“Can you believe it everyone? To think we’ve never actually explored the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter FULLY until now.” Called out Reed to the others as he floated between a pair of rocks the size of beachballs in his space suit. The Fantastic Four had some time off, and Reed had decided out on a whim to explore the asteroid belt in their solar system to test for mineral deposits and any unique elements the stone ring cluster had to offer.
“Joy…” huffed Johnny, his arms crossed behind his head while he floated aimlessly nearby. “Next time can I chose the vacation spot? Somewhere like a beach with sun, booze and ladies?”
“Only if we can bring the kids with us Johnny.” Chirped Susan, smirking back when her brother rolled his eyes and turned around to look out into the void. The Invisible Woman beamed back at her husband as the two gathered chips and soil samples from one of the larger asteroids, the thing the size of a large van. All three of the team that floated together were tethered to the ship nearby piloted by Ben Grimm, the orange stone-skinned man checking instruments and gauges while the rest of the family worked.
“You almost done out there, Reed? Your oxygen tank reads ten minutes left.”
Waving back to his friend and co-pilot, Reed licked the ear piece in his helmet. “Almost done yes, I can’t wait to bring this all back to study, isn’t this exciting Susan.”
“Whatever makes you happy Re…“Gasping in surprise, Susan pulled back when a stone collided with the meteor she and Reed hovered over, the impact not unlike a bullet hitting a wall.
Some of these meteors are travelling at bullet speed, we should head back now since our oxygen is low.”
Agreeing with her husband, Susan and Johnny pressed a dial on their suits that pulled them back to the ship. When they were about halfway back, several of the same tiny stone whizzed by, leaving thin blue streaks of dust. Feeling panicked, Susan tried to increase the speed she was being pulled back when she felt something strike her dead in the chest, causing her to gasp in shock before everything went black.
“SUSAN!!!”
*
Slowly opening her eyes, the Invisible Woman moaned and brought a gloved hand to her eyes. Looking up she found herself in the center bay of the vessel that brought them here, her space suit carefully removed and Reed checking her over for injuries and sighing with relief when she woke up. “Thank goodness, I’m surprised you aren’t dead!”
“Wha-what happened?”
You got clipped by one of those tiny rocks that were shooting past us, I was afraid you were a goner!” Sighed Johnny with relief, finally leaning back to slide down the metal wall and roll his air helmet ot the side.
Sitting up, Susan pulled up her shirt to check on her chest, feeling over her chest and stomach she found… Nothing. Not a wound, a scar, a blemish, or bruise… Nothing. Looking over to her space suit she checked the material and found a hole big enough she could stick her finger through, but on her she was perfectly fine. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, you MIGHT have been hit by a collection of pressurized gas that dissipated after impact. At the very least you’re alright and that’s all that matters.”
Slumping back down on the grated floor, Susan moaned and rolled to her side, feeling exhausted. “Lets just get back home, I think I’ve had enough space for one day.”
*
Hours later, the Fantastic Four returned to Earth and parked the space vessel in the upper bay of the Baxter building, Susan for her part had slept the entire trip back to Earth, feeling to tired to even react to the rocky re-entry back to the overcast skies of New York. Picking his wife up in his outstretched arms, Reed gently placed Susan on their bed and pulled up the sheets while he went back to the ship to collect the samples he and his wife collected.
*
At some point in the middle of the night, Susan stirred and woke to sit up and rub her eyes, her scalp felt funny and her hands felt smooth, like polished rubber or latex. Getting up from the bed, Susan Storm made her way over to the adjoined bathroom and yawned. As soon as she entered the room and closed the door behind her, she turned on the light to see herself in the mirror… And froze.
What stared back at her was NOT her reflection. Turning her head back and forth, she gasped at the creature staring back at her. Soft pink skin had been replaced with smooth almost scaly skin that appeared almost translucent in the bathroom light. Her fingers had sharp claws easily an inch long. Her arms had spines almost as long as her fingers running down her forearms and turning back and forth, she found a row of spines lining down her back that had pierced through her shirt.
But what really terrified her was her face. Yellow serpentine eyes stared back at her, her pristine white teeth replaced with rows of sharp teeth like the mouth of a piranha or shark. Her ears were gone yet she could still hear, even BETTER than before. Instead where her ears should have been were long gnarling horns like the type found on a goat. But her hair… Her hair hand been replaced with a sea of tentacles over 2 feet long that coiled and slithered behind her like the snakes of a gorgon.
“I’m a monster!”
Too scared to move, she stood motionless staring back at her reflection until a knock at the door behind her caught her attention.
“Honey? Is that you in there? How are you feeling?”