The Scarlet Puppet

Part 6

By Skytower

            The window to the outside world was perhaps 2 feet high and 3 feet long. Ages of dust coated the glass. The lock was a mass of what had once been metal, but was now pure rust. Old spider webs lined the edges. Wanda, Sue and Nancy each gripped the lock and pulled. Nothing happened.

            "We could break the glass." Wanda suggested.

            "How?" Sue asked.

            "Besides if it shatters we could get hit with the fragments."

            Nancy was right. Though the window was only 2 feet high the women were only about 12 inches tall. Not only was their height a problem but all were naked.

            "I’ll have to try." Wanda said taking hold of the metal.

            "Sure you’re up to it?" Sue asked. "Dr. Doom’s conditioning is pretty strong."

            "I was able to overcome it before." Wanda said. She reached out and touched the metal, felt it, tasted it. Slowly she took the rust and made it grow. It was sluggish, her mutant powers slowed by an insistent voice in her mind, a voice that whispered to Wanda how powerless she was. A voice that grew louder the longer she ignored it. She hadn’t heard the voice the first time, Wanda suspected that her previous power use had been a result of her months long meditation and planning. But this was spontaneous, and soon the voice wasn’t whispering, it was shouting. Invisible hands began to hammer at Wanda’s skull from the inside. Invisible hands took hold of her stomach and twisted it. Fire erupted in her blood and Wanda’s legs felt like someone was throwing boiling hot water on them. Every breath she took seemed to draw acid, not air into her lungs. Her skin began to feel as if it roasting.

            At last Wanda sank into a dark painful abyss, not knowing whether or not she had succeeded.

            A rattle brought Wanda back to consciousness. A persistent warning rattle that dragged her away from the painless oblivion she had sunk too. The mutant opened her eyes and looked into a nightmare. The rattlesnake was old, with many rattles at the end of it’s tail. It’s eyes, soulless, merciless eyes gave a reflection of Wanda, Sue and Nancy. Sue and Nancy stood silent. Stilled and helpless by those eyes.

            "No." Wanda whispered. Slowly she stood up, ignoring the ache in her bones and the throbbing of her head. She had no powers to draw on. Wanda knew that as surely as she knew she was not dreaming. The mental conditioning had won. But she was not, was not, going to be defeated by a snake.

            "GO AWAY!" Wanda screeched at the snake throwing handfuls of sand at its eyes. The snake drew back in surprise, it’s lidless eyes stung by the sand. "GO AWAY!" Wanda shouted again throwing sand.

            It took a few minutes and more than once the snake tried to move toward her again but Wanda was having none of it. Fury and frustration erupted out of her body and she attacked the snake until it retreated out of sight. Wanda stood trembling for a few minutes after it was gone. Finally she took a few deep breaths and looked around.

            She was on a desert. It was night, something Wanda hadn’t even realized. A full moon lit the landscape. It was a beautiful, haunting sight. Cactus stood as high as buildings and tumbleweeds the size of busses rolled past her. Behind her Sue and Nancy stood still. Entranced by the snake. Behind them in the distance Wanda could see a house.

            "This is not Kansas." Wanda said walking over to Sue. The blonde woman stared blankly ahead barely breathing. In the moonlight Sue Richards nude body stood out as a pale ghost. Sue stood just a little shorter than Wanda and her body slimmer than the buxom mutant. Still feeling the effects of the Puppet Masters sex spell Wanda couldn’t help feeling aroused as she saw Sue’s breast rise and fall. In the moonlight Sue had no areolas at all, just sharply pointed nipples that seemed to beckon to the Scarlet Witch. In the moonlight Sue’s blonde hair seemed to place a glow around her head, giving Sue and exotic ethereal beauty that set a fire burning in Wanda’s body. For a few minutes Wanda stood there facing a war within herself. Finally she reached out.

            "Sue." Wanda said putting her hands on the Invisible Woman’s shoulders instead of her breasts. Her arms trembled from the inner struggle.

            Sue suddenly took a deep breath and her eyes focused once more. She looked around in confusion for a moment before seeing Wanda.

            "If you say we’re not in Kansas anymore I’ll slap you." Wanda warned.

            "You wicked witch." Sue said accepting the joke. For a moment they both laughed.

            "The labels on the stuff the Puppet Master gave me said "Jetmore, Kansas"." Wanda looked around. "This looks like Arizona."

            "A trick." Sue said. "In case a telepath ever made contact with your mind. Victor doesn’t leave much to chance in his plans."

            Wanda looked at her sharply.

            "That’s his name Wanda and we know him well enough to be on a first name basis."

            "I guess." Wanda said. She looked over at Nancy. "I guess we should wake her up now."

            "Be strong Wanda." Sue said as they turned to the third member of their party. Like Sue and Wanda the Black Widow had been captured and shrunk, but the mental conditioning had taken a heavy toll on her mind. She was no longer Natasha Romanoff superspy, she was Nancy Rushman highschool teacher. Wanda wasn’t sure she like Nancy.

            Nancy stood still, her face blank. In the moonlight her red hair, straight and dull copper in contrast to Wanda’s darker curls seemed to shine. The rest of her body was slim and her muscles stood out starkly making Nancy look almost like a greek statue.

            "Nancy." Sue said putting her hand on the other woman’s shoulder.

            Nancy blinked and looked around while Wanda braced herself for another scream. As a heroine Wanda had taught herself not to scream, Nancy screamed all the time.

            "No Sue." Nancy said her voice holding a slight Russian accent. "Not anymore."

            "Natasha?" Wanda asked.

            "I am back." The Back Widow said. "The snakes spell had a calming effect on my mind and Nancy and I were able to talk."

            "Nancy and I?" Sue asked.

            "Doom’s conditioning triggered her." Natasha said a wan smile coming to her face. "Nancy was far more than just a cover, the Soviet psychologist who created her in made sure she could stand even a telepathic probe. She’s almost a full person in her own right."

            "That is too weird." Wanda said.

            "She’s been asleep for years now." Natasha said. "But she’s always there. Even now, but she feels safer inside of me."

            "So do I." Wanda said and immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. "Damn the Puppet Master!" she swore.

            "Well your yourself now." Sue said choosing to ignore Wanda’s outburst. "And I think for all our sakes you should stay that way."

            "I agree." Natasha said. "At least that way Wanda won’t have to worry about her weight."

            Wanda turned red as Sue stifled a laugh.

            "Let’s get moving." She said looking around for a direction to go to. Some lights in the distance caught her eye." That way she pointed.

            "I agree." Sue said. "Phillip Masters will notice us gone sooner or later."

            "At least he’s a late sleeper." Natasha said.

            When the sun rose hours later the three diminutive heroines stopped for a moment to rest. The lights that had guided them had faded into the desert. Wanda scooped some peanut butter out of the makeshift backpack Nancy had made, twirling it around a cracker.

            "He is going to be looking for us soon." Sue said chewing on her own cracker. "He can cover more ground than we can."

            "How far do you think we’ve gone?" Natasha asked.

            "Not far enough." Wanda said.

            "Well we can’t camp out." Sue said closing her backpack and standing up. The blue plastic of the dental floss container gleamed a bit in the morning sun.

            "We can’t walk naked through the desert during the day." Wanda pointed out. "We don’t have enough water and there are a lot of predators out here."

            "There." Natasha said pointing. In the distance they could see a thin column of smoke.

            "Better than nothing." Sue said. The others agreed and they started to walk.

            The motorcycle looked to be the size of a 747 plane. It wasn’t alone. Two motorcycles stood on either side of the fire. Old but well kept up they glistened with chrome and oil. Beside the fire that had drawn the heroines two people were eating breakfast. The man was tall and lanky with a weathered face half-hidden by a beard. Mirrored sunglasses reflected the desert. Grey in the beard and in his hair showed him to be old, but he moved easily enough. The woman beside him was more girl than woman though she was obviously trying to hide it. Her hair was bleached white. Her face was as slim as the rest of her body. One of her eyes was green, the other blue. Her nose sported a diamond embedded in the side. Chrome studs were scattered over her eyes, ears, breasts and tongue. They were both topless, wearing only jeans. Between mouthfulls of coffee and bacon they passed a small tightly rolled cigarette between them.

            "What do you think?" Sue whispered. The three of them had taken cover in the shade beside a tall cactus.

            "I think we were saver with the snake." Natasha said.

            "They’re our only way out." Sue pointed out.

            "I say we keep walking." Wanda said.

            They were interrupted as the man stood up and walked over to the cactus, fumbling with the front of his pants as he walked.

            "Oh no." Wanda whispered. "He’s not going to do what I think he’s going to do is he?"

            They all had the answer to that a few seconds later as the man unzipped his fly and his penis emerged. For a few moments Wanda’s mind short-circuited. Still under the effects of the Puppet Masters sex spell Wanda beheld the holy grail of all male members. It was as big as a bus and the man wasn’t even aroused. What the thing would be like when he was exited… Wanda felt her stomach drop and her mouth water.

            "Scatter!" Sue shouted.

            Her voice broke through Wanda’s reverie and she took off. Behind her she could hear the sound of water against plant. Then the man’s voice, scratchy with age and drink, called out.

            "Hey Holmes!"

            "Yea?" the girl piped up.

            "Take a look at this! Either we got some whacked out weed or I found us some desert fairies!"

            Wanda glanced over her shoulder as the girl came and joined him.

            "Lookit that!" she gushed. "Little live Barbie’s."

            "Round’em up quick." The man said. "I’m busy."

            Had the chase been set to the music of a silent film comedy it would have been comical. The girl scrambled after the heroines taking hold of Wanda, Sue and Natasha before they had gotten more than fifteen feet. Squirming in her grasp the helpless women were carried over to the fire and put down on the sand.

            "What you think they are Watson?" she asked picking Wanda up.

            "Don’t know." He said sitting down beside her. Watson took Wanda from her hand. "This one’s got some huge hooters though."

            "You said you didn’t like’em big." Holmes said giving him a good natured punch.

            "Yea, that’s what you said too." He said shoving her.

            "Hey!" Wanda shouted.

            "Hey they talk." Watson said.

            "Is there a string on the back?"

            "Nope." He said turning Wanda upside-down.

            "Put me down!" Wanda shouted.

            For a moment Holmes and Watson look at each other. Then he put Wanda down next to Sue and Natasha.

            "So." Watson said taking a drag from the cigarette. "What’s your story little gals?"

            "Wait a minute." Holmes said. She scrambled to her feet kicking sand over the heroines. Reaching into the saddlebag of her motorcycle she took out a camera and pointed it at them. "Smile."

            The flash caught all of them by surprise and the heroines fell over.

            "I’m going to show this to Lesty the next time he brags about the UFO pic he’s got." Holmes said.

            "Will you listen to me for a minute!" Wanda screeched.

            "Sure." Holmes said.

            "Go ahead." Watson said almost at the same time.

            "Thank you." Wanda said struggling to get herself under control. Spots were still swimming infront of her eyes. "I’m the Scarlet Witch, that’s the Invisible Woman and that’s the Black Widow. We were taken captive by Dr.Doom, he shrunk us and we escaped. Will you help us?"

            "Who’s the Black Widow?" Holmes asked.

            "Yea, and isn’t it supposed to be the Invisible Girl?"

            "I changed it a few months ago." Sue said.

            "Oh." Holmes said nodding her head. "Well I’m Shirely Holmes and this is Johny Watson."

            "Hello."

            "Can you help us?" Sue asked.

            "That all depends." Shirley said kneeling down so they were face to face. "What you gonna do for us if we do?"

            "If you don’t help us Dr. Doom may end up ruling he world." Wanda said.

            "Doom? That guy in the armor with the real creepy voice." Watson knelt down beside Holmes. "I saw him in New York once, he was throwing lightning bolts around beating on some orange rock guy. He was cool. He’d do great ruling the world. Better than what we got now anyways."

            "Tell you what though." Shirley said picking Sue up. "You teach us how to do that invisibility stuff," she paused and pulled a cell phone out of her back pocket, "and I’ll let you make a collect call."

            "It’s not that easy." Sue said. "My powers are part of me, they were the result of a cosmic accident."

            "Yea, but your married to flexible guy." Shirley said holding the cell phone above Sue’s head. "By the way how big can he make himself? In the man department I mean?"

            "Hey!" Johny protested.

            "Oh be quiet, your as curious as I am."

            "Like you ain’t curious about the rock guys thing?"

            "Wait." Sue called. They both looked at her. "I can give you something that will make you and your bikes invisible, but only for a few hours at a time. Let me make the phone call and it’s yours."

            Shirley considered Sue’s offer for a moment. Then she put the cell phone in her pocket and stood up.

            "Lets talk this over for a minute hon."

            "Right." John said standing up. "Don’t go anywhere girls."                     

            "Are you really going to go through with that deal?" Natasha asked as the giants talked.

            "Reeds’ got something that will mimic my powers." Sue said. "Right now we don’t have a lot of choices."

            "Who are you going to call though?" Wanda asked.  "We’ve both got robot doubles that are probably waiting by the phones."

            "We need and independent." Sue said. "Maybe the Xmen."

            "Or SHEILD." Natasha suggested.

            "Doom would have them covered." Sue said.

            Before they could say anything else Shirley and John came back.

            "Ok." Shirley said putting on a T-shirt. "Here is the deal. Johns gonna take you two" she pointed at Wanda and Natasha "to a place we know. I’m gonna take IG there in the other direction."

            "We figure someone’s probably after you." John said.

            "Now tonight once we’re safe I’m gonna let IG make her phone call. If John doesn’t hear from me by tomorrow morning he’s gonna call the Latverian Embassy." She picked Sue up and held her to her face. "Any problems with that?"

            "No." Sue said.

            "Good." Shirley said. "And I still want to know how big he can get."

            "As big as he needs to." Sue said with as much dignity as she could. "That means as big as I want him to get."

            "Nice." Shirley whispered glancing at Johnny.

            "I aint getting hit by radiation." Johnny said.

            "Just a thought hon. Shirley said and they both laughed. She dropped Sue down the front of her T-shirt. "You hold on and don’t kick."

            Getting on her motorcycle Shirley put on her helmet and kicked it to life. The roar from the engine knocked Wanda and Nancy off their feet and by the time they recovered the cycle was nearly out of sight.

            "Time to get packing fairies." John said quickly breaking camp. "We got us a hard ride and I can’t let you ride in my shirt." He took a newspaper out from under a bottle of beer and crumbled it up. Then he put it into the motorcycles’ saddlebag.

            "Where are we going?" Wanda asked as he picked her and Natasha up and dropped them onto the newspaper.

            "Into History honey, into History." John said slapping the lid shut and plunging Wanda and Natasha into semi-darkness.

…To be continued.

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