"So, I thought that the little miss Mad Thinker got swept off after Doom was dealt with."

The Invisible Woman sighed, her eyes locked onto Spider-Man's, as they took out the latest barrage of creatures in tandem. Those were down but there would be more on the way, as much as they hated to admit it. "That's what we all thought, or rather she all hoped. She did steal power and try to wipe us out, but she and Doom got brought to another dimension. I guess that dimension wasn't far enough where she would leave us alone."

"Wishful thinking then."

"Yes, very wishful thinking," The Invisible Woman said, but she had been in this game long enough to realize that the villains never really stayed long. "And give how time passes in this place, there could be hours on the outside world and days in here. So you know how long her bitterness could have festered and grown."

Spider-Man knew all too well, time was the cause for all of the bitterness of anyone but he came to another conclusion.

"The rest of your team, they were captured, aren't they?"

Susan nodded, she was kind of sad with what was happening but there was only so much a person could do in this type of environment to be honest. Peter turned to the Invisible Woman, trying to give her some reassurance.

"Yes they're…"

"We'll get them back, you know that, don't you?"

"Yes, I know that," she agreed, and she was happy that he was optimistic. She just barely escaped and she might not have been able to hurt the little brat, but she managed to wound her pride. Something like that hated losing.

"And you realize that the fact you got away, that could work to our advantage. You know, because she's so obsessed with recapturing you that she might take her eye off of other matters."

Sue placed her hand underneath her chin and looked pretty thoughtful about that point, but she thought that he had one to be honest. The problem as she saw it was something that she had to bring up.

"You do realize that she's after you as well?"

"All too well," Peter said with a lengthy sigh. He did hate times like this, but it seemed like there was a line forming.

But there was no time to think about that, with his spider sense going off like it did.

The web slinger looked around, trying to find out the source of what was attacking him, and sure enough he saw it as well.

There was a giant worm that made its way towards both of them.

"Yeah, and why do I think that it's looking at both of us like we're the main course on the dinner menu?"

"Because we are," The Invisible Woman said, but she put it into an invisible box. "I'll try and hold it, see if you can get around the other side and take it down."

"Right," Spider-Man said, and he could feel himself put in the pressure cooker, but that was really just another day at the office for the web slinging hero.

The worm was about ready to break out of its cage and charge them with the full force that they would expect something like that to charge it with. Spider-Man evaded its first attack, jumping on its back.

The worm turned around, its beady little eyes fixed on the web slinger and once again Spider-Man dodged the worm's attempt to charge him. The web slinger thought that he was running around in circles, at least for a few seconds.

Then he saw the giant spider creature burst outwards and it was angry. So was the worm, then an idea hit Spider-Man hard.

He was to give these two a rather interesting meeting of the minds. The web slinger threw himself up in the air and dodged the two creatures, and they collided into each other, nailing the other with a full on attack.

That wasn't exactly the best plan of attack come to think about it, but what were you going to do? The web slinger dropped down, the wind taken out of him and then they were pushed down.

"I thought that worked out quite nicely," Susan said, with a smile on her face and there was a buzzing above their heads.

"Yeah, but I don't think that we're home free yet."

There were giant Spider-Man eating bugs, dive bombing them. Spider-Man saw their paralyzing stingers and decided that it would not be in his best interests, to get hit.

'Oh where does she find all of these things,' Spider-Man thought to himself, the web slinger could feel a loud thumping escalate in the back of his head. He avoided the latest attack, before he was struck down hard.


"Soon my moment of triumph will be at hand, and I will destroy all of you!"

"Can't you destroy us now, so we don't have to hear you go on and on and on and on, about how your moment of triumph is at hand," the Human Torch said, agitation going through his voice. "Seriously, that record's getting pretty worn out, play a different once….."

"I must destroy all of the Fantastic Four and…."

"You are making a huge mistake."

Once again, Rhona screwed her face shut. She had managed to block out Victor Von Doom most of the time but his voice nastily piped up at the worst possible time.

"You should be silent, you know nothing, you had plenty of opportunities to destroy the Fantastic Four, and all you did was build a bunch of stupid doom bots!"

The three trapped members of the Fantastic Four looked at each other and Ben looked towards them.

"So…has she gone cuckoo or is there something else going on here, Stretch?"

"Well it's interesting, but I think that when she and Victor got brought here, the two of them merged, well essentially, it is her mind, her body, and his mind all in one vessel."

"So, wait Doom is inside her?" Johnny asked and he pulled one of the most obvious disgusted faces one could ever have. "Brain bleach, I got to have the brain bleach, there are just some thoughts that are too unholy to even think….."

"No kidding," Ben said in a gruff voice.

Once again, the Mad Thinker paced back and forth, trying to have a discussion with herself.

"We better find a way out of here before she actually snaps and murders us all."

"Oh, I don't think that she'll kill us, not before utterly humiliating us first," Reed said and Ben and Johnny looked at him.

"Why do you have to make so much sense, it's annoying when you make that much sense?" Johnny asked.

"Bring me back him, bring me back Spider-Man and the Invisible Woman, and some day, I'll return, and get his little mate as well, all will pay for humiliating me, pay!"

"Well she absorbed some of Victor's brain waves, she's giving mad declarations," Johnny said.

"Actually, I think that she was quite capable of that before Doom was even inside her."

"Stop saying that Reed!" Johnny snapped, growing completely pale and he could feel something twist through his stomach.

The Mad Thinker once again kept mumbling to herself and it was here where Johnny once again turned to Reed.

"She's thought of every way that I could escape, that's fascinating."

"No, that's awful, horrifying, and I can really think of a few more words of how to describe something like that," Johnny managed, shaking his head and he tried to break himself through his imprisonment but once again, there appeared to be no easy way out, at least not from what he could think.

"Ah, chin up kid, we'll find a way out, Sue was trying to go for help, you know."

Johnny hoped that his sister was fine out there, but he thought that things looked pretty grim.

"Well, if she wanted to trap us, she did everything, leaving no flaw, this is genius, absolutely genius," Reed said and the Mad Thinker turned around.

"Let me make one point clear, Richards, you trying to flatter me will not get you out of this containment."

"But truly such a genius invention should be celebrated, tell me, how did you figure out such a containment unit where even I could not escape?"

"You're not going to fall for this transparent ploy, are you?"

There was a moment where the Mad Thinker seriously considered his words and new that Reed Richards was trying to trick her into revealing the inner workings of her invention.

'I could tell him , and the fool would not find a way.'

"You are making a mistake, that accursed Reed Richards will trick you, you should not underestimate him."

Rhona was about to argue that she was not going to underestimate him but she refused to concede her issues.

"Very well, I will indulge you for a second."


Spider-Man and the Invisible Woman had dealt with the Mad Thinker's devious bug minions and were now making their way around from the other side in an attempt to surprise her but that particular woman was not going to be an easy one.

"Hold up, my Spider Sense, it's warning me that it might not be a good idea to go through here," Spider-Man replied and the Invisible Woman paused, nodding. She would have to trust that this was the case. The web slinger knew a lot of what was going on around here and she knew that it was really not a good idea to argue with him.

"So, which we do we go?"

Spider-Man paused, that was a fair enough question and one that he hoped to answer in due time. He turned his head around, looking to the left, and then looking to the right. He hoped to find some kind of answer, at least one that he could consider to be adequate enough.

"To the right."

The Invisible Woman nodded, following him and she could see a few of those bug creatures floating around, and she grabbed Spider-Man's arm, rendering both of them invisible.

'The ultimate stealth, I like it.'

That being said, Spider-Man mentally reminded himself to keep himself silent because that was the idea with stealth, to keep his mouth shut. That being said, the web head was getting close.

"There is really no point of you being out there, show yourself."

Rhona stared down Spider-Man, as he and the Invisible Woman became more visible. The web slinger stared her down, with a smile on his face.

"Well, I can't say that I was looking forward to meeting you again."

"You should, you should look forward to meeting your ultimate enemy."

Spider-Man snorted. "Please, ultimate enemy, you don't even rank the top twenty, don't even flatter yourself."

The Mad Thinker's anger rose and she summoned her insects to attack Spider-Man and the Invisible Woman.

"Nice powers, but can you control them forever?" Spider-Man asked, sliding underneath the woman's grip, and the Invisible Woman nailed her hard.

"You dare make a mockery out of me," The Mad Thinker said, gritting down on her teeth.

"Well you do a good job of doing that yourself, don't you?" Spider-Man asked, wrapping her hands up with webbing, and forcing her down to the ground with a huge thump.

The Mad Thinker gave a loud scream and burned through the webbing. Spider-Man watched her, blinking, his jaw set.

To say that there was a problem here, well that would be pushing things a little bit.

"YOU DARE MOCK ME!"

"I thought we agreed that you already did a good job in doing it yourself," Invisible Woman said, releasing Reed from the cage.

"I was about ready to figure that out," Reed protested.

"Of course you were, but we do need you to help me free the other two?"

"She can change me back," Ben grumbled, as Sue made her way over to the cage and released him.

"An illusion, to mess with your mind, trust me, that's what the Mad Thinker does."

"Good thing you didn't flame on Johnny, these chemicals would have blown us into atoms."

"Does everyone think I'm stupid?"

"Well flamebrain, you do a pretty good impression of someone who isn't all mentally there," Spider-Man said, dodging the attacks of the Mad Thinker's bugs.

"Okay, finally, it's Clobbering time!"

The Thing was in the battle, and he smashed his way through the bugs, taking them out. His large fist caused spurts of blood to splatter everywhere.


The Mad Thinker managed to wonder where she lost control. She didn't like it, she didn't like being out of control. She howled with anger and her eyes glowed with absolute fury. Things were about ready to get intense the more and more.

"You thought that you could beat us, really?" the Human Torch and the Mad Thinker's eyes glowed, as she radiated with cosmic energy.

"DO YOU EVER SHUT UP?"

"Trust me, he doesn't," the Invisible Woman commented knowingly, slamming an invisible barrier on the back of the Mad Thinker's head, causing her knees to buckle to the ground. She trapped the Mad Thinker in a force field of sorts, causing her to struggle as her attempts to free herself became in vain.

That being said, she was not about to suffer alone, her eyes flickered with absolute fury, the more that she tried to push herself out.

"You've been defeated."

'NO, I REFUSE…..THE STUDENT…..'

"Still has a lot to learn about humility," Doctor Doom said and he was not about to offer the Mad Thinker any assistance. She kept blasting the field around her but she kept just feeing it in energy.

"Please tell me someone has figured out a way to contain her, I don't think that I can control her for that much longer," The Invisible Woman said and there was sweat that was rolling down her cheeks the more that she tried to hold him into place.

The web slinger was looking for a way to contain her and he saw one of the stingers from the bugs. Trying to apply Earth knowledge to inter-dimensional insects might have been a bit of a folly.

"You have already lost, you just haven't realized it,' Doom crowed, and the Mad Thinker howled in anger, trying to break free from her predicament, but it seemed like that there was no way to get through.

"Ben, could you hit me with a fast ball special?"

"Sure thing kid, but…"

He had no time to argue this or figure out what the plan might have been. He grabbed Spider-Man and launched him halfway into the air, the web slinger doing a forward flip, rotating several motions in the air, with the stinger of the insect that he wanted to stab the Mad Thinker with pointed downward.

She blocked him, the field was up and Spider-Man looked at her.

"You thought you could beat me, didn't you?" The Mad Thinker thought, her eyes burning with absolute rage and Spider-Man struggled, just a little bit more, and he would have had it into her neck.

"That was…..oh that was the idea, but I guess you're too clever, aren't you?" Spider-Man asked her and the Mad Thinker looked at him, a burning rage flowing through her eyes.

"Yes, I am clever…"

Several more of the insect stingers were flung and they caught her in the spine. Rhona had her attention on Spider-Man and intent to wipe her out, she neglected to pay attention to the Human Torch and his efforts.

"So, do I win a prize?" Johnny asked, seeing Rhona land on the ground, the venom causing her body to become paralyzed.

"I say you did good," Susan said with a smile on her face. "I'd like it better when she's in a secure cell…..especially with Doom in her….."

"Stop saying that!" Johnny yelped with a disgusted expression.

"Okay, we need to find the portal out of here…..you know I didn't plan out that detail as well as I could have."

"Now he tells us…" Ben grumbled and Peter smiled.

"Well don't worry, I have someone on the other side, we figured out the portal might need someone to man it, given how unstable this dimension is."

"Yeah, that could be a problem," Reed admitted, but the group was about ready to make their way through the Portal.

The Mad Thinker was held and it looked like she wasn't waking up for a long time. Would this be the last that they saw of her? Well they would be foolish to assume something like that because people like that always returned no matter what.


The Mad Thinker was placed in a cell in the Baxter Building and Reed looked at the other side.

"Victor, for what it's worth, I'm sorry, and I'll do everything under my power to restore your body back," Reed said and there was a moment where the other three members of the Fantastic Four looked at Mr. Fantastic like he was absolutely nuts.

Gwen was just happy that Peter got back there in one piece, because if she was honest, there was some really tense moments alright.

"Okay?" Gwen asked him.

"For what it's worth, I'm fine."

"I'd like to say the same about the city out there…"

The members of the Fantastic Four turned around and they were looking at them, confusion burning through their eyes. It was the Invisible Woman who finally found the nerve to speak up and say something.

"What's happening out there in the city?"

"Oh, nothing much, just that SHIELD has fallen, the Avengers are scattered, the X-Men are missing, and Congress and Senate has decided to cut the city off from the rest of the world," Peter said all in one breath.

Susan whistled long and obviously, that was a lot for her to take in, to be perfectly honest. And she was sure that she wasn't alone with that fact.

"Well it seems like we spent a lot of time dealing with other matters far away from home….wait you said that SHIELD fell…"

The Human Torch looked over his shoulder and he gave the one blunt statement that all could agree with. "Oh that can't be good."

"Something like that rarely is good," Reed Richards said, lifting his arms into the air and turned his eye looked towards the cell that the Mad Thinker is in. "It seems to me like our workload has just increased."

"Ah, that's really no problem, that just comes with the territory, doesn't it?" Ben asked and they all nodded in response.

"Guess that it really does," Susan said, running her fingers through the side of her hair and she knew that they would have to hero up before too long.

The Human Torch looked out the window of the Baxter Building and he didn't have to look far to see the problems.

"Please tell me that there are somebody doing something about this."

"We're trying, really, we're trying," Gwen said and it was obvious that her mood was really tense.

"I know you're trying, and I understand that there are a lot of problems out there," Susan said, placing her hand on Gwen's shoulder and the blonde looking over her shoulder.

"I know, one day at a time."

"As long as the world has heroes," Spider-Man said, looking out into New York City, there was something out there.

There was Kaine, there was Venom, and there was Mister Sinister, but there was someone else that was out there, there was Spider-Man.


"Your accommodations are all you deserve, Fury," Sinister whispered, looking at him. "You will tell me everything that you learn."

"Just wait, Essex, one day you'll burn for all you've done," Fury said, looking through him with one eye.

"You're the one who is going to be burn, when the master returns….."

Fury chuckled in amusement and Essex stared him down.

"What do you find so funny?" Essex asked him.

"I find the fact you're naïve to be fairly funny to be honest," Fury replied to him. "You really think that you're nothing but a puppet for Apocalypse, then you've…"

"You know nothing," Essex said, looking down at him, and glaring through him with glowing red eyes.

"Do I know nothing, I've seen fools like you too often, you think that you know everything, but you know nothing."

"If you do not cooperate, then perhaps a few more weeks in isolation might loosen your tongue," Essex told him and Fury turned towards him, his eye still burning.

"If you want to try, then be my guest," Fury said, there was somewhat of a warning glint going through his eye, and it was obvious that he was not going to let Essex get away that easily.

Essex turned, soon Fury would break, they all would break.

To Be Continued.