Warning: There are spoilers for Multiverse of Madness. Do not proceed if you have not watched it.
Also, quick disclaimer: there are other Reeds in this story. This should help clarify who's who:
Reed Richards - Earth 1046 - the main Earth in the story. He's a Reed Richards as many of us know him. This is a Reed who already has Franklin and Valeria, and has met the Council. This is the Reed Richards featured in my earlier story Fantastic Four: Event Horizon.
Reed Richards - Earth 1047 aka Thing Reed - this is a Reed Richards who went to space with only Ben Grimm, and when mutated by the wormhole that gave them their powers, turned into the Thing while Ben gained the powers of fire and elasticity.
Reed Richards - Earth 510 aka Waiter Reed - this is a Reed Richards from a Marvel Universe inspired by the Spacebattles Marvelverse. He's an old, retired Reed who retired to found a restaurant.
Reed Richards - Earth 837 aka Bearded Reed - this is a universe similar to Earth 838 from Multiverse of Madness. This Reed is inspired by the most recent run of the Fantastic Four and his Multiverse of Madness incarnation.
Rhea Richards - this is a young, genderbent Reed Richards from a universe where most Marvel characters are genderbent.
Reed Richards - Earth 37 aka Little Reed - this is a Reed Richards inspired by his Spider-Gwen incarnation. Only 13 years old.
Earth 1046
Reed Richards got up. He clutched his face. He looked at his wife Sue, sleeping comfortably, in a tank top, with medium-length blonde hair. He smiled, looking at her. He got off his bed.
He went to his son's room, entitled Franklin's room. The room was blue, a lot of cerulean and cobalt blue, with some ultramarine, full of video games and a TV, a lot of manga, comics and action figures neatly arranged. There was a soccer ball at the end of his room, as well as a few trophies, a picture of him putting his foot on top of the ball, and a crumpled jersey that barely read RICHARDS - 5. Franklin, a boy with short, brown hair, slept soundly, neatly tucked in. His mom tucked him in, Reed thought.
He went to his daughter's room. The room looked futuristic, silver, lined with viridian green, like the color of her eyes. Valeria, a girl with incredibly messy short, blonde hair, her cowlick standing up, wrapped her blanket around herself, lying down on her right side, drooling on and hugging a blue teddy bear. Her large, round, rimless glasses, once her father's, lay next to her on her bedside, along with a bunch of manga, comics, and incredibly complex books. He noticed pictures of various geniuses, multiple chalkboards in terrible handwriting worse than his own, and various books and papers stacked on the floor, in a mess.
He smiled and closed the door. He went into his laboratory, multiple HERBIE robots whizzing around. He activated the portal at the center of the room, the Bridge as he called it. It whirred, glowing a bright blue at the center, looking like flowing, bluish water. It was an effect of the light, Reed knew. He couldn't help but be reminded of Stargate, one of his favorite science fiction media.
He typed into the controls of the device, and it displayed in orange the captions: Council of Reeds. He walked into the wormhole, and he disappeared in a flash of light.
Space went crazy around him, glowing in swirling blues and whites for about a minute until he arrived at his destination. He walked out a portal that looked similar to the one on the other end. He looked around, seeing a golden insignia with a lambda on top of a sphere with latitude and longitude.
"Welcome, Reed Richards of Earth 1046," said a robotic, female voice.
There were other similar portals on both his left and right, and he saw other people like him, well, they were him, exiting and entering these portals.
Out of the portal on his right, he saw an orange creature with a rocky, lumpy hide and blue eyes. His eyebrows were thick, and his head was almond-shaped. He wore a white lab gown, blue pants, barely keeping it together at the seams, and black shoes. He was the Reed Richards of Earth-1047, the next-door neighbor of Reed Richards of Earth 1046.
"Welcome, Reed Richards of Earth 1047," said the robotic voice.
"Reed!" Reed 1046 stretched out his arm at the Thing of Earth 1047, expanding his hand, waving.
"How's my next door neighbor Reed doing?"
"I'm doing great. You?"
"Finally got married," he smiled.
"Congratulations!" said Reed 1046. "Who'd you marry?"
"I'll let you figure that out. We should probably get hurrying, they're waiting for us."
As they walked around, they saw Reeds of all ages, all shapes, and sizes. They saw the Reeds talking to each other, passing different Reeds tinkering or doing science. They passed different departments around the place, dedicated to different fields of science, some of them known, some unknown. They passed different locations, like the bar, the lounge, the gym, the school, etc.
A square line of bluish energy appeared on the floor. It filled with swirling energy, a portal. It moved upwards, and out of it appeared another Reed. This Reed, like Reed 1046, wore blue and had brown hair with gray temples.
"Welcome, Reed of Earth-837," said a robotic female voice.
"Hello, Reeds," he said.
"How's the Illuminati doing?" asked Thing Reed.
"You know, just solving our universe's biggest problems, doing the hard, dirty work," he said. "Pretty tough reprogramming those Ultron bots, I tell you."
"How are Sue and the kids?"
"Oh, they're great. Franklin's doing a great job leading the Four."
"We're running late, Reeds," said Thing Reed. They soon arrived at a restaurant with a sign that said Chez Reed, with a logo of a Reed wearing a blue uniform like Reed 1046, stretching his arm out and holding a coffee mug, his face in a wide-open, goofy smile.
As they entered the room, the bell rang. They saw a female with long hair free on the right, tied in a hair clip on the left, thin rounded rectangular glasses, and a gray tank top and black sports shorts. She was wearing black earphones in her ear and was manipulating the holograms in front of her, boredly.
"Oh, there you are," she said.
"Sorry we're late," said Reed 1046.
"Nah, you're actually early," she replied.
"56 Reed still ain't here yet," she said, yanking out her earphones. She looked at the the three Reeds in front of her.
A blue portal appeared in front of their table, one looking like it was made out of Lego bricks. A black teenager, 13 years old, 5'7, exited the portal. He had light gray temples on his face, a white long sleeved shirt underneath a dark blue shirt, gray pants, and sneakers.
"Sup, 37 Reed?" asked Rhea, fist bumping him. Little Reed fist bumped the other Reeds at the table, even fist bumping the Reed who just served them their food.
"Enjoying your food?" asked the Reed. He was a clean shaved man with gray hair and a blue dining uniform.
"Best cafe in the multiverse," replied Little Reed, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Nice to hear that from my favorite Reeds," he said. "Well, the only Reeds I'm good with."
"Yeah, that's true," 37 Reed replied, scrolling through the menu being displayed on the table, as did the other Reeds. The Reeds scrolled through the menu for a while before pressing order on the table. Within minutes, HERBIE and Ultron robots arrived at the table with their food. 1046 Reed got chicken mushroom pasta with blue cheese sauce, while 837 Reed ordered a squid ink spaghetti with blue cheese. 1047 Reed got a large pancake stack. Rhea got a boba and pasta. And 37Reed got ramen and blue lemonade.
"Before we dig in, let us not forget to thank the terraformed planet from which I got the freshest ingredients."
"Oh yeah, I did that during my tenure at the council." said 1046 Reed.
"Me too." Said 1047 Reed.
"To me," the other Reeds toasted to him, drinking their water. Without hesitation, 56 Reed broke his chopsticks and started to dig right into his food, slurping up his ramen.
"Y know, looking around you, I'm the only guy who doesn't have powers around here."
"You're only thirteen. You might get powers when you're older," replied 1047 Reed. "What are you doing anyway?"
"Nothing much," he replied. "High school with Gwen Stacy, got a doctorate. Got expelled from multiple prestigious academies. I've got mastery of cosmic fire and ice, though I guess that counts as a power."
"Hmm, let me guess," said Rhea, pushing up her glasses.
"Cosmic string mutate, wormhole mutates." She stretched her arm and pointed at the bearded man, then at Thing and Main Reed. The three nodded, as Thing Reed took another large bite out of a large pancake in a stack of ten.
"Yeah, I've got stretching powers like you guys, I gained them from von Neumann nanites on Rhea."
"It was around Jupiter for 837, 1047, and I, what gave us our powers," said Main Reed. Thing and Bearded Reed nodded. "You are correct in identifying what they were."
"I'm basically the only one here whose powers aren't based on spatial manipulation, mine is basically gray goo." said Rhea. "Seems here that most of our powers are connected to the thing that gave us those powers." she said, sipping her tea as 837 Reed twisted his fork and ate his pasta, as did 1046 Reed.
"You're also the only two Reed I've seen so far with powers from a wormhole." She pointed at Main and Thing Reed. "1046 Reed's powers are wormhole-based while 837 Reed's based on cosmic strings."
"You'd be correct. On my Earth, it's Ben who has 1046 Reed's wormhole-based stretching powers and Johnny's fire powers. Guess what I got."
"How'd things go so differently?" asked Reed 837.
"Both 1046 Reed and I found alien life on Jupiter and Europa and got mutated by a wormhole, where what we found expanded our knowledge of the universe. But the difference is I only went with Ben, and not Sue and Johnny. He went on to reveal the existence of aliens and more and become one of the most renowned people of Earth-1047."
"Did you end up with Alicia Masters?"
"No, she died in the accident that would have blinded her in 1046," stated Thing Reed. "It's the point of divergence between our universes."
"I still do not understand how a couple of Reeds got their powers by getting blasted by cosmic rays. Cosmic rays? That won't give you superpowers. That'd kill you." said Reed 1046.
"Same here," replied Thing and 837 Reed.
"Our understanding of the laws of physics is what you thought it was until we got our powers. Turns out there was a lot more about the universe we didn't know. Sounds like it breaks physics, but it's really physics we had no idea existed until then." stated 1047 Reed.
"The laws of physics aren't the same in all universes, remember that," added Rhea. "Seems to be somewhat common for various Reeds across the multiverse. Teleportation-based origins are common too, though I still find the idea that you can steal a spaceship and get superpowers from cosmic rays to be really stupid."
"It is," remarked 56 Reed. "It's a wonder those Reeds aren't roasted chicken."
"It's like their laws of physics come straight out of the 60s," remarked Reed 1046.
"True," said Reed 1047. "It's as if their science isn't even science, just masquerading to be that."
"There are Victorian era and early 20th century Reeds here as well, who got their powers from aether luminiferous aether, or something based out of 19th-20th century physics."
Little Reed added, Not sure if they're like that in my universe. Never seen anyone get mutated by the stuff you guys mentioned."
"Well, cosmic rays that do give you powers are found in universes where Hulks come from gamma rays, Spider-Men from radioactive spiders, and sometimes Daredevils from radioactive waste. Studied the multiverse. Discovered it relatively early compared to most Reeds." Rhea rubbed her chest, proudly.
"There are at least two other Reeds I'm aware of who got their powers from a wormhole, one of whom hasn't even visited the Council yet. I got mine from colliding branes," said 510 Reed.
"My powers are elasticity, granted to me via the incredibly differing laws of the universe that collided with our universe. Allows me to stretch. My body is basically living proof of a universe with different laws from our own."
"Fascinating," said 37 Reed.
"There's also a Reed somewhere who got merged with salarian and hanar DNA in an experimental rocket flight and Reeds who got their powers from element zero. Basically, those universes' exotic matter."
"Hanar and salarian?" asked 1047 Reed.
"Alien species not present in Earths 1046, 1047, and 837."
"There's information in what's called the Codex. Let me upload it to you." All the Reeds received an orange hologram with lots of data in it.
"It's very similar to the Encyclopedia Galactica I've been working on," stated 1046 Reed.
"I've been working on one too," stated 1047 Reed. "I'm working on one that also catalogs the multiverse. Here's what I got so far." He brought up a hologram and exchanged it with Reed 1046. He put his hand on the table and slid his data onto the center, a circle appearing on the table. Circles in front of everyone seated on the table appeared, and lines connected them to the circle in front of Thing Reed.
"I've been meaning to wonder, what's the Baxter Foundation like?" Thing Reed asked.
"I still work with them, but I've mostly been underground for a while, working on robotics technology. Helped Ben fight off Mole Man, now we're the Terrific Two. That's when things started getting better for me, and it's when my universe's age of heroes began."
"In my universe, the Baxter Foundation was still the world's premier scientific institution like many of yours - even got it to specialize in Multiversal Research."
"Interesting," the other Reeds replied.
"Now that you mention it, what are your main research fields of interest?" inquired 1046 Reed.
"Mine's astrophysics, and almost anything and everything space. I'm the leading expert in those fields."
"We're both our Earths' leading experts there," said 837 Reed.
"As am I," said Rhea.
"Though I've been focusing on studying the multiverse lately." stated 1047 Reed.
"I don't know what my field is, but I am good with cosmic fire and ice for some reason," said Little Reed.
"Have to agree with Little Reed, I don't really know what I consider as my field, but it's more understanding the cosmos itself at large. Definitely cosmology," said Waiter Reed.
"Although I gotta say, I've been focusing more on multiversal research these past seven years." stated 837 Reed.
Waiter Reed told him, "I've probed the entirety of my universe. I've basically seen it all, and my world doesn't need any fixing. It's got itself sorted out already. They don't really need us anymore. So we left, and explored the multiverse. Kinda why I thought I'd settle down here as a cafe owner. I've got HERBIE and Ultron bots working for me anyway."
"I've helped with the Ultron ones," replied 837 Reed, to which Waiter Reed nodded to.
"Robotics. Used to be like 1046 Reed, until I started specializing there. I'm my world's leading expert since, well, my Stark and Johnny Storm are, dead."
"Oh," said 837 Reed.
"You know, I've noticed that most of the time, it's often us who end up starting the age of heroes in our universes," Rhea stated.
"Yeah, I've noticed that," said 1046 Reed.
"Me too," said Thing Reed, who burped loudly after gulping the last of his pancakes, earning looks from all the other Reeds.
"Excuse me."
"Though I've noticed some worlds where that isn't the case. Take, for example, Earth 199999," said Waiter Reed.
"There, Tony Stark, Iron Man, was the one who started it."
"Kinda ironic, you unintentionally lead your friends into a trap, and on the moon with the same name as you." said Rhea.
"Sometimes, it sucks to be the smartest person in the world, knowing that you've caused all that to happen because you were too curious."
1046, 837, and 1047 Reed nodded.
"It does, I still feel guilty about it. I still haven't figured out how to turn the Thing back into Ben," said 1046 Reed.
"It just sucks, because you can't figure it out and you still feel really guilty about it. No matter how much I try to think about it, it gets to the point that I just can't think, and I just…" he momentarily paused, freezing, before blinking.
"... that, that's what happens."
"I know how that feels. Happens to me too," stated Rhea.
"Me too," said 1047 Reed.
"Happens to me as well," stated 837 Reed, who nodded in agreement.
Rhea nodded as she took a sip of her coffee. "Many people look up to me for my achievements, I mean I like that they recognize them. I didn't go through all that shit for nothing. But they only see my achievements, they don't see what I really feel on the inside, they don't know the half of it. They don't know why I even made my team the Fantastic Four in the first place."
Reed 1046 stated, "They don't see it for me as well. Sure, I work my ass off to understand the cosmos, but people don't see that I sometimes end up too immersed in my work that I forget to spend time with my family and friends. Sure, I got better at that, but my family and friends, they're the reason I didn't want to join the Council.
I mean I know how to terraform planets, create them, create and alter entire solar systems, operate things from galactic to subatomic scales, uplift a species. Humans have already explored the Solar System and we're now colonizing Jupiter's moons, except Europa. Attempt no landing there."
"I get that," said 37 Reed.
"We all do," said Rhea.
"Within a year of getting my powers, cheap FTL travel and fast slower than light travel proved viable. All the Breakthrough Initiatives were funded and pushed through. Most of the NASA cancelled missions and ideas became realized. And over the years, scientific institutions, including many branches of the Baxter Foundation, were established around the world. STEM education, inclusivity, and diversity have never been better, and this was all my doing and all before I met the Council.
When I met them, they told me I could do so much more. I'm not a useless Reed, I've been able to use my science for both adventure, superheroics, and advancement. Yet I felt it wasn't enough. They told me I could solve EVERYTHING, in my universe and the multiverse, but give up my family and friends.
I looked back. I already had a wife and kids. A good family, great friends. These people, they've accomplished just as much as I did, maybe even more. I could do so much more for the universe, no, the multiverse if I joined them. But they gave up everything but science just so they could solve everything. And it hit me, I don't need to solve everything in the multiverse, I'm already solving everything over here.
Those Reeds, they are smarter than if they had their family and friends, but they gave them all up. They're too greater good, too big picture to see what the smaller things do to you and others. They lost sight of what makes a Reed Richards a Reed Richards. Or if that's what makes a Reed Richards a Reed Richards, then I guess I'm not like them."
"I don't think any of us would consider ourselves to be like those Reeds," said Reed 1047.
"We all have things that differ us from them, and no, not because of our dads," said Reed 837. 1046 Reed continued.
"Yeah, I guess. It's already hard enough to pull my head out of work to spend time with family and friends. The other Reeds aren't like that yet they willingly shun everything else that isn't their work. I just hate that aspect about them.
And I can't just give up my family - get rid of my anchor. I'm aware I can snap easily. Could be convinced easily, to pick science over family. But I realized, I can pick both. And if worse comes to worse, latter over former. So I said no, I'm not like the other Reeds. I truly care about my family and friends, even if they don't see it at times."
"It's not easy being like this," remarked Rhea.
"It isn't," said 1046 Reed.
"Yeah, same goes for me too, but the moment you finally find someone who sees past all that, sees me as somebody, it just works out perfectly," stated Thing Reed.
837 Reed stated, "Same for me. Many Reeds don't see the ethics. It's not obvious, but I'm actually the moral anchor of the Illuminati. I keep things ethical. I mean, I know how to kick ass, we all do, but I keep them in check - without me they would have made some pretty dicey decisions."
"Doesn't help a lot of us have a multiversal reputation for being unethical mad scientists." remarked 56 Reed.
"But we do want to solve everything, which brings me to the question, how did you guys solve everything? Well, other than 1046 since he answered," asked 510 Reed.
"Me, I got my powers after being mutated by the brand that collided with ours during a trip to space. I figured out the brane was another universe, it could be a source of energy. It turns out it was also the energy source of Tony Stark's Arc Reactor. Open up a tiny portal, a bit of electricity, and boom! You've got an Arc Reactor and free unlimited energy. His Arc Reactor was based on my research. Studying the brane lead to numerous advancements in physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.
Thanks to that, Stark and I solved the energy crisis. I did most of the science, he did most of the tech. Though I will say it was a lot of work to do because of superheroic activity and other Reed business, but the world eventually became a utopia and humanity colonized the Solar System.
My Earth doesn't need me anymore, and my kids are alright, got their own lives. So I left and started to explore the multiverse. I already solved the problems of my universe. They told me, why solve one universe, when you can solve all of them, solve everything. I explored the other universes, saw that they needed solving. So, I worked with the council of Reeds, you know, fixing up star systems, making farm planets, stoping threats, etc.
It was fun, but I realized that I didn't want to do the things that they did. They were unethical, I couldn't stand what they were doing, like killing or lobotomising Dooms? Just no. The big problem with many of the Reeds is, they're too big picture just as 1046 Reed mentioned earlier. They fail to see or outright neglect the smaller things, the smaller actions, how they add up in the long term. So I left, and since I already explored the multiverse, I went here to I pursue my other passions, including cooking."
"Neat thing about being a Reed is you still can access the Council's resources," said Rhea, sipping on a boba.
"That's true," said 510 Reed.
"You're definitely not like the other Reeds, they're all science this, science that. You're actually one of the chillest Reeds I've ever met." stated 37 Reed, as he ate his bowl of ramen. 1047 Reed started to speak next.
"Me, shortly after I met 1046 Reed, I quickly realized that multiversal travel was possible. I already knew interdimensional travel, it would be easy. We met due to a villain, Arkon, that threatened both of our worlds. Turns out he was a guy named Luke Castellan, a demigod, the son of Hermes, one who defeated and killed the demigod Percy Jackson. Anyway, after we stopped him, I started work on multiversal travel and traversed the multiverse.
I decided to leave my home universe behind. I really didn't have anything there. I mean, Ben's Mr. Fantastic, even if I depowered him because he didn't want his powers. He's built the Fantasticar, lives in the Baxter Building, married Sue, last I checked, they have a daughter, Elsie. Alicia Masters ain't even around, nor are Tony Stark or Johnny Storm.
Within a short period of time, I found the Council of Reeds. They persuaded me into joining, I didn't have anything other than my intellect, and I had nothing for me in my home universe, or so I thought back then. My universe seemed okay to me. And since things were going smoothly there, and I had nothing back there, I could focus on solving everything, in other universes and the multiverse. So I did, but it quickly turned out they were quite unethical. Sure, I learned from them, like how to fight Celestials, or how to reshape universes to my whim, but I realized didn't want to do the unethical work that they were doing. I wanted to solve everything, but in more ethical manners.
Fortunately, in my travels, I met six other people from different universes, and we became the Guardians of the Multiverse, a team who fights multiversal threats. That would be my way of solving everything."
"So, who would those six other people be?" asked 837 Reed, eating another twirl of his pasta, as did 1046 Reed.
"I'd rather you meet them," said 1047 Reed, who proceeded to eat another of his pancakes.
"It's interesting how you guys contacted the multiverse independently. Me, I didn't even know about the multiverse until 2018, when Thanos launched his offensive," said 837 Reed.
"The year before that, Strange called me and a bunch of other people tp solve the problems that none of us alone could solve, to solve the big problems that threatened not just our Earth but the entire universe. And so, the Illuminati was formed.
"While the rest of the Illuminati and I banded to stop his offensive, Strange used the Darkhold and dreamwalked across the multiverse to find solutions. Unfortunately, this caused an incursion, and destroyed at least one universe. Meanwhile, we found the Book of the Vishanti and tracked down Thanos on Titan before killing him with the book. Strange then confessed to us his deed, and unfortunately, we all had to agree that the Darkhold was corrupting him and he had to be killed. Black Bolt did the deed. I'm the guy who made sure that what we were doing was moral and ethical. But despite the gravity of his actions, I argued against it, but when I learned that he was becoming corrupted, I had to agree."
The other Reeds winced at what he said, even him.
Never before have I felt so guilty, almost as guilty as how I feel about…" 837 Reed froze briefly.
"Ben."
"Anyway, we stumbled upon Strange's notes after his death. Mordo gave them to us. Upon analyzing them, I found out that there existed other versions of us, other versions of me. It's how I stumbled upon the Council. I contacted them, wondering if there were ways to solve the issues of the universe with as little bloodshed as possible."
And then the Reeds approached me. Told me that this little clubhouse of mine wouldn't do anything, they were becoming complacent, to watch out for Wanda Maximoffs. To join them, and you could solve everything, not just the aftermath of Thanos's offensive. That I could solve everything.
I thought about it, but abandon my family? No. I couldn't. I have a wife and two kids. So I stayed. I did heed their warning though, that our Illuminati was becoming too complacent, that we would miss something. So I started researching the multiverse, and established Multiversal Research in the Baxter Foundation so they could identify mutliversal threats. I've already done a lot of stuff for my humanity, and I felt that my work with the Illuminati was already tantamount to solving everything."
"Me, I didn't find the Council on my own," said 37 Reed. He then proceeded to narrate his turn of events.
"Some other Reed Richards went into my universe and told me that I was a Reed Richards. I was only a toddler. Since then, I've become aware of the multiverse. I built my first interuniversal portal at the age of seven, and since then, I've traveled the multiverse. Seeing all those other universes, those other Earths, was pretty cool. So were the other Reed Richardses, well, some of them. Yeah, in many universes, we seem to be Grade-A jerkwads.
But anyway, I soon found out about the Council. It turned out to be the best place to hang out in when you're bored, even if you ain't part of the Council. I even spent a couple summer internships there, learning from the other Reeds. I even worked with some of you guys for a while, just learning what I could. Of course, the Council wasn't without its faults. I heard that many of the Reeds here were solving everything. That sounded like a good challenge. I mean, I'm out of high school and college, working on my doctoral thesis. Sooner or later, I'm gonna be, well, unemployed, so I better find a way to spend my time doing something cool, so why not solve everything.
Yeah, it was fun to learn from all those Reeds, but they told me I couldn't join. They told me, 'Come back when you're 18.' So since then, I've been chilling around here, and sometimes, your and other Reed's home universes. And looking back, I don't think I'd wanna join them - many of them are jerks, and I ain't gonna give up my life to just solving everything."
"How about you, Rhea?" asked 1047 Reed.
"I mean, for me," stated Rhea, taking a sip of her coffee, "I had a hunch that parallel universes were real. I mean, I had already perfected interdimensional technology, just as Reed 1047 did earlier. So it would be easy to just open up portals. And I did. I started to try and look into and eventually traverse the multiverse. This was because I was frustrated with the progress of science and society, there just aren't enough people like me on this planet, and I wanted to find solutions to speed it up.
That's when they told me, the Council, why not solve everything? They told me I could do more. They told me that I could easily transform the shape of society and STEM in an instant, but that was just a minute problem when compared to all the shit happening in the multiverse. Why that when you can focus on feeding entire universes, fix and reshape realities, solve multiversal level problems?
Yeah, it's when I realized, they were way too big picture to even look at the smaller side of things. They trivialize it all. Think it's unimportant. So, i decided to stay back and solve the problems of just my universe. I know it'd benefit my humanity better than if I joined them, and solve things my way. And besides, Stephen, I just can't leave him."
"Stephen Strange?" asked 837 Reed.
"I'll give you a hint," teased Little Reed, earning a slight shove from her.
"Before Little Reed says anything stupid-"
"I'm a Reed Richards-"
"We all are," she stated, pushing her glasses up. "We're the smartest people in our universes, but it doesn't guarantee we're not stupid. And if you want the answer to that question, it's Stephen Storm. Sue's a guy in my universe and Johnny's Joannie. Ben somehow is the same. And Stephen's my boyfriend. I think he wants to propose to me soon, and he's been a really big help on me. He pulls me out of my work, and made me see the smaller things matter. And why would I leave him, or Joannie, or Ben?"
"Sue's been a big help for me in that aspect too. I mean, I love solving the mysteries of the universe, we all do, except I end up getting way too absorbed in it that I lose track of everything else that's going on."
"Oh that," said 1047 Reed, chuckling.
"You've no idea how many times Sue screamed at me because of that," chuckled 837 Reed.
"Switching topics, what are the members of your families like?" asked 1047.
"On the topic of my Ben, he married Sue and had a daughter together," stated 1047 Reed.
837 Reed stated, "In my universe, Ben married Alicia, and they adopted a Kree and Skrull kid, Jo-Venn and N'Kalla."
"Ben's alive, he's my best friend," stated Rhea.
"And Doom's a total tsundere for Ben there-"
"We don't talk about that."
"Oh dear," said Thing Reed, shaking his head.
"My universe's Doom reveals the search history of anyone who dares write stupid fanfiction about him," said 1046 Reed, as Thing Reed chuckled. "And that's not even the prettiest thing he's ever done. I'm sure he's going through a midlife crisis right now, building ridiculous vehicles and painting pictures of Namor in that green speedo of his." Little Reed and Rhea chuckled at that remark.
"As for Johnny, he's the same old showboat he always was since I met him," stated 1046 Reed. "He just went up and straight up asked me if he could join my FTL mission, it's how we met."
"That happened to me too. Gotta admire the kid's spirit," stated 837 Reed. 1046 Reed. "And right now, he's Han Solo-ing his way through the galaxy with Wyatt."
"He's got a significant other already?" 1046 Reed asked.
"About that..."
"Yeah, same goes for my Johnny."
"And Sue, she's as great as she's ever been. She's pretty much the strongest member of the Fantastic Four. I'm still impressed at how much she developed from just invisibility," stated 1046 Reed. "Even when she only had it, she was just as valuable as all the other members of the team."
"Yeah, she's a mighty fine woman, if I do say so myself," stated Waiter Reed.
"And she's done a great job in raising the kids, though I'd like fo think I did just as great," said 837 Reed.
"Unless it's about teaching them to drive," remarked Rhea.
"Yeah, that is the weakness of a Richards: absentmindedness," said Little Reed.
"Tell me about it, I didn't even get my license until I was 20," said 1046 Reed. "The first time I took my car out with my new license was probably the first and only time I've seen Doom scared."
"Franklin got his license young, while Valeria, she hasn't gotten hers yet." stated 837 Reed.
"She's that bad?" asked Little Reed.
"Horrible, don't tell her I said that." Little Reed crossed his heart. 837 Reed nodded back.
"She's 21 already."
"Good thing her glasses are immune to airbags."
"Of course, they used to be mine."
"And Franklin?"
837 Reed replied, "He's doing great, he's a better leader than I am. He'd be a great F4 leader in case anything we're to happen to me. He's also got himself a partner."
"How about Valeria?" asked 1046 Reed, to which 837 Reed replied, "Yeah, she's dating Nadia Pym. Nadia's heading GTech, Girls In Research Lab Technology. Took a while for Val to join, but I guess Nadia got her to do it, and that's where their relationship started."
"Oh by the way, Illuminati work that dangerous?" asked 510 Reed.
"Yeah, most dangerous was when fighting Thanos. Hasn't been that dangerous since then. Wanda's doing good alright, what with her two kids."
"How's your universe, 37 Reed?"
"It's nothing much. Low superhero world in a sense. Not as superheroish as your universes. I'm doing my PhD back in my universe. But Clint, Danny, Coleen, they are pretty cool to hang out with when I'm not hanging out with Gwen. She's like the only superhero for miles."
"I see."
"She's also the Spider-Man equivalent in her universe, unlike most, wherein Peter Parker was Spider-Man."
Rhea said, eating some pasta, "Meanwhile, in my universe, a lot of people are gender bent. Those that would be male in most universes are female in mine. So Tony Stark is Toni Stark, Peter Parker Petra, Steve Rogers Stephanie. Somehow, Steph became Captain America as a teenager, so was Stark when she became Iron and his pantheon aren't gender bent, though."
Next to her, 37 Reed continued to eat bowl of ramen. "Another thing I've noticed, most Reeds have noodles as their favorite food," he stated, slurping another batch of noodles.
"That's right," said 1046 Reed, eating his pasta. "Holds true to me, though I'm more al dente," he said, eating another forkful of pasta.
"An instant ramen maker was one of my first inventions," stated 37 Reed. "Ramen and Gatorade, the holy combination for a genius."
"My universe, well, it's pretty different from most," said 837 Reed. "For one, Peggy Carter's Captain Carter. Second, Maria Rambeau's Captain Marvel. Those, I'd say, are the primary differences, other than the fact red means go and green stop and the existence of pizza balls."
1046 Reed stated, "Mine, well, things are going smoothly. I mean, there's colonization of the Solar System thanks to my technology, and Earth's pretty active in terms of superhero activity. It's all good, actually."
1047 Reed replied, "Mine's similar to 1046's, in that the Life Foundation found the symbiotes on a comet, mutants exist, space exploration flourished, SHIELD and SWORD exist, etc. I already mentioned the main difference between my world and his a while ago."
"And my universe, it's almost a utopia," said 510 Reed. "Mutants exist, they were persecuted at first, but now they're almost universally accepted. Spider-Man's retired, his kids are now doing the superhero gig, so is that Morales kid. Hulk's finally living a peaceful life, Stark tech is everywhere, Falcon's the new Captain America. In general, my universe is somewhat advanced compared to most universes."
"You know, the great thing about being a Reed Richards is, well, you get to make things better for almost everyone," said 837 Reed.
"Agreed. It isn't easy, but being a Reed does come with its rewards," said 1046 Reed.
"To being Reeds," 37 Reed stated.
"To being Reeds," the other Reeds echoed.
"I enjoyed our little talk, you know?" said Rhea, standing up and stretching her arms.
"So did I," said 510 Reed. "It was nice to just relax and talk to some of the good Reeds I know."
"That's true," said 1047 Reed.
"Oh, I got a meeting, it's another Illuminati meeting coming right up," said 837 Reed. "Gotta run." A blue square portal appeared beneath his feet, going up and engulfing his body. It closed into nothingness after it engulfed it. The remaining Reeds got up from the table, as 510 Reed went back to his counter. HERBIE and Ultron bots took their plates and dishes and returned to the kitchen. The Reeds then proceeded to pay by inputting a few commands on the table, circles forming and connecting to a central circle once again, before leaving the table and the building.
"Goodbye, Reeds, and Rhea," he waved.
"Goodye," they said. They exited the diner, the bell ringing. They looked around them, multiple Reeds walking around, sitting down, hovering around, engaged in conversation, teleporting in and out of the place, etc. They found it peaceful, just seeing Reeds talk to each other, other versions of themselves just hanging out sometimes. Even science people need to take breaks at times. They continued to walk and engaged in some conversation, before reaching the portal hangar.
"I'm heading to the arcade, you guys wanna come?" asked 37 Reed.
"Sure," smiled Rhea, ruffling Reed's hair, much to his annoyance. 1047 and 1046 chuckled lightly.
"No thanks," said 1047 Reed.
"Not today, maybe next time," said 1046 Reed. "I'm pretty tired." 37 Reed and Rhea walked into a portal, waving the other two Reeds goodbye. Both of the remaining Reeds made their way to adjacent portals.
"See you around, next door Reed?" said 1047 Reed.
"See you around." Space went crazy around 1046 Reed, in swirling blues and whites. It lasted for around a minute, after which he found himself back in his laboratory, as a HERBIE robot whizzing him by. He looked around, taking a deep breath.
He made his way back to his bedroom and took a quick shower. Changing into his bedtime clothes, he took a brief glance at Sue, still sleeping soundly, as if he didn't leave. He climbed back into his bed and looked up at the ceiling, reflecting on the time he spent with the other Reeds, before drifting off to sleep…
And that ends another of my fics. The idea of Reed Richards having coffee with other versions of himself popped into my head shortly after I watched Multiverse of Madness. When I read the MCU description of the character, it made me want to write my own version of MoM Reed since I was really dissatisfied with what they had put there at first.
Plus, I like the idea of Reeds just talking to one another. I wanted to include a lot more Reeds, but I figured that it would be best if I just stuck to six, so that we could get to know the characters without there being too many. One time, I thought of including a mecha pilot Reed Richards, where he and the other members of the F4 became mecha pilots after finding an alien mecha, but I realized that would be too many Reeds, six would be enough.
Also, Rhea was inspired by this drawing and video:
watch?v=qwRXsZHnFmc&list=PL65SX0bEIF6ZBOWmf5Y39m7LFRi-6Zf8t&index=2&t=27s
Anyway, thank you, readers, for reading my fic!