Chapter 17
Harry could tell that Susan was rather eager to know about Sue and Johnny's mother. In her own universe Susan's mother had never shown back up after Franklin Storms had informed Susan that her mother was dead. So Harry hurried the clean-up process up and when he jumped back with Susan to their universe he played around with the temporal coordinates. The couple arrived back in the Baxter Building invisibly and silently not really all that long after the Fantastic Four had arrived.
"Yes Susan," Mary Storm said as she followed her quite angry daughter into the main living area for the Fantastic Four. "You have it exactly right. For the past fifteen years I have been working on a top-secret project. My death was your father's attempt at an elaborate cover story."
"I can't believe we are standing here talking to mom," Johnny said with a grin. "Are you sure you don't want privacy for this family meeting, Sue?" Reed asked. "You're right where I want you, Reed," Sue answered. "What was the big top secret project?" Sue asked.
"I was offered a million dollars a year by a big company to find the lost continent of Atlantis," Mary explained. "Of course that was back when a million dollars was a lot of money. But I didn't do it for the money. This was a search for knowledge and information that could change Earth overnight. Professor Molekevic and I used to talk about this frequently when I worked here. According to myth and legend Atlantis was one of two great super-continents thousands of years more advanced than we are now. It was a shortcut to enlightenment. But the idiots who ran this place wouldn't fund the project."
"Because it's fantasy and doesn't exist," Reed pointed out.
"We found Atlantis six weeks ago. A third of it has already been mapped," Mary declared with a smirk. Her smirk disappeared. "We made the biggest discovery in human history but now I realize the cost seeing how much you've grown," Mary said while taking Johnny's hands. "Our brilliant minds are a curse sometimes. Our work is all consuming," Mary added. "I am so sorry."
"Why didn't you tell us the truth, dad?" Sue asked.
"I didn't think your mother would ever find what she sought. I thought she was gone for good. The truth was so cold and horrible," Franklin explained. "Please don't hate me."
"I don't hate you dad. You're the only one who cared," Susan said before Mary's coffee cup shattered and Sue disappeared.
"I'll go talk to her," Susan said. "You should come but stay invisible." Sue looked up as Susan entered the room but it wasn't until Susan became visible that Sue spoke, asking,
"How much of that did you see?" "Enough," Susan replied while sitting on the bed next to Sue and pulling the younger woman into a hug. Sue felt awkward at first but then relaxed into the hug. "I think of you like an older sister," Sue admitted.
"I think of you like a younger sister," Susan replied. "It makes it easier to deal with everything. But her coming back is very tough to deal with. My version never came back."
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"She probably just never found Atlantis," Sue suggested. "Most likely," Susan agreed. "Does she know about me?" "No," Sue confirmed. "How could she do that to us?"
"I don't know. She must have really wanted to go. I don't think she was thinking very rationally when she did it. Maybe she's coming to explain. She's about to come here. I'll stay invisible," Susan said before disappearing.
"Susan," Mary said while knocking on Sue's door.
"I go by Sue now," Sue replied even as her mother entered.
The tone in Sue's voice was not an inviting one.
"Understood," Mary said as she sat down on the end of the bed. "So what about this Reed Richards? He's a little cutie-pie. He's a touch intense like your father, but much better looking," Mary said with a grin.
"Mom, please. Let's just skip the bonding attempt and cut to the chase," Sue interrupted. "Where were you when Victor Van Damme tried to kill us or when we almost died in that teleportation accident? Your sudden arrival is suspicious. You don't give a damn about us. Johnny may be fooled but I'm not. Just tell me why you are here."
"I need a favor," Mary admitted. Sue waited Mary out and Mary continued. "We have located a trace of life down there beneath the waves. But this life-sign is too far down for any of our divers to investigate. I want the Fantastic Four to assist me for a few days because your fantastic abilities will allow you to reach those depths. The only reason I came back was to get the help of you and your friends to complete a project that means more to me than you, your father, and brother combined. So will you help or am I wasting my time?"
"We will help," Susan replied. "This is to pay you back for giving birth to me. But the second this is over...I don't ever want to see you again. Do you understand?"
"I do," Mary agreed before leaving.
1500 Miles from North-America in the Mid-Atlantic...
"This is really strange," Susan sent as she and Harry swam over 1200 fathoms down in the ocean next to the mini-sub which held Sue, Reed, and Ben. The couple was wearing their armored space-suits. "It's hard to imagine how strong these suits are."
"One of the perks of being with a bloke from the future," Harry replied with a grin.
"There are many more perks than just that...many," Susan sent while returning her lover's grin.
Just then the lovers focused on the ruins that came into view before them. Their suit helmets outlined the ruins far better than the mini-sub's lights could. Harry and Susan scanned the sphinxes and pyramids and detected remnants of advanced technology. Harry analyzed the readings from the life-sign Mary Storm and
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her team had detected from the surface even while Reed, Ben, and Sue physically investigated the same thing. Johnny hadn't been allowed to come along because his powers were useless underwater. Ben busted open the sarcophagus the FF had been investigating.
"I think there is a mutant in there...but the mutation wasn't from a base-line human," Harry explained to Susan.
"Let me see," Susan requested. Harry allowed Susan to see his holo-view. "Genetically this being is fascinating."
"When they broke in they broke the stasis field keeping this Namor being asleep," Harry said.
Namor had been inscribed into the name portion of the sarcophagus. Namor burst out of the sarcophagus in a violent explosion throwing the FF back and knocking out their electronics. Harry reached forward and pulled Reed, Sue, and Ben away from Namor. Namor shot towards the surface at quite a fast speed. Harry allowed Susan and himself to become visible to the FF and followed Namor.
"Harry will take care of the bends," Susan sent knowing her lover would relay her thoughts to reassure the FF.
"Thank you," Sue replied.
As the group neared the surface they found Johnny a dozen feet under the water. Johnny had been knocked there after a brief engagement with Namor. Harry cast a bubble-head charm on Johnny while Sue reached out and wrapped her brother in a force-field to lift Johnny to the surface. Reed launched himself out of the water and wrapped around Namor.
"It's clobberin' time," Ben declared before delivering a powerful jab to Namor's face through Reed. Namor went limp as he lost consciousness. "Over here," Franklin shouted at the crew of the ship. "Get a little closer." "No need, dad," Sue assured as she raised the group to the deck of the ship.
"There is no need to worry, Professor," Reed assured. "Our royal friend Namor has been disabled without any permanent damage."
"I could care less about him," Franklin said. "I was worried about you two," Franklin added while he wrapped his children in a hug.
"Mother looks so sad," Susan noted as she observed Mary Storm. "I think she is masking her true feelings behind the façade that she doesn't care about her children," Harry
speculated. "She could be I suppose," Susan replied uncertainly. "But if she truly cared...she should have never left in
the first place or tried to make it work somehow."
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The Baxter Building...
"Do you think these restraints are enough to hold Namor?" Sue questioned as she observed the restraints her boyfriend had built.
"It was designed to hold the most powerful meta-human on the planet...though that was before Harry came along," Reed mused. "In any case this Namor is incredibly powerful. He had been in stasis for over 9,000 years. His muscles were suffering from the same condition astronauts suffer from after being in space too long according to my pico-medics."
"Let's just hope he isn't suffering any brain damage from your disabling him. After thoroughly scanning Atlantis, Namor appears to be the last survivor," Mary announced.
"Not that they could detect anything shielded," Harry pointed out.
"Can you detect anything still in the city?" Susan questioned.
"Quite a bit," Harry mused. "But it will take some time to explore because of the state of decay going on down there. There are pockets of the capitol city which were sealed up tightly and parts which broke open during the war that obviously went on. I'm hoping to recover an intact database."
"Is their technology superior to yours?" Susan questioned.
"They pursued some unusual aquatic avenues in some things and there are some things my people never thought to pursue. But on the whole they are far inferior to our technology. But they aren't bad for their age relative to my people's age," Harry answered.
While Susan and Harry had been conversing telepathically the others had been discussing what had happened to Atlantis.
Namor decided to announce his return to consciousness by declaring, "It was Lemuria of course. Are you people really that stupid?"
"What was Lemuria?" Sue asked after getting over her shock that Namor was conscious.
"Atlantis had been engaged in a war with the rival nation of Lemuria for centuries. Obviously Lemuria made a strike that sunk Atlantis," Namor explained.
"How are you speaking English?" Franklin asked Namor. "The English language is barely a thousand years old. You've been asleep ten times that long."
"I've been awake for an hour observing your interactions. Your language wasn't difficult to learn," Namor replied. "The Atlantian race is far more evolved than you hairless snickering apes. Imitating your speech patterns is no more of a challenge than copying the bark of a dog."
"Your highness, my name is Dr. Mary Storm. I have been in charge of the project to search for Atlantis for fifteen years," Mary explained. "I would like to apologize for the misunderstanding earlier and open a dialogue with you to help introduce you to the modern world."
"I feel no need to talk to a wrinkled old trout like you. If I was going to open a dialogue with anyone here it would be the pretty one," Namor said while looking appreciatively at Sue.
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"Excuse me?" Sue said offended for her mother's sake.
"My secrets won't be shared with the rest of you Neanderthals. But if Sue was willing to spend time in my company my view may change," Namor said.
"I hardly think you are in a position to negotiate," Reed pointed out. Namor simply broke free of his restraints with only moderate effort. "Flame-on," Johnny cried while he and Ben stepped forward.
"You initiated the previous hostility between us," Namor pointed out. "If I wanted you dead I could have ended you many times already. Remove this wretched rock monstrosity from my path or I will punch a hole in it."
"He has a bit of a point about me starting the fight," Johnny admitted. "But we can't just let him walk around the city," Reed said. "There is no man here who could stop me," Namor replied.
Reed wasn't so sure about that. Everyone present except Namor thought that Spider-Man and Susan were concealed nearby. None of these people were willing to bet against Spider-Man in a fight against even the likes of Namor.
"I'll go with him," Sue volunteered. "Sue," Reed objected.
"Namor is the last king of Atlantis, Reed. Just imagine what we could learn from him...about science I mean," Sue suggested. "Besides, I'm big enough to look after myself."
"I know that. It's just...he's a pretty good looking guy," Reed admitted in a whisper to Sue. "Really? I uh...hadn't noticed," Sue lied.
Susan and Harry watched as Sue walked with Namor through Central Park. They were mostly just there to chaperone Namor. Franklin and Reed had sent robots to do much the same thing. It was because Harry had left a text message for the two men assuring them that Spider-Man was watching out for Sue that they didn't insist on more precautions.
"Was he really the last king of Atlantis?" Susan wondered.
"No. They screwed up the translation. Namor was an Atlantian prisoner. He was a mutant in addition to being an Atlantian and was a criminal. His arrogance led him to believe he could take whatever he wanted," Harry explained.
"He's arrogant enough to be a king but I became suspicious when he didn't know exactly why Atlantis had
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been destroyed. At first I thought maybe it was an automated suspended animation protocol for the king in case of an attack. But the more I thought about it...the less likely I thought that measure," Susan said. "Uh oh...I think he's making his move."
Indeed, Namor had used short range teleportation to get Sue away from the robots. Harry's satellite network tracked Namor to Times Square. Harry took Susan with him as he phased there. Harry and Susan arrived just in time to see Sue throwing Namor back for getting fresh with her. Namor crashed into the side of a delivery truck.
"Idiot," Namor shouted as he emerged from the truck. "Do you realize who you have rejected?"
Namor shot towards Sue with the intent to strike her with a backhand to the face. Harry appeared in front of Sue just as Harry's hand caught Namor's back-fist.
"I believe the lady accurately identified you as a jack-ass," Harry replied while squeezing down on Namor's fist with a crushing grip.
Namor jerked his fist back and clutched it as he stepped back to look at Harry. "Who are you?" Namor demanded. "He's the one man on this planet who can kick your ass," Susan said as she appeared next to her sister. "Two of them," Namor whispered while looking at Sue and Susan.
At that moment the robots sent by Reed and Franklin attacked Namor with sonic weapons. Namor contemptuously tore the robots apart before turning his focus back to Spider-Man. Harry sent a net of webbing wrapping around Namor securing the super-criminal's limbs tightly. Namor sneered down at the webbing.
"This will not hold me anymore than Reed Richard's pathetic restraints," Namor boasted.
Namor grunted as he struggled against the webbing. Namor strained and fought against the resistance of the webbing until he turned blue in the face.
"It looks like you spoke too soon, Namor," Sue told Namor.
"I will break free of your restraints even if it takes me killing everyone in this wretched city to do it," Namor shouted as the sky darkened above.
A massive figure composed of water in the shape of a creature that was half man-half octopus wielding a trident rose over the city taller than most of the skyscrapers.
"Harry," Susan whispered in alarm.
Harry shot forward and picked up Namor before leaping towards the figure in the water. It was obvious that Namor wanted to use the water to cut through the webbing. So Harry would give Namor that opportunity. The two figures crashed into the water creature and sank into the tidal wave behind the figure. Harry delivered a powerful punch to Namor's head which sent Namor shooting down into the depths of the ocean. Harry felt the water cutting at the webbing binding Namor through the spell strengthening the webbing. The webbing could only contain so much magical energy before burning up. So the strengthening spell could
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only go so far in reinforcing the webbing before being overcome. That was why Harry generally layered the webbing. But Namor was strong enough to overpower the only layer Harry had used.
Namor returned shooting through the water like a missile screaming in rage. Namor shot into Harry and was stopped cold. Harry was anchored in spacetime. The shockwave released from Namor's impact caused the water to explode outward from the two super-beings. The void of water was in a spherical shape roughly a mile around Harry. Namor was momentarily knocked senseless.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Susan sent.
"I am fine," Harry assured. "Though Namor isn't looking so hot."
"Just making sure," Susan said. "That was a hell of an impact."
Namor came swimming closer more cautiously this time after regaining his wits and the water returning.
"What are you?" Namor questioned, his voice carrying clearly through the water.
Harry activated a charm for speaking through the water and answered, "I am Earth's protector."
"If you were really Earth's protector you would destroy these people. In my brief examination of their ancient technology they are polluting the Earth tremendously," Namor pointed out.
"I am working on that through my own methods. Your method of mass murder is unacceptable. Leave this area and the humans in peace and I will let you live. Challenge me further and I will snap you in two," Harry warned.
Namor stared intently at Harry for several moments before replying, "Normally I would kill you for your threat. But I find you an intriguing sparring partner. We will meet again guardian. Give Sue my best."
Namor swam away in a blur that most humans wouldn't have been able to follow.
Sue and her mother somewhat made up before Mary left to pursue more research on Atlantis. The Fantastic Four knew Namor was still out there but at the same time Spider-Man was still present to keep Namor in check.
"Well that was rather fucked up," Harry declared after he and Susan finished watching events from the WWH feed.
The couple focused on what had happened over the span of the next month. Harry had recently designed a fast forward feature on the WWH feed using temporal probes and he was glad he had. In the alternate universe Harry and Susan had just been watching Reed had engaged in some time travel to try to prevent the accident which first gave the Fantastic Four their powers. Reed undertook this risky time travel procedure because Ben Grimm had wanted to commit suicide rather than be cursed with the powers of The Thing.
"Those Skrull are dangerous," Susan noted. "Wait...that name sounds familiar."
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"You may know them better by the name most of humanity knows...the Chitauri," Harry said. "That was the alien race that you and the Ultimates threw down with right?" Susan clarified.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "We threw down with one faction of the Skrull Empire. That faction called themselves Chitauri. There are numerous factions. Most of them take worlds through deceit and conquering like you saw in the WWH feed. But some are peaceful and some even resist those who take by power. Reed ran into one of the not-so-nice factions in that alternate universe."
When Reed had corrected the teleportation accident he and his friends had been teleported to a Skrull world. The Skrull had gifted humanity with pills filled with nano-robots which among other things unlocked super- powers in the humans of that Earth. Unfortunately once all but one of that universe's humans had taken the power-pills the Skrull's attack came. The nano-robots disintegrated the Earthlings. The entire incident had resulted in the sole remaining human (that Earth's Ben Grimm) traveling back to the past and trying to stop Reed from preventing the teleportation accident. This resulted in a near paradox situation.
"Can you help our Ben so Reed doesn't go mucking about with time?" Susan questioned.
"I believe I can. But I really need to get him in some specialty scanning equipment. I need to construct the scanning equipment. The exotic matter used in the medical grade scanners I will need resist my normal convenient fabrication methods," Harry explained.
"Can I help?" Susan asked, always eager to learn more about her mate's amazing science. "Of course," Harry agreed. "Let's go to my lab."
The two rose from the love-seat they had been sharing and left to go to his lab. It took them several days of work to get the scanning equipment built and tested. Susan was amazed at the level of detail the scanning equipment was able to show. She then helped Harry construct a genetic manipulation feature into the equipment.
Smut Scene Lead-In
Harry materialized in Elektra's safe-house under an invisibility spell. Before Elektra could sense him he sent a binding that saw her hands and ankles secured to the nearest wall. He dropped his invisibility as Elektra snarled and struggled.
"Release me and I'll kill you quickly," Elektra demanded.
Despite Elektra's recent brush with death landing her in a temporary comatose state it would seem her disposition hadn't improved much.
"My dear Elektra...when I'm done with you killing me will be the last thing you want to do," Harry promised.
Harry sent a burst of arcane energy that looked very much like lightning from his right finger-tips straight into Elektra's crotch. Elektra screamed and thrashed in her binding as an orgasm that had her mind almost on the edges of madness tore through any sense of resistance she felt. Harry cut off his spell almost soon as it had begun and drew closer to Elektra.
"Do you still want to kill me?" Harry asked.
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Elektra spit in his face and then said, "Yes."
Harry's right hand reached out and cupped her sex while vanishing the crotch of her outfit. His fingers delved into her slit. She was soaked.
"Your cunt says otherwise," Harry assured. "You are going to love being my bitch."
Any reply Elektra was about to snarl was cut off as a surge of pleasure shot through her sex while Harry's fingers conveyed magic into her insides. Harry meanwhile removed his pants.
Begin Smut Scene
Harry repositioned himself between Elektra's spread legs and removed his fingers which earned a disapproving moan from the woman. Moments later his fingers were replaced with his dick. Elektra was tight but she was no virgin. She must not have had sex for a while. Harry slid his dick home in the assassin's womanly passage. Elektra groaned as his pelvis met her groin. He settled there for a while grinding against her and enjoying the squeezing of her inner muscles. Then he began to move. He used his Spider-powers to grip the wall as he slowly carved out her insides with his turgid shaft. Elektra began panting and had stopped struggling against her bindings. She had closed her eyes to focus on the sensations. Harry leaned back so that he could look down between them and watch his prick slide in and out from Elektra's vaginal gash. Her pussy lips were stretched widely around the girth of his manhood. His dick glistened with her fresh juices each time he pulled out of her. He felt her insides melding around his organ each time he pushed back into her, giving way for the unrelenting force of his passage. The heat of her tunnel was felt in the core of his penis. Harry reached up and began stripping away her remaining outfit with the sounds of tearing cloth.
Elektra tried inwardly cursing herself for her weakness of will. She had thought she was being raped but the truth was the moment he had hit her with that pleasure bolt she was Spider-Man's. Harry Demire was undeniably handsome and she had masturbated a few times to thoughts of fucking him. But damn it he was doing this against her will (or at least it had started out that way). Elektra's pussy burned as his thick tool moved within her body. He was reaching deep inside of her to the entrance of her service with each inwards stroke. His hands came up and cupped her breasts after he had freed them. She opened her eyes and saw desire staring back at her. His mouth came down and inhaled her left nipple. His tongue swirled around her bud while he gave her a few faster and harder jabs, just enough to lure her appetite further into wanting him. His hands slid down her body as he continued to suck on her tits and came to rest on her hips. The restraints on her ankles vanished. She could either attack him with her legs or embrace him sexually. A war raged inside of her for a moment until a fresh insurgence of pleasure came from where his prick touched her. Her legs came up and wrapped around his hips pulling him harder into her embrace whenever she could.
"Your pussy is pretty damn tight," Harry whispered into Elektra's left ear after he had stopped sucking on her nipples. "That pussy is mine now to fuck whenever I want. Say it," he said while pausing.
Elektra opened her mouth to seemingly say something but after a moment snapped her jaw shot. She pulled her head back enough that she was able to slam her forehead against Harry's jaw. The blow didn't hurt but it startled him enough that he stepped back. She kicked at Harry's groin with her free feet and nailed him right in the testicles. Harry thanked every higher power he could that he had a reinforced physiology. He wasn't wearing his armor but the blow's effects were still greatly diminished. He freed Elektra's wrists as if he had lost concentration and waited until she came at him. He moved faster than she could follow and pinned her back the back of the neck so that she was bent over the couch. Harry re-entered her cunt from behind and felt her insides constricting tightly around his dick in protest at the violent intrusion. Harry released her neck and leaned back before delivering a powerful smack to Elektra's right ass-cheek. Elektra squawked at the blow. Her inner muscles clamped tightly around him. Another blow followed and then Elektra tried slamming her head back against his face. Harry moved his head and caught her with a grip on both of her tits. He held her trapped against his chest while his hips continued to saw back and forth, driving his weapon unstoppably to and from her sheathe.
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"You will surrender," Harry promised as he sent surges of arcane pleasure energy directly into Elektra's womanhood.
Elektra feared her partner was right. The movement of his dick within her felt simply too good. Euphoria descended over her mind. His fingers twisted and rolled her nipples between his digits. His mouth worked at the exposed flesh of her neck, marking her with small nips of his teeth. She felt his organ flex within her as he stretched out her insides. The meaty slap of her rump bouncing off of his groin was heard in the room as well as the sounds of her grunts as he drove into her. His weight bore down on her but she stayed in the same position easily with her strength. She felt the tension building in her belly as the pleasure pooled there. His breathing deepened as he sensed her drawing closer to orgasm. He was right there with her. She had put up her best fight but there was simply no resisting his power. And really she didn't want to. She loved feeling his shaft moving within her and stuffing her cunny. She felt his magic within her reshaping her desires to conform to his will. All she needed to do was say one little thing to keep this going.
"I am yours, Master," Elektra whispered. "Make me cum please."
Harry grinned as he shifted his hands to Elektra's hips. He held her tightly as he pounded in and out of her quim. He pumped her pussy with faster and harder strokes and she began to respond verbally. She moaned and gasped deeply as his dick-tip hit her cervix. His meaty shaft constantly rubbed against her g-spot. Her inner muscles rubbed against his frenulum. His right hand reached around the curve of her hip and rubbed her clit. Elektra cried out and her cunt clamped down on Harry's prick. Her body shuddered against him as she climaxed. Harry rooted himself fully in her quim and let loose his seed into her honey-pot. The partners mashed their sexes together as they came hard. Harry teleported them onto Elektra's bed.
"Clean my cock, my bitch. Then you are going to climb back on and continue to ride my dick until I say so," Harry ordered.
"Yes, Master," Elektra said sluggishly.
As Harry experienced Elektra's mouth slurping on his pole he focused on how wonderful his life was in this new universe.
End Smut Scene
Ben Grimm stepped into the New York Headquarters of Spider-M Incorporated. Spider-M Incorporated was Spider-Man's company for handling all of the superhero's business affairs from technology production and distribution to managing his public image. The multi-billionaire superhero's skyscraper was impressively futuristic but Ben expected nothing less from a being from an alternate universe further along the timeline than his Earth. Ben hadn't told the other members of the Fantastic Four that he had been asked to come here. The message hadn't said what this was about but Ben was curious.
"I was asked to come here by Spider-Man," Ben said to the attractive receptionist at the front desk.
"Of course Mr. Grimm," Rebecca the receptionist said. "Please step onto that glowing pad and you will be transported to where you need to go."
Ben eyed the teleporter suspiciously before finally stepping on. Immediately he was standing in a lab facility. Susan and Harry were both present.
"Welcome Ben," Susan greeted while Harry nodded and smiled warmly.
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"What did you want to see me about?" Ben asked while glancing around.
"First off we want to show you a series of events from an alternate universe very much like our own," Harry explained.
"The major difference between that universe and ours is that Harry here never went to that universe. Please have a seat," Susan suggested while gesturing towards a specially designed couch.
Ben sat and a holo-feed began playing. Ben watched through all of the events Harry and Susan had just watched. When it was finished Ben was silent for several minutes.
Finally he said, "I can't have been the only human on the entire planet who didn't want to become a superhero. I'm not that special."
"It does seem unlikely, does it," Harry mused. "But one of the properties of the multiverse you need to understand is that there exists a universe where every possibility plays out no matter how unlikely. There are an infinite number of universes which means there are an infinite number of universes where you were the only human to turn down super-powers. There are also an infinite number of universes where you were the only human to receive super-powers."
"I get it," Ben agreed. "It's just hard to comprehend." "Ben, is it true you are feeling that way?" Susan asked. "That you want to kill yourself," she clarified.
Again Ben was silent for a short while. Finally he admitted, "Yes. Now that you know what are you going to do about it? I mean it isn't like you can help me."
"Do you see that scanning machine over there Ben?" Harry asked as he indicated the scanner he and Susan had constructed.
"Yes, though I didn't know what it was," Ben replied. "Would you step into it?" Harry requested.
Ben rose and stepped into the scanner. Harry immediately began working the controls. A scanning beam began sweeping up and down Ben's form. Even more energy fields swept through him in spectrums of light not visible to humans. Ben could feel every fiber in his being coursing with energy as the scanner did its job. The scanning went on for some time before it shut off.
"Are you done?" Ben asked.
"Yes," Harry assured. "Please take a seat again. Susan and I are going to run some simulations to see what happens if we alter your DNA to try to deal with your abilities. My computers can model your bio-systems and then speed up time to see the effects on you long term. We want to make sure if we change you that it won't end up harming you later in your life. You can watch on the holographic interfaces here."
Harry indicated a newly revealed holo-feed. Ben watched the holo-feed as Harry and Susan manipulated it. Ben tried to follow what the couple was doing. He saw multiple versions of his form. All of the versions started out the same. Various growths began to develop in different regions of the simulation's body until the growth got so big the simulated version died. It looked like each simulation lived out Ben's expected life- span in ten seconds or less. This went on for an hour or two with so many versions of Ben dying that he
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began to lose hope. But Ben was unable to watch all of the simulations. He tried but near the end he just lost the ability to focus on them. It was after Ben lost focus that the simulations began to yield results.
"Alright, Ben," Susan said as the holo-feed disappeared with only a single simulated version free of growths remaining. "We are pretty confident we have a solution. Please step back onto the scanner."
Ben lumbered himself up and made it back to the scanner. Harry activated the course of treatment and a single wave of energy passed through Ben.
"You can step out now, Ben," Harry said. "It's done." "Nothing happened," Ben noted as he stepped out of the scanner.
"Nothing happened that you can see on a macroscopic level," Susan corrected. "But your DNA has changed."
"Shouldn't my powers be gone then?" Ben asked. "I mean...wasn't that what you were trying to do?" "No," Harry corrected. "What I was trying to do was give you control over your abilities. Watch," Harry said as he picked up a tiny device which looked like a small remote control.
Harry typed out a code on the device and Ben felt strange. Suddenly he felt himself shrinking and changing. Within seconds he was human again.
"I'm me again," Ben declared with a grin as he felt his face and other fleshy regions. Ben then proceeded to sweep Harry and Susan into a hug. "You both are amazing! Thank you so much!"
After Ben stepped back Harry explained, "We still need to train you how to turn your powers on an off. If you don't get training you might turn your abilities on when you don't want them on. Imagine what would happen if you were in the middle of sex and you reverted to your bio-stone form."
Ben blanched at the thought. "What is that thing you are holding?" Ben asked.
"This is a cheat. It's a remote that sends a signal to your body which basically flips the switch activating and deactivating your abilities," Harry explained.
"Can someone else make a remote like that to render me powerless?" Ben questioned.
"If they had possessed technology as advanced as mine or close to it and had gotten you into that scanner then yes...they could have duplicated this remote. But I just locked your genetic code with an encryption technology. I will provide you the details of that encryption if you are interested. You need the Passcode to unlock the encryption," Harry explained. "But you don't need the Passcode to activate and deactivate your abilities."
Ben looked intently at Spider-Man for some time before saying, "No. I trust you. Susie here wouldn't be with you if you weren't good people. No offense but I think in my bio-stone form as you put it I would crush that remote."
"It's stronger than it looks," Harry assured. "I think if you, Hulk, and I went at it together we may be able to damage it but that might not be the case. In any case you couldn't push the buttons otherwise in your bio-
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stone form. It has a holographic interface you activate on vocal command. Then you enter the password you set. The holographic interface will be keyed so that only you can see it."
Susan would have asked how that feature worked if she didn't already know from a previous conversation. Ben's optical nerves had been enhanced to see a certain encrypted wavelength of light that only he could perceive.
"Alright...You had better get started on training me," Ben said. "But before we start I gotta ask...can you cure blindness?"
"That Alicia interested you didn't she?" Harry said with a grin. Ben matched that grin. "Yes I can cure blindness."
"Good," Ben replied. Then training commenced.
Ben decided to keep his ability to switch back and forth a secret from the other members of the Fantastic Four and the world in general until after he had perfected the ability without the aid of the special remote. That didn't mean Ben intended to wait to start pursuing Alicia. Ben went to the same park he saw the other him meet Alicia at in the WWH feed. Alicia was there and the two started dating.
"So Reed is planning on dumping the Zombie-Fantastic Four back in their home universe," Harry mused as he and Susan watched the sensor feeds from the Baxter Building.
Harry had just joined Susan in one of her private rooms within their home. The couple was sitting in a love seat watching the holo-feed.
"Yes. He has figured out that the nexus which allowed the Zombie-Universe to connect with ours through the N-Zone will be out of alignment within the next week. After that it will be another fifty billion years before they align again," Susan explained. "He even figured out how to drop them off without a connecting device in that universe."
"Is Zombie-Reed still predicting his imminent break-out?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Susan confirmed. "I would take him more seriously if he was you. I don't know that there is a cage in existence which could contain you."
Just then the couple watched on the feed as Franklin Storm ran out of the lab he had been talking to Reed in. It became apparent where Franklin had been going when Johnny was brought in on a stretcher.
"I'm scanning him now," Harry assured Susan even as Johnny's back arched and he screamed in pain. "It appears he has an alien parasite in his intestines."
"How did that get in there?" Susan asked.
"Well the parasite has spent a great deal of time in the N-Zone," Harry mused. "Wait...there is residual spell residue. The residue is faint but I can trace it back to Latveria."
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"Victor," Susan snarled. "That little shit is trying to kill my brother."
"Yes...and it would appear your mother is in Latveria with Victor. I think she may be playing him. She is sporting one of his mind control tattoos but it is disabled," Harry explained.
"Could even she be that cold hearted that she would risk her son's life?" Susan asked.
"Well Victor has the spell texts to banish the creature from Johnny's intestines. It's an old Lovecraft monster...an old god in some ancient cultures. The Atlantians banished it to the N-Zone eons ago because they couldn't kill it," Harry explained.
"Sue is texting me right now wondering if we can help," Susan said even as she checked the holo-display from her phone. "How do you want to handle this?"
"How about we tell Reed and Sue what is going on and let Victor spring his trap. I can take Johnny's pain away. No offense but your brother needs a dose of reality and thinking he is going to die just might do it," Harry suggested.
"No offense taken," Susan assured.
Sue and Reed weren't exactly enthusiastic about letting Victor's trap spring but they understood the need in order to make sure Victor had no more surprises hidden. Harry's reassurance that he could undo any damage Victor dished out certainly helped. The younger couple had a great deal of trust in Spider-Man and Susan Storm. The Fantastic Four made it look convincing. They went to all their contacts seeking help for Johnny over the next few days. The creature would hatch in seven days from that first attack of pain. When nobody could help the Fantastic Four went to Latveria to seek Victor's help.
Victor had used a secondary Atlantian spell to make it impossible as far as the Atlantians were concerned for anyone except the caster to undo the spell. Harry could undo it but he would rather see this play out.
While the Fantastic Four went to Latveria the Zombie-Fantastic Four managed to convince their guards that Zombie-Reed had turned a simple ballpoint pen into a transporter. When Zombie-Sue turned the Zombie-FF invisible the guards rushed into the cell to try to stop the zombies. That was when the Zombie-FF became visible and slaughtered the guards. Harry almost didn't save the guards. He almost considered the guards' belief in the teleporter pen Darwinian elimination in action. It wasn't the belief that a teleporter could be built in the size and shape of a pen. Harry could do that himself. It was the belief that the Zombie-FF could do the conversion with nothing more than what they had in their cell.
In any case Lily replaced the guards with cloned duplicates lacking any sentience (controlled by Lily herself). The real guards were stuck in an enchanted sleep for a while. Lily did the same for all of the other scientists and personnel trapped in with the zombies in the upper levels of the Baxter Building. Franklin had the upper levels locked down and an energy shield went up around the building. Harry had personally upgraded the shield. Nothing on Earth except Harry himself was getting in or out of that shield without being allowed through.
Harry turned his attention back to the matters in Latveria after giving Lily orders on how to handle with the situation back in New York.
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"I take it you know why we have come here, Victor?" Sue said.
"Of course," Victor replied. "There is an alien entity which threatens the entire planet. Your boyfriend is incapable of helping. This would be the same Mr. Fantastic who told everyone I was the reason we were scarred in the teleporter accident."
"You've made your point," Ben spoke up. "Are you going to help Johnny?"
"That would be the best way to prove I'm so much better than Richards," Victor replied. "But I have one condition. Before you hear my condition...Dr. Storm if you would," he added.
Mary Storm stepped into the room.
"Sue and Ben...would you please step out of the room," Mary requested.
"I can't say I am surprised," Sue said but followed her mother out.
Sue had been warned of Mary's presence. The others left and Victor thought it was just he and Reed left. Harry and Susan were also in the room invisible.
"The alien entity's name is Zvilpogghua. It means The Feaster from the Stars. It was one of Lovecraft's Great Old Ones. Zvilpogghua was cast into the abyss by the ancestors of Atlantis. This book from Atlantis says Zvilpogghua has been slumbering in the N-Zone for millions of years. Zvilpogghua can be exorcised with the original spell the Old Gods used. I have the spell and the skill to cast it. Zvilpogghua seeks out the most powerful form and uses it to consume all that surrounds it," Victor explained.
"What is it that you really want, Victor?" Reed asked.
"I want to be the leader of the Fantastic Four by being you, Richards. I know how much that would hurt you. I can swap our bodies," Victor explained.
Reed appeared stunned.
"Agree to it, Reed," Harry sent. "I can make him think he has become you."
"You orchestrated this entire situation, summoned Zvilpogghua into Johnny," Reed accused.
"Yes," Victor confirmed. "But you can't tell anyone about this or I won't save Johnny." Reed glared at Victor for about a minute before saying, "Let's do it."
As he prepared the Atlantian body-swapping spell Victor said, "This is what you get by insulting my honor. You told people the accident was my mistake."
Reed remained silent while the spell was going on. When Victor was turned away Harry had replaced Reed with a mindless clone. This was what Victor swapped bodies with. Lily took control of Victor's now mindless form. As the now invisible Reed looked around at his surroundings, Sue burst into the room to get who she thought was Reed to respond to the emergency at the Baxter Building.
"Is this how you normally view the rest of us?" Reed asked.
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"Yes," Susan answered. "We are often watching you and the others like this." "You know you could just be visible. We wouldn't mind," Reed pointed out. "I didn't want to intrude on your lives unless we were needed," Susan admitted. "It wouldn't be an intrusion," Reed assured. "Sue and I have talked about it." "Alright," Susan agreed. "Let's head back to the Baxter Building to watch the action."
The Baxter Building... "Where is Spider-Man?" Fury asked Janet.
Fury had assembled the Ultimates outside of the Baxter Building to help contain the threat in case of a shield breach.
"He's around assessing the threat from other angles," Janet answered.
Janet spotted her mate appearing invisibly with Susan and Reed. Janet and Natasha were the only two Ultimates that could currently see Harry. The fantasti-car landed and the FF got out.
"Reed, I am so glad you are back. The Zombie-Fantastic Four will have their bridge to their home universe finished in about an hour. While we may be able to contain a Zombie-Fantastic Four we cannot hope to contain some of the other potential zombies that may come through," Franklin explained.
The group that had stayed behind during the last visit to that universe had managed to clean up the bulk of the zombie superheroes but the most powerful zombies had gone to ground and remained at large.
"Given Spider-Man's involvement in those shields I am not so sure it couldn't contain them. In any case my highest priority remains freeing Johnny of the entity in his colon," Victor asserted.
"Reed, the entity won't hatch for days. My dad just said the zombies will be free in an hour," Sue felt she needed to point out.
"Please don't insult my intelligence," Victor said. "I am aware of that factor. But Johnny's powers are essential to my plan. Now please stop questioning me."
Victor entered the building at that heading towards Johnny's room. Victor immediately got to work preparing the room for the ritual to exorcise Zvilpogghua.
"Is this going to hurt when the creature gets ripped out of my gut and sent back to the N-Zone?" Johnny questioned as the preparations were finalized.
"I'm not going to lie about it, Johnny. This won't be pleasant," Victor warned. Victor then began the ritual. "With this salt I sprinkle about, I banish all negative spirits out. Within this form you may not stay, I demand
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you now go on your way. With harm to none it shall be done," Victor chanted in Atlantian. A wave of magical energy shot forth from Johnny's stomach and enveloped the room. Harry knew right
away something was wrong as the creature phased out of Johnny's stomach. "Ya did it, stretch," Ben said.
"No. No I didn't," Victor screamed hysterically. "It was supposed to be banished to the N-Zone. I made a mistake in my pronunciation and trapped Zvilpogghua in the physical world! The world is doomed."
"What are we supposed to do now?" Ben asked.
"Duck," Victor shouted as Zvilpogghua shot off of Johnny's chest and out the door of the room.
"Do you know where the creature is heading?" Sue asked.
"The creature needs a human host so it is searching for the most powerful one in the vicinity," Victor answered as they ran after it.
"Shouldn't it be going after you?" Reed asked Harry.
"If I was de-cloaked," Harry answered. "My methods of cloaking are pretty damn good. Excuse me."
Harry teleported out to the front of the building and put Thor under a cloak even as Zvilpogghua burst out of the front of the building. Zvilpogghua shot past where Thor had been standing and went straight towards the body of Victor which Lily had piloted to the scene. Zvilpogghua phased into the chest of the bio-metallic body. Harry and Thor reappeared and Harry grabbed the Zvilpogghua possessed body. Harry teleported Victor's body into the region of the Baxter Building the Zombie-FF were contained within. Lily began piloting the body into attacking the zombies.
"Why is Victor doing this?" Franklin asked. "This doesn't seem like him at all."
"That isn't Victor," Victor in Reed's form said. "I am Victor. That is Richards. I used an Atlantian spell to switch our minds. My honor dictates I switch us back." Victor chanted a spell which switched him back into his original form. Victor said to the audio-pick-ups in that lab he was in, "Just make sure the record books realize I was the one who saved this world."
Victor stepped through the portal into the zombie infested universe. Lily controlling his form had already sent the zombie-FF through the portal.
"Mother is claiming credit for this entire situation. She says she planned it from the start outwitting Victor," Sue explained as the Fantastic Four plus Susan, Harry, and Alicia sat in the Baxter Building relaxing after cleaning up from the zombie and Zvilpogghua situation.
"I'm not sure I believe her," Reed mused. "Frankly I didn't think Victor had it in him to do the honorable thing in the end."
"I didn't either," Sue agreed.
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"So Johnny, what did your near-death experience teach you about yourself?" Alicia asked. "To be honest...absolutely nothing," Johnny admitted. "Your parents used up all the good genes on you," Harry sent to Susan with amusement. "What do you think happened to Victor over there?" Reed questioned.
"I've been keeping tabs on him," Harry admitted. "He managed to banish Zvilpogghua correctly on his second attempt. Now he seems to be working on a way to find the remaining zombies and clean them up."
"He can't get back here can he?" Reed asked.
"Not without outside help. His tech level is too low," Harry assured. "But if he rehabilitates maybe in the future I might step in and help him out. He would have to prove himself to have changed though. His act sacrificing himself leads me to believe he has the potential to change."
"If you want we could periodically have conversations with him to give him at least some human interaction," Sue offered.
Reed reluctantly nodded his agreement with the offer. Johnny and Ben didn't look so agreeable to that idea.
"That would be a good idea," Harry agreed. "I can set up a holographic interface between this building and that universe. Only holo-data will be relayed."
From there the down-time conversation turned to other less world-critical matters.
Harry, Jean, and Storm finished watching the episode of the TV show Kitty had wanted to show them. "That is pretty damn disturbing," Storm noted.
"Yes it is. I heard rumors about mutants being executed on live web broadcasts. So I tracked the rumors to an overseas subscription site and hacked in. I couldn't get any further really than episodes of the show," Kitty explained.
"Let me see what I can do," Harry said. "I'm on it," Lily said. "Earth systems are so slow in this time period," Lily complained. "Here you go."
"Ok. I have the info we need. Let's get the rest of the X-Men together for a briefing. Good job spotting this, Kitty," Harry praised.
Kitty stood and smiled warmly at Harry for the praise.