Fantastic Four Issue #2: Hunted (Patreon)

Ben Grimm, better known as The Thing, turned to wave at the students of P.S 616. The kids waved back and if Ben's orange rocky face was easy to read, someone would see genuine happiness. 

Being turned into a creature more rock than man had been hard for Ben. No day was easy but seeing how he inspired kids made it all worth it. The fact that he didn't have to go to as many meetings also helped. With a wave over his shoulder to the kids, he was walking down the block heading back towards the Baxter building.  

It had been two weeks since the attack by the Wizard's new group. They made a statement taking down the Fantastic Four, but since then it had been nothing. If Bently had been expecting a reaction, he didn't get it. 

Ben let out a sigh. 

Talking to Reed recently had been rough. The defacto leader of the group had been in his lab focused on work that he was even skipping meetings for his new Future Foundation, leaving it for Sue, Ben and Johnny to pick up the slack. Which meant more Sue picking up the slack. 

He buttoned his Hawaiian shirt and double checked his cargo shorts to make sure he didn't rip them, which was a real concern at being six and a half feet tall and made of solid rock. He was meeting his girl friend, Alicia, after the assembly. She'd listen to his family drama. 

Just going to see her put a smile on his face. It was a good enough day that Ben could have whistled a tune, if it was possible with his lips. 

Small specs of what he thought were gravel, began to bounce off of his rocky skin. It wasn't unusual for small rocks thrown up by passing cars to knock against his skin, but it was usually shin height. It started slow before a whole cloud of sand blew against him. Ben covered his face with his massive hand to block the sand. 

"What the hell?" He asked as the sand appeared out of no where and was now circling in a small tornado. 

"This ain't good." He said as it slowed and took shape.  

"No, it isn't big boy." The figure made of sand said. It was extremely difficult to tell but the figure was smiling.  

"Hold on." He said, pulling out his phone. Thanks to much practice, he managed to fire off a text to Alicia that he was going to be late.  

"You're lucky I'm so polite." She said right before she threw a punch right at Ben's head. He put up his massive right hand to block the blow and block his view of the sand woman. While it would have been a strong enough punch to rock a normal person, Thing was not a normal person. His large fist managed to block the blow. 

"My turn." He said lowering his hand only for a surprise. 

The woman made of sand had taken a step back and Titania was there instead. 

"I got this one Quicksand." She said before delivering a punch square to Ben's face. This time he didn't have the reflexes to block and the blow connected. She was still wearing the metal gauntlets the Wizard had cooked up for her, not that she needed the extra strength. 

Ben flew across the street, slamming into a store front. Glass, clothing and debris went flying as pedestrians fled the store. A display of shoes fell on top of him, and it took a moment before The Thing's rocky head popped up from the mountain of boxes. 

"Alright, it's clobberin time." He said, erupting from the remains of the display. Thing charged from the open store ready to fight. He made it two steps outside before his feet got tangled up and he tripped face first. 

Quicksand and Titania laughed. 

"I knew this would be easy, but this is a joke." Quicksand said as the pair walked over. Ben looked towards his feet to see that long red hair was retracting from tripping him up. The mystery woman wasn't that far behind. She held a vacant glare. He opened his mouth to say something, but Titania's heel smashed into the back of his head, driving it into the ground. Her massive boots ground his face into asphalt.  

"Now for the final touch." The super strong woman said as Quicksand wheeled over a dumpster. Ben was a bit disoriented but knew it was bad news when Titania lifted him into the air and before he could struggle, toss him into the open and full dumpster. The lid was shut and Ben was in darkness. 

"Well, this sucks." He said as he peeled something gross off of his head. He didn't know the half of it as he felt the dumpster rock. The powerhouse of the Frightful Four had picked it up. 

"Ahh, crap."  

Titania hurled the dumpster into the air. It was a quick flight before it landed in a construction site, exploding in a mess of twisted metal, garbage and one large, orange rock man.  

"That was fun." He could hear Quicksand say to Titania before the two started laughing. 

An hour and many quizzical looks later, Ben Grimm trudged into the Baxter building. After the doorman took a wide berth, he made it back to the apartments to shower apologizing to Alicia again that their lunch plans might have to be dinner. 

"What is that smell? Ben? What the hell happened?" Johnny asked as he turned the corner to see his friend covered in garbage and smelling very rank. 

"I got jumped." He said with a growl. The door to Sue and Reed's apartment opened, and she stepped out. 

"Johnny what was all that yel-. Oh my god what is that?" She asked, covering her nose before realizing it was Ben. "Ben, are you alright?"  

"The Wizard's gang of gals jumped me." 

"Where was the fight at the dump?" Johnny asked, pulling his shirt up over his nose.  

"No, they tossed me into a dumpster." He said clearly not enjoying the conversation. "Then tossed that dumpster about a block away. Where's Stretch?" 

"In the lab, still looking at the gem." Sue said. If Reed wasn't in one of the few board meetings he attended, he would be in the lab. There were times when they only saw him for a few minutes a day unless it was in the lab. 

"I am going to shower, then I am going to have a conversation with him because this." Ben said, pointing to his garbage covered state. "Isn't going unanswered." 

He opened his room and entered to shower. Sue and Johnny looked at each other for a moment. 

"The cleaners are going to have to shampoo the rug." Her brother said. 

Ben's conversation with Reed didn't go well. Sue had waited outside the lab hearing almost every word. While Ben wanted them to go find this Frightful Four, Reed was explaining how he was close to a breakthrough with the gem. It sounded good if you didn't know Reed as he was always close to a breakthrough. She had hoped that hearing of Ben, his best friend, getting attacked would kick Reed into action but it didn't. 

He argued that they didn't hunt down the Yancy Street Gang that used to throw garbage at Ben. The strongest member of the team argued that this was a bit different. It went back and forth till Ben had to leave for his rescheduled date with Alicia.  

"This ain't over, Richards." Ben said stalking out of the room only to give Sue a glance that screamed "talk some sense into him". Little did Ben know she'd been trying. 

A few days passed. 

Ben run in with three of the four members of the Wizard's group made the news, which put the Thing in a bad mood. Even Johnny who had a wise ass remark for everything hadn't said a word about it. 

While Johnny hadn't made any remarks, he also didn't think he had anything to worry about. He had appearances to keep up. The Human Torch was currently in a nightclub surrounded by beautiful people. While Johnny was a superhero and did a good amount of community service, he was still a guy in his early twenties who wanted to have a good time. The blond hero was dancing in a very expensive shirt and a pair of designer baggy jeans.  

It was part of his normal routine to blow off steam and even the threat of getting jumped by the Frightful Four wouldn't stop him. It helped that there were a lot of beautiful women there all wanting to be arm candy for a world-famous hero. He had tried to get Peter to come out tonight, but his best friend had a lot going on. Not to mention the fact he wouldn't be getting comped like Johnny was and this place was pricey.  

The hot women surrounding him were saying something, but Johnny couldn't hear her over the music. They started to look a bit frantic. The music cut out, and the Human Torch whipped his head to the DJ booth. Standing there was the mysterious red headed woman in pink and black, and the DJ was held down by her strange hair.  

"May I cut in?" A familiar voice asked. 

Johnny whipped is head back to see the beautiful women he had been dancing with had been replaced by an attractive woman who happened to be attacking his family. Titania stood towering above him. Her presence had cleared a wide circle around him as nervous eyes were on him, although a few were hurriedly rushing out the door. 

"Umm, no?"  

He turned to get space only to find out Quicksand was right behind him. 

"Too bad." The woman made of sand said before opening her palm and blowing some of herself right in his face. 

He clutched at his face, rubbing the sand out of his eyes. With his vision blocked, he didn't see the punch to his groin Quicksand landed. Getting hit by her fist was like getting socked by a sandbag. Johnny doubled over; his face turned red from the impact. He turned away from the sand woman to avoid the possibility of another blow. This left him virtually defenseless as Titania grabbed the hem of his shirt. With one strong pull, she yanked it up over his head and off his body completely leaving Johnny shirtless. 

"Hey." He said weakly as the giant woman tossed it away. He managed to stand up slightly straighter only to feel his baggy jeans pulled to his ankles. Still recovering he didn't have the reaction time to stop it and now Johnny Storm had been pantsed in public. He could already see some flashes going off and laughter at his situation as he stood there shirtless and basically only wearing a pair of grey boxer-briefs.  

Johnny turned back towards Quicksand to give her a back hand as he tried to form a fireball in his hand. The woman made of sand didn't have to move to avoid the hit. The youngest member of the Fantastic Four felt a finger fishhook into the back of his waistband. With strength, few human beings on the planet possessed Titania pulled back with a sharp and sudden force. The boxer-briefs getting pulled tight was the least of Johnny's problems as he was flung back.  

His flew over the bar, crashing into the shelves of liquors. It all came crashing down and Johnny was somehow just left slightly sticky from the different drinks that now drenched his body.  

"Come on, lover boy." The woman made of sand said making kissy faces that made him wince. The remaining crowd was all focused on him, and Johnny felt there was only one safe option. 

"Flame on." He said as he erupted into flames. His whole body was engulfed, and he launched himself into the air. The liquors that covered him caused the flames on his body to change color for a moment.  

Quicksand's arm stretched from her body, aiming to pin him down. Johnny dived away, flying over the crowd. Quicksand tried again, but the Human Torch dodged again, landing before the entrance to the club. The Frightful Four members stalked towards him. Johnny looked up and saw the sprinkler system. 

Human torch fired a fireball from his fingertip to the alarm. The ball hit on impact and all the sprinklers went off along with an alarm followed by a flashing light. Titania and Quicksand stopped from the shock but Johnny was out the door. 

The Human Torch was flying back to the Baxter building. Getting caught in the sprinklers wasn't an option as it would put out his flames. Not only would that mean that Johnny would catch more of a beating; but he would also be naked as they had stripped him to just his underwear, which was not fireproof. The flames helped obscure his nudity, but getting home was the only thing to focus on. 

A cold half hour later, Johnny landed on the pad on top of the Baxter building. Ben was outside smoking a cigar, a habit he tried to keep to himself. The flaming man landed on the roof and the Thing watched as the flames went out right after Johnny covered himself.  

"Don't say a word." Johnny said, cupping his groin as he marched into the penthouses of the building. After Johnny got a pair of shorts on, he went to find Reed.  

Sue found herself sitting outside the office Reed had built within the lab, once again listening to another member of their team to argue with her boyfriend. She pulled her bathrobe closed a bit tighter. They had been arguing for a bit when she had come down, once again finding Reed not in bed and instead studying that gem Peter had given them in. Her brother demanded that they go out in force to find this Frightful Four and put them down before they do more than embarrass them. 

Reed's argument would have had Johnny steaming even if he didn't have flame related powers. The older member of the team argued it wasn't the first time Johnny had to fly home naked. Nor would it be the first time Johnny had made up something about getting jumped as to the reason, only for a day or two later to admit he had gotten into a fight with a girl or had to flee because her boyfriend had come home. 

Johnny stomped out of the lab, giving his sister a look before continuing his stomping to his room. She sighed and went back to bed. 

Another week went by and it was Friday night. Ben and Johnny had watched their backs, avoiding broadcasting their schedules. Sue had it easy as she had been so busy with work meetings thanks to Reed's Future Foundation that she barely had left the building. While her brother and friend had dealt with being jumped, she had dealt with extreme boredom, and it was time to blow off some steam.  

She booked the restaurant, called her friends, and got ready. Reed was in the lab and barely acknowledged her when she told him her plans for the evening. Her brother and Ben were in the living room of the penthouse watching sports. She stepped out from her room, putting in her earrings after brushing her blonde hair behind her ears. Sue was dressed in a smart pair of beige, almost white pants, and a blue button-down blouse.  

The pair turned from the TV to them, barely adjusting in the recliner chairs in front of the TV. 

"You're really going to go out?" Johnny asked. He had advised his sister to not go out, but she had disregarded him. Ben hadn't done anything, but he was nervous about Alicia going with Sue. Since he and Johnny had a target on their backs, it was safe to assume Sue would as well. 

"Yes. It is a private restaurant; they can't just break in as easily without us knowing, and we are keeping it quiet. No one will know where we are, and it has been a week with no signs. I need this." Sue said, throwing caution to the wind.  

"Whatever." Johnny said as he was over arguing with her, Reed or even Ben. Sue grabbed her purse and readied her things. 

"You picking up Alicia?" Ben asked. His blind girlfriend could get around by herself, but Sue often offered to drive her. 

"Yeah, I am going to pick her up." 

"Just ehhh." Ben said, rubbing the back of his neck. "She's not happy with how Stretch has been handling all this so if she says anything a little aggressive or something, just uhhh yeah."  

While he and Alicia hadn't fought over Reed's treatment of the rest of the team, she had been livid at Mister Fantastic's reaction to the recent attack on Thing. The last thing Ben wanted was Sue and Alicia to get into a fight over something between him and Reed. 

"It'll be fine." Sue said, rolling her eyes. They were all adults. With that she waved them goodbye and headed down to the car. The car was one of Sue's favorite inventions Reed had made. While it looked like a normal town car, it was really a fantastic car. Self-driving, explosion proof, could go from driving to flying to diving under water. It even could change some colors and design details with a press of a button as a disguise. It made getting around the city so much easier. 

Sue opened up the back seat and got it. She pulled out her phone and opened the app that controlled the car. Moments later, she was off. It took bout twenty minutes to get to Alicia's apartment but the blind sculptor was waiting outside when Sue pulled up. 

Alicia was a little older than Sue, about thirty and a bit daintier. She was a professional sculptor who had met Ben after he saved her art studio from collapsing after a battle with Galactus. She was in a pair of designer jeans, a nice red blouse. Her walking stick was out tapping the curb, and her sunglasses were in her auburn short hair. 

"I'm here." Sue said with a bit of excitement in her voice. It feels like ages since they had done a girls' night.  

"Thank god, felt like people were staring at me." Alicia said folding up her walking cane and climbing in. Sue and Alicia had hit it off from the start once Ben had finally introduced her to the rest of the team. 

"Sorry, you know how traffic is." The Invisible Woman said making room. The women made small talk as Sue punched in the address for the restaurant. Sue tried not to feel the awkwardness that was in the air as clearly Alicia was on Ben’s side on the situation with Reed. It wasn’t wrong for her to assume Susan Storm, well known girlfriend of Mister Fantastic, would be on his side but Sue was actually caught more in the middle. It just felt uncomfortable because she’d have to back up her man.  

It was another ten-minute drive to the restaurant. Sue had the car park at the side entrance, where the two could get out unnoticed. While Sue wasn't as recognizable from afar as other heroes, she still was and wanted to avoid any unwanted attention. Not just from the Frightful Four, the paparazzi were relentless.  

The two entered the restaurant, led by the waiter to their private table upstairs. The private table was actually in the hall that was used for parties. Their table was set up in the middle of the dance floor. Back against the far wall was a hallway that led to the restrooms and one side had a balcony overlooking the city and the other was the elevator to the kitchen.  

As the two exited the elevator for guests, Sue could see their third for the evening was already there. The woman at the table stood up and smiled while they walked over. The woman had her brown hair up in a bun and wore a dark blazer over a white shirt and a pencil skirt. She gave a big smile, and Sue returned it as the last time she saw her friend she was still in the hospital. 

The third guest was none other than Jennifer Walters, Jen for short, normally She-Hulk. After a run in with a dangerous inventor known as the Tinkerer, Jen had been in the hospital.  

“Jen.” Sue said, giving her a big hug. 

“Ooof.” The lawyer said as Susan hugged a bit tighter than expected.  

“Sorry.”  

The Invisible Woman moved out of the way for Alicia to give a one-handed hug to Jen. 

“How are you feeling? You don’t feel as big as normal.” Alicia said as she hadn’t seen Jen since her stay in the hospital. The three women sat down as Jen gave a medical update. 

"Doctor said it would probably be a few more weeks before the gamma starts to force its way back." Jen said. "Been really hard not being green, none of my clothes fit. I've had to dig out clothes from years ago just to leave the house.” 

“That’s crazy, but I’m glad you are okay.” Alicia said as she folded up her walking stick. The waiter came over and the ladies' ordered drinks and appetizers.  

“Yeah, I was terrified for you when I heard you ended up in the hospital.” Sue added. It had been a shock hearing that She-Hulk of all heroes ended up in a hospital bed. 

“Lucky for me I don’t even remember it.” Jen said before taking a sip of water. “I actually feel bad, the Spider-Boys were so broken up about it. Have you met the new one?”  

Sue shook her head negatively. 

“No, I’ve been so busy with Reed’s Future Foundation that I’ve barely seen the original.” 

“Oh, we’ll he’s a good kid. His other new protege....” Jen let the thought trail off as besides their encounter the night Jen was taken out, she hadn’t interacted with Silk. “She might take some getting used to.” 

“I didn’t even realize he had another.” 

“Spider-Man has proteges?” Alicia asked. She had met Peter more than once but still didn’t know his secret identity. Sue and Jen only used real names of heroes whose identities were publicly known. The last thing they needed was a server to overhear a name and put two and two together.  

“Oh, yeah it was a whole thing.” Jen said, waving off the whole ordeal. She hadn’t even given Sue all the details. Their drinks came shortly followed by their appetizers. 

“So where is everyone else?” Alicia asked as usually there were more than just the three of them. While she was friends with all of them, Sue was closer and always knew all the details. 

"Janet is busy. Hope has been a handful, and Nadia is being rebellious as all hell." Sue explained as to why one of the core members of their group wasn't there. 

"Yeah, I'm sure Hank is being a real help." Jen said sarcastically as they all knew how useless Hank Pym was as both a husband and a father. While he was part of their small community, Hank was only tolerated because of Janet. He made Reed's social skills look perfect. 

"How old is Nadia again?" Alicia asked. While the sculptor had met Janet fairly often, she had never enquired about her children, step or otherwise. Sue and Jen looked at each other, both trying to do the math in their heads. 

"Nineteen, twenty, ish." Sue finally answered. "She's a student at ESU." 

"But she has a lot of daddy issues and who wouldn't with Hank Pym for your dad." Jen added. Sue let out a small chuckle. 

"A deadbeat Hank Pym, who rarely if ever showed up in your life." 

Across town, Janet was dealing with said rebellious stepdaughter. Hank of course was busy at a symposium to present his further research on Pym particles. While she had dealt with world ending threats, deranged villains and thousands of other threats, her stepdaughter was worse than all of that. 

Not even an hour after she had gotten Hope to bed, she saw Nadia dressed in a tank top and spandex shorts leaving the home lab and armory with a pair of Wasp wings, helmet and size altering suit, her brown-haired bob bouncing as she tried to walk as innocently as possible.  

"Where do you think you're going?" Janet had demanded, using the closest thing she had to an evil stepmother whisper as to not wake the sleeping daughter. She hadn't even had a chance to get changed yet, still wearing a pair of loose jeans and a black t-shirt. Thankfully her hair didn't need much maintenance since she got a pixie cut again. She'd have actually been yelling if her black locks still needed the routine she had in the past.  

Nadia didn't answer and just sprinted towards the stairs. Janet followed in hot pursuit. Nadia turned the corner down the stairs, while a Janet was at the top. 

“I am talking to you.” The mother and hero said attempting once again to get her stepdaughter to stop and communicate. When Janet rounded the corner, she found Nadia zipping up the suit and attaching the wing harness. 

“No, I’m sorry but no. Put that stuff back right now.” Janet said not even attempting to humor Nadia. Her stepdaughter ignored her. “Now, Nadia.”  

Janet took a step forward and the younger woman looked up, acknowledging her stepmom for the first time. Before Janet could get any closer, Nadia hit a button and shrunk before her eyes. The older woman’s eyes went wide as she disappeared, shrinking small enough that her eyes had been unable to track where her stepdaughter had flown off too. 

"Oh, no you don't." Janet pulled out her phone. In seconds, the screen was open, and she hit a specific app that Hank had made specifically for them. It was the superhero equivalent of a panic button. When Janet's finger touched the icon, the whole house activated.  

“Lockdown mode activated.” A recording of Hank Pym’s voice said. Janet mentally cursed him again for putting him in this position.  

“Come out right now, take that stuff off and we can pretend this never happened.” The original Wasp said in the same voice she used on Hope when she did something naughty. This was a bit worse as Nadia had stolen a high-tech suit that was extremely dangerous even in the right hands. There was no answer and Janet was going to have to search for Nadia. 

Janet moved through the house, listening for any signs of her stepdaughter. She slowly muttered to herself, occasionally saying something to try and lure Nadia out. The kitchen was next on the path she took. She stood in the doorway listening. 

"Nadia when I find you." Janet said letting the threat remain unfinished. She wasn't sure what she would do when she found her. But it wouldn’t be good. She stopped listening for the tiny whirr of mechanical wings. Most people wouldn’t recognize it, but Janet knew what to listen for. There was a moment when she was sure she heard Nadia flying around. Janet took another step into the kitchen. Then she was almost sure she could hear it and took another step inside. 

She thought she could hear the buzzing of the little mechanical wings from under the table. Janet dropped to all fours, crawling after her stepdaughter. She might be in college, but she was still ground-able.  

What Janet was unaware of was her loose jeans had already been sagging, but now as she was bent over to crawl under the table, there was even more exposed waistband of her fullback black with yellow stripe briefs. Nadia was well aware of this fact as while she had been underneath the table, she had flown to the tabletop and now stood on the edge in her miniature state.  

While Nadia normally wouldn’t do what she was about to, her stepmother had been a real pain in the butt since she moved in. It was only fair for Nadia to return the favor. The college student took a step off the edge of the table and aimed for her stepmother's yellow elastic waistband. 

It took a fraction of a second for Nadia to land, grab her target and take off again. The semi-retired hero known as the Wasp let out a wince as her eyes went wide from the discomfort of having her undergarments pulled up with force.  

Janet's head slammed into the underside of the table as her stepdaughter violently yanked on her underwear. Between the pain from the tug on her underpants and the pain from her head slamming into the underside of the table, Janet wasn’t having a good night. 

Back in the restaurant.  

"I'm sure it can't be that bad. Nadia seems like a good kid." Jen said, smiling. 

"Yeah." Sue agreed. 

"She's probably just catching up on sleep." Jen said before adding. "What about Pepper?" 

"She is wrecked from having to take all the meetings Tony is unavailable for. She just got back from England this morning I think and she got there from Singapore yesterday." Sue explained. 

In the penthouse of Stark Tower. 

Pepper had been so tired that getting changed into a pair of pajamas was out of the question. Even getting out of her work clothes had only been half accomplished. She had managed to fully unbutton her shirt, exposing her expensive black bra with lace accents, but the blouse was still on her shoulders. The heels she had been wearing were the only thing she had managed to take off completely. Her slacks were close as they had made it to her ankles as she flopped on the bed. The black slacks were around her ankles with just her bare legs exposed, and her black lace boyshorts that matched the bra. Pepper snored lightly without a care in the world.  

The trio had just placed their orders for dinner. 

“Well, it must be hard living with men like Tony Stark and Hank Pym. Leaving everyone else to deal with the problems they make.” Alicia said with a bit of disgust in her voice. “Sue knows what’s that like.” 

Jen looked at Sue and mouthed the word “wow” at Alicia’s remark. Sue just rolled her eyes as Alicia was oblivious to their facial expressions. 

“I’m going to run to the bathroom.” Alicia announced unfolding her cane. They had been to this restaurant enough that neither Sue, Jen nor the waitstaff had to direct her. The blind woman moved quick, expecting Susan to have something to say. The Invisible Woman did not, just waited as Alicia was a bit further from the table. 

Sue gave a look to Jen before turning back to Alicia. As the sculptor walked to the bathroom, her cane out in front of her leading her way, Alicia's pants disappeared revealing her tanned legs and a hot pink pair of lace boyshorts. Jen let out a stifled giggle and Alicia almost stopped but continued on. Sue let the prank continue for another moment before she stopped using her powers and Alicia’s pants reappeared. 

“So, I take it things have been tense at home?” Jen asked once their friend was out of ear shot. She had seen the news and heard rumblings that Reed hadn’t been seen outside of charity events and daily business for weeks. Sue sighed. 

“Yeah, Ben and Johnny aren’t talking to Reed. And Reed has hardly noticed he’s been so focused on his lab.” Sue said finally letting out some of the pent-up feelings, which is what the girls’ night was all about.  

“And your caught in the middle?” 

“And I’m caught in the middle. I love Reed and want to support him, I know he is doing a lot of great things in the lab but I agree with Johnny and Ben. The Wizard and this group he put together is a real problem for us. He is competing against Reed and Reed won’t even show up. I think that’s what Bently wants, to show up with his team and make Reed look foolish.” Sue said finally letting her feelings out. 

“Have you tried telling Reed this?” 

“When I see him, he feels so checked out that I’ve barely been able to broach the subject, he just blows right past it.” 

Jen took a sip of wine and shook her head. It was a complex problem that the incredible She-Hulk didn’t think she could solve for her friend. The food came out followed by Alicia, who was a bit more civil for the main course. They were halfway through when Sue excused herself. 

The Invisible Woman was gone for only a minute when the elevator door opened. Jen and Alicia turned to see who had entered. It wasn’t a waiter, but three women entered. One was completely made of sand, the biggest was wearing a denim jacket with a black purple tanktop underneath and black leather pants. The third wore a black sleeveless top and black leggings both with pink accents. They were three members of the Frightful Four.  

“Where was our invite?” Quicksand asked. 

“Must have gotten lost in the mail.” Titania joked.  

The third woman, the mysterious hair controlling one said nothing and followed the other two. Jen let out a gulp; this wasn’t going to be good. 

Sue was just finishing up washing her hands and headed towards the bathroom door. She stopped as she heard voices that didn’t sound like Jen or Alicia or their waiter. Their waiter, unknown to the three women, was currently a floor below trapped inside a garbage can in a broom closet. 

Sue cracked the door to peer out. She let out a small gasp of annoyance as she realized that the Frightful Four members had tracked her down. They were currently standing around the table looking menacingly at the table. 

“Who is it?” Alicia asked Jen in a confused whisper.  

“Bad guys.” Jen said as she tried to look as cool, calm and collected like she would have if she was still in She-Hulk form. 

“Now, where is Susan? We’re here to see her, not her dweeb friends.” Titania said with a chuckle. She put a hand on Jen’s shoulder, which would have kept anyone seated, let alone the de-powered She-Hulk 

“She’s not here.” Jen lied, hoping Sue was aware of the threat.  

“You sound familiar.” The larger woman said leaning down to get a closer look at Jen before letting out a big laugh. 

"Well, well, well." Titania said towering over the depowered Jen Walters. "She-Hulk isn't as big and bad as she used to be." 

Jen looked up at the massive woman, whose hand was keeping her seated. 

"Oh, it's Mary. Shocked you still show your face after all the times I've kicked your butt." The currently not hulked out She-Hulk said. She knew just how to push Titania's buttons and usually could back it up. Right now, though, she could not. 

"Cute. Let me help you hide your face." Titania said. With her free hand she reached down the gap between Jen's back and the chair. The massive hand of Titania moved the back of Jen's blazer and was down the back of her pencil skirt finding the target beneath. 

Jen's eyes opened wide as the massive redhead grabbed the back of her underwear. In one fluid motion that was accompanied by the sound of stretching fabric, the super villain yanked up and over bringing the fabric with her, blinding the lawyer with her own cotton purple briefs. She let out a pained gasp that was drowned out by Titania's laughing. 

"I've wanted to do that for a long time." Mary said, getting a chuckle from Quicksand as Jen tried not to shout in pain as the fabric had sliced between her cheeks. She tried not to make any sound lest she draw more attention to herself.  

Not that Jen would admit it, but this was not her first atomic wedgie. That came from a pair of new Spider-Women, but this was the first in her human form and worst, it came from Titania. Usually, she was the one humiliating Titania. 

"What happened? What was that sound?" Alicia asked as she was unable to see what had actually happened.  

"Shut up." Quicksand said, sticking one of her fingers made of sand in her mouth. She withdrew the finger, which was still just sandy, not covered with saliva and jammed it into Alicia's ear. 

"Ahh, what the hell?" The blind sculptor asked slapping at the strong hand made of packed sand jamming a finger into her ear. The woman made of sand pulled her finger out chuckling. 

"Now, Jen. Tell your little friend here we are going to sit and wait quietly for your blonde bimbo friend to comeback so we can whoop her ass too." Titania said pulling up a chair to sit next to Jen, who still had her purple briefs over her own head. 

"Alicia." Jen said, her voice a few octaves higher and in clear pain. "We're going to wait for Sue. This is a bit out of our league for now." 

Titania condescendingly patted Jen on her underwear clad head.  

“Well, as we wait might as well eat.” Mary said, grabbing a fork and eating some of the food. Quicksand sat next to Alicia but didn’t eat. 

“What about her?” Quicksand asked, referring to their companion, who stood there motionlessly.  

“Yeah, she’s giving me the creeps too.” Titania said before giving her attention to the long redheaded woman. “Go stand on the balcony.” 

The woman did as she was told and opened the doors to stand out on the empty balcony. Sue watched all this from just outside the bathroom. She had used her powers of invisibility to stay hidden. The trio splitting up gave Sue an opening. She carefully walked through the main room towards the balcony. Titania was too busy eating, and Quicksand was too busy torturing Alicia; she was currently messing up her hair, to notice the fraction of a moment the door was open.  

Sue headed towards the corner, where Titania and Quicksand wouldn’t be able to see what happened to their third member. She had learned about this technique thanks to Peter. Make some noise, draw someone’s attention, then take them out with a quick sneak attack. She did just that, creating a small clatter with some loose stones, but the mystery redhead didn’t react.  

She tried again, this time knocking over one of the flowerpots. Again, the woman didn’t react. Sue decided to take a more direct approach and hope it would lure the woman to look for her. This idea also came after a bit of wine that she had at dinner. But as Sue knew being invisible had its perks. 

Sue walked right up to the woman and tweezed her nose. She was so focused on that, she missed the white headband with small glowing red dots that sat around the woman’s forehead. 

No reaction. 

The Invisible Woman wondered if she was in some kind of trance and thought of one way to break her out of it. This woman had embarrassed her, stripping her of her clothes last time they met, and her allies were currently torturing her friends. 

While still invisible, Susan Storm marched right up behind the red head and began brushing the massive amount of hair out of the way. She gave up and just slipped between the hair and the woman’s backside.  

“Here goes nothing.” Sue said to herself since it appeared this woman was ignoring her. She reached into the black leggings, finding the fabric underneath almost instantly. She grabbed and yanked up, pulling a black thong out of the pants. 

Sue had expected a reaction. She knew the prank wouldn't stop the long-haired mystery woman indefinitely, but she figured pulling on her underwear would do something. Even embarrass her, but instead the woman stood motionlessly.  

She let go of the underpants, which snapped back against her adversary. The mysterious woman still didn't react. She slowly moved to face the woman again. Her face was blank with no emotion, but the mystery woman had a headband on her forehead. It was white with a few red glowing spots. It looked like something Bently would create. 

A scream drew Sue’s attention. 

Back inside, Quicksand had just dumped a glass of ice water into Alicia’s lap. It was clear that the villains were getting restless. She was going to have to make an appearance soon, or they’d start doing worse than pranks. 

Jen had managed to pull her underpants off her face but had only gotten them to her forehead. Titania had given her a disapproving look when Jen almost undid the atomic wedgie. In her current state, there wasn’t much she could do to stop the super powered woman.  

The lawyer was beginning to wonder if Sue abandoned them, but she got a sign. Titania’s clothes disappeared before her eyes as Sue made them invisible. 

“Uhhh, Titania.” Quicksand said getting her cohorts attention. 

“What?” The muscular woman asked. 

“Your clothes are gone.” 

The massive woman looked down to see her clothes were in fact gone and she was sitting at the table in just her underwear. She stood up sending the chair skittering back and giving everyone a good view of her black bra with lace detailing around the cups. For bottoms, the powerhouse was now only clad in a leopard print thong. 

“What the hell?” Titania asked, patting down her body. She could feel the clothes but couldn’t see them. 

“Figured you could use a taste of your own medicine.” Sue said, still invisible as she formed a barrier right behind the giant’s legs. Titania tumbled over the invisible block, leaving her on the floor, legs in the air. The Invisible Woman began to try and form barriers to hold down the super powered woman, but her friend made of sand had other ideas. 

Quicksand, after chuckling at her friend’s predicament, whipped herself up into a sandstorm. Soon the entire room was a swirling mass of sand. Sue blocked her face, but thanks to all the moving pieces of Quicksand, she easily zeroed in on the Invisible Woman.  

The small particles of sand zoomed in on Sue, collecting around her and specifically crawling under her clothes. It made the concentration of keeping herself and Titania’s clothes invisible impossible. 

The giant woman’s clothes reappeared followed by Sue appearing as she clawed at her shirt and pants. It was difficult for her to even claw as the sand began locking up her joints, surrounding them and holding in place. 

“You think that was funny?” Titania asked as she stood up, now a lot more menacing appearing fully clothed. “Why don’t we teach you what funny is. Quicksand show her something funny.” 

“Sure thing.” Quicksand replied from under Sue’s clothes. She could feel the grains of sand now moving down towards her beige pants. The Invisible Woman could feel a sandy hand forming around the waistband of her underwear. Before Susan knew it, Quicksand had reformed behind, a sandy hand lifting her off the floor by her white bikini briefs. 

"Like this?" Quicksand asked mockingly as she bounced The Invisible Woman up and down by the back of her undies. Sue let out a strangled cry of discomfort. She had given wedgies and occasionally gotten costume ride up, but this was a full-on humiliating wedgie. She was in such discomfort that, it was impossible to focus on using her powers. 

“My turn.” Titania said as she had stalked over. Sue was in such shock, that she was only just aware of the massive powerhouse grabbing the back of her bikini briefs. She was well aware when Titania’s other hand went down to grab the front of the waistband. 

Sue let out a pained cry as she was lifted into the air by the front and back of her underwear. The waistband was now as high as her bra level as Titania carried her towards the bathroom. 

“You two sit tight, we’ll be right back.” She ordered Jen and Alicia, who did what they were told. The large woman kicked the bathroom door right off its hinges, sending it flying. She then knocked the walls out of a bathroom stall leaving plenty of room around the toilet. Sue was in such pain that she had no idea what was about to come until Titania had flipped her upside down. 

“Wha-.” Sue began to ask as her head was dunked in the toilet. Quicksand flushed as Titania lifted Susan out for a moment, before dunking her right back in. Dunk, flush, raise, repeat.  

Sue was out of breath and couldn’t feel her legs when it was done. 

They pulled Sue's head from the toilet, and she was held upside down. 

"Now listen good, blondie." Mary said as Quicksand snickered. 

"Bently wants Reed to come out from hiding. You have two choices, bring him out. As a team or throw him out, don't care or we will continue to hunt the rest of you down when you leave the Baxter building and you can expect things to get a little bit more violent than humiliation." 

"And it won't just be you. Everyone you know and hell, just people who happen to be nearby." Quicksand added. 

"So, do the right thing and send your boy toy out for Bently to end him." Mary finished as Sue dropped onto the tiled floor. She sat there, breathing heavy as the two walked away. She watched as Quicksand went to get their third as Titania stopped back at the table. 

Alicia let out a shriek as Titania had reached down the back of her jeans, grabbed her hot pink lace boyshorts and ripped them off with ease, leaving the remains on Alicia’s head. 

Once they were in the elevator leaving, Sue felt the strength to move and rejoin her friends. Jen was slowly peeling her undies off her head as Alicia tried to soothe her butt. 

“Feels extra cruel to give the blind girl a wedgie.” The sculptor said as they sat around for a moment. 

“They do cruel very well.” Sue said. 

She had paid for the damage, which was a lot and left a nice tip for the waiter. The authorities would show up for the property damage, but the trio was long gone before that arrived. Jen was dropped off at her apartment, followed by Alicia before Sue went home. Ben and Johnny were nowhere to be found, which was fine with Sue as she still hadn’t managed to fully fix her underwear situation, only get them down to a more manageable level.  

Reed was in the lab.  

Sue wanted to scream. It was her boyfriend’s fault and he was hiding in his lab. Well, if he wouldn’t do anything she would. She got out of her disgusting clothes, only needing a pair of scissors to remove her underwear which was too stretched out to be used again before jumping in the shower. 

After a nice long shower, with lots of brainstorming did she feel ready to handle this problem. Susan came out with her hair up in a towel and a towel wrapped around her midsection. She saw a notification on her phone. 

Part of her hoped it was Reed, to tell her that he realized he was spending too much time in the lab. The other part of her didn’t want to hear from him till she handled this.  

The text wasn’t from Reed. 

It read “Susan Storm, this is Prince Namor we met at the gala. I was wondering if you were available for dinner. There is something I’d like to discuss with you.” 

She blushed slightly. The swarthy prince had asked her to dinner. It was flattering to say the least. Sue texted a reply and got ready for bed. Tomorrow she went to war.