The Children Are Sent To Boarding Schools

"Jean Grey Academy?" Franklin Richards said.

"It's for the best, sweetie," Sue Storm said as she adjusted his uniform. "Porkum and I have been discussing it for weeks. He was thinking military school, but I convinced him that you needed more...special accommodations. People that could help you with your gifts."

"Is that why Valeria went to Avengers Academy?" Franklin said, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.

Sue Storm face flickered through emotions he couldn't process.

"Val is smart honey. A genius. She needs to be around people like her. People that can give her the challenges she needs to really blossom," Sue said.

"Because he wants you all to himself," Franklin said.

The Invisible Woman stood up. She was still wearing her more revealing costume. Normally intended to compliment her figure, right now Franklin could only think of how it reflected the changes in his mother over the last few weeks. Every question about their father of uncles had been diverted. Porkum had been a constant presence in their lives, the pig man often dressed in nothing more than an immense part of sweat pants. He and their mother would disappear for hours on end, leaving Franklin and Val to their own devices, to play games or watch television. The two had almost given up on their home-schooling lessons.

Maybe that was the reason they were being sent off to school. A "more disciplined environement," Porkum had said over dinner last night. It had turned Franklin's stomach to see how Sue deferred to him, how easily she accepted his hugs and kisses. He was almost always touching the bare skin that her costume exposed.

"Can I at least come back for Christmas?" Franklin asked, with a sudden flash of precognition.

"We'll see about that sport," Porkum said as he came up behind Sue. One great pink hand curled around her waist, which had thickened noticeably, the once-flat abs forming the slightest bulge. "Your mother is going to be very busy in a few months."

Sue's laughter was like a nail driven into Franklin's soul.

The shuttle landed softly on the roof. Franklin trudged to it, the robots already loading his luggage. Through the window, he stared down at the retreating roof, and the pair that remained on their. Sue Storm looked up at her son...but Porkum's hands were running all over her body, paying special attention to her stomach.

"Porkie," Sue whispered. "I miss them already."

"Don't worry, babe," Porkum grunted softly as he dragged her back toward their quarters. "There are more where they came from, after all."

In Latveria, Doctor Doom sat before the monitor. His vengeance against Reed Richards felt almost complete. The family was broken, scattered. Sue Storm, the linchpin that had held them together, was in Porkum's thrall. Yet one thing worried him. Richards was not yet dead. Lost in between dimensions, true, but not dead. In time, he would find his way home.

It was only a question of when...and what he found would have to break his spirit utterly.