School's out.

Opening the front door to the apartment and dropping their schoolbags at the front door, Valaria and Franklin stepped aside to let Ben and Alicia in with their foster kids into the living room where Jo-Venn and N’Kalla joined the two kids at the table.

“Hey Reed? Suzie? We picked up the kids at school, where youz all at?” Called out Ben, not getting a response immediately even after Alicia closed the door behind her. “Huh… Guess they’z in the lab er something.”

“MOM!” Called out Valaria, waving her report card over her head. “I got a B in math!”

Almost immediately, the many Susan Storms crowded out of the lab to meet the Grimms and their returned kids at the table, hugging Ben and Alicia and quickly crowding around Valaria, seeing the girl go into giggling fits when they all noticed she had an A+ to her report card.

“Why you little scamp!” Smirked the blue skinned succubus, smiling as the girl’s giggling turned to laughter with the four-armed alien woman ruffling her hair. Looming over Franklin and pulling the boy in for a bear hug from behind, the wendigo woman smiled a toothy grin down at the boy as she plucked his own report card out.

“And what have we here?” Seeing the boy had a C+ in math and a B in writing and history, she looked down at his disappointed face and smirked, sharing a look with the model and other woman as they leaned down to whisper into his ear. “Don’t worry kiddo, I was bad in math too, ask your mom and dad, I’m sure they’ll give you help.”

Seeing their mother and father join the others in the living room, they spotted two other versions of their mother behind them with their uncle in tow. “Hi Ben, thanks for bringing the kids home.”

“D’err, yer welcome Suzie, ain’t no trouble.” Seeing the one latex wearing woman steer off to sit on a chair in the corner, licking her latex covered arm and using it to wipe her face like a cat, the stone skinned man was a little confused. “Uhm… Who’s the pussycat?”

“Mutant…”

The sound of a heavy, mechanical suit turned Ben’s attention to the armor-clad woman who left the threshold of the hallway and stepped into the living room, her eyes were livid with barely restrained rage as she slowly stepped aside to the open space near the couch and glared back at the stone skinned man. Her gloved hand remained on the pommel of her chainsword the entire time as she darted her eyes between the Thing and the four children, specifically the Kree and Skrull children Jo-Venn and N’Kalla.

“Xenos…”

Her hand shook with barely contained rage, something that did not go unnoticed by the others until the Invisible Woman stepped between her and her children with her arms outstretched. “None of that! These are their kids, you want to stay in my place, you live up to my rules, got it?”

“Yeah, otherwise the glowing version of my sister back in the lab might blow you up into dust like the last crazy one.” Scoffed Johnny, recoiling back at the woman’s glare as she breathed in sharply and closed her eyes, muttering a prayer under her breath before she looked to one of the chairs and sat away from everyone else.

Getting up from his own seat, Ben leaned into Susan’s ear from behind to whisper. “Geez, she’s sociable…”

Turning her head to whisper back, Susan eyed the man and darted her attention over to the latex wearing woman at the corner of the room. “At least she’s predictable, not too sure about the other one.”

“Welcome home kids, did you get your monthly reports?” Asked Reed, sitting at the table to join his children who were still being dotted over by the other Susans. Joining her husband and her kids and smiling down at the two as they showed off their schoolwork, the couple noticed the other Susans enter the living room, giving them a careful eye as Malice, the vampire and Susan Von Doom stood by the end of the hallway next to the kitchen and stared at the new arrivals.

“So, what have we here? Another walking fetish and a pale imitation of my magnificence?” Accused Von Doom, her chin high as she addressed the newcomers, holding special interest on the armored version of the woman staring daggers back at her. Smiling, Susan Von Doom turned to the Invisible Woman. “Please tell me, should I be concerned? Or sympathetic that your Reed failed once again.”

Getting the same response from the other ladies in the room, the Latvarian Queen chuckled to herself as she took another step forward, seeing Mr. Fantastic stand up and straightened his shirt while Susan stepped beside him for support.

“He’s doing the best he can, you’re just going to have to be patient.”

“Perhaps I can find NEW ways to motivate him that you harlots had failed repeatedly to accomplish.” Hissed Malice Stepping out of Von Doom’s shadow to eye the invisible woman, then turning her attention to the four children at the table. Quickly getting at what the woman was thinking, Susan clutched at her husband’s hand and raised an invisible barrier behind her to protect the kids.

“Don’t you DARE Malice!”

“Or what? You’ll have another lottery to see which of you gets to fornicate with him again...? The walls have ears… Sister.”

The collective gasps from the other Susans made Malice’s cruel smile grow, ignoring the latex wearing woman at the far corner lean forward in her chair with renewed interest. “Me-owwww, I do LOVE a good cat fight.”

“How dare you…”

“Please… You honestly think pleasure will motivate this man? I’ve heard him scream louder when I was driving my fingers into his eye sockets than when he was driving his…” Stopped dead in her rant, the woman’s chin was forcefully lifted to the toothy blade of a chainsword aimed at her neck.

“WITCH!” Hissed the Canoness, a searing rage in her eyes that rivalled the **** glare Malice gave in return, the air rippling with invisible power as both women had a standoff that left the living room frozen in surprise. “I lost my Reed to the seekers of anguish, the fiends of Commorragh, the Drukhari. Even though this is a different world, lo and behold I find the same scantily clad sadist standing RIGHT in front of me, MOCKING me by wearing my own face.”

The two stood silent, waiting for the other to move before an armored finger tapped on the tip of the blade and nudged it away from Malice’s neck. “If you don’t mind peasant, I’d rather you didn’t make such a scene.”

“Canoness!”

“Right, preach me a sermon then why don’t you.” Stepping away from the furious warrior woman, the trio slowly returned to the hallway and looked back to the Fantastic Four and their family. “We’ve seen enough here, we’ll be returning to our quarters, try not to make too much noise, we only tolerate your braying for so long.”

Pointing her sword towards the woman at the far corner, Susanna sneered, maintaining eye contact with Malice. “Take the THIEF with you.”

Raising an eyebrow to the notion, Susan Von Doom turned to look at the latex wearing woman admiring her clawed gloves and leering back at her with half-lidded eyes like some bored feline. Narrowing her own eyes, the Latvarian queen smirked. “Perhaps… Perhaps later…”

Finally seeing the trio leave, the Canoness did not put her sword away until the door to their quarters closed behind them and they were no longer in sight. With the ladies gone, Susan exhaled a sigh of relief and approached the Sister of Battle, hoping to give words of thanks before the armored woman quickly turned and approached Reed, pulling him into a silent embrace and kissed his head. Softening to the woman’s behaviour, Susan approached again, seeing her doppelganger look over her armored shoulder and hardened her features once again.

“Thank you, as you can tell, not all the versions of us who came through were…”

“Heretics… All of you.” The Canoness sneered. “If it were up to me, you’d all BURN for your sins against the emperor.”

“Hey, you’re not perfect either sweetheart.” Snorted the wendigo, unphased by the hateful glare the Canoness gave her in return.

Gently guiding away from the embrace, Reed offered the woman to sit in his seat at the table, something the Canoness slowly accepted as it groaned under her weight, hinting that her armor looked heavier than it appeared. “Susanna, please, I know it must go against your better nature, but each and every one of these women is you, a you from another world, and like it or not, you’ll have to make peace with that.”

Breathing in sharply and closing her eyes, the Canoness slowly nodded. When she did, Susan stepped up from behind Reed and whispered into his ear. “Reed honey, MAYBE you should head back to the lab and see if you can fix this.”

“Well… I’ll try… Eeep!” Feeling his wife’s fingers pinch at his rear, he could actually hear her smile into his ear.

“Don’t try. Do!”

“Yes sweetheart.”

Racing back out of the living room and back to his lab, the rest of the Fantastic Four and their family sat awkwardly together with the proverbial elephant in the room sitting at the same table as four children looking up at the intimidating woman. Looking down at his report card and back at his mother, Franklin scratched at his head and spoke out loud.

“Mom, what’s fornycashion?”

*

Stepping into his lab and closing the door behind him, Reed shook his head and walked over to the control panel to the portal device. As he did, he looked up at the floating, motionless glowing version of his wife hovering above the floor, her hair flowing up as if she were submerged in water. Her skin was flawless, ambient, as if she were made of pure energy. The lab coat placed over her shoulders to maintain her decency seemed to have slipped somewhat from when the Cat-burglar and Canoness arrived, just hanging off her shoulder. Not wanting to leave her like that, Reed gently gripped at the sleeves of the coat and pulled it up to rest over her shoulders again. Without thinking, he brought his hand up to brush a stray hair out of the woman’s eyes, only to be surprised when she slowly turned her attention to him and grasped his hand.

The moment she did, his whole world went blank.