Initiative 2028: Fantastic Force!
The Negative Zone churned with unearthly energies, the black 'sky' criss crossed with red lightning and white fire bursts. Between the worlds something very like a atmosphere flowed, and the few living things scurried on dry, barren planets.
The prison called '42' was a shattered wreck, destroyed by the armies of the Zone. Blastaar had overrun it years ago in a attempt to invade the positive matter universe via a portal there. Members of the superhuman community stopped him with great loss of life, and in the end the place was abandoned. Now it merely floated in the void, walls crumbling and technology decaying, spinning all alone in the night.
But... not quite lifeless.
Reed Richards looked out into the void, his brown hair now mostly white, but other than that tall and fit. His blue uniform hugged his body as he gripped the ruined wall, then turned to carefully navigate his way deeper into the wreckage.
"What's up, doc?" Peter Parker asked, the younger brown haired man helping salvage a computer console. Formerly known as Spider0Man he had been caught in the Fantastic Four's headquarters when Doom's final attack hit, throwing them into exile in the Negative Zone.
"I saw some of Annhilus' forces in a flying patrol," Reed noted seriously, "we need to move out of here soon."
"I got the main supply vault," Ben Grimm told him as the orange, rocky skinned Thing hauled the massive steel container, "looks like a lot is still sealed and useable."
"Good," Sue Storm Richards said as the blonde haired woman smiled grimly, "we need more nutrients we can't get from local foods." The Invisible Woman strode along in the uniform of the FF, much like everyone else. The unstable molecules Reed developed were durable and held up far better than their conventional clothes.
"Any luck with the gateway?" Peter asked.
"No go," Reed shook his head, thinking of the wrecked portal to Earth in another section of the base, "the gateway has been severed. I suspect Valera may have taken steps."
"Smart girl," Sue sighed, pressing her lips together in annoyance.
Privately Reed agreed with her, though he wouldn't say so out loud. Their daughter had been very clever in getting herself legally emancipated from the family, seizing control of much of Fantastic Four incorporated assets, then arranging for Doctor Doom to attack the family. Her only mistake was not realizing Doom wouldn't kill them, preferring to humiliate his foes with exile instead.
An explosion was heard outside, and Reed frowned. "We'd best get the supplies to the Fantasticar," he ordered.
As Peter hurried by carrying the computer parts he said briskly, "I'll go check on Thundra and the Torch."
Thundra was a adventurer who had both fought the FF and been an ally, and had been visiting the team when Doom's bomb went off. She reluctantly joined them in an alliance of survival, but it was fair to say she wasn't happy about it.
Up above the prison the Human Torch soared, flames dancing around his body as he engaged the attacking insect-soldiers. Humanoid and lightly armored they tried to overwhelm the red flaming figure, but he swiftly dodged their attacks and burned them away.
"Worried about him?" Peter asked Thundra as they watched the Torch burn and blast the enemies away.
"Never," Thundra snorted defensively, but a faint flush colored her cheeks. She gave him a irritated look, "What do you want, insect?"
"We're bugging out," Peter said dryly.
"I will signal Storm," Thundra nodded, turning away towards the battle before booming out, "Storm! We're leaving!"
The Torch broke away from the insects then threw a fireball at them, distracting them. "Got it," he soared overhead as he called, "I'll provide cover."
"Right," Thundra nodded as they joined the others at the craft jokingly called the Fantasticar.
Once upon a time the Fantastic Four had soared around in what resembled a flying bath tub, but this was a very different sort of vehicle. Large and heavily armored the 'car' was about thirty feet long, arched, and had a oversized thruster salvaged from a FF orbital vehicle. The team hurried inside after loading up the supplies, then blasted away from the wreckage in a bust of flame.
Ben Grimm piloted with his usual skill, the controls modified to fit his oversized hands as he swept the sky for further threats. "Move wings coming," he muttered as another flock of insect like fliers swept towards them.
"Let me," Sue said flatly, concentrating as she activated her force field power. A invisible sphere hit the creatures like a hammer, splattering their alien body fluids and sending them spiraling downwards to a nearby world.
"Ouch," Peter winced visibly.
Sue gave him a look, "Any tingles?"
"Spider sense seems clear," Peter said as they raced away, the Torch trailing beside them, "but it's not always accurate."
"It's saved us enough times I trust it," Reed said mildly as they soared through the void.
A carefully plotted, semi-random evasion course carried them through the Negative Zone, eventually leading them to the wreckage of one version of the Baxter Building. During a conflict with the Skrulls the upper floors of their current headquarters were sent to the Zone, and only luck and skill had let them escape. They had left the section of building there and rebuild on Earth, but when they were exiled here the floors of the building may have saved them.
"Lowering defensive force fields for approach," Reed noted as he sent the signal.
The upper part of a building had been expanded by salvaged technology, or occasionally by booty taken from attackers. Their habitat now had a docking ring, hydroponics section to grow food, an observatory and even a farm where they were growing the insect version of chickens and cows. It wasn't home, of course, but it was growing more and more liveable.
The 'car' docked with the outer ring and the team started unloading, the HERBIE robots hauling off supplies where they were needed. Thundra walked off on her own as usual, while John Storm went to check on the farms. As the robots bustled a redhead made her way through the chaos and smiled, "There you are, Tiger!
"MJ!" Peter grinned as he hugged his wife Mary Jane, the redhead in a jumpsuit of Richards manufacture.
"How did the expedition go?" Mary Jane asked as she snuggled into her husband's side, the two walking away from the ship together.
"So so," Peter made a iffy gesture, "the portal there was shot, but we recovered some supplies."
Sue stalked by, her expression grim. "I'm going to check the taps, see if we got any new data from Earth," she told Reed.
"Yes, dear," Reed sighed softly.
Ben Grimm finished locking down the controls, then walked over to pat Reed on the shoulder. "You two all right?" he asked.
"She's pulling away from me," Reed sighed, "more and more every day."
"It's not your fault we're stuck here," Ben noted quietly, "want me to talk to her?"
Reed shook his head grimly. "It is my fault, in a lot of ways," he noted sadly, "I knew how smart Valeria is, Ben. Why didn't I see the direction her intelligence was going?"
"Reed, being a parent don't equip you with super telepathy telling you what yer kid is thinking," Ben pointed out gently. "You raised Val as best you could, it ain't your fault things went wrong."
Reed smiled sadly, "Thanks, old friend."
Meanwhile in another part of the building Sue sat in front of a computer screen, typing on the console. While opening a large portal home was impossible with the power they had available, Reed had been able to generate pinhole sized 'taps' into Earth. Using those taps they picked up EM broadcasts and computer data streams, getting information on what was happening at home.
"Oh Val, what are you DOING?" Sue moaned softly.
In the years since the FF had been banished by Doom's spell her daughter had covertly disbanded the Avengers, took over the Initiative and proceeded to rebuild it into her personal hit squad and had set mutant rights back decades. She had destroyed Stark International, elevated Ezekiel Stane to power, and was now reshaping the whole American economy. And Sue had no idea why.
The only good news Sue read was that the Avengers were still active, even if outlawed, and that the X-Men had successfully beaten off a attempt to drive them out of California. Other than that it seemed Val was tightening her grip on America, not to mention increasing her power around the globe.
Sue skimmed the news channels they could access, looking for some hint of what happened to Franklin. When she, Reed and the others were grabbed, Frank had been visiting his little sister, trying to reason with her over her sudden break with the family. Now she had no idea what happened to him, and the ignorance was eating at her.
"Sue?" Reed called as he hesitated at the door to the computer lab.
"Reed," Sue answered, her eyes focused on the screen. "Can it wait? I'm sort of busy here."
Reed walked over to the screen, standing beside her as he read the results of her latest search. "No sign of him?" he asked quietly.
"None," Sue's voice dropped to a growl, "If Val has killed him, I'll never forgive myself."
He sighed as Reed murmured, "I think he's fine, Sue. Val won't hurt him."
There was something in his tone of voice that made Sue look up at him, frowning. "You know something," she said flatly.
"Not know," Reed shook his head firmly, "suspect."
Sue waved that aside, "Tell me."
Reed turned the search off, instead calling up another program. "Computer," Reed ordered flatly, "show Grand Design."
A complex diagram appeared on the screen, covered with symbols, colored lines and numbers. Sue tried to decipher it a few moments then gave up. "What is it?" she asked Reed.
"A plan," Reed highlighted different parts, "here, switching over the country to fusion power. Over here, the establishment of a new superhuman police force. And this would use Stark technology and ours to revolutionize medicine. Within fifty years, you could end up with utopia."
"And is this one of your plans?" Sue asked bitingly, remembering the mess he, Tony Stark and Hank Pym had created in the superhuman Civil War.
"No, this is Val's," Reed told her quietly, "I think she was working on it shortly before Doom attacked us."
Sue's mouth dropped open as she looked at him, then over to the complex diagram. "She thinks she's saving the world?" she demanded.
"Yes," Reed said as he met her eyes, "with the sort of intelligence she inherited from you and I. And to be honest I don't know if we could stop her even if we could get home."
"God," Sue slumped back in the chair, her thoughts racing. "And Frank?"
"She has a fine tactical mind," Reed answered honestly, "but I don't think she kills without need. If she can neutralize him without killing, she'll do so."
"That's not very comforting," Sue sighed.
"No, it isn't," Reed conceded, both looking at their daughter's plans and wondering if they could or even should try to stop her.
To be continued...
Notes: I didn't want to kill the FF, but I wanted them taken out of the fight against Val. The question is did Val arrange for Doom to hit the team, or did she just take advantage of it happening? I tossed Spidey in because I mentioned in a earlier chapter he disappeared, and felt that should be explained.
