Sue Calls For Help

"Have you put on weight, Sue? That costume looks a little tight!"

It was meant as a joke, and most of the superheroines chuckled. In truth, since her binge, her Fantastic Four uniform did feel a little tight at the waist and thighs, as if the material clung to her like a second skin. Sue Storm's lips went tight, and the others picked up on her mood.

They ceased laughing immediately, suddenly serious .

"Okay Lady Liberators. Some of you may know that a little while ago I was injured during an interdimensional breach in Central Park," Sue made the leg of her costume invisible, so that the assembled women could see the wound on her thigh.

She-Hulk, Valkyrie, and Thundra stood at the back of the room. Storm, Tigra, the Wasp, Hellcat, Scarlet Witch, and Spider-Woman were seated around the table in one of the Baxter Building's meeting rooms. Beautiful, fit women, each one formidable in their own right. Together, as they rarely were, they could defeat threats none of them could tackle on their own. Sue hadn't hoped that they would all respond, what with all the strange menaces that had caused the Avengers, X-Men, and other groups to busy themselves hither and yon. Yet when she needed them, they had come.

"The shard that struck me is a radioactive isotope from an unknown dimension," Sue tapped a button and a hologram showed the glowing yellow gem. "From what Reed was able to gather, it managed to completely nullify my powers when in close proximity. He theorizes that it would work on any female heroine."

That caught their attention. A power suppressor that worked explicitly on women—the Invisible Woman didn't need to tell the assembled heroines why that was bad news for all of them, if it got out into the wider supervillain community.

"Reed and the others left to trace the origin of this ****," Sue said. "Leaving me behind. For my own protection. However, recently...something made it past our security protocols."

Sue held up the empty box of bonbons.

"This was labeled as a gift. I almost threw it out, but decided to try one. I ended up eating the entire box. When he sent another box...I did it again. I couldn't help myself."

Her cheeks burned in embarrassment at this admission, and some of the women's eyes went wide.

"When I—came back to myself—I had H.E.R.B.I.E. scan it again. There's traces of an unknown biological substance in the chocolates. There wasn't enough left to tell exactly what it was, but on further examination he found it contained...mutated semen."

She had their full attention now.

"I am embarrassed to admit that I was caught so off-guard—twice," Sue said. "However, I cannot assume that these two incidents are unrelated. I think someone is targeting me. Someone who could, potentially, have the ability to nullify my powers. I swallowed my pride to call you here because...because I need help."

"You were wise to do so. The villain who did this could target any of us," Valkyrie said, and her words said what the others were thinking. "We must act in concert. This power cannot be allowed to spread, this injustice cannot be permitted to stand."

"The X-Men are spread thin right now," Storm said. "But if there is any way I can assist you, Susan, I will. Send me whatever data H.E.R.B.I.E. has gathered; perhaps we have something that can help identify the culprit."

"I have a suspect," Sue said, and she stabbed another button. The hologram shifted to show a nondescript building. "This is where the bonbons came from. The individual that sent them signed their name as 'Porkum.' Nothing in Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. databases."

"But if he's an interdimensional threat, he might not be," Hellcat added. "We should pay this Porkum a visit. In ****."

Sue Storm nodded. "Which is why I called you here. I can't do this alone—and we shouldn't go in without a plan. We don't know how much of that isotope this Porkum has, the extant of his powers or abilities, or even if he's getting help."

"So," She-Hulk said. "What is the plan?"