The Future Foundation

Chapter Three

"THOUGHTS"

By using my share of the treasure I had gotten from that South American adventure, I was able to hire the best lawyers to deal with the IRS. And the fact that Luthor had been exposed for what he really was by a recent confrontation with Superman had hindered his ability to destroy me legally which meant he was less capable of ruining my life and reputation.

Upon getting my reputation and my finances back and then some, I had gotten back in the game. I reclaimed my job as a college professor. Then there was using my genius to make patents that made me filthy rich once again.

After having reestablished myself, I was able to invest money in finding free energy, something I've always wanted to do whether in this world or the one I had left.

It had taken me years to buy the property and create the equipment for my journey into the unknown. Now, I was finally ready.

As I worked on my technical equipment for my upcoming launch into outer space, I found nothing amiss. Then I checked the computer screen.

"Everything is as it should be. Soon I'll go into outer space and acquire that unlimited source of power I've been monitoring via telescope for months now. After that, the world's power problems will be gone," I thought to myself as I regarded the six feet by six feet square power generator and the other five 4x4 cylinders that I had placed inside of the space-worthy craft I had spent the last few years making.

At that point, my faithful robot, H.E.R.B.I.E. which meant Highly Engineered Robot Built for Interdimensional Exploration floated towards me.

"Any problems, Herbie?"

The three-foot mechanism hovered three feet off the ground as I regarded it. It had a light-blue-colored, pear-shaped body that was round on the bottom. Attached to its neck was a rectangle-shaped head with two large yellow lights for eyes against the backdrop of a black screen.

It had taken me over a decade to build Herbie and make him just right. I had remembered the Fantastic Four cartoon that had come out in the seventies where Herbie the Robot first appeared, thus I had made my own version.

"All is well, Reed," the robot said in a monotone, sounding as if it was speaking on the radio. Then a pair of arms and legs came out of its body as it transformed into its bipedal form which was five feet tall weighing a hundred pounds in either form.

"Good, a few more checks and we can take off," I answered.

Upon exiting the silver-colored spacecraft which was a little larger and thicker than the size of a school bus with large diagonally slanted wings to the end giving it a thirty-foot wingspan, I looked over my shoulder, nodding my head in approval. In addition to spending massive amounts of my capital into making Herbie and this new ship, I had spent years trying to find alternate forms of energy and now it looked as if my dream was finally coming true.

XXX

"That's it. I've finished it," I said as I looked upon my finished spaceship which I had decided to call Silverbolt.

However, despite all the brilliant calculations and careful planning, there was a fatal flaw.

"But what do I do about the cosmic rays that could interdict me as I make my way towards my objective? Even though I've placed shields on my spacecraft will they be enough?" I speculated as I made my way to the elevator that took me down to the first floor where my main office was. Of course, it occurred to me that the canon Fantastic Four had gone out into space without sufficient shields so I had made certain the shields were strong even though there were no plans of going through the field of cosmic rays.

Upon exiting the elevator, I noticed some unwanted guests, walking through the entrance.

The first floor of my mansion/skyscraper was 10,000 square feet. In addition to the first floor, there were several dozens of more floors which were approximately the same square footage as the first floor.

"Who is it, Reginald?" I asked through the commlink my head butler who had been with me for years since that large fortune-making adventure in South America.

Reginald Ross was a man in his fifties with a slender, wiry build that covered well-corded muscles and short-cropped, graying hair.

"It's Bentley Wittman and some men from NASA, Master Reed. Where should I direct them?"

"Direct them to my main office, Reginald."

As soon as Bentley Wittman and the men from NASA had arrived at my main office after me having gotten there a little before them I motioned them to sit down.

"Would you like anything?"

"You can dispense with the pleasantries, Richards. You know why we're here."

"That being?"

Bentley Wittman was a well-dressed, slender man of medium height and build sporting a black goatee that regarded me with a harsh glare. In addition to that, the two men with him were large, well-built men standing at six and a half feet tall each who were also dressed in black suits and ties.

"We don't want you going off into space searching for limitless energy."

"And I suppose outer space is your personal property?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at them.

"You know what we mean! What you're doing is…"

"What I'm doing is perfectly legal and well within my rights! Now if there isn't anything else, you men can leave. Good day, sirs!"

"This isn't over, Richards! Do you understand how many power companies don't want unlimited power resources discovered?! There's a reason why nobody else is trying to do what you're doing," Wittman explained with a sneer in my direction.

"What reason is that?" I asked with my arms folded on my chest.

"The reason is if what you're planning succeeds, it would be the end of coal, gas, and nuclear energy. What you're doing will bring about on you a worse disaster and ruination than Victor Von Luthor could ever do. You can count on that!"

"That sounds like a threat, Wittman," Reed countered.

"Call it what you like, but there are some powerful people who don't want anyone discovering limitless power and bringing it to earth," Bentley said.

"Really? Is the solar power I'm using along with regular power a problem too?"

"Solar power is horrifically expensive making it very inefficient for the average person. So that's not a problem."

"Do these powerful people about which you're speaking have something to do with that?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

Bentley Wittman paused for a moment regarding me, gritting his teeth.

"I'm not going to get into a large discussion with you about that. But here's what I'm telling you. Don't you dare go off to find other sources of energy! Good day, sir!" With that, Bentley and the two men with him did an about-face and left.

"Hmm. I'm going to have to speed things up. What I'm doing will help the environment and the whole world in general. So I won't let anyone stop me!"

XXX

A few days later, I was in the pilot's seat of my brand new spacecraft while Herbie was in his bipedal form sitting in the copilot's seat. However, as I was about to launch, one of my "employees" was calling someone while standing in the shadows, a discussion for which I found out sometime later.

"He's about to launch right now, Mr. Wittman."

"Have you already placed the time bomb I gave you in his ship's engine?"

"Yes, Mr. Wittman."

"Good, now quietly and calmly get out of there."

"Yes, Mr. Wittman."

XXX

The takeoff went off without a hitch. Everything was fine until my ship had gotten a few million miles away from the Earth's atmosphere where I found I couldn't control the spacecraft. Then the communications screen near the controls came to life.

"Greetings, Richards. Having a nice flight?"

"Wittman! What the…"

"That's right. I told you not to go on this crusade. Now you're going to pay dearly for your actions," Wittman explained with a sneer.

"What are you talking about? As of now, I'm millions of miles out of your reach," I answered

"That's what you think."

"Structural integrity has been comprised. Structural integrity has been comprised!" Herbie announced as the spacecraft began to shake. Then it went off course straight into the cosmic ray storm I had made so much effort to avoid. At that point, the scientist in me gasped as I saw the red rays of cosmic energy coming closer and closer towards me through my view screen.

Upon trying to use the controls to get back on course, I heard the warning klaxons go off.

"That's right. I've placed a bomb inside your spaceship. And as soon you've run into the cosmic ray field your shields will go off as well."

"This is madness!" I stated as the shields vanished.

"This isn't madness. This is business!" Upon hearing these words I felt like the guy who got kicked into the bottomless pit in the first few minutes of that Spartan 300 movie. I knew this guy was a prick, but it didn't occur to me that he would do something like this. Then I remembered that William Bentley was the real name of one of the Fantastic Four's arch enemies, the Wizard. I thought his face was familiar. The story arcs with the Wizard and the Frightful Four never really interested me all that much and I didn't think he'd be here in the DC Universe.

"What is your problem? Why are you doing this?" I gasped as I felt the cosmic rays battering the ship and me.

"You're the one who was crazy to oppose the powers that be with your social justice quest to give free energy to everyone! First Nikolas Tesla met his early demise. Now it's your turn. This will keep anyone else from trying to make the world a better place. Enjoy your death!" With that, the communication screen went blank. Then I felt myself being hit with more cosmic rays. After a few minutes of writhing in pain, I felt the ship begin to shake more violently. Then it blew up.

"AAARRGGGHH!"

XXX

Sometime later, I found myself floating in outer space with the debris of my spaceship scattered around me.

"Was I in another dimension for a while? I could have sworn that I spent over a hundred years training in hand-to-hand combat, learning hundreds of fighting styles, sciences, and technology from all over the universe at the same time. It was as if I had split into hundreds of people and merged back into just myself after absorbing so much knowledge and skills. Wait a minute! Why am I not choking? Aren't I in a space vacuum?!"

"That's right. The cosmic rays turned me into what I am. Well, since I trained in that alternate dimension, I might as well make my way towards earth. Did Herbie make it?" I thought to myself as I seemed to instinctively know where the earth was concerning where I was at that moment.

My intelligence had increased to such a point I felt like the Bradley Cooper character from that Limitless movie where he was able to use much more of his intelligence after taking a pill. As smart as I was just previously, I was even smarter with superhuman intelligence! I felt as if I now knew everything!

Upon turning around, I noticed Herbie floating towards me. Great! He had made it through.

"Are you OK, Herbie?"

"I'm all right, but it will take me a long time to reach earth at my current speed. You don't seem to be having a problem existing without breathing."

"That's right, Herbie. The cosmic rays changed me. It looks as if they've changed you too. At any rate, sit tight as I take stock of our situation."

Then I noticed the five power spheres I had put into my ship floating in space several yards away from us. The cylinders had expanded up to six feet high and six feet in diameter. These containers were normally light brown, but the power residing in them had made the cylinders white-hot. As it was, the main generator had blown up into me as the cosmic rays hit me.

"These things are full of power from those cosmic rays. That's the same energy that has empowered me. That could be why my main cylinder blew up," I speculated as I regarded the heated cylinders and took hold of them, noticing that the extreme heat didn't bother me. Come to think of it, I was actually able to fly over towards the cylinders simply by thinking about it. Then I remembered how I had trained and how my strength, speed, and toughness had increased to superhuman levels.

Upon noticing the pieces of the spaceship floating around, it occurred to me that I could make use of the situation as it was.

In a matter of minutes, I had made a makeshift container out of the larger fragments of the spacecraft, using my newfound strength and speed to hand weld the pieces together. Upon finishing that job, I placed the cylinders, Herbie, and a few other usable tech devices inside the makeshift crate and took hold of the handle I had made and attached to it. Then I flew off for earth.

"Hang on, Herbie! We're going home."

XXX

A few hours later I arrived near the earth. And after having powered through the earth's magnetic field, I flew towards my building/base in Boston, Massachusetts, touching down at the launch pad from which I had flown off, placing the makeshift crate I had fashioned while being out in space on the surface.

"Whew!"

"Master Reed, are you all right?! Dear heavens!" Reginald called out as he ran towards the Launchpad and noticed the abrupt change in me.

"I'm all right, Reginald."

The butler gasped as he regarded the much younger and more viral version of me who had turned into a six-foot two-inch, two hundred twenty-five pound, beautiful Adonis sporting long, silver-white hair that went a few inches past my shoulders. In addition to all that, my arms had enlarged to twenty inches in circumference, being symmetrical with the rest of my muscularly well-defined body.

My transformation was so great that I even walked with much more presence and poise than I had ever had.

"Was your mission a success, Master Reed?" the butler asked upon barely recognizing me.

"I'm not sure exactly. At any rate, it wasn't a total loss. As it is, I have a lot of lab work and research to do on these power spheres, Herbie, and myself. I also have a whole lot of self-educating and training ahead of me. Then the world will know Professor Paragon!" I announced as I shifted my shoulders back and stuck my chest out in a heroic pose.

"And don't forget his robot sidekick, Herbie!" the robot announced, standing right next to me surprising both my butler and me.

XXX

A few minutes later, the employee who had sabotaged my voyage hid in the shadows calling his confederate. Little did he know Herbie had intercepted the signal and recorded everything.

"What is it, Stanley?"

"It's Reed Richards. He's made it back. And he has…"

"What?! That couldn't be! I saw his spacecraft blow up. Have you been drinking?" Bentley Wittman said from the other line.

"No, I'm not. See for yourself," Melvin said as he held his handphone camera in my direction while I was talking to my butler.

"That's not Richards, you idiot! That's…" Upon closer scrutiny and hearing my voice, Wittman realized his henchman was correct even though I was much changed.

"Hmm. Find out as much as you can about Richards' new form and anything else going on over there. Wittman out."

XXX

A few months later, I stood on the top of my building, wearing my uniform that matched the hue of my long, flowing hair, consisting of an open midriff silver-white tunic that left my arms, shoulders, and much of my chest and sides bare. At the same time, I wore similarly colored gauntlet/gloves, trunks, leggings, boots, a utility belt, and a cape. Then I took to the sky, prompting me to regard the people on the ground below who looked like ants from my vantage point.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Here's a look at Reed Richards' stats based on the classic Marvel RPG

PROFESSOR PARAGON

FIGHTING: SHIFT-X (150) This means a level above superhuman fighting ability backed up by intensive training and or hundreds of years of experience.

AGILITY: UNEARTHLY(100) This level of agility and reflexes is superhuman and beyond what a human being is capable of with intensive training which allows Reed to dodge lasers and rapid machine-gun fire with ease.

STRENGTH: UNEARTHLY (100) For Reed, this means the ability to lift(press) around 25,000 tons.

ENDURANCE: UNEARTHLY (100) This level of endurance is a constitution that's a match for his strength that's also beyond humanity. He doesn't tire.

REASON: UNEARTHLY (100) This level of intelligence is superhuman with the knowledge of all human and alien tech and the ability to improve and modify such technology.

INTUITION: AMAZING (50) This level of awareness means in tune with one's surroundings, being hard to surprise.

PSYCHE: SHIFT-X (150) This means a level above the human limit which is a mind practically closed to external forces.

HEALTH: 450

KARMA: 300

RESOURCES: AMAZING: This level of wealth is the match for a large corporation on par with a billionaire.

POPULARITY: EXCELLENT: known to mass media.

APPEARANCE: AMAZING: Reed has an attractive, stunning appearance.

POWERS:

Martial Strength: For all purposes except lifting, throwing, and health score, Reed's strength is Shift-X(as if his strength was millions of tons)

Total Memory: Unearthly

Calculations: Unearthly

Psi Screen: Shift-X resistance to mental attacks.

True Flight: Reed can fly at 6,000 miles per hour

Resistance: Reed has total immunity to Diseases, Radiation, Toxins, Heat, and Cold.

Invulnerability: Class 1000 resistance to Power Drains, Transformations, and Absorptions.

True Invulnerability: Monstrous (This means the ability to easily withstand well over hundreds of tons worth of bashing and killing attacks whether they be physical or energy)

Sealed Systems: Reed doesn't have to breathe and can survive the vacuum of space.

Lightning Speed: Reed can move at (6000 mph) without having to fly.

Self Immunity: Reed is immune to self-inflicted damage like hitting an indestructible surface that might injure him or charging into something or someone that was too indestructible.

Regeneration: Amazing (50)

Bump of Direction: Reed has an inward compass that allows him to intrinsically know his north, south, east, west, and what is up and down no matter what his current position.

Hyper-Intelligence/Hyper-Invention: Reed has total memory recall and flawless logic. Reed also has Shift-X ability to design and build any kind of device. He can also figure out ideas and problems at a faster/superhuman rate.

EQUIPMENT

Reed's uniform adapts to all his defenses and abilities and cannot be easily taken from him. In addition to all this, he can quickly change in and out of his uniform at will. He also has hidden equipment, tools, and Omni-gadgets in his vestment.

Wristband:

Allows Flight at 45 miles per hour.

Allows communication at an undetermined distance

Allows Life Support: self-contained breathing in space

TALENTS/SKILLS

Martial Arts: All, Weapons Master, Acrobatics, Tumbling, Escape Artist, Wrestling, Combat Sense, Scholar: Martial Arts and Fighting, Scholar: Alternative Forms of Energy, High Pain Threshold, Resist Domination, Ambidexterity, Stealth, Tactics, Leadership, Tracking, Aerial Combat, Pilot: All vehicles, Business/Finance, All Computers Skills, Security and Encryption, Virtual Reality, Time Travel Technology, Communications, Detective/Espionage, Criminology, Electronics, Forensics, Persuasion, Interrogation, Military, Gadgetry, Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Politics, Inventor, Kit Bashing, Mathematics, Survival, Radiology, Physics, Parapsychology, Chronology, Archeology, Aeronautics, Astronautics, Astrophysics, Meteorology, Stellar Cartography, Neurosciences, Applied Science, Quantum Physics, Physiology, Architecture, Instructor, All Engineering Skills, Vehicle Design, Weapons Design, Bionics, Oceanography, Cybernetics, Robotics, Mechanics, Repair/Tinker, Resist Domination, Security Systems, Psychology, History/Trivia, First Aid, Medicine, Surgery, Anatomy, Navigation, Astro-Navigation, Astronomy, Speed Reading, Lightning Calculator, Languages: A lot, All Other Sciences

XXX

H.E.R.B.I.E.

Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-Type, Integrated Electronics

FIGHTING: EXCELLENT (20) This means regular formal training

AGILITY: EXCELLENT (20) This means intensive training in agility and accuracy

STRENGTH: GOOD (10) This means being able to lift 400 pounds

ENDURANCE: REMARKABLE (30) This means no normal rest needed

REASON AMAZING (50) This means the ability to perform small experiments and run complex machinery

INTUITION: REMARKABLE (30) This means impressive deductive skills

PSYCHE: INCREDIBLE (40) This means a strong force of will

Health: 80

Karma: 120

Resources: Sh-0

Pop: 6

Known Powers:

Incredible Body Armor

ShapeShift: Can transform into Bipedal form and back at will

Self-Sustenance: Doesn't need to eat, sleep or breathe

Tentacles: H.E.R.B.I.E. possesses eight retractable tentacle-like probes

Communication with Cybernetics: Monstrous

Plasma Generation: Amazing Energy

True Flight: Good Speed(120 miles per hour)

Self-Repair: Incredible

Arm Reconfiguration: He can reshape his arms and can form such complex shapes. Has formed the following:

Energy Blaster: Remarkable Energy, 10 areas

Force Field Generator: Create Incredible protection around 1 area

Sonic Blaster: Remarkable

Bio-Electric Discharge: Anyone touching or grasping HERBIE can suffer from an electrical charge of up to Remarkable damage.

Sensors: In radar/sonar/electrical systems to detect objects, radio waves, etc.

Infravision: Remarkable

Psi Screen: Incredible

Communication with Cybernetics: Able to interface with computers with Ex ability.

Targeting: +2 CS to agility to fire his weapons systems

Radio: Allows communication at an undetermined distance

Talents: Various skills and abilities