Porkum Is Gone, And Sue Storm Is Very Pregnant

Franklin Richards ran to his mother's room. Valeria was already there. The Invisible Woman had managed to drape a sheet over herself, but there was no hiding the massive swollen stomach that hung over her knees as she sat on the bed, the skin stretched impossibly taut, the navel popped and stretched out by the contents.

There were other changes, Franklin was sure. Sue was panting, using invisible hands to adjust the sheet, to cover her breasts and the rest of her body, but the sheer gravid outline made one thing clear:

His mother was pregnant again.

"Val..." Sue huffed, out of breath and breathing hard. "I...need you...to...call...for help."

"Righ!" the girl yelled and ran out of the room. Leaving Franklin to stare at his mother.

As soon as Valeria was out of earshot, Sue stared at Franklin.

"Honey," she said softly. "Did you...do something?"

Her face was tense.

Franklin bit his lip. He remembered his dream.

"I...I don't know. Maybe? I've been having these dreams, lately..." he said. Then he sniffed. "I miss dad. And uncle Ben and uncle Johnny. And I hate Porkum! I was just remembering what it was like when you were pregnant with Val, and we were all a family and..."

Sue nodded, understanding dawning. She ran a hand over her immense stomach. Franklin had never seen a woman so big. She might have been pregnant with a baby elephant.

"Okay, baby. I'm sure it'll all be...fine. Mommy just needs a little help with this..."

"What can I do!?" Franklin asked.

A heavy metal hand came down on Franklin Richards' shoulder. He looked up, into the iron mask of Doctor Doom.

"You have done enough, Master Richards," the Latverian monarch said, in that strange Eastern European accent of his, which rang oddly within the confines of his helmet. "My goddaughter has called for aid, and so I appear. How might I assist you, Susan?"

The blonde woman in the bed worked her jaw. Her eyes, Franklin saw, were clearer than they had been in weeks. Whatever hold Porkum had held over her was gone. The intelligent, determined woman who stared back at Doom was the one he remembered.

More or less.

"Please put the children back to bed, Victor," Sue Storm said, as invisible force fields lifted her off the bed, the sheet draping her immensely pregnant form. "Then join me in the lab. I'll need your assistance."