Confronting Tanaraq

Fluttering his eyes, Reed felt groggy, looking up around him, he found he was still in bed at home with the morning light cutting through the blinds of his bedroom window and shining over his face. Hearing a hiss of water from the bathroom he could see the door left open while steam billowed out. “Morning Reed, sleep well?” Called out Susan from the shower, making Reed slump back in bed with a sigh of relief.

“I had a nightmare… I was trying to find you… Save you from yourself.”

“Daw… Poor baby, well don’t worry your little head, everything’s alright.” He heard her soothing voice just as he heard the water turn off and a towel being pulled off a rack. Sitting up in bed he waiting to see her exit, only to turn to shock when he found an outstretched claw grip the door frame, revealing the grinning fanged face of his wife, towering over him as a wendigo, lunging from the doorway to pounce on the frightened man in bed, Reed cried out in horror. Leering down at him with blood red eyes and keeping him pinned to the bed with her clawed hand, Susan licked her fanged lips in reaction to his terror.

“Aww, DoN’t Be ThAt WaY ReEd… GiVe YoUr WiFe A KiSssssss….”

*

Gasping awake and feeling a splitting headache, Reed Richards rolled onto his side while the world around him was a ringing blur to his ears. He could hear voices calling out, the heat of flames near him that made him pull away and sit up where his vision cleared, and the sounds became clearer. Looking around, he could see the Avengers fighting for their lives against a horde of wendigo that seemed to appear and disappear at a whim, striking without warning and stealing away another SHIELD agent that wasn’t fast or alert enough to escape. Captain America was **** to a knee trying to hold back the barrage of strikes from his attacker before the beast was blasted back by the Human Torch. Giving the super soldier the chance to fall back.

Iron Man and Wasp darted overhead, struggling to contain Jessica Jones, now a hulking wendigo like the rest of the hoard, howling and roaring at the two as she swiped a claw across Tony’s armor and leaving deep gouges into the metal plating.

The Thing and She-Hulk were back to back trading blows with their own opponents, keeping the wendigo at a safe distance while the Avengers behind them tried to gather themselves up for safety. It was then Reed could hear someone calling his name once his hearing cleared, turning his attention to the source of the voice.

“DADDY! I CAN’T KEEP THEM OFF US FOR LONG!” Cried out Valaria, her arms outstretched and holding up a bubble of bent light that kept five wendigo at bay, the snarling beasts punching and mauling the barrier his daughter kept up with all their might and ferocity, unable to reach her or the rest of her family she kept safe. Looking down at her feet Reed noticed Franklin was passed out and being tended to by Tigra. One by one the rest of the Avengers and Richards family retreated to the bubble Valaria held up, being able to pass through the barrier with ease but not the horde of monsters trying to harm them.

“Val! Franklin!” Stumbling towards his **** son in Greer’s lap, he sighed with relief to find him still breathing.

“He’s okay, just knocked out like you were.” Laying nearby was the **** body of Doctor Strange, the man murmuring as he slowly regained consciousness, clutching a nasty cut on his forehead.

“Val, are you okay sweety?” Looking over to Valaria, the young girl was wheezing in anguish as she put all her will into protecting her friends and family. Even using her abilities to make the wendigo in proximity VISIBLE by struggling against her mother’s powers and keep the Avengers safe. “Too many… She’s here… Mommy’s here…”

“I know honey, she’s the only one who could make these creatures invisible.”

“NO! She’s… Mommy’s fighting me, pushing against my **** field, she’s STRONGER than me.” Cried Val, her arms shaking as she kept up the bubble of solid light, but as she wavered, so did the **** field as it began to shrink and pull back, becoming smaller. Turning his attention back to the Sorcerer Supreme regaining consciousness, the man was sitting up to find himself surrounded by the pandemonium around him.

“Doctor, we need to hurry, if you have a plan, PLEASE do something!”

Turning to look over his shoulder, the two looked up to hear Tony cry out and crash to the ground, a deep gash in his shoulder where the plating had been pried off and bleeding. Scrambling to his knees, Tony Stark gasped and fumbled to unclasp his helmet, just as the seams to his armor groaned and complained loudly before bursting apart to reveal white fur underneath.

“We don’t have much time left.” Getting to his feet and wincing with his arm around his side, Doctor Strange outstretched his good hand and muttered an incantation. The moment he did, a spark of light bloomed between his outstretched fingers to form a glowing spark of yellow light no bigger than a marble. “TANARAQ! HEAR ME!” Raising his good arm over his head to show off the orb of light, Doctor Strange did not know if the creature was even nearby, but he knew how to get his attention. “IN MY HAND I HOLD THE KEY TO RETURNING YOU TO THE REALM OF BEASTS. WITH THIS YOU CAN BE RECONNECTED TO THE SPIRITS AND RECLAIM YOUR IMMORTALITY.” Seeing the wendigos gather to strike down Val’s **** field, Strange’s gambit seemed to have had the opposite effect. More and more of the cannibalistic monsters appeared before them, driven into a frenzy to attack Dr. Strange, behind him Valaria gasped as it was already too much for her. All it would take was one more strike and the horde would be ready to bring the killing blow.

Quickly snatching the tiny glowing marble out of the sorcerer’s hand, Reed raised it over his head for everyone to see. “KILL US AND YOU’LL NEVER GET IT!”

And just like that, the wendigo attacking the **** field stopped what they were doing, the entire pack stepping away and giving the sorcerer threatening growls and snarls as they relented their ****. Looking back at her daughter, Reed caught her just in time as she collapsed in his arms, the **** field dropping but the wendigos did not attack. “Now back away or I’ll break it.” Doing as he commanded, Reed watched as the wendigo horde stepped back, giving him and his loved one’s space as they regathered behind Mr. Fantastic. Checking over to Iron Man, Reed breathed in sharply when he spotted Tony, fully transformed, and backing away, along with Black Widow, her costume hanging off her in taters as she backed away, brandishing her new claws at her former friends.

“What do the beasts wait for?” Asked Thor, hesitant to make a move knowing two of his friends had been turned.

Keeping an eye on the pack of monsters and back at his family gathering behind him. Reed noticed the sound of clapping in the distance. Looking back out into the horde, he noticed the veil of invisibility lift, revealing over a hundred wendigos. Parting to make room, one wendigo stood out among the rest, walking upright, and clapping his clawed hands together while casually making his way through his pack of wendigos to stand in front of the Richard’s family and Avengers. Finally, Reed could see the thing responsible for all of this casually walk up to him. Tanaraq was nothing like the other wendigo he had bent to his will. Although he shared their appearance and strengths, there was an intelligence in his blood red eyes that unnerved Reed, a far cry from the ****, detained animal he was in SHIELD custody back on the RAFT. Cold and calculating, his fanged smirk, feline nostrils and pointed ears belied a human intelligence that had planned this entire outcome. “A means to returning to the realm of beasts, VERY clever Doctor Strange, I will admit, being trapped in this shell IS bothersome, its not fragile… But I do prefer a safety net if things were to go wrong.”

“He’s not the one you need to talk to Tanaraq, I’m the one holding what you want.” Clutching the glowing marble in his hands, Reed made it look like he would break it. “Make any wrong moves and you lose this chance forever.”

Turning his attention to Mr. Fantastic, Tanaraq’s smirk grew. “Very well Professor Richards, well played. So, what are your terms, hmm?”

“I want to see my wife!”