Chapter Eleven
In just five minutes, the space Marilyn once remembered as the mechanics lab was a war-zone thanks to the seemingly uncontrollable power of Hauptmann. Marilyn had finally got over the fit of distress she was going through, and focused on finding a way to vanquish the demonic elderly scientist. Afterall, as her father had once said, where there is a will, there is a way. Suddenly, the idea came to her!
"How could I be so stupid?! Of course ice and water cannot cancel out darkness, but LIGHT can!"
The second that thought came to her, her eyes darted around the room, searching for Hauptmann, and found him not still on the catwalk getting ready to eliminate another ceiling light fixture. Without a pause, Marilyn looked at Hauptmann straight in the eyes, and screamed.
"URANIAN SHOCK!"
The resulting impulse of energy from her eyes was enough to just blind Hauptmann for a minute, but that was ample time for Marilyn, who traveled from the floor to the catwalk in a mere second and flash of blue light.
"Ugh, you could have permanently disabled my vision if I was in physical form. Oh the advantages of being PURE SPIRITUAL MATTER!" shouted Hauptmann as he let the dark energy build up in his right hand for what he hoped would be a final blow to the being before him.
"What do you think I am made of?" Marilyn cattily interrogated, as she gingerly grasped Hauptmann's right hand, and whispered...
"uranian shock!"
Her grasp was as gentle as a lamb, but the effect of Marilyn's action towards Hauptmann was not! Blue radiation painfully flowed through Hauptmann as he tried to let go of Marilyn's hand, but discovered he could not!
"LET GO OF ME URCHIN!" Hauptmann hollered in the most malicious, yet desperate tone.
"You really think I am going to let you go, you deceitful creep? Well, for once, you are actually right!" Marilyn said in her own special sarcastic way. And, she proceeded to pick Hauptmann up as easily as if he were two pound weigh or even lighter, and toss him over the catwalk's railing towards the rubble that used to be the last apparatus Marilyn and her father had built in their past lives. Hauptmann landed with a stinging crash. In a flash of blue light, Marilyn transported herself back to the floor below, and prepared to finish off Hauptmann, when a familiar voice embraced her ears.
"You did well child, but why don't you let me finish this worthless soul off?"
She turned to see what appeared to be a silhouette of her father on the catwalk. In a voice of welcome, Marilyn said.
"Father! Is that you?"
To her surprise, the shadowy figure responded.
"Well, not exactly..."
And, out from the shadows came a person who looked very much like Reed, but was in every way a dark version of him. He was attired in clothes very much like the ones Reed wore, except the colors were a dark green and black. Also, there was not look of being clean and well groomed, instead, his face and hands were rather sooty, and his hair was oily and not neatly combed. While the hair at Reed's temples was a silverish white, the hair on this man's temples was a dull, dark gray. There before Marilyn stood the serpent-hearted embodiment of evil, the Fantastic of darkness.
"VICTOR!" She blurted out in shock.
"I had you fooled, didn't I? Admit it, you thought I was your father, the one you love the most. The one who if it were not for him, you would have never eternally existed."
"NEVER! Shut up Victor!" Marilyn retorted.
"Oooo, you should never say never, urchin. You shall find out in a few moments how much that will cost you. But first, let me take care of the first thing upon my agenda that I came here to take care of."
Marilyn knew there was nothing she could do to stop Victor's venomous talk, but she knew that she could get a headstart and come up with some kind of a master plan to keep Victor at bay until one or more of her friends arrived. Victor took no hesitance in killing off the already immobile Hauptmann. As he executed this move, Marilyn ran out of the mechanics lab, and down the hallway. Victor did not even need to see what happened to know Marilyn did not inhabit that room anymore. He laughed, and uttered to himself.
"Hauptmann was just for practice. Now, it is time for some real sport!"
And with those words out, Victor concentrated on the floor below him, and without even stirring the air around him, was able to merge into that floor, which took on a hue of darkness.
Marilyn finally stopped in the living room, and took a seat, knowing she could not relax for even one minute, but had to sit down to be able to think how she was going to handle the very one of her kind that was one with the forces of darkness. Suddenly, the television in the living room turned on. Marilyn quickly got up to make sure she did not sit on the remote control by accident, but she saw that the remote control sat upon the top of the television. The static on the television faded away to reveal an image Marilyn did not want to see that moment. Victor's menacing mug stared out at her, laughing like the devil he was.
"I am sure that your father has said more than once how bad television is for you. Well I am here to prove..."
Before Victor could say anymore, Marilyn disappeared in a flash of blue light from living room, and reappeared on the rooftop of the Baxter Building. To her dismay, there was no starry sky, or view of the city, but instead total darkness. A voice from above echoed.
"Isn't this view of the dark just wonderful?"
"CUT IT OUT VICTOR!" Marilyn yelled, as she escaped the rooftop, and went to the watch room. This was a big mistake, for right when she entered; Marilyn was greeted by hundreds of screens featuring Victor along with a thousand speakers amplifying his slimy voice.
"Foolish child, when are you going to learn that cannot escape the most supreme of your kind?"
Marilyn could not just give up, there had to be a room that Victor was not within, there just had to be! In a fit of desperation, Marilyn left the watch room in a blue light, and made her entrance into the projection room. Of course, Victor was on the colossal screen in front of her and the hundred or so chairs filling up that room. It dawned on her that Victor had just accomplished in a totally different way what he had accomplished during the time in her previous life when Marilyn and her only friends had lost their powers. This was because of the radiation from a bomb going off beneath an island the Frightful Four had left the group to perish on. Victor, as Dr. Doom found out about the unfortunate situation, and while the Fantastic Five were away from the Baxter Building testing out devices to replace their powers, he took that time as a golden opportunity to seize control of the Fantastic Five's home. This time, Marilyn knew that unless one or more of her friends could arrive, her goose was cooked. In a chuckle of triumph, Victor said.
"You know something fair urchin, it seems a little too simple to kill you off like this when you are actually giving up for once. I shall take my time to treasure this by telling you a story you shall find at the least, provocative during the last minutes of your eternal life."
While saying that, shadows formed around Marilyn's arms, and attached her to the projection room's walls. She struggled to break free of these intangible chains and shackles through all means possible to her, ice, cold, water, and even light. But not even the strongest of her powers to control electricity could sever Victor's strong chains and shackles of pure darkness. Ignoring the girl's struggling, Victor progressed into telling Marilyn what was more than a story, but also a lesson in history.
In just five minutes, the space Marilyn once remembered as the mechanics lab was a war-zone thanks to the seemingly uncontrollable power of Hauptmann. Marilyn had finally got over the fit of distress she was going through, and focused on finding a way to vanquish the demonic elderly scientist. Afterall, as her father had once said, where there is a will, there is a way. Suddenly, the idea came to her!
"How could I be so stupid?! Of course ice and water cannot cancel out darkness, but LIGHT can!"
The second that thought came to her, her eyes darted around the room, searching for Hauptmann, and found him not still on the catwalk getting ready to eliminate another ceiling light fixture. Without a pause, Marilyn looked at Hauptmann straight in the eyes, and screamed.
"URANIAN SHOCK!"
The resulting impulse of energy from her eyes was enough to just blind Hauptmann for a minute, but that was ample time for Marilyn, who traveled from the floor to the catwalk in a mere second and flash of blue light.
"Ugh, you could have permanently disabled my vision if I was in physical form. Oh the advantages of being PURE SPIRITUAL MATTER!" shouted Hauptmann as he let the dark energy build up in his right hand for what he hoped would be a final blow to the being before him.
"What do you think I am made of?" Marilyn cattily interrogated, as she gingerly grasped Hauptmann's right hand, and whispered...
"uranian shock!"
Her grasp was as gentle as a lamb, but the effect of Marilyn's action towards Hauptmann was not! Blue radiation painfully flowed through Hauptmann as he tried to let go of Marilyn's hand, but discovered he could not!
"LET GO OF ME URCHIN!" Hauptmann hollered in the most malicious, yet desperate tone.
"You really think I am going to let you go, you deceitful creep? Well, for once, you are actually right!" Marilyn said in her own special sarcastic way. And, she proceeded to pick Hauptmann up as easily as if he were two pound weigh or even lighter, and toss him over the catwalk's railing towards the rubble that used to be the last apparatus Marilyn and her father had built in their past lives. Hauptmann landed with a stinging crash. In a flash of blue light, Marilyn transported herself back to the floor below, and prepared to finish off Hauptmann, when a familiar voice embraced her ears.
"You did well child, but why don't you let me finish this worthless soul off?"
She turned to see what appeared to be a silhouette of her father on the catwalk. In a voice of welcome, Marilyn said.
"Father! Is that you?"
To her surprise, the shadowy figure responded.
"Well, not exactly..."
And, out from the shadows came a person who looked very much like Reed, but was in every way a dark version of him. He was attired in clothes very much like the ones Reed wore, except the colors were a dark green and black. Also, there was not look of being clean and well groomed, instead, his face and hands were rather sooty, and his hair was oily and not neatly combed. While the hair at Reed's temples was a silverish white, the hair on this man's temples was a dull, dark gray. There before Marilyn stood the serpent-hearted embodiment of evil, the Fantastic of darkness.
"VICTOR!" She blurted out in shock.
"I had you fooled, didn't I? Admit it, you thought I was your father, the one you love the most. The one who if it were not for him, you would have never eternally existed."
"NEVER! Shut up Victor!" Marilyn retorted.
"Oooo, you should never say never, urchin. You shall find out in a few moments how much that will cost you. But first, let me take care of the first thing upon my agenda that I came here to take care of."
Marilyn knew there was nothing she could do to stop Victor's venomous talk, but she knew that she could get a headstart and come up with some kind of a master plan to keep Victor at bay until one or more of her friends arrived. Victor took no hesitance in killing off the already immobile Hauptmann. As he executed this move, Marilyn ran out of the mechanics lab, and down the hallway. Victor did not even need to see what happened to know Marilyn did not inhabit that room anymore. He laughed, and uttered to himself.
"Hauptmann was just for practice. Now, it is time for some real sport!"
And with those words out, Victor concentrated on the floor below him, and without even stirring the air around him, was able to merge into that floor, which took on a hue of darkness.
Marilyn finally stopped in the living room, and took a seat, knowing she could not relax for even one minute, but had to sit down to be able to think how she was going to handle the very one of her kind that was one with the forces of darkness. Suddenly, the television in the living room turned on. Marilyn quickly got up to make sure she did not sit on the remote control by accident, but she saw that the remote control sat upon the top of the television. The static on the television faded away to reveal an image Marilyn did not want to see that moment. Victor's menacing mug stared out at her, laughing like the devil he was.
"I am sure that your father has said more than once how bad television is for you. Well I am here to prove..."
Before Victor could say anymore, Marilyn disappeared in a flash of blue light from living room, and reappeared on the rooftop of the Baxter Building. To her dismay, there was no starry sky, or view of the city, but instead total darkness. A voice from above echoed.
"Isn't this view of the dark just wonderful?"
"CUT IT OUT VICTOR!" Marilyn yelled, as she escaped the rooftop, and went to the watch room. This was a big mistake, for right when she entered; Marilyn was greeted by hundreds of screens featuring Victor along with a thousand speakers amplifying his slimy voice.
"Foolish child, when are you going to learn that cannot escape the most supreme of your kind?"
Marilyn could not just give up, there had to be a room that Victor was not within, there just had to be! In a fit of desperation, Marilyn left the watch room in a blue light, and made her entrance into the projection room. Of course, Victor was on the colossal screen in front of her and the hundred or so chairs filling up that room. It dawned on her that Victor had just accomplished in a totally different way what he had accomplished during the time in her previous life when Marilyn and her only friends had lost their powers. This was because of the radiation from a bomb going off beneath an island the Frightful Four had left the group to perish on. Victor, as Dr. Doom found out about the unfortunate situation, and while the Fantastic Five were away from the Baxter Building testing out devices to replace their powers, he took that time as a golden opportunity to seize control of the Fantastic Five's home. This time, Marilyn knew that unless one or more of her friends could arrive, her goose was cooked. In a chuckle of triumph, Victor said.
"You know something fair urchin, it seems a little too simple to kill you off like this when you are actually giving up for once. I shall take my time to treasure this by telling you a story you shall find at the least, provocative during the last minutes of your eternal life."
While saying that, shadows formed around Marilyn's arms, and attached her to the projection room's walls. She struggled to break free of these intangible chains and shackles through all means possible to her, ice, cold, water, and even light. But not even the strongest of her powers to control electricity could sever Victor's strong chains and shackles of pure darkness. Ignoring the girl's struggling, Victor progressed into telling Marilyn what was more than a story, but also a lesson in history.