Fantastic Four (Movieverse) – Hunted

Summary:

Sequel to 'Retribution' - Following his failed attempt to destroy the Fantastic Four, Doom makes good on his threat "You will pay... you will suffer every bit as much as I have. Enjoy the time you've got, there's not much left of it..." Johnnycentric as always :D siblingness

Disclaimer:

Okay! Okay! I don't actually own them...doesn't mean I can't pretend...

Author's Notes:

Time Zones: New York 14:00, Latveria 20:00 – an attempt to avoid confusion :P

Thanks to ebuchala, Dark Respite, marinawings, and Penny3 for reviewing!

BTW, I mention a super Skrull that I got from the 2006 cartoon series; absolutely no idea if he is in the comics :S

Enjoy!


Chapter Three: Distance

Elysium, Latveria

What else could he have done?

If he had stayed where he was in that castle, Doom would have just killed him. A macho showdown would have been futile, useless and suicidal. Without his powers Johnny was just as human as the rest of the population; and Doom...well Doom was a metal man that would electrocute as soon as look at you.

So he had run. It went against everything Johnny was about. Taking risks and beating the odds was his thing. He felt like a coward as he sprinted out of the old building. But he knew, logically, it had been the right thing. Now he had a chance – albeit a very slim one. He had to put as much distance between himself and Doom as he could in the next hour and then find some way to phone home.

Once outside, Johnny was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the woods. The trees towered over everything, casting the undergrowth in shadow. The canopy was thick because of how dense the wood was. The sky above was already dark and heavy with rain. It would be night soon. It was going to be a cold night, and the only protection he had was his thin white dress shirt and a vest. His smart shoes weren't exactly appropriate for running.

He ran a few yards into the woods, shocked by how dark it was. It paused for breath and took in his surroundings. He didn't wan't to get lost; he knew that the deeper in the woods he went the harder he would be to find. Which was good for avoiding Doom; but very bad if he ever wanted to be found by his family.

A distant howl from inside the castle compound jolted Johnny into action. Doom had said that he had an hour's head start, but that wasn't necessarily the case. Instead of running straight ahead, Johnny veered slightly to the right so that he would miss the densest part of the woods.

His training from NASA kicked in. Stamina and fitness were very important for their pilots. Back in the day Jonny had had to run miles of rough terrain. But that was at a jog, not at a breakneck sprint. He panted heavily as he navigated his way through the trees and barely managed to avoid tripping over roots.

After only a few minutes his chest was burning and his legs ached; but he knew he had to keep going. He was going to make this as difficult for Doom as he possibly could.


The Baxter Building

The occupants of the Fantastic Four headquarters congregated in Reed's lab, waiting expectantly for him to reveal some fabulous insight that would lead to the location of their missing teammate. But Mr. Fantastic was drawing a blank.

Several blinking lights and bleeping sounds hummed rhythmically from the centre console. Reed placed a hand on Sue's shoulder in consolation. "I'm sorry Sue. I'm doing everything I can. I've rigged our satellite to identify heat sources at Johnny's temperature; it will take a whole day to complete the world sweep, but I can tell you that he's not in America. I've tried tracing his cell phone, but I can't pick up a signal. I've got every available channel open in case he tries to make contact with us. I'm trying Sue..."

Sue turned her back to him and quickly blinked away the tears that had been threatening to fall for the last three hours. Composed, she replied "I know Reed. I know how hard you're trying...b-but I just want him back. I need to find him."

"And we will," stated Reed defiantly. "I'm just not quite sure how yet."

"Why don't you ask yourselves who did it?" suggested Kayla. She was the medic, that was her role and she stuck to it. Usually when the team had a decision to make she stayed out of it, only giving her opinion when asked. But she felt like they were approaching this wrong. "What happened at the church was intentional, right? So who would/could do that? And who has a vendetta against Johnny?"

"Apart from every villain we've ever met?" retorted Ben while raising his stony brow. Kayla rolled her eyes at him. "Well that Super Skrull had a major stick up his ass after Johnny won that trial thing last year..."

"Yeah, but could he literally suck light out of a room?" asked Kayla. Ben shrugged as Reed contemplated. "How do you even suck the light out of a room? That's not even possible...is it?"

Sue remained quiet during the debate over the culprit. As far as she was concerned there was only one person who would do this. The one person she had actually seen her brother be afraid of, the one person who was absolutely hell bent on revenge. The nemesis that had haunted them since the beginning; "Doom."

Reed looked at his wife and saw the certainty, and the hatred, in her eyes as she uttered the single syllable. The debate ended instantly, no one else was considered. "I'll reset the satellite to sweep Latveria."


Elysium Castle

Doom waited ever-so-patiently in the parlour of his castle. As with the rest of the structure, the room was richly decorated in deep reds and dark mahogany and was lit by old fashioned chandeliers. He sat straight-backed in his velvet seated wingback and stared at the large grandfather clock that ticked at an agonisingly slow pace.

It had been three-quarters of an hour since he had let the boy start running. He was assured that the power suppressor would last at least four hours by his league of scientists. He had reinforced all the parameters round the woods to make sure the boy couldn't escape. In ten minutes he would saddle up his horse and release the hounds.

He hoped the prey would last longer than two hours; otherwise it wouldn't be as fun. He had high hopes that this prey would put up quite a fight, if not a good hunt. Two minutes ticked by. Doom knew his prey well. The prey was well trained, would be able to run for longer than most. The prey was arrogant, cocky; and afraid. Yes...this would be a very fun hunt indeed.

Abruptly the doors opened and two men entered. The shorter, slimier looking man was Leonard, Doom's forever faithful assistant, and the other was Gastoul. The older man was grey and wizened and yet still as strong and tough as he ever was when he had led the hunt all those years ago. His eyes were a cold blue colour that had seen too much terror. A hideous scar divided his face in half, running from his right eyebrow across the bridge of his nose and down past his left cheek. He spoke with a gruff voice "Good Evening Victor."

"Gastoul," Doom replied by way of greeting. They had known each other too long to get bogged down in pleasantries. Gastoul was one of the only men Doom would allow to call him Victor. They had been equals once, and Doom respected that; but now he was superior. "Shall we begin the next phase?"

"I can be in New York in one hour," Gastoul answered. He was to take the Doom jet which was a lot faster than commercial flights. He already knew what he was to do and planned to do it well.

"See to it that you have returned with the package in two and a half hours," Doom ordered. He stood from his chair as the clock struck the hour. A loud ruckus of dogs baying could be heard from the courtyard below. They howled as they were released after the prey. "That's when the true Game begins."


Elysium Wood

Exhaustion racked through his body as he forced himself to pound onwards. Ahead of him were trees; behind him were trees. Everywhere he looked he just saw endless evergreens enclosing around him. He had lost his sense of direction a long time ago now; all that mattered was that he kept going.

His chest and throat burned with every short breath he took. His legs felt like jelly beneath him. Johnny could feel himself losing speed as he struggled to continue. He wished he had his watch. Had it been an hour? It certainly felt like it. It felt like he had been running for days. For all he knew the hounds were already after him, with Doom not far behind.

He had sloshed through the few small rivers he had come across to try and throw off his scent but he doubted it had made any difference. The bottom of his trousers were wet and stuck to his skin.

The dark sky grew even darker as the storm clouds gathered. A low rumble of thunder reverberated around the forest, closely followed by a bright blue flash. Abruptly, the heavens opened and bucketed tons of water upon the earth. It caught in the thick canopy and dropped down in heavy droplets that Johnny welcomed onto his hot skin.

A blood chilling howl erupted through the darkness. Though it was relatively quiet, and sounded quite a distance away, Johnny knew that the hounds had to be close. The howl had made it above the volume of the rain and the thunder.

The hounds were coming.


Yet another glorious cliff-hangar...XD...and a really quick update! I will try and be just as quick for the next chapter, but I make no guarantees!