Archive of Our Own ^beta

Earth-616

The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man and the Wasp finished growing to full size - returning to the lab inside their penthouse in the Baxter Building. Each of them was bracing - prepared to face whatever scheme Doctor Doom had waiting for them. But seconds rolled by and nothing happened. It was just an empty lab.

“Huh? Where is he?” Susan asked, looking around. 

“He’s gotta be around here somewhere.” Johnny said, igniting his fist and leaving the lab. All six of the superheroes checked out every room of the penthouse, but there was no metal man in sight. 

“I don't like this. Doctor Doom isn't the type to play chicken.” Reed said, concerned.

“What if he never actually grew? What if he's hiding down there somewhere?” Janet asked.

“I don't think so. I think he’s out there. Plotting.” Reed sighed, peering through the window - as if hoping he’d see him all the way down in the streets.

“Great. So we went through all that for nothing!” Ben complained.

“No, Ben. We saved an entire Microverse from Doom’s rule.” Hank reasoned.

“Yeah, but condemned ours.” Ben pointed out.

“We’ll find him, Ben.” Reed assured him. 

“Or he’ll find us.” Johnny scoffed. 

“Wasp and I should get back to the lab. We’ll let you know if our ants pick up on anything.” Hank told them.

“It was nice meeting you.” Wasp smiled.

“And you! Thank you. We’d be goners, if not for you.” Reed told them. 

“Anytime.” Hank said, shaking Reed’s hand. The couple disappeared in a puff of red smoke and zipped out the window.

“Man. We could use someone like him on our team.” Johnny sighed. 

“Are you kidding? I'd be paranoid of stepping on him during every fight.” Ben laughed. 

“So… where do we start on our hunt for Doom?” Susan asked. 

“I suggest we split up and survey the city in the Fantasti-Car. I doubt we’ll find him, but it can’t hurt.” Reed suggested.

“You got it, boss.” Johnny nodded. “But who needs a car?” He said before bursting into flames and jumping out the window.

“Show off…” Ben grumbled.

Johnny flew above the city, scanning for any sign of an emerald cloak down below. Of course, there was no sign of him. 

“Dammit. If I was Doctor Doom, where would I hide?” Johnny asked himself. KRA-KOOM!! He came to a halt when he heard a loud clap of thunder, despite the skies being clear. Then he spotted him. Thor, the God of Thunder, was down below on a rooftop.

“Hey!” Johnny called out, swooping in.

“The Mortal Torch? What brings you here?” Thor asked with his deep, majestic voice. Johnny was just as awestruck as he was the last time he met the Asgardian. Johnny landed beside him and extinguished his flames. Thor was a powerful man with beefy, muscular arms and a couple extra feet taller than Johnny. He wore a leather tunic with metal, round, armoured segments. A scarlet red cape cascaded off his back and a silver helmet was nestled on his head of blond locks. He held his hammer in his strong hand, twirling it by the shaft.

“Besides sight-seeing?” Johnny said, flirtatiously, eyeing up the God’s biceps. “I’m looking for Doctor Doom. Don’t suppose you’ve seen him around?” He asked.

“Doom? I thought you bested him once before?” Thor asked, surprised.

“So? Some of these villains are like cockroaches - they just keep coming back.” Johnny pointed out.

“Yes. I know what you mean. Loki, my brother, is quite like that.” Thor nodded.

“So I take it that’s a no? You haven’t seen Doom?” Johnny sighed.

“I regret to tell you I haven’t. But I will keep watch for the metal man.” Thor shook his head. 

“Alright. Thanks. Let me know if I can help you in any way - with villains or other things.” Johnny said, giving Thor a wink before bursting into flames and flying away.

The Thing, meanwhile, was in his segment of the Fantasti-Car, hovering only a few feet above the road as he searched for Doctor Doom. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he spotted a green cape. He even had metal boots on! 

“It’s him! Holy crud! Can’t believe he’d be stupid enough to walk around with that costume on.” Ben scoffed driving towards the villain. “Hey! Doom! Guess what time it is- wait what?” Ben trailed off when the man turned around. It wasn’t Doctor Doom. He wasn’t wearing the mask, just a silver, mediaeval helmet. He was wearing a yellow sign over his chest that was advertising some theatre production.

“I–I didn’t do anything wrong?!” The man cried out.

“Sorry, pal. Thought you were somebody else. Maybe wear pink robes next time, yeah?” The Thing sighed, before driving away in defeat.

Susan Storm, meanwhile, was on her own search. She had abandoned the Fantasti-Car and was instead using her invisibility to her advantage. She crept through the slums of New York, hoping to hear any rumours exchanged by the thugs in alleyways. Susan did stumble across a pair of thugs meeting up in a long-forgotten parking lot. One of them had a guitar case in their hands. One of them had white hair, a bowler hat and a blue suit. The other wore a brown fedora, a burgundy coat and a pair of pinstriped pants.

“I think this is what you’ve been waiting for, Mr. Spade.” The man with white hair said, opening the guitar case. Susan watched, standing right next to them without them noticing. 

“Ohhh, you’ve outdone yourself, Professor. ” Mr. Spade smirked, taking the machine gun out of the case.

“This special adapter is what will make the difference. Notice how smoothly it fits on the barrel of the gun. It’s easy to handle, and never misses.” The Professor explained, slotting the adaptor on.

“Let’s test that, shall we?” Mr. Spade suggested, before aiming it at the inventor.

“What?! What’re you doing?” The Professor gasped.

“Hold still.” Mr. Spade growled before pulling the trigger. A spray of bullets fired out, but they never hit their target. An invisible force field had blocked the projectiles. The Professor cowardly hunched over, covering his eyes in fear. 

“What’s going on?!” Mr. Spade snarled, looking back down at his gun. Susan used the opportunity to grab the gun and kick the murderer backwards - making him fall onto his back. 

“I don’t suppose you know where Doctor Doom is?” Susan asked, turning visible as she looked down on Mr. Spade with a clenched fist.

“Doctor what?” He gasped. 

“Dammit.” Susan sighed, before punching Mr. Spade directly in the face, knocking him unconscious.

“P-Please don’t hurt me.” The Professor stammered.

“You’re selling guns to criminals. You’re no better than he is.” Susan said, before grabbing the Professor by the scruff of his shirt and throwing him onto the floor next to Mr. Spade. Then, she projected a forcefield bubble around the two of them and started walking to a payphone nearby. 

“You can both stay there while I call the police.” 

Reed Richards was also on the hunt for Doctor Doom. He knew it was redundant to even try. Wherever Doctor Doom was, if he didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be found. But Reed figured he’d walk down memory lane and visit the places Victor used to love, back when they used to date. Reed went to Central Park, where they used to have intense chess matches. He went to the library, where they spent many hours studying. He went to a diner which Victor loved to hate (he found the perky waitresses nauseating). There was no love lost when it came to Victor, but Reed always felt a sting when they faced off against the Latverian. A sting of guilt, for not being there when Victor needed it most. A sting of betrayal, because how could he do this? Reed even went to the university to check if the faculty had any visitors recently for the possibility that Doctor Doom wanted to use their labs. But there was no such luck.

Eventually, the Fantastic Four regrouped at the Baxter Building, defeated. None of them found Doctor Doom. None of them found a trace. 

“I’m afraid Doctor Doom is too smart to leave any clues to his whereabouts. We’ll just have to wait until he makes the first move.” Reed sighed.

“And knowing him, we shouldn’t have to wait very long.” Johnny commented.

“In the meantime, I suggest we take this time to relax. There’s no point sitting around and waiting for Doom to act.” Susan suggested.

“Yeah. I’d like to see Alicia again.” Ben said, eagerly.

“And I wanna see Roscoe. I can’t wait to tell him about Ant-Man and the Wasp.” Johnny agreed.

“That sounds like a good idea. We could use some time to ourselves.” Reed nodded. “Some top secret agent wanted to have a meeting with me anyway. What do you say Sue?”

“A chance to be a normal human being for a day? What more could a girl want?” 

As the team all planned to go their separate ways, Doctor Doom was hidden in an apartment in Manhattan - tinkering with some machines. The people who owned the penthouse were tied up in a corner, whimpering and trembling as Victor developed a radio transmitter.

“Here we go… With this, I can communicate with my inventions back in my laboratory in Upstate New York.” Doom said to himself (where Doctor Doom created the mind-swapping device). “Thankfully, I think ahead. When I captured the Fantastic Four (back in the Microverse), I scanned them - unlocking their Cosmic signature data.” He said, taking out the scanning device he had in the pocket of his green robes. He plugged it into the machine. 

“Now is the time, my creations. Lock onto the signature. Destroy the Fantastic Four.” Doctor Doom commanded.

Far away in Victor’s lab in Upstate New York, a machine was activated. An assembly machine that started producing robots - four to be exact. One by one they were built. They had bulky designs, with ‘skin’ like chrome. Then they all departed, each going in different directions as they tracked down the Fantastic Four.

“And then the Wasp came in all bloodied and bruised after fighting through an entire palace of guards. And then-”
“Johnny, baby…” Roscoe said, making the blond superhero stop. He was driving them both through the countryside in a yellow hot rod. The roof was down and the radio was playing the latest hits.

“You never answered my question.”
“What was your question again?”
“How are you?” Roscoe chuckled, wearing a leather jacket and a white tank top with a pair of jeans.

“Oh! I’m great. You know me, I love the crazy adventures.” Johnny smiled. He was wearing an orange crop top and a pair of white shorts. 

“How’s the rest of the team?” 

“I think they’re okay. Reed seems on edge, but I don’t blame him. He wins for having the craziest ex.” Johnny shrugged.

“At least you guys are- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!!” Roscoe blurted out when he saw an ominous, flying figure in the rearview mirror. Johnny turned around in the chair to see the large, scary robot flying towards them.

“Oh shit…” Johnny said, going pale. “Keep driving. Go to your Dad’s place. I’ll take care of this guy.” He told Roscoe.

“But Johnny-”
“Do it, Roscoe! This is what I do, remember?” Johnny told him before he jumped out of the car. “FLAME ON!!!” He shouted, igniting into flames and shooting away from the convertible. The clothes burned off his body as he zoomed towards the robot. He fired a stream of flames at the metal machine, but the flames had no effect on it.

“What are you? Are you one of Doom’s?” Johnny asked, but the robot didn’t respond. Instead, it flew at Johnny - chasing him through the sky, with fierce determination.

Meanwhile, in the city, Johnny wasn’t the only one who was on a date. Ben Grimm, the orange goliath, was walking along the promenade with Alicia on his arm. Ben was wearing a black trench coat, a white scarf and a blue fedora - trying to cover as much of his orange skin as he could. Alicia was wearing a sage cardigan and a black skirt, with a yellow scarf around her neck. 

“That dinner was lovely, Ben. You sure know how to treat a girl.” Alicia smiled.

“My girl only deserves the best. Where to now? A walk through Central Park? Fancy cocktails?” Ben suggested.

“I’ll follow your lead.” Alicia sighed, dreamily. But their evening was cut short when the people around them gasped loudly.

“What? Ain’t you guys used to me by now?” Ben complained.

“No, Ben… It’s not you.” Alicia realised, hearing the second robot come flying over. Ben looked up to see the bulky, sinister, silver robot.
“Shit. Run away, sweetie.” The Thing told her, ripping the baggy clothing from his body in preparation. Alicia wasn’t sure if she should do as he said, but what else could she do?

“Run!” Ben shouted, to everyone, not just Alicia. The robot swooped down and caught Ben’s swinging fist, then spun the orange monster around before throwing him into the window display of a boutique. CRASH!

“Alright, now I’m pissed.” Ben snarled, climbing out of the store. The robot stood in front of him, still and emotionless, waiting for the Thing’s next move.

As for Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman, she was dressed in a red dress, posing for a photographer. Ned Leeds was snapping pictures of her, a man who usually works for the Daily Bugle but occasionally took pictures for magazine covers on the side. They were in a rented-out studio, on the second floor.

“That’s it, Miss Storm! You’re a natural.” Ned praised. He was a handsome, young Filipino man with light brown skin and black hair that swooped beautifully.

“Thank you, Ned. It feels nice to have a job that doesn’t involve nearly dying for once.” Susan chuckled.

“Where were you last?” Ned asked, out of curiosity.

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.” Susan scoffed. The photographer’s face suddenly dropped.

“D-Did it involve a metal man?” He stammered.

“Yeah?” 

“Then I think he’s followed you.” Ned said, pointing towards the window. Susan saw the third metal robot for just a second before it crashed through the window so violently that a section of the wall crumbled away.

“One of Doom’s, I presume?” Susan said, in hopes it would respond, but it didn’t. It remained silent like the others. Ned started snapping pictures, knowing J. Jonah Jameson would love this at the Daily Bugle. The robot lunged at Susan, but she quickly projected an invisible shield, making the machine bounce back and crash into the floor.

“What is that thing?!” Ned blurted out, quickly getting behind the Invisible Woman.

“I don’t know. But I’m going to need backup…” Susan said, extending the shield so there was a bubble of protection around the two of them. The robot stood back up again and started pounding against the invisible barrier with a cold expression on the metal face.

In a dignified boardroom, Reed Richards was dressed in a grey suit, as requested by the National Security Council. Mr. Fantastic met federal agent James Murch inside a posh office on a high floor of a skyscraper.

“I can honestly say that the Fantastic Four has saved New York, and potentially this country, on countless occasions at this point. You have to see, by now, that superpowered teams can do far more good than superpowered individuals.” Reed reasoned. 

“That’s you, though. Could we trust a second team? Of men and women that barely know each other?” Murch sighed. He was a middle-aged man with auburn, balding hair and a bushy moustache. He, too, wore a suit.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with most of them, to some degree. They’re a good bunch. Except for the Hulk, maybe…” Reed assured him, gesturing to the files on the table. A file on Iron Man, a file on Ant-Man and the Wasp, a file on Thor and a file on the Hulk.

“Exactly. The Hulk. What is wrong with Stark? How could he possibly think involving the Hulk is a good idea? If Thunderbolt ever found out about this, he’d go berserk.” James sighed.

“Maybe Tony’s trying to rehabilitate the Hulk. You know him and ‘second chances.’” Reed shrugged.

“It just sounds like a disaster.” Murch admitted. “What if one of them went bad?”
“Look at it this way: if one of them does go bad, at least it’ll be on your watch.” Reed shrugged. “Besides, we can’t always do the heavy lifting-” 

CRASHHH!!

Reed couldn’t finish his thought, because the fourth and final robot came smashing through a wall. The federal agent cried out in terror as Reed jumped out of his seat.

“Iron Man?!” Mr. Murch gasped.

“This isn’t Stark.” Reed shook his head, before using his body to wrap his body around the metal monster - restraining it. “Sorry, Murch. I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this meeting short.” He grunted. 

Each member of the Fantastic Four fled from their robots, leading them all back to the Baxter Building. When the four of them reunited, they were all surprised to see they weren’t the only ones with a robot follower. It was chaos on the Baxter Building’s rooftop, with each member of the Fantastic Four dodging the robots’ attacks. 

“Reed! What can we do? They’re literally designed to counter us.” Susan shouted over the sound of Johnny’s flames.

“Every punch I land, they just shrug off!” Ben added, frustratedly.

“It’s okay, guys. I have a plan. I have a little gadget that will soon tell us what we want to know about these floating Doombots.” Reed assured them, stretching his arm down the side of the Baxter Building. Like a never-ending snake, his arm slithered through his laboratory window and (after feeling around) found his small, metal device. All the while, the rest of the team kept the robots distracted from Reed with invisible bubbles, searing flames and clobbering fists. Reed brought the device up onto the roof. 

“Okay… Let’s see…” Reed said, activating it and making it scan one of the robots. “Okay… It says here that it’s targeting our… Cosmic signature.” Reed said, while his neck was curving around the metal fists of his attacker.

“So what?!” Ben shouted, uninterested.

“So, I can hack into their programming aaaaannnnd… There!” Reed said, pushing buttons on his small device until-

BZZZEEEEUUUUK!

All the robots froze and floated above them, completely still. It was like they were waiting for something. Then they collapsed onto the roof - turning off.

“What happened?” Johnny asked, confused.

“I deleted our Cosmic signatures from their programming. Now they have nothing to attack.” Reed answered.

“Now that?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know. But one thing’s for certain - Doom’s not going to let us have ‘time to relax.’” Reed sighed.

“How right he is…” Doom growled. The Latverian could still hear what they were saying through the robots, as he sat in front of a huge computer screen. 

“Time to strike at them through their weakest link. The one whom the Thing loves. Alicia. ” Doctor Doom smirked behind his metal mask. He looked over his shoulder, to see the blind lady herself tied and gagged in the corner of the room - tears streaming down her face. Alicia was terrified. Victor knew that his robots wouldn’t be enough to kill the Fantastic Four - but that they would keep them busy enough for him to kidnap Alicia and return to his laboratory in Upstate New York, undetected. 

“Look at you. A beautiful woman. Why would you ever fall in love with someone like that orange brute?” Doom tutted. As smart as Doctor Doom is (being Reed Richard’s equal), he could never understand how Alicia could fall in love with something so grotesque - even without her vision. How could she love a man like the Thing? 

“No one would love me if they could see my face. If they could touch my face. Not even Mr. Fantastic - despite his altruistic facade.” Doom ranted. “I’ve had to wear this metal mask for years out of self-preservation. I’ve had to hide in the darkness, on my own. Hide my face from the sight of man.” He continued, venting to his hostage. He’d never admit it, but Doctor Doom envied The Thing’s ability to walk the streets of New York with his face exposed.

It didn’t matter.

All that mattered was getting his revenge on the Fantastic Four. 

Now, his real work would begin.

The next day, at the Fantastic Four headquarters, Reed was tinkering with the robots in hopes of finding any clues about where they came from. He had been working all night long and was beginning to grow a 5 o’clock shadow. Susan was on the phone with Ned, apologising for the disastrous photoshoot, although he was actually beaming because the photos he gave Jameson earned him a raise. The Thing was in the gym, bench pressing concrete when Johnny came running in.

“Ben! Ben, drop those things down. I’ve got some bad news.” Johnny said, clutching a Daily Bugle paper.

“Don’t tell me Yancy Street’s got a superhero now?” Ben joked, but when he saw the seriousness on Johnny’s face, his tone changed. “What?” Johnny handed over the newspaper and above Ned Leeds’ photos was a message from Doctor Doom. Reed and Susan soon joined them in the gym, as the Thing’s eyes scanned the page.

‘ ALICIA MASTERS IS IN MY POSSESSION. ’ 

“WHAT?!! That lousy, no-good piece of SHIT!!” The Thing shouted in frustration, throwing a barbell across the gym and making it smash into the wall with a loud crash.

“Ben! Ben, pull yourself together, please! This is not the time to panic!” Reed told him. “We can still save her.” He reasoned before he heard an eerie, mechanical laugh. It was faint - coming from a different room. 

“Urrr… What the fuck is that?” Johnny asked, anxiously.

“It’s coming from the lab.” Reed realised. They all quickly exited the gym and went into the laboratory, where one of the robots that Reed had been investigating was sitting upright.

“The Fantastic Four. You will regret crossing me in the Microverse.” Doom growled.

“Cross you? You kidnapped us! ” Susan argued.

“SILENCE!! If you dare try to stop me again, I will unleash my latest invention.” Doom warned them.

“What? More robots?” Johnny rolled his eyes.

“Not at all. Instead, I will unleash my Illusion Ray onto your precious city. Everyone everywhere will see hallucinations, and drive themselves insane. Most will probably kill themselves, the rest will kill each other.” Doom explained.

“When the hell does he find time to do all this shit?” Johnny complained.

“And don’t forget I have your girl. If you ever wish to see her again, you won’t dare to oppose me.” Doom reminded them.

“But when can I see her again?” Ben asked, but the robot collapsed back down - shutting off. “No! NOO!!” He shouted, grabbing the robot and shaking it - as if he could ‘wake it up.’ 

“Does he really think he can threaten us? Has he really not learned that nothing can stop us from kicking his ass?” Reed rolled his eyes.

“No! Don’t you dare! We are not putting Alicia’s life at risk, just so you can have another spat with your boyfriend!” Ben snapped.

“He’s my ex, Ben. If we lay down and do nothing, we’ll be doing exactly what he wants.” Reed reasoned. Ben suddenly grabbed Reed by his stretchy neck, angrily.

“Ben!” Susan gasped.

“I won’t let anything harm her.” Ben snarled.

“I know, Ben… But do you honestly think she’s any safer in Doom’s basement?” Mr. Fantastic pointed out.

Doctor Doom was laughing to himself, as he listened to the Fantastic Four arguing through his robot. Victor and Alicia were no longer in the Upstate New York laboratory but instead were in a large jet - a vehicle designed by the Latverian. It noiselessly took flight from his lab and quickly flew into the clouds and has since been circling New York City. It was designed to be hidden from military radars, and the underside was painted white to blend into the clouds. Alicia was still curled up in a corner, gagged and bound. She wasn’t sobbing anymore - but she was petrified. The villain reminded her of when she used to be subjected to her Father’s wrath. 

“HA! Listen to them. Arguing amongst themselves. It’s music to my ears.” Doom chuckled, maliciously. It’s perfect. I’ll let them panic and scramble to regain the upper hand.” He said, proudly. “Then I shall send this tape to Washington, outlining my demands. In all fairness, my terms are quite modest. All I insist upon is a post in the President’s cabinet. I’ve seen the way they run this country, you’ll be thankful in the long run.” Doom explained to Alicia. 

It wasn’t long before the tape was sent to Washington. Nobody knew what to do. The sinister Doctor Doom was threatening war if his terms weren’t met. But nobody wanted to give in to Victor’s rule - they didn’t want the country to be dictated by someone as cruel as Doom. There was only one thing they could do, and that was to show the villain that the United States cannot be threatened by anyone. 

The next day, when Doctor Doom didn’t receive the answer he desired from the White House, he began his one-man war. Across the country, factories and laboratories all over the country started going haywire. In the laboratory of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hank’s communications were on the fritz.

“I don’t understand?! They were working perfectly fine, earlier.” Hank said as the telepathic thoughts from his insect comrades had turned to gibberish.

“Have you tried turning it off and on again?” Janet asked, in the middle of reading a magazine. But it wasn’t just the tiny duo that had been affected. Over in New Mexico, on Thunderbolt Ross’ base, things were malfunctioning. 

“Banner! Care to tell me what’s going on?” Ross barked, as Bruce was stressfully trying to stop his machines from exploding.

“I have no idea, Ross. It’s like something poisoned our tech.” Bruce said. “Order everybody into the bunker. At any minute our test missile could-” He didn’t even finish his sentence before he heard the rocket rumbling from outside. “Shit.” As the missile was launched into the Grand Canyon, trouble was also brewing in Stark Industries. The machinery that produced weapons and tech was glitching out, forcing the factory to shut down. 

“What can we do, Tony?” Pepper asked, in the secretary's office.

“I don’t know. There’s no rhyme or reason for why they’re malfunctioning. If this continues for too much longer, people will lose jobs.” Tony said, concerned.

Back at the Baxter Building, James Murch was meeting with the Fantastic Four in Reed’s redundant laboratory. All his machines were whirring and glitching, just like they were across the country. Doctor Doom had truly crippled the country in a matter of days. 

“The truth is, we need you. You’re the only ones who has battled Doctor Doom in the past and won. You’re our last option.” Murch explained. “I’m even willing to consider this up-and-coming superhero team…” He admitted.

“We understand, agent Murch. Trust me, we want to stop him too.” Reed assured him. “I’ve already started formulating a plan against our mutual enemy.” 

“Then I suggest you get on with it. Because if this continues, there’ll be chaos. ” Murch advised him. When the visitor departed, the Thing turned to Reed with a sheepish expression.

“Reed, I’m sorry I got so angry yesterday. But if you really have a plan, tell me. Help me save my baby girl.” Ben told him, desperately.

“I don’t blame you for getting mad, Ben. Now listen, I was finally able to track Doom’s whereabouts through his robots. He’s in a jet that’s been circling the city high above us for days. That’s why I struggled to track him down through the robots - his coordinates kept changing.” Reed explained.
“Get on with it.” Ben sighed, impatiently.

“He’s in a jet of his own making. It’ll be equipped with weapons, all designed to lock onto our Cosmic signature like his robots, that makes this look like child’s play.” Reed said, gesturing to the broken machines around them. “If we go barging in without a plan, he could kill us all in an instant.” 

“So what is your plan?” Ben asked.

“You’re my plan.” Mr. Fantastic told him.
“Huh?”
“There is only one of us who can change his atomic structure. When you become Ben Grimm, your atoms and molecules are completely rearranged. That’s the one thing Doom won’t be prepared for.” Reed explained. “Which means I need to give you the solution which temporarily turned you human, just long enough to slip by Doom’s defences.” Reed explained, before taking a vial out of a stand. “Johnny, do me a favour and heat this up.” He said to the blond teenager.

“Yes, sir.” Johnny nodded, placing a single finger at the bottom of the glass vial. Heat radiated off his index finger, heating up the clear liquid inside. 

“Perfect. Thanks, kid.” Reed smiled, before turning to the Thing. “Alright, Ben. Once you take this, we’ll have to move fast. Are you ready?” 

“To save Alicia? I’m always ready.” Ben nodded. Reed handed the vial over and Ben reluctantly gulped down the serum. The entire team watched as the disturbing transformation took place. The orange, stone-like skin turned to regular flesh - his hair grew back and his muscles deflated to a more natural size. Ben had turned back to normal - although his normal had become unrecognisable to the team. 

“Alright, let’s go.” Reed said, not wanting to waste any time.

Ben boarded a small, one-man shuttle and launched from the Baxter Building rooftop towards Doctor Doom’s flying jet. The small pod soared through the sky towards the slow-moving plane - completely undetected by the weapons built into the vehicle. He only wore his usual Fantastic Four shorts, as he knew it was only a matter of time before he transformed back. The shuttle latched onto the roof of the jet. Ben flicked a switch on the control panel and a hatch slid open from the shuttle’s underbelly, revealing the roof of Doom’s jet underneath. 

“Now how did this thing work again?” Ben muttered, holding a laser cutter that Reed had given him - designed to cut through Doom’s ship. But before Ben could figure it out, his hands started turning orange.

“Oh shit…” Ben gasped. His muscles started growing, his hair shrivelled to nothing, and his flesh turned to stone. He groaned in pain as he morphed back into the Thing. 

“Ahhh, he knows I’m here by now, anyway.” Ben shrugged, throwing the laser cutter away and using his fists to smash through Doom’s ceiling. He tore through the steel and dropped down inside. He was at the back end of the jet, where Doom and Alicia weren’t. The Latverian voice spoke up through the PA system.

“Ben Grimm. I don’t know how you slipped past my defences, but your friends won’t be so lucky.” The evil mastermind told him.

“You should know Reed better than to think he’d send me here without a gizmo.” Ben scoffed, before taking out a device no bigger than the palm of his hand. He slammed it against the wall of the jet and it clamped down on it.

“What is this? What have you done?!” Doom shouted in frustration.

“I’ve sent out a virus that will wipe our Cosmic signatures from all your weapons.” Ben smirked. It wasn’t long before the remaining Fantastic Four members made their arrival via Invisible Bubble. They came bursting in through the window, joining the Thing at the back of the plane.

“Great work, Benny!” Johnny smiled, as Susan turned off the bubble.

“I gotta give the credit to brainiac.” Ben admitted.

“Don’t celebrate yet, boys. We’ve still got a damsel in distress to save.” Susan reasoned. 

“That’s right. You will live to regret invading my ship!” Doom’s voice declared. 

Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing made their way along the jet - it was a huge plane with more traps waiting for them. They went into the next chamber and machinery immediately began whirring.

“Uh oh…” Johnny muttered. Four guns extended from the floor and aimed at the quartet. Before they could start firing, Susan threw out an invisible shield. Electrical bullets fired at the shield - making her grunt. 

“What do we do? If Sue lets down the shield we’re dead. But we can’t destroy those things unless she takes down the shield?!” Johnny asked, nervously.

“Who says you need to destroy them?” Susan asked, before pushing the shield forward. She smashed it into the weapons, crushing them against the sheer force of her forcefield.

“Shit, why does she even bother with us?” Johnny scoffed. “She could probably take on all our villains single-handedly.” 

“Ahhh, but where’s the fun in that?” Susan laughed.

Doctor Doom watched the whole scene take place through security cameras, quickly coming to the realisation that the Fantastic Four were going to win. Again. The door to Doom’s chamber flew off its hinges as the team of superheroes barged in - with Ben leading the group.

“No! No, it’s not possible! ” Doom shouted, before quickly hitting a button on the wall by his computers. A forcefield materialised - separating the Fantastic Four from the villain and his hostage. 

“Don’t do this, Victor. Give us Alicia.” Reed told him, sternly. Ben tried punching through the barrier, and Johnny attempted to burn through it. But they couldn’t. 

“No… No, I will win. I have to win.” Doom muttered, panicking. Then Ben changed tactics. He punched his orange fist through the metal wall of the plane, took a fistful of wires and ripped them out. The force field barrier fizzled out.

“You lost before you even started.” Ben growled, approaching him. Quickly, Victor grabbed Alicia, who was still cowering in the corner and pulled her to her feet. He placed a gun at her temple as he faced the super-powered quartet.

“Let me go. Let me go and she lives. Let me go and you can have her.” Doom told them.

“What the hell happened to you Victor?” Reed asked, sadly.

“What the hell happened to you? You were on my side, once.” The metal man said, sounding genuinely distraught.
“What do we do, Reed?” Susan asked, concerned. The villain and Alicia were too close together - if she attempted to put a forcefield around her things could go wrong. She wasn’t that comfortable with her powers yet.

“We let him go.” Ben said.

“What?” Johnny gasped.

“Would you risk this, if it was Roscoe?” Ben asked.

“No. No, I wouldn’t. But how can we trust him?” Johnny said.

“We can trust him.” Reed said, with an uncanny ability to interpret his ex’s motives - even with a metal mask. “We’ll let you go, Victor.” 

“I knew it. You’re all too soft to be playing this game.” Doom sneered, before throwing Alicia into the heroes dressed in blue. Victor turned around and pressed some buttons on his computer before a secret door opened up behind him.

“We’re really just gonna let him go?” Johnny asked, feeling strange as they just let their arch-enemy escape.

“We have to. We have to keep our word, so that if this ever happens again, Doom can trust our word and let the hostage go.” Reed said, quietly, as Doom stepped into an escape pod.

“Until next time, Fantastic Four.” Doom declared before the hidden door sealed shut again. The escape pod launched - flying out of the huge jet and soaring through the skies.

“Man, what kind of superheroes are we?” Ben sighed, shamefully, removing the gag from Alicia’s mouth and untying the bonds.

“You saved my life. You made a hard call, but we suffered zero casualties. That’s a win in my book.” Alicia told them.

“We’d better get going.” Susan said.

“You guys can go. Someone needs to land this thing.” Ben pointed out. 

“But first, I need to deactivate the tech-meddling device.” Reed said, going over to the computers. As he started pressing buttons and typing on the keyboard, Ben and Alicia shared a kiss - thankful to be together again.

Machines across the country returned to normal. Stark Industries opened again, Bruce Banner’s job was saved, and the ants could talk to Hank again. The Fantastic Four landed their respective aircraft and emerged semi-victorious. The country celebrated their success, but Doom still escaped. They had no idea when he’d return next, or what nefarious plan he’d subject them to. All they could do was wait…