Chapter 16
Harry and Susan sat on an invisible couch on an invisible platform floating in the air in the desert. All around them the military was active at the site of Reed Richards' latest experiment in teleportation through the N-Zone.
"I'm really quite surprised that Reed didn't ask for your help in his little project," Susan pointed out. "I mean I'm sure you have all the bugs worked out in this technology already."
"I do," Harry agreed. "I just don't think he thought to ask."
The invisible couple watched as Reed pushed a button after checking everything was prepared. There was a flash of light and the apple on the transporter platform vanished. Reed, Sue, and her father analyzed the readings and commenced with the second step. The apple reappeared on a neighboring platform.
"Did it work?" Ben asked his friends from nearby.
"It worked," Reed answered.
"Cool. Now can you explain to me what the working means again?" Ben asked.
"Dude, you are so like dumb...you are as dumb as a sack of rocks," Johnny said to Ben.
"Johnny...we talked about this. Be nicer to people," Susan sent to her brother knowing her boyfriend would relay her thoughts.
Johnny glanced around looking for his second sister while Ben threatened the fire wielder.
"What we just proved is that organic material can safely be transmitted in and out of the N-Zone. Since we don't have the original accident codes I will have to do some research to get around it. I need to learn as much about the N-Zone as I can," Reed explained.
Reed began over to one of the platforms to take a reading with a handheld sensor. "Then you can change us back?" Ben queried. "I can change you and I back. Sue and Johnny don't want to change back," Reed replied. "Why wouldn't they want to change back?" Ben asked.
"Sue thinks she is now the best scientific puzzle in history. Our current science can't explain invisibility. She should be blind when she is invisible but she isn't. That isn't even covering the force-field generation," Reed explained. "There is no side effect as far as she can tell and she looks normal. Johnny doesn't care that the flame powers may be burning up his body fat for power."
"How does the flame not burn him?" Ben asked.
"His skin isn't actually skin. He is covered in a microscopic film made of transparent plates," Reed explained. "The plates are fireproof. Fat cells go into clean nuclear fusion and jet out the plasma between the plates. The plasma ignites on contact with air. We are still working on further details."
"Reed, we have the initial analysis done on the apple," Sue said as she walked up. "The apple has dropped temperature hard but not what you would expect in a vacuum. So it isn't space. There is some particle
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adherence. Most of it is loose hydrogen but there are other compounds we can't easily identify. I think it's time to send a robotic rover through."
"I have a better idea," Reed said as the group began packing up. "I recognize that look," Susan said. "Reed will be in the lab for hours to days." Susan was right. The Fantastic Four went back to the Baxter Building soon after.
Reed's idea turned out to be a robotic buoy which could shape-shift into a portal generator. Reed wanted to build a vessel to take into the N-Zone to explore. Reed invented a new kind of armored tile much stronger than that on the space shuttle for the job. It was an interesting concept and one that Susan and Harry watched hidden. Reed soon proposed the concept to General Ross.
Ross accepted the idea because Reed had hinted at a military application from the N-Zone teleportation technology. Ben and Johnny liked the idea of going into the N-Zone. Sue and her father were...less enthusiastic.
"Sue, honey," Franklin Storm said as he stalked down the hallway of the Baxter building the Fantastic Four had been standing in discussing the trip to the N-Zone. "Put Reed down so I can kill him."
"Dad," Sue said in outrage while lowering herself and Reed to the floor.
"Don't take that tone with me, Sue. Reed, I am going to drag your scrawny form into my lab and experiment on you until I figure out how to make you die," Franklin threatened.
"Dr. Storm," Reed began to protest. "You plan to take my children into the N-Zone," Franklin said accusingly. "Dad, it is my choice," Sue pointed out. "You're grounded," Franklin said. "Dad, I'm too old to ground," Sue pointed out. "No you aren't. The law says I am right," Franklin argued. "No it doesn't," Sue answered. "What is this all about?" "In the last six months I have almost lost you and Johnny four times now," Franklin admitted. "Dad, you know we are going to be fine," Johnny assured. "How do you know that?" Franklin asked.
"Because...because...I'm friends with Spider-Man and I am going to invite him along," Johnny answered with a triumphant grin.
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"You are?" Ben said. "Yup. I will invite him," Johnny agreed. "Well...his expertise would be useful. He is from another universe after all," Reed admitted. "I would feel much better with him along," Franklin added. "It's settled. I'll invite him then," Johnny said. Johnny left to contact his second sister.
"Thanks for coming, Harry," Reed said. "No problem," Harry assured. "Tell us your crazy plan, Reed," Sue told her boyfriend. Susan stood invisibly in one corner of the room.
"I want to have one of the space shuttles decommissioned early. It can be taken to an Army skunk works. We have the shuttle's ceramic tiles scraped off and replaced with my lighter and stronger tiles. We replace the engines with the Stark engines and Stark super-fuel. We could make a trip to the moon and back on one tank of fuel," Reed explained.
"Could you power it with the zero point energy system you are flying the fantasti-car with?" Franklin asked.
"No. I couldn't draw enough energy to power something this big. S.H.I.E.L.D. can do it but I can't get them to release the papers," Reed answered.
"Reed, how about you let me name this one? Your names kind of suck," Johnny said. "That depends on what name you pick. Sue has veto power," Reed answered. "What do you think about the ship, Spider-Man?" Franklin asked.
"You can all call me Harry," Harry invited. "I can help you incorporate a lower powered shield design just as an extra line of defense in case of attack. But I will have to help you create a small power plant to power the shield."
"What type of power plant?" Reed asked curiously. "An anti-matter fuel," Harry answered. "How would we get the fuel?" Reed asked. "I can supply it," Harry assured.
"Fascinating...I would love to discuss this power plant and shielding technology with you," Reed suggested.
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"Sure," Harry agreed before the two males went off to talk.
Over the course of the next month the launch zone and revamped shuttle were setup in the desert. Sue had needed to use her veto power when Johnny chose the name Awesome for the ship. Sue chose the name the Dauntless.
It wasn't long from Harry's perspective until he sat in the Dauntless with the Fantastic Four cruising after exiting the launch platform. Susan sat invisibly on his lap.
"This is so exciting," Susan declared mentally as the Dauntless cruised into the N-Zone through the gate and Reed deployed the gate-buoy to return them back to their universe on the return trip.
"Are you ok, Johnny?" Reed asked. "You don't look so well." "I feel a bit funny," Johnny admitted. "Run a scan of Johnny, Lily," Harry instructed his bio-net AI. "He is in the process of shedding his outer skin," Lily answered. "Like a snake?" Harry clarified.
"Very much so," Lily confirmed. "Though my analysis tells me he will go into a dormant state in the process. He was absorbing a low level energy in our universe which would slow the process but that energy does not exist in the background in this universe."
Harry relayed all of this to Susan while idly listening to Reed and Sue's analysis of this universe. Reed and Sue tried to dumb down their analysis for Ben. The gist of it was that the N-Zone was a universe near the end of its life. The N-Zone was near heat death where all sources of heat in that universe would be expended and everything would die. Atoms would cease to spin.
"This universe is smaller than ours as well," Reed explained. "I also believe it is located beneath our universe. A lecturer at the Baxter Building once explained his super-universal structure. Think of it like an infinite number of universes stacked on top of each other like a stack of maps. The rules of physics here aren't the same as in our universe which is why we can instantly send objects through it for teleportation."
"I wanna go outside for a space-walk," Ben said. "I have a suit and we aren't moving." "Alright, Ben," Reed agreed. "Do you need help suiting up?" "No. I've got it," Ben assured. While Ben was out for his space-walk a message came through to the shuttle.
"That is language, Reed," Sue said excitedly. "It has repetition and cadence." "Yes...but it is very foreign," Reed replied as he began working on analyzing and deciphering the language.
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Ben was called back inside. Reed was reluctant to make first contact for fear of angering the big-wigs back on Earth.
"Look...just say I took control and forced you to come along if you wanted. There is nothing they can do to me back home," Harry offered.
"No, no. That isn't necessary. I want to go," Reed admitted.
"Then let's go," Sue urged.
The Dauntless was soon speeding towards the source of the alien transmission.
"What the hell is that?" Ben asked an hour later as the occupants of the Dauntless spotted a massive object floating in the distance.
"I have no idea, Ben," Reed replied.
"Me either. Things are so very different in this universe," Sue added. The object looked like a giant skeleton for a pterodactyl. "Let's just assume for a minute that I can accept the idea of a hundred-mile-long organism that lives in space. How does it get reduced to a skeleton? How can something decompose in space?"
"There are microorganisms that can live in space. They are very different to anything you have studied before," Harry assured.
"Then this universe is many life-times of research waiting to begin," Sue answered. "Let's take a closer look," Reed suggested as he flew the Dauntless closer to the skeleton. "The skeleton contains rock, metal, and enamel," Sue noted as a light was shone upon the skeleton. Small creatures vaguely resembling crabs crawled on the bones. "I believe this was the hull of a living bio-engineered space-ship," Harry announced. "Why do you say that?" Sue inquired. "My scans are more detailed," Harry answered.
"I don't see a scanner," Reed noted. Harry merely grinned in reply. Reed took the Dauntless closer to the source of the transmission. "I don't like this. The source of the transmission is closer to the nearby star than the closest planet," Reed announced.
Stretched out in front of the Dauntless was a space station assembled from the components of many old starships.
"What should we do now?" Sue asked.
"Get us closer. I'm interfacing with the Dauntless and uploading a translation program. They should be able to communicate with us better now," Harry explained.
Reed had already tried some primitive communications earlier. Reed sent a request for a meeting.
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The reply came saying, "Greetings. Please make dock on our habitation. Anticipation is felt to meet travelers from Main Sequence star."
"What did they mean Main Sequence?" Ben asked.
"It means a star that is in the prime of its life. Their star is nearly dead," Harry answered.
"Is that star a White Dwarf? Reed asked. "It looks too cold to be a White Dwarf."
"I wouldn't try classifying it," Harry said. "The star has been artificially manipulated by a sentient species."
"I know we theorized about such things," Reed said with awe. "But to actually know civilizations exist that could have done it is another matter entirely. Can we go meet them? We all have to agree."
"I say we go," Sue agreed. "Between Harry and I we have your asses covered," Ben said. "Aliens," Johnny agreed. "I would like to meet the locals," Harry agreed. Reed grinned and began slowing the Dauntless and maneuvered the craft in for docking. "We have magnetic hard dock. Let's go meet the locals," Reed declared enthusiastically a few minutes later. "Aren't you going to put on a suit, Harry?" Reed asked as he and his teammates suited up.
"I don't really need one. But I suppose I should put one on for the sake of appearances. In case the locals are hostile I would rather they think I need a suit even if I don't actually need one. Their assumption of me needing a suit could prove a useful distraction," Harry said.
Lily activated an armored suit which poured out of the pocket dimension in Harry's pocket in the form of liquid nanites. Within moments the nanites had covered his form and solidified into a silvery seamless and sleek looking futuristic suit.
"Nice," Ben said appreciatively. Susan wore a matching suit but in a more feminine color. The group was soon in the space station's air-lock. "This place is kind of scummy," Ben noted.
"Well given the fact their universe may be ending I think we can excuse their lack of cleanliness," Sue pointed out. "According to my readings three good lungfuls of this atmosphere would kill us."
Just then a humanoid figure walked into the air-lock. The humanoid figure was dressed in definitely alien clothing and a gold-colored face mask with compound eyes like that of an insect.
"Greetings, my name is Nihil. Welcome to last station," Nihil greeted. "I am Reed. It is an honor to meet you," Reed said. Nihil possessed a pair of sinewy wings and multiple arms.
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"I don't think I've ever met a species so glad to see me," Nihil said. "That said, your locative information was confusing. I'm assuming you have a parent vessel located in our system? Your craft doesn't seem equipped for interstellar travel."
"Our craft is not," Reed confirmed. "I didn't really think it was ready for sustained interstellar travel either but the local conditions of this place make it easier. We are from somewhere else."
"Regardless of your origins and your craft you seem to have journeyed far to meet me. Let me show you around my home which is sadly unique," Nihil suggested before leading the way out of the air-lock. "My home has become something of a refugee camp. Our star is in terminal sequence but that is to be expected with entropic collapse everywhere now."
"This space is near heat death?" Reed clarified.
"Yes. In your terms we think we have some five hundred thousand years, perhaps a million," Nihil answered. "Our super-expanded universe will lose its spin, atoms will fall apart, and everything will freeze. Even now we spend most of our time generating heat near our star. But you beings are not from around you, are you?"
"No," Reed confirmed. "We are from a universe adjacent to yours. We call your universe the N-Zone."
"I thought you might be. We call your universe above ours Ultraspace," Nihil explained. Nihil led the group into a large chamber. "This is my personal chamber. This is my one vice as station leader...a place to call mine alone. Let me show you the structure of super-reality as I understand it," Nihil said as he brought up a diagram on a computer monitor. "I believe in an infinite stack of realities. At the bottom of this stack are the simplest possible spaces such as two-dimensional zones, quantum arenas, and acoustical spaces where life exists as music. Then the stack increases in complexity all the way up to universes like mine and I think yours. From the data you shared your universe is young and bright. There is much you could learn from me and my universe, Reed. Imagine if you could take home the essential preparations for heat death. You could forestall the end of your universe."
Harry caught Johnny before Johnny could collapse to the ground.
"Johnny," Sue screamed. When she saw his face she said, "We need to get back to the ship now."
Reed made apologies to Nihil as the group moved back towards the Dauntless.
After setting Johnny on a medical bed Harry explained, "He has gone into a dormant state while he sheds his skin. It's normal for his new physiology. He will be alright."
"I would like to get him back to my scanners to confirm that. We need to go now Reed. Say goodbye to Nihil and then we are leaving. We can always come back," Sue urged.
"Alright...come on Ben. Let's go say goodbye," Reed agreed, sounding reluctant but consigned. Reed and Ben left. Sue noticed a few minutes later as Harry's attention focused on the station. "What is it?" Sue asked. "Trouble?" "Yes. Ben and Reed are being attacked," Harry answered. "I'm going to go make sure they make it back
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here safely."
"Alright," Sue said.
"The time for me to hide has ended," Susan said while becoming visible much to Sue's surprise.
"I wondered where you were," Sue said. "Usually when he shows up so do you," she said while pointing at Harry.
"I've been around," Susan said with a wink. "Let's go." The couple departed the Dauntless.
When Harry and Susan reached Ben and Reed the two male members of the Fantastic Four were in the process of making good an escape. Harry immediately noticed that Ben's face-plate on Ben's space-suit was destroyed. Ben appeared capable of breathing in the alien atmosphere toxic to anything base-line human. Reed's face-plate was a melted on polymer replacement. It appeared Nihil had used some attack to take out their face-plates in hopes Ben and Reed would suffocate. Nihil lay on hands and knees with one wing torn from his body.
"Make them die," Nihil snarled at his forces while Ben and Reed fought through the hooded creatures serving Nihil.
Harry thought Nihil's minions looked a lot like Jawas from Star Wars.
"Harry, are you sure Johnny is going to be alright?" Sue's voice came over the group's communicators.
"Yes," Harry replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm really not liking how fast his vitals are dropping," Sue answered.
"His body is going to go into a semi-dormant state. He is alright," Harry assured.
"What are they shooting at us?" Ben asked even as he spotted Susan and Harry.
"It's a plasma weapon," Reed answered while taking one of the weapons from one of the Jawa creatures and shooting several more.
Susan used one of her force-fields to flatten an entire group of Jawa creatures. Harry webbed up the passage the group had just moved through to keep reinforcements from following them.
"In English, Reed," Ben said. "It shoots hot stuff," Reed answered. "Gotcha," Ben said.
When Ben smashed several Jawas aside, some of the other denizens of the station attacked the Nihil's minions. Harry quickly scanned the nature of these other creatures and had Lily scan the other denizens of the station. He located any creature that wasn't malevolent like Nihil and had Lily teleport them into a pocket dimension she controlled. These aliens were kept unconscious.
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"Where did they go?" Susan asked. "I have them. I have all of the non-malevolent denizens of this station. I will take them to a world in our
universe to live in peace," Harry explained. "Nice," Susan commented. "I hope you'll let me study their physiology."
"Of course," Harry agreed. When the group reached the air-lock they found the door locked. Harry had no trouble getting a grip on the door with his spider-powers and opened the passage with his immense strength.
"It appears Nihil has finally gotten around to jamming our communications," Reed noted. "He's in the air-lock," Ben warned while looking back at the portal into the station. The others turned to watch as Nihil operated a remote control. "He's reversing the polarity of his hull and disengaging our magnetic lock," Reed warned.
Susan was a step ahead of Reed and had the quartet enclosed in a spherical force-field. Harry pulled open the shuttle hatch when Susan brought the force-field against the ship and the group slipped inside. Harry webbed the hatch shut because he had broken the drive train.
"What just happened?" Sue asked.
"Nihil turned nasty. We need to leave," Reed answered as he climbed into the pilot seat and began getting the Dauntless going.
As the ship got going Ben announced, "We've picked up a tail."
One of the pterodactyl-like-ship-creatures had burst out of part of the station and was following the Dauntless. Two smaller creatures were following as well. Reed sent the Dauntless flying back at its normal top seed.
"Reed, can we go any faster? They are definitely gaining on us," Sue said.
"I'm opening the gate," Reed said. "We're almost there. I am going to try to ramp the fuel compressors up to 300%. Hopefully the ship won't blow up."
"It won't," Harry assured after Lily had analyzed it.
The stream of energy coming out the back of the Dauntless increased drastically and the ship shot forward at much greater speeds.
"They're shooting at us," Ben warned moments before the ship shuddered. "They hit our engines. We are losing power from the engines," Reed announced. "We are already at the portal. It will be ok," Sue said.
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Harry went to the rear of the ship and touched the wall nearest the engine. Lily responded to her creator's will and sent a surge of nanites streaming into the wall. The nanites came from a pocket dimension Lily controlled. The nanites began repairing the engines.
"We are regaining engine power," Reed announced in surprise before glancing back to the rear of the ship and spotting Harry at work. "Thanks, Harry."
"I'm shutting down the gate now," Sue announced after Reed had brought the Dauntless through.
The biggest of the alien vessels made it through the collapsing portal but not unscathed. Its tail section was severed leaving the collapsing portal. The two smaller vessels weren't so lucky and were destroyed by the collapsing portal.
Harry found it strange to be in a night-time environment again within a planet's atmosphere after having come through from the N-Zone. The region of the N-Zone the portal had been within had possessed a reddish hue. The Dauntless shot across the open dessert the portal generator had been set up in.
"Where should I take this thing?" Reed asked. "They are still pursuing us."
"I don't think they will be for long," Harry noted. "Their ship isn't doing well in this atmosphere and neither are they. The gravity of Earth isn't helping them either. Their physiology was adapted to the region of the N-Zone we found them in. We're heading straight towards Vegas. Try to steer us to the outskirts."
"How are we at Vegas so fast?" Ben asked. "We were clear out in the middle of nowhere." "We are moving at several thousand miles per hour, Ben," Sue answered. "They are going to go down soon," Harry announced.
Harry's prediction proved accurate. The pterodactyl ship crashed spectacularly on the outskirts of Vegas. Nihil's ship hadn't actually possessed an organic brain. All the rest of its systems were mostly organic but the ship had been bio-engineered to grow without an organic brain. A very limited AI controlled the functions of the ship. It was a good thing too because a thinking creature would be in tremendous agony from the crash. Reed piloted the Dauntless to set down as the occupants of the Dauntless noticed Nihil's minions pouring out of the living ship heading in the direction of Vegas.
"You lot stay our here and handle the enemy outside the ship. I'll go clear out the enemy vessel. I would like to capture that space-craft," Harry said.
"I'll cover your back," Susan volunteered. "Guys, lets engage them," Reed said.
The group jumped into action. Harry and Susan began tearing through the minions still in the ship. It was only a few minutes into their fight that a snag occurred.
"Harry, I'm detecting a catastrophic overload in their reactor core," Lily informed her creator. "Can you suppress it?" Harry asked. "No. But I can encase it in a shield and keep it from damaging the surrounding structure," Lily answered.
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The ship shuddered from the force of a muted explosion moments later as the reactor exploded. "What was that?" Susan asked.
Susan was invisible hitting any enemy that tried to sneak up on her boyfriend not any of the aliens actually could sneak up on Harry. Harry was webbing up the opposition.
"The reactor exploded. I've got it covered," Harry answered. Susan and Harry left the ship not long after having secured it. They found Nihil dead and Johnny just
touching down and deactivating his flame powers.
"Why did you all leave me back in the Dauntless while you had a party?" Johnny asked while referring to the fight.
"You passed out," Sue said while hugging her brother happily. "You shed your skin." "Like a snake," Reed added. "You went into hibernation. Your abilities seem to work alright now." "Uh oh," Ben said as a military helicopter came in for a landing. "Here comes Ross."
"I agreed to one simple test," Ross shouted as the helicopter shut down. "And you lead an alien invasion back to Earth and reveal yourselves to the public in a way we can't hide from. You did this all for what...for what, Mr. Richards?"
Reed tossed Ross one of the alien's hand-held weapons. "That is a hand-held death ray, General. It's pretty easy to reverse engineer and reproduce," Reed answered. Ross looked at the weapon in his hands and then back up at Reed grinning. "I love you, boy," Ross declared.
"That isn't all, General," Harry spoke up. "That ship is intact for the most part. It will need some repairs and I will need to replace the power reactor. Reed and I will also have to structurally reinforce it because it wasn't meant for this universe's gravity. But once that is done it will be a viable space-craft which is cheaper than any technology we currently have. The ship can pretty much be grown organically. And you have aliens over there to interrogate and learn from."
"So this has been a very beneficial trip then," Ross said. "Good work all of you. Let's get the press liason down here and then you can address your new fans."
Ross had pointed to the crowds gathering on the outskirts of Vegas to watch the scene. The crowds were quite large.
"Stardom, here we come," Sue declared.
Harry and Susan had decided to ride back to the Baxter Building with the Fantastic Four to spend more time
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with the FF.
"So do you think we are in trouble? Ross didn't seem too mad," Johnny mused.
"I think he was too busy salivating over all of the alien tech we brought back," Sue answered.
"Sir," the pilot spoke up. "We aren't receiving any response from the Baxter Building's ATC. Instead all the channels are full of this."
The pilot put what he was hearing over the speaker system.
"Better think fast, Richards...this is a think tank isn't it. Think fast, think deep, think hard lover boy... harder...harder...harder," a woman's voice issued from the speakers.
Suddenly all electronics except those Susan and Harry carried died within the helicopter...that included the helicopter itself.
"We're dead...everything just died," the pilot shouted in alarm.
The aircraft began to plummet. Harry jumped out of the helicopter and flew beneath before he caught the helicopter.
"Susan, will you force open the doors to the landing pad? They aren't retracting," Harry sent to his lover. "Sure thing," Susan agreed before using her force-fields to open the doors. Harry then set the aircraft down as gently as he could. "Sir, all hand-held tech is offline too," the pilot, Cutler, reported to the Lieutenant.
"That is because we were hit by a funneled EMP. It was something I was working on but never got quite right," Reed explained.
"What are these?" The Lieutenant asked as he bent down and picked up small cards.
"ID cards," Susan noted. "All the tech support and staff of the Baxter Building," she added. "Whoever has taken control of the Baxter Building obviously left them here for us to find. Our people have been taken."
"And we need to get them back," Reed stated.
"We aren't going anywhere," the Lieutenant declared. "We wait for backup."
"You have him and me. What more backup do you need?" Ben asked while pointing a thumb at Harry.
The Lieutenant didn't seem happy at the thought but then he nodded once.
"Alright...but it would be smartest to have Spider-Man take point. He does have a sense for danger after all," the Lieutenant said.
Harry stepped forward into the open stairwell door.
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"The defenses are disabled," Harry announced. Harry could sense the laser grid and concussion pulse array in the stairwell. "It's intentional by whoever took over."
"A trap then," Reed confirmed.
"The elevator is functional and responsive to our ID," Cutler reported.
"But there is no power to the data port," Kidby added.
"This person must think we are really dumb. The stairs it is," the Lieutenant said.
Power was dead throughout the building as the group went further in. In one of the labs one of the large monitors suddenly powered up. The image of a disfigured female appeared on the screen.
"Didn't I tell you to think Richards you're not fast enough you're not there yet I didn't hurt them but I sealed them in the air's probably getting chewy by now in your own time go ahead I'll score you out of ten," the female on the monitor rambled out.
Then the screen went blank again.
"Rhona," Sue said in sudden realization. "Rhona Burchill," she added. "She was interviewed and tested a day before you were, Reed. But she didn't make the cut. Her mannerisms are new. She sounded like she was being played at the wrong speed."
"The missing people are behind that door," Harry said while pointing towards a thick blast door. "I can burn through," Johnny volunteered. "That wouldn't be good for the people inside, Johnny," Susan pointed out.
Harry walked forward and placed a palm on each side of the split in the door and forced the two halves apart. There was the sound of the drive train being overwhelmed and then the door came open with relatively less force required on Harry's part. The room did contain the people the group sought but they were suspended in lines of some substance in patterns that resembled spider-webs. Everyone suspended was unconscious.
"What is this we are looking at, Richards?" The Lieutenant asked.
"This is a prototype crowd control system which Phineas Mason was working on before he left," Reed explained.
"Dad," Sue cried when she spotted her father.
"Is this stuff flammable, Reed?" Johnny asked.
"There's no need for that, Johnny," Susan said while using her force-fields to cut Franklin down.
"Phineas couldn't figure out how to solidify the gel without cutting off the tranquilizer flow. Whoever is controlling the Baxter Building is finishing our unfinished projects," Reed said.
At that moment a robot leapt out from among the suspended people in the dark chamber straight at Reed. The robot fired projectiles of the containment gel at the soldiers and Ben.
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"Flame on," Johnny called as he ignited. "Johnny...don't," Susan called.
The oxygen in the room had been low. The ventilation systems had been disabled in the entire corridor. Johnny had just burned the remaining oxygen. As everyone began to pass out Harry and Susan activated their armored space-suits. Harry shot webbing at the robot and jerked it forward. His fist sheered the robot's head off.
"We've got more incoming," Susan announced aloud for Reed's benefit.
Reed was still conscious despite the lack of breathable oxygen due to his physiology. Harry cast bubble-head charms on every human in the room even as Reed's version of Victor's robotic insect drones came flying into the room. Rhona had upgraded the drones with lasers which immediately began firing at Reed, Harry, and Susan. Susan responded with force-field fly-swatters. Her technique was very effective.
"Let's find this little bitch and show her why you don't mess with us," Susan stated. "Agreed," Reed said. He looked at those unconscious. "What about their oxygen?" "I've taken care of it," Harry answered even as everyone started to wake up. "What happened?" Franklin said as he rubbed his head and looked around.
"Rhona Burchill happened," Sue answered. "Apparently she didn't take her rejection so well," Johnny added.
Franklin winced before saying, "She didn't have a very good home life. Her intelligence was too high for traditional school systems but she wasn't a good fit here."
"Well we need to go take care of her," Reed said. "Johnny, Ben, escort this lot out," he directed while gesturing at the humans present.
"We want to kick this chick's ass," Johnny protested. "Do as he says, Johnny," Sue said while Franklin backed her up with his expression. "Alright," Johnny reluctantly agreed. Harry, Sue, Susan, and Reed moved off in search of Rhona.
Between Harry and Susan the quartet was made invisible and able to communicate telepathically. Finding Rhona wasn't hard. This led to the foursome silently and invisibly observing Rhona.
"What has she done to disfigure herself?" Reed wondered. "My scans show she grafted compatible brain matter onto her own to increase her neural capacity to go
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along with the neural speed enhancement she gave herself," Harry answered. "What's in that injection she is preparing," Sue questioned.
"A cocktail that will let whoever Rhona injects see her memories recorded into the cocktail. I would be impressed if her methods weren't so crude," Harry answered. "Apparently she knows you got selected instead of her, Reed. She blames you for her life. She wants to prove she is smarter than you. She plans to auction the Fantastic Four off to the highest bidder so that you four can be dissected."
"So what's the play here?" Sue asked. "This is the play," Susan answered as she gestured with her hand.
Rhona and her cyborgs were encased in shields from which Susan forced the air. It only took a short time for Rhona to pass out, a little longer for the cyborgs. Then the quartet became invisible.
"How anticlimactic," Reed noted.
"They all needed to breathe," Susan commented. "And what she did to these people...that was disgusting. I was tempted to just end her. She has used her intellect for terrible purposes."
"Can you help the cyborgs?" Sue asked while looking at Harry. "You have really advanced technology."
"Preliminary scans suggest it may be possible. But no promises," Harry answered while already knowing he could make the cyborgs human again.
"With her neural enhancements I'm not sure a prison will hold her. She will figure out a way to escape," Reed cautioned.
"Let's get her on a lab table and figure out how to counteract her enhancements before she is sent to prison," Susan urged.
The group of scientists did just that. Within a couple of hours Rhona would only have the intellect she was born with. For someone like Rhona Burchill having her mental capabilities reduced was worse than the imprisonment she also underwent. But it was no less than she deserved.
Harry and Susan floated invisibly above the scene below where Reed Richards and his girlfriend Sue Storms stood. The quartet was currently hundreds of millions of years in the past. When Harry had detected the time travel technology the Fantastic Four was involved with he and Susan had of course decided to investigate. A group of hackers had hacked into the Fantastic Four's computer systems and stolen plans for a time machine designed by Sue and Reed. The FF had traced the thieves to the compound the thieves were using and followed the hackers to the past.
"Be careful what you step on when you search for the hackers," Reed warned Ben. "Even the smallest changes can have huge consequences for the timeline."
Ben and Johnny were at a later point in the timeline. "Reed, this is Johnny," Johnny said. "I have searched the area in a ten mile radius around our arrival point. There is no sign of the hackers in the Cretaceous period. Do you think they may have already left this time
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period?" "It is possible," Reed agreed. "They had a higher mass than we did so may have had to take it in two hops."
"I find it fascinating to think about the fact we are standing in the same place as you two but fifty million years earlier," Sue mused. "Is that huge rock shaped like a witch's hat up ahead still there?"
"I see a rock shaped like that but it is maybe 15 or 20 feet tall. How big is it back then?" Ben asked.
"It's over a hundred feet tall," Sue said with a grin on her lips. "It's amazing what the weather can do over time."
"It's spectacular," Lead Hacker said with a mask covering his face and a gun pointed at an amphibious creature that was supposed to evolve to a higher life form and seed Earth's land with life. "Now get the United Nations on that phone of yours. I want you to tell the Secretary-General if we don't get fifty billion dollars in our accounts I will shoot the first thing that ever crawled out of the sea."
"You could wipe out all of humanity...including yourselves," Reed pointed out.
"Life isn't worth living if you aren't rich," Lead Hacker declared. "And if you try anything the frog gets it. We studied your powers before hacking you. We know you can stretch like a rubber band, Mr. Fantastic. And we know she can turn invisible."
When Lead Hacker didn't say anything about Sue's force-fields it quickly became apparent he didn't know. Sue lashed out with her force-field and sent the four hackers hurtling back a dozen feet. Reed meanwhile caught the creature they had been threatening. Harry and Susan followed the Fantastic Four back to their correct time.
When the Fantastic Four emerged from the time portal Captain America and Iron-Man were waiting for them.
"What is going on here?" Steve asked. "The Ultimates received a call that there was a temporal emergency and the Fantastic Four were involved."
Before Reed could answer Harry and Susan materialized to the surprise of all.
"The problem is over," Harry assured his teammate. "Reed, as an FYI...your time machine wouldn't have gotten you back to your original timeline. It would have been close...but the changes in the past would have shunted you to a different future. I tweaked the portal as it was forming and fixed that. This is your correct present."
"Fascinating," Reed mused. "We never knew."
"You would have likely never known the difference," Susan agreed.
"Why didn't you let us know you were there?" Sue asked.
"We wanted you to get some experience without feeling we were looking over your shoulder," Harry explained.
"We'll get these guys back to the Triskelion for questioning," Steve said as they rounded up the hackers.
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"Thanks, Steve," Harry said.
Harry and Susan walked with the Fantastic Four out the front and were met with the press. Harry and Susan stood in the back and weren't noticed thanks to a Notice-Me-Not charm. Harry let the FF learn how to handle the press. When the FF headed back to the Baxter Building, Harry and Sue flew alongside them. Harry dropped the charm.
"Why didn't they say anything about you?" Johnny asked. "Harry can make us unnoticed when we want to be," Susan explained.
Franklin Storms was waiting on the group when they returned. He immediately pulled his children into a hug.
"I feel better knowing you two were along," Franklin told Harry and Susan after pulling back from the hug. "Reed, you have got to stop dragging my children into these adventures of yours," Franklin said. "Dad, we chose to go along. It isn't Reed's fault," Sue interjected sharply. "Ditto," Johnny said.
"Look, I'm sorry. I know it isn't your fault, Reed. But our backers are getting nervous. You are opening them up to a world of lawsuits and aren't completing your assigned practical tasks in the time allotted," Franklin explained.
"There's a solution for that," Harry mused.
Harry stared off in the distance for a moment.
"What is the solution?" Ben asked after several long moments.
"I can buy the Baxter Building and fund this think tank," Harry mused. "Which I just did," he added.
There was stunned silence and Franklin said, "The military would never sell this place."
"Oh...you'd be surprised. Everybody seems to be under the impression that I will disintegrate or crush them if I don't get my way," Harry mused.
"Just because he could do that doesn't mean he will," Susan added with a smirk.
"I made an agreement with Ross that he could contract out our services but we have the right to choose the time-frame and the right to refuse," Harry explained. "That goes for the businesses of our former owners as well."
"You are an awesome friend, Harry," Reed declared. "I am, aren't I," Harry agreed. "Franklin, please give me a full tour of the place." "Yes, Sir," Franklin agreed.
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"It's still Harry," Harry directed.
Susan and Harry went on their tour. Several hours later Reed was getting up to more mischief when Lily detected Reed teleporting out of that universe into the N-Zone.
Harry and Susan jumped through soon after Reed had departed only to find Reed in ruined version of New York.
Reed stood before an older version of the Fantastic Four. This older version of the quartet possessed disfigured facial features.
"They are infected with a terrible virus," Lily informed Harry. Harry relayed Lily's findings to Susan. "They appear to have human remains in their digestive systems."
"Expand your scan and tell me how far the infection has spread," Harry directed. "This entire world is infected," Lily announced. "I am detecting only super-powered beings and all are
infected. Wait...there are pockets of humans left but they number less than fifty." "What was the population of this world?" Harry questioned. Lily accessed what remained of this world's internet and replied, "1.1 billion."
The alternate Earth had possessed a much smaller population than the two Earths Harry had been to but over 1 billion human deaths was still staggering. While Harry had been digesting this information with Susan the zombie-Fantastic Four attacked younger Reed. After analyzing the effects of the virus Zombie was an apt description of what was wrong with the superheroes on this world. A zombie virus existed which only infected superheroes.
Reed managed to escape. Harry and Susan followed Reed but remained invisible. Harry took a moment to analyze the wormhole he and Susan had transported through to get to this world.
"What is it?" Susan asked.
"This world isn't in the N-Zone we explored not long ago with the Fantastic Four. The fabric of the N-Zone is destabilizing allowing intra-universal wormholes to form. It was through one of those wormholes that we traveled after Reed," Harry explained.
"Ah...thinking about that would give me pause too," Susan said. "Heads up...it looks like Reed has company."
A group of zombie superheroes had closed in on Reed. Zombie-Spider-Man shot a stream of webbing pinning Reed to a pile of rubble.
"Daredevil, you were right. He is enhanced but uninfected," Zombie-Spider-Man declared. "How did we miss him?" Zombie-Thor questioned.
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An explosion occurred not far away which caused the group of zombies to turn and look. Zombie-Hulk leaped out of the exploding area.
"Hulk knows little men are hungry...but Hulk is the hungriest of them all," Zombie-Hulk yelled while tossing the other zombies around.
Hulk pulled Reed from the webbing.
"Leave me alone," Reed said.
"Stretchy-boy belong to Hulk now," Zombie-Hulk called.
Suddenly a tanker truck hit the ground causing all the zombies to look up.
"Run," Zombie-Captain America cried.
Dozens of vehicles bombarded the zombies including Hulk smashing them away, disintegrating them with the explosion of fuel, or burying them in rubble depending upon their durability.
"Come with me," Magneto said while holding out his hand to Reed. "You have nothing to fear with me here."
Harry and Susan followed Magneto and Reed to abandoned train yard. The couple watched as Magneto unblocked a railway tunnel fashioned into a bunker before sealing it up again.
"I fashioned this refuge out of an abandoned railway tunnel," Magneto explained as part of his ongoing conversation with Reed. "It isn't perfect by any means but it has lighting, toilet facilities, and a place to store our food. But we know it won't last. The infected will find us. Nobody wants to end up in the belly of an infected superhero. We have escape tunnels."
"When did the infection start?" Reed asked.
"Two or three days ago," Magneto answered.
"You're kidding," Reed said.
As Reed and Magneto came upon a group of humans Magneto said, "Don't worry. It's just me and I have brought a friend."
"Are you crazy, Magneto?" Danny demanded.
Danny was a middle-aged man. Standing next to him was a woman named Kelly. Danny's daughter Mindy lay nearby resting.
"He's a superhero," Kelly said while aiming her gun at Reed. "He will be infected."
"Reed is not infected, Kelly. Put away your gun. It wouldn't harm most superheroes anyway," Magneto said.
Magneto introduced everyone. Mindy greeted Reed warmly.
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"Did you manage to find any insulin at the hospital?" Danny asked Magneto.
"I ran into Reed on my way to the hospital. Don't worry. We will go back out and look," Magneto assured.
"I believe this is a good time to make our presence known," Harry sent to Susan.
"Alright," Susan agreed.
Harry and Susan became visible. Kelly's gun was trained on them pretty damn quickly. Magneto and Reed turned and spotted the couple.
"Harry, Susan," Reed gushed as he rushed forward and pulled the couple into a hug. "I'm so glad to see you."
"Ok...she looks like Susan Storms and he looks like Reed Richards. But they are infected. Where are you guys from?" Mindy asked.
"We are their counterparts from a parallel universe. I was tricked into coming here by this world's Fantastic Four," Reed admitted. "How did you guys get here?"
"We followed you here," Susan answered. "We came to make sure you got back alright."
"Are you saying you opened a gateway between our world and yours?" Magneto asked Reed. "You have given the infected here a means of reaching your neighboring reality."
"We have to get to the Baxter Building and stop them using that gateway," Reed whispered in sudden realization.
"I'm afraid it is much too late for that, Reed. Your world is already dead," Magneto declared sadly. Reed turned and looked intently at Harry. "You've never met our version of Spider-Man, Magneto," Reed said. "What about it, Harry? Can you help?"
"I already have," Harry assured. "When we came through several of my mates went to the Baxter Building to guard the portal. I have already received word that the Zombie-Fantastic Four tried to come through the portal. Between our Fantastic Four and my mates the Zombie-FF has been captured and contained. Watch for yourself."
Harry projected a holographic display of Sue, Ben, and Johnny facing off against the Zombie-FF with the aid of MJ and Gwen.
"Your mates are powerful," Magneto noted. "You are that easily able to communicate between universes?" "He isn't originally from our universe. He traveled from an Earth far in the future relative to ours," Reed
explained. Harry walked over to Mindy and held out a vial for her. "This will help with your diabetes issue," Harry said while Mindy took the vial.
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"Harry, is that?" Reed said while indicating the vial.
"Not just that," Harry answered. "There is actually very little of what you are thinking about in the vial."
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked even as Mindy downed the vial.
Mindy shuddered in pleasure.
"Mmm...that was delicious," Mindy declared.
"Good...because you no longer have diabetes," Susan announced.
"What?!" Danny said.
"Are you serious?" Mindy said.
"Yes," Susan answered.
"They aren't kidding. I have observed that same primary ingredient bring back the dead on my world," Reed said.
"What is this primary ingredient?" Magneto asked. "Harry's semen," Susan answered.
Before any reaction could occur from the natives the entrance to the hide-away was torn open by Zombie- Thor. Magneto reacted nearly instantly by throwing a train at the zombies.
"Follow me," Magneto ordered even as he took off for one of the escape routes.
Magneto led the group out one of the escape tunnels. When they came up onto the street Magneto came to a dead stop blocking the tunnel.
"What is it?" Kelly asked.
"Look," Magneto said as he stepped aside to reveal a crowd of zombie-superheroes.
"Fuck," Danny swore.
"Should I cure them or destroy them?" Harry asked.
"You can cure them?" Susan queried.
"Yes. Lily has synthesized a cure," Harry confirmed. "But this lot has been eating humans. They killed millions. I don't know that they can live with themselves."
"How about you imprison them for now and decide later. I bet you could imprison them pretty easily," Susan suggested.
"That works," Harry mused. "Step aside please," Harry told his companions.
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Even as Harry came forward Zombie-Giant-Man said, "I get to eat the girls."
Harry carefully thought about how much power he wanted to show. He could subdue everyone in front of him in seconds magically but that would reveal more than he was currently willing. Harry decided to stick with the tried and true method. He leapt forward into the crowd of zombies releasing webbing as he went. The webbing flew fast and true tangling up the limbs of the zombies. Harry moved fast. No zombie even got relatively close to him. The zombies focused on him in order to try to overwhelm him with numbers. Within the span of thirty seconds all the heroes were ensnared in the webbing. The zombies strained and struggled against the webbing.
"What is in that webbing?" Reed asked. "That's the Hulk." The Hulk was roaring in rage but was unable to break free. "That's a secret," Harry replied. "Did we get here after all of the action is over?" Sue asked as she, Johnny, and Ben showed up. "It looks like it," Reed said.
"What are you going to do with all of them?" Mindy asked gesturing to the zombies.
"I will imprison them in stasis for now. They won't bother anyone again. I can clean up this world but it is still a ruin. You should all come back to our Earth," Harry suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Kelly agreed.
The other survivors nodded in agreement.
"Would one of you take them back?" Harry asked the FF.
"We want to stay and help you clean up," Johnny said.
Harry glanced off vacantly just then.
"You might want to rethink that. A woman who my scans tell me is genetically your mother just entered your Baxter Building," Harry informed the Storms.
"That can't be," Sue objected. "Our mother died fifteen years ago."
"My scans don't lie," Harry said while projecting a hologram of the woman in question meeting and speaking with Franklin Storms.
"We have to go back," Johnny said. Harry sent them back and then began the clean-up.