an old-fashioned punch card. Frowning at the antiquity, which Batman refused to update, she read the card’s information aloud. “Friendly Fresh and Frozen Fish Factory, purchased just 3 days ago by a Mr. P. N. Guinn.” She mused, “P. N. Guinn? Penguin! Leave it to that waddling wayfarer to use such an obvious pseudonym. And of course, no supervillain would be complete without waterfront-factory hideout.”
While she was content to serve as sidekick to the city’s most famous and trusted champion of justice, she admitted to herself that she enjoyed striking out on her own every once in a while. “But I need to be a little more careful than last time,” she thought, remembering her recent capture and almost defeat at the hands of Riddler and his female gang.
Determined, the plucky young heroine walked over to a wall-mounted locker labeled Bat-Disguise Closet. “I think it’s time to pay a little visit to Mr. P. N. Guinn and his fish factory.”
An hour later, a petite young short-haired brunette walked into the customer waiting area of the Friendly Fresh and Frozen Fish Factory. Wearing a nondescript grey suit, low heels, flesh colored pantyhose, and dark rimmed eyeglasses, the young woman walked primly up to the service counter carrying her briefcase and rang the bell. From behind a floor-length curtain emerged 2 beautiful young women wearing matching outfits of a dark blue long sleeve leotard and light blue tights and no footwear. Appearing to both be in their early 20s, one girl had short blonde hair and the other medium length brown hair.
“Welcome to Friendly Fish. May we help you?” asked the brown haired beauty.
“Why yes, I think you might be able to,” replied the proper young businesswoman. “My name is Regina Gertrude Westminster and I am a junior purchasing associate for Wayne Industries’ commercial food division. I came to inquire about the possibility of engaging your company to provide us with quality products. Is your manager available?”
Eager to please, the shapely blonde said, “Yes, Mr. Guinn is available. If you’ll wait just a moment I’ll get him for you.” She then walked back behind the curtain, apparently back into the inner part of the factory. This left the erstwhile Ms. Westminster and the brown haired young associate in the reception area.
Narrowing her eyes, the Wayne Industries representative said, “I must say, those are quite interesting uniforms you have.” This elicited a smiling response.
“Thank you for noticing. Mr. Guinn does have a rather unconventional way of running his business, but the uniforms are quite comfortable really. And since we move around so much between all the automated equipment, it’s nice to have such freedom of movement.”
It was then that the factory manager made his entrance. Dressed in his trademark black tuxedo, complete with top hat and frilly white waistcoat, the archcriminal Penguin waddled from behind the curtain. “Mwaa-haa. A pleasure madam, a true pleasure. P. N. Guinn at your service,” he said around the long cigarette holder clenched between his teeth.
Gazing at the short rotund man no taller than herself, Ms. Westminster replied, “Yes, certainly. As I have told your employees, Wayne Industries is searching for new vendors with which to expand its processed foods offerings. I would like to inquire about the possibility of touring your new facility to determine if we might do business together.”
With mock severity, the diminutive man shook his head sadly. “Alas madam, while I would like to entertain the possibility of partnering with the most impressive Wayne Industries, I cannot allow anyone other than my most trusted employees into our production facilities. Industrial espionage and that sort of thing, don’t you see?”
Raising an eyebrow, the young woman replied, “Quite so. I do understand completely. Well, I must be off. Several more appointments today. I do thank you for your time.” With that she turned to go.
“Maaa-waa-waa. I do hope that we’ll see you again,” said Mr. Guinn.
Turning from the open door, the smiling young woman said, “Yes, so do I.”
Once outside, the young businesswoman turned the corner and entered an abandoned building she had noted earlier. Quickly she removed her disguise as a prim and proper businesswoman and donned the costume of the beautiful young heroine Robin which had been hidden in her briefcase.
As she smoothed the nylon tights over her lean, shapely legs, she considered her situation. “It’s The Penguin all right. And from the way he reacted to my wanting to see his factory, I’m certain that he and his criminal cohorts are up to no good. I’m sure they won’t be expecting a visit from The Girl Wonder.”
Quickly she made her way back to the entrance of the fish factory. She silently opened the door into the reception area, relieved to find it unoccupied. Alert for danger, the teen heroine crept behind the counter, near the curtain leading into the factory proper.
Inside the factory, Penguin was in deep discussion with his newest assortment of henchgirls. “Mwaa-waa-waa. It seems as if we have attracted unwanted attention sooner than I thought. I’m sure that was no ordinary buyer, but some kind of spy from that do-gooding Wayne Foundation. We must be on our guard.”
Suddenly a red light began blinking on a panel next to them. “Egad, it seems we have an uninvited guest lurking in our lobby,” said the fishy felon, turning towards the curtain leading to the reception area. Just beneath the hem of the curtain they could see the toes of some very famous green boots.
“Mwaa-waa, oh this is truly delicious indeed,” said Penguin. “The Girl Wonder herself has come to call.” Using his ever-present umbrella he activated a control switch on an adjacent panel.
From beyond the curtain the 3 villains could hear the sudden THUMP as a heavy fishing net dropped from the ceiling above the outer counter. Springing into action, the nylon-clad henchgirls dashed to the curtain, eager to see the prey they had so easily snared. Penguin relished his good fortune as his assistants pulled back the curtain to reveal the captured teen heroine.
But as they discovered, Robin was nowhere to be seen. Underneath the heavy netting they found only her famous short green boots. The confused young women looked back at their criminal master, unsure of what had happened. Penguin’s eyes bulged as he realized he had been tricked. A voice suddenly came from behind him.
“Hold it right there, Pengy old pal,” called a triumphant young female voice. Turning, the criminals saw the lithe body of the young crimefighter Robin standing confidently atop a seafood packaging machine, although now without her footwear her tights-covered feet were exposed. “I thought you might have something like that planned so I went around the back. You really should get that lock checked by the way.”
Seething, Penguin said, “Mwaa-mwaa, yes, I’ll be sure to have that looked into, my pesky little intruder. In the mean time, say hello to my new associates, Manta and Moray. Girls, I have a little morsel for you. Get her!” At Penguin’s command the shapely young criminals leaped toward the solitary heroine.
Standing atop the packaging machine with her legs at the henchgirls’ eye level, Robin’s legs were a nylon-covered blur as she danced to avoid the clutches of the villains’ grasp. Leaping up she lashed out with 2 kicks, sending the shapely villains skidding across the floor.
As he dropped from his perch, the archcriminal pressed a control on the nearby panel. Suddenly the machine beneath the young superheroine came to life. The conveyor belt on which she stood lurched to life, throwing the young girl off her feet and landing on her back upon the moving belt. Instantly she became entwined by the grasping arms of the recovering Manta and Moray, holding her down atop the now moving conveyor.
Robin struggled within the villainous vixens’ grip, trying to break free. She fought for purchase as the belt moved ever forward, carrying her toward the gaping maw of the seafood packaging machine. Thrashing her head from side to side, she saw that the women holding her were also unable to gain leverage as their nylon-covered feet slid forward across the tiled factory floor.
With a gasp of strength, Robin used the force of the henchgirls against them. She pulled them closer with a wrenching pull, causing them to collide with one another. Momentarily stunned, they released their hold on the beautiful young heroine. As they lurched backwards, Robin was able to hop off the moving belt and move toward her dizzied opponents. She readied herself to finish off this evil duo.
Suddenly she felt as if a hook had clamped itself around her neck. Gasping for breath, she realized that Penguin had sneaked behind her and wrapped the handle of his evil umbrella around her throat and began dragging her backwards. “Can’t... breathe!” she gasped, unable to resist the pressure on her tender throat.
“Mwaa-mwaa-mwaa!” cackled the archcriminal as he pulled the struggling young heroine back toward the factory wall. Robin was helpless as she was forced back against the wall, from which protruded large replicas of various pieces of fishing tackle. As she was forced against the wall, a large metal fishhook beside her pivoted around the struggling girl’s midsection, pinning her arms at her side.
Penguin then released his umbrella handle from around Robin’s neck and stepped back. While now able to take a breath, The Girl Wonder now found herself pinned to the wall by the unbreakable metal hook. She squirmed and writhed but discovered she couldn’t even reach the devices in her utility belt. “Must break… free. This… horrible hook… has me… helpless!” despaired the powerless young girl.
Admiring his handiwork, Penguin was now joined by the recovered henchgirls. “Mwaa-mwaa!” he crowed victoriously. “Look at our catch of the day, my lovelies. And let’s make sure she doesn’t slip the hook, shall we?” With that the archvillain again used his diabolical umbrella’s handle, this time hooking it behind the buckle of the helpless Robin’s utility belt. With a hard yank, the buckle disengaged and the belt dropped free from the struggling girl’s trim waist, landing at her nylon-encased feet. Although while trapped by Penguin’s evil fishhook, it might as well have been a million miles away.
With shock and anger, the now completely vulnerable young heroine said, “You can’t… get away… with this… you brazen bird! Let me… go!” Her words belied the dread and fear within her as Robin knew full well she was totally within Penguin’s evil grasp, unable to resist whatever dreadful fate he and his beautiful minions had in store for her.
Chuckling softly, the villainous Penguin said, “Oh, I’ll let you go my brave little birdie. But we need to make sure that you don’t cause any more unneeded commotion.” Again he utilized his infamous bumbershoot, this time bringing the metal endpoint up close to the struggling heroine’s face. Pressing a trigger in the handle, Penguin caused a spray of gas to emit from the end near Robin’s face.
Unable to twist away from the diabolical umbrella gas, the trapped young heroine yet again felt the unmistakable sensation of sleepiness overpower her. “No… not… sleeping gas.” Her head filling with an irresistible fog, the powerless young superheroine fell to the effects of the powerful anesthetic. Darkness clouded her vision and Robin’s struggles ceased as her head drooped forward, her lovely young form still pinned upright by the inescapable giant hook.
Penguin and his evil henchgirls, Manta and Moray, laughed at the helpless heroine. Robin was now completely in their clutches, powerless to escape whatever tortures they could devise.
When Robin's On The Prowl, Penguin Cries A Foul
A wave of cold air wafted across Robin’s face, waking her from her umbrella gas induced slumber. Blinking her eyes fully awake, the teen heroine took stock of her situation.
The beautiful teenager was hanging suspended about 4 feet above the floor. Her arms were stretched out above her head. Her gloved wrists were bound together with what looked like kitchen type plastic wrap, and were also bound to a chain hanging down from the ceiling. Looking down she saw that her costume remained intact except for her missing boots and the utility belt that Penguin had taken from her. She found that her nylon-encased ankles were also wrapped by the same thin plastic, which she was unable to break.
Looking around she determined that she was hanging in one of the large freezers in Penguin’s frozen fish factory. That explained the extremely cold environment. Shivering, the helpless young heroine struggled within her unbreakable bonds. “Don’t know… how long… I can last… like this,” she muttered to herself. Looking down at her tights-covered legs, she thought, “I’m not exactly… dressed for winter.”
It was then that a large door opened and in waddled the infamous Penguin, followed by his lovely nylon-clad assistants Manta and Moray. While the 2 women seemed as equally uncomfortable as Robin as their nylon-covered feet walked across the cold freezer floor, the criminal mastermind himself looked quite comfortable. They came to a stop in front of the trapped young girl, looking up at her dangling lithe body.
“Mwaa-waaa-waa,” the Penguin laughed. “I see our guest has rejoined us. Tell me, Girl Blunder, how do you like your accommodations?”
“Let me… down from here,” the powerless young Robin retorted, “and I’ll… show you… how it feels… to be put… on ice.”
With an evil glare, Penguin said, “I’m sure you would my dear, I’m sure you would. Unfortunately for you, you’re not going to get that opportunity. You see my helpless heroine, we regret that we’re going to have to give you the ‘cold shoulder’ as it were. With you out of the way, that will be one less obstacle to our defeating your overprotective senior partner, thereby paving the way for an unobstructed takeover of the city itself.”
Robin’s emotion betrayed itself by allowing her face to show her fear, not only for her own impending demise, but that of her crimefighting mentor Batman as well. While her struggles continued she remained firmly in the clutches of the vile criminal and his chilly cohorts.
He fishy fiend then said to his chilly associates, “Ladies, let’s finish our work in here. While I find it rather pleasant, I would so hate for you to catch your ‘death of cold.’ Mwaa-waa.”
At his bidding the shapely young blonde walked over and picked up a nearby stepladder, returning to place it directly underneath the shivering young superheroine. At the same time the girl with brown hair left the freezer through the only door, returning a few moments later carrying a metal pail filed with water.
“W-w-what ev-v-vil plan… have you g-g-got… up your… s-s-sleeve this… t-t-time?” asked the helpless teenager, shivering from the cold.
Penguin replied, “Well my chilly little captive, we know that if we simply left you here in our pristine prison, it might take you days to be finally be overcome by the cold. But we would truly hate to see you linger in such a cruel fashion. So we’ve decided to be overtly generous and speed up the process.”
He then reached with the handle of his fiendish umbrella, placing the hook around Robin’s bound ankles and pulling them up a few inches. The brown haired henchgirl then placed the bucket of water directly beneath the captive’s form. Penguin then released his hold on the girl’s nylon-clad legs, dropping them into the bucket of water.
An icy shock wracked Robin’s nervous system as her feet plopped into the water. She shivered uncontrollably as her ankles were then taped to the handle of the bucket, preventing her from lifting her legs out of the icy bath or from swinging and kicking over the tortuous pail.
“Y-y-you… f-f-foul… f-f-fiend!” The powerless young Robin pleaded, “P-p-please… y-y-you… c-c-can’t… d-d-do this!”
“Farewell my frozen young friend. I do understand if you feel the need to cry out for help, but you should be aware that this freezer is completely soundproof, so any pleadings will go unheard. Mwaa-haa-haa-haa.” Penguin’s mocking laughter tore at the helpless heroine’s heart as he, Manta, and Moray exited the frozen prison.
Sluggishly the trapped teen wonder writhed within her diabolical bonds to no avail. The water against her nylon-sheathed feet made her all the more susceptible to the frigid air and its lethal effects. She felt the agony of countless pins and needles racing up her tights-covered legs as her body temperature rapidly began to plummet.
After a few brief moments of pointless resistance she discovered that she was beginning to lose the feeling in her dainty feet. Despair overcame her as she felt her ankles rub against the ice that had begun to form on top of the water’s surface. “So cold…,” she thought to herself. “Can’t escape… this icy trap. Legs… going numb. No… way out.”
Sobbing, the captured teenage heroine’s drowsy mind replayed recent events, recalling how she had so recklessly tried to capture Penguin on her own. “How… I would love… to be back… home studying… for that... stupid… chemistry test.”
Suddenly a thought burst into the young girl’s mind. “Chemistry! That might be… the answer!” Knowing she had only the briefest amount of time before it was too late, the Girl Wonder recalled what she had learned about the physical properties of substances under very low temperature.
As much as her freeing body would allow, the bound heroine tried shifting her legs back and forth and from side to side. Within a few seconds she heard the now brittle tape holding her ankles to the bucket handle crumble and the handle itself fall over, making a small clang as it swung back to the side of the metal pail.
Trying to ignore the crushing pain in her feet, legs, and ankles, the tortured young heroine tried to bend her knees and pull her feet from the icy water. But she was too late, as the water in the bucket had already frozen into a solid block of ice, trapping her feet together like the hardest cement.
Desperately she tried again, this time pulling up the pail-shaped block of ice imprisoning her shapely nylon-clad feet completely free of the bucket and knocking the pail off the stepladder. Her lithe young body was tortured anew as her hanging form now bore the added weight of the large ice block surrounding her feet.
“G-g-god… s-s-so… h-h-heavy,” she groaned as she was stretched to her very limits of endurance. Using every last once of strength remaining in her stomach muscles, Robin began swinging her athletic legs back and forth. Very part of her young body screamed as she bent and pulled, doing modified “leg lifts” while suspended in the air.
With her fading breath the weary teenager gave a final swing. Her years of gymnastics and dance paid off as her feet, and the heavy block of ice attached to them, swung upwards and slammed into the chain and plastic wrap binding her wrists together. The brittle metal and plastic virtually exploded as the block of ice impacted it. Instantly everything flew apart, freeing the freezing young superheroine from her bonds, allowing her to fall gracelessly the few feet to the icy floor below.
Gasping, the battered young beauty lay on the cold freezer floor as blood once again began to flow to her extremities. Robin was in a semi-conscious state for several minutes as her body began the process of warming and healing itself. She was soon well enough to stand and slowly make her way to the large freezer door. Looking out the door’s small window, she saw activity in the factory beyond as Penguin and his crafty criminal companions busied themselves about their work.
“Sure am glad this freezer is soundproof,” muttered a quickly recovering teen heroine, seeing that none of the terrible trio outside seemed aware of her escape from Penguin’s nefarious trap. And then she saw a most beautiful sight. “My utility belt!” It was lying atop the main control panel that the fishy fiend had been working at earlier. And there leaning against the console was Penguin’s own umbrella.
“If I can get out of here and get to that panel without being spotted,” thought a now hopeful teen wonder, “I might just be able to get the drop on that brassy bird and his dangerous duo.” A quick glance at the door handle told her that leaving the freezer would be no problem; it was equipped with a two-way opening mechanism to prevent someone being trapped inside.
But crossing half the factory floor to get to that control panel and her belt would be something else again. But she knew she couldn’t stay in this freezer’s cold grasp much longer, tied up or not. Waiting for just the right opening, she made her move.
Seeing all 3 villains leave the room for a moment gave the beautiful teen heroine just enough time to open the freezer door and slip out undetected. Crouching low she hid behind one of the various pieces of seafood processing machinery. Silently on nylon-covered feet she made her way toward the main panel.
Manta and Moray walked back into the factory from the loading dock where they and the archcriminal Penguin had been loading their frozen fish delivery van for a series of fast food felonies and regal restaurant robberies. As they worked they were unaware that Robin had just slipped behind the master control panel upon which her famous collection of crimefighting tools had been placed.
After a moment they heard, “Hold it right there ladies!” They whirled in surprise to see an escaped Robin standing confidently across the room, hands on hips in the classic superheroine stance. While she was still missing her boots, they noticed that she was now back in possession of her famed utility belt.
Enraged, the blonde villainess snarled, “We got you before and we can do it again!” And with that both of Penguin’s evil henchgirls charged toward the beautiful teen heroine. Robin quickly spun around, revealing a large crate behind her. In one fluid motion she upended the crate spilling its entire contents right in from of the onrushing young women.
The 2 nylon-clad young criminals were unable to avoid the half ton of frozen fish that suddenly littered the factory floor. Charging in they both tripped, slid, and fell headlong into the slippery mess. Momentarily dazed from their plunge it was easy for the Girl Wonder to cover the villainous vixens in a nearby heavy weighted deep sea fishing net.
Looking down in satisfaction, Robin said, “That’ll hold you 2 for a while. Now for your slimy supervisor.”
“Look no further,” cried a familiar voice. Spinning around Robin was not able to move as Penguin, using his dastardly umbrella as a grappling hook, swung across the room on a chain suspended from the ceiling. He slammed into the unsuspecting young crimefighter, sending her flying until she landed on her back atop a hard workbench. She lay stunned as the surprisingly agile archvillain trotted over to where she lay.
As she finally shook free the cobwebs caused by her impact, she saw the criminal mastermind raise his infernal umbrella gun to her face and pull the trigger. Instantly a cloud of vapor shot forth, surrounding the head of the prone teenage girl. Coughing she said, “Not… again. No…” Her eyes then closed and her head lolled back against the tabletop, all resistance ebbing.
“Mwaa-waa-waa,” said the pleased Penguin. Turning toward his still trapped henchgirls, he added, “Some people just never learn.”
“You’re right about that,” said a lovely feminine voice from behind him. Turning, he saw a remarkably UN-unconscious Robin sitting girlishly atop the workbench with her graceful tights-covered legs crossed. “Glad I had a chance to replace the gas cartridge in your umbrella gun with a small Bat-fog capsule.” He was too surprised to move as she quickly swung a large fresh fish that connected squarely with his jaw. He dropped like a ton of bricks. She wasted no time in placing a durable set of Bat-cuffs on his wrists, just to be sure.
Pulling her communicator from the belt encircling her trim waist to summon the police, she wondered aloud, “I wonder what they did with my boots?”
The End
The beautiful teenager was hanging suspended about 4 feet above the floor. Her arms were stretched out above her head. Her gloved wrists were bound together with what looked like kitchen type plastic wrap, and were also bound to a chain hanging down from the ceiling. Looking down she saw that her costume remained intact except for her missing boots and the utility belt that Penguin had taken from her. She found that her nylon-encased ankles were also wrapped by the same thin plastic, which she was unable to break.
Looking around she determined that she was hanging in one of the large freezers in Penguin’s frozen fish factory. That explained the extremely cold environment. Shivering, the helpless young heroine struggled within her unbreakable bonds. “Don’t know… how long… I can last… like this,” she muttered to herself. Looking down at her tights-covered legs, she thought, “I’m not exactly… dressed for winter.”
It was then that a large door opened and in waddled the infamous Penguin, followed by his lovely nylon-clad assistants Manta and Moray. While the 2 women seemed as equally uncomfortable as Robin as their nylon-covered feet walked across the cold freezer floor, the criminal mastermind himself looked quite comfortable. They came to a stop in front of the trapped young girl, looking up at her dangling lithe body.
“Mwaa-waaa-waa,” the Penguin laughed. “I see our guest has rejoined us. Tell me, Girl Blunder, how do you like your accommodations?”
“Let me… down from here,” the powerless young Robin retorted, “and I’ll… show you… how it feels… to be put… on ice.”
With an evil glare, Penguin said, “I’m sure you would my dear, I’m sure you would. Unfortunately for you, you’re not going to get that opportunity. You see my helpless heroine, we regret that we’re going to have to give you the ‘cold shoulder’ as it were. With you out of the way, that will be one less obstacle to our defeating your overprotective senior partner, thereby paving the way for an unobstructed takeover of the city itself.”
Robin’s emotion betrayed itself by allowing her face to show her fear, not only for her own impending demise, but that of her crimefighting mentor Batman as well. While her struggles continued she remained firmly in the clutches of the vile criminal and his chilly cohorts.
He fishy fiend then said to his chilly associates, “Ladies, let’s finish our work in here. While I find it rather pleasant, I would so hate for you to catch your ‘death of cold.’ Mwaa-waa.”
At his bidding the shapely young blonde walked over and picked up a nearby stepladder, returning to place it directly underneath the shivering young superheroine. At the same time the girl with brown hair left the freezer through the only door, returning a few moments later carrying a metal pail filed with water.
“W-w-what ev-v-vil plan… have you g-g-got… up your… s-s-sleeve this… t-t-time?” asked the helpless teenager, shivering from the cold.
Penguin replied, “Well my chilly little captive, we know that if we simply left you here in our pristine prison, it might take you days to be finally be overcome by the cold. But we would truly hate to see you linger in such a cruel fashion. So we’ve decided to be overtly generous and speed up the process.”
He then reached with the handle of his fiendish umbrella, placing the hook around Robin’s bound ankles and pulling them up a few inches. The brown haired henchgirl then placed the bucket of water directly beneath the captive’s form. Penguin then released his hold on the girl’s nylon-clad legs, dropping them into the bucket of water.
An icy shock wracked Robin’s nervous system as her feet plopped into the water. She shivered uncontrollably as her ankles were then taped to the handle of the bucket, preventing her from lifting her legs out of the icy bath or from swinging and kicking over the tortuous pail.
“Y-y-you… f-f-foul… f-f-fiend!” The powerless young Robin pleaded, “P-p-please… y-y-you… c-c-can’t… d-d-do this!”
“Farewell my frozen young friend. I do understand if you feel the need to cry out for help, but you should be aware that this freezer is completely soundproof, so any pleadings will go unheard. Mwaa-haa-haa-haa.” Penguin’s mocking laughter tore at the helpless heroine’s heart as he, Manta, and Moray exited the frozen prison.
Sluggishly the trapped teen wonder writhed within her diabolical bonds to no avail. The water against her nylon-sheathed feet made her all the more susceptible to the frigid air and its lethal effects. She felt the agony of countless pins and needles racing up her tights-covered legs as her body temperature rapidly began to plummet.
After a few brief moments of pointless resistance she discovered that she was beginning to lose the feeling in her dainty feet. Despair overcame her as she felt her ankles rub against the ice that had begun to form on top of the water’s surface. “So cold…,” she thought to herself. “Can’t escape… this icy trap. Legs… going numb. No… way out.”
Sobbing, the captured teenage heroine’s drowsy mind replayed recent events, recalling how she had so recklessly tried to capture Penguin on her own. “How… I would love… to be back… home studying… for that... stupid… chemistry test.”
Suddenly a thought burst into the young girl’s mind. “Chemistry! That might be… the answer!” Knowing she had only the briefest amount of time before it was too late, the Girl Wonder recalled what she had learned about the physical properties of substances under very low temperature.
As much as her freeing body would allow, the bound heroine tried shifting her legs back and forth and from side to side. Within a few seconds she heard the now brittle tape holding her ankles to the bucket handle crumble and the handle itself fall over, making a small clang as it swung back to the side of the metal pail.
Trying to ignore the crushing pain in her feet, legs, and ankles, the tortured young heroine tried to bend her knees and pull her feet from the icy water. But she was too late, as the water in the bucket had already frozen into a solid block of ice, trapping her feet together like the hardest cement.
Desperately she tried again, this time pulling up the pail-shaped block of ice imprisoning her shapely nylon-clad feet completely free of the bucket and knocking the pail off the stepladder. Her lithe young body was tortured anew as her hanging form now bore the added weight of the large ice block surrounding her feet.
“G-g-god… s-s-so… h-h-heavy,” she groaned as she was stretched to her very limits of endurance. Using every last once of strength remaining in her stomach muscles, Robin began swinging her athletic legs back and forth. Very part of her young body screamed as she bent and pulled, doing modified “leg lifts” while suspended in the air.
With her fading breath the weary teenager gave a final swing. Her years of gymnastics and dance paid off as her feet, and the heavy block of ice attached to them, swung upwards and slammed into the chain and plastic wrap binding her wrists together. The brittle metal and plastic virtually exploded as the block of ice impacted it. Instantly everything flew apart, freeing the freezing young superheroine from her bonds, allowing her to fall gracelessly the few feet to the icy floor below.
Gasping, the battered young beauty lay on the cold freezer floor as blood once again began to flow to her extremities. Robin was in a semi-conscious state for several minutes as her body began the process of warming and healing itself. She was soon well enough to stand and slowly make her way to the large freezer door. Looking out the door’s small window, she saw activity in the factory beyond as Penguin and his crafty criminal companions busied themselves about their work.
“Sure am glad this freezer is soundproof,” muttered a quickly recovering teen heroine, seeing that none of the terrible trio outside seemed aware of her escape from Penguin’s nefarious trap. And then she saw a most beautiful sight. “My utility belt!” It was lying atop the main control panel that the fishy fiend had been working at earlier. And there leaning against the console was Penguin’s own umbrella.
“If I can get out of here and get to that panel without being spotted,” thought a now hopeful teen wonder, “I might just be able to get the drop on that brassy bird and his dangerous duo.” A quick glance at the door handle told her that leaving the freezer would be no problem; it was equipped with a two-way opening mechanism to prevent someone being trapped inside.
But crossing half the factory floor to get to that control panel and her belt would be something else again. But she knew she couldn’t stay in this freezer’s cold grasp much longer, tied up or not. Waiting for just the right opening, she made her move.
Seeing all 3 villains leave the room for a moment gave the beautiful teen heroine just enough time to open the freezer door and slip out undetected. Crouching low she hid behind one of the various pieces of seafood processing machinery. Silently on nylon-covered feet she made her way toward the main panel.
Manta and Moray walked back into the factory from the loading dock where they and the archcriminal Penguin had been loading their frozen fish delivery van for a series of fast food felonies and regal restaurant robberies. As they worked they were unaware that Robin had just slipped behind the master control panel upon which her famous collection of crimefighting tools had been placed.
After a moment they heard, “Hold it right there ladies!” They whirled in surprise to see an escaped Robin standing confidently across the room, hands on hips in the classic superheroine stance. While she was still missing her boots, they noticed that she was now back in possession of her famed utility belt.
Enraged, the blonde villainess snarled, “We got you before and we can do it again!” And with that both of Penguin’s evil henchgirls charged toward the beautiful teen heroine. Robin quickly spun around, revealing a large crate behind her. In one fluid motion she upended the crate spilling its entire contents right in from of the onrushing young women.
The 2 nylon-clad young criminals were unable to avoid the half ton of frozen fish that suddenly littered the factory floor. Charging in they both tripped, slid, and fell headlong into the slippery mess. Momentarily dazed from their plunge it was easy for the Girl Wonder to cover the villainous vixens in a nearby heavy weighted deep sea fishing net.
Looking down in satisfaction, Robin said, “That’ll hold you 2 for a while. Now for your slimy supervisor.”
“Look no further,” cried a familiar voice. Spinning around Robin was not able to move as Penguin, using his dastardly umbrella as a grappling hook, swung across the room on a chain suspended from the ceiling. He slammed into the unsuspecting young crimefighter, sending her flying until she landed on her back atop a hard workbench. She lay stunned as the surprisingly agile archvillain trotted over to where she lay.
As she finally shook free the cobwebs caused by her impact, she saw the criminal mastermind raise his infernal umbrella gun to her face and pull the trigger. Instantly a cloud of vapor shot forth, surrounding the head of the prone teenage girl. Coughing she said, “Not… again. No…” Her eyes then closed and her head lolled back against the tabletop, all resistance ebbing.
“Mwaa-waa-waa,” said the pleased Penguin. Turning toward his still trapped henchgirls, he added, “Some people just never learn.”
“You’re right about that,” said a lovely feminine voice from behind him. Turning, he saw a remarkably UN-unconscious Robin sitting girlishly atop the workbench with her graceful tights-covered legs crossed. “Glad I had a chance to replace the gas cartridge in your umbrella gun with a small Bat-fog capsule.” He was too surprised to move as she quickly swung a large fresh fish that connected squarely with his jaw. He dropped like a ton of bricks. She wasted no time in placing a durable set of Bat-cuffs on his wrists, just to be sure.
Pulling her communicator from the belt encircling her trim waist to summon the police, she wondered aloud, “I wonder what they did with my boots?”
The End
Can't move... This device... holding me by my... sheer tights... has me powerless!