Morden Man

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Again, I refer back to my policy of "The timeline is whatever you want it to be." Sure, the game is jumping ahead three months, but that doesn't mean stories can't be continued in the Season 1 timeframe. It just means that if and when you do want to crossover with folks who've made the skip, we'll just have to assume that there have been time skips between arcs to get your character caught up. (Or we'll just cover our eyes because who should let a timeline get in the way of creativity and fun?)

Now, all I've got is a nickel, so can anyone break this and give me three cents back?

@Eddie Brock

This guy Brocks.

What I'd say about the time-skip is this: don't worry about it too much. When all is said and done, we want as many people involved as possible and we're not about to let the time-skip completely derail a good thing. So it's whatever works for you, so long as you reconcile to yourself the in-game world around your character being three months ahead should you want to dip in to MMEs and the like.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

So endeth Johnny and Sue Storm's big day(s) out.

Thank you to @HenryJonesJr and @Lord Wraith for humouring me. And thanks to the rest of you for putting up with the F4 monopolising the IC thread.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

“I believe it is time for me to return home.”

@Lord Wraith

Triskelion, Washington DC

Sue bid Thor goodbye and watched as Agent Perry ferried the Asgardian into a transporter bound for wherever he called home. It was an amusing sight. She was so familiar with seeing the clouds part and Thor descending into battle with Mjolnir swinging above his head. Something about seeing Thor in a SHIELD transporter made him seem all the more human – and Sue wasn’t quite sure yet whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She ran her fingers over the rune inscribed at the centre of the pendant that Thor had given her when Agent Perry made her approach. As if sensing that the Invisible Woman was in a world of her own, she waved one of her brown hands in front of Sue to catch her attention before speaking.

“Susan Storm, we haven’t had the pleasure to meet yet. My name is Special Supervisory Agent Perry.”

Sue met Perry’s greeting with a smile. “I’d say that it was nice to meet you, Agent Perry, but I think we’d both rather not be here. At least, not under these circumstances.”

“Heh, you’re right about that,” Perry murmured as the women shook hands. “But I think we did a good job all things considered.”

There was some truth to it. Had Sue not left the Baxter Building in a huff early that morning, she would never have been there to help Thor subdue Creel. There was no telling much more destruction Creel could have caused if he’d not been forced to split his attention between the two of them. For that reason alone, Sue had reason to consider her visit to Washington a success.

Though thoughts of the Surfer’s true face were not far from her mind. It felt almost as if those weary eyes that seemed to stare straight into her soul were resting on her at this very moment. The help that the Surfer – or whoever he had been before being infected by the power cosmic – had given her had allowed her to escape from Creel’s grasp. Why? Between that and Thor’s near-villainous turn, Sue’s mind was in a state of constant disturbance.

Perhaps that was clear from the look on Sue’s face because there was concern in Perry’s voice as she broke the silence. “You look worried.”

“Aren’t you?”

Agent Perry seemed to consider the question for a time. She didn’t rush to put Sue’s concerns to bed, as some might have, but seemed to truly consider the implication of each potential response she might provide. Her thoughtfulness did not go unappreciated by Sue – perhaps in large part because she was so used to Guy Gardner shooting from the hip. Agent Perry seemed minded to do anything but.

“He’s powerful, there’s no doubting that. He may even be the most powerful metahuman on Earth – and from the little we know of him, he’s only starting to scratch the surface with those powers of his. But his intentions seem good – and if they’re not, well, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Jesus,” Sue murmured in appreciation at Perry’s sense of self-confidence. "You even sound like Hill.”

A wry smile appeared on Perry’s face and she turned to leave Sue stood there on the tarmac. One of Sue’s hands clasped onto Perry’s forearm and stopped her in her tracks.

“You know about the Surfer, don’t you?”

Sensing Storm parsing her expression for answers, Perry did her best to suppress the truth. “I don’t know what you’re t-”

“You don’t need to lie to me,” Sue said as she produced Rachna Koul’s ID card. “I saw him with me own eyes, Agent Perry.”

Perry plucked the ID card from between Sue’s fingers. She scanned the face and name and let out a heavy sigh, shoving it into the inside pocket of her coat, before sliding her forearm free from Sue’s grip.

“Our silver-skinned guest was put on a transporter to The Raft within two minutes of Creel’s breakout.”

A resigned Sue nodded in acceptance. “For all of our sake’s, I hope SHIELD are ready for what’s coming – because when Galactus comes, there won’t be a prison on Earth that can hold him.”

Perry nodded grimly and then stared down at the watch around her wrist. “I suppose you’ll be needing transport home too?”

Sue nodded and Perry let out a high-pitched whistle to a nearby SHIELD agent. Within minutes, Sue found herself being bundled into a SHIELD transporter bound for New York. She had hoped to speak to Maria Hill before leaving but was informed that the deputy director was, to no surprise, otherwise indisposed. Her farewell with Perry was brief, Thor’s attache showing all the professionalism she had in their brief exchange, and Sue was left to mull over the day’s events on the hour-long flight back to the Big Apple.

It had been a long day, and thanks to Johnny’s coming-out party she was sure there would be many more long days to come for the four of them, but Sue would be lying if she said there wasn’t a part of her that felt a strange pang upon seeing the Baxter Building on the horizon.

She knew it wasn’t home – not hers anyway – but it was the nearest thing she had to one. And she’d be damned if she let anyone threaten it.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

“Should've gone for the head.”

@Lord Wraith

Triskelion, Washington DC

Sue’s eyes widened as Creel reached a hand towards the axe buried in his chest. At the last moment a forcefield wrapped itself around the Absorbing Man’s hand and pried it away from the axe. There was minimal resistance from Creel – whose sickly state was clear to see despite his skin being wrapped in a copper coating. Once she was sure Creel’s hand was free, Sue nodded to Thor to remove the axe from his chest.

She knelt down beside Creel with a look part-satisfaction, part-disgust. “I think you’ve done enough damage for one evening, don’t you?”

The smouldering fire in the side of the Triskelion had all but been put out. The SHIELD agents that Creel had despatched with ruthless efficiency had beaten an escape away from the fighting and were getting medical attention. Most importantly, Creel had been brought to heel. Though the true cost of his rampage was still unbeknownst to them.

Certain that a lifetime of imprisonment awaited Creel, Sue shot him one last disdainful look. “You’re never going to hurt anyone ever again.”

Thor nodded determinedly beside Sue. She offered him a collegiate smile but he did not return it. He strode towards Creel with eyes fixed on his downed opponent. The flecks of blood across the God of Thunder’s face only heightened the unease that Sue felt. Before she knew it, Thor was brandishing the bloody axe of his high above his head, ready to lower it on Creel, with a murderous look on his face.

The first strike was aimed directly for the centre of Creel’s skull. It would have split it open if not for a last-second intervention from Sue. She redirected Thor’s swing and ensured that the blade in his hand landed firmly in the tarmac.

“What are you doing?” Sue shouted to him. “We don’t do tha-”

The words had barely left Sue’s mouth when she felt Thor’s rage-filled gaze turn towards her instead. With one tug of his muscular arms, the Asgardian yanked the axe free from the ground and started towards Sue. She backed away, shocked by the sudden display of malice, and lifted a hand in front of her by way of defence.

Since drawing Creel’s blood Thor’s eyes, once a piercing blue, had reddened. She had not noticed it at first but it was clear as day now that he was bearing down on her with his axe. It was raised well above his head, hands trembling almost with hostile intent, when the sudden burst of guns cocking caught Sue’s attentions.

“Stand down, Thor.” A dark-skinned SHIELD agent stepped through the crowd to appeal to the Asgardian. “This is not who you are.”

Sue nodded her head in agreement as her blue eyes rested on the bloody axe in Thor’s hands. “She’s right.”

A faint growl escaped from Thor’s lips, as if some part of him was fighting back the rage, and slowly his reddened eyes became blue again. He lowered the axe from above his head, letting it slide down onto the ground, and the SHIELD agents came sprinting across the tarmac towards Creel. One slapped a power dampener around the Absorbing Man’s neck – rendering him flesh and blood once again – while several others lifted him from the ground and onto a transport vehicle.

Slightly shaken up by Thor’s sudden change in personality, Sue looked towards the Asgardian. “I think there's something wrong with that axe.”

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

“I’m invincible.”

@Lord Wraith

Triskelion, Washington DC

The ringing in Sue Storm's ears subsided just in time to hear the words leave Creel's mouth. She had to suppress a smile as she used the back of her hand to wipe her bloody nose. Bigger and badder men than Carl "Crusher" Creel had claimed invincibility and been proven wrong – and now that Sue had her bearings back, she was intent on showing Creel why.

Her bloodied hand reached out towards the Absorbing Man and sent constructs wrapping around his limbs. "You talk too much."

One wrapped around his forearm, restricting him to only one arm to try to fend Thor's punches away with, whilst another knocked Creel to one knee. He struggled pitifully against the constructs while trying to battle with the Asgardian – despite it becoming more difficult with every passing second.

The vibranium absorbed most of the damage that Thor dealt out with his hands but without any means of releasing it, the energy was useless to Creel. He tugged and jolted angrily, desperate to try to free himself from Sue's grasps, but finally found himself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of blows the God of Thunder was dolling out. His last free leg was strapped down by another hard-light construct, leaving only one free arm to flail in Thor's direction in vain.

"Give it up," Sue said triumphantly as she approached the two of them. "You're beaten, Creel. Not for the first time from the sound of things."

A flash of shock ran through Sue as she felt the spit hit her in the face. "Fuck you, cunt."

As a last, desperate attempt at escaping, Creel's vibranium-coated body melted away and suddenly took on the form of the tarmac beneath him. Sue, whose cheeks were reddened with rage, saw the change too late to stop Thor from striking out on her behalf – and the Absorbing Man broke into a dozen or so pieces and fell apart on the ground. Amid the ground-up tarmac, Sue spotted the piece of metal that had gifted Creel his powers.

"Uh-uh," she muttered under her breath as she lifted it from the ground. "We're not going through this all over again."

By the time she had pocketed it, Creel had reformed. His sweaty, pallid skin was almost ghost-like. He writhed around in exhaustion, clearly drained by the exertion of wielding an abnormal degree of strength. How he acquired a piece of the world's rarest metal was the real question.

Sue glanced towards Thor with a friendly smile. He was young – younger than the Thor that Sue had met on a handful of occasions on her Earth – but appeared no less majestic or powerful. The long, flowing blonde locks and the wing-tipped cap had gone but in its place was armour the likes of which Sue had never seen – and an axe that looked twice as imposing as Mjolnir.

The Invisible Woman directed the Asgardian towards the sprawled Carl Creel with a playful grin. "Would you mind doing the honours, Thor?"

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Triskelion, Washington DC

Sue Storm set off running towards the billowing smoke without hesitation. There were sirens blaring from the Triskelion and SHIELD agents running towards the action. Sue outpaced them all. With a wave of her hand she formed a light construct at shin height and stepped onto it, bounding forward and onto another hastily-made construct, creating the impression to the agents below that she was bounding through the air without care. The sounds of havoc drew louder the closer she drew to the Triskelion – and Sue grew more desperate to determine its cause.

It didn’t take long. The sounds of guns firing emanated from the smouldering hole in the side of the building. Sue watched as they hit their target and seemed to skid away from him without causing even a fraction of harm. The man let out a sadistic laugh and lifted one of his muscle-bound arms above his head, bringing his gunmetal fist against the ground like a sledgehammer with devastating effect. The SHIELD agents were knocked off their feet and the man turned to inspect the jump to freedom that awaited him.

As he did so he made eye contact with Sue Storm. It took all of half a second for the Invisible Woman to work out Carl Creel’s identity through parsing his blackened features – but once she had done she knew she was in for a fight. Creel smiled at her as if she weren’t even there and leapt out of the Triskelion without a hint of doubt.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Sue muttered under her breath as she extended her hand in Creel’s direction. “Not on my watch.”

Sue created a construct to break Creel’s landing. He opened his eyes, confused as to what had happened, before hearing the sound of two dozen guns cocking in unison. Sue was descending rapidly as she watched Creel fight to his feet and set upon the heavily-armoured SHIELD agents with a savageness that her world’s Absorbing Man could never have mustered.

“You sons-of-bitches want to put me away in some stinking hole for the rest of my fucking life? You’ve got another thing coming.”

Their armour broke and splintered on contact with Creel’s fists, their bullets skidded off his skin without leaving a mark but the SHIELD agents pressed on in spite of the perilous danger they faced – and how clear it was that Creel was clearly enjoying himself a little too much.

Finally Sue landed in the thick of the melee with a graceful roll. She managed to knock Creel off balance, knocking him to one knee by magicking up a construct beneath his feet, and giving him a hard kick in the chest. Her foot throbbed with pain. Punching and kicking had never quite been her forte – but Ben had taught her more than enough to hold her own. What he hadn’t taught her was quite how to deal with someone whose skin was coated with an unbreakable metal. That much she was going to have to work out in the field.

Sue turned to the SHIELD agents and barked at them in a voice that would have made Captain America himself stand to attention. “Get the hell out of here before you get yourselves hurt.”

They looked to one another in confusion, unsure whether to comply, before reluctantly retreating to a more secure position to radio for reinforcements. Creel watched on with a smirk. He seemed completely nonplussed by Sue’s arrival – perhaps because she was a woman, or perhaps because he had never felt quite as strong as he did with the black metal coating his skin.

“You sure you want to do this, blondie? I’ve got not beef with you. Turn around and walk away now, I promise I won’t rough the boy scouts up too bad on my way out of here. Heck, play your cards right and maybe I’ll even let you leave with me. Hows that sound?”

Sue shot Creel a look that would have turned his blood cold if he knew what was good for him. Instead, he doubled down on his folly with a repulsive gesture.

“One chance,” Sue said coolly. “Get on your knees, place your hands behind your head, and revert back to normal, Creel.”

Creel shrugged his shoulders. “Fuck it, I could do with the exercise anyway.”

He cut the distance between the two of them in an instance. Before Sue knew what was happening, Creel’s fist was flying towards her face. She managed to parry it with a forcefield but shuddered as it passed by her head. There was so much on Creel’s punches that all it took was for one to connect to take off her head.

She threw a punch of her own, this time making sure to coat her fist in a construct, but watched it fizz helplessly off Creel’s chin. He laughed as it did so. Sue was sure Creel had only let it strike him to show her how out of her depth she was fighting hand-to-hand with him. Her fears were confirmed when he caught the next punch with ease.

A derisive laugh left Creel's lips. “You really thought you stood a chance against me? You’re even dumber than you look.”

Creel yanked on Sue’s arm. There was a small crack and Sue let out a howl as she felt her arm being tested to its limit. With every bend, the sadistic smile on Creel’s face grew in size. He was enjoying every second of Sue’s pain. She tried to wriggle free of Creel’s vice-like grip but failed – and the Absorbing man only tightened it even more.

“I’ve had enough of being pushed around. You hear me? Once I’m out of here, I’m nobody’s errand boy.”

Each millimetre Creel extended her arm sent a whole world of pain flooding through Sue’s senses. Amid the pain she thought she heard a voice. Was it Reed? Johnny? No, she frowned, trying her best to block out Creel’s rambling. It was a whisper – one carried on the wind from what felt like a world away – that seemed to grow in intensity with every repetition.

BE FREE.
BE FREE.
BE FREE.

A man’s face flashed before her eyes. The sadness in the man’s eyes betrayed the horrors he had seen. Though the image was with her for but a moment she felt she knew him deeply – and suddenly it occurred to her that the face belonged to whoever was trapped in the belly of the Triskelion beneath the Silver Surfer’s shell.

When Sue’s eyes opened her hand had inexplicably slipped free from the Absorbing Man’s grasp. Creel’s face was awash with confusion at the impossible escape act that Sue had performed and, in truth, Sue was equally shocked – but she wasted no time capitalising on it. A snaking light construct wrapped itself around Creel’s head and encased it away from any and all oxygen at his disposal.

Sue stretched out her throbbing arm and watched as Creel began to realise that even with vibranium-coated skin he still needed to breathe. A look of satisfaction settled over Sue’s face as she watched him struggling in vain.

“You are a truly vile man.”

Creel struck and scratched at the construct in the hope of piercing it but Sue’s will held strong. The strength in this blows began to abandon him slowly until his sturdy legs began to weaken. He began to stagger towards Sue, his arms outstretched, as even in his delirious state he seemed to have finally managed to deduce that piercing the construct was not going to work.

The Absorbing Man fell to his knees just short of Sue. The vibranium-coating on his skin seemed to have begun to fade away as he slipped towards unconsciousness. His hands lifted in one final act of defiance, that Sue observed in bemusement.

With all of his remaining strength, Creel slapped his hands together and sent Sue flying backwards. She landed on the tarmac with a heavy thud and at once felt the blood rushing down her nose. Before she had quite recovered, she felt Creel’s hand around her neck. He lifted her off the ground with ease and was several seconds into verbally abusing Sue before she realised something was wrong. The ringing in her ears had not abated. In fact, it seemed be getting worse.

Her blue eyes fixed on Creel’s mouth as she tried to work out what he was saying.

“Once I’ve made an example outta you, the first thing I’m gonna do is find that motherfucker Thor and make him pay for what he t-”

CRAKOOM!

The sky above Washington turned a wicked, vengeful black. Sue saw a hint of fear enter into Creel’s eyes as the deafening thunder shook the Triskelion to its very foundations. She couldn’t hear the thunder over the sound of ringing in her ears, but Sue could feel it – and she knew what it meant. From the look on Creel's face, so did he.

Creel’s grip loosened just enough for Sue to wiggle free and offer the Absorbing Man a word of warning. “Be careful what you wish for, Creel.”

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Triskelion, Washington DC

Deep beneath the Triskelion the Silver Surfer stared impassively out of his clear cell. He had been stood, his hands bound by vibranium handcuffs that were of SHIELD super scientist Rachna Koul’s design, watching the same point impassively for the best part of two hours. It was almost as if he was expecting something. Of course, to the Surfer time was immaterial. He could cross the expanse of space in what felt like the blink of an eye. Next to that, waiting patiently for his unauthorised visitor to arrive was as nothing.

For Sue Storm, making her way into the Surfer’s cell had proved more challenging than she had anticipated. Koul’s identification card alone wasn’t enough. The Surfer was being watched around the clock – as you’d expect given the showing he’d put on against Superman and the Flash. Tricking the guards watching the Surfer’s cell had proved easy enough. It was, as ever, the bio-sensors that were a challenge.

But it didn’t take her long to devise a plan of sorts. She had, after all, lived and worked side-by-side with Reed Richards long enough to know that there were no unsolvable problems. With the help of some inventive hard-light constructs, Sue bopped, weaved, ducked, and slid her way into the Surfer’s cell without setting off a single alarm.

She would have afforded herself a small fist pump in congratulations if not for the sudden booming of the Surfer’s voice in her direction.

“They may not be able to see you, Susan Storm, but I can."

Still cloaked in invisibility, Sue crept closer towards the translucent cell that SHIELD had encased the Surfer in. It was ingenious. Even at a glance, it was clear that the organisation had spared no expense bringing the herald in. They meant to keep him – for good. And with what Sue knew of the Surfer from her world, she couldn’t quite countenance letting that come to pass. Simply put, it was wrong.

One of Sue’s hands lifted towards her chest and she neared the front of the Surfer’s cell. “You know who I am?”

The Surfer nodded.

“The power cosmic grants me many gifts.”

Suddenly Sue became aware that the Surfer’s cell was being watched from every angle, the world’s most expensive technology being to deployed to monitor the herald in the event of an escape attempt. It occurred to her that invisibility only went so far.

Sue glanced towards a camera in the corner of the room. “Can they hear us?”

“The restraints they have designed for me only dampen my connection to the power cosmic, they do not sever it completely – even your world's greatest minds could not achieve such a feat.”

It was not braggadocio, but a statement of fact. Everything that left the Surfer’s mouth was cold, his voice completely stripped of emotion and empathy, but there was something beneath it. There had to be something beneath it – otherwise they never would have been able to reach Norrin on their world.

Sue studied the Surfer for a few seconds as she took a few slow, gentle steps towards his cell.

“If you know who I am, then you know where I really come from.”

Each step was cushioned by a hard-light construct. They ensured that pressure pads beneath the floor went undisturbed and any sound from the Invisible Woman’s steps were captured. She stopped just before the Surfer’s cell and stood with what appeared to be only inches of glass between them. In it she could see her own reflect laid over the Surfer’s face.

“My world was destroyed. Everyone I know and loved murdered. If you’re here, Norrin, then Galactus isn’t far behind – and with him comes death for everyone and everything on this world. I won’t let that happen. Not again.”

Sue’s jaw tightened on that last word. Half in sadness at recalling the fate of her fallen word and half in anger at the prospect of another world razed with fire. For a moment there was a hint of recognition in the Surfer’s eyes – as if acknowledging a challenge. Though she was not a strong as Superman or fast as the Flash, Sue Storm was every bit as powerful. In ways that perhaps she had yet come to appreciate, but the Surfer, with all the wisdom the power cosmic granted him, did.

“Have you come to threaten me?”

The Invisible Woman shook her head as if disgusted by the very prospect of it. “I’ve come to reason with you.”

One of Sue’s hands pressed against the surface between them. It was clear from the touch that it wasn’t glass and clearer still, by the way the Surfer lifted his hands despite the restraints around them, neither it nor the restraints were enough to keep the Surfer there truly against his will.

“Search my memories, Norrin. No, better yet, I want you to feel them. You’ll see that what Superman said about your master is true. The bargain you struck, to save Zenn-La, Galactus broke it the moment you entered his service. You owe him nothing – least of all your loyalty.”

The Invisible Woman willed the weight of her suffering along her hand and through the glass. Her memories, but more still, all the feelings of those Sue Storm had loved, had called friends, were sent coursing along her arm and through the divide into the Surfer without warning. His eyes opened as the information flooded his brain and through it all a smidgen of the Surfer’s past eked its way into Sue’s mind.

“ARGH.”

Visibly in pain, the Surfer pried his hand away from the surface. There was a shockwave that knocked him off his feet and onto the ground of his cell.

Sue staggered backwards and tried to decode the memories that had leaked out into her mind. A baby taken from his father at birth and raised on a diet of unbearable torture. An escape attempt – tens, hundreds, thousands of them – all to nothing. Only to find himself, once finally free, forced into the service of an unspeakable evil.

“You’re not him,” Sue muttered as she began to regain her bearings.

For the first time since Sue had locked eyes on the Surfer, he spoke in a voice that sounded somewhat human.

“The death, the despair, it's ... it's like nothing I've ever seen.”

Suddenly Clark’s failure to reach “Norrin” during the Central City incident made sense. Of course the Surfer didn’t care about Zenn-La, he wasn’t from Zenn-La, he was from somewhere else. A place that Sue hoped to never have any reason to visit.

“I thought the reason Superman couldn’t reach you was because you were in too deep but you’re not at all. I could feel your pain. Your anguish. You’re someone else beneath there, but you’re still someone goo-”

There was a sudden explosion from above them. Even eight feet beneath the ground in a state-of-the-art holding cell meant to hold the world’s most dangerous metahumans, Sue felt the tremors. Her first instinct was to look round at the Surfer.

“Is it happening?”

Still burdened by the weight of the memories that Sue had forced upon him, the Surfer shook his head matter-of-factly.

“When my master arrives, it will be your whole world that trembles.”

A deep, throbbing klaxon sounded and suddenly the Surfer’s cell became flooded by blood red lights. His silver skin looked as if it had been bathed in blood. The emotion in the Surfer’s eyes began to slip and the cold, hard persona began to creep its way back over his features.

“No, we’re not done here,” Sue said as she slammed a fist against his cell in frustration. “There are still things we need to talk ab-”

The Surfer slunk back into the darkness of his cell.

“Go, Susan Storm.”

Sue’s body hummed with the power cosmic. In the darkness of the Surfer’s cell, she saw the herald’s hands glowing with energy – and let out a shocked cry as the energy made its way towards her person. When she opened her eyes, she found herself stood outside the Triskelion. A trail of thick black smoke was escaping from a hole in the side of the building. SHIELD was under attack.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Triskelion, Washington DC

Sue Storm seethed as she made her way through the hallway outside of Maria Hill’s office. A little over a week ago she had seen Guy Gardner steaming out of the office every bit as perturbed as she was – and now she felt she understood him slightly more. Her confrontation with SHIELD’s deputy director had not gone quite the way she had expected – partly because of her own eagerness to get one up on Hill, but also because of her brother’s inconveniently-timed Ferris Bueller act.

Stood by the elevator at the end of the corridor was a brown-skinned woman in a lab coat. From behind Sue failed to recognise her but as she drew closer to the elevator there was no mistaking SHIELD’s chief scientist – or the look of discontent on her face.

Sue stopped beside the woman and offered her the nearest thing to a smile she could manage. “It’s Koul, isn’t it?”

“Call me Rachna,” Agent Koul said as she extended a hand in Sue’s direction. “Please.”

There was an unfamiliar sensation as Sue shook it. She looked down at Koul’s right hand in confusion. It was a tanned brown, the exact shade of Rachna’s skin, with signs of imperfection, defects that only natural skin could possess, but it felt cold to the touch. It was a prosthetic. And a very good one at that.

Suddenly a wave of guilt washed over Sue as she thought back to the way she had spoken to Koul in Hill’s office.

“I’m sorry for raising my voice at you back there. It wasn’t you that I was angry with.”

“Don’t worry,” Rachna laughed. “I’ve answered to Maria long enough to know by now that she’s not exactly the easiest person to work with.”

That was putting it lightly, Sue thought. Back on her world, Hill had been a difficult customer – but on this world she was something else. It didn’t help matters that Fury seemed to be almost perennially absent. The small quirks like that were what Sue found most difficult to adjust to. If they had arrived in a world wildly dissimilar from their own, getting their bearings may have been easier – but here, surrounded by memories of their own world, reflections, it was hard to keep your feet on the ground.

And harder still when you know that Galactus is on his way and you’re one of only four people on Earth that have so much as heard his name.

The elevator arrived at their floor and Sue and Rachna stepped inside. The scientist hit twelve and dutifully pressed the ground floor button for Storm as the doors slowly shut. Sue peered through its glass walls at the inner-workings of the Triskelion as they descended past them. The building was every bit a marvel as it was on her world. It might even give the Baxter Building a run for its money – though she would never tell Reed that.

From beside her Koul let out a self-deprecating sigh. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

Sue was about to offer some kind of defence but realised before the words left her throat that she didn’t remember Rachna at all. In fact, before she’d locked eyes on her in Maria Hill’s office, she wasn’t sure that she’d so much as heard her name before – on this world or her own.

“We met when you first arrived here,” Rachna said with a smile. “I oversaw all of the medical examinations and psych tests the four of you took after you were brought to the Triskelion the first time.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, everything was such a blur in those first few weeks. Between Darkseid, what we walked into in Latveria, that fiasco with Namor on the Pegasus, and now this Surfer thing, I don’t think any of us have had time to catch our breath.”

At the mention of Namor’s name, Sue had noticed a gentle roll of Koul’s eyes. She thought hard for a moment and remembered that Ben had said “some egghead” had saved Gardner from being put to death in Atlantis. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Koul had been that egghead.

“Ah, yes, our silver-skinned friend is languishing several hundred feet below us in a vibranium-reinforced cell awaiting transport to The Raft.”

The comment caught Sue completely off-guard.

“They brought the Surfer here?” Sue said as she glanced through the elevator’s walls at the White House in the distance. “To Washington?”

Koul smiled confidently.

“I can assure you, Sue, there’s no place on the Eastern Seaboard more secure than the Triskelion – I designed it’s defences myself, after all.”

Just over a day ago, it had taken everything that Superman and the Flash had to put the Silver Surfer down – and they had brought him to within walking distance of the Oval Office. It seemed so staggeringly stupid that even thinking about it made Sue’s heart race with panic. She could feel her heart thumping away in her throat.

It wasn’t safe – despite all of Rachna’s assurances to the contrary, there was no way having the herald of Galactus sitting below the ground, recuperating with every second that passes, was a good idea.

God knows what SHIELD were doing to him. If Hill was willing to cover up her counterpart’s death to avoid blackening the organisation’s eye in the media, what would they do to a captive extraterrestrial? One that had been forced into his master’s service. It didn’t bear thinking about.

But Sue could think of nothing else. When Rachna Koul placed a comforting hand on Sue’s arm and softened her voice, Sue’s thoughts were still with Norrin Radd.

“You know, I knew you – well, the other you – on this world. I studied at the Baxter Building under Franklin. You and I were … friends, of a sort. We didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye all of the time but I like to think there was a bond there – some kind of sisterhood.”

The scientist’s eyes were locked on Sue. There was something about the way that Koul was speaking that made her feel uncomfortable. She couldn’t quite place it. Her sincerity felt laboured, like she was overcompensating for something, but Sue wasn’t exactly sure what.

All she knew was that something seemed out of place – and that every second she spent thinking about it was another that Norrin Radd was potentially being subjected to unspeakable treatment.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t be saying all of this,” Koul mumbled. “It was just so difficult for me after what happened. Franklin and I were very close.”

Sue was no more comfortable with people speaking about her ‘father’ in this world than she had been in her own. It was difficult enough talking to Johnny about it – let alone some woman she barely knew – but she felt obliged to nod along dutifully all the same. As the lift approached the fourteenth floor, Rachna reached once more for Sue’s arm.

“He’d be very proud of the woman you turned into.”

This time, sensing an opportunity, Sue threw her arms around Koul’s shoulders. The scientist let out a small yelp in shock but returned the hug and patted Sue on the back softly.

“Thank you, Rachna,” Sue said as she swiped Koul’s identity card free from her belt and slipped it into her pocket. “That really means a lot.”

The super scientist bid her goodbye and disembarked on the twelfth floor with a smile. Once the doors to the elevator shut, Sue pressed a button marked “-8” on the elevator panel and prepared herself to put the Triskelion’s defences to the test for the second time this morning.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

@Master Bruce I've got to be honest, I've been kinda struggling with motivation lately. Ollie's a character I'll always have a soft spot for, but with a few posts in, and at least a week between each one, I've learned that I don't exactly have the same passion or influx of ideas for him anymore. I like most of what I've written out for him so far, but without the creative drive there, I don't want to burn myself out trying to force a story I'm not too keen on. That said, I want to let GA go in case someone else wants to pick him up (even though he should've been free a while ago, and I appreciate the leniency on that regard) and see if I can't go back to the drawing board, come up with a concept that engages me a bit more. I'd love to still be a part of the OOC in the meantime, if you'll have me. This is a great group, and I really enjoy the conversations we have here. It's not often that I get to debate about people in tights without my girlfriend telling me to get back in my box, lol.

@GreenGrenade

Sorry to hear it, GG. 

I hope you get back on the horse come next season with something that you find more engaging. Feel free to stick around the OOC thread.

CLOSED - Ultimate One Universe: Season One

Triskelion, Washington DC

Rachna Koul was one of the finest minds on SHIELD’s books. She was a graduate of the world-famous Baxter Building – her talent spotted by its founder Franklin Storm when she was no more than nine years of age. Rachna had shone under Franklin’s tuteleage. Imperiumology, the study of metahuman biology, was her field and not even Reed Richards himself could hold a candle to her when it came to that.

She had been there at Franklin Storm’s side when the shuttle that Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Sue and Johnny Storm had been torn apart. She’d seen the grief on his face in that moment – and watched as he slipped deeper and deeper into depression in the months that followed. After Franklin had taken his own life, Rachna had been lost of all meaning.

That was where SHIELD came in.

Nick Fury had offered her a position heading up SHIELD’s growing imperiumology department. She was, in effect, the most senior scientist employed by the organisation – though her advice was more often than not ignored and she spent half of her time bailing out pea-brained field agents. With one particular instance in Atlantis coming to mind.

After several days of back-and-forth, Koul had finally secured some of Maria Hill’s time. She was halfway through debriefing the deputy director when the sudden appearance of a blonde-haired woman almost shocked Koul out of her shoes. She recognised her instantly.

It was Sue Storm.

But not the Sue Storm she had grown up alongside, she reminded herself as memories of Franklin came flooding back. Before Koul had a chance to open her mouth to acknowledge Sue’s presence, Storm pointed a commanding finger in the direction of the entrance to Hill’s office.

“Get out.”

The hostility in Sue’s voice shocked Koul but she tried her best to respond as assertively as possible. “I’m sorry, Susan, but we’re actually in the middle of so-”

Deputy director Hill shook her head. “We’ll pick this up another time, Agent Koul.”

Rachna shot Maria a look of betrayal, then let out a sigh and gathered together her things. Sue did not so much as look in Koul’s direction as she scuttled out of the room feeling smaller than ever before. Once Hill was certain that Koul had left, she placed her hands behind her head and placed her feet on top of her desk with a smile.

“To what do I owe the pleasu-”

“Don’t give me that,” Sue said curtly. “You know why I’m here.”

Hill’s nonchalance seemed to have stoked Sue’s temper somewhat. With a wave of her hand, Sue knocked the deputy director’s feet clean from the desk with a light construct. For a half-second Hill looked near to losing her temper also but Sue was shouting, an accusatory finger pointing in her direction, before she could do anything about it.

“The Silver Surfer attacked. Galactus was … is on his way and you lock me and my family away like children? How dare you. We’re the only ones on this planet that have ever seen Galactus. No, we did better than that, we beat him. And you chose to keep us sealed away in the Baxter Building to spare SHIELD’s blushes. You ought be ashamed.”

“Is this really necessary?” Hill sighed as she climbed to her feet. “Can’t we talk about this like ad-”

Sue disregarded Maria’s efforts to calm her with a firm shake of the head.

“When Galactus comes, you’re going to need us. You don’t understand how badly you’re going to need us yet, but you will soon enough. And I’m not going to stay hidden away just because you’re scared what the world might think about what you did – what SHIELD did.”

Hill let out a tired sigh. “What is it exactly that you want from me, Sue?”

“I want you to start doing your job properly – and that means putting the safety of the people out there above all else. Just like my family have done for the best part of ten years and just like we’re going to continue to do long after some other empty suit is filling your shoes.”

Something in Hill’s face changed at that last remark. The uncharacteristic patience she had shown despite Sue’s abuse had finally broken. Perhaps in part because of what Sue and her family had been through – or perhaps because she liked Sue more than her wet blanket of a husband or her idiot brother – she had remained cool.

Having weathered the torrent abuse that Sue Storm had thrown her way, it was time that Hill gave her a lesson of her own.

“You want to sit in my seat?” Hill said as she stepped out from behind her desk. “Go right ahead.”

She reached over and grabbed several files from her desk, opening them and brandishing their contents in Sue’s direction. From the first file, Hill plucked a picture of a handsome-looking teenager with a full head of blonde hair – he looked like Johnny had at his age, but with twice the muscle.

“Why don't you tell me what you'd do about the high school senior up in Maine breaking every swim record in the book by day – and committing acts of eco-terrorism by night?”

Hill tossed the file aside and flicked through the next one. From this one she pulled forth a blurry picture of a man in a dark cowl. The moonlight was bouncing off the lower half of his face but the photo was of such low quality that even that was difficult to make out.

“No? Well, what about the sociopath dressed like a bat that’s beating half of Gotham’s criminal population into a coma? Maybe that’s more your speed. What's our play there?”

Maria threw that file back onto her desk even more contemptuously as she had thrown aside the first. She laughed as she opened the last file and produced a final picture. It was of a man in his mid-to-late twenties. His body was coated in an armour that was glowing with what looked to be electricity.

“Oh, here’s the icing on the cake: what about the literal God of Thunder we’ve got working out of Marville, Oklahoma? Why don’t you tell me how to handle that one since you’re so sure that you could do my job better than I can, Ms. Richards?”

Hill let the picture dangle between the two of them as she waited for a response. It was clear that Sue didn’t have one. She glowered, her temper having calmed somewhat as she watched the deputy director vent, until the last embers of anger had all but been extinguished.

“Storm.”

A confused look appeared on Maria Hill’s face. “What?”

“It’s Ms. Storm,” Sue said softly. “We kind of put the whole wedding thing on the backburner after … you know, the whole Darkseid thing.”

For the first time since entering Maria Hill’s office, Sue flashed something resembling a smile. On seeing it, Hill felt her own temper being to calm and she set the last file down on her desk with the others.

The two women stood in silence for a few moments until Hill let out a sympathetic sigh.

“I appreciate that you and your family have been through a lot. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like to live through your world ending, but mine is still intact – and it’s my job to keep it that way no matter the cost. That sometimes means making decisions that civilians like you, Ms. Storm, don’t understand. And that’s okay – I don’t expect you to understand them. One thing I won’t accept, however, is you questioning my commitment to keeping my world safe.”

Sue nodded in acceptance. She was on the cusp of offering her own words of reconciliation when a knocked sounded from the doorway of Maria Hill’s office. In it stood a fairly junior SHIELD officer who looked incredibly sheepish at having interrupted the deputy director’s conversation.

Hill shot him a glare that would make even the most hardened veteran’s blood run cold. “What?”

He scampered inside, whispered in the deputy director’s ear and then produced a tablet on demand. The junior officer scuttled out of the office as Maria Hill sat perfectly still examining the footage on screen. After a few seconds she gestured to Sue to join her behind her desk.

Sue wasn’t quite sure how she knew what was coming – but she did. There on the screen was her younger brother in full flight above New York. With every second that rolled past, things became worse – the fiery Spider-Man sign, chatting away with Spider-Woman in full view of television cameras, and worst of all, strolling through Central Park.

As it came to an end, words that were all too familiar to Sue Storm slipped out. “Oh, Johnny.”

The deputy director set the tablet down and lifted her feet up onto her desk with a smile. It was was equal parts pained and self-satisfied – as if Johnny Storm’s misdeeds had proved her point better than her words ever could.

“Since you managed to find your way all the way to my office without an escort, I trust you can see yourself out without one too, Ms. Storm.”