A/N: Stormcity, thanks for favoring and following! And thanks to anyone else reading! Sorry that it's been a while, but this will continue!

Also, I appreciate the review for the first chapter that was done by a guest. Thank you for the comments!

Chapter Two

Nostalgic Undertone

The thick, wooden doors of the entrance hall opened and closed behind Reed and Ben. As the former looked up to the long ceiling of his alma mater, he prayed for a second that maybe-

"Reed Richards!"

Too late.

A moderately thick woman with curly hair, wearing a black dress and a positive smile walked up to him. "How are you, string bean? Always thought you'd come back for this!"

"You know me so well, Dalilah," Reed said. Then he was unprepared for the next bit – her squishing him in a surprise hug. If she tried any harder, his body would've probably bent from the pressure. "Nice to….see…you…." He weakly squeaked in the crushing embrace.

Dalilah Rivers chuckled and let him go. "You too! I have NOT seen you in such a while, Reed! And Ben!" She turned in Ben's general vicinity. "How's hero work going for you, big boy? I see you and your fantastic pals in the news a lot!"

Ben chuckled. "Yeah, that's us. Haha…It's goin' alright, Dalilah…"

Reed picked up the conversation next. "So, I take it you just arrived?"

"You got that right!" She continued to loudly exclaim. "A bunch of people from our class are in the ballroom. I'll go and see you two there!" Then she walked off in a hurry to go find them.

"Wow…" Ben deadpanned. "Sure never saw her crush ya' like that before, stretch. I thought she was one of your admirers?"

Reed laughed hardly. "An admirer is stretching the term, Ben."

They walked closer and opened the doors, seeing an expanse of people and bright lights covering what would have been an open academic hall. Streamers and darkly-colored decorations hung from the walls. Tables filled with punch, extravagant food, and pictures of class photos were splattered around. Reed had expected some people to immediately swarm upon them due to their "life-altering" experience, yet was relieved when he saw that a good portion of their classmates were sucked into their conversations.

"What say we split up?" Reed propositioned. "We can cover more ground that way."

"Ya mean to see more people?" Ben corrected.

Reed coughed. "Y-yes. Of course."

"No worries, stretch. Yer a big hero now. Don't feel afraid." Ben exited stage left, leaving Reed to his own devices.

"Excuse me, sir," a woman in dark red asked as she came up to Reed, "but I don't know where-"

"-The ladies' room is?" Reed finished for her. "Exit on the left, I'd believe." Then he paused and realized there was a familiar aspect to this woman. "Sorry, but you appear to look familiar to me…"

The woman blinked twice, then brought her hands to her face in shock. "R-Reed Richards? Oh my god! It's me, Cyndie! Cyndie Reynolds! We were in physics together!"

"I- yes! I remember now," Reed responded enthusiastically.

Cyndie had been a major companion through his years at the college, even though there were chunks that he had forgotten. They'd shared a particle physics class their first semester and had immediately become best friends. When she started a problem, she very carefully collected the data and then proceeded to make a logical solution. Put her and Reed together, and they could figure out any classwork assigned to them.

Yet as the years had gone on, Reed and Cyndie's relationship had seemingly all but vanished. They weren't close enough to warrant a hangout or a visit to a science center in Westchester. Even after Doom's explosive expulsion from campus, something didn't seem right with being able to confide in each other. That was why one cool day in the fall semester, they'd had a quiet discussion in a classroom far from prying eyes and made their peace – just no longer as friends.

Just looking at Cindy now brought warmth and coldness to Reed simultaneously. She looked mature and confident, yet intelligence bit at the fringes of her aura. But she must've come to the same confusion as he had because her entire demeanor shifted. "Things…have they been good for you since school? I read about your family in the newspaper from time to time, but…you know, not like we've talked."

"Marginally worth it, I'm afraid," Reed stated. "Have you…seen anyone from our class yet?"

Cyndie shook her head. "Not for me. You could say I'd be up to see my classmates, but when most of your friends don't call or text after so long, it feels a little closed-off."

"I…can relate." Reed's nervousness peaked, but he decided to take point. "Would you care to take a stroll near the steps? It might be a good place to catch-up…without loud people."

She smiled, satisfyingly folding her arms. "I'll take you up on that. Lead the way."

"Of course," Reed replied with a smile, and he twisted to stretch an arm some feet until they both knew in what direction the doors to the steps were.

On the other side of the massive crowd, Ben meandered between the people to a small bar bench covered in purple and blue lights. He edged closer to find a collection of photos besides the bottles, looking ornate for what at a glance seemed like a casual gathering. Not being one to complain over the decor being fancy, he cupped an ale in his fingers but felt the glass about to give way from his pressure. Son of a-

"Ben!"

The craggy man swerved to find a surprisingly thin fellow in a suit standing before him. Then his eyes blinked and it dawned on him. "Sammy!"

"I knew you recognized me!" Sammy Scavo exclaimed. "I mean, we spent all of our free time throwing balls in the fields. That had to dig itself out sometime, right?"

Ben grinned, "Exactly! So if yer here, that's got to mean-"

"-I got here as well!" Chunky, dressed in a velvet turtleneck was another man with dark skin and hardened hair. Ben knew him better as Orson Bendinko, his and Sammy's other football friend. "Wouldn't miss this for the world, but now, I know it's even better with you two present."

"Shaddup," Ben said while grinning. "How's it been since college, fer both o' ya?"

"Solid," Orson pointed out. "Finally got that internship I talked about, and my career just took off. I spend my days planning events for a big firm in the center of Manhattan. It's something, Ben. You, Sammy?"

"You wouldn't believe how fun being a football coach is," Sammy cracked with a smirk. "Though, gonna' be honest… I do think the ass game isn't as fun now."

"Uh, what?" Ben was confused.

"I mean, you gotta' miss it a little," Sammy pointed out smoothly. "Back in college, you could score a chick or two, no problem. But now, there's all this 'Me Too' and social accountability that makes it so much harder. Jesus!"

"Then it's a good thing I'm working at a corporation," Orson added. His features almost pulled a one-eighty in comparison to what he'd looked like before. Nobody even seemed to notice otherwise. "Not only are there gals to hook with, but plenty of nerds that are way below me. Survival of the fittest, man."

"Preach," added Sammy.

Ben's rocky features began to harden. He couldn't believe what he was hearing! None of this talk had ever been that present back when he was college. The public consciousness wasn't as "woke," but…still! How could these football players, these young men that he'd associated with, be this rude? Had it always been like that when he trusted them?

We're gonna' have a talk 'bout this later, fer sure…

Sammy's flamboyant attitude disappeared and he pointed to the stage "Oh, great. Dean Melvin."

The aged old man raised a hand to speak, hushing the crowd across its berth. "Welcome back, class of '95. It's truly a wonder to see the fine men and women you've become. As pioneers of our campus' rich history, you've truly-"

Right as the speech was headed into a meandering cliché of happy times, a sudden tremor shook the room, followed by the collapse of one of the side walls. The alumni ran in fright or stared at the gaping hole. Ben, about to act from where he was, saw a large grey hand grab the crack with intense effort. The appendage was only part of a larger being that would appear to be a grey nude if not for the hammer-shaped head looking over the masses.

However, it was not the massive grey android with a hammerhead that was most odd, but rather the man in a pale green jumpsuit that stood on top of it. His features were sullen, and with his dark brown hair looked deliciously delighted at the chaos he was a part of.

Mad Thinker, Ben realized mentally.

"Empire State Alumni!" Mad Thinker yelled in criminal glee. "Fantastic to see you all again, and my apologies for the wall. Unfortunately, I don't have time to prove my remorse over its' fracture…as my vengeance is at hand!