Defraudium

From a pocket, the pig-man withdrew a small golden crystal. It almost seemed to glow with its own inner light. Doom's eyes narrowed as his armor's sensors focused on the suspicious trinket. Unfamiliar radiation poured from it. Particles not familiar to Doom's universe; short-lived, short-range, and with peculiar characteristics.

"Where I come from," Porkum said. "We call this Defraudium. Perfect for putting super-bitches in their place."

"The physical laws of our universe are different," Doom said, after a moment. "If it is effective at all, it will only be at extremely close range."

Porkum's piggy face grew into a nasty grin.

"I was thinking more long-range, Doc."

Above Central Park, a dark portal opened in the middle of the air. Lightning coruscated off the edges, dark particles corruscated as alien radiations spilled into our universe. Through the portal, a vast metal claw descended toward the greenery. As it touched the earth, Manhattan shook.

The Fantastic Four were on the scene in moments. The Fantasticar flew threw the air. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, was an incandescent meteor alongside them. Ben Grimm, the everlovin' blue-eyed Thing, piloted the craft grimly as he swung in low, below the threshold of the portal. Below them, people fled, screaming. Except for a few that pointed smartphones, to capture the alien arm on camera.

As soon as the Fantasticar landed, Sue hopped out. Johnny Storm was already directing a wave of red hot flame at the alien arm; which seemed to have no effect.

"These readings are so strange," Reed said as he fiddled with the Fantasticar's instrument array. "I can't even tell which dimension it's from!"

"Don't worry too much about that, Stretch," the Thing roared as he leaped forward. "Ain't gonna be here long!"

The stony titan positioned himself directly beneath the descending hand...and Sue saw him there, as he wrestled against those fingers. Not sure how she could help him.

"Oh no," Reed said. He glanced at Sue. "The pressure that arm's exerting...it's in excess of a million Newtons of **** per square centimeter! He'll be crushed."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Sue said confidently. She stood outside the Fantasticar and gestured to guide her concentration. Unseen to all, an infinitely thin circle of **** manifested in mid-air. It was directed against the wrist of the alien arm....and as it slided through, Sue had for a moment a vision of the strange, bizarre technology in the middle of the thing.

Then it exploded.

The flash and blast wave engulfed the Fantastic Four. Johnny was knocked out of the sky. Shrapnel bounced off of the Thing's rocky hide, and harmlessly bounced into Mister Fantastic's body. At the last moment, Sue threw up a shield in front of her.

It failed as soon as she felt the agonizing pain tear through her thigh. She collapsed onto the ground, and in the next moment her family were around the stricken woman who had saved the day. The broken arm withdrew into the dark portal, which began to close.

From a distant rooftop, Porkum grinned as he began to disassemble the sniper rifle. The explosion had served to muffle the noise of the shot. Doom's distraction had worked well. Now it was only time to wait.

Back in the Baxter Building, Sue Storm was laid up in bed. They had to remove the leg from her costume to bandage her thigh. Reed Richards had taken the queer yellow crystal he'd extracted from the wound back to his lab. When he came back, it was with a worried frown.

"The quantum signature on the crystal indicates it comes from a distant universe. Worse, it's emanating a radiation I don't recognize. There's no telling what effect it will have on your cosmic ray-empowered physiology...or on any of the advanced healing technology at my disposal. You'll have to stay here for a while, I'm afraid."

Sue Storm sighed to herself. She'd been injured before. As powerful as she was as a heroine, she was still human, and it still took time for her to heal. For the next few days or weeks, she'd be stuck in the Baxter Building while everyone else went on their adventures. Yet something irritated her now, as she stared out the window of her bedroom. Something felt different this time. Then Reed continued on.

"Ben, Johnny, and I will try to trace that crystal to its origin dimension. While we're away, Alicia and Agatha Harkness can take care of the children in Salem."

The Invisible Woman raised an eyebrow.

"You're leaving me all alone?"

"Of course not, darling!" Reed said. "H.E.R.B.I.E. will be here to see to your every need, and I've contacted the Avengers; some of them will be swinging by regularly to check on you and keep your company. The nurse will be by every day to check your dressings. You shouldn't be alone for more than a few hours a day."

Reed said that, yet Sue felt weirdly miserable. Abandoned. She wasn't sure where that sense of insecurity came from, but she hugged herself and drew the covers up to hide her wounded leg. All alone in the Baxter Building, like a princess in a castle.

Right where Porkum wanted her.