Second Stretches Chapter Three: Nuptuals in which Susan Richards is maid of honor.
A black head of hair slowly rose up out of the New York Harbor. The head of hair was slowly followed by a well-sculpted (one might go so far as to say regal) face with piercing blue eyes. As a full (mostly) human body slowly emerged from the waters anyone could see that the body was indisputably male (given that he had a completely bare chest which was incredibly well-muscled) followed by the green, scale-like pair of swim trunks that were the only article of clothing which adorned his body.
No other adornments were needed for he was Namor, Prince of Atlantis and ruler of the seas. Leaving aside his all but impossibly-toned physique, the much more obvious sign of how he was something other than normal was the small pair of wings that were sprouting from his ankles. How exactly those things allowed him to soar through the air with complete and utter ease was a question still up to debate, but he didn't bother trying to answer such questions.
Instead, he focused on what lay ahead of him as he flew toward one of New York City's most obvious landmarks, the Baxter Building home to the Fantastic Five. As he approached the building however the entire side of it facing him was instantly surrounded by a glowing blue barrier of pure energy, and a mechanical voice spoke out to him from some unseen origin.
"Approaching subject identified as Namor... classification, non-applicable. Your majesty, if you wish to speak with Doctor Richards then he is being summoned to the roof after having been notified of your presence. Be aware that until your intentions have been determined you will not be allowed to enter the rest of the Baxter Building..." Namor gave one of his most surreptitious sneers in response to this particular message. But, not wanting to do battle with the technological creations of a man who had managed prove himself capable of creating weapons the likes of which even he had reason to fear, Namor ascended upwards.
When he finally landed on the roof of the Baxter Building, Reed Richards was there, dressed fully in his protective armor, holding a weapon that looked like something both strangely surreal and deadly. He tapped the side of it while pointing it at Namor's chest.
"I designed this one with you in mind, Namor. It shoots highly pressurized jets of water, which, as it leaves the barrel, has a several thousand volt current running through it. Trust me, you'd find the sensation anything but 'refreshing'. In fact, by comparison it would make getting hit with a tazer would feel like nothing but a tickle. So now that I've made clear how the only thing I need is a modified squirt gun to fill your mind with unbelievable amounts of pain, I'm open to the idea that you came here intending to have a reasonable conversation. So what brings you here, Namor?"
Being above such plebeian concerns, the prince of the seas did not begrudge Doctor Richards his paranoia and the less than gracious welcome. Namor himself was more than man enough to admit had someone made machinations concerning his own pregnant love he would have loathed to ever forgive them.
Of course, Namor hadn't known of said pregnancy at the time, which, of course, was also the only reason he had been able to bring himself to raise his arms in violence against the woman who the both men mutually adored.
"I do, in fact, come here peacefully, Doctor Richards, and with glad tidings. Since despite my regrettable behavior prior, you were willing to accept my presence at your wedding, I thought it would be only appropriate to return the favor."
For one of the few times in his life, Reed Richard seemed to be completely and utterly surprised. With the mask attached to his armor hiding his eyes and face, it was hard to see. However, when he repeated the statement he had just heard by turning it into a question, it was fairly obvious.
"You're inviting us to your wedding?" Namor nodded and, before anything more could be said, another member of the Fantastic Five joined them on the roof. She was one of the most beautiful women it had even been Prince Namor's honor and pleasure to lay eyes upon, even if, sadly, the only times he had ever laid hands upon her, it had been in battle.
She lacked the traditional bluish tinted skin of Atlantean woman but this was an easily forgotten thing. For not only was her peach colored complexion quite remarkable in its exotic way, but the head-to-toe blue outfit she wore prevented him from seeing vast amounts of the skin. This served to remind him that she was not one of his subjects.
Her long blond hair rolled down in glorious curls which, against the previously-noted color of her costume, almost seemed to suggest that the world had turned upside down and now waves of flowing sand were breaking upon solid water. Her eyes were a deep, enthralling blue, possessing the same depth and beauty as the oceans of which he ruled.
Her hands were, at the same time, both dainty and elegant as befitted a proper noble lady, but also (he knew from rather embarrassing experience) possessed strength she would not hesitate to use to ensnare or throttle foes. Her breasts were well-formed and, as always, spectacular, though now they seemed to be even more forcefully-thrusting themselves forward like a pair of monarchs standing side-by-side as they surveyed their shared kingdom.
Her belly, though usually flat, once again puffed outwards. But it was not with the sagging softness of indolence or laxity, not in the least! It did so with the hard firmness of a woman who was proudly doing right by her husband with his heirs to be. Thus, in her maternal state, did the body of Susan Richards cut an even more imposing (and impressive) figure than usual.
"I heard that Namor was up here. What do you want? Because if it's to try to carry me off to be your bride again then need I simply remind you that I've been happily married for over half a decade now, have half a dozen lovely children who I couldn't bear to be apart from, and, as a cherry on top if you didn't notice, I'm pregnant again." At the last she pointed towards the womb which had already drawn her guest's attention. Namor at once went down on one knee and inclined his head towards the ground in a gesture of supplication.
"No, Susan, I do not come here to ask for your hand, but simply to offer you a possibility of being a maid of honor at my upcoming marriage to Lady Dorma. She is a member of my own realm who I am proud to say has won my heart, for her beauty rivals, if not somehow manages to surpass your own, even if she will be hard pressed to match your fertility.
"I would say more, but there exist boundless tasks to complete in preparation for the blessed event. So, I must return to my kingdom. You may refuse my offer without fear that I will be offended in the slightest. But, if you do come, I will offer you all the pleasures that Atlantis can provide. Now I must be off with all possible haste." And sure enough, without further ado, Namor took off flying back towards the watery depths from which he had emerged.
----
The entire Fantastic Five, plus Alicia, were gathered around a table for the impromptu meeting that Reed had called after Namor's departure to explain the unusual offer they had been presented with. Ben was the first one to raise his voice once Reed opened the floor to discussion.
"You realize, of course, that this could be a trap. I mean name one time that ankle wings has ever brought us anything but trouble." Across the table Johnny glowered at him, transforming his skin to organic metal for a moment, then letting it slide back to flesh.
"How about that upmpty bazillion dollars he provided us with when the Fantastic Four was running low on cash?" A pair of half-pained expressions were exchanged between Susan and Reed, who were the only members of the team who had known exactly what had taken place during that particular event. Then Reed decided to intercede before the two's argument could gather any more steam.
"I know that Namor tends to be temperamental at times, but I've never known him to out and out lie." Temperamental was hardly the word that Susan would have used. After the Second World War, Namor had suffered from a bout of amnesia that he had emerged from the worse for wear, just to start with. Apparently, due to his connection to the seas, as one became a less healthy place to be, the other became less and less pleasant to be around.
Reed had once half jokingly said that the crash of the Exxon Valdez had made Namor bipolar, an explanation which could make dangerous amounts of sense at the time. Every so often Namor tended to be involved in some almost international incident, like threatening to invade whatever country had ended up accidentally having a nuclear sub malfunction and nearly irradiate a small portion of the ocean. But, at the same time, every so often he'd also show up to pitch in to help deal with whatever global crisis was threatening the world, since if the Skrulls or Kree conquered the surface world then they'd been setting their sights on Atlantis next.
Ben looked at Reed as if he had just been blindsided by a tank while waiting at a red light.
"Umm, why are you so interested in singing fish breath's praises, Reed? I'd figure that you of all people would have the most reasons to hate him." Reed coughed slightly and looked away.
"Well, it's just that you need to remember that even at the best of times Namor has never actually opened up anything remotely resembling an embassy with humanity. So for whatever reason, this particular offer represents a chance for us to literally go where no man has gone before... if I could have a chance to examine their technology or whatever they have that passes for a library..." Susan decided it was probably a good thing that Reed was still dressed in his armor, because otherwise Susan was 100% certain that everyone else in the room would be able to see the fact that he had started salivating. But, it turned out that it wasn't necessary since Ben (who had obviously come to the same conclusion she had) had proceeded to cover his face with both hands and plant his chin firmly on the table.
"You've got to be kidding us. You mean that we're gonna walk into whatever he's got waiting for us, just on the off chance that you will get to peek at some books?" Reed gave a rather spluttering cough that sounded nothing at all like his normal completely and utterly confident tone of voice.
"I'm just saying that, well... there are significant dividends that could result from accepting his offer, even leaving aside simple good will. It's a wedding invitation rather than a mission, so it's not as if the entire team has to go." Susan's right arm (the one that was closer to Reed) grew longer and wrapped itself quite firmly around his body.
"Well, I guess it's pretty clear that you're going to need someone to tag along and look after you or else you'll study your brains out. Quite personally, I really like those brains just fine right where they are..." Over at the other side of the table, Johnny seemed rather pleased with this particular turn of events.
"There's no way that my sister is going to go for a journey to some underwater city and I don't get to come along. Crys, you up for it?" Crystal sighed mightily for a moment, but then smiled openly and, to all appearances, quite proudly.
"Well, I've been to a lot of different places as a result of being with the Fantastic Five, but I don't think I've ever gone to a city under the sea before. After spending so much time growing up in a really high place, it should be interesting and fun to go some place really low instead!" Ben's wings flapped as he very slowly began to pull his hands away from his face.
"Oh boy, this is gonna be one of those field trips which is just bound to go wrong. Well guess it's my job as always to make sure that it all comes out okay in the end. Well then there's only one question left, though I guess this means there are only two questions left. Alicia, are you going to come with us or stay here to look after the kids?"
"Hey! Who says she can't look after the kids and come with you?" Susan's face instantly became extremely downcast as she stretched out her left arm towards a nearby ventilation shaft. She poked around it for a few moment before she proceeded to yank out a struggling Samantha Richards. She looked around at the table for a few moments then smiled awkwardly.
"So, how is everybody doing?" Susan unceremoniously half dumped, half threw her daughter onto the table. The Richards family was understandably unconcerned about casual use of corporal punishment since, after all, the children they were raising were more or less immune to such minor incidents as being hurled across the room. Sure enough Samantha was only slightly bent out of shape by her landing.
"You see, Mom and Dad, I was just... um..."
"Hanging around in the ventilation shaft?" Samantha's head bobbed up and down rather pitifully.
"Yeah Mom, that just about perfectly sums up what I was doing. So, I'll just be going now. I think I see a crack in the floor that's plenty large enough for me to squeeze through in fact..." She began to scoot her way towards the edge of the table, but once again Susan proceeded to grab her daughter by the scruff of her elastic neck.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere, young lady. By the way, if there are any other sets of ears listening I'd suggest you show yourselves like mature adults if you want to be treated like them. That or your father can just use his psychic radar to find you...." A moment later Franklin came skulking out of the exact same ventilation shaft that Samantha had been in been in, looking at the floor the entire time.
"I'm sorry Mom and Dad...." A moment later a blue substance began to slink down out of the ceiling and, as it dripped onto the table, took the form of Benjamin Richards.
"If you guys had wanted to keep us out you should patch the roof." A moment later, Susan could feel something wriggling against her legs as Jane emerged from beneath the table leg that she'd apparently been wrapped around.
"Or the crack in the table." Looking to see if any more of her children would reveal herself she looked around the room and saw a single ear stretched out so that it would fall just inside the room. She let out a loud "ahem" and the ear vanished only to reappear a few moments later as all of Valeria Richards entered the room walked in.
"Some of us don't even need to take advantage of the occasional millimeter wide crack in the masonry." Then it was that the most ambitious of her children made their appearance. What she had originally assumed to be some kind of harmless looking blue coaster suddenly proved to have eyes as it expanded outward transforming into Rachel Richards.
"Chance favors the prepared mind, and knowledge is power. So it only makes sense that we'd like to know what's going on." Susan released her grip on Samantha but redirected the arm towards Rachel instead.
"Okay young lady, how exactly did you get in here?" Rachel shrugged slightly a rather bemused smile on her face.
"You guys always have your conversations in the same place. So when I heard you were having one I made my over here pronto and then just sat there nice and quiet. Susan looked around the room for a few moments not quite sure what to do about the sudden over abundance of her offspring filling the room.
"Okay seeing as it'd be a waste of effort to kick you kids out at this point I guess we'll just have to make room for you. But if you're going to come in here then you're going to have to put up with sitting at the kiddie table since there aren't exactly an extra half dozen chairs to go around, so everybody on mommy...." Susan leaned back and stretched out her body creating a wide flat area for the six children to climb up onto. They of course did just that quite gratefully, glad to have a seat from which they only needed to extend their necks a few inches in order to properties the other occupant of the table.
Once the thoroughly expected shoving match that was bound to result from placing six children whose bodies could more or less whatever take up whatever amount of space they chose into a relatively confined area had been settled Benjamin spoke up once again.
"What I don't get is, how exactly any of us would be able to go, or at least stay there comfortably. I mean it's underwater after all!" Though no words were spoken the brief flash of approval Susan detected in Ben's eyes made it quite clear that he'd been planning to ask the same question himself sooner or later. Johnny at once turned to the problem solving tool of choice for any issue that he couldn't solve with brute force, his wife.
"Well Crys can control the elements, she could probably use her powers to make sure we don't drown while we're down there..." Crystal herself blushed slightly as she looked around at all the occupants of the room.
"I know I could do it for myself okay given some of the times I went swimming with my cousin Triton when I was younger, but I'm not sure if I could handle so many people, especially for an extended period of time." Johnny gave her a quick reassuring pat on the back and placed one of his gloved hands on top of her hers.
"I'm sure you'd do great, besides, Reed's armor is air tight now so he wouldn't need it, and I know my sister has been training her kids in how to compact large amounts of oxygen within their lungs so they don't need to breath very often. This means you'd only need to worry about me, you, Ben and Alicia if she comes." Reed coughed loudly and promptly rendered that particular issue moot.
"I've been working on something that might prove rather useful in my lab recently. It's intended purpose is for exploring deep space. Seeing as it is an object you can wear on your wrists which projects an artificial atmosphere and forty eight hour supply of oxygen if we each take two of them that should make sure we neither drown nor suffer any of the other maladies which can accompany considerable amounts of time spent underwater."
"Like the bends!" Rachel immediately piped up, unable to resist a chance to share her already nearly encyclopedic knowledge with everyone in the room. In the wake of her comments Ben sighed heavily.
"Which all brings us right back to where we started. We can do it, but are we sure we want to." Alicia reached out and after fumbling for a moment managed to run a hand along one of his outstretched wings.
"I think we do, Ben. Look on the bright side if there really is a completely different culture down there then maybe I'll get a chance to feel out some of their artwork." That, of course, sealed things rather firmly. It was clear that if Alicia was intent on going then Ben would cease to raise any noticeable sort of argument. Not that it meant he'd stayed silent.
"Okay, but if this turns out to be a trap..." Susan shifted herself about slightly, sending ripples through her body, playfully bouncing her children up and down while stretching the arm she didn't have attached to her husband across the table to give him a playful pat on the shoulder.
"Look on the bright side Ben. There was a time when we'd walk into a trap without realizing we might be about to get in trouble ahead of time!"
----
"Oh wow, look at that!" Franklin pointed excitedly out the porthole in the recently named "Fantastisub" that they were taking down to Atlantis. Susan turned to look in the general direction of the porthole to make sure that none of them did anything foolish.
"Dad, can we go outside?" Like if Jane decided that she should create an 'ensie weensey" crack in their vehicle large enough for her to slip outside through, give or take the few hundred gallons of water it would take equalize the pressure inside and outside.
Unsurprisingly, a few moments after she'd spoken, Jane had proceeded to tap her finger on the porthole, and Susan wrapped an arm around her and yanked her back before she decided to try anything more forceful.
"No you can't. We're all going to stay inside." Jane wiggled about in her mother's grip more as a means of general protest at this treatment than any real hope of escaping.
"But why, Mom?" Actually Jane proceeded to stretch out that last word into at least a five second and several syllable long protest. Rachel cheerfully tapped the complicated looking device that she was wearing on her right wrist.
"Yeah, Mom, I mean we've already got our antidrowning devices on. Given how much noise this thing is making it's unlikely that anything too dangerous will take a look at us. Heck, given our powers the only thing that might possibly hurt us would be getting eaten by a whale, and what are the odds of that?" Given the way that the closer you got to Atlantis the more 'exotic' and 'eccentric' the sea life got, Susan felt the odds might turn out to be surprisingly good. A moment later it turned out that her children weren't the only one feeling a bit curious.
"Well if you really want to, I don't see why you couldn't. Make sure to keep one knotted limb around the sub at all times!" Susan was mature enough not to send an irritated glare in her husband's direction. Though for the most part Reed Richards was firmly grounded, as Susan had previously noted during the discussion around going to Atlantis, there were times when he let his interest in learning things get the best of him.
Knowing that it would only be a few moments before Susan's ears were buffeted with requests to make good on their father's comments, she decided to approach that particular problem head on.
"Okay fine, let's head to the decompression chamber." Cheers went up from all of her children as the group worked their way through the relatively crowded sub. Towards the one main exit. Of course the actual decompressing part of the chamber wasn't necessary in his case thanks to the previously noted bracelets they were all wearing, but it did serve one more important function, it could be filled with water and then easily pumped dry again without letting water get inside the rest of the sub.
Once her brood was clustered about inside the room Susan pulled he hatch closed behind them, and began to run her hands along it using her powers as a convenient way to make sure that indeed it was airtight.
Just like 99.9 percent of the things he designed, it worked exactly as Reed said it would. Doubtlessly having seen a small panel light up to let Reed know that his children were ready for their swim, a section of the sub slid back and water began to fill the chamber.
Susan took a deep breath, and for a moment she was forced to fight down a perfectly reasonable fear of drowning. That fear took on a surreal edge when the water began to splash about, and kept expecting to feel both wet and cold, yet remained perfectly dry and warm.
Slightly reassured by this turn of events, Susan began to move towards the exit, but the rushing force of water was too strong. So she just stood there able to see that the water was now up to her hips (and over her children's heads) but still untouched by the stuff. In fact Susan could see that her children were anxious to take advantage of their shorter stature, to leave, even if their mother couldn't. A few surreptitious looks were all that she needed to keep order, however.
Once the chamber was completely flooded, (and yet another advance of their wrist bracelets asserted itself, it turned out that she could see just fine while underwater even without using her powers) Susan drifted outwards grabbing hold of the sub straight away. Her six children followed their mother outside, and to Susan's pride they one and all did the exact same thing.
Anchored in place they were able to look around and see the full splendor of the underwater world around them. Even an experienced superheroine like Ultra Woman was momentarily left speechless by the countless different kinds of aquatic life they were surrounded by with. Of course she recovered her senses just in time to wrap her right arm firmly around Franklin who had ended up letting go of the sub due to his overwhelming surprise.
Susan let loose with a reasonably loud cough, and Franklin at once realized that he was in danger of being left adrift, a few moments later not only were both of his legs wrapped around the sub, but he had a pair of knots tied in them just to be on the safe side. He looked up at his mother apprehensively, but Susan gave him a reassuring nod before she returned to examining the others and making sure that they were all keeping their own grip's tight and firm.
Of course as it turned out for all its beauty, there were unpleasant things in the depths of the ocean, and not all of them were considerate enough to look ugly.
"Hello again Susan. I see you are enjoying the grandeur of my realm." Ultra Woman was in no mood to mince words with Namor who was lazily drifting by through the water, seeming able to effortlessly keep pace with the Fantastisub.
"Good to see you as well, Namor. We decided to take you up on your offer." Namor nodded quite calmly as he surveyed the other bodies dressed from head to toe in blue riding on the outside of the sub.
"And it is a pleasure to see your children up close and personal for what I do believe is the first time." Susan nodded slowly, taking a moment to cross her arms rather defiantly.
"They're psychic, by the way." She wasn't sure why. Given that Reed had ended up possessing black hair instead of brown before Susan got pregnant, at the moment she was left keenly aware of the fact that her children probably wouldn't have looked all that different (except possibly having ankles wings as well) if Namor had been their father instead of Reed Richards. This realization could have lead to an extremely unpleasant and even more extremely protracted silence had not Samantha stepped into to fill the verbal void.
"So Mr. King of the Seas, is it true that mom almost beat the snot out of you even when she was pregnant?" Unsurprisingly Namor still hadn't picked up the finer art of sarcasm.
"While I hardly take pride in the memory, I cannot deny that it was a glorious battle between two extremely worthy foes..." There was no stopping him now as with considerable relish Namor went about the process of describing the fight between himself and Susan in the kind of overly dramatic descriptions that was his stock and trade, and doubtless to leave her children hanging from his every word.
And so the Fantastic Five ended up spending two full days quite peacefully in Atlantis, availing themselves to whatever their individual interests in the underwater kingdom. In the process Susan discovered that the only way to make morning sickness more irritating to experience it underwater.
Suffice to say learning how the 'facilities' worked underwater (the three sea shell set up was damnably unintuitive) had been tricky enough, but they also quite clearly hadn't apparently been designed with making it easy to dispose of a preciously digested meal. She'd ended up needing to use her powers to corral the stuff with a stretchy hand, and in the process been free to realize just how much more disgusting free floating vomit was.
----
However after a full forty eight hours of such treatment Reed and Susan had taken all they were going to take without further explanation of exactly what was going on. Mainly because despite Namor seeming readiness to show them just about anything they wanted to see from Altantis' great Libraries to a tour of its defenses, he had come up with one excuse after another whenever they had tried to press him into introducing (or even letting them lay eyes upon) Lady Dorma.
So shortly after returning to the Fantastisub to swap out their "wrist breathers" the pair took it upon themselves to corner the monarch during one of his early morning swims around the city. Susan wrapped both of her arms around Namor and pulled him in close a prominent scowl upon her face all the while.
"All right Namor, what exactly is going on here? I don't need telepathic powers to know that there's more to this then you just wanting to show off and make amends. So why don't you tell us exactly what's going on before I have my husband read your mind and find out for us? Are you planning on taking my children hostage and not releasing them unless I marry you or some other sick twisted scheme?" Namor's face managed to remain composed as it shifted between looking at Susan to looking at Reed and then back again, before it suddenly broke and he turned his gaze towards the ground like a shamed schoolboy.
"You're right, I should... I must tell you what is going on. This was not some kind of ploy to gain Susan's love, I fully accepted that it would never be mine years ago during her first pregnancy. It is something far more insidious. Even as we speak a barbarian overlord by the name of Atuma who desires to rule Atlantis himself has been marshalling his forces which are made up among all the most horrific monstrosities to ever lay eyes upon the depths of the ocean.
Their numbers are great, and that, that is why you have not seen Lady Dorma. The two of us were idly examining the full reaches of my domain when we attacked by a contingent of his forces. I fought nobly, of course, and left many of his minions worse for wear, but in the end I and my lovely bride had to be separated. Atuma has given me a month to surrender all of Atlantis to him, or else he would come and take it. Which is why I invited you here..." In between every word he spoke Namor's teeth clenched shut like a castle's gates in between every word he spoke. Veins were starting to pop into appearance all over his face leaving it look like a patchwork of countless blue trenches.
"Knowing the strength of the force he leads, I realized that my own hope of defeating him, retaining my throne, and getting back my bride would be to get help..." Reed cut right through what Namor would doubtlessly turn into a quite detailed explanation given half a chance.
"So to get to the heart of the matter, you decided that, rather than just out and out ask for our help you'd have to trick us into doing it? With said trick leading to my children occupying a city that will soon be under siege?" Namor looked away and nodded, and the water around him seemed to shimmer, leaving Susan to wonder how crying worked underwater.
"Yes. But you have to understand, if Atuma manages to gain control of Atlantis he would be free to turn his attention towards conquering the surface world as well. Believe me when I say that given half a chance, what he would release upon your people would make my worst actions seem like a lover's kiss." Susan's eye's drifted towards her husband, perfectly aware that the old saying about the devil you knew and the one you didn't. A metal covered foot tapped against the floor, and then he spoke.
"Well if nothing else it's about time that you realized the surface and underwater world are inseparably connected. Though I'm sorry that it took such a horrific catastrophe to finally wake you up to the fact. Susan, go let the others know about this. Namor, I suggest you show me to your armory at once, and how long do we have till Atuma arrives?"
"About twenty four hours, he'll be launching his attack at noon tomorrow." Ultra Woman wondered why an underwater evil villain would be kind enough to attack at noon when it was probably a lot harder to track the progress of the sun down here. Come to think of it she hadn't seen any clocks either.... But then she put such concerns aside, if there was one thing that she had noticed over the last few years was whatever powers ran the universe, they had a theatrical streak.
"And the children?" Reed's gaze shifted between the two other occupants of the room before finally settling on his wife.
"Have Ben take them and Alica back to the Baxter Building, and then get back here as soon as possible. They won't like it but..." Susan just nodded not at all looking forward to the conversation she'd soon have to deal with. She expected however dastardly Atuma might supposedly be, she was soon going to be in the most vicious battle she'd have to fight for a week.
----
Sure enough the next twenty four hours proved to be quite a series of small ordeals even before the first shot was fired. Susan had to put up with a many voiced chorus of "Mom, do we have to?" Though she found Jane's "Hey Rachel, what day is 'take your daughter to work day' anyway? We never get to see anything exciting happening up close!" rather cute.
They eventually acquiesced to the inherent danger of the situation and departed. That left Susan free to attend the council of war that Namor had set up. A council that was made all the more difficult because Reed was busy doing what little he could while working on improving the weapons Namor's soldiers would use to defend Atlantis.
It was also decided that when the attack came, Ben would be commanding the Fantastisub since Reed had taken care of making sure to design it with considerable offensive and defensive capabilities in mind. Johnny and Crystal would be hanging around near the front gates of Atlantis along with Namor.
Finally, Reed and Susan would be functioning as a cavalry force of sorts operating further out away from Atlantis, and ready to wreak whatever havoc they could upon Atuma's forces from the rear. It wasn't exactly a brilliant strategy, but it was the best that they could do on short notice.
----
A large blue object that looked like it could have been some kind of strange manta ray drifted casually through the sea. At least that was what anyone who didn't get to close to it would probably assume it was. But if they looked at it from beneath and up close they would see a rather distorted human face, and a kangaroo like pouch containing a human sized figure in heavy armor. Ultra Woman was blending in as only she could, with a rather blissful smile on her face.
"You know it's times like this when I think I might need another new costume or two." Susan couldn't see her husband's face, but she knew for a fact that Reed was raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Really Susan, do you intend to somehow redesign your costume to highlight your maternal nature more?" Since it was still about an hour until Atuma was supposedly going to show up, Susan took the effort to shake her head, a decidedly unmanta ray like motion.
"No, I was thinking something much more along the lines in a costume in dull greys and blacks, or maybe blues and greys in this situation, you know something that would really put the 'camo' in camouflage, though I suppose one of the down sides to being a superheroine is that you need to wear bright flashy colors to stand out. Good thing it's not like I need to worry about getting shot." She gave a quick snicker, and Reed for one of the few times Susan had known her didn't have any comments to make. So she just kept on flapping her arms as she drifted through the world. Eventually a much more pressing question than a change of outfit came to her mind.
"So do you think we're doing the right thing?" Reed responded to her question just a bit too literally, or at least interpreted it too literally.
"You mean in helping Namor out of this jam that he seems to have gotten himself into? Not in the least. Whether or not we like it, this is going to turn out to be 'our right' sooner or later, and I'd prefer to do it while we still have as many allies as possible." Susan once again shook her head back and forth again, wondering if she shouldn't find some cover so that she'd be free to use whatever kind of body language she cared to.
"No, I meant about us not calling in a little bit more firepower. I mean stopping some evil overlord to gain control over an entire under water kingdom sounds more or less right up the Avenger's alley. Given how many of those special under water breathing devices we brought with us we could pretty easily provided enough of them for an entire new team of superheroes."
Not that Susan didn't have a considerable amount of faith in the Fantastic Five, but as Reed pointed out you could never have enough allies. But as so many issues that had seriously worried her, Reed had an explanation promptly at hand.
"It would have been nice to, but I hardly consider it likely to have worked out that way. For all we know the Avengers are busy with something else at the moment, and even if they weren't, I somehow doubt that Namor would accept their aid. As temporarily fun as it might be to needle someone who doubtlessly deserves it, I'll worry about making sure that the Prince of Atlantis has learned something until after the danger is over and done with." Susan had no choice but to nod yet again, and then got back to swimming her way across the ocean floor.
--
Sure enough with a surprisingly on the dot promptness (Susan supposed that they probably had some kind of hour glasses filled with water) the army of Atuma appeared. They were dressed in all manner of outfits of various different colors, but it wasn't hard to tell which one was Atuma himself.
He was the largest, and dressed in something that could have almost passed for armor. He was wearing a helmet that had probably started its life as the skull of something much larger, and holding a wicked looking trident. His soldiers were carrying various kinds of weapons not to mention several of them were dragging giant devices behind them.
After catching sight of them (thanks to the momentarily enhanced eye sight she'd been using) Susan began whispering information to Reed who proceeded to relay the information back to Johnny, Crystal and Ben.
He refrained from using the countless more technological means built into his suit just on the incredibly minuscule chance that they might somehow be intercepted, or at least located and used to pinpoint his and Susan's location. Both of them knew that they had a part of play and it wasn't time to tip their hand just yet.
----
Johnny felt the casual tingling sensation that always included being contacted telepathically and sure enough a moment later the words came.
"Looks like we're gonna be business soon. Namor, according to my sister they've brought a some kind of battering ram with them that's in front. It's a long way from their only piece of siege equipment, so they're letting it through. We've got about a minute or two till it gets there. So seeing as we've still got some free time left, did you really take out an entire Japanese aircraft carrier at Midway?"
Namor promptly gave Johnny the kind of look that he normally associated with his sister. To be exact it reminded him of her patented "I don't have time to put up with this now" glare, and it was every bit as effective. A moment later Crystal drifted over, unlike the other two she didn't have her feet planted firmly on the ground, making use of her powers to drift through the undersea world like some kind of wonderful water nymph.
"What surprises me is that they aren't trying to go simply over the walls. I mean, they could just swim over them, right?" Namor shot an entirely different sort of withering look at Crystal.
"My men on the walls are armed with the most powerful weapons from Atlantis armory, we would shoot them down like sea turtles. Now then, if your friends have truly laid eyes upon Atuma's vicious bandits, can you tell me if they have my bride to be with them?" Johnny asked the question and a few moments later he had his answer.
"Yeah, it seems like Atuma himself is dragging her along with him." The Sub-Mariner's face now became a mask of rage. He was no doubt about to let loose with a string of choice invectives when a moment later something very large slammed into the gates, impacting hard enough for Johnny to feel the impact through his feet.
"I guess they're playing our song!" Another heavy impact, then another, and finally with its third strike, and with its fourth blow the entire gate more or less grumbled. Once the thing was broken Johnny took one look at the multilegged walker that the battering ram was mounted on, and then turned towards his wife.
"All right Crys throw me!" Crystal quite calmly waved her hands, and instantly a water pool spun into existence beneath him and a moment later it shot Johnny outwards towards the thing.
---
Susan watched from a considerable distance as her brother proceeded to throw himself pell mell at the giant battering ram, grab hold of it, and start climbing up the side of the thing. A moment later as it was rolled backwards and many of Atuma's minions began to rush towards the broken gate, and countless steams of red shot outwards.
"Your doing?" She asked pleasantly to Reed as she continued to circle closer and closer to Atuma's forces though she was careful to try and keep some piece of cover between her and said armies.
"Yes, I didn't have a lot of time to work with them, but the weapons now have less 'bleed off' into the surrounding water since they're predominantly heat rays now they'll strike with more power. Sure enough Susan could make out countless bubbles raising to the surface in the trail of the Alantian's weapons, and some of their opponent's collapsing as the weapons struck home.
All of a sudden, however something that looked like a kind of ballista fired towards the broken gates of Atlantis. What neither Susan nor Reed expected was that the arrow at the head of that ballista proceed to explode releasing a wave of blackness upon the defenders.
"Hmm, it must be filled with some kind of squid ink... rather ingenious actually. I wouldn't have realized how many different weapons might exist underwater...."
Susan began to flap her way closer to the battle knowing that things were definitely about to take a turn for the worse. With Namor's men unable to see what they were doing, Atuma's forces were able to swarm forward, negating the greater range the defender's weapon's possessed.
"That's great and all, but I think it's time that we commit ourselves to this battle and tell Ben to... well you know what weapons he's got access to better than I do. Either way I'm going to let you go and start looking like something vaguely more menacing than a giant manatee...." Of course what Susan turned herself into when all was said and done once she'd let go of Reed was a pregnant mermaid.
Her children had been quick to figure out that by using their powers to meld their legs together into a fish like tail they'd be able to swim around a lot faster than normal. Not being overly egotistical Susan would admit that if one of her children's flights of fancy proved to be an effective tactic she'd employ it without thinking twice. Likewise Reed had replaced the normal jet pack that was part of his armor with some kind of underwater version of it that predominantly featured two propellers.
"Crystal is doing what she can to clear away the ink, and Ben should be making his presence felt, right about.... now...." A moment later, a pair of large metal objects proceeded to drift downwards towards the open gate of Atlantis. Energy began to course out of them, in effect creating an invisible wall since anyone trying to swim through the area was going to get the shock of their life to say the least.
Of course a moment later the members of Atuma horde has a new target to bellow their rage at, as they realized that the strange thing bobbing up and down in water was actually the heavily armed Fantastisub. At least something around one hundred of the invaders began to swim upwards.
Still that didn't bother Ultra Woman much since she was fairly certain that Ben could look after himself, especially when they turned out to have bigger problems a moment later as a resounding voice filled the air all around them.
"So Prince Namor you reveal yourself to be a coward!" Susan had no trouble at all predicting how the challenged party would respond to a statement like that. Sure enough a moment later he proceeded to emerge from the cloud of darkness, Crystal evidently just barely managing to use her powers to create another powerful wave of water that knocked the two energy mines that Ben had dropped far enough apart that he was able to shoot forward without electrifying himself in the process.
"Who would dare to make such baseless accusations towards the king of the seas?" Atuma came forward still dragging his captive with her.
"I merely speak the truth. Who but a tyrant and a coward would seek an alliance with the surface dwellers?" Namor landed before Atuma his face rippling with rage. "You brought your allies Atuma, I brought mine and besides, who but a coward would kidnap a man's love. If you think I am a coward then let us see how well you do battle without your horde? You and I shall battle here and now just the two of us, and the victory shall do with the loser as he pleases! But first release Lady Dorma!" Atuma just scowled mightily as he let go of Dorma, but only for her to be grabbed by two of his minions.
"And leave you nothing to fear if you have you break your word? Ha! If one of your cursed allies so much as gestures in our direction, then she will pay the price!" Namor waved one hand in the direction of Johnny and Crystal and another in Reed and Susan.
"Stay your hands my friends, I will dispatch this beastly monster just fine myself!" Straight away, Reed proceed to kill his suit's propulsion system, and Susan separated her legs, and the two drifted to the sea floor. Meanwhile Johnny and Crystal took several steps back and the female inhuman began to use her powers to clear away the large cloud of ink, having considerably more success now that there was no longer a full scale battle going on around her.
With the cloud dispersed Namor's soldiers began to raise their voices in support of their sovereign, though they were still being out shouted by Atuma's more numerous followers. A moment later, Atuma swung his trident at Namor, who ducked under it. As it passed over his head, he then used his crouched legs to shoot at Atuma like a torpedo, slamming the blue skinned invader onto his back and causing him to lose his grip on the weapon. Susan smiled for a moment, and then proceeded to rub her belly playfully.
"Well it looks like this is going to be a pretty easy fight. I mean if you weren't able to beat Namor when fighting him on a beach, what are the odds that Atuma will be able to beat Namor underwater?" Reed placed an armored gauntlet on Susan's belly as well, in a surprisingly comforting gesture.
"Pretty low if this is a fair fight. But while I haven't known Atuma all that long, somehow I don't entirely trust him. That's why I'm currently making use of every single scanning system built into my armor." A moment later, he proceed to lift his hand from Susan's hand.
"Sonar reports are back, and without the confusion of the battle going on, I've been able to pick up something big going on beneath us." Susan paused for a very long moment and contemplated what exactly that could mean in this situation.
"Well what are we going to do about it that won't give Atuma a chance to have his goons execute Namor's girlfriend? Not only because it would be a horrible waste of life, but if I didn't know better I'd say that Namor has actually gotten over me. I'd hate to give him a reason to try to score with me on the rebound using the death of his fiancé as a sob story." Reed casually pointed his wrist down at the ground and suddenly a strange little device shot out from the palm of his gauntlet. It proceeded to vanish into the ground and he continued to talk into a perfectly calm tone of voice.
"You'll be happy to know I decided to build this with you particularly in mind, though we haven't had a chance to use it yet. It's an extremely small but powerful drill that could make a hole about an inch across in a bank vault, it shouldn't have any trouble making a path down to whatever is causing those readings through rock." Susan began to take a few steps towards the hole that his newest device was creating.
"So in other words, your plan is to send your pregnant wife down a dark, tiny hole in the ground towards you've got no idea what?" Reed proceeded to give Susan a playful pat of the belly with one hand, and squeeze of the ass with the other.
"Only because I'm so very certain that she'll be able to handle whatever is waiting for her." Sure enough, without further ado Susan managed to squeeze her entire body down into the small burrow. Just like her first batch of kids this second one was elastic enough for her to be able to fit into tiny spaces with remarkable ease. Then she began to slowly move down the tunnel that Reed's device was creating.
The tunnel was small, dark, and cramped, and otherwise the kind of place that would have probably given her a bad case of claustrophobia if it wasn't for the way that her powers let her play with what exactly a "small" enclosed space was. Eventually however the darkness of the tunnel gave way to light, as she spilled out of it.
Susan looked around and found herself in yet another tunnel though this one was larger. It was also illuminated by something that looked like a giant metallic octopus, which seemed to be shinning lights in various directions giving Susan more than enough light to work with.
At the moment she could see that the creation was busy using its arms which seemed to end in drills to bore its way towards Atlantis. A second later, some of its lights fixed quite perceptibly upon Ultra Woman and very slowly the wiring sound made by the drilling arms ceased.
For some reason Susan couldn't help but think that whoever was looking at her probably no more knew what to make of this new arrival, than she did of this mechanical monstrosity. She probably could have figured out a way to press herself against one of the walls of the tunnel, but knew she would have only ended up looking foolish for the attempt.
So instead she did the exact opposite, using her powers to puff herself up and look as big as possible. The drivers of the octopus weren't exactly impressed however, as it proceeded to bring up one of its metal arms which instantly whirred to life and then drove itself directly into Susan's belly, before driving her in turn up against a wall.
Now Susan had taken some pretty bad punches over her last few years, but she had to admit that this one was easily worked its way into the top five. It felt like she imagined having her body trapped inside a washing machine would; a constant spinning sensation that didn't go away until her body had become firmly lodged around the drill like a giant blue stain stuck to it.
Of course quite soon the drill proved unable to burrow any further into the wall because it couldn't puncture Susan body and once more the spotlights fell on her. The tentacle began to wave back and forth but Susan was too firmly wedged onto it to be so easily displaced. Since their present tactic wasn't working the people controlling the octopus decided to instead start banging Susan up against the same tunnel that it had dug.
Sure enough, that scrapped Susan off and left her floating freely in the water like a piece of trash in a lake. Then, apparently feeling that Susan had been suitably dealt with, the other arms of the metal octopus got back to drilling their way towards Atlantis. The thing would need more than giant spinning metal limbs to actually hurt Ultra Woman, but on the other hand it didn't really need to.
Susan wasn't sure what other weapons and how many soldiers might be riding within the octopus but she was sure letting it reach a position where it could drill into the center of Atlantis would be a very bad thing to say the least. So being able to stay in the fight wasn't enough, she had to stop this thing and soon.
Unfortunately while Ultra Woman had taken on her fair share of large opponents in her time as a superheroine, this was the first time she'd had to deal with a robot this large on her own. Slightly despondently she couldn't help but wish blissfully that she was truly super strong as well as super elastic, then she could have just out and out wrestled with this metal monster and torn its limbs clean off. Or if she had her sister in law's powers then she could have either given it a few quick zaps and see if that proceeded to short circuit it with freezing winds to create a weak spot in its armor to long after.
But such was not to be, and so instead she'd just have to work with the superpowers that whatever greater beings ran the universe had decided to give her. Susan reached out and calmly deactivated the device he was wearing on her wrist and then drew in a deep breath and her body began to round out into a large sphere filling with water.
The tentacle which she had gotten drilled by began to rise up again apparently intending to deal her yet another blow, but as it came forward, Susan exhaled. All of the water she'd been sucking in sent her shooting off through the water like a ruptured balloon. Such a technique would have never worked with air, but in her current environment she was able to turn herself into a living bottle rocket and sail past not only the oncoming tentacle, but the backside of the octopus.
As she drifted to a stop, Susan twisted her neck around and saw that apparently there was some kind of clear panel built into the side of the thing, through which she could see a blue skinned members of Atuma's horde who was clearly in control of the thing. Susan straight away extended her arms towards the viewing point and slammed them against it.
Unfortunately, whatever the stuff was, it wasn't anywhere near as fragile looking as it looked. She proceeded to bang her hands on it a few times just to make sure, but without any sort of further success.
Before she knew it however her ears were once again filled with the sound of spinning drills. Undoing the twist in her neck Susan was able to get a good look at an approaching pair of tentacles, and it took all of three seconds for her look of horror on her face to be replaced with one of intense delight. Splashing through the water with her rapidly reappearing mermaid tail once again, Susan swam closer and closer to the viewing port and the two spinning drill arms followed her.
Susan mocked her opponents by stretching out her body so as to become a giant blue blob that completely obscured the view port, even going so far as to stick out her tongue at those inside. Since evidently they didn't have windowshield wipers, they decided to get rid of Susan the most direct way possible, by ramming her with the drill arm.
Things did take a turn for the unexpected at this point, because the sudden sense of on rushing water Susan had been expecting to accompany the shattering glass like material never arrived.
Why became obvious the moment she thought things through of course, since the octopus was being crewed by Atuma's soldiers, it was already filled with water, and the equalization of pressure inside and out was barely noticeable. This minor surprise almost left Susan paralyzed with confusion long enough for the drill arm that had slammed inside the vehicle to get her twisted up in it again.
Luckily, she managed to evade it by compacting her body as much as possible and pushing herself low to the floor. She began to half crawl half stretch across it like an eel towards the soldiers who were manning the machines controls. Though by the time she was heading in their direction they'd already abandoned their post to draw strange looking handguns.
Remembering what Reed had said about how the Atlantean's weapons mostly consisted of various kinds of heat rays rather than powder driven ballistics Susan's eyes began to rapidly sweep around the room trying to figure out the various possible angles of evasion she could take.
Her rubbery body reacted much better than a normal human one when struck by weapons which would leave scorched black flesh, if not only bleached white bones in their wake, but if she took too many hits she might be reduced to nothing more than a melted puddle. Granted the water which surrounded her would probably help her body cool down and recover from such a state fairly quickly, but no reason to chance being immobilized.
So when the two men started shooting, Susan wove her body back and forth for a few moments, before suddenly darting forward and wrapping one arm around either foe's wrists. At that point Ultra Woman's elastic limbs rippled once again and the two were yanked off their feet and tossed together.
Not about to take chances on that being enough to render them unconscious, Susan (who once more at this point possessed a pair of ordinary looking human legs) jumped slightly, laid flat in the middle of her leap and allowed her legs to stretch out and deliver an elongated kick to either warrior's skull.
Both of them slumped quite noticeably after that, (at least they were slumping by the time Susan had extended her neck enough to see over her baby bump) and she figured it was safe to consider them more or less out for the count. After waiting on edge for about half a minute Susan realized that despite the octopus' enormous size these two were the only ones on board, which meant she wouldn't have to worry about dealing with the rest of the crew.
Of course she couldn't exactly just stand around waiting for Reed or one of the others to let her know that the battle going on between Namor and Atuma was over, and yet at the same time if she headed back the way she had came, it was a passageway wide enough only for her and if the two unconscious members of Atuma's horde recovered they might return to whatever devious tasks they had been working on.
Then a solution presented itself of such a blindly obvious nature that she actually slapped her face hard enough to momentarily flatten her nose.
----
There was a shocked silence from all those present when a hole at least twenty feet wide suddenly opened up and a giant red octopus rose up out of it. Everyone stood on edge. Then a moment later, the crimson creature sank back into the tunnel that it had risen from as a much smaller darkish blue creature proceeded to exit from it with two of Atuma's fighters entangled in its body.
Looking around at the countless gasping mouths Susan made her way over to a solid section of the sea floor that she could "sit down" on and then proceeded to look around at the countless surprised faces gazing back at her.
"So what did I miss?" Namor was at her side with the kind of 'blink and it's done' enthusiasm that you normally could only find in cartoons.
"I have defeated Atuma in an honorable single combat! Even when the base rouge revealed to have hidden weaponry concealed within his helmet, the fowl things only managed to fire but one blast before snapping apart. It was a twist of fate which so disoriented him that for the rest of the fight, what little there was of it, I could have thrashed the knave with only my left hand. While the fool sought to claim my throne the closest he will come is languishing for the rest of his days in my dungeons!" Sure enough Susan could see almost half a dozen Atlantean guardsman dragging away a much battered Atuma who barely seemed to be conscious while still more of them clustered around Lady Dorma making sure she was okay.
As for the rest of Atuma's followers, those still capable of it seemed to be departing in every direction imaginable as fast as their flippers could handle it. Susan nodded in approval at the sight of a job well done and then hesitantly turned to face Namor.
"I'm very impressed, but I think you're bride needs you more right now than I do..." Sure enough she could practically hear the light switch flipping on in Namor's head.
"Of course, after all not to defame the battle you have fought today Susan, but my fiancé has doubtlessly endured an even greater hardship during time in that scoundrel's clutches. And where is a king's rightful place if not at his queen's side?" Once more he was off like a shot practically bowling over a few of his own retainers in the process of getting to hid lady's side. Susan slowly began to look around for her own husband. Once she located him a quick reforming of her mermaid tail and a few flaps of it brought her within speaking range.
"So Namor defeated Atuma?" Reed turned in her direction and nodded as Susan once again allowed herself to settle to the sea floor.
"Indeed, and it obviously broke the back of his men, so it seems that we're done being superheroes for the day." Susan heard a hint of something she couldn't quite name in his voice, and so she stretched out an arm wrapping it playful around his shoulder.
"He won all by himself?" Reed looked back at her rather suspiciously.
"Well, of course. Atuma had made it quite clear that none of us where to interfere with the duel." Susan pulled Reed in close, squeezing him against her belly.
"So when his secret weapons suddenly broke, or when he suddenly found it hard to move..." even beneath that metal face plate Susan knew Reed was smiling.
"If you're trying to suggest that I might have had some part to play in Namor's victory … banish the thought." Susan nodded slowly a smile on his face.
"Yes, because I'm sure it'd be a crippling blow to his ego to know that he only won because you were using your telekinesis to subtly influence what should have been a private duel. And considering what he's already been through today he doesn't deserve to have that heaped on his shoulders." The two looked at each other and their eyes said more than their mouths possibly could.
AN: I've got more I want to write about what happens to the FF this month but this chapter is long enough as is and so expect me to add it on to the next one and then do a time jump a month forward like I did in chapter six of Swelling with Love.