SUSAN STORM: NEW SPECIES
Chapter 12
“Sigh… It was only a matter of time…” Looking through his closet and finding it completely empty, Johnny Storm shook his head and turned to head out his room to meet the rest of the family. His sister Suzie had asked him weeks ago if he could donate some of his old cloths to a charity Alicia had been doing lately, he didn’t mind at the time but now that his entire wardrobe was close to empty, he was starting to have regrets to saying she could take what she needed. “I’m all for helping out Alicia, but do you have to take ALL my old things?”
His sister had been missing for at least 5 days now, ever since the fire at Janet Van Dyne’s place last week. And it was taking quite the toll on him and the others; Reed had stopped his asteroid research to spend time with Franklin and Valaria. Ben had gone to a local boxing gym to cool off for the last couple days himself. But as for Johnny? He tried to distract himself with a few things; spending time with his niece and nephew, but nothing helped.
He may not have been as smart as his sister or Reed, but he knew well enough that a house fire wasn’t something that would take out his sister, especially since there was no sign of her afterwards.
“Hey, Reed? Do you know where Alicia is?” Asked the Human Torch, entering the living room to find him watching a film with his two kids, the pair sleeping on the couch. “I’ve been trying to reach her about my cloths she took, but she’s not answering her phone and she’s not at her apartment.”
Scratching at the stubble at his chin, Reed thought about that until he eventually came up with a blank. “Sorry Johnny, I haven’t seen or heard from her for a while… Although…” Getting up from the couch and placing a cushion under his daughter’s head where his lap was, the elastic powered man stood up to think. “I HAVE seen her with boxes in hand heading down the elevator to the storage level, she might have left some of your things there.”
Shrugging, Johnny thought it was a good enough place to start. He was about to head there when Ben came back, closing the door behind him with a deflated punching back over his arm like a towel. “Yeesh! Another one Ben?”
“Yeah… Broken three so far.” After destroying the first punching bag at the gym, Ben had been told to either bring his own or never come back. “Can’t seem to blow off steam lately.”
“Tell me about it…” Shrugging his shoulders, Johnny made his way to the service elevator. Stepping inside he pressed the button for the storage level and sighed, leaning against the wall. “Jeez sis, where the hell did you go? We miss you; Reed misses you.”
Hearing the chime for the sub-floor level, the doors opened, and Johnny was forced to wince and pinch his nose to the stink that wafted through. It smelled like body odour and sweat, like walking into a locker room after practice but WITHOUT the janitor to clean up the place afterwards. Practically having to wave his hand in front of him, He took a step inside and looked around, finding the place pitch black in darkness. “What the hell DIED down here?!” His first step into the large space had him step in something that yielded under his shoe like soft mud, or at least he hoped it was soft mud. Roaming his hand around he couldn’t find the light switch, but he did find his hands press up against something that felt like insulation foam caked all over the walls.
Finally, having had enough, Johnny snapped his fingers and created a plume of flame inside the palm of his hand, bright enough to illuminate the entire space… He immediately wished he hadn’t!
Hundreds of glossy reptilian creatures with coiling tentacles and slit yellow eyes stared back at him, hissing at the intrusion into their lair and surrounded the human torch with brandished claws and fangs. The entire storage room looked like the inside of a cave, the walls and floors covered in a muddy substance he didn’t recognize and the ceiling was alive with what looked like throbbing fleshy objects the size of duffle bags that covered the entire surface of the ceiling and some places in the walls.
Looking ahead and shivering, Johnny found himself staring into the eyes of the largest one at the center of the room, sitting on what looked like a massive, bloated slug, closer inspection made him realise it was a part of her… and it WAS a her! Perched on top of it like she was sitting on a stool with her feet resting on the curves of her extended womb, the female creature looked up at the intruder, her four arms brandishing sharp talons and exposing her H-cup breasts when she reared up. A sea of tentacles squirmed and swayed behind her and her reptilian sneer was crowned with a pair of twisting antlers that framed her face like a tribal mask or crown. The hiss she gave off shook the man to his core, which paled in comparison to when she finally addressed him.
“Johnny…. My dear brother…” Smiling back at the human torch with a look that truly disturbed the man, he felt he was being sized up by the she creature speaking in Susan’s voice. “Come join us… Join your nephews…” Seeing the horde of monsters slowly advance closer to him, Johnny panicked.
“Flame on! FLAME ON!”
Enveloping the entire space in an intense gout of flames that swallowed up the horde of hundreds and their proverbial queen, Johnny staggered back into the elevator and practically punched at the return button to close the doors, both to escape and cut off the screeches of pain coming from the room. To his horror, he found that the creatures he thought he killed slowly get up, their burns and welts rapidly healing before his eyes, and their queen glaring back at him, hissing just as the doors finally closed. Falling to his back and rear and panting with fright in the elevator, Johnny needed a minute to gather his wits. The image of that creature wearing his sister’s face and spoke with her voice was burned into his eyes and he clenched them tight to make it go away. “That’s not Susan… THAT’s not Susan…” He was shocked out of his mantra when he heard something heavy slam against the elevator doors, followed by another, the door visibly denting from the impact as whatever was behind the other side tried to force itself through. When the door buckled and a claw began to reach in and swipe at the Human Torch, Johnny panicked and engulphed the entire compartment in flames, incinerating the claw reaching out for him.
Boxed in and claustrophobic, Johnny used his powers to flash melt the roof of the elevator and escape through the hole to fly back up to the loft floor where the others lived. When the elevator doors blew open from the blast of superheated air and the man’s body slamming through the doors and colliding with the opposite wall, the fire alarms blared and doused the floor with flame retardant and water.
“JEEZ! WHAT THE HELL JOHNNY?!” Cried out Ben, tossing his punching back down to the ground, completely soaked. His temper fading when he noticed the fiery man scramble to his feet and blast down the elevator shaft with a look of wild panic in his eyes. Gathering up his kids, Valaria and Franklin looked over to their uncle panicking as he torched the elevator shaft. “What’s going on?” Cried out Valaria, still in her father’s arms with her brother clutching Reed’s other arm.
“EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM THE ELEVATOR!!!” he screamed, before a burst of super heated air forced the Human Torch back. Like a swarm, they poured out of the smelted doorway, crawling up the walls, floors and ceiling. Slithering creatures with claws and spines and tentacled limbs hissed and growled at the family as Johnny bolted from his prone spot and got back up to his feet, running to the others huddled in the living room. Several gave chase, swiping behind the panicked Human Torch until Ben pulled Johnny behind him to the others and swung his fist back.
“You want some of this ugly?” His only response was the hissing chitter of the beast lunging for him, splayed out mandibles, talons and slithering limbs reached out to attack, all of it sent reeling back with a strike so severe, the beast tumbled like a rag-doll with its bones pulverized in the wake of the left hook. Two more took its place, with one sharing the same fate as the other before the third found purchase and landed on Ben’s back, raking its talons across his shoulder and actually chipped scars into his stony flesh. “Gah! That’s it! “Reaching up and hoisting the monster by its snapping tentacles, Ben threw the creature down with enough force to crumble the tile work and began pulverizing the offending beast. “IT’S CLOBBERING TIME!” Completely unaware of the horde still crawling out of the elevator and making ready to attack him from behind, he never saw the half dozen beasts lunge for him.
“GET AWAY FROM UNCLE BEN!” Raising her hands, Valeria protected her and the others in an intense bubble of solid light, cutting off her family from the monsters that still came by the dozens, who circled them all like a pack of wolves. Multiple tonnes of raw strength went into each punch as the Thing reduced the creature’s head to gelatinous sludge, only stopping when he found his fist was smashing straight through the floor. “Hope you learn your lesson freak.” Watching the oozing corpse, Ben got a surprise when it twitched and writhed, slowly rolling to its hands and feet while the oozing stump at its neck began to grow a new head!
“DAFUQ?!” Kicking it away from him, Valaria made it so objects could pass through out of the bubble but could not come in, the regenerating body of the creature collided with several of its brethren with the force of a cannonball yet they bounced back rapidly to attack again. Single minded in their purpose to kill.
“What are these things?”
“MONSTERS REED, MONSTERS!” Screamed Johnny, keeping his eyes on the growing number of attackers swarming the living room and the entire floor. Seeing specs of the congealed matter from the creature that now hissed and snarled back at him with a regrown head, Reed Richards pulled out a spoon from the cup of tea he had at the coffee table to scoop some of the matter up, keeping an eye on it just in case it too had any surprises. “We need to get to my lab, maybe find a way to stop these creatures.”
“How do we do that? We’re surrounded.”
“HERBIE?” Called out Reed over the fire suppression system and fire alarms, getting a chime from the building’s A.I. “Yes, Doctor Richards, how may I be of service?”
“HERBIE! Activate the building’s defense protocols and sterilize the entire floor!”
“Of course, Doctor Richards, as you com… ERROR, ERROR, violation of protocol 5, cannot proceed with command.”
“HERBIE?!” Ducking as several of the green translucent creatures jumped on top of the bubble and began clawing and striking at its surface, Reed huddled the kids closer while Johnny and Ben closed ranks.
“Protocol 5? The hell is that?” Asked Ben, keeping his fists up as he watched their protection very quickly get swarmed over by dozens of bear-sized monsters clawing at Valaria’s force field. Even Reed was stunned, a look of shock on his face when HERBIE refused the order.
“Protocol 5 is one of the many safety limits I placed on HERBIE, it states that he can’t directly or indirectly harm any of us or our relatives, just in case he was ever used to attack us or if we were compromised.”
“The hell you are saying. These things are related to us?!”
Looking back at the green slime held in the spoon in his hands, Reed wiped the water from his eyes and pointed towards the hallway where his lab was. “We need to get to my lab, Val, can you clear a path for us?” Shaking her head, the little girl had become too frightened now that they had all become surrounded by dozens of monsters, shivering next to her father. Holding her close and keeping Franklin with him, Reed tried to think of a plan as the numbers of this swarm seemed never ending.
Searching for an opening among the throng of slithering creatures slashing at his daughter’s force field, Reed looked over to where the hallway leading to his lab was. For the moment the creatures were only interested in them and not the building itself, leaving the hallway empty. Looking down to the shivering girl, it did him proud that she was still holding it all up, keeping her eyes closed to the monsters hissing and screeching bloody murder on the other side of her force field she held up. Looking to Franklin who was holding onto his father’s arm tightly, Reed knelt and held his two children tight.
“Franklin, I need you to do something for me, do you see the hallway to Daddy’s lab?”
Braving himself to look up over the multiple creatures slathering and snapping at the wall of solid light, the boy found the hallway empty, nodding slowly up to his father. “Good, I need you to use your powers to make a way through.”
“But you told me never to use my powers.”
“I know I did son, but we can make an exception, clear a way for all of us so we can get to safety.”
He was always told to be careful with his powers, to never use them out in the world or even in the home, and for good reason! The power to alter the world on a molecular level was incredible… And dangerous. Especially in the hands of a ten-year-old boy. Raising his hands and closing his eyes, the young boy concentrated on what he wanted. When he opened his eyes again, he only said two words. “Go away…” The scream was almost deafening as a column of open air cut through between the Richards family and the hallway, instantly disintegrating everything in between and out of the way. What creatures were in the path of destruction had ceased to exist, and the rest reeled back clutching at missing limbs gushing fluids that stained the floor and walls. “NOW!” Picking up both his children in his outstretched arms, Valeria dropped the bubble of solid light while her uncle blasted a wake of superheated air all around them to launch the horde of monsters off them. Now with a clear path, the five ran for their lives, being granted a brief respite as the monsters literally licked at their wounds. Running as fast as they could, Johnny looked behind him to find the swarm of slithering creatures were already rebounding and chasing them, many regrowing missing limbs within seconds.
Finally reaching the door of his lab, the Human Torch set the entire floor aflame behind him just as the Thing punched the controls to the doors, slamming them shut behind him for the burning horde to collide into it, hearing the heavy thump and thud of their bodies slamming into the foot thick metal doors.
“HERBIE! Set up a hermetic energy bubble around the lab.” Reed called out, setting his two kids down on the floor while still balancing the spoon full of organic matter in his hand to pour the green gelatinous sludge into a gene scanner at the table. “Acknowledged Dr. Richards.” The A.I. chirped as a purple tinged bubble of energy surrounded the entire lab area, an electric hum filling the air as the group realised the bubble extended outside the walls, floor and ceiling. Looking back at the door behind them, Ben stepped back when he could still hear the creatures on the other side screech and roar in fury, body tackling the door to try and get through. And by the small dents forming on its surface he was surprised to find they were slowly making their way in doing just that.
“Is that gonna hold, Reed?”
“I don’t know, but hopefully long enough for me to figure out what we are dealing with.” Typing away at the computer, the man activated the scanner and a holographic display of the gene sequence of the creature’s DNA rotated beside him. Moving with a dextrous speed all too familiar when he would enter his research, Reed Richards went over hundreds of gene codes, gasping at the complexity of it all.
“Incredible! This Species… It’s almost perfect, it can near instantly bioform itself to any environment and spontaneously regenerate to any injury, any trauma whatsoever.” He caught himself in his wonder, focusing on the task in front of him to try and find a way to stop these creatures from attacking his family, or worse get out! “The genome is so complex it actually responds near instantly to any stimuli that might damage it, that would mean there is no way of tampering or damaging the genetic structure in any way, and… No! No, no, no, NO, no, no…”
Seeing a massive dent in the solid steel door where they could see tentacles try to slither through the tiny cracks of the buckled metal, Ben and Johnny turned to Reed who nearly stepped back in shock at what he was looking at. “What Reed?! Can you stop this or not?”
“These creatures are… They’re part human!”
“WHAT?!”
“Not just part human, part US! This genome here, and those base pairs there… Oh god!”
Feeling the lab lurch from another impact by the swarm behind the door, the family looked around them as they heard metal twist and groan. Impacts powerful enough to feel like a city bus slammed into the door and walls around it, causing plaster dust to fall and the reinforced door frame to twist. “SUSAN! OH MY GOD! IT’S SUSAN!” Thick chitinous claws speared through the lip of the door, branching out dozens of green sinuous tentacles that branches out and rooted themselves over the surface of the door before it was crumpled and bent, pried apart and forced wide open to make way for the massive behemoth that stomped into the lab. It wasn’t a singular creature, not quite. An amalgamated mass of the swarming creatures had tangled and knotted themselves up together into a gestalt form that looked like some hunched gorilla that lumbered into the lab complex and bellowed a roar from its many toothy mouths across its entire body, dozens of human sized creatures followed behind it, swarming up the walls and around the energy bubble that protected the Richards family.
They slithered and crawled in what space was available to them, taking on forms best suited to do the most lethal damage possible; some slithered on serpentine bodies while others skittered on chitinous limbs like insects or arachnids, waving tentacles coiled and snapped like angry serpents all while the swarm hissed and chittered at the family that had so far stoked the swarm into a murderous rage. Having made their way through the foot-thick steel door effortlessly, the hulking gestalt brute lifted its massive limbs and pounded against the energy barrier, making the thing flicker at the amount of energy needed to block such a strike.
“Holy shit, how strong are these things?” Swore Ben Grimm, looking at the monster comprised of twenty or so tangled bodies staring furiously back at him with dozens of reptilian eyes. Almost making him want to puke. Then something happened.
Parting to make space, the swarm of monsters lowered their heads and stepped aside to make room for something joining the swarm in the room. Even over the hiss and growls of the monsters, the family could make out the click clack of what sounded like heels walking over the scorched floor, just as a creature came into view and walked the threshold of the ruined lab door. Looking up at the door, Reed went pale.
She was tall, almost seven feet, her long legs sported sharp spurs down her thighs as she gracefully made one step in front of the other with a deliberate sway of her wide hips like a runway model. Her four arms hung from her sides, brandishing knife-like talons that looked sharp enough to easily cut through metal and rows of chitinous spurs down her forearms that looked equally as sharp. Yet she let one claw rest on her hip to show she was careful enough to not cut even herself. Her bare breasts heaved and swayed with each step and breath, standing proud from her chest over the smooth surface of her abdomen and naval. Behind her a sea of tentacles swayed and drifted like seaweed, half as long as she was tall from her scalp, where a barbed tail swished and flicked behind her like that of a cat or scorpion.
Her face was crowned with a pair of horns or antlers that grew from her brow, arcing and framing her humanoid face like a tribal headdress. Pert lips pursed into a sensuous smile while yellow reptilian eyes leered at the family before her, separated by the energy barrier ahead of her. “My goodness husband…” Purred the female creature with a voice smooth as honey yet carried a cruel, predatory undertone. “Is this ANY way to treat your flesh and blood?”
Reed swallowed hard, looking up at the erotic and terrifying form of the female creature smiling back at him.
“Hello Susan…”
Prowling sensually back and forth from one end of the barrier to the other, Susan eyed her family like a tigress staring at raw meat. Tracing a talon across the energy barrier separating her from them, steam simmered off its surface until she pulled away, her green lips pursed in a smile. The fear and anxiety her family showed looking up at her alien, statuesque figure aroused her to no end. “Aren’t you going to let me in Reed? You’re extended family SO wish to greet you.”
Reed Richards was stunned, so much so he almost couldn’t process what he was looking at. Hundreds of predatory monsters that looked like they had come straight out of a Lovecraftian nightmare surrounded the humanoid female creature that wore his wife’s face and spoke with her voice. “My God Susan… What have you become?!”
“I’ve become PERFECTION Reed.” Susan answered, almost offended. “I tried fighting it for so long, but I know better now, I’ve become something incredible, powerful, god-like.” Reed had returned to the work desk, scrambling through genetic code and rapidly researching her perfect DNA. He had seen enough! Drowning out everything around him, Mr. Fantastic poured over as much as he could, trying to find a weakness he could exploit, ANYTHING that could stop this nightmare from growing further out of control. “I can read your body language Reed, I can smell your fear, see the blood vessels in your body contract out of a fight or flight response, eventually you’ll come to the same conclusion I did, I am the future of this world.”
“You’ve gone NUTS Suzie!” Grunted Ben, trying to avert his eyes from Susan’s nude physique, shamelessly flaunting her inhuman body as she continued to pad and pace back and forth while her horde of ‘children’ hissed and snarled behind her. Playfully petting the slithering scalp of one of her spawn like one would pat the head of a loyal pet, Susan gave the stone skinned man a leer that made him uncomfortable. The swarm of monsters parted at the ruined door to allow new beings to arrive, their presence shocking Ben when she spotted Alicia, now nude and twisted into a predatory creature herself. Pressing up against Susan side, the queen smiled back and pulled the formally blind woman up for a lurid kiss, their tongues could be visible through their murky translucent flesh exploring each other’s mouths and esophagus’s. “You don’t know what your missing Ben.” Purred Alicia, draping her talons down her heaving chest. “Join us…” Flying into the lab on a pair of diaphanous wings, Wasp hovered nearby, appraising the family contained in the energy barrier before landing delicately at her feet to join the other women. “Join us…”
Separating from the two women and looking back at the entrance to see the other females join the swarm in the large room, Susan purred with laughter. “Do you see it now? If everyone sees things YOUR way, then YOU become the standard of sanity Benjamin.” Seeing her human children grip at their father’s legs, horrified of the creature Susan had become, Susan’s smile grew predatory, exposing razor teeth and a long tongue lick at her fangs. “Do not worry my children, I have PLANS for you, you shall join my hive and know pleasures like you would never imagine.” Standing between her and the rest of his family, Johnny flared out a corona of flame, keeping her attention on him. “Over my dead body sis.”
Bringing a clawed finger to her pouting lip, Susan giggled at the bravado. “Such courage, I wonder how mighty our sons will be when we join together my sibling.”
Keeping himself from retching again, Johnny glared back at the alluring monster that had taken his sister. The Susan Storm he knew would never entertain the thoughts she was speaking out loud. Only showing just how far his sister had fallen. “So, what are you going to do?”
Giving her brother a coy look, Susan gracefully stepped over to the far wall, tracing her talon against the metal in an almost zig-zig fashion, her tentacles slithering over the metal like serpents until she stopped dead at a junction in the wall. With in human strength, she dug her claw into the metal as if it were a sheet of tin, prying the wall open and grabbing a bundle of power cables that sparked and hissed in her hand. Looking back at her brother with a smile best found on a shark, the swarm queen casually raised a clawed hand and flicked out a single talon like a jack-knife before plucking at the wires one by one.
With each wire severed, the power to the lab’s functions died; display screens went black, lights went dark and computers dulled to a quite hum. It was at this point the Richards family discovered she was taking her time, toying with her prey before she finally did the deed. She wanted to savour this moment, flaunt her superiority to her human family. A hiss of air at Reed’s side told him the vial of fluid he concocted had finally filled, just as Susan cut the power to the main computer. “Everyone, to me, we only have one shot at this!” Called out Reed, gripping the vial in his hand… And then smashing on the ground. Leaving the final cable that powered the energy barrier up, Susan looked at her former family and made a look of disappointment. The auras they gave off changed, before they were a healthy pink in her eyes, but that colour soon changed and dulled until they all looked dark purple, the aura of sickness.
“You made yourselves… Tainted.” Susan pouted, seeing her husband begin to cough, his face going red from coughing fits as the others quickly did the same. “How disappointing…” Holding his children close as they sneezed and sniffled, Reed gave his former wife a defiant look.
“You can’t turn a sick host, can’t you? I won’t let you turn our children into monsters.”
Glaring back at the man but slowly smoothing her features, Susan shrugged. “Shame… But my swarm have other appetites.” Snipping the final cable, the energy barrier died, letting loose the horde of monsters onto the Fantastic Four. Closing in with claws, teeth, mandibles and tentacles, the first creature raised its chitinous talon to strike… When it began to convulse. Stepping back and going into a violent coughing fit, its flesh turned a sickly yellow, oozing phlegm and puss from its mouth before collapsing to the ground. In the span of seconds, the same occurred to the rest of the swarm, hundreds falling to the ground coughing and vomiting bile and fluids as their flesh rapidly decayed.
Collapsing like a dead weight, Janet wheezed and coughed, clutching at her blistered throat gasping for air. “Wha… What’s happening?!” Collapsing to her hands and knees, Alicia threw up hard, her translucent skin blistered and decayed before she collapsed into a fetal position, the rest of the swarm around her dissolved into an oozing pile of organic matter.
“YOU SICKENING LITTLE MAN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO US?!” Hissed Susan, her reptilian eyes sallow and her tentacles rotting off her like clumps of hair.
“I gave you the flu…” Answered Reed, getting to his feet as the rest of his family backed away from the growing pool of decaying flesh on the ground. “Your DNA IS perfect… Except for one thing, your metabolism is so explosively high that even the common cold will kill you if you don’t have the immune system for it, and by the looks of your… Our kids, they never got their flu shots.”
“You think this will stop us? Cough…Stop ME?! I am perfection! I’ve existed… COUGH, Cough, cough, cough… Existed for millions of years in the vacuum of space… COUGH, cough, cough… I’ve devoured worlds! Empires! The UNIVERSE!!!” Falling to her knees and collapsing to the grease slick floor, her breathing grew shallow and laboured, her vision blurring as all her strength betrayed her.
“I’m perfect…”
*
Two weeks later…
Walking down the narrow metal causeway of the SHIELD supermax prison complex; the Raft. Two men went from check point to check point, scanned and checked for their identities with each checkpoint until they reached the sub levels. Here the absolute worst and dangerous were contained, no extremes were off limits in making sure their prisoners were allowed even the idea of escape. Two weeks ago, a new wing was rapidly and painstakingly constructed to house their new inmates, their designs a conglomerate of Richards and Stark technologies and planning to make sure the subjects didn’t escape or influence the outside world from their cells. Reaching the last check point, the two men stopped to talk while their credentials were looked over by the female guard in front of the door.
“How is she doing?”
“She and the other five have fully recovered from their infection of the flu, we were grateful the containment procedures were set up before they got back on their feet.” Waiting for the guard to return his credentials, he continued. “Twelve hours after they were all fully contained, they began to regenerate at an incredible rate, we had some trouble after the first few days but afterwards the prisoners seemed to get the idea they were not getting out.”
“They survived because they had a history of flu inoculations over the last few years, their complex DNA has a kind of genetic memory, allowing it to adapt to any form of infection or trauma after exposure.” Sighing, the other man rubbed the bridge of his nose. “The majority of her swarm had all died from rapid cellular degeneration, brought upon by the flu infection, I checked the organic samples left behind and found all of it to be neutralised.”
“We had all that material incinerated just to be safe, from what we’ve read from your report, these bugs are highly adaptive, we’ve been keeping our eyes on these things twenty-four seven just in case after we hermetically sealed their cells.”
A feminine voice from a speaker sounded off to get the two men’s attention. “You’re both clear, please step away from the door until it is completely open, when entering the hallway be sure to keep your hands to your sides and keep to the far right of the walkway for your own safety.” The grinding squeal of metal alerted Reed Richards and Nicholas fury to the door opening, stepping back with their hands up just as a dozen armed guards aimed weapons at them before lowering their guns and stepping aside to let them pass. All the guards and staff were female, for precautionary steps. Men were not trusted for the task of guarding the area simply because the prisoners had a long history of manipulating men, not only that but they were all screened and tested psychologically to make sure they could handle being around the prisoners without being tempted. Stepping inside and keeping to the right of the walkway, the two men look to the left to find six prison cells measuring 18 feet wide by 10 feet tall, and more than likely another 18 feet deep.
Unseen from the hallway was a command center that kept a visual and audio surveillance on the contained subjects, logging all their behaviour and biometric at all times for both research and observation. On the right side of the walkway was a yellow and red plaque with a series of instructions for all guards and visitors to follow:
WARNING! SUBJECTS ARE CONSIDERED CLASS 7 BIOLOGICAL THREATS AND ARE TO BE TREATED AS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AT ALL TIMES! ALL SUBJECTS ARE TO REMAIN IN THEIR ENCLOSURES WITH NO EXCEPTIONS REGARDLESS OF GOOD OR BENIGN BEHAVIOUR. ALL RESOURCES ARE TO BE STRICKLY CATALOGUED WHEN OFFERING SUBJECTS FOOD AND/OR WATER AND ALL WASTES ARE TO BE DESTROYED BY PLASMA DESINTIGRATION. NO OUTSIDE MATERIALS ARE PERMITTED. NO INTERACTION WITH SUBJECTS MUST SURPASS 10 MINUTES. NO ATTEMPT TO MAKE PHYSICAL CONTACT OR MEANS OF ESCAPE ARE PERMITTED. FAILURE TO COMPLY TO THESE RESTRICTIONS WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF SUBJECT AND OFFENDER(S) FOLLOWED BY PLASMA DESINTIGRATION TO PREVENT OUTSIDE EXPOSURE…
Sighing under his breath, Reed straightened himself and slowly walked down the catwalk to the farthest cell. Looking over his left shoulder, he spotted each of the alien women leering back at him like hungry predators staring at their next meal. The first three he and Fury passed used to be models under Janet’s employ, he had forgotten their names and more than likely they didn’t care to know his. One stalked back and forth in her cell, the tentacles that grew from her scalp coiled around themselves like braids, very much like her former profession her stance and pois was both elegant and statuesque as she briskly turned and stalked back across her cell. Her hand at her hip while blowing Reed a kiss. One sat on her chair, watching television, only to turn her attention to the two men passing her cell, licking her lips at the two. The third pressed up against the glass, licking its surface as if doing so would allow her to cross the distance between her and the two men.
She would never be able to do so; her cell was composed of both solid granite and titanium/coltan alloy nearly 3 feet thick on all sides, the materials specifically chosen to withstand extreme environmental changes such as 3000 degree heat, toxic chemical and biological exposure or intense electrical activity. But even so it didn’t stop the she-creature from showing off to the two men as her tongue extended nearly two feet long to lick and slither over the transparent surface of her cell. Several of the countermeasures were to make their cells a total vacuum, or ignite the entire area in intense heat, or fill the cell with potent corrosives or toxins. Nothing was considered taboo, not with them, but with every countermeasure used, was a countermeasure that could no longer be used again. The creatures adapting quickly to the trauma so long as they could survive it.
Passing her by, the two found Alicia Masters and Janet Van Dyne. Both women looked up at their former friend not with warmth or sentimentality… But with a predatory look of lust. Janet had decided to keep her four diaphanous wings; the thin, green, veiny blades flickered and buzzed behind her with more intensity the longer her leering eyes drew on the two men. No longer the petite woman she was known for, Janet was now tall and curvaceous, as was Alicia who breathed in sharply eyeing the pair walk by. Many of the tentacles that grew from her scalp now coiled together into a single braid that dangled behind her, the tips at the end twitching like idle fingers.
Their path finally brought them to the last cell, containing the prisoner Susan Storm. Her back turned to the glass viewing wall behind her while she sat on a chair watching television. Noticing she had company, the alien she-creature stood up and slowly padded her way to the viewing wall. The way her tentacles swayed and flowed behind her along with her Amazonian physique and full curves made Susan look like the embodiment of allure and seduction itself.
“Hello Reed… Fury, what brings you to my abode?” She purred, her voice smooth like honey and even without the hermetical cell preventing her pheromones from reaching the two men, both shifted where they stood, uncomfortable.
“H-hello Suzie, have you been treated well?”
Pressing up against the foot-thick polymer glass so that her G cup breasts mashed against the smooth surface, her four talons delicately pressed up against the wall, her lips pursed into a smile. “I hardly get an audience with anyone of the MALE variety anymore, and the guards aren’t exactly friendly.” Pouted the creature, her reptilian eyes studying the two men. Folding her lower sets of arms behind her, the creature changed, her green translucent flesh becoming creamy smooth, her clawed hands and feet becoming delicate fingers and toes as the spurs on her ankles and wrists retracted back into her flesh. The sea of tentacles fell loose and became a mane of silky blonde hair that flowed down her back and shoulders, framing an angelic face with crystal blue eyes.
If this was the image of Susan Richards, then it was an idealistic version of her old self; young, flawless, beautiful, perfect. Reed found himself shifting in his feet again when his wife gave him a demur smile that melted his heart. “Why do you have to keep me here Reed? I’ve gotten over my flu, I’m better now.”
“I know Suzie, I know… The kids want to say hello, t-they miss you and hope you can get back home soon, so do Ben and Johnny.”
“I want to see them too, I’ve yet to sample their flesh like I had you…”
Breathing in deeply and shaking his head, Reed continued. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been spending time trying to find a cure to your condition, I’ve been making strides, but I feel I could be close.”
“But I LIKE being me Reed… I know HE likes me this way.” Changing her attention to Nick Fury, the blonde beauty changed again. Her skin turning a chocolate mocha colour while her bottom lip plumped ever so much, her silky blonde locks filling out into an afro of jet-black hair as she gave the SHIELD director a look that could melt hearts. “I could be this way any time you want Fury, I can be any woman you desire…”
“You’re not leaving your cell Mrs. Richards.”
The two men jumped, put off guard when the sound of a bullwhip came before the blade of a stinger tail tapped against the glass surface of the cell, triggering alarms and a woman’s voice over an intercom demanding Susan to step away from the glass. With a smirk, the woman reverted to her alien form, her four hands up over her head until the alarms ended, and she turned her back, folding her arms under her impressive bust.
“I think we’re done here Reed; next time don’t visit unless its to let me out!”
“Susan…”
Glaring over her shoulder, the slit, reptilian eye glared back over her shoulder, giving the man the hint, Reed slowly nodded and turned to leave.
Hearing them both walk out of sight and back down the hallway, Susan closed her eyes and let her senses explore her confines, hearing the empathic connection she had with the others of her species contained nearby. She could hear their complaints, like her they ached to be free, to hunt and breed and spread their kind to innumerable hordes and swarms. Sighing out loud she calmed them all, letting them know that they were not defeated. Time was but a window and opportunity a doorway, their prison would not hold them forever.
*
Meanwhile in a bar somewhere in New Jersey…
“Hey handsome, looking for a little company?”
Looking up from his spot at the bar while having a drink, the man looked up to find a stunningly beautiful woman leaning against the bar table, her shoulder up in a coy stance while smiling down back at him. “I just got into town and I don’t know anybody here, mind showing me around?” Tossing her silky blonde hair over her shoulder, the effort of the act made the woman’s bust sway, her cleavage showing in the loose slip of a top she wore with her matching skirt.
“Oh yeah, sure! Come on and take a seat, you wanna drink?”
Tapping her finger against the drink list at the bar, the woman’s eyes fluttered for a second before she smiled back again at the man. “How about a kalua mudslide?” Leaning forward until her nose and forehead pressed against his, her hand reached down ad squeezed at the crotch of his denim pants. “Followed by a little Irish cream.”
“S-sure, what was your name again? Mine’s Kevin.”
“You can call me Lilith; you’ll be screaming it later tonight.”
*
Looking over the logs of activity and vitals of all the subjects in the biohazard wing of the Raft, two SHIELD attendants looked over Susan’s biometrics with confusion. “Huh, what’s causing that?”
“I don’t know, what do you make of it?”
“Her heart rate has increased, and her endorphin levels spiked.” Scratching her head, she looked at her previously recorded biometrics as an outlier. “She looks like she’s about to reach a climax, what the hell is she doing?”
Looking over to the live video feed, the guard found the she-creature returned to her chair, watching the television while squirming in her chair, hugging herself tightly. “According to the channel, she’s watching a local baseball broadcast.”
“Pff…Must be one hell of a game then!” Documenting the odd activity, the two guards continued their observation, completely unaware of the cause of their prisoner’s sudden elation.