Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four—Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, 20th Century Fox, and probably a bunch of other people do. However, if the aforementioned parties feel like loaning out the guys, put me at the top of the borrower's list. Also, I'm not making a penny off of this. I am banned from reading other F4 fan fictions until this is finished, so any similarities to other stories are entirely coincidental. Typos are mine. If you haven't done so, you really need to read 'Oxygen' before this story.
9
Doom took wicked glee in his victory. "You know me, Ben. I hate to lose."
The box meant nothing to Von Doom. He had the schematics in his computer system. He had built a dozen of the units just in case one should be lost or damaged. It was the hopes and prayers of the Troublesome Trio that he wanted to dash to pieces along with the device. Towards that end, he could sacrifice one unit.
The words still hung in the air when, with perfect timing, Reed's voice crackled over the Thing's communicator: "Sue, Ben, I have the post-hypnotics program and Dr. Sater…"
Ben It was too bad Doom was wearing that mask. Ben would have paid money to see Victor's face at that moment. Doom's metal fingers twitched.
And then the score changed back to a tie game when Reed continued: "…but Doom has the other thermal cell."
What the heck is a 'thermal cell'? Ben wondered, not having been with Reed and Sue when they'd made their discovery at the power plant. It didn't matter. If Reed said they had to get it back, then Vic was gonna fork it over. He balled his hands into fists, ready for round three with the metal man.
"And be careful—we were right about those rocks do have Johnny's supernova capacity," Reed finished.
Ben figured the rest out rather quickly. "So---it ain't about your mentor garbage. It's about stealin' Johnny's powers."
"Of course," Doom answered.
Doom bolted for the corridor, where he could close more barrier walls between himself and the Thing. He intended to reach Reed Richards and Dr. Sater before they could make their escape. Ben picked up the length of chain from the chandelier and roped Doom like the prize steer at a rodeo, yanking back so the man was pulled off his feet and dragged back into the room. He let go of the chain before Doom could try to electrocute him with it again.
While Doom was still entangled, Ben reached for his black cloak, wincing as stray bolts of energy assailed him, and tore it away. He found some sort of shiny crystal inside the cloak. The thermal cell? It had to be; Ben didn't find anything else hidden in the robe and Reed had said something about space rocks being what Johnny stole from that laboratory. This crystal looked like something from outer space to him, especially glowing and flashing like it was.
Meanwhile, Doom pried away the chains with a yell of outrage. Ben jumped, sailing above Doom's head, and plunged back down the hole he'd made in the floor. As soon as his giant feet hit the water, Ben ran as fast as he could for the dark tunnels. By the time Doom reached the opening and had a thorough look around, Ben had disappeared into the elaborate maze of catacombs.
Minutes passed as Ben concealed himself in the shadows of one of the tunnels, watching for signs of Doom pursuing him. The metal man never showed his face. C'mon, where'd ya go? Don't tell me you'd give up your pretty rock that easy? Ben didn't believe it.
Unless something else was more important? But what was more important than this rock after all the trouble Doom went through to get it?
"Reed," Ben said into his communicator, "I think I got your thermal-whatsit. And, Vic heard your message I ain't sure, but I think ya might have some ugly company headin' your way."
Reed had to get Dr. Sater and the p.h.c. program out of this building and safely on board the Warbird, which---like everything else in the past week---was easier said than done. He'd only begun the task of bypassing the lock on the laboratory's door when it opened on its own and he and Nora found themselves staring down the taser rifles of a half-dozen of Doom's guards.
Mr. Fantastic spread himself like a wall between the guards and Dr. Sater, hoping his rubber-like DNA would give him some grounding against the jolts. Two prongs struck him and delivered their stinging charges as Reed blanketed the soldiers and pushed them away from the door, giving Sater a path out of the laboratory. Mr. Fantastic tossed the guards into the laboratory and pulled away. Nora took great delight in sealing the door and locking them inside in turn.
"Reed, I think I got your thermal-whatsit. And, Vic heard your message I ain't sure, but I think ya might have some ugly company headin' your way," Ben advised.
Sater blanched at the warning. Reed didn't particularly want to tangle with Doom when the doctor and that flash disc would be in the damage path of such a fight. "What's the shortest way out of here? Front door or roof?" he asked her.
"The roof," she suggested. She took the lead, guiding him down the corridors she knew to be the least-guarded.
"We're done here, Ben. Find a way out of here," Reed said into his communicator. Ben knew what to do. He'd meet them at the pre-arranged rendezvous. From the roof, Reed could get a signal out of the building to the Warbird if he was lucky. If not, it would be easy enough to get himself and Dr. Sater to the ground and make a run for the plane. He worried about Sue, pretty sure that his attempt to warn her had been scrambled by the dampening effects of Doom's computers. He only hoped Sue was able to get to Johnny---and stop that guerrilla before he set off that bomb.
The manor, nestled in the hills of Chendryn, was quite old. In the late nineteenth century, the land had been cleared away to make room for a magnificent stretch of farmland, a gift from Latveria's then-dictator, Duvel, to the family of his favored advisor, Arvizu, an aging man with a passion for wine (an almost unheard of luxury among the impoverished nation at the time). Most of the workers had been pressed into their jobs by Duvel's army. Shacks were built to house the laborers, who were generally treated well by their master and his family as the land was passed down for three generators.
The Arvizu family name still graced the gate, but the family was long gone. Arvizu's great-grandson 'donated' the estate to the glory of General Kubeka for use as his headquarters shortly before perishing in an unfortunate horseback riding accident. The shanties were barracks for the surviving members of the late Kubeka's fugitive guerrillas. The winery concealed an illegal stockpile of weapons and illegally mined gemstones that would be used to purchase more weapons—and more allies---for the soldiers. Jeeps, trucks, and a few expensive, imported luxury cars could be found on the property. A very few peasants were still present as servants, forced labor, and entertainment to the guerrillas. Guard towers were built along the perimeter and hidden within the nearby forests.
The soldiers living in the old Arvizu mansion had heard stories of a metal man who protected the peasants of this province, but laughed at such stories. One soldier had even returned from a failed attempt to collect food from one of the villages with a mad tale about a man who could turn his body to fire and who flew across the sky like a falling star. Again, the guerrillas dismissed that tale. These stories were dismissed as the fabrications of inferior soldiers who were simply unable to do their jobs. Had the militia the manpower to spare, these men might have been shot as cowards and liars.
These doubters were shocked, needless to say, when the fabled 'Human Fireball' appeared in the sky above the Arvizu Mansion, and only one or two of the men in the guard towers had the presence of mind to squeeze off a couple of shots as the fireball flew right at their hideaway. Their attention on the fire in the sky, most of the guards did not notice the man in their paramilitary fatigues emerge from the forest, clutching some sort of metal cylinder, until he screamed at them in Latverian: "Help me! Open the gate! Help!" He pointed to the human fireball in terror.
One of the sentries recognized Baraga and shook himself out of his panic and opened the gate to let his comrade onto the estate, though the guard was dubious about how much protection the wooden fences and bullets afforded against the man of fire. Preoccupied with the fireball, the guard never asked about the cone in Baraga's arms. Why should he? Baraga had been a trusted comrade since he was called to serve from the villages at age fourteen.
Johnny was having trouble maintaining his flames. His overtaxed body screamed in protest, but his mind had been shut off to everything except the last orders Doctor Doom had given him: Help Baraga complete his mission. When you find the hideout of those butchers, make sure no one escapes the blast. The Human Torch's entire being was dedicated to accomplishing that task. He had dispatched the Invisible Woman, put distance between her and the thermal bomb, and stopped only briefly to deposit Baraga in the forest and explain the attack they would mount.
Blocking all escape routes and keeping the troublesome Invisible Woman at bay was the Human Torch's job; the rest would be up to Baraga. As Johnny flew over the estate, he saw only two roads to and from the small valley where the estate lay. It took a couple of tries to summon the power before Johnny could launch a fireball at the tree trunks that was powerful enough to topple them. Trees crashed down, falling across the roads, making passage impossible. The soldiers could still flee on foot into the hills. With more difficulty, Johnny unleashed a stream of fire as he circled the estate. A ring of flames soon surrounded the place. A second pass gave him the chance to take out a few of the jeeps and dilapidated trucks (he spared the luxury cars, of course).
The inhabitants were in a full-blown panic by then. Not one of them noticed Baraga as he strode across the yard to the large house that was the soldiers' headquarters.
Sue caught up with her brother just as Johnny circled around for a third pass at the mansion. She saw people---some in paramilitary uniforms, some civilians---fleeing in terror as fire blazed and vehicles exploded around them. Johnny hurled another fireball at one of the outbuildings. Sue cast a shield in front of the shack, deflecting the fire directly back at her unsuspecting brother. That blast hadn't much strength to it, she saw. He was drained badly.
She sent a wave of psychic energy right at Johnny, hoping that it would tax the last of his reserves without hurting him. Sorry, little brother.
The psychic blast sent him reeling, and his flames flickered dangerously low before finally dying. He started to fall. Sue swooped down as fast as she could, which wasn't quite fast enough. She threw out a shield and caught him before he hit the ground. It was a rough landing in the forest below, but thankfully not a fatal one. As she hurried after him, she spied guards hidden within the trees. They had been tracking the human fireball's movements and had seen the crash. Already, they were climbing down from their artificial nests to give chase. Sue passed the pursuers unobserved by hiding herself with her shield and got to Johnny first.
He'd slipped back into merciful unconsciousness when Sue found him. His face was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes, but his pulse seemed to be steady and strong. Some comfort. She wouldn't risk using the syringe on him in his condition unless Reed said so.
The guerillas left her no time to be grateful that she finally, finally, could bring her brother home; Behind her, they were shouting in Latverian and footsteps were coming closer. Crouching almost flat against the ground, she put her shield over both her and Johnny and hoped the soldiers didn't trip over the two of them as they ran past. Sue tensed, watching them warily as they searched the forest around her and Johnny before heading deeper into the woods, out of eyesight and out of earshot.
The thermal bomb.
Sue ran to the top of the nearest hill, which was close to the edge of the forest so that she had a clear view of the mansion at the bottom. She spied Doom's prisoner as he deposited the metal cylinder in the middle of the crowd of guerrillas and laborers, pressed the trigger, and walked away. The cylinder opened down the middle, exposing the meteorite, and the thermal battery released a blinding flash of white light before unleashing the power inside it.
"No!" she heard herself scream while her mind already cast a shield at the bomb. She tried to insert her shield between the bomb, Doom's mind prisoner, and those around Baraga during the half-second between the explosion and the concussion of heat and energy, tried to save as many lives as possible. Her own energy knocked Baraga and a few of the men closest to him off their feet. They gaped and hollered at the wall of strange-looking glow that rolled towards them like a wildfire and ducked (as if that would help)…then stared in astonishment as an invisible barrier held the flames back. Many of them used this stroke of luck to turn and run. The heat and energy was stronger than she'd expected, stronger than Johnny's normal nova blasts, but Sue held it in until the fires burned themselves out. When it was over, the crystal's light once again faded to dull pulses and the cylinder resealed itself.
"Oh my God," Sue breathed when she saw the destruction Doom had wrought. She searched for a sign of Baraga, but in the pandemonium that followed the blast and the crush of fleeing bodies, she just couldn't tell. Beneath the shield, the thermal blast had left only scorched earth behind. Sue wasn't sure if everyone had gotten clear. She hoped so. She prayed so. If not, nothing but ash remained of anything or anyone that had burned. No one among the survivors was inclined to step into the circle of blackened ground or wanted anything to do with the metal cone that lay, unscathed, at the center of the blast zone. The soldiers and some of their servants began treated the injured.
She dabbed at the blood that smeared her face and felt twin trails of moisture on her cheeks.
The thermal cell. Sue had to shake off her shock, resist the urge to be sick that was born of frustration and anguish and sorrow. She cast her shield like a net and fished the cylinder out of the midst of the bewildered spectators and brought it into her own hands. The villagers spotted her standing atop the hill and pointed at her. From that distance, their shouts were faint, but their anger and blame was loud and clear. The surviving guerrillas picked up weapons and ran for the gate.
There was nothing else she could do. These people would never believe she and Johnny weren't responsible---especially not since Doom had forced the Human Torch to attack the mansion before the blast. Everyone down there had seen him. All Sue could do now was notify whatever help could be found in this isolated province once she was back aboard the Warbird. She cloaked herself, tucked the bomb under one arm, and went back for Johnny.
After winding their way through the halls of the old palace, Reed and Nora ended up on the upper level. Something large had been ripped from the ceiling, leaving a gaping hole there and a pile of dust and broken concrete---and unconscious guards---on the floor. Reed had a feeling that Ben had passed this way. Nice of him to leave us a shortcut out of here.
He stretched his neck upwards to take a look out that hole, just in case there was any unpleasant company waiting on the roof. There was a landing platform that would accommodate a helicopter, and a small building that might have been a hangar on the large roof. An antenna had been fixed to each of the four corners of the roof, with thin wires strung between them. Reed could see the outlying buildings, and the cluster of satellite dishes and antennas and towers attached at various points along their roofs. He wished he knew which ones were disrupting communications. He found no signs of guards in the vicinity, but that didn't mean it was safe. We'll have to risk it, Reed decided.
"My apologies, Dr. Sater," Reed offered. He reached over and coiled one arm around her waist. With his other arm, he reached up, grabbed the rim of the hole Ben had made, and pulled himself and Sater up, through the gap, and onto the roof and the snowstorm outside.
"Now what, Dr. Richards?" Sater asked him.
Reed raised the communicator and hit a red button that would summon the Warbird...provided any trace of the signal reached the plane. "If we're lucky, we dial a ride out of here. Otherwise, we're walking."
He received his answer quickly when the lights of the Warbird appeared on the horizon. The myriad satellite dishes detected its approach. Automated guns emerged from some of the rooftops and opened fire on the plane. The airplane's shields deflected the shots. The Warbird's defense systems took out the guns in under a minute. When the crossfire had ceased, the plane lowered its shields. The ship hovered above the roof while the cargo doors on the belly of the plane opened for Mr. Fantastic.
Reed was just about to reach up for the open doors when he heard Sater gasp.
He spun, putting himself in front of Sater before he had time to see what had startled her. Doctor Doom, his black cloak gone so that his metal arms and torso were exposed, climbed through the same hole in the rooftop. Beneath the mask, his eyes narrowed at Mr. Fantastic.
Reed had no idea what he was going to say to stall the madman while they escaped. "Victor---"
"So, Mr. Fantastic and the Troublesome Trio finally come to the rescue. Took you long enough," Doom said. He moved, but not towards Reed and Sater. He was moving unhurriedly to the edge of the roof, even paused to admire the plane hovering above his palace before looking at the two of them again. "I'm impressed you had the mettle to resort to kidnapping the good doctor, Reed. But then, a good father is willing to make sacrifices to save a son, don't you agree?"
Reed moved at the same instant Doom stretched his hand and fired electricity at one of the four antennas on the roof. The electricity traveled along the wires that connected the antenna to the other three, forming a barrier around the edge of the roof. Reed grabbed hold of the Warbird and hoisted himself and Dr. Sater into the air just as bolts of electricity shot from the four antenna and crisscrossed the roof like a deadly net of energy that would have electrocuted both of them had Mr. Fantastic been a heartbeat slower. Doom stood at the center of the snapping energy, soaking it back into himself.
Mr. Fantastic hurried; He and Sater were practically sitting ducks hanging there from the plane. Doom pointed his hand at them and Reed stretched his body again, still trying to shield Sater as bolts lashed at them. He screamed as one powerful bolt struck him in the shoulder of the arm supporting Nora Sater. Some of the energy reached her, and Reed felt her go limp against him. His arm spasmed and he lost his grip on the plane.
For a second, they were falling back towards the roof and the deadly web of energy Doom had woven. Reed regained his hold on the Warbird and pulled again, as hard and fast as he could, until the two of them climbed into the safety of the plane's cargo hold. The doors closed and Reed felt the plane bank away from Doom's palace.
He sprawled across the deck, letting go of Dr. Sater, who slumped beside him. Wincing as the movement caused pain in his burned shoulder, Reed put a hand on the woman's arm and shook her lightly. "Dr. Sater, are you all right?"
She didn't respond.
Alarmed now, Reed checked Sater---and found no breath and no pulse. Oh no, please no. Hurriedly, he searched for signs of a wound. The shock from the electricity must have stopped her heart. He still might be able to resuscitate her if he moved quickly…
Then he found the injury. There was an ugly burn at the base of Dr. Sater's skull, which had been level with Reed's shoulder when that bolt from Doom hit him.
There was no chance of reviving her.
Despair and unspeakable guilt was like a crushing weight. Doom had killed her, but he felt just as much to blame. She'd put her trust in him. He needed her help to decipher---
The p.h.c.!
Somehow, the small box and flash disc had stayed in her pockets during the melee. Both devices seemed to be intact, but if the electricity had damaged them, if he couldn't decipher the program without Sater's help, then any hopes of saving Johnny had just died with the doctor.
Leonard had hidden himself away in the generator's control room. From inside the room, his assistant observed the fights between Doom and Ben Grimm, Reed's collusion with Dr. Sater, and Doom's rash execution of the doctor on the rooftop over the surveillance system. The man was looking quite peevish when Doctor Doom finally joined him. He relinquished the case he'd been guarding to his employer.
"Was that wise, Sir? Dr. Sater might still have been useful…" Leonard started.
"Dr. Sater's was here to create the post-hypnotic program for me. Now I have it, ready for use whenever I need it. Her usefulness ended when she accomplished that. I wasn't about to let her show Reed how to deprogram Johnny. The p.h.c. won't be worth much if someone writes a counter-program, will it? Besides, I don't tolerate disloyalty in my employees, Leonard. You know that. It sets a bad example for the other employees," Doom answered, his tone indicating that Leonard should drop the subject. "What about our test of the thermal cells?"
"Our computers detected an explosion reaching three thousand degrees in the precise area where Mr. Baraga told us we could find the militia's compound," Leonard reported.
Doom heard a catch in those words. "But---?"
"The computers also detected Susan Storm's energy signature at that exact location at the time of the detonation. I'm patching into the Americans' satellites to bring up an image of the area, but it seems reasonable to assume she limited the damage from the bomb." Leonard felt obligated to point out: "If she was in the area, it's very possible that Mr. Baraga's thermal cell is in her possession…and very likely that Mr. Storm has been reclaimed by his family."
"Very likely indeed," Doom didn't sound nearly as concerned as Leonard had expected.
"If they have our only thermals cells and Mr. Storm, then we've lost---"
Doom interrupted, "What? What do you imagine we've lost, Leonard? Losing Mr. Storm's services, one way or the other, was always a factor in the equation. If Nora Sater or Reed Richards had the p.h.c. on them, my electricity will have wiped it out, so it's unlikely that Richards will find the counter-program he came all the way over here to get. So, let him have his brother back for whatever that's worth. As for the thermal cells…" Carrying the case with him, Doom waved for Leonard to follow him as he moved from the control room into the generator room.
"As long as Richards knew I had them, he would never have left Latveria without them. His sense of duty to protect the world from that kind of weapon wouldn't allow it. It was easier for me to let Reed think he had what he wanted. He knew of two cells, he reclaimed two cells." Doom motioned for Leonard to hold out his hands and set the case on the man's outstretched arms. The locks clicked open to reveal the tray with the two empty spaces where the twin meteorites had been. Doom popped the empty tray out of the case. Beneath it was a second and third tray, each holding thirty small fragments of the crystalline space rocks. Leonard's mouth fell open for a moment, until he became aware of his undignified expression and closed it.
Next, Doom went to the generator and manually opened its panels. Behind one grate, safely nestled where it had been able to absorb the bio-thermal energy from Johnny's supernova when he charged the two large meteorites, was the quarter-sized crystal Doom had left there the previous day. It now pulsed steadily with biothermal energy.
Doom held the rock delicately in one metal hand. "Fortunately, what Reed Richards doesn't know won't hurt me."