Justice of Revelation
Disclaimer: I don't own The Fantastic Four. Only the respective company, Marvel does. There will be some OOC's. Read & Review and please, no flames! Enjoy!
At New York City, inside Fantastic Four HQ, everything was peaceful for team of four super-powered individuals ever since their spacecraft was bombarded by cosmic rays and all four members received special powers during their space mission. First off is the leader, Reed Richards, known as 'Mr. Fantastic' with a mastery of mechanical, aerospace, aerospace and electrical engineering, chemistry, all levels of physics, and human and alien biology, continues his scientific research with his beloved wife, Susan 'Sue' Storm Richards. Along with using his special ability to stretch his body in any way he likes.
As for Susan, being married to Reed Richards and given the name, Invisible Woman with the ability of force fields and invisibility, remains very close to her brilliant husband, Reed and looking after their two children, Franklin and Valeria.
Whereas Jonathan 'Johnny' Storm, infamous as Susan's hot-headed, brash and impetuous brother, while dubbing himself as 'The Human Torch' remains close to both his sister and brother-in-law, Reed inside Fantastic Four HQ by listening to his music within his dormitory. Much like Reed and Susan, he can engulf his whole body in flames, fly, absorb fire into his own body and control any nearby fire by sheer force or will.
And finally, Benjamin 'Ben' Grimm, famous for his rocky appearance, sense of humour and being called as 'The Thing', sat in his room quietly for a long while. He made a big sigh and puts his rock-hard hands on his head. Unlike his companions, his exposure to the cosmic rays mutated him into a huge orange, flexible rock-like creature. Though he is much different than them, that didn't stop Reed from giving him rigorous training on machines he designed for Ben to use his strength and it would later increase dramatically over the years.
He started to dwell about the times he's had with Reed Richards, Susan Richards and Johnny Storm. But not only them from back in their university days, that also goes for Victor Von Doom, already known as Doctor Doom, Lord of Latveria.
Then, it hit him. When he recalled despising Victor for his superior attitude, he started to have some flashbacks. The first was when Victor constructed a machine specifically to communicate with the deceased by communicating his mother. Next was when Reed tried to warn Victor about a flaw in the machine by a few decimals off, it resulted with a disastrous outcome; the machine exploded and it severely damaged Victor's face literally.
After so many years being as a member of the Fantastic Four and battling Doctor Doom including countless villains, Ben feels that this is the time to unveil the harsh truth about Victor's accident and the ruler that he came to be. Yet, he never told anyone, his teammates or even the Avengers that it was him tampering the machine Victor was using and not Reed. In other words, Doom wrongfully blamed Reed for the accident and not Ben.
So, after going down memory lane, he stood up from his couch, raised his head up and decided to make things right by clearing his best friend's name. As he heads outside, he pasts by Reed and Sue, working inside the laboratory together smiling and laughing together immediately noticed Ben making his way to the front door without telling them.
"Ben?"
"Where is he going?"
Reed narrowed his eyes by noticing his body language. "I'll go talk with him." By utilizing his super-stretching abilities, he was able to make his way to the front door before Ben and confront his longtime friend. "Ben, what are you doing?"
Ben turned his head away for a moment and went back to Reed. "I'm...going for a walk."
The leader of the Fantastic Four wasn't buying his bluff and folded his arms. "Be serious, Ben. I've known you for a very long time. What are you really up to?"
"I already told you! I need a long walk! Now, leave me alone!" In his rage, he shoves Reed to the ground and exited the front door by slamming it behind him with a loud thud that nearly sent a loud shockwave at Fantastic Four HQ.
Susan and later, Johnny came to console Reed and asked what went down between them.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am."
"Dude, what happened and where did Ben go?" thought Johnny.
"He said that he's out for a walk, but he didn't say why. There's something very wrong with him and we need to know right away. Let's follow him."
Both Johnny and Susan nod their heads in agreement and they start to search for their teammate, Ben.
Outside, Ben continues his walk around New York City, despite his rock-hard appearance and many people passing by him while noticing his shoulders slouching and his head down. Some of them were whispering to each other and were left curious.
Civilian#1: "Where's he's going?"
Civilian#2: "I don't know."
Civilian#3: "He doesn't seem to be in a pleasant mood."
Civilian#4: "Yeah, I wonder what made him feel this way."
For nearly an hour, Ben remained silent throughout his walk. At last, he reached the famous Central Park and sat down near the calm blue water lake. He glanced himself in the water as a reflection and slammed his rock-hard fist on the ground in frustration. Afterwards, he spoke to himself. "How will they feel, once I tell them about what happened with the machine? I'm the one that Doom should've been blamed, not Reed." He grunted. "What's the point?" He grabs a medium-sized pebble and threw it on the lake that made a few skips until it sank to the bottom. Much like from earlier in the day, he stared at his large rock-hard fists. He clenched them while staring and then, he released and sighed.
Just then, he hears his someone calling out to him.
"Ben!"
He stood up from the lake and as he turns around, he's being greeted by Johnny, Reed, Sue and their children.
"There you are, dude. What were you thinking? Has your brain been turned to rock, just like yourself?"
Reed slaps him in the back of his head for his rude insult. "Quit it, Johnny!" He walks up to Ben and confronts him calmly. "Ben, please. We're a team and we always stick together. No matter what. Just please tell us what's going through your mind."
Sue nodded.
Although Ben was reluctant at first, he could feel his leg being tapped by his grandson, Franklin. "Come on, Uncle Ben."
He puts his hand on his nephew's hand and nudged as he makes a faint smile. "Alright, I'll tell." By glancing at his teammates and his niece and nephew, he takes a deep breath and asks Reed. "Reed?"
"Yes, Ben?"
Ben replied. "Do you remember when we were back in university and Victor was your roommate?"
It didn't take long for him to trace back the rivalry they've had until that horrifying incident regarding the machine Victor used. "I do. Why is that?"
"First off, I'm sorry for shoving you down back at headquarters."
Reed smiled. "There's no need for that." He then questioned him about Victor's accident back at university. "But Ben, why are you bringing that up? That was a long time ago. Victor blamed me for ruining his face, even though I warned him about a flaw in the machine."
That's when Ben unveiled the cold truth. "You're wrong, Reed. Doom shouldn't blame you for that accident. He should've blamed...me."
At that precise moment, everyone gasped in total shock over Ben's confession.
"What?" cried Sue.
"You've got to be kidding me, Ben! Why?" shouted Reed.
He continued. "All because I hated his superior attitude and that's when I tampered the machine he was about to use, before it exploded. I blamed myself for the villain that he became to be. Even if I didn't tampered it, the result would still be the same."
Reed couldn't believe his eyes and neither could his wife, Sue and Johnny, along with his son, Franklin and his daughter, Valeria. His longtime friend was the one that caused a malfunction in Victor's machine in order to communicate with his deceased mother and not him. Upon looking back at the ongoing battles he's had with Doctor Doom and the reason behind his transformation from Ben's mishap over his attitude, he walks up to him. "Ben, thank you for telling me everything." He smiles back at him.
Ben felt surprised of his reaction. "Wait. You mean you're not mad?"
"Actually, I'm glad that you finally told the truth about what really happened with Victor."
"Is that how it happened? All this because of your stupid interference?" asked Johnny.
Sue hushes him. "Johnny, please. I'm certain that it was unintentional of him." She turns to Ben. "Regardless, you're still family to us." She concludes her sentence by hugging his rock-hard body and so did her children.
"Thanks, you guys. That means a lot to me." After releasing the hug, he asks Reed about his involvement from back in their university days. "But, no one will believe that I did it, including Doctor Doom. He will still hold a grudge on you, no matter what."
"Don't worry. I have an idea."
Later on, several news reporters were around the Fantastic Four HQ about a special report commencing from Reed Richards himself. After several flashes of photography, Reed halts the cameras and spoke into the microphone.
"Thank you all for coming here. I'm Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four. The reason for this is because of an incident that occurred during my tenure at university and I wanted Victor to be my roommate but he disliked me and that's where our rivalry began. Then, he built a machine specifically to communicate with his dead mother and although I tried to warn him about my miscalculations by a few decimals off, he continued and it exploded with a horrific outcome." As he turns his head to see Ben with his head down, he turns back to the media and pressed forward. "His face was seriously damaged due to a violent failure in the machine and he primarily blamed me for the accident. But just today, I found out that it wasn't me that tampered it."
One of the news reporters spoke. "If it wasn't you after all this time, then who did?"
Not only was the entire world watching the special news report, so was Doctor Doom from his viewing monitor on his throne in his home country of Latveria. He became curious as to why Reed is resurfacing the accident from back in university. "Seriously, Reed? Doom doesn't need your sympathy."
Back at Fantastic Four HQ with the media, Reed asks Ben by stepping up to the microphone and revealing the full truth. He clears his throat. "This has been inside my head for a really long time and I didn't tell anyone about this up until now. You see, Doom shouldn't blame Reed about the machine that exploded, it was me. I did it."
The reporters all gasped and in return, flashed more photography and others started writing it down in their notebooks.
For Doctor Doom, his eyes were widened in horror. The person that he currently blamed for the machine explosion back in university wasn't Reed after all, it was Ben.
News Reporter#1: "Any idea, why?"
News Reporter#2: "What was your intention?"
Ben countered. "I despised his superior attitude and I unintentionally tampered his machine that he made to communicate with his deceased mother. If it weren't for me, he would be speaking with her. I'm truly responsible for Doom's rise as the villain that he is and I blamed myself for what's happened. Yet, despite that I've kept this secret since I was very young and before becoming like this, I love my family to pieces and if Doom is watching this, he wouldn't forgive me or Reed for what's happened and shouldn't blame him from the start. All this because I didn't like his attitude and to clear my best friend's name." After his confession on live television, he turned his head away from them and as Reed patted him on his rock-hard back, he whispered.
"You did great, Ben. I'm very proud of you."
With a slight nod of his head, he joins up with Sue, Johnny, Franklin and Valeria as Reed goes back to the microphone.
"That's the truth, everyone. Ben Grimm was the one that tampered Victor's machine and not me. This concludes our conference, thank you." Right after that, Reed, Ben, Sue, Johnny, Franklin and Valeria all went back inside Fantastic Four HQ together, while the news media left with the important information that it was given from the real culprit, Ben.
In a matter of days, newspapers were released from all over the world about Ben's confession to the press relating to the machine explosion that ruined Victor's face and becoming Doctor Doom. Thus, clearing Reed's name in the process and his colleagues became so proud of Ben standing up for Reed by revealing the truth. The Avengers and many other heroes were all astonished of this shocking revelation from Ben's confession about his involvement with Victor's machine upon reading the big headline.
Back inside Doom's castle in Latveria, Doctor Doom had finished watching the news from his viewing monitor and now fully understood that it wasn't his rival who severely damaged his face and tampering his machine all along. It was Ben that actually did it.
He turns it off and realizing the person that caused the incident after all these years, he had this to say:
"Doom shall deal with you, another day, Ben."
Knowing who his true enemy really is, he remains seated on his throne while coming up with a future plan in store for Ben and not with Reed or Sue anymore.