Chapter 1: Foundation

"Empire State University, Class of 2018! You may rise!"

Over 2,000 students in red caps and gowns rose, and the crowd erupted of yelling, laughter, and tears. Caps were thrown everywhere, and people started embracing. It was too big of a frenzy for most of the people to get out of the crowd. One person in particular was facing a true struggle.

"Excuse me, sorry! Coming through, whoa!" Reed Richards exclaimed as he made it out of the crowd.

Reed was a skinny young man of decent height. He was often recognizable for his wavy brown hair and glasses.

"Reed!"

Reed turned around to see his best friend Benjamin "Ben" Grimm walking towards him with a smile.

"We did it, dude!" Reed chuckled as he hugged his friend.

"It's insane, man. Feels like just yesterday that my mom was bawling about me leaving the house," Ben reminisced.

Unlike Reed, Ben was tall and muscular, and had combed brown hair.

"It's kind of bullshit that Empire doesn't have a valedictorian. You would've gotten it in a landslide," Ben declared as he and Reed walked.

"Thanks, but standing in front of a thousand people and speaking isn't exactly my strong suit."

"Ben! Mr. Richards!" Ben's dad acknowledged as he and his wife walked over to the two. Right behind them were Reed's parents.

"Honey, I cannot express how proud I am!" Ben's mom shouted as she hugged her son.

"Mom!" Ben groaned.

"Congratulations, Mr. Richards. I know with your knowledge and skills, you're gonna achieve a lot," Ben's dad congratulated as he shook Reed's hand.

"Thanks, Mr. Grimm."

Ben's dad walked over to his son. Reed's mom hugged her son and said, "Congrats, kiddo. You're set for life now!"

"You said it, Evelyn. We did good," Reed's dad agreed as he pat his son's back.

"Remember when you accidentally set off the fire alarm freshman year?"

Reed rolled his eyes. "Dude, how could I forget? They disqualified me from the science fair!"

"On top of that, you had detention for a week!" Ben laughed.

That exact night, Reed and Ben were eating and reminiscing at a sidewalk cafe. It was how they chose to celebrate their graduation rather than some huge party.

"Thank God it was seventh period, too. You got me out of that stupid geometry quiz," Ben admitted.

"Hey, I tutored you on that, man. If you didn't get a ninety or above, I would've beat your ass."

"Speaking of which, massive props to you for helping me out with school the past eight years. So thanks for dealing with my shit," Ben thanked, holding up his glass.

Reed held up his glass. "And thank you for… well, being Ben, man"

The two clinked their glasses and drank.

"You know, I still can't believe you're gonna be in the military," Reed said as he started his sandwich.

"Actually? Damn," Ben responded as he took a bite out of his wrap. "I figured you would've known me better by now."

"Well, I do, obviously. It's just that-"

"Just screwing with you, man. Honestly, at this point, becoming a fighter pilot is really all I want with life."

"Come on, how 'bout a hot wife and some kids?" Reed teased.

"That'd be nice too, but I can't shake off the feeling that this is gonna be the only way I'll ever be satisfied in life. Being a badass and taking down those terrorists and shit in the sky."

"Sounds like a fun life."

"Not as fun as trying to figure out all that alternate universe shit. Even after eight years, I still can't believe that might actually be possible," Ben said.

"Well, if I get that internship at the Baxter Building, it should be easier to figure out. Other than that, my research so far concludes that the different universe would probably vibrate at the same frequency as ours, but send off different electromagnetic waves and-"

Ben started pretending to snore, prompting Reed to throw a napkin at him.

"You live to bore me," Ben joked as he placed the napkin on the table.

Reed shrugged. "Don't come crying to me when you get dishonorably discharged."

The two friends both laughed and enjoyed their dinner.

Franklin Storm knew what to expect. Inside the Baxter Building, Franklin was sitting at a table with government officials working for the building. Franklin braced himself, as the government representative Willie Lumpkin was especially unhappy. Balding and overweight, Willie was more serious than his appearance suggested. Meanwhile, Franklin was noticeable for his blonde hair and glasses.

"Franklin Storm, millions of dollars, five years, this whole damn building. What have we gotten from you?" Willie asked. "Nothing. We've been funding this building since its foundation with the hope that someday you'd accomplish something that we never knew was even capable of happening. That's what brings in the big bucks here."

"Willie, I understand where you're coming from. But at the same time, you can't forget that our greatest achievements will take time and patience. We're living in a world where people are trying to make discoveries, including us. They're not just gonna be made overnight, though. We're also doing our best to recruit more scientists and researchers to our cause," Franklin defended.

"And I assume that includes this little internship you want to start. You might as well just quit, I can promise you it won't work. A bunch of kids helping us figure out humanity's deepest secrets? Hell, I'm willing to bet my life savings that more than half of those guys will drop out on the first day!"

"They're not necessarily kids, I'm just looking for younger people. Specifically from late teens to early twenties. Their imaginations are still developing the most at this stage. That'll help us find something bigger. For all we know, we could be recruiting the next future Einstein."

Willie rolled his eyes. "Well, Storm, this whole internship of your better work out. If nothing big happens within three months, we're shutting this down."

Franklin got up to leave. "Understood, Lumpkin."

"Where the hell are you going, Storm? This conversation's far from over."

Franklin walked over to the door and looked back. "Look, we can finish this discussion later. Besides, recruiting is in three days. Now if you'll excuse me, my daughter's coming home from USC."

A white 2015 Sedan drove up to the driveway of the Storm household. The car door opened, and a young blonde-haired woman stepped out. Susan "Sue" Storm had just finished her junior year at University of Southern California, and she was exhausted after the drive. She rang the doorbell, and in under five seconds, the door opened.

"Dad!" Sue exclaimed as she hugged her dad.

"Sue! Hon, it's always great to have you back," Franklin responded, overjoyed.

"Missed you too, Dad. Did Johnny miss me?"

"He won't admit it, but I guarantee you he did," Franklin assured his daughter.

Sue walked inside. "That definitely sounds like him."

Meanwhile, in his room, Johnny Storm was FaceTiming his best friend Wyatt Wingfoot.

"Yo, AP Bio can kiss my ass, man. That final was literally impossible!" Wyatt vented on the computer screen.

"School altogether can just kiss my ass. Junior year was especially a bitch, so senior year better not be any worse," Johnny ranted.

Johnny decently resembled his older sister, having short combed blonde hair.

"Screw APs dude," Jonny declared. "I'm done with them, senior year. I'm just gonna take it easy and-"

Sue opened the door, startling Johnny.

"Holy-" Johnny started. "Sue? I didn't know you were coming this early."

Sue walked over and hugged her brother. "Well, I missed you too, bro."

Johnny escaped Sue's grasp. "You wanna come later? Kind of in the middle of something."

"Nope. You gotta help Dad and I unpack my stuff. Let's go."

Johnny sighed. "Got to go, Wyatt. Later."

Johnny closed his computer and walked downstairs with Sue.

"So, how was junior year? Not too bad?" Sue asked as she and Johnny went over to the car.

"I hate you," Johnny replied.

Sue chuckled. "That bad?"

"It literally sucked ass. Shitload of homework every night, standardized testing, I wanted to shoot my eyes out every night."

"Well, we're both incoming seniors. Should be fun for you, though it'll be hell for me. After my last year, it's just working for the rest of my life," Sue pointed out.

Johnny pulled a box out of the car. "Fair point. Wait, what are you majoring in again?"

"Of course, you forgot. Biochemistry. I'm still gonna be working with Dad over the summer to get some credit for future jobs."

Johnny put the box down. "Well, good luck. Oh, and speaking of Dad, why isn't he helping us out here?"

Sue pulled out a box. "Not sure, actually."

Johnny turned to a window to see his dad inside, talking on the phone.

"I guarantee you that's about work," Sue said.

"Wouldn't shock me."

Franklin and Willie were sitting in a conference room at the Baxter Building. Some scientists and government officials were also present.

"Franklin, when are you gonna admit this whole damn idea is just a waste of time? We've talked to nine people, and how many really impressed us?" Willie vented. "This isn't gonna go anywhere. I knew recruiting a bunch of kids was a stupid idea."

"We're not quite done yet," Franklin insisted. "Next!"

The door opened, and a tall muscular man with combed wavy black hair walked in. He was holding a tablet and some notebooks.

"My name is Victor von Doom, and I'm here to present my theories on quantum teleportation."