Swelling with love, chapter Four: Negotiations,

 

Created Saturday, March 08, 2008
Last Updated Wednesday, July 09, 2008


 

  
In which Reed Richards gets the team into and out of, trouble, right before he gets himself back into it.


AN: I will try to be as accurate as reasonably possible describing Susan's pregnancy, but let the record stand I'm a writer not a doctor.


A month later Reed had to give some more news to his team, and while he was sure it would be just as surprising as Susan's pregnancy, he doubted any of them would be able to take much cheer from hearing it.  "I wanted to talk to all of you because I'm afraid the Fantastic Four is going broke..."  There were three painful gasps and once again Johnny managed to find his voice first. 

"Wait a minute, a month ago we were supposedly swimming in cash, so how is it that all of a sudden we're about to wind up in the poor house?"  Reed sighed as he recalled all the relevant data he had memorized.  "I suppose 'going broke' isn't quite the right way to put it.  It's just that our spending is has started outstripping the amount of money we have coming in by a fairly alarming degree.  That said, we can still expect the patents I've already filed to continue to pay off considerable dividends, it's just that there have been an unexpectedly high number of one time expenses over the course of the last month. 

Some lot of it is my and Susan's fault: lining up the plastic surgeons I'm going to need to get my face in good working order, reserving the church that we're going to be married in, purchasing everything we're going to be needing for the wedding, the Fantasticar, things the children will need after they're actually born, several pieces of equipment for my lab and armor, the list goes on a little longer then that but you get the idea.

Not to say it's entirely our fault, I'm not trying to point fingers. just report the data as it stands, Johnny, the dozen or so custom cars you've bought, Ben, your purchasing of several of Alica's more expensive pieces of artwork.  On their own all these things aren't much, but added together they manage to effectively make a mountain out of several molehills." 

Ben as expected was relatively calm about the entire matter.  "Okay, so we're gonna need to buy some red ink as far as the books are concerned, I assume since you bothered to bring this to our attention you've already come up with something we can do about it, right?"  Reed had, but it wasn't the worlds most pleasant solution. 

"The way things stand currently, I'm afraid the best course of action would be to simply shut down he Fantastic Four for a month or two.  I'll go back to working more or less full time on patents that will have immediate economic pay offs, and we basically cool our heels until our steady cash flow proves more then sufficient to deal with these one time expenses." 

Susan leaned forward, her neck stretching out a few inches in the process.  "So you're suggesting that if something goes wrong in the city or in the world then we should just tell whoever it's happening to that they need to deal with it themselves?" 

The last thing Reed waned to do was appear heartless in front of the mother to be of his children, especially when she had a good point.  "Of course not.  We'll each keep one of our unstable molecule uniforms, and of course I'll be keeping my armor and still be in psychic reach of all three of you. 

If something does go seriously wrong then we'll deal with it, but if nothing does, then it would considerably help our financial situation if we moved out of the Baxter Building, put it and some of my equipment up for rent, and lived a bit less excessively.  Like I said, it'll only take about a month or so for me to straighten things out, and then life will get right back to normal around here." 

Reed felt the adding "or what passes for passes for normal around here" but decided against it.  Johnny transformed, his metal fist ringing loudly on the table.  "Yeah that's a fine idea, but you realize there are plenty of other ways that we could get money, right?  I mean seeing as we've been more or less saving the world as a pro bono affair, I'm sure the government would be only too glad to have us doing it on their dollar." 

Reed shook his head firmly.  "If we get the government involved in the team it'll be hard to get them uninvolved at later date, not to mention they'd have access to everything I've been working on.  The more people who know about a secret the less secret it is, and the greater the possibility that the wrong people will find out about it. 

The Fantastic Four work best both in principle, and in practice as a group of people who have the freedom to react to situations on the go without needing to worry about governmental red tape."  Ben had his own take on Johnny's idea.  "Well the since as you said we're a public service, why don' we have a telethon or something?  S.O.S, Save Our Superheroes.  Then we'd be able to get the cash we need and it'd come only from the pockets of people who wanted us around." 

Reed shook his head again.  "At the moment if we decided to simply up and liquidate all of the Fantastic Four's possessions, we'd still end up walking away from the deal as multi-millionaires.  Asking the public to help with a temporarily lack of liquid assets seems a little underhanded to me. 

I know that none of us likes the idea of abandoning he Fantastic Four, even if only in spirit, but this is the best way to deal with our problem without taking out a loan with interest of one type or another that would haunt us for years to come.  This is my decision as team leader, and I'll be glad to help all of you move out.  Not to mention back in when this messs has blown over."

----

"I'm starting to show a little aren't I?"  As Susan asked the question aloud she casually poked her belly.  It still felt perfectly stretchy just like the rest of her body, but here was a slowly building watery heaviness there that was new, if hardly unexpected.  "Only so that someone who knew what they were looking for could tell."   Reed sat down next to her, his left arm going over her shoulder, and his right on top of her belly.

Susan felt a somewhat perverse sense of warmth flowing through her, as if her children could feel that both of their parents were near, and it made them happy.  "Guess it's a good thing since we've temporarily shut down the Fantastic Four so that I don't need to go out in public much at the moment.  Of course it's only gonna get more and more obvious over time, especially  if I keep wearing these same old things." 

Reed leaned in slightly, the feeling of his body rubbing up against her's made her want to turn into a puddle then and there.  "Susan, if that was a request for money to buy a new wardrobe, well you know how things are at the moment."  Susan sighed and shook her head, a new wardrobe was currently one of the last things on her mind, she had actually been thinking more about her old one. 

In retrospect, unstable molecules had more or less ruined her for ordinary clothing.  The way they always fit with a comforting snugness, that particular indescribable feeling they had rubbing up against her skin, ordinary civilian clothing just couldn't compare.  It didn't help that Susan was also fairly sure if Reed could produce enough of the stuff at a cheap price then he could make a killing in the maternity outfit business.  After all, outfits that could keep up with Ultra Woman's elastic antics would easily be able to accommodate even the largest of baby bellies, like the one Ultra Woman was going to have in another few months. 

Even her currently rather minuscule one had worried at first, but Reed said that for a woman carrying sextuplets it was par for the course.  Granted, knowing that didn't help with her other problem, her normal civilian wardrobe which had been bought by a Susan Storm who always exercised, ate right, and thus kept her tummy trim, was growing a little bit more uncomfortable day by day on Susan Storm, mother of six to be.  "I wasn't Reed, just reminiscing about how nice it would be to wear clothing that grew with my body again.  I swear my current bra is so tight that its starting to mess with my circulation.  Hell, we're the only ones here, might as well make myself comfortable." 

Susan stretched a hand under her shirt, used it to carefully remove her bra, pulled it out, and hurled it across the room into a basket full of various articles of clothing that would need to be washed before they could be worn again.  Seeing as Ben had decided (with its owner's consent) to move into Alica's place since her two story house was more space then she knew what to do with, and her brother had an apartment in town, leaving Reed and Susan the only occupants of the small house he'd been working out when he'd first come up with his plans for their flight into space.

Reed pulled back slightly, evidently at a loss for words with which to describe Susan's behavior.  "That was very...."  The sentence would have ended up just sort of drifting off into nothingness if its subject hadn't decided to build on it.  "Yeah, I know.  It's just that, I don't know, I guess I'm just feeling that since I'm going to hit rock bottom on the respectability scale once people find out how I'm pregnant even though we aren't married or even engaged, little improprieties like going without a bra in the comfort of my own home don't seem to really matter much." 

Reed readjusted himself, and this time both his arms went around her shoulders to come to rest over her belly.  "Susan Storm your a woman in love, I'm a man in love with you, and this is the physical manifestation of that love, not something you need to be ashamed of."  Susan twisted her neck around so that she could look Reed in the eye even as he sat behind her. 

"I know, I'm not ashamed of it.  That's sort of why I'm acting like this, because growing up I always figured that here couldn't be anything worse for me then getting pregnant without getting married.  Of course that was because in my mind I always imagined the guy dumping me, leaving me with to play mother to my brother and my child.  Well now its gone and happened, and astoundingly so, since I've got six of them crammed into me like sardines in a can, but it isn't so bad.  I can live with it, heck I can enjoy it as long as I've got you, and you're not gonna leave me over a little thing like this are you Reed?" 

As Susan asked the question she elongated her midsection wrapping herself twice around Reed, leaving their entire upper bodies twisted around so that she sat front to front of Reed even as her legs pointed in an entirely different direction then her eyes were.  Of course because her outfit wasn't made of unstable molecules this meant that the section of her wrapped around Reed was bare uncovered skin, not that either of them really minded. 

"Of course not Susan, I know I make mistakes from time to time, but I don't think even my slip up regarding the ships cosmic ray shielding would be a blunder comparable to leaving you."  Susan tightened her "grip" pulling Reed a little closer.  "Smart man, but then that hardly needs to be said.  Though I'm sort of wondering what you're doing in here with me engaging in some pleasant afternoon delight, instead of in your lab." 

Reed had spent most of his days in the house's small labs cooking up as many new inventions as he could to try and once again generate a solid economic bedrock upon which the Fantastic Four could be founded.  "I'd be glad to show you the answer if you'd give me a bit more room to move my arms."  Susan relaxed and Reed reached into one of his outfits many pockets and pulled out a letter.  "I was checking the mail today and found this in it.  There's a company named SM Studios that's interested in hiring us, by which I mean the entire Fantastic Four. 

Apparently we'd only need to do a couple quick shots and we'd walk away from it with more then enough to make our finical woes a thing of the past.  Normally I'd hardly advocate using our powers for personal gain, even in such a more or less benign way as this, but considering that the studio would be getting what it wanted as well, it seems a reasonable enough way to make ends meet.  What do you think of it?" 

For an answer Susan once again tightened her grip, pulling Reed in so close that he could doubtlessly feel her breasts rubbing up against him.  "It sounds like a wonderful idea to me."  Then Reed said a few words that she would never have expected him capable of.  "That's right, before the flight you wanted to be an actress didn't you?"  Those words made Susan swooned more deliriously then any mere kiss could have.  "You know I love it when you remember stuff like that."

Even though he was mostly caught up in Susan's coils, Reed managed to somehow more or less return her "hug" back.  "Well a husband has to be aware of that kind of thing, and everyone knows practice makes perfect.  Now if you'll give me a minute, I'll go 'call' the other two and see if they're up for it."  Reed's body went slack as he focused on using his mental powers. 

A small part of Susan, that shameless if the bra doesn't fit then take it off, part of her began to ponder certain possibilities.  Just how aware was Reed of his body when he was communicating psychically with someone else?  The only way to be sure of course would be to test, maybe pull a little bit tighter, rub herself up again him, lick one of his ears then the other, maybe even... but Susan only pondered rather then actually acted on those lascivious desires.  Just because she could didn't mean she had to, and it wasn't like she was exactly starved for sex all things considered.

---

"Oh yeah, this is how things are suppose to be, the Fantastic Four are back together!"  "You know Gearhead you're saying that like haven't seen each other for years instead of days, if you ask me it hasn't been long enough." 

Sure enough it hadn't taken Ben and Johnny long to fall back into their old habits.  That said, Ben did have a good point, they hadn't been apart that long, it had probably just felt that way since they'd been interacting with one another for just about every single day straight after forming the Fantastic Four.  "Frankly I'm just glad that SM Studios is based in the city, we'd probably end up causing quite a stir trying to fly or ride a bus like this." 

Of course the four were drawing a certain amount of attention heading to the necessary address, but at least the city was used to the sight of the four of them, so aside for the occasional request for an autograph they weren't drawing that much attention.  "You've certainly got a point there Susy, they don't exactly make regulation seats for guys with a wingspan."  Susan couldn't help but smile, there was nothing like the company of good friends to put someone in a equally good mood, and among all the other things they were the Fantastic Four were also the very best of friends.

----

Eventually they reached the address on the letter, and luckily they didn't have any problem with either the terrain or the receptionist when it came to getting into the office of the owner of the studio.  The office itself seemed pretty normal even if it there seemed to be an overabundance of art, most of it aquatically themed.  Which of course made sense a moment later when the owner turned around. 

"Ahh the Fantastic Four, so good to see you again."  At once Ben's wings tensed, Reed raised his gauntlet fists (since they had been suppose to come as they were he had decided to arrive fully dressed in his armor) Johnny went from flesh to metal and Susan used her powers to turn her hands into minuscule sledge hammers.  Behind that extremely large desk was none other then Namor the Sub Mariner. 

The last time the Fantastic Four had run into him, he'd been using an army of aquatic monsters to attack the city.  In the end he'd only been stopped because armed with Reed's inventions Ben and Johnny had been able to hold the monsters off and distract Namor himself long enough for Susan to grab hold of the magical horn he'd been using to control his army.

"You seem to be acting extremely cordial towards us for someone who swore he'd destroy us all when we last parted company."  Namor just snorted in regal contempt at Reed's words.  "Please, let's not allow ourselves to get carried away by our emotions."  This rang very oddly in Susan's ears, since the last time they'd met, the only thing Namor had done was gotten carried away by his emotions like a twig on the high seas.

"What happened to the part where unless I agreed to be your bride then you'd destroy every major city in the world?"  Namor just chuckled as if making threats about effectively driving humanity back to the stone age had been nothing more then an overly zealous prank, like egging someone's house.  "Please, I will admit when I first regained my memories I acted in a foolish impetuous manner unbefitting the of my status.

But now that I have had some time to consider, I realize that what's done is done, and it would be foolish of me to blame others for what can only be my fault in the end.  After all, as their sovereign it was my duty to protect them, and sadly I was found lacking.  Thus I stand determined to use the fate that befell my people as a reason to strive to establish stronger ties between my realm and the surface, so that such a tragedy will never occur again." 

Johnny quickly shifted out of his Mandriod form and Reed lowered his arms, but Ben still seemed sceptical.  "Okay, so you wanted to make nice, but where exactly did you go from walking around in a speedo to apparently having cash coming out of your ears?"  For an answer Namor stepped forward, opened a drawer and, pulled several somethings out, then tossed them on his desk

"With these."  The things looked like a number of genuine golden coins.  "Remember I am Prince of Atlantis, ruler of all that lies beneath the waves.  Over the centuries countless have the been the number of your ships that have plummeted to the depths of my oceans loaded down with cargoes such as this.  It was a pathetically easy task for me to amass a fortune of treasures that have only become more valuable since they were last glimpsed by human eyes. 

I assumed that you would be rather hesitant about believing me, which is why I wanted to have this conversation face to face, so that you might see my conviction.  Now then, are you still interested in my offer?"  Reed coughed slightly.  "Well why don't you explain  what exactly the job would entail first in full, then we'll consider the merits of it."  Namor nodded firmly. 

"Very well.  The Fantastic Four has made itself much more open then other superheroes, but by the very nature of your occupations, when and where you will go into action is difficult to predict.  Which is why my studies have determined that the public hungers for  a chance to see its new guardians in action, a chance that I will give to them. 

I have concocted four, challenges, one suited for each of you.  The dangers are entirely mechanical of course. and should something go wrong you can be utterly assured of your safety.  No script, it will be entirely as they say, method acting, and my carefully hidden cameras will capture each and every second of it.  The entire matter can be dealt with in  a single days worth of shooting if you are willing, so what do you say?"  "You'll have your answer in a few moments." 

/Okay, I'll psychically relay anything any of you send to me to the other two.  So what do you three think of the offer?\  Sure enough straight away the psychic communication started flying hard and fast with Ben kicking it off.  /Before we start discussing it, what do you think Reed, you're still the brains of this organizaiton.\  Reed somehow managed to "sigh" with only a mental voice, but then he'd had the most pratice communicating telepathically. 

/Well I'd like to believe him, but the last time I trusted the word of someone who was making me an offer that seemed much to good to be true it was Victor Von Doom.  And while that situation ended pleasantly enough, that move was far from the smartest one I could have made.\  Johnny now threw his own two cents into the conversation. 

/Well yeah, but from the way Ben told it to us, Vic was an gigantic jerk even before he went totally nuts.\  /So just for the record J2-S2 what exactly about the way this guy acted the last time we ran into him didn't say gigantic jerk to you?\  /Hey, there's a huge difference between the two, Namor used to be a superhero like us, well not exactly like us, but you get the idea.\  /So now we're gonna lead the team based on your knowledge of comicbooks?\  /Well it certainly did a dam fine job letting us throw those stupid skrulls for a loop.\ 

Susan shook her head sadly, the only thing worse then Ben and Johnny arguing out loud, was them doing it directly between her ears.  /Okay, you two cut it out.  I for one suggest that we take Namor up on his offer.\  /Why do you say that?\  Reed didn't sound accusing, just inquisitive.  /Well if we don't believe in basic human decency and the ability for someone who's made bad choices realize it and subsequently make better ones, then it'd be effectively saying that humanity isn't good enough to disserve our help and protection.

I'm not saying that we should hand over our bankaccounts, and security codes to the Baxter Building to him on a silver plater, but lets at least give him a chance.  We'll just keep our guards up, and if anything starts going wrong we keep in contact through Reed.  Sound like a plan?\ 

/I've heard plenty of worse ones Susy.\  /Good enough for me sis.\  /If you're willing to give Namor the benefit of the doubt then I suppose I will as well.\  The psychic connection fell apart and Reed coughed, both to clear his throat and get his vocal chords working again.  "Okay Namor, we'll take you up on your offer.  So which one of us will be chasing their challenge first?"

---


To Reed's surprise it turned out that he was going to be going first.  Just like he said, Namor wasn't giving Reed any clues about what the job would entail, and all he'd done so far was take Reed for a walk along an otherwise unoccupied beach.  "During the breif moment we spent in one another's company when last we met Susan described to me how her love was inevitable pledged to another man named Reed Richards, and of the horrible fate that had befallen him.  Words can not describe how glad I am to see that you once again a man of flesh and bone." 

Reed's footsteps started to falter slightly.  What exactly was Namor trying to do, lure him into a false sense of security?  "You are not the only one to feel that particular sentiment, in retrospect they were far from the best six months of my life."  Namor flashed Reed a very, very, smug smile. 

"Well I am glad for a different reason.  You see  while you were little more then a spirit, you had an unfair advantage over me in the battle for Susan's affections, because of your pitiable condition she could do naught but remember you as more then you were.  But now that you are restored to your native form, I can properly prove myself your superior." 

Reed just staired at Namor, if he thought that Reed having a body would weaken his and Susan's relationship, well the Sub-Mariner couldn't have been more wrong if he'd tried at it for years.  "You know what, why don't we leave the issue of which one of us Susan loves more up to her?  That aside, what challenge do you have in mind for me to tackle?" 

Namor clenched his hands into fists taking a single step closer to Reed.  "It is not a challenge you will be able to tackle, because here and now I will defeat you in honorable combat, and my hidden cameras will record proof of my glorious victory!"  Reed stood up a little straighter, in his old body he would have still come up short but in his new on  he was more or less the same height as Namor. 

"That's it?  You just want the two of us pointlessly knock each other up and down this beach?"  Namor rapped a  fist to his well toned midsection.  "Hardly.  I will prove my superiority beyond a doubt, now then either make a pathetic show of defending yourself, or save yourself the trouble and submit!"  Reed tried to think back to the last time he'd gotten into an actual fist fight, but even his memory wasn't that good. 

He just wasn't the kind, he'd been only to willing to be a superhero when it involved leading the other three in battle from a more or less impartial position, but this, this stood more or less directly contrary to everything that he'd ever lived for, a belief that calm rational discussion was a marked improvement over emotionally spurred violence. 

So for a few precious fractions of a second, Reed was fundamentally at war with himself, then he though about what exactly Namor might be planning to do to Susan, and violence suddenly seemed like a very valid course of action.  "You know I could inform Susan of what you're planning right here and now with just a quick mental message, but you're right, we should keep this between the two of us."

All pretensions of nobility fell from Namor's face leaving behind only an animalistic fury.  "Excellent, have at you, Imperious Rex!"  A few moments after that, Reed discovered that Namor was very, very, fast, and hit, very, very hard.  Of course he'd had plenty of time to activates his armor's shields beforehand, and luckily they managed to absorb most of the concussive force. 

Most, not all, the blow still sent Reed flying at a bit over ten feet horizontally, but armor also absorbed a much more considerable portion of the impact that game with his landing.  Namor paused for only a moment understandably contemplating the possibility that his first blow might also be the last one thrown in the fight.  However he soon realized that the fight was still on, as Reed rose back to his feet, and he charged at his armored foe again. 

However Namor had inadvertently given Reed just hat he wanted with that first punch, a reasonable amount of space between them.  He aimed and fired the concussion beams built into his gauntlets at full power.  The two streams of yellow hit Namor head on, and though it made him slide back a couple of inches, it only stopped him for about a second.  Knowing that the beams had about a ten second recharging cycle after being fired at full power, Reed couldn't count on getting another shot off before Namor slugged him again, so he'd have to defend himself the old fashioned way.

He curled his gauntleted hands into fists, ironically it was Susan's voice that rang in his ears as he did so, remembering what she'd said to him the first time he'd attempted the simple act as Mr. Fantastic.  "Not like that Reed, if you make a fist with your fingers curled around your thumb then you're just as likely to break it as someone's face."  His hands curled into to proper fists, he didn't even try to dodge Namor's punch, he just wanted to repay his opponent in kind. 

It was a reasonable goal, and he was reasonably successful.  Even as Namor's fist once again came into contact with Reed's body, Reed struck his own blow against the Sub Mariner's head.  Reed went sailing through the air once again, but either because the blast had weakened his opponent, or just because Reed was getting used to it, the second hit didn't seem as bad as the first.  He got back on his feet once again, and if this had been a regular fight he'd probably be whipping blood from his face or spitting out a tooth right about now.  Thoughts like that made him very glad for he armor he was wearing. 

Namor on the other hand was rubbing his face in surprise, though Reed couldn't make out so much as a burse.  "You dare to lay so much as a finger upon my face?  I will make you pay for your impertinence!"  Rather then resort to words, Reed let loose with another pair of full powered concussive blasts.  It was instinctive thing, the rest of his mind was busy reducing this fight to a highly intricate math problem. 

The force an object struck with was equal to its mass multiplied by the force that was driving it, thus a pebble moving at a fast enough speed could strike with greater force then a boulder moving at a slower one.  Taking into account the armor he was wearing, he most likely outmassed his opponent, so he just needed to be concerned with the force that was diving his blows. 

If he stood still and let Namor keep charging at him, Reed always end up taking the harder hit, and while supposedly the armor's shielding system would prevent him from taking any serious harm, he could already feel his ears starting to ring slightly.  So the thing to do was to get some momentum behind his own blows! 

Of course much to his surprise by the time Reed had finally reached this mental conclusion, he discovered that his body was almost halfway to Namor's which was rapidly  moving toward his own.  The two connected, with each other knocking each other back (the sand didn't provide much traction to either of them) but at least Reed kept his feet under him. 

He made a quick mental promise to himself that he'd invest some of his free time (assuming he had any between looking after a pregnant Susan Storm, working on various inventions, and actively being a superhero) towards studying one, if not a couple different kinds of martial arts.  At least the two were more or less equal when it came to skill as it turned out, since Namor apparently didn't consider fighting much beyond hitting whatever part of his opponent presented itself with his fists.  Granted Reed doubted all of the Fantastic Four's foes would take such a straightforward approach to physical combat.

Reed fired off another pair of full powered blasts, as they finished recharging and saw that this time around they had finally managed to actively stagger Namor.  He took off running again, and this time it was Namor who was standing still when Reed plowed into him. 

The Prince of the Atlantis was knocked flat on his back and Reed took a moment to catch his breath.  "It seems like my 'pathetic' efforts to defend myself weren't quite so fruitless after all."  At first the only response that Reed got was the sound of a wave washing over the beach, but then much to his surprise he heard Namor's voice sounding every bit as condescending as ever.  "Oh really Richards?  My wrath is as deep as the ocean and you have only dipped your toes in it!" 

As Reed turned around, Namor hit him again, hard.  He had his entire flight across the beach to figure out exactly what had just happened.  Luckily he had enough data to draw on.  He was so sure he'd beaten Namor, then suddenly he was back on his feet and every bit as strong as he had been at the start of the fight.

He thought back to the story Johnny had told him about how it was tossing Namor in the ocean that had let him to shake off his amnesia, was it possible that contact with salt water had physically restorative effects upon the Sub Mariner as well as mental ones?  As Reed managed to clear his vision to the point that he only saw one Namor standing in front of him, he did in fact see small droplets of water clinging to his bare skin. 

Which of course explained why it was that Namor had wanted to fight him here, not only was it out of the way, but it gave him a very definite homefield advantage.  Reed fired off yet another blast as Namor charged at him, and once again grimaced as Namor's first slammed into him.  Except that he was fighting just a bit smarter this time, evidently he had realized that sending Reed flying was doing more to help then hinder him.

The blow came at a downward angle, so that Reed was driven toward the sand instead of sent flying.  Namor quickly fell upon Reed and let lose with a torrent of blows.  A tiny warning siren went off on Reed's ears, his armor's shields could only take so much of a beating in a given period of time, and he was heading towards that limit at a rather drastic pace.  Luckily his gauntlets were done recharging so he fired another blast, in a perfect world it would have sent Namor flying, but it didn't at least manage to throw him off his stride.

Reed took advantage of that opportunity and drove a gauntleted fist into Namor's gut.  Then he followed it up with hook to the Sub Mariner's face that managed to knock him off Reed and onto the sand.  The two rolled away in opposite directions and then clambered to their feet.  Reed fired another concussion beam blast  but apparently Namor had got the feel for them now, and managed to dodge it leaving the two with no choice but to circle one another restlessly.  Not that he  minded, circling was exactly what he wanted, since it would let him position himself between his opponent and the source of his renewed strength. 

Once they had achieved the position Reed desired he stood still, and Namor quickly realized why.  He couldn't get passed Reed without opening himself up to attack, so rather then try to think up some clever stratagem, he decided to try and go straight through Reed and took of racing at him.

Reed started running towards Namor was well, though Mr. Fantastic wanted to fight defensively, if he was hit hard enough to knock him into the water then the fight would doubtlessly take a very unpleasant turn.  The two traded blows and both of them were knocked a few inches back.  It continuned in that way for Reed didn't know how long,

Namor kept attacking too hard and fast for Reed to uncurl his fists, and the two kept trading blow after blow after blow.   Eventually the two found themselves both panting, struggling to so much as lift them arms enough to strike the other.  With his eyes cast on the ground Reed had a perfectly good view of he way a newly arrived wave carried salt water right past him at leg height (his shields of course diverted the stuff so that it couldn't damage his armor's complicated mechanical systems) and then against his very fervent wishes washed over Namor's feet at ankle height. 

A cruel grin came to his face as he straightened up a little more, clearly it would have taken full body submersion to have a truly miraculous affect, but this one was easily large enough, and they both knew it.  Reed Richards was not the sort of man who cursed by nature, but this certainty seemed like exactly the kind of situation that called for profanity.  "Oh fornicating feces."

-----

"As always the Sub-Mariner is victorious!"  Namor dropped his defeated foe a safe distance inland.  For someone who supposedly had the heart of a sage instead of a warrior Reed Richards had put up far too admirable a battle for Namor to simply allow the waves to claim his unconscious foe. 

Besides, Namor was a man of his word, he had promise the Fantastic Four of them would come to permanent harm and indeed they would not, in fact before the day was through a certain member of it might have a considerable amount to gain from the day's trials.  He had made sure to refresh his strength once the battle had been conclude and very soon Susan Storm would behold him at his very best..  Even if he was a ruler without a people to call his own, he would not be without a queen for much longer!


AN:  Let me guess what you're thinking: updated in half the normal time, YAY!  Short chapter and not much  Susan stretching or otherwise, boo...  Don't worry the next chapter (which should be up to three to four weeks) will be plenty long and have plenty of Susan in it, and that's all I'm saying.