Tales from the Marvel Universe Neo
Issue 11
"Only Human"
Part 2 of 2
As soon as Black Bolt had decreed that they couldn't leave Attilan, Reed knew there was going to be trouble. Ben was irritable as it was, and he obviously wasn't just going to agree stay there for the rest of his life. He wanted to regain his human appearance and rejoin society like a human being again. Even Reed himself, curious though he was about those strange people, would never willingly submit to become their prisoner. He quickly held one hand up, to warn Ben and the others not to fly off the handle, and spoke again, hoping to convince Black Bolt to reconsider.
"Just a moment ago, sir," Reed said, trying to be polite, "you told us that keeping your people isolated from mankind was essential to the survival of your culture and way of life. I can understand why you would value those things so highly. Tradition can be very important, particularly in the case of values and morals, but you also said that the problem couldn't be solved by imprisoning us, since human technology is already advanced enough to penetrate your barrier. Are you changing your mind about that?"
Black Bolt quickly shook his head, and Medusa interpreted for him as he did so.
"Even if I could be certain that all five of you could be sworn to secrecy about our existence, and I can't be completely certain of that, one of you might break your word accidentally, or mention us in passing. The problem that I am trying to solve first is the problem of what to do with you. The problem of what to do about man's technology is a separate one."
Reed could tell that he was losing ground in his ability to negotiate. Although he had some experience talking to powerful people, politics and diplomacy weren't really his forte. He started wishing, after only a short time, that he'd asked Sue to represent them. As the head of a multinational corporation, she had much more experience at getting her point across to the mighty than Reed did. Still, that opportunity was gone. Reed had to make the best choice he could.
"Are you certain there's nothing we can do to convince you to let us go free?" Reed asked, feeling tired and alone as the question escaped his lips.
"The problem is more than just how to stop you from telling others that we exist." Black Bolt tried to explain, "For centuries, my people have used the sacred terragen mists to grant us strange powers. In exchange, we appear entirely different from any human or animal in the rest of the world. Never before has a human been exposed to the mists, and it disappoints me to see that even after prolonged exposure, your human friend looks no different from other humans."
"What do you mean?" Reed asked, worry growing in his heart, "What does Carol's appearance have to do with anything?"
"We inhumans depend upon our abnormal appearances to identify ourselves to one another. Though we try to avoid contact with the outside world, any inhuman could recognize any other inhuman, because we each look so different from ordinary human beings. In some ways, our appearances and powers determine the whole course of our lives here in Attilan. It was, for instance, my powers that determined my role as leader shortly after I was exposed to the mist. Our bodies are sculpted to do fantastic things, and our society is carefully designed, so that each inhuman will perform the function for which they are most suited. The fact that you humans have not developed a similar system disappoints me still further."
"Had Carol Danvers been transformed by the mists, I might have been able to convince the people that she was no different from other inhumans, but I fear that they will not be able to fully accept her the way that she now is. None of your other friends have been exposed to the mists, but each of you can change to appear at least a bit different from humans, and so, you might be easier to accept in inhuman society. Carol, however, will be interpreted by my people as a symbol of just how dangerous humans are; that they can break into our stronghold and take our most sacred treasures. She was exposed to the mists for so long, that her powers could well rival even the strongest among us. Though I know that she will not truly be accepted by our culture, I cannot allow her to leave, because if she does, she takes with her the fruits of our sacred mists, and perhaps its secrets as well, if humans are as clever as you say."
"Then we're expected to be imprisoned here." Reed noted, a slight edge forming in his voice.
"We do have prisons, to contain dangerous criminals," Black Bolt replied, "but I would rather not confine you to any of those. You will be given the chance to prove yourselves instead. Each of you will be given homes of your own within the city, relatively close to one another, and you will share the benefits of inhuman society on the same level that my family and I do. In short, you will be treated like ambassadors. The only drawback is that you cannot be allowed to leave. In the meantime, you have my word that we will work hard towards developing new barriers and means of concealment, to prevent your people from making this mistake again. I do not wish for any more people than necessary to be separated from their homes."
"I'm sorry, sir, but there are things you aren't aware of." Reed objected, "You see, on the surface, my friends and I have been referred to as the Fantastic Four. We're considered to be well-respected champions of our people. Our work up to this point has saved people's lives, and inspired them in the things they do in their own work. We've gotten letters from people who said that we made them feel like life had a purpose again; people who were so depressed, worrying that mankind wouldn't even try to keep making progress and accomplishing better things, and that the suffering they go through in their lives would never become obsolete. By showing them that there are people willing to make a difference in the world, and by continuing to try to make progress in technology and exploration, we gave people hope for the future. What if that hope was what our people really needed? What if you're robbing them of that by keeping us here?"
"I'm sorry." Black Bolt replied after taking only a moment to consider Reed's words, "The safety of my people has to be my first concern. I cannot compromise it, no matter what it costs you or the people you care about."
"So there's really nothing I can do to change your mind." Reed realized aloud, "I'm sorry. I was afraid that might be the case."
Just then, Reed Richard's left foot started expanding, a hundred small air pockets forming just under the skin as he stretched his body outward, and in just a moment, he'd clamped that foot down hard on the marble floor with a clap, and exactly as he'd intended, the other four behind him took that as their signal. Immediately, a wall of fire rose up between the humans and the inhuman royals, and Reed signaled the others to follow him out by the same route they'd used to enter the spire. In only a moment, however, there was the sound of crashing from behind them. Crystal; the girl with the pointed ears seemed to have caused some of the marble tiles to cover the fire, extinguishing it, and yet, for some reason, the inhumans didn't seem to be hurrying in pursuit. Reed couldn't help but find that worrying.
As Reed and his group hurried to the edge of Attilan, to return to the surface of the island once more, where the high winds still raged, Carol and Johnny seemed to be slowing down deliberately to let the rest of them catch up. They didn't, after all, want to get separated, but Reed had quickly become convinced that Carol's powers amounted to more than simple strength alone.
Strangely, their escape to the island's top was a relatively simple matter, as they ran into no inhuman interference to speak of, and only had to worry about charging through the small mound of boulders that concealed the exit; a charge led by Ben and Carol. Once on the surface of the island, they kept running until they reached its edge, where they could see the wind barrier no more than a few dozen yards away from shore. Reed could already tell from what they'd all seen that the barrier was generated by some power or device of the Inhumans, but like all things, it had its weakness.
"There's only one way off the island." Reed said, as soon as they reached the shore, "I have to transform my body into an enclosure so that we can travel underwater. If we can swim a good distance down and travel far enough through the ocean to get past the wind barrier, making it back to shore should be less of an issue."
"What about the mist, stretch?" Ben asked.
"You can't be serious." Reed exclaimed, "Ben, we don't even have time to talk about that. We have to get out of here now!"
"Then what, big guy?" Ben replied angrily, "We wait until we've got some new weapon and try to blast open a whole race of super-guys to get at the mists? Even I can tell that ain't an option. If we want the mists, we've gotta get 'em while they're off guard."
"Ben, we can't do that. The whole city's probably on high alert. I wouldn't be too surprised if they'd found a way to recapture us already. Our priority has to be getting away safely. Once we've done that, we can plan for..."
However, the argument was cut short as a flash of light forced them all to squint, or look away. When it faded, Lockjaw and Black Bolt had reappeared in front of the Fantastic Four, blocking their path to the shore. In just a moment, the giant bulldog was gone in yet another bright flash, and Black Bolt was alone, standing against them.
"This is our shot, stretch!" Ben exclaimed, rushing forward, "If we get their king, we can get the mist!"
However, as Ben Grimm drove his fist hard in the direction of Black Bolt's face, his enemy responded quickly, the tuning fork on his head giving off strong vibrations as he grabbed the Thing's fist in mid-air, seeming surprised by his enemy's strength. In a moment, however, Black Bolt's left fist had started giving off powerful vibrations as well, and shortly after that, he'd driven it into Ben's stomach.
Reed, Johnny and Sue were all astonished and horrified as Ben seemed to have suddenly lost consciousness, keeling over and collapsing to the ground.
"I... don't believe it..." Johnny muttered, horror spreading all over his face, "Big guy..."
However, Reed wasn't just worried that Ben's brute strength had failed against Black Bolt. There were still other possible courses of action they could take. The real problem, as Reed saw it was that Black Bolt thought he could defeat all of them at once. Even with such great strength, he couldn't hope to defeat Reed or capture Sue, and who knew what kind of powers Carol had, to say nothing of the fact that if Black Bolt were immune to heat, he was showing no signs of it. If the inhuman king thought that he could really defeat them all at once, he had to have a power more devastating than superhuman strength, and too late, Reed realized just why Lockjaw had left the area. Whatever kind of power Black Bolt was about to use, it was dangerous to anyone nearby.
Reed had no time to even react to those thoughts, however, before Black Bolt opened his mouth, and breathed out in the quietest whisper.
The earth shook as shattering vibrations plowed through the air all around the inhuman king, and the people he was opposing. The vibrations of his voice were so powerful, even at such a low volume, that they cracked the ground, shook the air, and brought all nearby eardrums almost to the breaking point. Reed Richards could feel both his body and mind being shaken like a baby rattle in the final moments before he blacked out.
Johnny Storm had never felt quite so helpless. When he'd woken after being knocked out by Black Bolt, he'd been in a prison cell of some kind, apparently designed to contain him. There were small holes in three of the four walls of the cell, that seemed to sense whenever he was using his fire and react by drawing the heat out of the room through those holes. Johnny had tried to turn on his flames more than once already, and both times, the room had become so cold immediately afterwards, that he'd passed out for a short time until the temperature had returned to normal. The only wall of the cell not lined with those small holes was transparent, and seemed to reveal the hall just outside Johnny's enclosure.
Because he'd been unconscious so frequently, Johnny had absolutely no way of knowing just how long he'd been kept in the prison of the inhumans. Obviously, they considered him a threat after he'd tried to escape them once before. It was a crazy kind of situation for a kid his age to be in, he knew. Johnny didn't usually pay much attention to what people thought of him. In his mind, people could think what they wanted to, and it didn't make a bit of difference to him. He'd never really been in a situation where a few bucks and a compliment couldn't pull him through. It was terrifying to be so utterly up against a wall, and especially surprising after acquiring such fantastic powers as the new Human Torch. For once, he didn't know what to do, and it wasn't like a blinding fury or simple anger with how things had gone. He'd felt both of those in the past. Johnny Storm knew that he needed a skill or power of some kind that he just didn't have, and in the end, the fact that he didn't have it wasn't anyone's fault but his.
Of course, Johnny had seen how Reed had tried to reason with the inhumans, and hadn't been able to. That really didn't make him feel like any less of a failure, though. Despite the great powers that they'd all acquired recently, Johnny could tell that the others sometimes looked at him like the weakest link in the chain, just because of his immaturity and tendency to think about himself first, before others. Besides that, Johnny was something of a slacker. He tended to just drift through the situations he found himself in, never quite taking anything too seriously, and he hardly ever thought about any of those things as actual problems. Still, alone in a cell designed to contain him, Johnny Storm realized that although he was most definitely trapped in a very difficult situation, he just might be able to use the problem he was faced with to his advantage. If only, he thought, he could find some way to prove himself by discovering the one route of escape that everyone else had overlooked; even Reed.
That was the first time in months that Johnny actually took Reed's frequent advice to slow down for a moment and think clearly, and as Johnny began to think more logically, he started to realize that Reed Richards had probably stunted his mental growth. It wasn't that Reed hadn't encouraged Johnny to think more clearly in the past, but whenever Reed and Johnny had worked together, Johnny had never actually needed to think for himself. He'd always just sort of assumed that no matter how clearly he thought, Reed would always be two steps ahead of him, so why not cut out the middleman and just let Reed do all the thinking? It was only in that cell, when Reed's ingenuity had truly failed him, that Johnny had started to think for himself, and realized that there was one thing that Reed would never have considered. While Johnny might not understand how the machines moderating the temperature of his prison worked, he had seen the gleam in Crystal's eyes, as Reed had been debating with Black Bolt. Crystal, at least, was curious about the strange humans who'd invaded Attilan, but she was also somewhat afraid of them, which meant that Johnny needed to convince her that he wasn't dangerous if he even wanted the chance to get back out of his cell, much less home to New York. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was the only one he could think of.
Continuing to think more slowly and carefully, Johnny seated himself on the floor of his cell, folding his legs underneath him, and resting his arms on them, then closed his eyes and tried not to focus on his problems. While thinking so clearly, and reacting so slowly, Johnny found that there was a sort of inner peace to just sitting and not thinking about anything. The hard part had been not thinking about his problems for a while. Usually, his thoughts just skimmed over his problems, of which he had a surprising number, but when thinking more slowly, it took a conscious effort not to dwell on the rotten things about his life, especially while still trapped in a prison by inhuman xenophobes. It was hard work to try to be truly at peace in that kind of situation.
Of course, there were advantages to remaining utterly silent and peaceful, besides just the hope of getting someone's attention as a more peaceful being. For one thing, Johnny could hear the commotion from nearby cells; a loud banging noise that probably indicated what Ben Grimm's plan of escape was. Johnny could barely hear those noises, obviously due to the thickness of the walls, and couldn't hear anything else outside the cell, so for a moment, he decided to hum to himself. It was a relatively recent tune, that he'd probably heard in a movie somewhere. He couldn't quite remember where he'd heard the song, but it had gotten stuck in his head, so it was probably the right kind of tune to hum while trapped in a prison, and it wasn't as if he had anything else to do. Besides, some part of him wanted to prove that even after having been defeated and imprisoned, he could still do things that the great and powerful leader of those superhuman people couldn't.
Every so often, as Johnny sat in the middle of that room, humming to himself, he'd start to get hungry or tired, but he ignored it well, drowning it out with the sound of the music. Once, he heard the sound of some machine depositing food in his cell from one of the slots in the walls, but he ignored the food as well. It smelled pretty good, but he blocked it out. He had no good reason to eat as long as he could make his point better without eating.
It seemed like many hours that Johnny's hunger strike persisted. He fell asleep once, but remained seated while he was sleeping, and when he woke up, he didn't try to get to his feet. It was the one course of action that no one who knew him would have expected, and he could only hope that it would draw a little attention.
At last, after hours of sitting and ignoring everything around him, Johnny Storm opened his eyes, and saw Crystal looking at him through the transparent barrier from just outside his cell.
"Why have you just been sitting there?" she asked as she looked at him sadly, and Johnny found that he could hear her perfectly well when she spoke. Perhaps some form of intercom device had been activated inside his cell somewhere.
"Why should I bother getting up?" Johnny asked, trying to sound calm and collected, like Reed, "It's not like I have someplace to go."
"You haven't eaten either." Crystal tried to point out.
"There's no point in feeding me." Johnny said, "If I starve to death here in this prison, who's going to care? I'll just free up cell space."
"Don't you want to live?" the inhuman girl asked, looking confused and puzzled.
However, when she asked that question, Johnny finally got to his feet, ignoring the stiffness in his limbs, as he stepped towards the transparent wall, separating him from the inhuman girl who was concerned for his health. She didn't back away as he approached the barrier, though, because he didn't look the least bit threatening. In fact, he still looked just as peaceful as when he'd been seated, except much, much sadder.
"Do you even know what life is?" Johnny asked sadly, as he put one hand against the barrier, and looked into Crystal's eyes, "Black Bolt said that inhumans are told their greatest talent and given a job for their lives when they're kids, right?"
"It's true." Crystal replied, "It's how we've survived."
"Surviving isn't the same thing as living." Johnny said sadly, looking away, "Back home in New York, I had all kinds of issues and problems I had to face; choices I had to make about the kind of hobbies I wanted, the kind of friends I wanted, the kind of job I wanted... Do inhumans get to decide that kind of thing? What they want to do with their lives, I mean?"
"N... No." Crystal replied, "Those kinds of choices are forbidden. We must do what is best for the inhumans. We cannot afford to be selfish."
"Life with no freedom isn't any kind of life at all." Johnny muttered, "I can't expect you to understand that, if you've never even heard of people being free before, but there's really something missing if you've lived free before, and you have that freedom taken away. That's why I feel sorry for you, in spite of everything your people did to us, and that's why I won't eat."
Johnny was just turning away from the barrier to return to his seat on the floor, when Crystal spoke again, and he felt his heart leaping in delight at her words, though he didn't dare to let her know how he was feeling.
"Maybe I can't completely understand yet. I haven't lived in the human world. It must be terrifying to have so much doubt in your life."
"Sometimes," Johnny replied, turning back to face her again, "but sometimes you also feel free and thrilled when you know that you get to pick some things about how your life goes. You can't have freedom unless there's some kind of risk involved."
"What if it's not worth the risk?" Crystal asked, pressing the matter, "What if giving people freedom only causes your society to collapse, and hurts more people in the long run?"
Johnny wasn't sure what to say to that. He wasn't used to debating philosophy, but after spending so many hours taking things so slowly, it wasn't too long before he could see the comparison between the inhumans and his own people vividly in his mind.
"In New York, people got the chance to make choices about their own lives." Johnny realized aloud, "They couldn't decide everything for themselves, but at least there was some freedom there. I guess the whole system was probably set up to give people the chance for greatness. I think people deserve that chance."
"But the cost..." Crystal replied sadly, "the suffering that all of those risks and failures must have caused..."
"Your people don't allow each other the freedom to choose what they do for a living." Johnny realized aloud as if he hadn't heard Crystal's last objection, "I'm not sure why. Maybe they didn't care about people's freedoms, or maybe they decided that results mattered more to them than having choices for their own lives. I haven't seen much of your city yet, but it seems to really be focused on results, like all that matters is for people to get along, even if they don't have any choice about it."
"That's right." Crystal replied, seeming only a little sad as she spoke, "That's just how it is. The fruits of a society determine its worth, and a society that causes unnecessary suffering for future generations has very little worth."
"You don't have any freedom." Johnny said, looking at her intently, "If you wanted to be a cook, or a barber, or a firewoman, could you?"
"...No." Crystal said, "No, my duties are administrative and diplomatic. I have to help keep everything running smoothly."
"Why?" Johnny asked, "Why don't you have that choice? Isn't there anything you want to do just because you want to do it? Isn't there anything you want that goes against your duty?"
"We... we mustn't speak of such things." Crystal warned him, looking deeply sad all at once, so Johnny knew he had to try a different tack.
"Are you really that eager to get back to your 'administrative duties?'"
"Tell me something, Johnny Storm." Crystal said as she looked at him again, still looking very upset, "If you were pardoned, and allowed out of this cell, would you agree to live among us?"
"If they let me out of here, I wouldn't even leave." Johnny replied, "Whenever you don't have freedom, it's a prison, whether there are walls and traps or not. I wouldn't be able to live as an inhuman. You're just not free enough."
Crystal seemed like she was about to say something in reply to that, but when she opened her mouth, no words came out. At last, she simply turned and walked away, and Johnny Storm just collapsed to the floor. The truth was, although he'd started out with the intention of manipulating Crystal into helping him escape, he hadn't, in the end, told her any lies, and he realized as he sat there in his cell that there was no way he could from that point on. He couldn't lie to her because... Because the truth was that he really did feel sorry for her. Maybe it was just his empty stomach talking, but the whole time he'd spoke with her, he hadn't been able to stop himself from thinking "What a waste. All this power, and so much curiosity and wonderment, and yet she has no freedom to use it."
Johnny was almost completely sure that his pity for Crystal would start to fade as his hunger grew worse, but even so, knowing that on some level, he really felt that way about her made him question whether trying to acquire his freedom through her was right.
"Sister!" Crystal exclaimed, rushing into the meeting hall just as a number of ministers and regional governors were leaving. When she entered the meeting hall, only Black Bolt and Medusa were still there, sitting at the meeting hall's long table. The large tapestry, recording the major events of inhuman society for the last several thousand years adorned the wall behind them, just as it always did.
"Sister, Johnny Storm is refusing to eat." Crystal insisted.
"Not for long." Medusa replied carelessly, "Humans are a baser sort of creature than us, my sister. You would do well to remember that. Quite likely, this is just some display on his part, to attempt to convince us of his dedication to his people."
"I thought so too, at first..." Crystal said, looked away for a moment, "But now, I think it might be serious. Can humans contract captivity syndrome, sister?"
"It would be better if you simply forgot about the humans." Medusa replied, "We will work on a means of preventing others from intruding into Attilan, but those five are lost causes. We did all we could for them; offered them all that we could safely offer, and they chose to refuse us. Besides, they're only human."
"Only... only human?" Crystal asked confused, "But sister, didn't you once tell me that if not for the mists, all that would separate us from the humans are a few small differences in the chemistry of our brains? Do they not have the same worth as we?"
"No." Medusa replied, "Humans are a worthless pestilence. They are totally incompatible with our civilization, and this latest intrusion has proven it. If that human dies in his cell, he'll be lucky. Human technology has come too far already. Something must be done about this."
"N...no!" Crystal exclaimed angrily, "Sister, why would you say such things? What is wrong with you?"
Just then, however, Black Bolt began to give off vibrations, which Crystal was able to interpret as words.
"Listen to your sister carefully." she heard Black Bolt express wordlessly, "The human's life means nothing. They are a lesser species, and action must be taken to prevent them from disturbing us further."
"What kind of sick joke is this?" Crystal exclaimed furiously, "My king, when you wed my sister, I was overjoyed. People knew that my sister and I looked the most normal of all the inhumans, and yet, you willingly chose her to be your bride, making me an heir as well. You knew that the public would be disturbed by your choice when you made it, yet you had the courage to take that course."
"Your point being?" Black Bolt replied with his vibrations.
"You always had the courage to stand up to the fears that our people had, and do right regardless." Crystal shouted angrily, "Ever since I've known you, you always told everyone that open war with the humans was the worst possible eventuality, and now you're trying to tell me that it's alright to attack them just because their technology makes them a potential danger to us..."
"Is that truly so hard to believe?" was the reply, "No one wants war, but I will do what I must to protect our people."
"No!" Crystal exclaimed, "Something is wrong with you! Something is wrong with both of you! You're not acting like yourselves!"
"Oh, well. I guess the game is up." came a voice from nearby, though the source of the voice wasn't immediately obvious.
"What?" Crystal asked, looking around in confusion, until the sacred tapestry was moved to one side, and there, behind it stood the very last person that Crystal had expected to see.
He had long, black hair, and a series of five small horns protruding from his forehead at regular intervals. He was dressed in powerful-looking, silver armor and the expression on his face was both wicked and mindless. He was the one member of the inhuman royal family who could never have been allowed a say in matters of state; Maximus the Mad.
"I guess you're surprised to see me." Maximus said with an insane smile, "I can't say I blame you, my dear."
"What are doing out of the Asylum?" Crystal demanded to know.
"It was starting to get boring, so I left." Maximus replied, "You see the doctors made the mistake of trying to treat my condition with drugs, and after some experimenting, I was able to concoct an airborne toxin that made every last one of them my slaves. Of course, it only worked long enough for me to escape from there, but still, it was progress. Since then, I've developed a longer-lasting version of the same toxin, though it must be ingested in order for it to be effective."
"P... poison..." Crystal realized aloud, terrified, "You've poisoned the royal family with a mind control drug... But... why wasn't I effected?"
"Because you were the only one I never gave the toxin to." Maximus said with a smile, "Crystal, you are the one I have always sought the attention of, but you could never realize that. You thought it was just an effect of my madness, that led me to feel that way about the most human-looking of all the inhumans, but I truly do seek your love, and not as a mere puppet. What a pair we would be; the brother of the king and the sister of the queen; the new rulers of the inhumans, and of the human world."
"Release my family, mad one!" Crystal exclaimed furiously, "If you don't, I'll..."
"What?" Maximus asked, "What will you do to me if I don't release them? Don't forget that my power is the same as the power of Attilan's founder. You call me mad, because I think so differently from you, but I am still the most intelligent of all the inhumans who are still alive. The armor that I wear was designed with the willing assistance of Karnak, who helped me to find its weaknesses, and do away with them, and I do have the other inhumans on my side. You are alone, my dear. You can do nothing to stop me."
However, just as Maximus was advancing towards Crystal again, she began to use her own powers. Once more, her conscious thoughts stretched out for the elements that surrounded her; earth, air, water and fire. Crystal couldn't control those elements completely, but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of great feats.
At her command, a great wind picked up around her, swirling around her body and driving Maximus back, as well as Medusa, who'd been about to step forward and entangle Crystal in her tentacle-like hairs. In only a moment, the small tornado that Crystal had called up was carrying her back out of the meeting hall, and into the throne room. There, she saw Karnak, Gorgon and Triton waiting for her, and in their eyes was the same look of ferocity and mercilessness that she'd seen in the eyes of her sister and Black Bolt. They too were under the control of Maximus.
Quickly, Crystal pressed onward, driving herself directly through their midst as the swirling winds that surrounded her tossed all three of them aside. She felt helpless and afraid for the first time in years. She'd always known that Maximus' powers were dangerous, but she'd never thought that he could seize control so quickly, and so totally. All that the inhumans had built and accomplished would be destroyed as long as he remained in command, and the worst part of it all was that...
Crystal had stopped just outside the palace of the inhumans, and concealed herself behind a statue, hoping against hope that Karnak, Triton and the others wouldn't detect her presence. It was probably best that Crystal had hidden herself, because she'd just arrived at a realization that was so startling, it was distracting her, making it harder to focus her powers. The worst part of the situation, for once, wasn't the damage that Maximus could do with control over the royal family of the inhumans, or the loss of the things she'd known her whole life. The worst part of it all was that her family had been compromised... tainted. Crystal had always looked to her family for help whenever she faced challenges and obstacles, but they couldn't help her anymore, and worse, they were her enemies. The problems she was facing were terrible, but none of them felt quite as bad as the realization that her family was trapped helplessly by their worst enemy. Crystal had to do something to free them and stop Maximus from carrying out his plan, but she wasn't sure what she could do, realistically. She did have special powers of her own, but they weren't enough to oppose the rest of the royal family, and without someone to back her up, she...
That was when Crystal came to another startling realization. It was the only possible solution to her problems. There was one person in the city who hadn't eaten anything since Maximus had resurfaced; one person she could count on to be free of Maximus' control.
"Crystal!" Johnny exclaimed as the young inhuman came charging back into the hallway just outside his cell, the guards at the entrance having fallen before her powers just a moment before, "You came back!"
"I... I need your help." Crystal gasped, quite out of breath by that point, "My family's being controlled by Black Bolt's brother Maximus. I need your help to free them."
However, when Johnny heard that, his face fell, and Crystal could tell that she'd made some kind of mistake.
"Is... Is that why you came here?" Johnny asked, "Is that the only reason?"
Crystal was very confused by Johnny's words. She wasn't sure what to say in reply. She wasn't even sure what Johnny wanted her to say.
"I kept thinking... I kept thinking you were basically like us. I mean, I figured that maybe something I said or did about freedom and sacrifice and stuff... I kept thinking some of that would bug you." Johnny said, "But you didn't come here because of any of that, did you? The inhumans are in all kinds of trouble, and you came here because you need saving from an enemy. Nothing I said mattered."
It was, Johnny knew, a selfish thing to say, but Crystal had seemed so curious and eager to understand people before, and to discover that she hadn't spent even a moment since their last meeting thinking about what he'd said had made him feel pretty unimportant. It even seemed to take Crystal a moment before she realized what the problem was.
"My sister always told me that we're not really so different from humans." Crystal said very sadly after a moment, "I think she was wrong. Maybe there's some reason why our people were nearly destroyed at the dawn of civilization. Every time we talk, it seems like I'm trying to understand the ocean without having ever seen a drop of water before. I feel like you understand so much that I've never been aware of. As our people have remained secluded in Attilan, we've lost contact with the outside world. We were always so convinced of our own ethics, that we never believed that any human ideals or feelings held any value. I think I used to think that way myself, but... but I can't talk to you and feel that way anymore. It's just so obvious that I'm missing out on something. I haven't had much time to think about it, but I can't just keep living in ignorance like that."
However, as Crystal said that, her expression darkened, and she said "I may not think about that sort of thing constantly, though, and you can't expect me to dwell on it now, when everyone I care about is in mortal danger, or else being human must not be so great after all."
"Yeah. Yeah, alright." Johnny replied, smiling as he got to his feet, "I guess I just wanted to hear that you really care what I think. I haven't seen much of that in Attilan yet."
"I'm getting you out of here." Crystal said, punching some keys on a pad next to Johnny's cell, "We can talk more about this once you've helped me save my family."
"Yeah, I can live with that." Johnny replied with a smile as the transparency slid away into the floor with a sharp hiss, allowing him the freedom to leave at any point.
"What about the others?" Johnny asked as he stretched his legs for the first time in hours and started to get used to thinking more quickly again, in preparation for the action he was about to get involved in.
"I... I wasn't sure about letting them out." Crystal said slowly, "I mean, they've all eaten the food, so there's a chance that Maximus has poisoned them too, and... I'm not sure I can trust them completely, but... If you want, I can let them out too."
"If we're about to fight your king again, we definitely need more help than just the two of us." Johnny replied, "Last time, he pretty much tore us to shreds with that voice thing he does."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that." Crystal replied as she moved over to some of the other cells, and started opening them, one by one, "Black Bolt can't use his voice in Attilan. It isn't an ability that he can direct or control. Whenever he speaks, even in the slightest whisper, it creates uncontrollable vibrations in the air all around him, which can, depending on how loudly he speaks, destroy anything from a building to a continent. His responsibilities are great."
Ben, fortunately, was asleep when Crystal unlocked his cell, and the others expressed no anger when they were released; just surprise and amazement. Once Reed had taken a moment to wake Ben up, they were just about ready to leave the prison at last. However, Ben Grimm, for once, seemed less than eager to just charge into a fight without talking about it first.
"So what's our next move?" he asked as they prepared to leave the prison.
"You have to help me save my family. Please..." Crystal said, trying to be as polite as possible, but Ben seemed not to be paying any attention to her.
"Well, we have to do something." Reed noted sensibly, "We've already seen the kind of power the inhumans have. If it falls into the hands of a madman, he could pose a very real danger to mankind. No matter what we may think of the inhumans, we do have a duty to help protect our own people."
"That's right!" Crystal exclaimed, suddenly remembering something important, "Maximus mentioned something about wanting to become king over both humans and inhumans. I'd say he wants to take over your world as well as mine, and with Black Bolt at his command, he could probably do that."
"Sounds like a problem worth solving." Reed said, "Count me in."
"I'm not going to let some madman devastate the globe." Sue chimed in, "You can count on me too."
"No matter what else you guys want to fight for and believe in, I'm still technically in the U.S. Air Force." Carol Danvers said, "That means I have a duty to the United States military, and to its people. If Maximus or Black Bolt think they can threaten my country, I'm going to do everything I can to stop them."
"I'm with Crystal, no matter what." Johnny said with a smile, "She saved me. I really owe her."
"So are you in, old friend?" Reed asked Ben with a smile. Ben, however, wasn't smiling. He looked very worried.
"Just tell me somethin'." Ben said to Crystal, "If I save your friends, are they gonna try to toss us back in that cell?"
"If you demonstrate such a determination to do right, I'm almost certain that Black Bolt will reconsider his decision about you." Crystal replied, "He's no stranger to gratitude, and with me acting as advocate on your behalf, there's a chance he might reconsider his choices about the rest of mankind as well. He might even decide to reveal our existence to the human world if he sees that you're trustworthy enough."
"That's a start." Ben said, "There's more to it, of course, but we can deal with that later. Alright, stretch, I'm in."
"There's one more thing I should tell you before we plan any kind of attack, though." Crystal said, "Karnak has the power to find weaknesses in anything; whether it's an object, a technique, a person, argument or weapon. Apparently, Maximus designed some kind of armor with his help. There's a chance it might not have any weaknesses, in which case, we'll just have to find some way of separating Maximus from it. The drugs Maximus is using to control people should probably only work as long as he's consciously able to control the thoughts of others. Because of that, our real objective ought to be knocking out Maximus, not just fighting with my family."
Reed just nodded as Crystal explained the situation, and soon, the group was off through the city again in the direction of the palace.
As Crystal and the others arrived at the edges of Attilan, however, they saw something that even Crystal hadn't taken into account. Guards from the castle had come out into the city, and were barging into people's homes to search for her, and from the looks of things, the people of Attilan were scared to death. Of course, it did make sense for someone to be afraid whenever someone else broke into their home, whether they were a royal guard or not, but not if everyone in Attilan was under Maximus' control.
"When Maximus told me how he'd poisoned my people," Crystal whispered to the others, "I assumed that all of the inhumans were under his control, but now I see that he never had any intention of taking control of anyone outside the palace directly."
"Huh?" Ben asked, "I don't get it."
"Our civilization is divided by the special abilities we acquire upon exposure to the terragen mists, which are reflected in our physical differences from human beings." Crystal started to explain, "The royal family lives in the center of the spire in the very middle of the palace, and below them in our society are the military and the upper classes, who live inside the palace structure, but not the main spire. The rest of the city of Attilan, outside the palace structure, but still inside the cavern, are considered to be the lowest class; the common workers who make all of this possible. Black Bolt has always believed in doing right by all of our people, regardless of class, and during his time as prince, and his first several months as king, he was called a champion of the lower classes. No leader in our history ever did so much to bring about relative equality between the classes. At the moment, the largest difference between the upper and lower classes is in where they live, and that is determined by their birth, not by political decisions. Maximus, however, is a madman, and so, he was denied his royal station early on in life. He believes that the lower classes should serve only to slave for the benefit of the upper, and I am almost certain that if he rises to power, mankind will suffer that fate, but even after all the times I've heard him say that lower-class inhumans were worthless... I never expected him to make such a blunder. In conquering our society, Maximus used his drugs to poison people's food, but it seems that he only poisoned the food of the people he thought mattered; the royal family and the upper classes. That means the lower classes still have their free will, which means that we still have a chance to get through to them about what happened."
"Do you mean a revolution?" Reed asked, "Forming an army from the inhumans who are still free to stop their own king and military?"
"No." Crystal replied, "To save their king. Black Bolt is being controlled, and worse yet, profaned. Under the influence of Maximus, Black Bolt will be just as much a madman as his brother, and he must be stopped before he does something that none of us can undo. The people will listen if someone talks to them on behalf of Black Bolt's true will; the defeat of his mad brother."
Reed stopped to think about that for a moment, and then made a suggestion.
"Crystal, I think I could probably get their attention. Sue or Johnny probably could too. I think they'd be more likely to trust you or Ben, though. The problem is that none of us can get in contact with them without also alerting Maximus to our presence. For that we'd need someone who can travel incredibly fast, and make contact with each section of Attilan individually..."
"What about Carol?" Johnny asked, drawing all eyes in his direction. Typically, Johnny wasn't the one they turned to for strategic advice, but his recent experiences had changed him just a little. Unlike Reed, he was no genius, but he was willing to make guesses, and he had a feeling that Carol held at least some of the answers they were looking for.
Reed closed his mouth for a moment to look at Johnny, then at Crystal, then at Carol, then back at Johnny again. A moment later, he glanced back towards Carol once more, and muttered "Carol? Can you really run that fast?"
"I... I don't know." Carol replied, "I haven't... really tried yet."
"I don't know how fast she can really go either." Johnny replied with a smile, "All I know is when we were rushing for the surface; I had to slow down so you guys could keep up. Carol was on foot, and she was the only one keeping up with me. She was definitely holding back, though. I'll bet if Carol really pushed herself, she could go just as fast as me."
Carol Danvers was used to being looked up to for her skills as a pilot, of course, but to have superhumans looking to her for powers they couldn't touch was a very different kind of experience, which she wasn't at all comfortable with. Comfortable or not, however, she was needed again, and she knew that she had to do the best she could.
Quickly standing upright, Carol Danvers seemed to vanish from view entirely, in a blur of motion and a rush of wind, and even Johnny Storm, who'd had such faith in her abilities, was stunned and amazed by what he was seeing.
Carol quickly sped through the streets of Attilan as fast as she could; a speed that astonished even her, and which most others could barely see, easily turning corners and tossing aside less-powerful inhuman guards, who tried to stand in her way, though she did her best not to injure any of them too badly. She'd run into the middle of a street, then try, in a shouting voice, to convince the inhumans that Black Bolt was enslaved to Maximus, and needed their help to rescue him, then dash on to the next street and attempt the same thing there. Carol spent about thirty seconds in each major section of the inhuman city, but thirty minutes wouldn't have been any more effective. As she ran back to the others a great deal later, feeling tired and upset, only a few had listened to Carol's words, and come to join them; less than half a dozen in total.
"I don't get it..." Ben muttered, looking at the people of Attilan as they continued ignoring Carol's warnings, "Why ain't this workin'?"
"It's... It's the way she looks." Crystal realized after only a moment, "Even after the speed she's shown them, they still only see a human when they look at her. They're... They're as bad as Maximus."
"No..." Reed replied without much hesitation, "No, they're not. These people aren't accustomed to being responsible for their fates, so they've lived their lives dependent upon their city to teach them how to behave, and that city taught them to fear humans. Maximus decided that humans were worthless of his own free will. Even if there's nothing we can really do to reach these people, I wouldn't compare them to him."
Crystal seemed truly miserable, but nodded once in confirmation of Reed's words.
"Why's it so important to get their attention, anyway?" Ben asked, "I mean, you battered your way outta that castle once, right? Can't we just batter our way back in?"
"We..." Crystal muttered, "We could try, but I escaped before he'd sent out the guards, and even if we do manage to get past them all, I... I don't like the idea of leaving my people at the mercy of Maximus' servants, no matter what they've done to deserve it. I just wish there was some way I could get their attention all at once."
Ben Grimm looked at Crystal once, then to the left of the rocky cavern, then to the right, then directly upward, and finally said, "Awright, honey. Let me show you how to get folks' attention."
Quickly, Ben walked over to one of the nearest stone walls of the buildings surrounding the cavern city that Crystal called home, then gave a very loud shout, and drove his fist into the rock, wrenching it loose again in a shower of debris that could have been seen for a mile as an enormous cloud of dust. Just a moment later, Ben clapped both hands together hard, his extremely tough skin and massive strength creating a sound like an exploding bomb as he did so. It echoed through the city, and into every house and alley as the vibrations spread the dust out through Attilan in all directions. It was, Reed realized, going to draw the attention of their enemies as well as the lower-class inhumans, but from the looks of things, they didn't have much choice left.
Soon, people came running to see what had caused such a ruckus. Many of those people were guards, while many others bore no weapons, but all of them were inhumans. Not one of them looked like a normal human being. To most people, they might have seemed like a crowd of monsters, but they were the people that Crystal knew, and although Ben found the sight of them as homely as the one that greeted him when he looked in the mirror, he knew what he had to do next.
"Hey, you turkeys!" Ben exclaimed, "Lissen up, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once! The big guy; the king... He's got himself hypnotized! If you don't wanna... Hey!"
Ben's exclamation of alarm had come when one of the guards who'd arrived on the scene had fired a beam of light at him from his weapon; a metal staff with a transparent globe on one end. Ben got back up, furious as more guards arrived on the scene. The beam weapon; whatever it had been, had only glanced across his shoulder, but it had left burn-marks in even his powerful, rocky skin. Ben Grimm was furious.
However, he wasn't the only one. In just a moment, the guard; who had a fin on his back like a shark, felt something grab his legs, and soon, he'd fallen to the stone floor of the cavern as the arms of Reed Richards untangled themselves from around his ankles. It was a temporary solution, though. Soon more guards were arriving from new directions, firing their weapons without hesitation, and that was when Carol Danvers arrived at another big decision.
"That's it." she thought to herself, "That's just it. I don't know how I got these powers, or whether I'll be keeping them forever or not, but as long as I have them, I have to use them. I can't let these guys hurt my friend."
In a flash, Carol had vanished again, and once again, the cavern city of Attilan shook with impact after sharp impact, as the sound of powerful, superhuman blows crackled through the air, knocking aside whole groups of inhuman guards the moment they dared to aim their weapons at the Fantastic Four. The others; human and inhuman, all simply stared in awe, and in some cases, terror as the guards fell to the ground and stayed there. When the sound of the fighting had died down, and Carol rejoined her teammates, emerging from a near-invisible blur of motion, none of them were sure what to say to her. She was even more powerful than any of them had suspected. Even Ben; her old friend, didn't know what to say to Carol Danvers.
However, although Ben wasn't sure what to say to her, he did know what to say to the inhumans. Speaking up with his powerful lungs, Ben exclaimed "As I was sayin', the king's in trouble! His brother's used some kinda drug to take over the spire, and we gotta stop him before he ruins the whole city."
"It's true." Crystal piped up from right next to Ben, "Maximus is loose in the spire, and as long as he is, we're all in danger. We're the only ones left that he isn't in control of yet, and that means we're the only hope the inhumans have! We must stop Maximus now, before it's too late!"
The madman known as Maximus; the once-disgraced brother of Black Bolt sat on the central throne of the inhumans with a smile on his face as he listened to news coming in from the research labs.
"Is the bomb nearly finished?" Maximus asked with a grin.
"It will be complete within the hour, lord Maximus." Gorgon replied with a bow.
"Good." Maximus replied, and then, turning to Karnak, he asked, "How's progress in determining the difference between the brain waves of humans and inhumans?"
"It's… slow going, sir." Karnak replied, looking ashamed, "The brain is a complex machine. It may take some time."
"I want a weapon that will destroy the humans, and leave our people untouched," Maximus reminded him, "and until we know the precise difference between our race and theirs, there is no way of building such a weapon, is there?"
"F-forgive me, milord." Karnak begged, truly enslaved to Maximus' will by the drugs.
"It is not a question of forgiveness." Maximus replied angrily, "Gather as much assistance as you need from among our people, but get the job done, and get it done now."
"Lord Maximus!"
The voice came suddenly from the chambers just outside the throne room, and it was the voice of Queen Medusa; who looked close to panic. She'd seen something that terrified her.
"The other inhumans, and... and my sister... they're here with the Fantastic Four!"
"What other inhumans?" Maximus scoffed, "I control the inhumans now."
"The inhumans of the lower classes." Medusa replied.
"Those slime?" Maximus asked, "I refuse to believe that they pose any threat to me."
"They outnumber us five to one, milord."
"Numbers mean nothing. The power is still ours." Maximus insisted, "Crush them."
It had been a very long time since Attilan had seen war. The guards and the military leaders, as well as most members of higher society soon found themselves compelled to travel out and defend the spire in the center of the palace compound from their more numerous brothers among the lower classes, using their powers as best they could to that effect. On average, the powers of the higher-class inhumans exceeded those of the lower class, but the lower class had the advantage of numbers, and they also had the advantage of Crystal, the Fantastic Four and Carol Danvers. Moving as fast as they could, the six of them sought out and overwhelmed the enemies whose powers seemed to be posing the greatest threat to their allies. Johnny used his flame to drive back a group of several who were using blasts of energy. Reed Richards used his flexible body to trip up a number who were clearly much stronger than most of the inhumans, Sue had managed to conceal whole teams of their allies until it was too late for the enemy to react, and Carol, Crystal and Ben were doing the most direct damage to the enemy as they pressed on; creating tremors in the ground to make their foes lose their footing, until they could be apprehended and robbed of their weapons. It wasn't long before the spire door came down under Ben Grimm's rocky foot, and the group stepped inside, to find themselves faced with their worst enemies up to that point; the inhuman royal family.
Before charging the spire, Crystal had shared with her new allies a few important facts about the powers of her family, so that they wouldn't be caught off guard, but none of them were feeling particularly confident about their chances as they charged into the throne room, to find six figures standing ready for battle. They were Maximus, and all of his most powerful slaves.
The largest threat, and the one who lead the charge, was clearly Black Bolt himself. According to the plan they'd developed, he was Reed's responsibility. Black Bolt, apparently, wasn't really as strong as he'd seemed when he'd knocked Ben out so easily on the surface. His real power came from his ability to draw in and amplify vibrations in the air around him using the tuning fork on his head, which meant that the only way to really stop him was to entrap him in a barrier capable of absorbing any kind of vibrations, no matter how intense, and Reed Richards was just such a barrier.
In a flash, Reed's rubbery form had stretched over Black Bolt, covering every muscle of his body; his face, arms and legs, until he was completely concealed under the blue costume that Reed wore around his torso. Karnak immediately charged forward, to try to liberate his king, but Crystal intervened with a blast of flame from one of her hands, and then caused the floor to rise up under Karnak; who'd been called "the shatterer" in the past, and knocked him onto his back. As Black Bolt writhed helplessly within Reed, Triton charged forward, but was knocked backward again by an invisible enemy, while Johnny used his fire to hold the waving, tentacle-like hair of Medusa at bay. Ben, in turn, had faced off against Gorgon; whose power was the ability to create cracks in the ground beneath his feet, using a powerful stomp. Ben started to loose his balance when Gorgon first used his special ability, but quickly recovered, grabbing the large inhuman by the shoulders, and slamming him hard against the ground.
The tremors that Ben and Gorgon had been making throughout the spire had thrown most of the other combatants off-balance, although Carol was having a lot more success maintaining her balance that most of the others, with the exception of Johnny, who was flying. Maximus, however, seemed to finally be growing worried. His slaves were losing ground, which meant that he was going to have to take action himself.
Something activated within the armor that Maximus was wearing, and he seemed to float forward along the ground as though weightless, firing beams from his fingertips at his enemies. Johnny felt one of the beams, whatever it was; impacting sharply with his chest, and in a moment, he was falling towards the ground, his flame dying as he started to lose consciousness. Suddenly, Maximus was on top of him, grabbing him by the neck in one hand. Sue Storm gasped in alarm, alerting Triton to her position, and turning the course of the fight against her, but even though Reed had successfully subdued Black Bolt, and Ben seemed to have knocked Gorgon unconscious, they were pretty terrified too, when they looked at Maximus. It wasn't just that he was holding Johnny Storm helpless in one hand; Maximus had zipped across the courtroom with enormous, superhuman speed. They probably hadn't even been able to keep track of him when he did that.
Of course, Crystal had said that Maximus had no physical powers; that his special powers were all intellectual. Maximus was an inventive genius who could design and operate extremely advanced technology; even beyond the standard kind used by the inhumans. That probably meant that the beams he'd used as weapons, his seeming ability to defy gravity, and his great speed and strength were all products of his armor rather than innate powers, but in either case, a powerful force would be needed to stop him. From what she'd seen already, Carol wasn't sure than any human or inhuman was fast enough to keep up with the weapon that Maximus was wearing, except, perhaps, for her. She knew she had to give it a shot, anyway.
Whenever Carol went as fast as she could, it wasn't, she could tell, a matter of just moving her legs. Somehow, she found that she could move, think and react faster than other people around her. It was a little like the rush of excitement felt when a person's pulse speeds up, except much more thrilling, all at once, and it didn't feel particularly unhealthy when she did it. It was almost like having an entirely different "mode" for running than for talking. That was really what Carol had done when she'd dashed through the city, and when she'd fought the guards, and it was what she did just then; shifting into "speed mode."
Amidst the chaos of the battle between the inhumans and the Fantastic Four, Maximus was just beginning to apply pressure to Johnny's throat, when a fist came out of nowhere, driving into his face from the left, and knocking him away from his human prey. In just a moment, he was back on his feet, but despite Karnak's work to the contrary, he'd felt the impact of that blow, even inside his armor, and he was furious to see that it was a blond-haired woman who'd made that attack against him.
"Do you really think that you can win against me, woman?" Maximus spat out furiously; "Do you think that you can destroy the invincible armor built without weaknesses?"
"If I can't, no one can." Carol replied, and just as she'd said that, Maximus began to move much faster, zipping around behind her, to reach for her arm from behind, but Carol had seen every move he'd made, and reacted with speed just as great, seizing his wrist and squeezing it with all her strength, then kicking him in one side, knocking him into another wall.
Both sides of that conflict were distracted and terrified by the battle going on between Carol and Maximus; though to all of the other combatants, they only looked like a pair of blurs, zipping back and forth, making sounds like enormous explosions whenever they met to deliver blows. They were unnatural and monstrous, both in speed and strength; one the product of science gone mad, and the other the result of a severe overdose of the terragen mists. Crystal was truly amazed as she watched them fight. She could have made no difference in a fight between the two of them. Their powers were so far above her own... she felt very small and frail as she watched them fight, and yet, neither was really a part of her society. Neither was really participating in that structure that the inhumans had worked towards for so long. Crystal found it... thrilling, really.
At last, after trading blows for a while, Carol started to get used to fighting at such incredible speeds, and began using the basic martial arts that she'd learned in the air force against her enemy. Quick grappling moves, palm-out punches, backwards kicks, and finally, Carol was able to brace one arm against Maximus' throat, and drive him backwards through the air, into the wall, where she drove her palm into his face one last time, causing the stone wall behind him to crack. In that moment, Maximus could feel the protective barrier around his armor buckling, and some of the vast pressure biting into his armor, then his flesh. As sure as he'd been that his new armor was invincible, Maximus was losing blood, and with it, consciousness.
"You... you monsters..." Maximus gasped in one last breath, as he started to slow down, reacting at a speed no greater than that of a normal human being, and then, in that one, last moment before he lost consciousness, Maximus the Mad dropped a small, thin object from his right hand, which was box-shaped, with a series of brightly-colored buttons on one side. In fact, it bore some resemblance to a remote detonator.
The spire trembled in that moment, as the inhumans rapidly began to regain some sense of self, and Reed released Black Bolt quickly. In moments, they were all free of Maximus' control, but there was obviously another problem, as the tremor from the city's center and the rumbling going on outside indicated. Maximus was defeated, but that didn't mean the threat was over.
Without a word shared between them, the Fantastic Four, the inhuman royal family, and Carol Danvers all rushed outside to hear the sound of rumbling, crashing noises coming down from above. As one, they all looked up, to see that large, dark cracks lined the artificial sky overhead, and the light of the real sky was streaming in through those cracks along the edges. The sound of the destruction of all that stone and metal would have drowned out any vocal explanation of what was going on, but it was obvious enough to everyone watching; Maximus' final act before losing consciousness had been to activate some kind of bombs hidden on the surface, with the intention of causing the very roof of Attilan to collapse inward and kill them all.
Black Bolt's merest word would have destroyed them all just as effectively as the large, stone chunks headed towards them, but fortunately, he didn't need to speak. When he looked at the swiftly-recovering Human Torch, his gaze held much meaning, and even Johnny Storm could tell what he meant. It was up to the two of them. At once, Black Bolt and Johnny took flight, rushing upward into the air with all the speed they were capable of. Johnny had a feeling that he knew what Black Bolt's plan was. Maximus hadn't caused an avalanche per se; he'd just blasted part of the stone loose with a bomb, and that could be corrected if someone strong enough were to hold the stones in place, giving Johnny the chance to weld them back together with his flame. Johnny had done welding before on his car back home when it needed work, and he had no doubt that he could do the same thing to loose rocks. The only question was whether Black Bolt would be able to hold all of the rocks in place at once.
"Wish I could get up there." Ben muttered as blasts of fire shot out from the Human Torch, forming solid barriers to hold the rocks in place, "Looks like they could use my help."
However, Ben's words turned into a prophecy all too soon, as the cracks began to spread further along the roof of Attilan, and new sections of rock started to slide out of place. If even one of them came crashing down, dozens of lives would be lost. That was very obvious and very evident, and in some ways, Carol almost felt guilty over what she'd done to Maximus, although she knew that she hadn't had a choice.
"I should... I should be helping them." Carol shouted just loud enough for the others to hear her, but Gorgon, who was standing nearby, shook his head.
"You have done us quite a favor in saving us from the wicked Maximus, but you are still only human. There is only so much that you can do."
By that point, however, Carol knew that Gorgon was wrong. Ever since she'd first arrived in Attilan, she'd been learning more and more about her powers, and her own ability to take the initiative. She'd surpassed her own expectations as a human, and an air force sergeant, she'd surpassed the expectations of the inhumans who'd thought of her as just a human, and she'd even surpassed the expectations of the Fantastic Four. If someone didn't do something, people were going to die, but Carol also had reasons of her own for being determined to take action just then. Again and again, she'd discovered new things that she was capable of, and one way or another, she wanted to know for sure just how powerful she'd become.
"I'm going up there!" she thought with mighty determination, "I'm going to do what I love most again. I'm going to fly, and this time, I'm going to do it alone. No more planes, jets or helicopters. I'm going to fly all by myself."
Then with that burst of determination and self-confidence, Carol Danvers leapt up, and she just kept going up and up, further and further... The ground fell away underneath her, and in spite of all the danger, Carol was in heaven. The ground plunging away beneath her, and the sky rushing up to meet her, she was in her element once again; propelling herself through the air by will alone. Carol Danvers was flying. It was marvelous.
Quickly, Carol reached a large chunk of stone with both hands and shoved it upward, back into the roof of Attilan that it had come loose from. Then she was off to another section of the roof to pound another chunk of rock back into place, as Johnny and Black Bolt tried their best to keep up with her, and make use of the time that Carol was buying them. Far below, inhumans of every class stared up in awe at that woman, who was fixing the problem that they were suffering from. As she seemed to hold so many pieces of the roof together with such ease, the inhumans were amazed. Even in the greatest inhumans, they'd never seen such a thing before, and they began to ask questions as the inhuman king and his two human allies finished their repairs to the roof of Attilan. Most of those questions went unanswered, but one or two deserved a reply.
"Is that a human, Lord Gorgon?"
A simple "Yes" was the response.
Nearly twenty-four hours passed after the repairs were completed, before order had really been restored as such. Everyone had needed time to get some rest, and arrangements had needed to be made to keep Maximus sedated until all of his drugs had the time to fade from their bodies. Naturally, he was to be kept imprisoned even after that, but that was nothing new. A few meals; purified of Maximus' drugs were served before any of the typical matters of Attilan politics could be tended to, which meant, among other things, reconsidering the decision of what to do about the humans. In the end, they were all gathered in the throne room again; Carol and the Fantastic Four on one side, and the royal family of the inhumans on the other, although Crystal looked a little uncomfortable, seated in her tertiary throne.
"You have saved us all," Medusa said, though Reed was certain that it was Black Bolt who was really "speaking," "and you will not find me ungrateful for that. Regardless of the risk to myself, or to my people, you will be returned to your homes. However, that does not make this a happy occasion for me."
Reed needed to struggle to keep the smile off of his own face as Black Bolt continued.
"When you arrived here, I saw only the people that your ancestors had been one hundred years ago. I gauged your trustworthiness not on personal merit, but on what your people had accomplished as a whole up to this point. Had your people gauged me thusly, based on the actions of Maximus, it would have been no less a mistake."
Reed was the only human there who had no difficulty deciphering those words.
"I knew that Maximus was a threat to us all, and I should have paid closer heed to him, and less to unfounded suspicions about you." Black Bolt continued, "However, your time here has caused many changes. The people of Attilan are now aware that their lives were saved by five human beings. With this knowledge, I very much doubt that they will be content to continue living as isolationists. I feel that I will shortly be obligated to make contact with the human world once more; so this I will do. However, make no mistake; if your people choose to react to us with acts of violence and war, we will respond in kind. We are a powerful nation, in spite of our limited population, and I feel that we would prevail against any force of arms the humans send against us. You would do well to warn them of that if they should seem inclined to do violence to us."
Reed gave a short, silent nod. However, that was when Black Bolt turned to face Ben Grimm, and he looked much more serious than ever, when speaking to him.
"In your case; Benjamin Grimm, you have done much to aid us in this time of need, but I have heard your request, and I cannot agree to it. The sacred terragen mists are the heritage of the inhumans. I will accept that they have found their way into human lungs by accident, but I cannot condone their use as part of an experiment. To attempt to divine the true nature of the mists is, to us, the highest form of blasphemy, and as long as inhumans are inhumans, that is how it will be. I hope that you will understand this."
Ben heard Black Bolt's words with a frown on his face. Of course, he'd been hoping that the inhumans would agree to give him some of the mist to take back to New York and use in the alien machine, to turn him back into a human, but being faced with the reality that it wasn't going to happen, Ben didn't feel quite as horrible about that as he'd thought he would. In fact, it almost made him feel relieved, just to have that answer, no matter what the answer was.
"S'aright." Ben said, shrugging it off quickly, "There's more important stuff in life."
When he heard Ben say that, Black Bolt smiled, as Lockjaw moved forward, opening up two brilliant gateways; one leading to an air force base that Carol found familiar, and the other to the streets of New York City.
"Do you think that things will ever change between us, sir?" Reed asked after taking only a short look at the gateways.
"Things have changed between us already, and they may continue to change still more." Black Bolt replied, "Though our people are not accustomed to change, and could never surrender our sacred traditions, I do not think that you will be the last humans to visit Attilan. There may even come a time when one of us will walk on your soil."
Then, Black Bolt had gotten to his feet, and given a bow, as had every other member of his family, and in a flash, Carol Danvers and the Fantastic Four were gone; to return to their world and their status quo.
However, as the light faded from the throne room, the scream of Medusa echoed through the whole hall.
"Where is she?" Medusa asked in a full-fledged panic, "Where is my sister?"
Sure enough, Crystal had disappeared. For several seconds, the other inhumans searched frantically for her, until Black Bolt reached down into her empty throne, and removed from it a slip of paper. His eyes darted across the paper for several seconds, taking in the words on the page, and when he was done, and handed the letter to the others, he knew in his heart that things had changed for good. Nothing would ever be quite the same again.
End
