This is a sequel to 'The Heroines'. I thought the villain in that story demanded a return appearance and so I decided to pick up that story where it left off and see what happens. People reading 'And The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth' should feel free to use this character or write sequels of their own.
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Captain America looked up at the large castle and then back at Iron Man, who was standing just behind him.
"I'm not sure about this, Cap," Iron Man said, and he looked over his shoulder at the rest of the Avengers: Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and The Wasp. They were gathered in a small group, silently awaiting their orders.
"I'm not sure about it, either," Captain America said. "But I don't really see any other choice."
The Black Widow and Mockingbird, two part-time Avengers, had been missing for weeks now, and the trail had led Captain America and his fellow Avengers here. He looked back at the castle and wondered if The Black Widow had stared up at the darkened windows of the castle and felt the same sense of foreboding he felt now. She was a good Avenger--one of the best--and anything she couldn't handle warranted extra caution. He wished Thor were here. Or The Vision. Just a little extra muscle.
"What's up?" The Wasp said, when Captain America and Iron Man returned to the group. She was wearing yet another new costume: a dark green body suit with a white "w" across the chest. She was smiling, as if they were getting together for a light lunch at one of the fancy restaurants she liked to frequent.
"Well," he said, looking at her, then at the castle. "See that?"
"Sure," she said.
"It doesn't really exist."
"What?"
"What you're seeing is not what's actually there. Iron Man's sensors perceive something entirely different. A tube shaped structure about five or six stories high. Some kind of futuristic building." He turned and looked at the other Avengers, who looked back at him grimly. "I think this whole scenario is an elaborate setup, some kind of trap, and it's been designed especially for us." He glanced over at Iron Man, who was staring down the illusionary castle.
Iron Man said, "We don't know much about the occupant of the 'castle' except that he's kidnapped two Avengers and another female crime fighter named Shanna. Some of you may be familiar with her through her association with Ka-Zar of the Savage Land. Well, considering the fact that this mysterious entity has only committed crimes against women, Cap and I think it best that we split up. Only the male Avengers should attempt to breach the 'castle'."
She-Hulk smirked and shook her head. "We're as capable as any of the men here," she said. "I can't believe you're suggesting this."
"We're not questioning your abilities," Captain America said.
"Have you thought about the implications of halving our forces?" Ms. Marvel asked. She was obviously irritated, but she was trying not to show it as overtly as She-Hulk. "She-Hulk and I are two of the strongest Avengers present, and you're saying we should stay behind?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, Carol," Captain America said. "I have every reason to believe that this is an elaborate trap designed for you and She-Hulk. As well as The Wasp. Just like our mysterious opponent most likely set up a trap for Black Widow, Mockingbird, and Shanna. A successful trap."
"But..." She-Hulk began, but he was already heading toward the castle, Iron Man just behind him. Hawkeye shrugged in apology and followed. "Fine," She-Hulk said, under her breath. "That way we can break in there and save you when you get into trouble."
The three superheroines watched Captain America, Iron Man and Hawkeye as they moved out of sight. When they had disappeared from their line of vision The Wasp turned to She-Hulk and said, "Well, Cap did have a point, Jennifer," but it sounded as if she were trying to convince herself as much as her friends. She shrugged and looked back at the horizon. They had probably just reached the castle and were trying to find some way to get inside.
Just then, The Wasp noticed something. A few seconds before, the sky had been dark and overcast, but now it was bright and sunny. The weather was beautiful. It had changed suddenly, instantly, as if God had decided to snap his fingers and make the change.
The trees on the horizon vanished, replaced by an expanse of ocean. There was sand beneath their feet now. They were standing on a beach. They looked around, confused, and noticed a frail-looking boy standing behind them, smiling mischievously. "Hi," he said, and he waved.
All three of them now wore red Baywatch-style bathing suits cut high at the thigh and low at the neckline. The boy smiled at them and nodded his head in approval. "That's better," he said.
"Who are you?" The Wasp said.
"You can call me The Geek," he said. "I'm dreaming this dream. And you..." He pointed at The Wasp. "You are now my dream girls."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Junior," She-Hulk said. "But whatever plans you have are going to come tumbling around your little head." She made a fist and stepped toward him.
"That's not true. Things are falling into place perfectly," he said. "All I need to do is just make a few more adjustments." He held up a small device, a black box that looked like a television remote control, and pointed it at her. He hit a button and she stopped in mid-punch, a puzzled expression on her face. He hit the button again and she arched her back and smiled, her eyes staring vacantly into the distance.
"What did you do to her?" Ms. Marvel asked. She-Hulk stared out at the ocean, her lips frozen in a wide, placid grin. Ms. Marvel stepped forward this time, her fist raised, ready to strike.
"The same thing I'm going to do to you," he said. He pointed the remote control box again and The Wasp and Ms. Marvel arched their backs, their mouths pursing into small circles.
Then he pointed the control back at She-Hulk. Her smile widened as her waist narrowed and her chest inflated. God, she thought, what's happening to me? And then even that thought was lost as she gasped and froze into a provocative pose, chest out, shoulders back. He repeated the process with the other two.
"There we go," he said. "That's better."
He hit another button and their bodies lurched into puppet-like motion.
She-Hulk pivoted and faced Ms. Marvel. She tilted her head, still smiling, and said in a happy sing-song voice, "You look really great today, Carol."
"You do too, Jennifer," Ms. Marvel said, because She-Hulk did look great. The way her breasts rose up in the bathing suit. The glint of water on her skin.
Ms. Marvel felt funny, strange, she couldn't really describe exactly how she felt, standing here staring at She-Hulk and the beautiful ocean behind her. She felt, well, dumb. Happy and dumb. She liked how her breasts felt now, how they mirrored Jennifer's. She liked how they were dressed the same, and how they were probably thinking the same thoughts. Happy thoughts. Dumb thoughts.
"Snap out of it, Carol," The Wasp said, but the words didn't have much strength, and Ms. Marvel wasn't really listening anyway. She and She-Hulk both turned and looked at The Wasp.
"You look great today," they told her in unison. Because she did. She was amazing. Her hair blowing softly to one side, her narrow waist and oversized chest and perfect legs.
"Really?" she asked, her voice sounding hopeful, almost desperate. "You both...um, you both...you both look so good. Do I look like you?"
"Oh, yes, Wasp," She-Hulk said. "We all look good."
The Wasp straightened up just a little and her smile widened. The same smile worn by three different women. Her hair seemed lighter now. So did She-Hulk's skin. The Wasp seemed a little taller, She-Hulk a little shorter. "We all have the same nice bathing suit," she said.
"We sure do," She-Hulk said.
"The same perfect body," The Wasp said.
"That's right," Ms. Marvel said. They were all now just about the same height, and the same build. She-Hulk's skin wasn't green anymore. It was a tanned golden brown, just like the others.
"Wasp," Ms. Marvel said. "I feel kind of...dumb. Don't you?"
"Oh, yes," The Wasp said.
"Me too," She-Hulk said. Their hair was blonde now. Pixie-short. Their eyes were all blue. They were almost interchangeable.
"We should probably fight back, shouldn't we?" Ms. Marvel said, and she giggled a little.
"Really?" The Wasp said. "But it feels so good."
"I don't feel much like fighting," She-Hulk said. "I'm very happy."
"I'm very happy too," Ms. Marvel said.
They looked exactly alike now. Interchangeable.
"Gee," one of them said. "Who am I? I can't remember my name."
"I can't either," another one said, and the third one nodded, still smiling.
The beach and ocean vanished, revealing themselves as nothing but an illusion; likewise, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and The Wasp changed back to their normal selves, but they wore dumb-looking smiles and stared vacantly into the middle-distance. The Geek waved his hand in front of She-Hulk's face but she gave no sign that she could see it. She merely stared ahead, her arms limp at her sides.
"Excellent," The Geek said. "My plan is unfolding perfectly." He glanced at his watch. "And your friends should be meeting my welcoming committee right about now."
As Iron Man, Captain America, and Hawkeye made their way into the inner chamber of the castle, Captain America couldn't help feeling that something was going wrong. But that was ridiculous. They had easily defeated whatever opposition had been thrown at them, hadn't they? Lasers. Poison gas. A few robots. But hadn't it all seemed just a little too easy?
"Look," Iron Man said. In the center of the chamber stood three futuristic-looking golden statues in the shapes of beautiful women. But as he looked closer, Captain America realized what they really were. They weren't statues. They were chambers, containers to imprison people, and they held The Black Widow, Shanna, and Mockingbird. Each woman fit snuggly into a chamber as if it were molded around her, so that all he could see of them was their heads poking out from the smooth, golden forms. They looked unconscious.
"Mockingbird," Hawkeye said, and he walked over to his wife and ran his hand along her blonde hair, but she didn't respond. Captain America checked The Black Widow's pulse by touching her neck. She was alive. He felt around along the chamber, but there were no creases or seams.
Each chamber was posed differently. Shanna's had her hands on hips with her legs spread slightly apart. Mockingbird's back was arched, her arms folded across her chest. The Widow's arms were stretched into the air, her rear end jutting out just slightly behind her. The poses were more than a little undignified and Captain America was glad that none of the heroines were awake to experience the embarrassment of seeing themselves. He felt around in the small of The Widow's back, searching for a small lever or button.
The chamber popped open, or rather, it burst open, as if it were made of liquid. The Widow fell out, right into Captain America's arms. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed close against him. "C-c-cap," she said. "It's a trap." And then she grinned and pushed him, so that he fell into the chamber she had occupied just seconds before. It flowed around him, enveloping him, sealing him in and locking him into a pose, arms raised, rear stuck out and back arched. The Widow laughed. "Looking good, Cap," she said. "That's a liquid metal prison chamber. It's nearly impossible to break out of, so I wouldn't even try." She grinned and looked him over, her hip cocked haughtily to one side.
He noticed now that Shanna and Mockingbird were free from their chambers as well, and that Hawkeye had been trapped exactly as he had been. The bowman looked completely ridiculous, with his head mismatched on top of the beautiful golden body. Exactly the way that I must look, Cap thought, and he glanced down at the large, shining breasts of his golden prison and gritted his teeth in frustration.
Iron Man, however, was free. With a simple backhand he knocked Shanna away and began to head toward Captain America in order to free him. "I don't know what's been done to you, Mockingbird," he said, as he pushed her out of the way, "but I'll sort it out later, after I've freed Hawkeye and Cap and taken the three of you away from here."
"We're not going anywhere," The Black Widow said. "We like it here." She was standing between him and Captain America, her body coiled and ready to dodge him if he charged her. He could see her muscles tense beneath the tight black fabric of her bodysuit. She was dropping to the ground and rolling. Her wristblasters sent yellow pulses of energy flying right at him. Iron Man tried to dodge, but too late. The blasts hit him full in the chest. "My wristblasters have been modified a bit recently," she said, as she somersaulted into a standing position. "But you've probably already noticed that."
Iron Man had been knocked back into the wall. He sprawled across the floor, unconscious.
"Damn it, Widow, snap out of it!" Cap yelled.
"Calm down, Cap," Mockingbird said, in a voice that was light-hearted and child-like. She hit a button on the wall and he felt something wet filling his chamber, first the legs, then up his thighs to his chest, then over his shoulders and up his arms. Something soft and gooey was filling the thin space between his body and the mold. It felt warm and soothing. He looked over at Hawkeye, who looked back helplessly. They were trapped. It was up to The Wasp, She-Hulk, and Ms. Marvel now.
Iron Man felt like he had been hit by battleship. He stared groggily out through the slits of his armored mask, his mind slowly coming into focus. How long had he been unconscious? Long enough to be transported to a new room and strapped to some sort of restraining device. He tested his boot-jets, his repulsors, his chest beacon, but none of them worked. His armor was completely inoperative. He couldn't even wiggle a finger.
Across the room, Iron Man could see Captain America and Hawkeye, still trapped in the golden female shells. A teenager stood in front of them, smiling and drinking a Coke, his arm around The Black Widow's waist. He was short, so that The Widow stood about four or five inches taller than him in her heels. He had a bad, haphazard-looking haircut and he was thin. Was this the villain who had defeated him?
The boy was obviously in the middle of one of the standard super-villain rants. He was saying something about mind-control and conquering the world. "I've always wanted to have my own team of Avengers," he said, and he snickered, his hand dropping from The Widow's waist to her tightly spandexed ass. If she felt any displeasure at having his hand there, she didn't show it.
"You're insane," Captain America said, spitting out the words.
"I'm an average teenage boy, actually," the kid replied. "With the exception of being a genius, that is." He turned and looked up at The Widow. "Widow, tell him not to worry. Tell him how much you like what's been done to you."
"Don't worry, Cap," she said, her voice sultry and teasing. "I like what's been done with me."
"She's just repeating what you said," Cap said angrily. "Like a parrot." He clenched his teeth and strained at his prison to no effect.
"Geez," the boy said, and he sipped his Coke. "I'm glad you're trapped in there. I bet you could bust all my teeth with one punch." He snickered again. It was annoying laugh, nasally and high, the kind of laugh that would have made bullies want to hang him on a peg by his underwear, had he been a normal high school student and not an evil genius.
The kid walked over to a large computer console and Iron Man noticed for the first time that Shanna and Mockingbird were standing at attention in the corner of the room, smiles across their faces. Both of them wore identical costumes: incredibly tight pink bodysuits that flowed seamlessly into high-heeled boots. Their haircuts were identical as well, spiky and bright pink. Iron Man couldn't tell if they wore wigs or if their hair had been cut and dyed. The boy walked over, spoke to them for a second, and then they left the room. The boy watched them go, their hips swaying from side to side.
"Oh, I see you're awake," the boy said, as he looked over at Iron Man. "I can see your beady little eyes through your slits. You're looking at your former-friends. You're thinking about how gosh darn cute and sexy they look, aren't you?" The annoying laugh again. "Don't worry, they're fine. They've never felt better, in fact. I don't want to hurt anyone. Even Captain America. He wasn't very nice to me, but I'm a generous soul. I'm going to give him a wonderful gift."
With that, the boy pushed a few buttons on the console and the female mold-prisons began to shift. The liquid metal curled its way over Captain America's head, covering him completely, and in a few seconds metal had formed into the head and face of a beautiful woman, her eyes closed and her mouth pursed just slightly, as if she were about to kiss someone. No trace of Captain America could be seen. Iron Man looked over at Hawkeye. The same thing had happened to him. The two golden molds were now in identical poses: arms by their sides, legs tightly together, chins raised just slightly. They were indistinguishable from one another.
Where were She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and The Wasp? They must have guessed that Iron Man, Captain America, and Hawkeye had been captured by now. Why weren't they coming to the rescue? Unless something had happened to them as well…?
The boy walked over to Iron Man and leaned close to his face, peering inside Iron Man's eye slits, grinning mischievously. "I know what you're thinking," the boy said. "You're wondering when your friends are going to come to help you. Well, they're not going to come." He tapped a finger against Iron Man's face plate, three times, right against the temple. "And now you're probably wondering who I am. Who is this person who could capture and subjugate the Mighty Avengers so easily? Well, I'll tell you." His eyes were wide now, with anger and just a hint of madness. "Oh, I'll tell you. Once upon a time, I had a normal name. But now I am known simply as...The Geek!" He raised a finger in the air triumphantly.
Ms. Marvel felt as if she had been asleep for a week. As she groggily opened her eyes, she realized that she couldn't move, and with that came a second realization: that that creepy kid, the one who called himself The Geek, had mind zapped her and her companions. She quickly assessed the situation. She was strapped into some kind of metal chair, leaning back so that she was looking at the ceiling. A light was shining in her face so that it was difficult to see, but off to the right, in the corner of her eye, she could see She-Hulk strapped into a similar chair. The Wasp was off to her left.
She tried to speak to them but her words came out as a garbled slur punctuated by a couple of grunts, more like baby-talk than anything else. She tried again. More baby-talk. Obviously, The Geek's mind zap hadn't completely worn off yet. Or something else was inhibiting her speech. Maybe something in the chair. There was something strapped around her neck, she realized, some kind of heavy collar. She looked over at She-Hulk, inspecting her collar. It had two lights on the front. One red. One green. Other than that it was featureless.
"Gmmmbfff," She-Hulk. She was awake and trying to communicate.
"Mmmmph," Ms. Marvel said back.
"Fwapphhh," She-Hulk replied. This was ridiculous.
Just then two women dressed in pink entered the room. They also had pink hair. Even their voices reminded Ms. Marvel of the color pink: bright and cheerful and sweet. "My favorite thing about him is his hands," one of them was saying to the other. "They're so strong. Remember that time..."
The other one interrupted her. "That's not my favorite thing about him," she said, and they both laughed. They were walking around the room adjusting dials on the computer panels that lined the walls.
"Seriously, though," the second one said. "I guess my favorite thing about him is his mind."
"Oh, I know," the first one said. "Brains are such a turn-on." She giggled a little as she walked across the room and turned a knob. "I'm getting a little excited right now, just thinking about how smart he is." She glanced over at the second girl. "Do you think that's his favorite thing about us? Our brains?"
They both laughed again. One of them walked over to Ms. Marvel's chair and looked down into her face. "Oh, I notice you're awake," she said. "Don't try to speak. All your motor functions have been temporarily inhibited. You'll just embarrass yourself."
Ms. Marvel looked up at her and realized who it was. It was Mockingbird. "Hmmff," she said.
"I told you not to talk, silly," Mockingbird said. She pivoted a device in front of Ms. Marvel's face. Thin, five-inch needles pointed at Ms. Marvel's eyes. Some kind of tube pointed at her mouth. This looked like it was going to hurt. "Don't worry," Mockingbird said. "This device looks dangerous, but you'll love it. I know I did." She walked over to She-Hulk. "Oh, I notice you're awake," Ms. Marvel could hear her say, as if she was a stewardess repeating the same lines over and over again as she moved around the plane.
"Grrmph," She-Hulk said.
Ms. Marvel stared down the needles. Mockingbird and the other woman were talking to each other again. "You know what I think he really likes about me?" Mockingbird was saying. "How flexible I am. Remember a couple of days ago? The leg split thing I did?"
"I like that about you too," the other woman said. "You're very athletic."
"Well, you're beautiful. I love your hair."
"It's the same as your hair."
"Well, I love my hair too."
They finished working on The Wasp and then walked out of the room without saying good-bye. The door slid shut behind them and Ms. Marvel looked back at the needles. She was trying to stay calm. There had to be some way out of this. Iron Man and the others would find them.
Small lasers shot from the tips of the needles, striking her in the eyes. The lasers didn't hurt. They just played lightly around her retina, blurring her vision slightly. Mockingbird had been telling the truth. She felt no pain.
In fact, she felt relaxed. She was even more sure now that Iron Man and the others would come to her rescue. Wasn't that always the way it happened? And anyway, even if she wasn't rescued, it wasn't like The Geek wanted to kill her. He wasn't that crazy. She was in very little danger.
Her mouth fell open as the lasers pulsated in her eyes. As soon as her mouth was open, the tube directly beneath the needles moved forward, pushing itself into her mouth. It was smooth and made of rubber, but it had been coated with something slick, so it moved into her throat easily. She could feel it moving deep inside her, but she wasn't alarmed.
She thought of Mockingbird's pink hair and wondered if The Geek was going to do something similar to her. She pictured herself in a pink body stocking, her hair pink and shiny, like cotton candy. That would never happen, though. She was much too strong-willed, of course. And even if it did happen, Mockingbird's hair had looked kind of nice. She had seemed happy. Very happy, actually.
How bad could it actually be? The Geek was kind of good looking, in a...geeky...way, and...and...he was cute...very cute. He was so smart too. He had captured her so easily, just snapped his fingers and bang, she was his prisoner...his...prisoner...his slave. He was so cute and smart. God, he was cute! He was gorgeous. So...so...charismatic. Just the kind of man she needed. A strong man. Someone to give her a sense of purpose in her life. Keep her in line. Tell her what to do. Keep her priorities straight. He was...awesome...really awesome...so...amazing...so...gosh, he was cool. Just thinking about him...made her...giddy. God, she felt good. Amazing. She had never felt this good.
The tube in Ms. Marvel's mouth began to pump some kind of liquid into her. It tasted sweet, and soon she was instinctively closing her mouth around the tube and sucking as the lasers pulsed in her eyes. She was dimly aware of someone giving her a light tap on the forehead. It was Mockingbird again. "This one looks pretty out of it," she said. "But she's not quite finished yet. What about The Wasp?"
"She's finished," the other woman said. "In fact, she might be a little overdone." They both laughed, as if from very far away. Ms. Marvel felt as if she were sinking into a gigantic warm ocean, and that they were on the surface, watching her sink. It felt wonderful.
She wasn't aware of how much time passed--it could have been another hour, it could have been a whole day--but eventually she was helped out of the chair by Mockingbird and the other woman. Mockingbird whispered in her ear, "You must be very strong-willed. We had to do an extra ten minutes on you to make sure your mind was exactly the way The Geek wanted it. Your friends were a little easier, though. Their minds snapped like little twigs. Just like mine did." She giggled. "They've already gone onto the second part of the process. That's where we're bringing you now."
Ms. Marvel wished that she had broken as easily as She-Hulk and The Wasp, but she was broken now, and that was probably all that mattered. Her arms and legs were weak and her body felt heavy and ponderous. Her mind was soft and pleasantly fuzzy. She couldn't support herself, so Mockingbird helped her into some kind of hovering chair, and they moved slowly down the corridor together.
It seemed like it was taking forever to reach the end of the corridor. Ms. Marvel was so eager to get where they were going. She couldn't wait to join She-Hulk and The Wasp, and she even felt a little jealous that they were further along in the process then she was. She contented herself with closing her eyes and thinking about The Geek, the man who made this all possible. Soon she would be with him.
Iron Man watched the two golden statues for some sign as to what was going on inside, but he saw nothing that could act as a clue. If hadn't known that Captain America and Hawkeye were imprisoned inside the statues, he wouldn't have guessed that they could have even fit. But then were inside, and something was happening to them, something Iron Man was helpless to prevent.
He glanced over at The Geek, who was making some adjustments to a computer on the far side of the room. The Black Widow was standing just behind him. As Iron Man looked over at them, she turned and looked back, and their eyes met. She walked over, her hips swaying from side to side. There was something incredibly hypnotic about the way she walked now. Iron Man couldn't look away.
She rested her hand on his shoulder and moved her lips close to his faceplate. "You look angry," she said. I can't even see your face, but you look angry. It's something about your eyes."
He didn't answer.
"Do you know what The Geek always wanted to be? A superhero. He idolized the Avengers." She looked over at The Geek, who was still working on the computer, then back at Iron Man. "That's all he wants, really. He just wants to be part of the team."
"He wants to lead the team," Iron Man said. "He wants to enslave the team."
She smiled. "And what's wrong with that? Tony, before The Geek captured me, I was a mass of neurosis and hidden insecurities. Now look at me. All of that is gone. I'm incredibly happy all the time. All the time, Tony. Every second of every day. Do you know how good that feels?"
She frowned slightly. Iron Man had to admit that it was a beautiful frown. A pout, really. There was something rehearsed about it, as if she were acting on a stage and he was the audience. "No," she said. "You don't like to feel good. You're a big, strong man, and you're too tough to feel good, aren't you?" She pressed her body against his armor and rubbed up and down a little. "Hmmm," she said. "I wish I could climb in there and convince you. I know I could. Five minutes and you'd understand my point-of-view."
Iron Man tried not pay attention to her, tried not to look at her. She poked her finger into his mouth slit. "Hello?" she asked. "Anyone in there?" She laughed a little and held up her finger in front of her lips and kissed it. Then she slipped the finger back into his mouth slit. "If you kiss my finger, it'll almost be like kissing my lips now," she said. She pushed the finger in a little more, so that it touched his mouth.
"No?" she asked. "I know you want to. It's such a simple little thing. Why not? Just kiss my finger. You might like it. Then we can get you out of that helmet and maybe I'll let you kiss me for real."
There was a small noise from behind them then. It came from the golden statues. It was a kind of slurping, sloshing sound. Black Widow pulled her finger from Iron Man's mouth slit and turned around and watched. The surface of the left statue was shifting, slightly losing its integrity as the statue's face began to congeal and drip like melting wax. The head split in two and peeled back.
Iron Man had expected--had hoped--to see Hawkeye's face. But that's not what he saw at all. It was the face of a beautiful woman. Her eyes were closed and her face and her hair were wet and dripping. There was some resemblance to Hawkeye, as if this woman were his beautiful younger sister, but there was no sign of Hawkeye's maleness. Black Widow smiled. "Wow," she said. "The Geek is such a genius."
"Why?" Iron Man asked. "Why would he do such a thing?"
"Oh, Tony," The Black Widow said. "You should know the answer to that. You're a smart boy." She was still looking at the golden statue. The shoulders and neck were peeling away and receding. "The Geek wants an all-woman Avengers. That would be much more fun for him, don't you think?" She turned back and smiled at him. "The Geek absolutely loves superheroines."
Iron Man gritted his teeth and watched as the statue peeled down to the new Hawkeye's waist, revealing her naked breasts and stomach. She was a perfect physical specimen: smooth and slightly tanned skin, short blonde hair, slightly large breasts that seemed to defy gravity, a delicately arched back. The head of the other statue was dripping now. There was a logic to this, if a sick one. If The Geek had always wanted to be a superhero, then what better fantasy for him to play out than being the only male member of a group of female Avengers? And the leader at that.
The golden statue was now a golden puddle at Hawkeye's feet. As much as he wanted to, Iron Man couldn't pull his eyes away. The other statue was now halfway down Captain America's new body. She was as beautiful as Hawkeye, with mid-length slightly curly blonde hair.
The Geek walked over to them. "Hi, Hawkeye," he said. "How are you feeling?"
The new Hawkeye opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head, as if she had just awoken from a short catnap. "Hmmmm," she said. "I feel great." She turned and pressed herself against The Geek and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She leaned down and kissed him hard. When they separated she said, "I love you, master. I love you so much."
The Black Widow turned to Iron Man. "See? Hawkeye understands now."
Captain America opened her eyes now and looked down at herself. "Wow," she said. "I can't believe what a good job you did. I'm beautiful." She turned to The Geek and grabbed him the way Hawkeye had just seconds before, kissing him long and hard.
The Black Widow smiled. "And Captain America. That makes just you, Tony. You're the only one left." She made a silly mock-pout, making fun of his plight.
"What?" Iron Man asked.
"We captured She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and The Wasp before we even captured you, silly. That's it. Game over. The end. Finis. Kaput." She glanced back at Hawkeye and Captain America. "They really are beautiful, aren't they?"
Iron Man had to admit that they were.
"Well," she said. "What about that kiss now?" She kissed her index finger again, her lips lingering on the black rubber, then poked it back through his mouth slit.
The first thing Ms. Marvel noticed when Mockingbird brought her into the room at the end of the corridor was She-Hulk and The Wasp. They were standing on small circles, their bodies bathed in red light, and as she watched them she noticed that their bodies were actually changing. She-Hulk's chest was expanding slowly, as if it was being inflated, and her waist was slimming, while all sorts of things were happening to The Wasp. Her eyes and lips seemed to be growing a little larger, her nose slightly smaller. Her legs were lengthening. The transformation was an incredible thing to watch, and Ms. Marvel immediately wanted to stand on her own circle, bathed in red light, so she could be transformed as well.
"The Geek wants us as perfect and happy as possible," Mockingbird explained. "She-Hulk and The Wasp are almost finished."
As if on cue, Ms. Marvel noticed that the second woman--Ms. Marvel recognized her as Sheena now--walked over and turned off the red lights. The Wasp and She-Hulk smiled and stepped off the circles, down a small flight of stairs. Sheena walked over and handed them their new uniforms and they began to get dressed. It was such a simple and beautiful thing. They looked happy and complete and perfect. That was the word Mockingbird had used and she was right. They were perfect.
Once She-Hulk was dressed, she walked over to Ms. Marvel. She wore a purple g-string bottom and skintight purple top and her hair was cut short and slicked back on her head. "Oh, you're going to absolutely love it, Carol," she said, and she posed and made a muscle. "I love my new body. I'm even stronger now, and I'm just giddy with hormones. I feel like a teenager."
"Yes," Ms. Marvel slurred. "I want...to...be...like you."
She-Hulk knelt down in front of her so that she could look her in the eyes. "Oh, it's not about being like me, Carol. The Geek's treatments aren't going to make you like anyone. They're going to make you more like yourself." She-Hulk rested her hand on Ms. Marvel's knee. "They unlock your unique potential." She stood up again and looked over at The Wasp. "Janet," she said. "I love your new costume."
Janet wore a white g-string bottom and a skintight top with long sleeves that turned into gloves. It was cut just about her stomach, and was backless, showing off her shoulder blades and neck. "Thanks, Jennifer," she said. She looked over at Mockingbird. "What do we do now, Mockingbird?"
Mockingbird said, "We're expecting a few more visitors for a costume fitting. After they come here and Ms. Marvel has completed her transformation treatment, we'll all meet The Geek in bedroom number eleven for a victory celebration."
"Where's The Geek now?" She-Hulk asked.
"He has some unfinished business with Iron Man. And a special surprise for us."
The other women almost squealed with delight. They could hardly contain themselves.
Just then, the double-doors Ms. Marvel had entered a few minutes before slid open and the Black Widow walked in, followed by two naked women. They seemed slightly familiar to Ms. Marvel, but she couldn't quite place them. "Here they are," The Black Widow said. "An excellent job, don't you think?"
Mockingbird nodded as she looked over the two women. "Oh, you guys look great," she said, and they smiled and said 'thank you' politely. Then they walked over to Sheena, who handed them their costumes. They began to get dressed as Ms. Marvel watched.
The first woman slid a red, white, and blue bikini bottom up her legs, then small blue boots that went up to her ankles. She buckled a small red belt around her waist and a thin red collar around her neck. Finally, she fastened a red, white, and blue top in place over her breasts. She smiled, looking down at herself. "Don't forget this," Mockingbird said, and she handed the woman Captain America's shield.
That's when Ms. Marvel realized who the woman was. She could see the resemblance a little, especially now that she was dressed in patriotic garb. The second woman had dressed in a variation of Hawkeye's costume: a purple bikini with a black belt and boots. Neither of them wore masks anymore, and Ms. Marvel was glad for that, because their new faces were beautiful. Mockingbird handed the new Hawkeye a bow and quiver of arrows.
Ms. Marvel could tell that Captain America and Hawkeye were happier now that they had been transformed, happier than they had ever been in their silly little testosterone-driven lives, and it made her more eager to complete her transformation herself. Soon the team would be complete, and they would serve The Geek forever and ever and ever. As Mockingbird and Sheena helped Ms. Marvel onto the transformation circle, she was grinning with delight.
"So I suppose that last chamber is for me," Iron Man said. The statues that had transformed Captain America and Hawkeye had now completely dissolved, but there was still a third female statue posed at the center of the room, the lips puckered in Iron Man's general direction.
"Incorrect," The Geek said. "The last chamber is for me." He walked over to the statue and slapped its rear. There was a slight metallic echo that reverberated around the chamber.
"What?" Iron Man asked.
As if in reply, The Geek took a small device from his pocket and pointed it at the statue. The woman's shape began to shift and melt. The shoulder's broadened, the arms thickened, the hair receded, and the chest flattened and widened. In a matter of seconds the statue had transformed into a tall, muscular, and very well endowed man. "For all my intelligence, my physical state is a little...lacking," The Geek said. "If I'm going to lead the Avengers, I need to inspire fear and devotion. I need the body of a superhero." He glanced at the statue. "What do you think?"
Iron Man said nothing.
The Geek scowled. "You know, you'd be a lot better off if you indulged me, Iron Man. Originally I had planned to do to you what I did to Captain America and Hawkeye, but I'm really starting to dislike you. Maybe I should just kill you." He narrowed his eyes at Iron Man, but then he smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "But I've learned that a good leader never makes a decision when he's in a bad mood. I'll be much happier when I emerge from the mold with my new body. I'll decide what I want to do with you then." With that, The Geek stepped up to the mold and allowed it to wrap around his body, enveloping him in gold. Soon he was covered, and the statue stood at the center of the room. The room was quiet. Iron Man could hear his own shallow breathing.
Iron Man did a quick diagnostic. The Geek had done something to disrupt most of his armor functions, but if he re-channeled some of his life-support power, he would have just enough energy to send a microwave signal at the statue. He put his chest piece on one-third power and used the surplus to send the signal directly at the statue. It began to shift and melt again, transforming back into the form of a beautiful woman. Iron Man was breathing heavily now. He coughed a few times as the statue completed its transformation. The hair grew long again, the chest puffed out, the waist and shoulders narrowed, the face softened and the lips formed their delicate pucker.
As the transformation came to an end and the mold began to peel down The Geek's new body, he was dimly aware that something was wrong. He did not feel as strong as he should have felt. He felt energetic and good, very good, but the feeling was almost too different. He looked at himself as the mold formed into a puddle on the floor and he screamed in the voice of a woman.
It was Iron Man's fault. He must have down something to the transformation process. The Geek strode across the room on her new, beautiful legs. "Damn you! You're going to die for this!" she screamed, but then she noticed that Iron Man's eyes were closed. He wasn't moving. She held her hand up to his mouth slit. He wasn't breathing.
She screamed again. She was denied even her revenge. She kicked the armor and howled in pain, staggering back. In the reflection of the silver security doors, she could see herself. She was tall and thin and had long, black hair down to her shoulder blades. Fine, she thought, this is just a temporary setback, and she left the room quickly, without getting dressed.
A minute later, The Geek stormed into the bedroom where the Avengers were waiting. There was a gigantic bed there, and Mockingbird, Sheena, The Black Widow, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel and The Wasp were all lying on it in various stages of undress. "Iron Man tricked me!" The Geek yelled. "We need to go down to my laboratory immediately and change me back!"
"Who are you?" The Black Widow asked.
"I'm The Geek, you idiot," The Geek said.
"You don't look like The Geek," The Wasp said.
She-Hulk smiled. "The Geek is a boy," she said. "You're a girl."
"I know, I know," The Geek said, trying to calm down. "I was tricked. Iron Man did something to the transformation process. I'm not supposed to be this way."
"You're a really beautiful girl," Mockingbird said as she walked over. "I bet The Geek would love to add you to the team. Do you have any superpowers?"
"What's your name?" She-Hulk asked.
"The Geek!" The Geek screamed.
They were all standing around her now, looking her over. "She's upset," Sheena said.
"She's going to need some conditioning," Mockingbird said. "That would calm her down."
"It sure would," Ms. Marvel said. "Look what it did for the rest of us."
"Stop talking about me as if I'm not even here!" The Geek yelled.
"She's not very friendly," Ms. Marvel told She-Hulk.
"Oh, she'll be friendly," The Black Widow. "She'll be super-friendly."
"Don't touch me!" The Geek screamed, but they had grabbed hold of her and were dragging her down the corridor toward the chamber where not long ago She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and The Wasp had all undergone mind-control treatment. The doors to the chamber slid opened and they brought her inside, kicking and screaming, and strapped her to the conditioning chair. Mockingbird pivoted the needles in front of her eyes. "Stop it!" The Geek screamed. "I'm your master."
"Silly," Mockingbird said. "The Geek is our master. And soon he'll be your master too." She flicked a couple of switches, turned a dial to full power, and the needles in front of The Geek's eyes began to glow red. Lasers moved across The Geek's eyes.
I've got to resist, The Geek thought. I'm the greatest mind the world has ever known. If anyone can resist this machine it's me. It's me. The Geek. The Geek. The Geek. I love The Geek. The Geek is my...is my...master.
To be continued??