It's a trap!

It had taken the Fantasticar half an hour to return to the Baxtor building, its occupants still confused by the whole matter when the blue vehicle landed in the hanger bay and powered down. Opening the side door and unfolding the walkway, the Susans stepped out, each with a look of confusion on their faces while the Invisible Woman cradled the empathy ray in her arms.

“I don’t get it, why would anyone cause a riot in the heart of the city… Just to stop it?”

“I KNOW right? Just doesn’t make sense.”

“Those who sow chaos are not bound by reason.” Said the Canoness, marching out of the vehicle and giving the alien a dirty look. “I would think your kind would know this.”

Breathing in sharply, the woman stayed her talons when she felt the succubus lay a hand over her shoulder. Sharing a knowing look with the reptilian woman, the blue skinned demoness frowned back at the Sister of Battle as they all gathered and made their way to the door.

“I’m getting very tired of your provocations, sister.”

Resting her gloved hand at the pommel of her chainsword, the armored woman gave the demon a look that could curdle milk. That is until they were all brushed aside by the wendigo making her way past them all. “Funny that it’s the demon keeping the peace instead of the saint, huh.”

Heading their way to the door, they all stopped when they found Reed standing there waiting for them, a tired smile on his face as he made his way over and hugged his wife. “Hello Suzie, did you stop the riot?”

“Yeah… But not with this. It just stopped on its own.”

“GOOD! Good… I have good news to share, I managed to fix the portal, I can bring you all home now.”

“FINALLY!” Cheered the hologram who appeared in front of everyone, her arms up in the air as she came up to the landing bay to celebrate. “Oh, let me bring the REAL me, this won’t take long, I just got in through the parking lot.”

Seeing the holographic Susan disappear, the rest of the ladies made their way out the hanger and down the hall of their home. Making their way to the lab, they found the place unusually quiet, and there were no one else in the home they could see as they made their way down the hall.

“Reed, where are the kids?”

“Yeah, didn’t Valaria say Ben and Alicia were coming over with the kids for a movie?”

There was a moment where Reed looked confused, stopping in his stride until he nodded his head. “Yes… Well… They’re waiting for us in the lab too, they’re excited to see you all go.”

A little skeptical of his response, Susan looked over his shoulder to find the autoboot version of her squeeze her way through the front door, kicking her leg free when she got to her feet and almost bumped her head on the ceiling. “Am I late?”

“No, no, you’re ALL on time, please come with me, and I can finally take you all home.”

Opening the door to the lab, the lot entered the large room in the hopes of seeing the portal work. But once the last Susan entered the lab and the door closed behind them, the portal device was dead and the cosmic being floating in the lab was nowhere in sight. Looking around the lab, the group was a little confused, especially with Reed just standing there at the door locking it.

“Reed? Is this some kind of joke.”

The electrical hum of a device charging up filled the Invisible Woman’s ears, just as the lab filled with a haughty laughter. “Of course it is, sister, and here’s the punch line.”

Screaming in shock, Susan and the others were struck with a ray that leached away their cosmic powers, the experience leaving them to fall to their knees with fatigue while others collapsed to the ground completely weakened. Coughing and trying to get up, Susan’s face was met with the wing tip of a heeled shoe kicking her in the face and forcing her to roll onto her back and look up. What she saw made her eyes go wide and her blood run cold.

“KIDS!”

Suspended high in the air, Susan could see her two children, her brother, Ben, Alicia, and their adopted children bound and struggling impotently against invisible shackles so tight they could hardly breath let alone cry out to warn the woman looking up at them. Looking up and over to the door, Susan could see Reed make his way to the middle of the lab where Susan Von Doom and the Vampire Countess revealed themselves to bask in their current achievement. With a flick of her hand, Von Doom wrapped everyone else in the same invisible bindings, clasping them tight and lifting everyone up off their feet to struggle and flail.

“REED! Please! Help us!”

Ignoring Susan’s please for help, the man finally stopped in front of the vampiric Susan who smiled and caressed her hand across his cheek and chin affectionately. “He can’t hear you sister; he belongs to me now… Don’t you Reed?”

“Y-yes my Queen, I did as you asked.”

“That you did, and I DID say you would be rewarded for your efforts.” She purred, sharing a look with Susan Von Doom who hoisted the energy drainer over her shoulder. “It’s time for that reward.”

Leaning in close as if to kiss him, she guided the man to close his eyes and purse his lips, but just before their lips met, the woman snapped her fingers, and Reed’s eyes went wide open. Reacting as if for the first time to what was happening around him, Reed staggered back in horror at the sight of his family bound and floating above his head. The cosmic doppleganger of his wife was **** and much to his surprise Ben’s stony exterior was gone, now replaced with his human form. And all the versions of his wife struggling around hard light shackled that hung them in the air like chains.

“Wha-what have I done?!”

“You did as I told you to Reed, and as I said, you deserve to be rewarded for your efforts. To see the fruits of your labours free of the malaise of my will.” Wincing into a sneer, Reed tightened his fists and tried to stretch his arms out to strike her, only for nothing to happen. Looking down at his hands in confusion, he could hear Von Doom chuckle with a hand at her lip. “Did you really think I would free you without an insurance policy?”

With a blur of motion too fast for the man to react, the vampire was already face to face with him, her eyes once a soft pool of ruby red was now a searing pair of red coals that glared into his own, her fangs bared in a grin better seen on some terrible predator as she caressed his chin again with a sharp fingernail, drawing blood from the act. “And now for your REAL reward!”

He never had the chance to react to the fist that struck him across the face with enough **** that he heard his jaw crack, the **** so great his entire body keeled to the side. But before his feet slipped out from under him, a hand grabbed hold of his arm with a vice grip and pulled him back the opposite direction, backhanding him across the face, and sending him reeling in the other direction.

“NO! Stop it!” Susan and the others cried out as her vampiric copy pummeled her husband to the ground, laughing maniacally as she did it until Reed was broken and beaten with his hands up in surrender.

Standing up and panting from excitement, the vampire licked at her blood-stained fingers with delight, the lab silent save for Susan’s crying and the click of the vampire’s heels as she joined her compatriot, her tongue tracing up her finger to clean the last trace of blood. “Never trust a traitor, even one you create.”

“Indeed sister, and now that all the most problematic of you have been dealt with, its time for a little experiment of our own.” With a gesture of Von Doom’s gauntlet, Susan found herself levitating towards the portal, the controls activated with invisible fingers through her power where it quickly came to life. The iris of the portal generator opened to reveals worlds unseen and untouched. Approaching the portal, the two women watched as they brought the struggling Susan closer to it, and almost instantly the worlds focussed on the Susan Storm of those realities. Showing a Susan with the anti-venom symbiote fighting arachnid monsters, a Susan wearing blue robes with a staff commanding elemental stone giants to invade New York, the sight of which made the two women smile more when they pulled the Invisible Woman away from the portal and found the image becoming less focussed, acting more like a window into each world as opposed to a window into that specific woman’s life.

“Well then, it would seem your theory was correct Reed Richards.” Mused Von Doom, watching with delight as the man slowly turned to face the ground and crawl, only to end up bound in shackles of invisible light and elevated up into the air to join the others. “Now, now, you should bear witness to your accomplishments Reed, you helped us thwart the ONE thing keeping us from taking control of this farce, now WE get to have a say on our fate.”

Seeing the doors to the lab buckle and twist, the two women looked amused when the thick steel doors were torn open through sheer will of ****, as their third compatriot stepped inside, trailing her tattered cloak behind her.

“Ah, and then there were three.”

“Welcome back sister.”

Chuckling with her chin high and holstering the hate monger in her hands, Malice looked up to the bleeding Reed held up in the air with a grin. “You started the fun without me? I had hoped to have him all to myself to break.”

“Oh, I had NO intention of keeping you from your favorite toy Malice.” Purred the vampire, folding her arms in front of her and tilting her hip in a pose. “Speaking of toys, I assume you had some fun with that little trinket?”

Admiring the device in her gloved hand, Malice smiled back at the pale woman in front of her. “Oh yes, to free people of their delusions of love and empathy, its quite cathartic, for example…” Turning the device on, Malice aimed it at the Susans hanging overhead and smiled as she fired it at the wendigo, laughing out loud as the beast woman snarled and went rabid with blind rage against her bindings.

“STOP IT!” Cried out the succubus, trying to fight free. “You’ll drive her insane!”

“Oh really?” Aiming the hate monger at the demoness. The moment the rays hit her, the trio were met with a startling transformation as the blue skinned woman turned blood red and her horns and wings pitch black, glaring back at the leather clad woman with piercing yellow eyes and drooling with rage as she snarled. “Now you can go mad together.”

“NO! STOP IT!” Screamed Susan, watching as her worst self fired the hate monger on her other selves, laughing as it drove them insane with rage and anger like it did her. The alien in the group turned a sickly greenish brown, hissing and snarling while the autobot next to her turned an almost florescent metallic purple, her eyes glowing the same colour as she sneered back at Malice and the others. Turning her aim to the model and the sex ****, Malice stayed her hand and tilted her head. She was enjoying the sight of their terror as they watched their others lose themselves to blind rage to the point of being rabid.

“Hmm, witnesses, we DO need witnesses if we are to do this properly.”

Turning on her heel, Malice joined the Vampire and Latvarian Queen shoulder to shoulder as they admired their handy work. Flicking her finger, Von Doom willed the Invisible Woman to come closer to the trio, her arms and legs bound, and a gag of solid invisible light clamped over her mouth. Muffling in protest.

“Oh, don’t worry ‘lesser’ sister, we have plans for you… After all, you’re the key to ALL of this.”

“Why yes, Reed had the theory that the surge that brought us all here was because the energies passed through you and made you a tether to this reality, like a magnet you draw the portal to YOUR location in those worlds.”

“And through you, we will have access to infinite worlds, infinite empires, can you think of it sisters? A trio of goddess ruling the infinite multi-verse… Ooooh, it makes me thirsty just thinking about it.”

“And its all thanks to your bumbling husband.” Drawing Susan closer, Malice griped Susan by the chin and glared into her eyes with a smile that threatened to split her leather clad face. “Oh, and just you wait, I have plans for him too… I might share him with you when I’m done. Well… The pieces remaining at the very least.”