Franklin Turns Into A Girl

"It's okay, sweeties," Sue Storm said. "Mommy's here."

Reed Richards had set up three beds in parallel. Sue was in the middle one, with tubes in both of her arms. The children lay on the beds on either side of her, hooked up to monitoring devices, low-level vita ray and cosmic ray generators bathed the pair in a soft warm glow. From behind a safety screen, Reed triggered the transfusion.

Two pumps silently hummed. Bright red blood oozed from Sue Storm's muscular, perfected arms, to flow into the bodies of her children. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The two children's skin vanished, so that the cosmic and vita rays could be absorbed more directly into their system. The two didn't stir; Reed thought it was better if they'd be lightly sedated for the procedure.

Her heart hammered in her chest. She could feel the strength and power of her body, see the perfection of her form. Sue wanted that for her children, as any mother wanted the best for her offspring.

So her altered blood flowed through their veins. Her perfected DNA contacting and spreading to theirs. Their cells drank in the soft wash of radiation. Sue watched, keeping her breath steady, a level of control that came much more naturally to her now than it had before the encounter with Superia. Not for the first time, the Invisible Woman wondered what her real intent had been.

Everything was going well. Reed mumbled something about peak saturation.

Then Franklin began to scream.

It was three hours later when Reed and Sue put the children to bed. Valeria clung to her brother protectively. To look at them now, no one who didn't know any better would see anything wrong. They were, to all appearances, two perfectly formed girls.

Reed had handled the examination. His conclusion was grim.

"It's not just physiological changes," he said. "The shift happened at the chromosomal level. They're both effectively super soldiers. Female super soldiers. Your genetic contribution must have been stronger than my models..."

"But what are we going to do, Reed?" she said. "How do we explain that our son is now our oldest daughter?"

Mr. Fantastic ran a hand through his hair. His other hand wrapped around her shoulders.

"I don't know what we should do. Giving a male appearance is simply a matter of surgery or hormone therapy. Yet this is more fundamental. And the genetic catalyst is in his blood now, it's part of him. I'm afraid if we try to change him back, his body might resist."

Sue Storm chewed the thought.

"Superia did this. She knew, somehow. Maybe this was her plan all along," Sue Storm said. "Which means we need to find her, see if she can change Frankie back."

Reed hugged her tight. His face was grim. Sue knew that he would support her, no matter what she chose.