Ben and Johnny led the charge. The two charged head on at one of the monsters surrounding them, with Johnny taking the head, and Ben taking its legs. Johnny above a large red monster's head, channeling two large balls of energy, and blasted two large beams of fire at the monster hard, burning across its face, and seared it's moldy flesh almost instantly. However, the creatures seemed to Richards like they felt no pain at all, only making the creature angrier than it was before, if they could feel human emotions. Its mouth however opened with a loud, deafening roar.
Ben struck the monster hard in what looked like a knee, his fists clenched together hard, hitting it with everything he had.
At that moment, a shiver ran up The Mole Man's spine. He simply watched in horror, seeing one of his children screaming, while two surface dwellers attacked it, as the ground shifts with each step, each of the monsters took.
He raised his kane, ready to blast a large pulse of energy towards Ben. He clenched his fist tightened, tightening his grip on his weapon. His weapon charged with energy, pointing towards Ben. Richards however had other plans in mind. He quickly reached out, extending his arm, grabbing the kane to pull it out of Elder's hand. Elder glanced towards his former student, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted.
"Elder. I'm giving you one chance here. Surrender!" Richards demanded.
"I do not surrender, surface dweller!"
"That's what they all say, mole dude," Johnny remarked, flying head first towards Elder. Richards however flashed a glance back, surprised at the young man.
"Johnny, don't-"
Elder grinned at that. Within an instant, he turned his kane, now aiming towards Johnny, and blasted a large pulse of electricity, directly at him. Johnny was struck hard, and turned back to his normal form. A blast of electricity struck him hard in the chest, blasting him back towards one of the demolished buildings fast, knocking him out unconscious.
"Johnny!" Susan screamed in horror, watching as her brother fell through a building hard.
Ben's eyes went wide, watching Johnny go down. His kane is the source of his power, other than his monsters, Reed knew. Among the rest of the heroes, Richards clearly knew Mole Man was trouble, even without any of his monsters, or children as he called them.
At the monsters roared, their awareness soon narrowed, gazing at all the civilians running for their lives, while Military and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents opening fire on them. Each soldier and agent gave the large creatures everything they had from their weapons. Assault Rifles, missiles and even tanks opening fire however had little to no effect on any of the beasts that dwarfed them in size and could crush them with only one step. Mole Man meanwhile grinned, surveying the totality of his children's destruction of his current surroundings.
The plan for him was to enact his vengeance upon the university that he had wanted for so many years, then destroy New York City, then the world will tremble before him. He could almost hear all the surface dwellers running for their lives close to surrendering, just to make sure they aren't killed. As for The Fantastic Four, and everyone else were just children fighting a god.
He could feel the surface world surrendering, and his dream of prosper between humans and his children would be a reality. His goal of vengeance would be complete. The world would be fully re-created all in his image.
And yet…
Despite all that, something still felt like it was casting a shadow over him. Yes, he was showing the world that he was a king, and a god to a degree. He was destroying everything to recreate it all.
But someone was missing. Someone that Elder had once loved once, and still does.
Alex miles away with her husband watched the chaos in horror. To them, Elder was a monster.
Elder glanced back, seeing Richards letting go of his Kane, and slowly walked towards him. His face was grim, and eyes narrowed at his former teacher, now turned enemy.
"Elder, please. This isn't you," He said. "You're a good person, and I'll help you if you let me."
"I am what this university and the world forced me to become, Richards!"
"What the world did to you was wrong, but you were trying to give life behind their backs. You had a girlfriend, you were happy. Is this who you want to be, Elder. A villain? A criminal? A terrorist?" Richards continued. "I know you never meant to be like this. All you wanted to do was to help the world. You wanted to make everyone proud of the man you were, and you can do that again."
"SILENCE, RICHARDS!" Elder boomed. "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME! HARVEY ELDER IS DEAD, AND HAS BEEN SINCE THE SURFACE HAS BANISHED ME, LIKE AN ANIMAL! I WAS TRYING TO SHOW THIS DISGUSTING WORLD THAT NO MAN, WOMAN, CHILD, ANIMAL OR ANY LIVING CREATURE WILL STAY DOWN, BUT THEN YOU AND YOUR DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A TEAM HAD TO PROTECT THEM. YOU STOPPED MY CHILD WHEN YOU AND THE OTHER SURFACE DWELLERS SHOULD HAVE SURRENDERED AND BOWED DOWN TO ME! THEY THOUGHT I WOULD BE BETTER SOMEWHERE ELSE, BUT I SURVIVED BECAUSE I TRUST NO SURFACE DWELLER!"
"You just want revenge, and wanted us out of your way, all to get to this school. But why should the rest of the world suffer for the school firing you?"
"You can ask me that, after how they treated my children, and how they've treated Mutants and other minorities around the globe. They must pay! All of humanity must pay for what they've done to me and my kind!" Elder said.
"Elder. Listen to me. There's good and evil in every person around the world. We all aren't perfect, but you being fired and being treated like an outcast shouldn't justify murdering and destroying all of mankind," Richards grimaced. "You should know that more than anyone."
Elder narrowed his eyes at his former student. Clenching his fists, wanting to simply attack him, hearing everything coming out of his mouth.
"Don't you see, professor? None of this would've happened if it weren't for you!"
"Don't say that! Richards, this is your last chance. Surrender, and kneel before me. The surface world is a poison that brings chaos, and must be purged from the earth. I can create a new world for all of humanity. You trusted me once, and I taught you everything I could while I was in this school. You've changed the world with your knowledge, and I have as well. Does that mean nothing to you anymore?" He asked.
Richards didn't say anything else.
"Fine. If you aren't going to surrender, then you will be the first of your team to die," Elder said. At that moment, he signaled one of the monsters to approach the scientist. Richards meanwhile to everyone's surprise simply stood still, his arms crossed and had a deep frown on his face, disappointed that this had to happen, no doubt to Elder.
A few moments pass, and a large orange skin monster, with no legs, but merely a tail like a snake stood behind the scientist, dwarfing him in size alone. Richards however hadn't forgotten there were more than 1 monsters that he and his team had to deal with, if they wanted to stop Elder. The Mole Man merely tuned out the news copters circling the area, reporting on all the chaos that was going on.
All over the world, reports were coming in on the attack on Empire State University. Everyone's eyes were wide with horror All eyes were on Richards. People's hearts began racing with fear, watching the leader of the Fantastic Four all alone, gazing at The Mole Man and his monsters. Elder merely stares at his former student, sad, as he simply walks up to him, calmly.
"Glorious isn't it, Richards?" Elder speaks.
"No. No it isn't," He answered, coldly.
Elder couldn't help, but laugh at that. To him, the destruction was a song of triumph in the large parade of chaos all around him.
"You shouldn't fear progress, Richards. It's inevitable. Unavoidable. And only on very rare occasions can it be delayed."
"I'm aware of that. I even wrote a paper about progress and why it's inevitable, and how far we've come with technology in such a short time," Richards said. "But this… Elder, this has to stop. What you're doing is worse than you being fired all those years ago."
"How is showing the surface that I am a king worse than being fired?" Elder asked.
"You don't understand what I mean!" Richards snapped. "What you're doing is killing people, Elder. You unleashed these creatures to simply kill people, and destroy this city like a madman. You've spent years underground, and it's made you sick. You need help."
"I need help?! From you?! The surface?!" Elder growled. "You should know better than thinking humans can understand each other, Richards. They fight wars for petty reasons, slaughter people because of petty reasons as well."
"They do. And you are no better than them," He grimaced. "You were everything I wanted to be, Elder! You were a friend, a mentor to me and to the rest of the university, and a good man. We can help you, if you let us."
Elder eyes narrowed, and his frown deepened at his former student. His kane began to spark again, with his thumb slowly moving toward the small button to fire at him with a blast of energy again.
Richards however simply remained silent, waiting for Elder to give him a response, knowing that he was most likely going to be blasted. He however thought making him realize what he did would cause him to surrender, and command his monsters to stop with all the senseless chaos going on.
Elder tensed, no doubt preparing to attack. Richards however merely frowned at him, disgusted.
"What exactly are you willing to pay to make your so called 'new society' a reality?" He asked. He kept arms crossed, arching an eyebrow.
"Whatever it takes," He muttered. "No one deserves to go through what I did all those years ago."
"I'm sorry this happened to you, professor," Richards looked down. "The rest of my team, S.H.I.E.L.D. and even Alex all are sorry for what happened, but seeing what you did… I'm sorry, but… You're worse than the ones who did this. You're a monster."
At that moment, a shiver ran up The Mole Man's spine. His eyes widened.
"Stretch is right."
Elder turned, startled. He had forgotten about Ben, Susan and Johnny, but there they were, standing beside each other, with Ben addressing him directly.
"I thought I was the monster, until I met ya. I may look like a pile a' rocks, but you. Yer ugly, pal."
"I… I'm a monster?" Elder asked, confused.
"Damn right you are! You freakin' tried to kill people 'cuz you were all like "Oh, but I'm tryin' to help and all that-"
Richards, Ben and Susan flashed glanced toward Johnny annoyed.
Elder however collapsed onto his knees. He dropped his kane, and looked to the ground, his frown deepened.
"I never meant to do this... I… I just wanted to help people…" He said.
"And you can," Susan said, sweetly. "You may have your beef with this place, but that shouldn't justify murdering millions of innocent people."
Elder shook his head no.
"But… They-The surface world deserve it!" He said. "The surface world has taken everything I cared about from me. My job, my life, even… Even my sight. When they were done, all that was left was me and my children underneath the streets of this city. That I hoped would be the last of the things that had gone wrong in my life, and I thought it had began to turn in my favor when I created subterranea, and I became a king to my children down there. And then, you people took my world from me…"
The four nodded understanding. They couldn't help but feel bad for what happened to Elder all those years ago after he was fired. He basically lost everything he loved, everything he knew and he didn't want to lose it again, Reed knew. His creatures were all that he had left, they thought. He had given birth to them himself, and got fired for those reasons too, and lost his life. He in many ways became a father and a king to them, and wanted the same order to the surface as he had in subterranea.
"No one deserves to die for simply firing a man. It happens to everyone, Elder, and you know this," Richards said bluntly.
"He's got a point," Johnny remarked.
"Yup."
"You filthy surface dwellers do not understand! I've created a world. One with order, while the rest of the human race is in chaos, and I have had enough! They stole my life from me, and I will not allow that to happen to me or anyone ever again!" He said, angrily at the Four. Raising his hand, pointing his kane toward Richards, Elder gazed at his former student angrily. "And if you four are not my allies, then you all are my enemies!"
Susan let out a long sigh. At that moment, Elder's kane was lifted out of his hand, floating in mid air thanks to her. Elder turned towards her, enraged. Susan gazed at Elder, disgusted at him, much like Richards was. She said nothing to him, only narrowing her eyes, while Ben cracks his knuckles. Johnny crossed his arms, annoyed at him.
"Of course we are," Johnny scoffed. He rolled his eyes as though what he just heard couldn't be taken seriously at all, but they all knew he would have said something like that in the end.
"Reed," Susan said, as she nicely handed her boyfriend the kane.
"Thank you, dear," He smiled.
Susan nodded, returning the nice smile.
And then, the monsters come. They charge at the four, like fragments of a mad nightmare that will never end. They roared, snarled, ran as fast as they could. The monsters the Mole Man had created.
"Johnny, Ben," Reed said, flashing a glance towards the two.
Ben and Johnny nodded, not needing to be given specific orders. Regardless of how many of these creatures the mole man had down below the city, he wasn't much prepared for both Johnny and Ben's power. Johnny soon turned to fire, and shot skyward towards the creatures, while Ben charged straight towards them, following Johnny from behind.
Oddly, Susan thinks, Elder reminds her of Reed. She raised her hand towards Elder.
"Stand down, Susan. He's done," He said.
It took merely moments for the monsters to surrender, seeing their creator and father on the ground, before Richards and Susan.
The whole world erupted with joy. Cheers echoed all across New York City, with news cameras circling the area, zooming in on the Fantastic Four in the middle of the destruction.
The Mole Man was finally defeated. The world was saved.