Snuggles The Symbiote

Reed sighed as the lights cleared. In hindsight, he should have stepped in as soon as the newcomer had come through the portal.

"Computer, stop the music and run analysis on teleportation residue, try to figure out where they went." It hadn't worked the last time there'd been a teleporter mishap, but that was because of Arcade's outside interference... "And add 'invent a new kind of teleportation' to my todo list.'" Better safe than sorry, now that he thought about it.

Running Analysis.

While the computer was running, Reed stepped over to check on the... Quite foul-mouthed, it seemed young woman, who Stephen was tending to.

"She shot me. I can't believe the bitch shot me." She muttered as her bleeding tricep was examined by the surgeon.

"Lisa," Stephen said dryly, "We both know that you should have seen that coming. I am quite certain that this is what you were trying for."

"I was trying to get her to admit to breaking the law in front of witnesses but that didn't turn out!" Lisa bit back spitefully.

"Well, the good news is that by the time the bullet hit you it seems to have used up much of its momentum, this wound's only skin deep. Normally, I'd give you a choice if you want to leave the bullet in or not since it's not threatening anything, and removing it will make the wound sightly worse, but I don't trust ammunition fired from a glowing green gun generated from an extradimensional parasite to not have long term health effects on your body if it doesn't come out. Reed, do you have a pair of forceps, a scalpel, standard-sized medical grade thread and needles, and isopropyl alcohol?"

"Third drawer of the emergency first aid cabinet," Reed rattled off as he gestured to a set of cabinets on the far wall. "In between the cabinet full of experimental cancer cures and the cabinet full of things that would destroy various industries overnight if I released them to the public. There's also an experimental painkiller that's supposed to function like morphine but is nonaddictive and has an LD50 one hundred times greater while maintaining the same effective dose, but it has the side effect of turning your hair pink and your fingernails green for forty-eight hours. Just your fingernails." Reed did not want to try and market that drug until he was certain as to what caused that side effect. It didn't seem to do any harm, but this was something he might actually be allowed to market and he wanted to make sure it was perfect.

"Thank you," Stephen said as he helped Lisa up and escorted her over. "Now, the sooner we take out the bullet and get the wound dressed," he said to her, "the sooner we can get you something for the pain."

"If I said I don't consent to this procedure?" Lisa mumbled.

"I would say that refusing the removal of a bullet fired from by a glowing green gun would be against medical advice and I would have to take you all the way to a hospital so you could sign forms making sure you're aware of that, and even then we'd still have to get the wound dressed," Stephen said evenly. "Trust me, nothing good can come from anything that glows green..."

Analysis Complete. Teleportation Signature Traced To Antarctica. Exact Location Unknown, probability 97.1230987% That Subjects Taylor Hebert, Ashley O'Leary, Yuri O'Leary, And Unknown Assailant Are Located In The Savage Lands.

"Of course they are," Reed sighed. "Computer, send a message to Avengers Mountain requesting assistance in locating four individuals, including two minors, lost in the Savage Lands, forward security recordings in this room for the last... Five minutes. Request that they further forward the Request to Ka-Zar and Shanna The She-Devil." Ka-Zar and Shanna were intimately familiar with the Savage Lands, connected to them, they'd be the best bet to find them quickly. "And to call back for further details A.S.A.P."

For a moment, he considered contacting Charles Xavier, to ask him to locate Ashley's mutant energy signature with Cerebro, but... Well, his last meeting with the man had not gone so well and with how things are going on Krakoa Reed honestly was not sure the priority Charles would place on finding the other three. A last resort, if they weren't found soon.

...Besides, Reed could see the start of a bigger problem once the more immediate problem had been solved, and he might need to call in a favor for that. Best not to ask too much at once.

Stephen came up behind Reed, Lisa's wounds treated. "She's going to be out of it for a moment." The Scientist and the Sorcerer stood silent for a moment, waiting for the Avengers to message back, a plan formulating in Reed's mind. "You don't feel comfortable sending them back into that either, do you?" Stephen asked.

"No," Reed admitted. Reed was the first to admit that, for all his genius, how people worked and behaved was not something he could understand. Not on the individual level. There was no equation for love, no chemical formula for compassion. The basic fundamentals could be understood scientifically, stimuli trigger the production of a hormone that caused a reaction in the brain triggering a sensation that the body interprets as being caused by the stimuli, but beyond that... Well, it was complex in a way that was both fascinating and frustrating.

But, he was a father. And as a father, the idea of what Ashley, Taylor, and Lisa had alleged about what people nominally in charge of protecting and educating minors did regarding such minors... The thought of someone treating his own children as 'disposable assets' would keep him up for the next few nights.

...The irony of that statement, considering his actions during the Superhuman Civil War and what came of that, was also not lost on him.

He looked to the portal generator that created the gateway to Earth Bet.

And then he used the communicator hidden in his costume to send a message to Ben and to Valeria. Valeria because she knew the layout of the building and Ben because he doesn't trust Valeria unsupervised around these people after what had just happened.

"I have a plan... One that I admit might be somewhat reckless... Stephen, if I do not return from Earth Bet after one hour of my departure, call a meeting of the Illuminati and tell them what happened here."

"Reed, that might not be as many people as you hope. Charles is off doing his own thing, no one has seen Blackbolt since the Vox committed genocide on New Arctilan, and from what I've heard Namor's bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder are both acting up particularly aggressively at this time."

"Just, do what you can, Stephen... Something tells me that our reality and the Earth Bet reality have become permanently intertwined. If this growing conflict isn't cut off here and now then..."

Stephen did not answer but, seeming to notice something, instead walked over to the damaged teleportation pad. As he stepped around to the far side of it he picked up a wooden baseball bat. "Where did this come from?"

"Computer, active holo-vid. Play security footage between my attempt to restrain the violence and the teleporter mishap focusing on the area around the teleportation pad. Half speed."

A hologram of the teleportation pad was projected in the space between Reed and Stephen and played the sequence of events in slow motion. After landing, Ashley sat up and drew the bat from her symbiote's mass, giving a look to he mother, before losing her grip on it as the teleportation took effect, tossing it just before she vanished.

"I may be able to use this for a few spells that'll help find them," Strange said in reference to the bat in his hands.

It was at that moment that Ben came in. "Stretcho? What's goin' on? Why is one of the kids still here but... And the teleporter's broken." Ben sighed. "Someone attacked our home again, didn't they? Was it Moleman? The Wizard? Doom?"

Reed was about to explain that it was a more complicated situation when Valeria rushed into the room, did a completely unnecessary combat roll, and presented a massive, high-tech firearm that was comically large in comparison to her teenage frame. "What's the emergency? Galactus? Annihilus? Thanos?"

Reed blinked. "Val, what have I told you about plasma cannons?"

"This isn't a plasma cannon, it's a laser cannon," Val said defensively.

"Does the laser create plasma as a byproduct by superheating and ionizing the air it passes through?" Reed asked sternly.

"It doesn't... Not make plasma as a byproduct."

Reed decided to fight one battle at a time and explained to his best friend and his daughter the situation and what he was going to do about it.

Snuggles the Symbiote

The woman, Director Piggot, seemed particularly annoyed as Reed stepped into her office. She was clearly packing up to leave for the evening.

"I don't know who you are," she began, but Reed did not let her finish.

"I'm Reed Richards, it's my technology that allows Ashley to traverse realities so that she can see her psychiatrist. You're in charge here? We will talk. Right now."

"I'm terribly sorry, but—"

"That wasn't a request, your representative came into my home and acted in a manner most unprofessional. She turned her weapon on me in my own home, and now she, two minors who are nominally your wards, and a guest in my home are stranded in Antarctica because your representative damaged my teleportation pad. Was she acting on your orders?"

"Get out of my office," the woman said firmly.

"It's a yes or no question, madam," Reed replied just as firmly

"Yes, Miss Militia was acting on my orders," the woman admitted. "Now, I really do not have time for this. Go back to your reality and we can talk about this when you rescue my capes from a frozen hellhole."

"I do not think you quite understand the significance of what happened," Reed began.

From a device hidden in the wrist of his unstable molecule uniform, he projected a hologram representing the security footage of the entire incident from Miss Militia stepping into his reality to the teleporter accident.

"I am not saying for a minute that what Ashley, Lisa, and Taylor did, sneaking back to my reality because of a need for closure instead of simply telling someone, was right, but your representative, on your orders mind you, acted in a highly disproportionate matter. Furthermore, your representative actively attempted blackmail and extortion of minors, even admitting intent to violate the terms of binding contracts, reacted with physical violence to one such minor when said contracts were mentioned, placed a firearm in the face of a ten-year-old girl for purposes of intimidation. She claimed that neither the rights of those minors nor the law mattered and that she could murder a child in cold blood and receive no consequences. As this argument escalated, your representative escalated to potentially lethal force and shot me in my own home when I attempted to deescalate the situation."

"This alone would be enough to take serious issue... If it was not for the fact that young Ashley is a mutant who has accepted Krakoan citizenship. Therefore, by the Krakoan deal, she is considered to have the same rights and privileges as a head of state or an appointed ambassador. In short, Madam, because the incident happened in Earth 727 instead of Earth Bet, your representative has been recorded assaulting a diplomat."

At several points in time, Director Piggot attempted to interject, but Reed would not let her.

"Since you do not seem to get it, I am going to break it down to you just how lucky you are that I am the one who was present when this happened. Starting from best-case scenario to the worst-case scenario, for you that is," he began, adjusting the hologram he was projecting to show 12 people.

"This is the Quiet Council of Krakoa, the ruling body of the country who your representative, technically, assaulted a diplomat of, as of my last encounter with them. Had this incident happened on Krakoan soil, it likely would have been met by a direct response from the Quiet Council as young Ashley is a direct descendant of one of their members," Reed gestured to the hulking form of Apocalypse, "who, while a murderous tyrant and a social Darwinist, is known to at least take care of his own. Charles Xavier," he gestured to the man in the helmet, a Cerebro unit, "has always been quite protective of young mutants, and Magneto," he gestured to the man clad in armor, helm, and cape, "has always reacted violently and passionately to mutants being victimized by humans, especially children."

Reed then gestured to the white-haired African goddess, the red-haired woman in the yellow mask, the blonde in the revealing white outfit, and the pink-skinned man with the spikey shoulders. "Ororo Munroe, alias Storm. Jean Grey, alias Marvel Girl. Emma Frost, alias White Queen. Bennet du Paris, alias Exodus. Each of them, along with Magneto, is an Omega Level mutant. That is to say, a mutant whose primary power has no intrinsic limits allowing them to theoretically become infinitely powerful or develop a limitless application for their abilities. Storm is an Atmokinetic, able to control the weather on a planetary scale, Marvel Girl and White Queen are perhaps the most dangerous telepaths in the world, and Marvel Girl is also one of the greatest telekinetics in the world. Exodus is able to psychokinetically manipulate individual atoms on a mass scale."

Reed stopped for a second to breathe. "Magneto, as you may have guessed, has powers over all forms of electromagnetic. His range of influence is measured in lightyears based on one confirmed incidence, and his individual power and precision has allowed him to remove the roof of the Madison Square Garden by removing all of the individual screws and nailed holding it in place, lift the roof off, levitate in, and then flawlessly reattach the roof exactly as it was." Reed paused for dramatic effect. "But of course, both of those incidents were several years ago. He could be much more powerful or skilled now."

"Storm, Marvel Girl, and White Queen would all have personal reasons to side with a victimized child. Exodus seems to believe that Magneto is the second coming of Jesus Christ and will do whatever Magneto says in accordance with such."

"Krakoa's response would not have killed anyone," Reed concluded. "As the nation has publically made it known that they will kill no humans, no matter what, in order to prove a point and that any of their citizens who violate this will be harshly punished, but you, and by extension, this city, would have had a very bad couple of days."

He changed the hologram to a single man. A muscular dark-haired man wearing a black shirt emblazoned with a skull. "This is Frank Castle, alias The Punisher. A war veteran, Castle was officially a member of the United States Marine Core Force Recon Division, but additionally attended the U.S Army Airborn School and received Navy Underwater Demolitions training and cross-training with Britain's Special Air Service. He is, perhaps, the single best trained non-augmented military officer, current or former, who has ever lived. He presents himself as a vigilante but is in fact the single most prolific serial killer in modern history. His preferred targets are violent criminals and people who bring direct noticeable harm to the innocent."

"In the, admittedly small, chance that he had witnessed what your representative, Miss Militia, had done, he would have killed her on the spot," Reed stated bluntly. "He's killed people with far less justification. He may have attempted to come here and kill you, and it is highly likely that several innocent people would have been killed in the crossfire."

"More likely, but far worse for you," Reed moved on as the hologram instead changed to an unassuming man in a lab caught surrounded by hulking figures. Most green, one grey, dressed in purple pants. Or armor like a barbarian hero. Or a classic mobster's pinstripe suit. Or a larger labcoat and bunny slippers.

"Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. Alias The Incredible Hulk. Alias Joe-Fixit. Alias the Professor. Alias the Green Scar. Alias Doc Green. Alias Devil Hulk. Dr. Banner is a genius specializing in the study and application of Gamma radiation. He is also the single most powerful Gamma-Ray mutate in the world, the 'strongest there is,' whenever one of his alters takes over. His strongest alter, the Green Scar, at the height of his power, is able to smash entire planets apart with his bare hands. The Hulk very rarely deliberately kills," Reed continued, "but when he does... It's usually because someone hurt a child."

"Dr. Banner is another patient of Dr. Samson, the psychiatrist that Ashley is seeing, who is currently running his practice out of a military base under Dr. Banner's control. Ashley and Dr. Banner have met. If Ashley had gone to her psychiatrist for emergency counseling after receiving the most upsetting news that her mother's grave had been defiled," Reed concluded, "then the stunt your representative pulled could have resulted in your city being hit with a force that would make your... what do you call them, Endbringers? Make them look like unseasonable weather."

Reed dismissed the holograms entirely. "I could go on, laying out increasingly worse ways this could have played out for you but I think I've made my point. What you did, what you had your Miss Militia do, was unprofessional, excessive, dangerous, and self-destructively stupid. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Assuming that I believe your exaggerated fairy tales," the woman dismissed condescendingly, "Who are you to criticize me? To talk down to me for doing what I need to do? This is a city at war, Mr. Richards, and when you're fighting a war you do what you can to bring disobedient soldiers to heel."

"I'm Mister Fantastic. My family vacations on alien worlds and picnics in parallel realities. I have traveled the vast cosmos. When a being who devours entire worlds on a regular basis came to my planet, not only did my family drive him off with a promise that he would spare the Earth forevermore, but he left calling me 'friend.' I have been to Heaven and spoken face to face with God Almighty and I have been to Hell and watched as my son slew The Devil on his own throne. My lovely wife used to do missions for the CIA, operations so sensitive that not even their finest agents could do it, and she did them all without killing a single person because it would have been too easy for her to just murder her targets. Literally, it would take her just a thought."

"My brother-in-law has within him the power to burn the world and completed NASA training before he graduated high school. My best friend earned a masters degree in engineering, became a pilot in the Air Force, a secret agent, a United States Marine, an astronaut, a professional wrestler, perhaps the single greatest superhero who has ever lived, and started a family in the time it takes many people to do just one of those things. He's saved the world from a sheer stubborn refusal to give up until justice prevailed more times than I can count."

"My daughter's intellect makes me look like a drooling vegetable, and my son dreams entire universes into existence complete with detailed histories and sapient life with their own societies and cultures because he was bored," Reed finished calmly but sternly.

"And that's just my immediate family. I could spend all day regaling how my extended clan does the impossible every day and I'd do it happily if I was not pressed for time" Reed said truthfully. "The question is not who am I, the question is who are you to refuse my stern but friendly warning that you need to change your ways before you get someone killed or worse?"

The woman was about to answer, anger clear on her face, but Reed did not allow her to. "In the time since I arrived here, my daughter, escorted by my friend Benjamin, have gone to your Wards headquarters and showed the same footage of the incident earlier tonight that I've shown you to anyone staying in said headquarters. They are explaining everything that happened, and offering them sanctuary."

"Sanctuary?"

"Sanctuary," Reed confirmed, "because, between Miss Militia's threats and the accusations that she did not even bother defending against, I do not trust you or anyone who works with or for you not to take out your frustrations from this failed stunt on the children. I am emphatically not forcing anyone to come with me, but anyone who believes they would be safer at my home will be leaving with my family tonight and they will be staying until such a time as they decide to return or until the situation here has been satisfactorily resolved."

"You will not attempt to stop myself, my family, or anyone who wishes to come with us, both becuase I will interpret that as an attack and respond in kind and because I am expected home and have arranged for actions to take place should I not return on time, actions that you will very much not like," Reed threatened. "Nor will you try to spin this as a kidnapping or an extradimensional invasion, becuase I have the means of monitoring your media across dimensional barriers and I will contact your media and leak the truth, including the security footage of the inciting incident, in order to clear the air. You do not want a PR war with me."

"You can't do this."

"I think I've made it quite clear that the only thing I can't do is believe people who tell me that I can't do something," Reed finished quietly.

Reed turned to leave, but just to make a point he twisted his neck 180 degrees to stare back at Director Piggot. "And after the people that your representative stranded in Antarctica are rescued, I'll be returning so that we can discuss how things are going to change around here."

With that, he left the woman's office to meet with Val and Ben.

He found them with only three guests. the reptilian Grace, the temperamental Missy, and Dean supporting himself with the cane that was this world's Mjolnir. the ones who visited before.

"Is there anyone else?" He asked, to make sure.

"No," Val confirmed. "There were others, but they didn't believe when I showed them the recording."

"It isn't that they didn't believe it," Dean corrected. "It's that they don't want to go against the Director. Fear, desire for normalcy, and..."

Missy did not seem to have anything to say, but she obviously seemed sad.

Reed opened the portal back to his laboratory. "Well... the good news is that we've furnished the guest rooms since your last visit. No one has to share if they don't want to."

Even Reed knew that was a weak attempt at lifting the mood.