All characters mentioned are the properties of their respective companies except for the ones I've
                   made up.  There are sexual themes and some profane language present in this story so if this bothers you, please                        
                   move on to another story.  Otherwise, enjoy !


           Chapter 1 - Kids today
           ------------------------    

                    It was a cloudy overcast day in the city with a definite threat of a thundershower looming in the air.  The sidewalks were crowded with people going about their daily routine with the sounds of children playing in a nearby playground echoing all around them.  For one such person, the daily routine was something he relished as he strolled down the street with a small smile on his face.  Some people who saw him walking by looking extremely happy figured he was either a nut case or on some incredibly strong medication.

                    However, if these same people knew the truth about the diminutive man walking by, they would steer clear of him for entirely different reasons.  Known to the his neighbors as Owen Reece, a mild mannered man who worked at the local tire maker, he was known by some of the most popular heroes on the planet as the Molecule Man, capable of virtually reshaping the world to suit his desires.

                    After several defeats due to his lack of self-confidence more than anything, Owen decided to settle into a relatively humdrum existence with his wife and raise a family like anybody else.  Unfortunately, for Owen, humdrum  wasn't exactly the word he would use for his day-to-day living right now.

                    " If I had known that raising a kid was going to be so much hassle, I would have stuck to trying to conquer the world.  Kids today.... "  Owen thought as he mounted the stairs and walked down the hallway till he came to the apartment he lived in.

                    " Honey, I'm home ! " he called out as he entered his apartment imitating one of the voices from the many TV sitcoms he and his wife enjoyed watching at night.  He waited for a second by the door for her inevitable rushing up to him and giving him a big hug.  When she failed to do so, he walked into the kitchen area where he found his wife Marsha sitting at the dinner table staring off into space deep in thought.

                    " Nora, what's wrong, darling ? " Owen asked as he set down his lunch pail and looked around for his daughter Suzie, who was usually around this time of day.  She was a joy to have in his life though her temperamental nature for a young woman in her early 20's meant a lot of headaches for Owen and Marsha.

                    "  It's...Suzie..once again...sigh...she's been busy in Europe again according to the news.  There's been a report that the famous Swiss Alps became flat as pancakes in seconds this afternoon which happened shortly after Suzie left to go on her skiing trip.  There was also a report of the Swiss national swim team being turned into human sized gingerbread cookies and some Swiss police becoming chocolate bars.  Suzie can so irresponsible with her abilities at times ! " Marsha said with a heavy sigh.

                   Owen nodded as he sat down at the dinner table and held his wife's hands.  "  I'll fix up whatever problems she's made in a bit.  It's funny...she was a handful when she was 2 and changing everybody into toys for her to play with.  That's why we settled on advancing her age to a mature 21 year old so we wouldn't have to deal with adolescence and her ability usage at the same time.  Unfortunately, that has just meant spending every other day cleaning up after a bad break-up with a former boyfriend or dissatisfaction with how her day has been going."  he said glumly.

                   His wife looked at him with exasperation written all over her face.  "  You're going to have to lay down the law with her, Owie.  Tell her she's going to have to be more responsible with her abilities in the future or she might get into a situation you're not going to able to bail her out of. "  she said looking at her husband and then a nearby picture of their daughter.

                   Suddenly, the picture of Suzie seemed to come to life on its' own as a hand reached up and cupped the now moving head.  "  Mom...Dad..I wish you guys would realize that I'm not a little girl who needs her every move watched or monitored."  the photo said before there was a flash and it returned to the normal glossy state it was before.  A few seconds later, the couple's blonde haired daughter walked into the kitchen rubbing snow out of her hair and carrying her skis in the other.

                  "  Suzie, we're not following you around every time you step out of the home but your 'incidents' are getting more and more obvious every week.   The time you shrank the Red Sea into the size of hockey rink for you and your friends to skate on or when you turned the House of Congress into a giant fun house are just of the.."  Owen said before stopping abruptly and looking more closely at the skis his daughter was carrying.

                   Owen stood up and gestured in the direction of the skis that his daughter was holding.  A few seconds later, the skis started to shimmer and expand outwards with the yellow and black colors quickly changing to pink and black on one
and the other taking on pink and red colors.  As the skis expanded, they began to on the shape of two nude women in their early 20's with the one on the left blonde haired with average physique and the other a brunette with a much more toned physique and a tad bigger in the chest.  Both stared straight ahead oblivious to what was around them with their arms held rigidly to their sides and legs pressed tightly together.

                    Suzie leaned the women up against the wall after the change was completed and glared at her father  "  Can't you let me handle my own life without constantly meddling ? " she demanded of her father while jabbing her finger into the brunette's left breast.  Other than the nipple slightly hardening in response to the prodding, the brunette showed no sign of being aware of Suzie's poking her.

                     Owen, however, was not about to be distracted by his daughter's usual whinings and nodded towards the two women in question  "   Would you mind telling me the story behind these two women and how they wound up in the state they came here in ? " inquired the master of molecules in an impatient tone.

                    "   Well, I was on the slopes talking to this really cute ski instructor Bill when these two rich bitches come along and try to literally steal him away from me.  One of them even said to me that they intend to be skiing all day with him and there was nothing I could do about it.  When the instructor left briefly to get some lift tickets, I decided to make sure those two wouldn't be in my way.  I wiped their minds and implanted the suggestion that they were actually skis before changing them into a lovely red and black set of skis.  When Bill got back, I put them on and went skiing for the day with him just like those two bitches wanted. "  Suzie said in a way that indicated she considered what she did was a routine thing.

                 Owen shook his head as he glanced at the stiffened women before returning his gaze to his daughter  "  You can't just casually use your abilities in full view of everyone.  You'll bring attention to yourself or trouble or..."  he started to say before  falling silent as her daughter turned her back on him.
                 
                 Suzie stood silent for a second before turning to face her father once again.  " Spare me the lecture, Dad.  Honestly, I don't know why you're so scared of me of using my powers.  To be honest, I'm surprised you've never used your abilities as its' absolute master.  With the abilities we both have, it'd be child's play to get whatever we want and change this planet into whatever we desired. "  she said with a trace of megalomania in her voice.

                 " Suzie, how many times do I have tell you of what happens when anybody tries that global domination thing ?  Inevitably, he or she makes a mistake and a group of superheroes swoops in and defeats them to save the world yet again."  Owen said with a heavy sigh partly recalling his own past experiences.

                 " Dad, have you ever considered that all these would-be world conquerors did one thing wrong ?  They should have taken out the opposition first before seizing control of everything.  With no one out there to oppose them, who would stop them...or us ? "  Suzie said with a sly look on her face as if she had an idea fermenting.

                 "  What exactly are you getting at, Suzie ?  Are you saying you want us, as in you and me, to try to and take control of the world by first taking out the super powered ones that might stand in our way ?  I just want to say if you're planning to kill any of them, I'll put a stop to this idea of yours right here and now ! "  Owen said firmly even as his own mind toyed with what his daughter had suggested.

                 "  No..no..nothing like that at all.  I'd suggest changing them into inanimate objects would more than do the trick.  Of course, what objects they are transformed into would be up to me...or you. "  Suzie said with a playful tone to her voice.

                 However, before Owen could reply, his wife Marsha, who had stayed relatively quiet up till this point, jumped to her feet  "  Just wait one second, you two.  I thought, Owie, when you and I agreed to get married, one thing I made clear was that your days of going off on grand schemes that would result in fighting and such were over.  Now, with our daughter suggesting just such a thing, you're ready to go galloping off again.  I won't..." she said before stopping in mid sentence as her entire body froze in mid motion.

                Owen dropped the hand that he was pointing at his wife and looked over at his daughter.  "  Ok, I'll go along with this on a few more conditions.  One is that you have only 48 hours to eliminate all possible opposition to your assuming complete world domination.  The second is that you can not bring in anyone else to help you no matter what happens.  Failure on either of these conditions means you stop all this world domination talk and you will be discrete in all use of your abilities from now on. Any problem with these conditions ? " he said in a serious tone.

                Suzie nodded slowly  " Ok, I'll go along with these conditions providing you also participate in this test with the same conditions. One question I have is how are we supposed to travel around the globe in this competition and have an accurate idea of how much time has passed ? "  she inquired while staring at her transfixed mother.

                "  Well, if that's what I takes, I'll go along and try just as hard as you are.  As far as keeping track of time, I think your mother here will help that very nicely..."  Owen said with a smile as he gestured towards his wife dramatically.  A few seconds later, Marsha's body began to shimmer and become to move on its' own.  Her waist narrowed quite a bit while her shoulders and legs flared outwards.  Her arms locked tight by her sides before they melted into her body which was taking a glassy appearance that was also see through from top to bottom.  As her body continued to change with her top and bottom widening, there appeared to be dirt appearing in the upper half of her otherwise empty body.  A few seconds later, the change was complete and a life-size hourglass stood where Marsha was just a few minutes ago.

                Suzie stood looking at the hourglass in amazement as she could see her mother's face ( with a look of pleasure visible) clearly etched on her face.  "  That's cool, Dad, but do you think changing Mom into this won't make her mad afterwards ? " she said looking at her father with a puzzled look.

                "  Naah...I've done this with her a bunch of times and she never got mad.....in fact, just the opposite when..."  Owen said before cutting himself off before discussing anything involving him and his wife's bedroom habits.

                Suzie nodded in understanding before gesturing slightly at herself.  A second or so later, she was garbed in a black and gold unitard with a white cape and MM in big letters visible running diagonally across her chest and thigh high black leather boots.  Silver gloves and a red mask that barely covered her eyes completed her look as she looked herself over in the reflection of the hourglass.

                "  Call me Molecule Mistress ! "  Suzie said with a chuckle.  "  Now, Dad, if you don't mind, I'm off to the Justice League HQ and start with my world domination. " she said with a flourish before disappearing.

                "  Kids !  Well, I guess it's off to Fantastic Four headquarters for me.  I wonder if Crystal still hangs out there.."  Owen said before he vanished as well leaving an oversized hourglass slowly ticking down on the competition....

                To be continued.....