Fantastic Four (Movieverse) – Hunted
Summary:
Sequel to 'Retribution' - Following his failed attempt to destroy the Fantastic Four, Doom makes good on his threat "You will pay... you will suffer every bit as much as I have. Enjoy the time you've got, there's not much left of it..." Johnnycentric as always :D siblingness
Disclaimer:
I own: a laptop, an imagination, a fandom for Fantastic Four.
I don't own: the Fantastic Four
Author's Notes:
I know I promised a quick update, but this was a hard chapter to write hence why it took so long! I'm not gonna jinx myself by promising a quick update this time :P
Thanks to penny3, ebuchala, marinawings, TigerLily1221, she-bang-fan, Dark Respite, silverangel83 and ProdigiousDiscourse for reviewing!
Enjoy!
Chapter Seven: The Kill
Do it. He can't defend himself. It will be easy. Think of what this will lead to...the end of Doom, finally...and all you have to do is this. He's suffering, you can see that. Its better this way. Just do it.
"No!" Sue cried as she pushed herself away. Tears ran down her cheeks as she fought against the voice. Why was this happening? Johnny watched her, confused and concerned by her strange behaviour. He tried to reach for her but he was too weak to move.
Do it! Do it! The revenge will be sweet. All you have to do is...
"No! No! No!" she almost screamed. She tore the knife from her own grip and threw it as far as she could. "I won't do it! You can't make me!"
Fine. The voice sounded pissed. Don't use the knife. That was the easy way. The voice seemed to smile, relishing the 'hard way'. Now you're going to have to strangle him.
Susan felt her body move without her and approach her brother. She watched her hands wrap around his neck. His weakened hands grasped her wrists and tried to break her grip. "S-Sue!" he barely whispered, trying to reach his sister. His already exhausted body couldn't fight her off.
"Stop it! Stop it! Johnny!" Sue sobbed, finally taking back control. She ripped her hands from his throat just as his eyelids fluttered closed. "No, please no...Johnny...I'm so sorry, no..."
I knew you could do it, Susan.
"We're almost there!" called Reed from the front of the Fantasticar. Bubble-like windows had formed over the cockpits to protect the passengers from the thundering rain. Visibility was pretty much non-existent due to the stormy weather as they came in for their final approach.
"These woods are huge! How are we gonna find anyone?" asked Ben. All three scanned the dense trees for signs of life but it was impossible to see anything.
"Just keep looking!" Reed replied dejectedly. He pressed a few buttons on his control panel. "I've changed the scanners to pick up thermal readings."
"Are we looking for Sue as well?" asked Kayla as she stared intently at the screen in front of her. There were lots of small heat readings, but none of them were big enough to be human. She looked up when she received no reply from the men. "Well? Are we?"
"Yes, yes we are, but we don't know if she's here," Reed swung the Fantasticar round for another sweep of the huge woods. "She could be back in New York as far as we know..."
"I don't think she is," interrupted Ben from the back. A small beep from the scanner sounded, almost drowned out by the storm. "Cause I think I just found her."
Reed smiled in relief as he saw the yellow-white figure on the screen. He recognised the shape to be that of his wife. He had found her. Now where the hell was Johnny? "We're going in."
A bright blue bolt of electricity zapped through the air, barely missing the side of the Fantasticar. Reed looked again at his scanner to see another figure. This one was cooler, a pink colour. Organic metal. Doom.
From a distance, Doom watched the siblings. He grinned eagerly as he saw Susan approach Johnny with the knife. In a few moments the transformation would be complete. There's no coming back from murder.
But something was wrong. He heard the echoed cries of defiance as she pulled away. Why was she fighting it? How was she fighting it? Doom knew the darkness Susan contended with; he himself had embraced it. He had seen it in her eyes that day on the roof. He had seen her potential. And now? Now she was going to throw it away? This gift?
She threw the knife away. No. The darkness wouldn't let her go that easily. It wanted revenge, and it would get it no matter what. Doom took a step forward in anticipation to get a better view. Susan placed her hands around the boy's throat. The darkness had won.
Victory and pride ran through Doom as he watched the woman change before his very eyes. She stood up, staring at her brother, then at her hands. She stopped sobbing pitifully as her hands closed into angered fists. As if sensing his presence she turned and glared straight at him. Her voice had changed. It was stronger, deeper; malevolent. "It's done. I win."
Doom stepped further into the clearing where Susan stood so that there were only a few yards between them. They locked eyes as Doom slowly pulled the vial of red liquid from his cloak and held it up so she could see. He would have to drink it; a dart wouldn't be able to pierce his metal skin. He popped the cork off and gestured 'cheers'.
Suddenly the Fantasticar soared overhead. A low growl sounded deep in his throat at the untimely interruption. How did they know to come here? Doom stared at the still form of Johnny Storm and snarled. The boy kept ruining everything!
Angered, Doom dropped the power-sucking liquid to the grassy floor and let lose a stream of electricity at the pesky craft. It missed, irritating Doom even more. Susan watched him with a small smile of satisfaction. He didn't care what it was she was smiling about, just that she would stop. Another jet of blue light collided with her and knocked her out cold. They would have their battle another day.
The two remaining members of the Fantastic Four leapt down from their craft as it hovered to a stop nearby. Doom fired two streams of electricity. Reed dodged one by stretching his midsection to the left, and the other simply bounced off of Ben's rocky skin. Doom was getting more and more angry. He released an inhuman howl of frustration and charged up a second strike.
The duo approached simultaneously. The Thing came in on Doom's right and landed a super-human punch to his metal face. Mr. Fantastic stretched himself round Doom's upper body, restricting his movements. With a snarl Doom electrocuted Reed, flinging him away. Ben retaliated with a series of punches, everything seeming to have little effect.
"Pathetic," Doom retorted impatiently. "You'll have to do better than that."
Kayla waited for the Fantasticar to hover to a stop before she climbed out, hoping that Doom's attention would be on Reed and Ben rather than her. On the approach she had caught sight of Johnny's pale form. She ran over to him, her med kit at the ready.
What she found broke her heart.
Tears fell down her face as she saw what had happened to him. He was too far gone and she knew it. Maybe if he was at a hospital there was a chance...but she wouldn't give up. She didn't check his pulse, fearing that it would confirm what she dreaded. She wiped and sutured the cut to his forehead. She replaced the bloodied bandage around the bite on his arm.
She saw the red hand-shaped bruises on his neck, knowing that they were too small to belong to Doom.
She did all that she could for him there. She knew that Sue was hurt too and that if she wasted too much time with Johnny she would be too late to help her. A pained cry sounded from Reed as he was shocked by the metal man. He landed not too far from Kayla and remained still. For a moment she feared the worst, but he stirred and launched himself back into the fight.
The Doctor moved on to her next patient. There was an electrical burn mark on Sue's shirt from the assault. Kayla gently lifted her head and checked her pulse. It was there, low and rhythmic. She was just unconscious. "Sue? Can you hear me?"
Sue murmured something under her breath so quietly that Kayla almost didn't hear her. "...sorry...so sorry Johnny...had to...had to get Doom...sorry..."
"Sue? Sue? What are you talking about?" Kayla asked, remembering the bruises on Johnny's neck. "What did you do?"
Susan came to suddenly, her eyes wild and searching. She saw her brother and pushed Kayla out of the way so that she could get to him. She knelt by his side and tentatively stroked his pale face. She whispered to him as tears streamed down her cheeks "I fought it Johnny, it's gone now...oh God I'm so sorry...please forgive me...please wake up...it's gone now..."
The battle continued. No matter what they did, nothing the two superheroes tried had any affect. Doom just kept coming back stronger. He kept electrocuting Reed, heating his rubber skin and making it more and more difficult to return to his normal shape. Ben tried beating the metal man up, but they were two titans that cancelled each other out.
It was Doom that ended it.
He closed his hands into fists, extinguishing the two flickering bolts of electricity. He folded his arms smugly and looked down on his two opponents. Reed, needing a break, gratefully paused his assault. Ben followed suit, although slightly more reluctantly. He may not have actually been hurting the metal man, but that didn't mean it didn't feel good to wale on the guy.
"This is too pathetic," announced Doom, glaring at the two heroes as if they were mud. "This is a waste of my time." He looked past the two men "Besides; my work here is done."
Reed and Ben turned to see what Doom was looking at. They had found Johnny, but not quite the way they had hoped. Reed watched Sue mourning and felt his heart pang with regret. He had failed her. Ben refused to believe what he was seeing. The Kid...he couldn't be...
When Reed turned back to angrily retaliate, Doom was already gone.
