"A Cosmic Cube? Fascinating." said Ms. MODOK as she sensed the presence of the object. She scanned it quickly, and didn't disapprove of 'Peppers' intentions. On the other hand, there was no need for all that power to just sit there. Using her own considerable willpower, she tapped the Cube...and used it's excess power for her own pet project.
Hank Pym dropped the slid he'd been examining and clutched his head. He really had to get to bed, but...what was waiting for him? Tony said they could use the Cosmic Cube to return Red Wasp and Ms MODOK to normal...but now he wasn't sure what normal was.
After all, he'd always been a bit of a submissive. Dominance and power was what he worshiped, and there were very few as dominant as Colonel Zhanet.
He saw her then. A big, squat, thick-bodied woman dressed in her Soviet Military uniform - her chest flaunting several dozen gaudy medals, ribbons and clusters. Her belly was a swaying gut fueled by vodka, potatoes and borscht. Her breasts big yet solid. Her butt a tightly packed anchor for her pear-shaped glory. Her face was plain, round, yet jolly. She smiled often - her thick-lipped mouth parting to reveal crooked, yellow stained teeth. Her cheek and nose both sported large, brownish moles, and her bushy eyebrows met in the middle. Her hair was cut military short and mannish under her Soviet military service cap.
As he watched, he realized she was gaining both in rank and size. She grew larger than him, her uniform growing more impressive every moment. After all...she'd now won all those battles against him. He could remember it all. He'd failed against Madame X, the Beasts of Berlin, el Toro and the Scarlet Beetles. He'd sold away US military secrets and betrayed his country dozens of times. And each time, Colonel...no, General Zhanet had rewarded him with access to that which he lusted. Her body.
He stood, and now he was in a grandly outfitted chamber. On the walls were portraits of Lenin, Marx, Stalin...and herself. A big, ogreish woman with the shoulders of a linebacker. She wore an almost comical display of medals spread over the whole of her chest - her thick double chin encircled by several ribbons and badges - her broad shoulders enhanced buy large shoulder boards and epaulettes. In his fading memories he could see traces of the fashionable Janet van Dyne there...but mostly he saw a brutal soldier who crushed her enemies under her thick boots, and laughed at them as they struggled.
"Ah, Meester Pym..." a Russian-accented voice rumbled. "...zhou know I am zo very busy thees dayz. Bhut...for olt times sake..."
She...was his goddess. His queen. His unquestioned ruler. All her plans and schemes had worked. She'd conquered the southern portion of the United States through wit, guile, cunning and brutality. She'd surrounded it in a force field the rest of the world, and through genetic manipulation, mass hypnotism, subtle brainwashing and carrot-and-stick tactics, she'd remade this world into HER image.
It's not that things were totally bad. After all, Zhanet was a committed believer in the Soviet system as a way to unite peoples and remove 'errors' like Capitalism, Sexism and Racism. All peoples were equally important in the eyes of the State. History books were 'corrected' to remove all trace of troublesome individualism, with Soviet triumphs heightened and Capitalist failures exaggerated. There were no rich and no poor. Everyone lived in either massive factory cities or sprawling farming collectives. The people were big, solid and plain. The very idea of 'fashion' didn't exist, as everyone wore the same grey and red coveralls and sported the same short, utilitarian haircut. Children were raised by the state, and all family contact outside of the factory or commune was forbidden. Everyone spoke Russian as a first language, and nobody even dreamed of a different reality.
It was her dream world. She was General Zhanet - the Marshal of the Citizen Soviet. The great and revered leader of the New Soviet Union.
Hank crawled before his goddess. Small and worthless, he'd never become Giant-Man, let alone Goliath or Yellowjacket. He'd become 'Comrade Ant', and though he was the New Soviet Unions least hero, he reveled in his closeness to his beloved leader. He tried to imagine what the world had been...and again, his mind slipped into new truths. The 'Beasts of Berlin' were now grown to several hundred thousand super intelligent gorillas who lived among the people and added there strength to the Red Army. The Scarlet Beetles were much the same, as the hulking insects created vast subterranean tunnel cities. He couldn't remember what the world had been before. The New Soviet Union was all he knew...or wanted to know.
She lit a large Cuban cigar and reached down to help him up. He trembled, but she rumbled to him in lively Russian "No citizen crawls here, Comrade Ant. You are a Soviet. You should be proud."
And...he was. "Yes, General Zhanet! I am proud to serve my fellow citizens of the State! May the New Soviet Union grow to encompass the world!" he snapped in flawless Russian. To think that he - the humble Comrade Ant - should be the lover of the magnificent General Zhanet! It was all he could ever have wanted. He removed his simple, utilitarian helmet and looked down at his simple, utilitarian coveralls. His body thickened somewhat from his long years of labor in the field and factory, joined with the generous rations of the simple, starchy foods that all citizens were provided. He was small, but plump and work-strong, with a solid back that was used to carrying. He was brilliant, but like everyone who was 'gifted' with special talents he thought little of them. Yes, he was a brilliant scientist...but there was little difference between a scientist and a farmer when you really thought of it.
"Good to know, my beloved..." she said in Russian, and Comrade Ant kissed her...loved her...worshiped her like a man bewitched.
Tony Stark blinked, then accepted that just to the south of him...the New Soviet Union existed and thrived. He remembered how that part of the country just...seceded during the 60's, and never questioned it. General Zhanet and Comrade Ant were Avengers, and he never paused to wonder 'why?' durring his day.
Besides...he was having some trouble understanding just what Pepper was suggesting.
"So...you want me to give you my company...then go 'undercover' as a woman? That seems to be a little...out there, Pepper."
She HATED when he called her 'Pepper', but she let it pass...for now.
"That's right. It's a brilliant plan, Tony. You'll be my naughty little Antoinette..."
Tony shook his head. "Now Pepper, it's a little..."
"Pepper Potts was a 'pet' name. It was NEVER my name, Tony. I'm Virginia Hogan. Remember?"
She pushed with the cube...and Tony remembered how he'd called Virginia Hogan 'Pepper Potts' as a joke...but a joke that had run its course.
"Sorry about that, Virginia. My mistake. But, undercover..."
"We've played this way for ages, Tony. It's called 'Role Play', you know. We've gotten so comfortable together, playing our different parts. YOU pretend to be 'Antoinette', my naughty little French Maid, Airline Stewardess or Secretary. You remember, don't you?"
She pushed again...