Malice Decides She Must Deal With Porkum First

The champagne popped. Malice poured the bubbly into the glass. A toast to her return. Now she could do whatever she wanted—build an empire of crime, bring this world to its knees, indulge in her every carnal whim. She was unfettered.

She stepped to the window, wincing at the weight on her injured leg. A flare of anger burst in her sense of triumph. Someone had hurt her. Someone had pierced her invisible force field. Canceled out her powers. That was a danger she could not ignore.

Nor did she think it a coincidence that this Porkum should begin to bother the Invisible Woman not long after the injury. Reed and the others were searching the outer dimensions for their foe, but Malice's mind was too suspicious of such coincidences.

"H.E.R.B.I.E.," she said. "The radioactive bullet that wounded me. Does the dimensional signature match that of Porkum's samples?"

"Processing," the small android said.

Malice sipped her champagne. Enjoyed the small, sensual flush that came to her skin. Ah, how champagne could go to her head! That was why Sue Storm had so seldom drank it. Perhaps later there would be time for more champagne...and a naked, writhing victim to sate the burning need in her loins. Richards had neglected his wife for far too long. It would please Malice to no end to cuckold him.

"Affirmative," H.E.R.B.I.E. said. "99.9% match that the semen samples and radioactive isotope originate from the same dimension."

The blonde nodded. "And what is the effective range of this isotope? How close can I get without being affected?"

"Range is dependent on mass of the sample," H.E.R.B.I.E. said. "A 1 gram sample has an effective range of 1 meter without interposing material. Standard materials that impede non-ionizing radiation will also block it..."

"What about my invisible force fields?" Malice asked.

She took the bottle with her into the lab for experiments. When outside the range of effect, Sue Storm found, she could easily place an invisible force field around the sample. However, the invisible field did not block the sickly yellow light that emanated from the bullet, and as soon as Sue came within a meter of the crystal, her force field failed.

"So, it's not targeting my force field, it's only affecting me," Malice said with a frown. That made Porkum especially dangerous. If he had any more of this material, she would be at his mercy. Unless she killed him from afar.

Her eyes narrowed.

"H.E.R.B.I.E., can we adjust a radiation scanner to detect this particular form of radiation?" she asked.

"Affirmative," H.E.R.B.I.E. said.

"Good. I have a little plan," Malice said, allowing herself a nasty smile.