Tales from the Marvel Universe Neo
Issue 10
"Only Human"
Part 1 of 2
"Right there, sir." the young lieutenant said, pointing to the blip on the radar, "It faded again after just a moment, but this time we got a definite location."
"We have to move quick." General Simon replied, "Call Danvers and prep her jet. We might not get another shot at this."
By a large margin, no pilot on the west coast had a better record than Carol Danvers. She'd raised the art of leveling off a jet against wind currents to a whole new level, and General Simon had a feeling that the entire reason she'd never been promoted beyond Sergeant was that the higher-ups in the base she worked at were unwilling to do anything that would move her to duties other than actually flying a plane. She was that good, and for that mission the general needed the best.
A couple of weeks before, blips had started appearing on the radar screens, and strange transmissions had been picked up from an area of the Pacific Ocean, but the air force had never been able to get a solid bead on the location of whatever was causing the strange readings.
The first time it happened, it was brought before Peter Simon. The second time it happened, he brought it to the attention of the joint chiefs, and the third time it happened, a report found its way to the president's desk on the subject. Upon reading it, he'd decided to authorize the deployment of a small-scale investigation by the air force to check it out, and make sure it wasn't some new terrorist weapon.
"Whatever it is, it's not one of ours, and it's a little closer to American waters than I like." the president had told Simon over the phone, "If there's any evidence that it might by from an unfriendly nation, report that evidence and we'll decide on a course of action."
Simon was pleased to have gotten authorization to investigate the blips. They'd been bothering him for a while, and he didn't like the idea of leaving a mystery unsolved. He was also pleased to see the president reacting to a potential threat so prudently. It was refreshing to not be ordering an attack on anything for the moment. It almost made him feel as if it were possible to live peacefully.
Carol Danvers was feeling pretty good about her current mission. She was being sent to investigate some radar blip out in the ocean. It was probably going to wind up being nothing, but then, a boring mission meant that she wouldn't be going into battle at least. She'd been in a war before, and it wasn't something she was eager to go through again.
Truthfully, Carol Danvers didn't like war, or any weapons of war. She also didn't like using deadly weapons or killing people. In fact, she thought, like most women and most sensible people, that killing was silly and pointless, but she hadn't gotten a job with the air force so that she could kill. In fact, the reason she'd learned to fly planes in the first place was simply that she loved flying. Swift motion through changing environments had always been a dream and a fascination of hers, and flying a plane or a helicopter was the natural extension of that dream. Originally, she'd wanted to fly space ships, but as the space program had lost steam in recent years, she'd quickly realized that it wasn't practical or common to find work in that field, sadly. People's dreams of space travel had faded, and with them the chance for people to chart and explore space. If no one wanted to commit to space exploration, it wasn't going to happen, which, for Carol and those like her, was a shame. Her adventurous spirit might have been able to maintain its strength if it had seemed like there had still been opportunities for adventure.
However, although Carol had lost most of her dreams for adventure, her love of rapid motion, and of flying hadn't faded, and in spite of all the shields between herself and the open air, she still loved the feeling of being up so high, watching the world zip by around her.
It was that love of flight that drove her to keep getting into that plane whenever the air force said they needed her help. She could have left the air force at any time, to get a more mundane job. It wasn't as if she was poor, and she probably could have lived on a part-time job for the rest of her life, but it wasn't the money that kept her in the air force; it was the love of flight.
Within a couple hours of getting the message from General Simon, Carol was flying over the Pacific Ocean towards the anomaly that the military had just recently detected. It had to be something big and powerful, or it wouldn't have caused the disturbances she'd been told about. Carol wasn't much of a scientist, but in her experience, large storms tended to cause those kinds of reactions, and it wouldn't have surprised her at all to learn that what she was chasing was really a tornado. What did surprise Carol Danvers, however, was what she saw when she got within visual range of the object she'd been sent to investigate. It wasn't like anything she'd ever seen before.
"General. General Simon, this is Sergeant Danvers." the radio piped up.
"Sergeant?" the General asked, taking the radio from its normal operator, "Find something?"
"Yes sir." Carol replied, "It's like a huge fog bank with high winds."
"A fog bank?" the general asked, confused, "The boys in the lab told me that whatever was causing the interference would have to be electronic in nature."
"Well, there might be some kind of machine inside the fog. It's big enough to be covering a whole island."
"Can you get closer?" the general asked.
"Yes sir, but there's a chance I might not be able to keep the plane level if I do that. I'm having to work to keep her steady as it is."
The general didn't like the position he was being put in. It was a tough choice to make. He never liked ordering people into dangerous situations, and he especially didn't like the idea of losing the sergeant, but if she couldn't get through the fog, nobody could.
"Alright." the general said after a moment, "Move in closer. See if you can figure out what's inside the storm front and report back."
"Yes sir." Carol replied obediently. A moment later, she spoke through the radio again, "Turbulence is greater here than I was expecting... Not sure I can... contact with you... much longer..."
"Sergeant?" the general asked, "What's going on? I'm not reading you."
"Something about the... interfering with the... communication channels... satellite broadcast... choppy at best..."
"Satellite?" the general asked, confused, "You mean there's something interfering with our satellite network?"
"...can't... anymore... have to... later..."
"Sergeant? Sergeant!" the general demanded, but it was too late. Carol's transmission had broken up.
Hours wore on, and there was no further word from Carol. At last, the afternoon became the evening, which swiftly turned to night, and General Peter Simon knew that Carol Danvers would not be reporting back.
Doctor Reed Richards smiled as he fitted the last of the tubing into place on his machine and activated the power. It was time to see if his latest invention would really do what it had been designed for.
As the power came on, Reed Richards started typing commands into the attached keyboard and feeding the machine information about the specific energy type that he was searching for. He wasn't a hundred percent certain that it was all the information the machine would need, but it was certainly all the data he had, and pretty soon, the machine was working, drawing information from Reed's energy pulse beacon to seek that one, specific type of energy in the whole solar system that Reed Richards needed most.
For several seconds, Reed waited as the pulse beacon scanned and scanned, searching for an energy type that could be used to power the alien device which, Reed hoped, could change Ben Grimm back to a human-like appearance. However, before even fifteen seconds had elapsed, the machine had begun to display results on the screen. Something had been found right on planet Earth.
Reed was thrilled as he watched the machine displaying its information; the energy that it had detected, the amount of that energy that it could be sure existed, and most importantly, its precise location. With a broad smile on his face, Reed made a printout of the data and ran to tell his friends.
"Great news, everybody!" Reed exclaimed as he stepped into the recreation room where Ben and Johnny were playing video games.
"Sale on textbooks?" Ben joked sarcastically, pausing the game.
"No, I mean great news for you, old friend." Reed replied, smiling as he took the joke with his customary good humor, "Remember that energy that I told you I needed to change you back? Well, I think I may have found some out in the Pacific Ocean."
"Hey, that's amazing buddy!" Ben said, "Scuba gear, then?"
"Well, we may want to bring some," Reed replied, "but I wasn't planning on getting there by boat. It's too slow. We can reach there this afternoon if we take the JUMP."
"Hey!" Johnny exclaimed, "Can I come too?"
"I think it'd be a great idea if we all went." Reed said, still smiling, "This could be a really important event in Ben's life. It'd be better if we were all there for him, I think."
"Man, I don't know how to thank you, buddy." Ben said, smiling already.
"Well, don't thank me just yet." Reed replied, looking a little embarrassed, "There's still a lot of work to do, even if we can find some way to gather the energy and use it. Still, it's a step in the right direction."
"Yeah. Yeah, right." Ben replied with some enthusiasm, "So when do we leave?"
The time to leave came, as it turned out, only a short while later. Soon, they were all in the JUMP, and ready to take off. The cockpit of the JUMP had needed to be totally redesigned to accommodate Ben Grimm's increased size and power. Ben had piloted that very same plane easily before his transformation, but it was a long harder when your shoulders were almost twice as broad, and your hands more than twice as large. Still, in spite of his increased size, and his tendency to break things whenever he got his hands on then, Ben was still a better pilot than anyone else Reed knew, and the time and trouble of redesigning the cockpit interior with larger, stronger handles, wider edges and a bigger set of safety belts had been, in his mind, well worth it.
Since the incident that had changed Reed and the others into the Fantastic Four, Ben had frequently seemed irritable and antsy around everyone and everything. The only exception, it had turned out, was when he was doing something that really reminded him of his own past as a normal human, like piloting a plane. Normally, flying a plane; even a small one was a somewhat stressful thing, but once Reed had fixed up the cockpit to fit him, Ben had seemed to be so much more relaxed whenever he was in the JUMP or their flying car. That alone would have made the cost of the remodeling worthwhile.
However, on that day, being in the JUMP didn't seem to be calming Ben down any, and Reed could understand why. Ben was eager to regain his human appearance. It was easy to feel some sympathy for him in that respect. Ben was much larger and broader than he'd been before the transformation, as well as having orange skin with roughly the consistency of solid bedrock. To Reed Richards, who was used to seeing all sorts of strange creatures from all over the world as a scientist would, Ben didn't look particularly hideous, but then, he didn't look particularly human either.
After taking off from the launch pad on the roof of the building where Reed's lab was, the JUMP rose up, further and further into the air, then from that position, seemed to turn almost directly sideways, miles up in the air, and shot to the west along the curvature of the Earth. Reed smiled as the whole thing took place. True to its name, the JUMP reached new locations by traveling directly up like a rocket, then turning in the direction it needed to travel in, and coasting through the Earth's atmosphere until it reached that location. In some ways, it was a little like a combination rocket and jet, and it could take them to the Pacific Ocean in minutes, provided they didn't run into any tornadoes over the Midwestern United States.
As the JUMP carried the four incredible humans across an entire continent, however, little was said between them, which was a bit uncommon. Of course, Johnny knew enough to keep his mouth shut while Ben was flying the plane, but Reed would usually have piped up with some piece of information he found interesting, and Sue might have said something to try to keep everyone from losing their cool. During that trip, however, everyone else seemed reasonably cool, if a little unsettled, and yet, Sue was obviously deeply worried. It wasn't really a worry for their safety, or the success of their mission. Sue rarely worried about those sorts of things for very long. What concerned her was the behavior of her friends; how they were reacting and what they were doing. It was, she knew, a problem, but it would have been a bigger problem if she'd voiced her concerns openly in front of Johnny, and especially in front of Ben.
At last, the silent and less-than-comfortable ride was nearing its end as the JUMP got within a few dozen yards of their destination, but by the time they'd reached that location, they found that silence was no longer a problem.
A massive fog bank with powerful and loud winds had risen up before them along the horizon as they'd flown west from the coast. Whatever it was, it was far enough out to sea that it wouldn't have been seen from the coastline itself, and yet, when one was headed towards its location, it wasn't exactly easy to miss. Soon, it had filled the entire cockpit window as Ben turned the JUMP to one side to avoid being knocked into a nosedive.
"Your call, Big Brain." Ben said as they began to circle around the massive storm, "How're we gonna get past this?"
"The energy readings are definitely coming from right inside that storm." Reed confirmed, "See if you can try to rise above it and slide through the storm's eye to whatever's in the center."
"Thread the needle, huh?" Ben asked with a smile, "You got it, buddy. This is cake."
In moments, the JUMP was rising upward again through the air, using its jets to give it an extra boost whenever there was a need until, at last, it leveled off. It certainly looked like the storm was a pretty good distance below as Ben turned the plane vertical again in mid-air, and immediately switched to the rocket propulsion again, then started a slow descent into the storm's very center, where, in any tornado or hurricane, the one calm spot in a storm is.
However, after descending for only a little over a minute, it was obvious that something was wrong. The entire plane was shaking like a baby rattle, and Ben seemed to be having trouble keeping it under control.
"Ben!" Reed exclaimed, worry all over his face, "What's going on?"
"I dunno how to tell ya this, stretch..." Ben said, "but this storm ain't got an eye. The winds are bad all over, like some kinda dome."
"A dome made of wind?" Reed asked, worried and amazed all at once, "Then it can't be natural weather. Natural weather patterns function to redistribute air and temperature. A wind dome would just unbalance the weather in the area, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah, thanks." Ben said, "'Cept instead of a science lecture, how's about some ideas? This plane's headed for a crash!"
"Can't you break free?" Reed asked, feeling the strong winds starting to toss the JUMP over like a coin flipped into the air.
"Not a chance." Ben replied, frustration and worry in his voice, "We're coming down hard."
Reed looked out the windows for a moment before he decided that the best course would be to trust in Ben's judgment. He was, after all, still the pilot.
"Ben, stand by on the eject switch until we're clear of the high winds. If we don't get clear of them, we're better off not ejecting. You'll survive, I'll survive and Johnny can handle himself in mid-air. I'll grab Sue on the way down, but I don't want harsh winds tearing us to shreds as soon as we leave the plane."
Reed's rocky friend just nodded, and turned a knob on the ceiling, which opened a small, plastic box with a button inside. He carefully braced one finger against the edge of the box, ready to press that button at any moment, as the others prepared as best they could to be ejected into the open air. At last, the trembling stopped, and the plane was in free-fall, and that was when Ben pushed the button, and they were all launched out of it as the JUMP fell away beneath them. There was quick chill, and a sense of terror as they ejected from the plane, but they all knew what they had to do, and in just a moment, they were all doing it.
Ben had curled himself up in free-fall, and was plunging downward like a human meteor. Johnny had burst into flames in moments, incinerating the seat he'd been ejected in, and pretty soon, he was descending too. Reed's job, of course, was harder. With one hand, he immediately reached out and grabbed one of Sue's, then twisting his body into an angle that no flesh and blood contortionist could have duplicated, he slid his other arm and both legs free of the buckles holding him in place. In another moment, his other arm had reached out for Sue's, so that Reed had a plane seat threaded over one arm, as they remained in free fall. After a few more seconds, Reed allowed his first arm to release Sue's, also enabling the plane seat to slide free and rise upward above them. It wasn't, after all, falling quite as fast as they were, but that was about to change.
Once more, Reed took Sue's hands in his own, then his arms climbed rapidly up hers, until they reached her shoulder, and started to stretch out even further, wrapping around her shoulders, and under her arms as she maintained her solid grip on his. Then, at last, Reed changed the shape of the rest of his body, squashing his legs, torso, and even his head inward, until they became thin and flexible, stretching out over Sue's head, and that was when their descent started to slow.
From the start, Reed had known that his life, and the lives of his closest friends were going to be dangerous. The way they acquired their special powers, the fights they'd had with the Mole Man and the Submariner; it had all indicated that from then on, just by trying to do the decent thing with the abilities they'd been given, the Fantastic Four were going to wind up in some dangerous situations. Knowing that, Reed had anticipated ahead of time that their plane might be in danger of crashing at some point, and had devised a number of plans for a same evacuation of the four of them from it. The plan he'd used in that instance; in which he changed the shape of his body into that of a parachute, allowing himself and Susan to descend safely, was one he'd never had the chance to test out, and he was understandably pleased, and just a little surprised that it had worked so well.
Of course, it was only once they were descending slowly through the air, that Reed and Sue got the chance to look down at the location they'd be landing in, and it was a stunning and astonishing sight. Reed had somewhat expected that the high winds would have thrown the plane clear of the storm completely, but it seemed that somehow, they'd made it into the storm's very center. Sure enough, as the two of them looked around, the fog and high winds surrounded them on all sides; north, south, east, west and even covered them from overhead, but seemed to be contained somehow, like a barrier in those directions, around the island that stretched out beneath them.
Since the only direction not blocked off by the fog barrier was directly down, it was an inevitably short time before Reed and Sue were looking in amazement at the island that was underneath them. It lay in the ocean, several miles across, and yet, it was barren and rocky, as if nothing at all could have lived there since the very dawn of time. It was a mystery; no doubt about that. A barren island, secluded from the world within a barrier made of wind and fog, capable of destroying any plane, ship or rocket that tried to pass through it. Reed had to wonder as they descended, just what kind of being could live on such an island, and why they were so desperate to avoid contact with man.
However, Reed's thoughts were soon to be interrupted. Ben and Johnny seemed to have already reached the island uninjured, although Ben had left a large crater where he'd landed. In essence, Reed and Sue were alone, and the surrounding winds were loud enough that if Sue talked to him, Reed was the only one who would hear her.
"I don't like this, Reed."
"We'll be back on solid ground in a minute, Sue."
"That's not what I mean." Sue replied, "It's Ben. It's been bothering me ever since we left your lab. Reed, I don't like what this is doing to Ben."
"What?" Reed didn't understand for a moment, then slowly seemed to be arriving at a conclusion he didn't like.
"Sue, are you saying you want Ben to stay the way he is now, just so that he can be part of the Fantastic Four?"
"No." Sue replied, in a hurry to explain herself, "Of course not. I'm just saying that in all the time you've spent looking for some way to turn Ben back to the way he was, he's always seemed so single-minded and obsessed. Reed, big obsessions aren't healthy, especially not obsessions over your appearance. The circumstances were a little different, but there was a girl I knew in college who I couldn't stand to be around because she was obsessed with her appearance. She was totally convinced that she was hideous, wrinkled, fat, and all sorts of other things you wouldn't believe. Whenever we were in private, she'd complain about how guys never wanted to spent time with someone so ugly, but whenever she was about to get into a real relationship, it ended the moment he tried to tell her that she was beautiful. She just wouldn't listen. She usually wound up saying something like 'I don't want to be with a guy who likes the way I look. It makes me sick!'"
"But Ben's different." Reed objected, "He doesn't even look human at all."
"I never talked to that woman again after college." Sue continued, ignoring Reed's words, "She thought I'd abandoned her because she was so ugly, even after all the time we'd spent together, and I'm afraid that the same thing could be happening to Ben. To recognize that you have a problem and take action to try to solve it is a very good thing, and I'm glad Ben's being proactive and helping you try to find that solution, but I'm worried that he's obsessing over his appearance more than anything else, and if that's true, it's going to destroy him more than his actual looks ever could. I'm not going to try to deny that people react to the way you look, but the most important thing is the way you act. I don't want Ben to become ugly on the inside."
Reed felt like he needed to say something for a moment, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't think of anything to say. It was a sad state of affairs, and in a little while, when Sue's feet touched down on the rocky surface of the island below them, and Reed swiftly uncoiled, and took a human shape again, both of them had fallen silent. Sue Storm had said her piece, and Reed Richards just wasn't sure what to say.
"Hey, big brain!" he heard Ben exclaim a moment later, "Your trap's shut. Don't see that often."
"Well, don't get used to it." Reed replied quickly, smiling over the friendly jibe. Then, a moment later, he'd turned back to Sue and said "I think you're worrying over nothing."
"I hope so, Reed." she replied, though she couldn't quite bring herself to smile.
A full exploration of the whole island would probably have taken hours, so Ben decided that the best bet would probably be to find the highest point on the island and get some idea of the land's formation. Reed didn't try to argue, though he knew that he and Sue had just gotten a prolonged look at the island from a spot high above it.
Reed quickly lengthened his legs, and had reached the highest point on the island in a single step, then stood, over a mile high, looking down at the island and memorizing every curve and crack in the land, until he saw something that he hadn't seen before; something that drove more tactical thoughts from his mind.
"There are two downed planes on this island." Reed exclaimed as he descended to within earshot of the others, "One's the remains of the JUMP, but the other one looks like a military jet. There could be somebody else on this island."
Within about five seconds, Reed and Johnny had reached the other plane, although Sue and Ben were a walk of about five minutes behind them. Sure enough, it was a wreck. That plane would never fly again, and it seemed that, like Reed and his friends, the pilot of the military jet had known enough to bail out when they'd penetrated the wind barrier. Reed couldn't tell where the pilot had landed, or which direction they'd gone, but he knew what he would have done in their place. If he'd survived the crash uninjured, he would have immediately gone in search of his plane, for the supplies if nothing else, then headed off from there. Sure enough, when Reed checked the plane, the first aid kit inevitably kept in military jets was missing, which probably meant that the pilot had taken it with them. The only question, then, was what had happened after that. Where had the pilot gone after taking the emergency equipment?
Reed and Johnny were still looking around for evidence of the pilot's fate when Ben and Sue arrived.
"Good timing." Reed said, "Ben, can you help us look for the pilot of this plane. They seem to have run off, and if they got off the island, there's a chance that..."
"What about the energy, stretch?" Ben asked a little irritably.
"Huh?" Reed asked. It took him a moment before he even realized what Ben was talking about, but when he did, he started to get worried.
"I understand how you feel, old friend, but at this point, we'll be lucky to even get away from here. We should focus on finding a way to get back home. Once we get there, I can work on some way to breach the wind barrier again, and we can come back with the scanner to search for the energy."
"Life ain't that long, stretch." Ben replied, "We hafta find the energy now. Then, if there's a way to get it out through the winds, we should use it. If there ain't no way, then we can go with your plan, but I ain't leaving this island until I'm sure I've done all I can."
Reed felt his heart sinking into the pit of his stomach, but what else could he do? What else could he say?
"Whatever the source of that energy was, it wasn't coming from any of the rocks on the surface of this island." Reed replied after his short hesitation, "That means it's hidden around here somewhere. For the moment, Ben, the best course would be to look for caves or cracks in the rock, large enough for a person to slip through, but don't go smashing up the island. There's a chance the energy source might be gaseous in nature, and if it is, then releasing it into the open air would probably render it inert."
"Come again?" Ben asked.
"Don't crack open the ground or you might let the energy fly away on us." Johnny muttered from nearby.
"Oh..." Ben said, "Well, why didn't ya just say so in the first place?"
Soon Ben was off again in search of anything that might resemble a cave or enclosure, but it was Sue who found one first.
Sue and Reed had begun using their powers in conjunction with one another; Sue making obstacles invisible to reveal what was behind them, as Reed scanned the island with his eyes from a great height again. At last, Sue Storm had found a cave, surprisingly close to the very center of the island.
"Reed, look." Sue said, keeping the hill between Reed and herself invisible, so that he could see it with his own eyes.
"Great job, Sue." Reed replied with a smile, and in only a moment, he'd reached the cave with long, stretching strides, and peered inside. Sure enough, it was no mere hollow in the rock, but a tunnel that went down into the ground a pretty good distance.
After telling Ben and Johnny about it, Reed waited by the cave entrance for everyone to arrive, before he started down inside. Ben followed him closely with Johnny and Sue behind him as the group descended into the tunnel.
At first, Reed had suspected that Johnny would need to lead them through the cave, using one of his hands to light the way, but as soon as the group had gone a few yards underground, the tunnel turned to one side, into an area which was, impossibly, lit from within, as if the whole place were a mining operation. There was one difference, however. Instead of mining equipment, the room that opened up before them was full of large, glass tubes, and small machines that were spread out across the ceiling, with wires and electric lights along the edges. In the bottom of each of the glass tubes was what looked like a closed vent, and each was open in the front, with a door permitting access. There were eight tubes in all, and of those eight, only one was closed. It seemed to be filled with some kind of aqua-colored vapor, that obscured everything else within the tube. The hallway beyond that chamber turned to both the left and right, but it was that one tube that most caught the attention of Ben Grimm and Reed Richards as they stepped into the room.
"What's the word, Big Brain?" Ben asked with a grin on his face.
"I'm not a betting man, Ben, but if I was, I'd say this is probably that energy source we've been looking for."
"Thought so." Ben replied, "Let's find somethin' to put it in."
"Huh?" Once again, Reed was startled by the choice that Ben was making, "Ben, with all of these machines around, I'm willing to bet that this substance, whatever it is, already belongs to someone; maybe even someone like the Mole Man."
"Stretch, we came all this way and got the JUMP into a wreck because we need this stuff. Now that it's right here in front of me, don't try to tell me I can't have it."
Sue hissed a little under her breath. Reed had noticed, however, and didn't need her to remind him. It was just like she'd said. Ben was obsessing, and forgetting everything else. Reed carefully took a deep breath, and replied to his friend, trying to get him to calm down.
"I'm not trying to tell you you can't have the vapors in there, Ben, but we should be prudent in acquiring them. If they do belong to someone, we should look for them, and ask them for permission. It's not as if we have nothing to offer them in exchan..."
"Ben, look!" Sue exclaimed just then, however, in surprise. Ben had turned to face Reed as they'd been talking, but when Sue had said that, he turned back to face the tube again, and saw what she was talking about. Sue Storm had started using her powers to make the vapors within the tube invisible, and as she'd done that, the group could see that inside the tube, beyond the strange gases that were in there, was the figure of a blond woman, unconscious and floating upright in midair There was no way of knowing how long she'd been in the tube, but Reed had his suspicions that she was the pilot of the other plane on the surface; suspicions that were soon validated as Ben Grimm remarked in awe "Carol..."
"Carol?" Reed asked, "Do you know this woman?"
"Best pilot I ever saw when I was in the Air Force.. I thought she was working near the west coast, though..." Ben said quickly, "Plus, she looks a bunch younger than the last time I saw her. That gas, whatever it is, don't matter anymore. I gotta get her outta there."
Sue had started to grin a little, until she realized that the gas might be toxic in nature; something that had jumped right to the front of Reed Richard's thoughts, as he exclaimed "Wait, Ben!"
But Ben Grimm wasn't about to wait. In only a moment, he'd wrenched open the door on the front of the glass chamber, and just like that, the vents at the chamber's bottom closed, and Ben Grimm saw something unlike anything he'd ever seen before. As soon as the door had opened, the remaining gas, instead of spilling out into the room, had traveled in the direction of Carol, and seemed almost to pass directly through her skin, into her body. Ben stared in amazement as her whole body began to glow for a moment, then whatever machines were keeping her suspended in midair were deactivated, and she slumped forward into Ben's rocky arms.
"Carol?" Ben asked gently as she lay against him, "Carol, you okay?"
Sure enough, however, the woman that Ben had called Carol was slowly, groggily starting to wake up. Her eyes fluttered as she opened them for the first time since she'd emerged from the tube, and the first sight that she saw was the monstrous, orange Thing standing right in front of her.
"There we go." Ben said with a smile, "You gave me a scare there, Caro-oooph!"
It seemed that living on the West Coast as she did, Carol hadn't heard of the Fantastic Four, because her reaction upon seeing Ben standing over her was to dart awake, and strike him in the face with one of her hands, and impossibly, as the blow connected, Ben Grimm flew backwards across the chamber, shattering two of the glass enclosures on that side of the room.
"Wh-whoa..." Carol muttered, as Johnny started to power up his flame, and Sue turned herself invisible. Reed had been behind Ben when Carol had hit him, but the impact hadn't injured his rubbery body at all, and pretty soon, he and Ben were back on their feet as Carol looked in awe at her own hands.
"Okay, Carol. You asked for it!" Ben exclaimed, getting to his feet, "Don't know how ya got so strong, but nobody slugs Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew across his rocky mug and winds up feelin' glad they did. It's clobberin' time!"
"Huh?" Carol asked, suddenly paying attention to the Thing once again, "Aunt Petunia? Wait a minute..."
But Ben wasn't about to wait. Quickly, he charged forward, driving one fist downward, towards Carol's midsection and the other at her face. She seemed disoriented for a moment, but reacted quickly, grabbing both of his fists in her own, and then the two stood opposite one another in the center of the room, each struggling to match the strength of the other, and yet, they were totally equal. Carol, however, looked amazed, and a little worried as she held Ben's much larger hands in her own, small ones.
"Ben?" she asked, astonished, "Benjamin J. Grimm? Is that you?"
"'Course it's me." Ben replied, "What? Ya mistook me fer the president?"
Soon, both Carol and Ben had loosened their grips on one another, and Carol looked horrified and sympathetic, as she carefully ran one hand along Ben Grimm's rocky face.
"What... what happened to you?" she asked, "You're so... so..."
"Orange and rocky." Ben replied, providing her with a tactful alternative to the word "ugly," "Yeah. I guess ya must not have heard. Alien accident or something. What about you, though? I mean, you're a whole lot stronger than ya were the last time I saw ya. What happened? Been jugglin' trucks while I was out?"
Carol wasn't sure what to say to that, so instead, she walked over to the other side of the room, towards the tunnel that they'd all come in by, and drove her fist as hard as she could into the stone.
Cracks spread through the whole tunnel as that wall caved in on itself, collapsing in large chucks of bedrock into a pile that soon covered all but a small section of the way in. They could probably still get out that way, but only with a lot of digging.
Slowly, Carol drew her fist back again, awe and amazement all over her face.
"I don't believe it." Carol muttered, "I've never... I mean... I can't... wow."
"That was pretty much my reaction when I discovered my powers too." Sue Storm replied, making herself visible again.
"It must have something to do with those gasses." Reed said, his legs still working to regain their previous thickness, "Maybe they change the body of a human being, and accelerate the natural process of their evolution, or maybe it's not a gas at all, but a network of microscopic computers that alter genes under the guidance of an intelligent supercomputer. Whatever it is, it's not like anything I've ever seen before."
The whole time that Reed talked, Johnny's hands were still on fire, and the larger part of Sue's legs were still invisible, even as Reed twisted his rubbery limbs in ways that no other human could have, just to make sure that everything was still in good working order. All four of them looked strange and unnatural, which made things even more confusing when, a moment later, the natives arrived, alerted to their presence by the large-scale commotion they'd been making in both Ben and Carol's short fight and the noise of the collapsing tunnel.
The man who charged into that room at that point was about the same size as Ben, but instead of being covered in rocky, orange skin, he was covered in fur, and his teeth and nails were much larger and sharper than normal, human teeth. In fact, he looked something like a classic depiction of Bigfoot, except that he was carrying a long staff in one hand, with a crystal-like orb at the end. He looked horrified.
"What have you done to the chambers of maturity?" he demanded, "Whose idea was this? And what is that human doing here?"
He'd pointed to Carol when he said that, though he barely cast the rest of them as much as a glance. None of them looked totally human except for her, but none of them completely understood the situation they'd found themselves in either. Reed quickly tried to size up the situation, and gain more information with a question.
"Are humans truly that unwelcome here?"
"To bring a human into Attilan is the highest of all crimes. Was it you who did this?"
That told Reed all he needed to know. Ben and Carol both seemed about to speak, but Reed quickly held up one hand to silence them. He needed to talk to the guard.
"This human came among us of her own volition."
"That isn't possible." the guard replied with a scoff, "No human has the power to..."
Taking that as her cue, Carol grabbed one of the fallen rocks in her hands, and brought those hands together with a crunch, crushing the rock to dust with ease. Ben grinned as the guard took a step back, raising his weapon, but Reed was soon standing between Carol and the guard. He didn't know what the weapon was designed to do, but he didn't want to take the chance that Carol would be vulnerable to it, in spite of the strange powers she'd acquired.
"Humans have become far more powerful than we suspected over the last hundred years." Reed said, "She claims to wish us no direct harm, however."
"Uh... I come in peace... Take me to your leader?" Carol said, not sure what else to say. Ben chuckled a little when she said that, though. Carol wasn't a joker like him, but at least she had some sense of humor.
"I must report this to the king." the guard replied, "Wait here, and do not let the human leave this room."
Then he was off at a sprint down the hallways beyond that room, but it didn't take long for Ben to speak up shortly after he'd left.
"What was that all about?"
"Obviously, we've found ourselves in some kind of superhuman society under the surface of this island. They're lead by a king, and they're isolationists from the rest of mankind. They also haven't made contact with the human race recently. I think the only reason he treated us with respect is that none of us except Carol look totally human."
"We gotta get outta here, anyways." Ben said, "I didn't like the look of that guy's staff."
"Plus, they know I'm a human." Carol noted, "What if their king tries to have me executed?"
"We're not going to let them hurt you, Carol," Reed reassured her, "although, with your strength, I'm not entirely certain they could, but I want to find out more about this underground society, and their ways and laws. How long were you in that tube for?"
"I... I don't know." Carol replied, "I was out cold for most of it."
"What happened to you?" Ben asked, "Did somebody knock you out and toss you into the tube or something?"
Carol, however, looked a little sad and ashamed when Ben asked that question, and then looked away, before she dared to say even a word about it.
"Actually, it was my fault." Carol said, "I was sent to investigate the strange radio and energy disturbances coming from this island, and I had to get closer to the mists surrounding it to do that. When I got too close, my plane was caught up in the fierce winds, and I crashed on the island, ejecting just in time."
"Once I got my bearings, I took my first aid kit from the back of the plane, and headed off to explore the island. Pretty soon, I found this cave, and these tubes, and I was looking around one of them. I stepped inside, and the door slammed shut by itself. I couldn't get it open again, then that gas started coming in from below, and the next thing I knew, you were there."
"In that case, it seems likely that those mists, whatever they were, are responsible for giving you such tremendous strength." Reed replied, "We still know so little about them, however, that we have no way of knowing whether your powers will be permanent or temporary, or even whether or not you'll mutate further as time goes on. If those mists can make you as strong as Ben, who knows what else they can do?"
Suddenly, two sets of footsteps were heard, approaching in a hurry from the hallway at the end of the chamber, and yet, it seemed that the owners of the footsteps were picking up the rear of the small party that arrived a moment later.
The group consisted of four people, none of whom looked entirely human, and only two of whom were actually walking with their feet. The first to ascend the stairs was a tall, well-muscled man wearing a black jumpsuit, with the shapes of blue lightning bolts woven into it at the shoulders. However, as strange as that was, it wasn't the strangest thing about the man. A small, metal object closely resembling a tuning fork appeared to be embedded in his forehead, and it vibrated intensely as he floated through the air towards the Fantastic Four.
The second member of the approaching group seemed to have waves of thick, red hair, which flowed down over her shoulders, arms, legs, and even her feet. She had it wrapped around herself like a cloak, so that it was impossible to tell virtually anything else about her, but to guage from her face, Reed judged that she was probably quite lovely. What was truly unusual about her was that her hair, in addition to surrounding her totally, also seemed to move according to her will, and unless Reed was having hallucinations, it seemed to have deposited her on the ground, after having carried her all the way down the hall in the shape of a series of legs.
Sure enough, however, two more figures arrived soon after that, each traveling on foot. One was the guard that Reed had seen before, and the other was a smaller man; no taller than Johnny Storm. He was dressed in a green uniform with armor along the backs of his hands, his chest, hips and over his ankles. He also wore a helmet. All of his armor was clearly made of metal, and painted green in a way that didn't dull in any way the sheen of the metal itself, but like his friends, the man also had a visible trait that made him look different from ordinary humans. The edges of his eyes seemed to twist around to the sides of his head, as if in an attempt to allow him to see things in a full one-hundred and eighty degrees.
Reed found himself feeling worry over the new arrivals, despite the fact that they bore no dangerous-looking weapons. It was conceivable that even the powers of the Fantastic Four would be insufficient to save them if that superhuman society posed a threat, which meant that Reed needed to tread carefully, and do his best to be diplomatic.
However, Reed was almost totally certain that he couldn't make a good first impression without knowing the names of any of the people who stood before him. It was probably fortunate, therefore, that the woman with the long, red hair spoke first.
"Black Bolt wishes to know the circumstances under which you found this human."
Reed decided, for the moment, that the best bet would be honesty.
"She was entrapped in the mist tube and unconscious." Reed said, assuming the man; Black Bolt, to be mute, and to be their king, from what he'd just heard, "I'm afraid the tube suffered some damage while we were liberating her."
"That is unfortunate, but it is of little consequence." the woman replied, "Its repairs will be complete within a day. What troubles us far more is that a human has succeeded in venturing into Attilan, despite the many precautions we've taken to prevent that very thing. What's more, we have no way of determining how long she was exposed to the Terragen Mists. The extent of her powers could even exceed my own."
As the woman spoke, the shorter man in the green armor approached Black Bolt from behind, and began whispering into his ear. Black Bolt nodded with a smile in response.
"Black Bolt is pleased with your honesty about the discovery of the human." the woman said, "However, he is also aware that you are not who you seem to be. In spite of your strange appearances, we suspect the four of you to be human as well."
Reed sighed. So the man in the armor was a lie-detector, among other things. It was probably just as well. Reed had a much easier time telling the truth than lying.
"In that case," Reed said, his own expression turning very serious, "there's a great deal more information you deserve. Everybody power down."
Johnny had seemed confident in his ability to torch everyone else in the room, but regardless, he didn't look all that disappointed when Reed said that, and in a moment, Reed's body returned to normal proportions, Sue became entirely visible, and Johnny's flames faded away. Black Bolt seemed unsure of whether or not to be pleased, as his expression wavered between a smile and a serious glare, at last settling on a calm, detached look.
"Are you in a position to speak for your people?" the woman in the red hair asked, "Can you tell us what you humans are doing here in Attilan, and how you came to get past our barrier?"
"Yes." Reed replied, "I can tell you all of that and more."
"Then, for the moment, you and your companions will not be treated as trespassers." the woman said, "Come to the court of Attilan, and there, we'll discuss this further."
"Wait..." Reed said, confused and unsure how to proceed, "May I at least know your names before I...?"
"If you have further questions, you may ask them at the court of Attilan." the woman barked a bit harshly, "We will all be there."
Naturally, that answer didn't satisfy Reed, but he wasn't ready to take firmer action until he understood what they were really up against. Even then, he would have hesitated to use force, when patience would do just as well. Motioning carefully to the others, Reed followed behind the strange people, as they led the five humans down the hallways, and further in, to the center of Attilan.
The group traveled for about three minutes down hallways and stairs, before the path they were taking opened up into a larger cavern, and what a cavern it was. They must have traveled a great distance in such a short time, because although the cavern stretched down below them into a large city, full of buildings and designs cut from the very rock itself, it also towered over them to an enormous, flat ceiling, which looked larger than it was, because images and lights seemed to stream down from the cavern ceiling, lighting up the city of those strange people, as if it were broad daylight. The images, mostly, were of blue skies and calm weather, although Reed knew for a face that a ferocious, dome-shaped wind contained the entire island. The sky, then, had to be an illusion, which made some sense. Whoever those people were, they had obviously used what they called "Terragen Mists" to give themselves amazing and seemingly-random superhuman powers. It was conceivable that one of them would have the power to create visual illusions and bend light, though it was still a strange series of circumstances. Still, if, as Reed suspected, the Terragen Mist was the one power source on Earth capable of changing Ben Grimm's appearance back to normal, then the transformation of those people was really no stranger than their own, and in fact, they might be exactly the same. He needed more information before drawing too many conclusions, however.
One thing, though, Reed was certain about. Whatever powers those people had acquired, they'd been immensely helpful in construction. The descent into the city was a long one, and once they'd reached the city's base, they needed to walk for over a mile before they reached the building at the center of town; a massive palace made of beautiful rock formations, inlaid with precious gemstones. Reed was amazed. It wasn't far enough underground to attract the attention of someone like the Mole Man, but the whole place was a serene, beautiful city made entirely of minerals, and other substances found in rock. It was amazing and wonderful. Sue, Carol and Johnny couldn't stop staring at the enormous buildings, and even Ben seemed impressed.
Of course it was impressive. It almost distracted Reed from the urgency and potential danger of their situation, but what really ended up distracting him were the people living there. Each and every one looked distinctly different; an extra eye here, or a fin there... wings, a tail, jet black skin, bright red, orange like Ben, or with fur. Some were even shaped like creatures of legend, with horns, hooves or no legs at all, simply floating in the air like a ghost, and no two looked exactly alike, but they all had one thing in common. Not one of them could have been mistaken for a human being.
At last, the five human visitors to Attilan were led into the building in the very center of the city; the largest of all, and inside, they found another, smaller town, filled with even more people, who were just as diverse in appearance and apparent special abilities as the ones outside. In the center of that town was another large spire, reaching up to the very top of the building, and in just a few more minutes of walking, they were inside the spire.
The spire itself was deceptively large. From the entrance to the city, it had looked very thin because of its height, but from close up, the group could see that it was, in fact, as thick as a large house, and contained first an entry hall, while they were lead through, followed by a larger chamber with stairs on either side, leading up to higher rooms within the spire; perhaps even residential quarters for Black Bolt and the other royalty, assuming that there were other royals.
Within that larger chamber were seven large seats. There was one central throne and two smaller once beside it. On the left side of those three were two sturdy-looking stone chairs, and on the right, another such chair, and a blue pillow, large enough for a cow to lay down on.
The five human visitors watched in amazement as Black Bolt took his seat on the central throne, still not opening his mouth for even a second, though he seemed unworried. The woman in the red hair took a seat beside him, on one of the smaller thrones, and the man in the green armor seated himself in one of the sturdy, stone chairs. When they'd done that, the guard took his leave.
"There are other members of the royal family not present at the moment." the woman with the red hair said. Despite her seated position, her hair still covered her body completely, and stretched out behind her like the waving tentacles of a octopus, as she continued, "They will be arriving shortly, and we can begin. Black Bolt wishes us all to take part in this matter, because it is the first issue of foreign affairs that we have needed to confront in many years."
"Please forgive me, miss." Reed said, feeling a little impatient, "I don't mean to be impolite, but I still have yet to hear your name, or the name of your friend in the armor, and I'd be most interested in learning how you communicate with Black Bolt, since it's quite evident that he's unable to speak."
The woman in the red hair still seemed a little suspicious, but she was pleased by Reed's attempts at courtesy, and responded after a short pause to consider her words.
"I am Medusa; wife of Black Bolt, and queen of Attilan. That is Karnak; close cousin of Black Bolt, and minister of defense for Attilan. You humans have come to Attilan; homeland of the inhumans, and yes, as you've noticed, Black Bolt cannot use speech for communication, but the protrusion on his forehead channels vibrations in the air, and sends them back out in the form of quiet sound waves, which can be deciphered by those dedicated enough to the task, such as myself and the other members of Black Bolt's family."
"Inhumans... Amazing..." Reed muttered for a moment, "If you don't mind my asking, who are the inhumans, and how did you come to discover the Terragen Mists that gave you such incredible powers?"
At that point, Medusa's smile faded, but it was more with boredom than anger.
"If I waited for the others to arrive before explaining that to you, it would only bore them." Medusa said, "They've each heard the tale a hundred times over. Therefore, I will answer that question."
"Long ago," Medusa began, "in a time before fire or bows had been discovered by the people of your ancient civilizations, our ancestors were human beings, much like them. We lived in fear of starvation, or wild animals, and of a sudden storm. However, unlike other tribes, we did not live in fear of one another. We were a different type of man. As the Neanderthal had faded, and the Cromagnon took his place around the Mediterranean sea, we took the place of Neanderthals here, because we had something that they did not; the perfect, unshakable will to sacrifice our own lives on behalf of one another if the need arose, and it frequently did, in those days. It was what defined us; the will to do right for others of our group before our own considerations, and it led us to victory over the more brutish Neanderthal cave men."
"At that time, the world's land masses were much closer together, and our island was within swimming distance of the mainland. Our ancestors saw the Cromagnons spreading across the world, and realized the folly that they represented. So much potential for intelligent thought rested in their minds, but so little love for one another. Some even became cannibals, but our weapons were not equal to theirs, and although we worked well together, we lost many battles against them, and began to hide in caves for our own defense. I'm almost certain that our people would have perished in those caves, as the Neanderthals did, if the hand of the almighty had not intervened to save us from extinction."
"I believe that there is a force; a being above all others, who guides the hand of fate with love for all that is good. I can think of no other explanation for the twist of fate that led our people to dig in precisely the right direction, deep in that cave. to find the Terragen Mists. Only six of our people were left alive on the day that we dug our way into the caverns below this very island, but in doing so, they were exposed to the Terragen Mists, and changed forever."
"Many theories circulate through our people as to what, precisely, the mists are. Some believe them to be the very life-force of the universe itself; an endless source of power upon which all of creation depends. There are other theories, but in truth, we do not know what the mists are; only that they exist, and that on that day, and ever since then, those mists gave to us the power to vanquish our enemies and take back our land. The cost of that power, however, was that no inhuman would ever look entirely human again. Always, there was some trait or feature that distinguished us from the other human beings. Because of that, we could never again interact with humans, even once they started learning to build towns and vehicles. Humans would never have agreed to share the world with a people so different from themselves."
"For a while, the inhumans survived in the wilderness, noticed by the humans only as legends; stories of monsters, giants or daemons who haunted the lands beyond the safety of the human communities. One day, however, a boy was born whose inhuman ability was vast intelligence, and with his guidance, we were able to tunnel underground, and use our powers to found the city of Attilan, separating it from the main masses of land. He died of old age before Attilan could be finished, but he knew of his own mortality, and left behind plans for the construction of Attilan. It has been finished for nearly one hundred years; since the last time that we attempted contact with mankind. Our culture has grown and thrived in such a pleasing and accommodating environment, artificial though it may be, and our discontent with our unusual appearances are a thing of the past. In fact, no inhuman has so much as wanted to look human for many hundreds of years, since before Attilan's construction began."
As Medusa wrapped up her story, she seemed pleased to have such an attentive audience, but her expression of delight faded quickly with the next sentence she spoke.
"Black Bolt will have questions to ask you next, but the other members of Attilan's royal family have heard his call, and will be here in moments. When they arrive, I will ask those questions for him. He thinks it would be best for all of us to hear the answers that you will give."
Reed nodded once. He could feel that Ben was getting a little antsy with so much talking about things that he couldn't quite understand. It might be better to just wait until the meeting was over, before trying to communicate what was going on in more easily-understood terms. In a moment, however, Ben leaned over one of Reed's shoulders and started whispering into his ear.
"Stretch, this is boring me to tears."
"Suck it up, old friend." Reed replied with a grin, "Remember, this is an official function. You've been to those before, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I have." Ben replied, a little dissatisfied still, "'Cept there's usually a buffet at those."
"It won't be too much longer, Ben." Reed replied, "Just hang in there. We don't want to get into any fights."
The others seemed to have heard Reed's advice to Ben, because nobody did much moving or speaking for the next minute and a half, and at the end of those ninety seconds, there was a brilliant flash of light in the center of the Attilan court, and out of that flash, came three figures of relatively human proportions, and another creature that, before the flash of light faded, might have easily been mistaken for a full-grown bull.
As the bright flash of light disappeared, however, it became much easier to see the four beings who'd just appeared. The most eye-catching one was the large, four-legged creature. Like Black Bolt, it had a metal tuning fork embedded in its forehead, but it was not a bull, but a large, brown, heavily-muscled bulldog that was the same size as a bull. Its tongue alone looked about the size of a man's torso, and it wasn't too hard to imagine such a large animal biting a person's head off, except that it seemed rather docile in the hands of the young lady who stood by its side, stroking it in the fondest way under its chin.
The girl, like Medusa, had long, red hair, though it was only of a reasonable length; reaching down to her waist, around her ears, held in place by a large, black loop that could be seen easily when she turned her head, and seemed to be made from some kind of plastic. She was dressed in a gold-colored outfit with black stripes along it at the waist, and along her gloves and boots, and she had long, pointed ears. She seemed quite proud of those ears, as she'd taken great care to leave them out in the open air, where everyone could see them. She could easily have covered them with her hair, as Medusa did to her ears, but she'd chosen not to do that.
Behind the girl stood two more figures, each looking very much different from a human being in obvious ways. The largest and broadest of the group, with the exception of the dog, looked like a man with hooves like those of an ox, and two small horns on either side of his forehead. He wore large bracers, and light, leather-like armor along his arms and chest, and a circlet made of metal over the middle of his head, and he looked like he would make a very effective bodyguard for anyone; human or inhuman.
The last of the new arrivals was roughly Reed's size and build, but his chest was bare, and his body was completely covered in green scales. He had no hair, and a fin protruded from the top of his head. He also had smaller fins protruding from the backs of his arms and legs. He was dressed only in a deep blue pair of shorts.
"The taller one is Gorgon; the high general of our military." Medusa explained as the new arrivals headed for their seats, "The girl is my younger sister Crystal, who is our representative among the barrier maintenance teams. The other man is Triton; our intelligence chief. Their canine companion is Lockjaw, who has come to be considered a member of our family in his own sense."
As Medusa had introduced them, Crystal had taken a seat on the small throne next to Black Bolt. Reed could tell without even having to be told that if Black Bolt and Medusa were to die, Crystal would be the next in line for the throne. Gorgon and Triton each took seats on the sturdy-looking chairs, while Lockjaw, not surprisingly, lay down on the pillow.
"From this point on," Medusa said in the same formal voice she'd used up to that point, "Black Bolt will conduct the meeting himself using me as interpreter. Do not look at me when you speak, and do not ask me questions. Treat me as if my voice is his voice and address yourself to Black Bolt alone."
Reed simply nodded, and stepped forward into the room, motioning for the others to stay back. In a moment, he was staring with some trepidation into the eyes of Black Bolt, who looked deeply curious.
"Before we begin," Medusa said, "I wish to know your names."
"My name is Doctor Reed Richards." Reed replied to Black Bolt, then pointing out the others, one at a time, "This is Susan Storm and Johnny Storm, who are brother and sister, and Benjamin Grimm, a good friend of mine, and his friend Carol Danvers."
"Then you will represent your group, as I represent mine." Medusa said.
"Yes." Reed agreed with a nod, "I will speak on their behalf."
"Now tell me..." Medusa continued, "How did you cross the barrier and enter Attilan?"
"We detected your location using a new type of scanner that I designed." Reed explained, "We flew here and entered through the top of the barrier, but our plane was destroyed in the process, I'm afraid."
Black Bolt looked confused when Reed said that, however.
"Humans have devices that allow them to fly now?" Black Bolt asked through Medusa, "This complicates things. If you came through the barrier, others may come as well."
"Our technology is more advanced than most..." Reed admitted, "But still, in a few years, I wouldn't be surprised if you received more human visitors."
"Then there is a problem, I'm afraid." Black Bolt replied, "A problem that cannot simply be solved by imprisoning a few people, or integrating you into our society."
"I take that to mean that you don't wish to have contact with the outside world." Reed deduced.
Black Bolt simply looked at Reed sadly for a few seconds, before Medusa spoke up again.
"Tell me a few things about your 'outside world.' Is there still prejudice against those with different appearances? Do your people still obsess over image?"
"Well..." Reed said, "In some circles, people do worry about appearance, or even..."
However, Black Bolt held up one hand for silence, then said through his interpreter, "What of the cultural distinctiveness of your nations? Do the nations of the world still live by such different rules? Is each still governed differently?"
"Well, actually, there's a lot of democracy going around right now." Reed replied, "Most major nations have learned to accept it into their society, because it yields such great benefits."
Black Bolt nodded, though his expression remained sour.
"Why did you personally seek us out?" Medusa asked by proxy, "Did you hear of us? Were you simply exploring?"
"Actually, we had no idea your society even existed." Reed admitted, "We were just looking for an energy signature that I thought could be used to change Ben to look more... more human, like he used to. I've come to suspect that the substance you call the Terragen Mist is that very energy."
Reed had answered all of the questions quickly, honestly and as diplomatically as he could, and saw Black Bolt glance over at Karnak for a moment after the questions were all answered. Karnak simply gave Black Bolt a nod, and the king of the inhumans turned back to face Reed again.
"Unfortunately," Black Bolt indirectly said, "the answers that you have given me have not made my next decision any easier. When I heard that a powerful human had arrived in Attilan, I expected to find some barbarian bearing weapons, and obsessed with conquest, but it seems that not all humans are as barbaric as those that lead you. You, in particular, are intelligent, and have reservations about the course your society has taken. Still, there are a few among my people who would work against the common good, if they were allowed the freedom to do so. There are a few deviations in every species, it seems. I would wish not to do harm to one such as you, Reed Richards, but I must consider the fate of Attilan and my people before my own wishes."
Reed wasn't sure what, if anything to say, so he simply nodded once, and prepared for Black Bolt's verdict.
"From everything that you have told me, Reed Richards, your society is completely and utterly incompatible with ours. You obsess over looking good by human standards, while we pride ourselves in looking very different from humans. Your nations have spread their form of government to every place that they have touched, with no respect for the cultural diversity of other people's countries, and even though your motives in coming here were generous ones, full of love for your friend, they were still formed from vanity, selfishness and greed. There is too much about you and your people that is still barbaric and savage. I will not allow the humans to make contact with us, much less infiltrate our way of life, and you certainly will never touch the sacred Terragen Mists. I am truly sorry that it needed to happen this way, Reed Richards, but you and your friends will not be allowed to leave this place for the rest of your lives."
To be continued...