Chapter Four
As Steve stood in the elevator riding to the top floor of the Baxter Building he thought about all the incredible moments he'd had with Reed and the Four in the past. He couldn't even count the number of times Reed's intellect had pulled him and his teammates out of any number of jams, intergalactic disputes, and potentially world- ending space brawls. When the door of the elevator opened, Steve was greeted by a stunning blonde haired woman.
"Well I'll be. It's been too long since you paid us a social visit, handsome," Sue Richards said in greeting as she ran over to give Steve a hug. Fifty years frozen in ice and Steve still couldn't forget how good she felt in his arms.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Richards," Steve said, taking off his hat. "But you must know I'm here on business. Is Ben around somewhere?"
"Er… well, kind of," Sue trailed off with a strange expression on her face.
"Is something wrong?" Steve asked, instinctively looking around the room for signs of danger.
"No, no, nothing's wrong per se. Oh hell, might as well let Reed explain it, they're in the back of the lab," Sue said, pointing towards the East end of the floor. Steve made his way over towards the lab door and when he opened it he was happy to see that even after all he'd been through, he still could be surprised.
"What in the name of…" Steve trailed off as the door closed behind him. Inside the room, suspended twenty feet in the air was the unmistakable bulk of the seven foot tall orange skinned Thing, with the giant heart of gold. Around the Thing's body were thousands of what looked like energy strands and particles, escaping into the surrounding walls and little pockets of anti-matter. Tangled amongst the energy strands and flashes of light were two elongated hands and two elongated feet, stretching around the room with various gizmos and gadgets in hand.
"Hey hey hey! It's the ol' boyscout! What's up Cap!" Ben said in a warm greeting.
"Please Ben, if I have to advise you to refrain from speaking one more time..." Reed cut himself off as he saw his old friend. "Oh, greetings Steve. What can I do for you today?" Steve took a moment to examine the room once more and then began his sales pitch.
"Well, I kind of required the use of Ben for a little side project I've undertaken."
"What is it this time? Galactus? The Skrulls? Has Xavier lost control again?" Reed raced through about a dozen different problems and both Ben and Steve chuckled at his apprehension.
"No no, nothing like that this time Reed. However, it could be extremely dangerous and I could use Ben's muscle. I can't say much but I can say it involves a certain green skinned, ill tempered friend of ours who may need some help," Steve said.
"Oh man! That freakin' Hulk! I'd like nothing more than to do a few clobberin' rounds with that clown! But if Banner's in trouble, I'm your man!" Ben shouted excitedly.
"Actually, not this time old friend. I haven't finished the experiment yet. You see Steve, I have analyzed the dense matter that exists within the Negative Zone itself and have been working on a filtration system that would allow the contaminated particles in our atmosphere to escape into their realm, and vice versa. By correlating which toxic elements would be benign on the other side, I can keep a continuing recycling process going between all the zones at once," Reed said excitedly.
"Okay, I have no idea what you just said. But why do you need Ben? Can't I borrow him for a few weeks?" asked Steve.
"Sorry old friend, if it were a catastrophe yes, but I can't restart the experiment again, it has to be aligned with the correct star positions, and I need the unique density of the rock that makes up our cheerful buddy here in order to balance the equation. I've already tried every substance known on Earth and beyond and there is simply no composition anywhere that resonates at the same frequency as Ben's skin," Reed continued as Steve looked dejected.
"Damn, I woulda loved another few rounds with Banner. Wimp," grunted Ben from his harness.
"I understand Reed. Maybe next time Ben," Steve said as he replaced his hat and began to exit the lab.
"If things get out of control Steve, you know we'll be there in a second," said Reed as he returned to his work. Steve nodded his head and re-entered the elevator after saying goodbye to Sue. Well, that means Ben is out, he thought to himself. He also thought that maybe that was for the best since he was trying to keep somewhat of a low profile. But that meant with Logan and Magneto, he still needed two more people for his team. Raw brawn did seem essential, so he would definitely have to think of another bruiser to take along, maybe someone who could fly under the radar, but then who else… Steve was interrupted by his cell ringing.
"Hello, this is Steve?"
"Rogers. It's Fury. We just got intel on Banner again, it seems he's been captured this time and it doesn't look good. It's like nothing we even thought possible, but it looks like there are two forces at work here. One is extraterrestrial and one is, well, let's just say the other is supernatural," Fury said between the clenched teeth of his cigar.
"Great," Steve muttered to himself, tempted to head back up the elevator and take Reed up on his offer. "So what, you want me to recruit Dr. Strange or something?"
"Fuck no Steve, that crazy asshole can't be trusted for a mission like this. No, I'm assigning a member to your team, whoever you decide to pick, and I might mention you leave tomorrow at midnight, this person is also going with you. Head over to Hell's Kitchen and find Danny Ketch, he should be drinking his life away at some bar."
Steve sighed aloud, he didn't even remember if Ketch still had his powers or not, difficult to keep track of things like that.
"So we need him then? So Nick, what is this other supernatural force we're talking about?"
"Well Cap, let's just say Hell might finally be pissed off enough to come out and play. Get moving."
