New York, 1977, 25 years ago
Nathaniel sat in a waiting room chair and a darkened hall outside of the room where his wife, Evelyn had just given birth. She had been resting after a tenuous delivery while son nurses watched over Nathaniel's unnamed child. Nathaniel stared at the ground as he waited for a sign that he could reenter the room.
"Your wife has just woken up, Mr. Richards."
Nathaniel looked up at the nurse who had just spoken. He followed the nurse into the room where his wife was sitting up in bed, waiting for her husband.
"How are you feeling, honey?" Nathaniel asked, pulling up a chair next to the hospital bed.
"I'm just waiting for our baby boy," Evelyn tiredly replied.
As if on command a nurse carrying a white bundle walked into the room. "Look who's here," the nurse merrily said, handing the bundle off to Eveyln.
Both husband and wife looked down at the bundle which squirmed in his mother's arm. The child was unusually quiet and looked around with eyes sparkling with intelligence. A small wisp of light brown hair clung to his forehead.
"Honestly I was hoping for a girl," Nathaniel sighed, examining his son.
"Oh, you're awful," Evelyn teased. "The first words that our boy hears from you, is that you want a girl."
"Well, whatever the case we can't just keep calling him boy."
The baby was able to release its hand from the bundle of blankets and reached its hand out, grasping a fistful of his mother's long hair. Out of nowhere the new mother was struck with inspiration for a name.
"Reed, I think I like that name," Evelyn said, not taking her eyes off her son.
"Alright then," Nathaniel agreed. "Reed it is. Reed Richards."
California, 1988, 12 years later
"Swirly! Swirly! Swirly! Swirly!" a flock of bullies cheered as they tried to shove the face of the 11-year-old Reed Richards into a school toilet.
To Reed's credit, he had been able to hold on for longer than he had before. Every other week or so, some of the kids who bullied Reed dragged him, kicking and screaming in vain, into the bathrooms of Central Community Middle School. Reed usually buckled immediately into the toilet, although today he was able to put up more of a fight.
"Swirly! Swirly! Swirly!" the boys chanted as Reed's arms buckled and he plunged into the waters of the toilet.
"Don't hear you being a smartass now, Richards," one of the bullies jeered, pouring the contents of Reed's backpack onto the soaking floor.
"I didn't do anything!" Reed coughed, trying to get another breath in before his tormentors ultimately shove Reed's face into the toilet once more.
"Of course you did! you opened that smartass mouth of yours!"
A loud boom came from the door to the boy's bathroom slamming into the wall. The bullies gathered around Reed, turned their attention towards the entrance of the bathroom, temporarily relieving Reed from another swirly.
"What did I tell you guys about picking on Reed," growled the large ginger haired linebacker, Ben Grimm.
"Oh, come on Ben, we're just showing Richards what's what," one of the boys said, walking up to the imposing 8th grader.
"What did I tell you guys," Ben growled once more.
"What do you care about the twerp?"
The mob that had formed around Reed started to disperse; their attention being drawn to the scene of Ben staring down one of their own. Unsupported by the bullies, Reed collapsed onto the floor where he could spy his broken glasses and ruined school supplies scattered about.
"It doesn't matter what I want with 'em," Ben deflected. "What matters is that you leave him alone."
"Alright we'll leave him alone this time," the boy scoffed.
That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Ben picked up the boy by the shirt scruff and shoved him into the boy directly behind. The two bullies fell to the floor in a heap, as the others of the group looked at each other in a panic before retreating from the restroom. The boys on the floor quickly got up and stumbled after their friends.
"I'm not looking for 'this time!'" Ben roared at the fleeing gang. "You leave him alone from now on!"
"Thanks," Reed sniffled from the floor.
"It's not a problem," Ben assured, putting out a friendly hand towards Reed. "Let's get ya cleaned up."
For the past few years Ben had been coming to the younger Reed Richards for help with various homework. In exchange for his assistance, Ben had agreed to protect Reed from the various bullies who took joy from harassing him. As this deal went on, however, Reed and Ben did grow to enjoy each other's company and friendship.
-)
"Oh Reed! What in the world happened?" Reed's mother shrilled in worry as she examined her 11-year-old child's bloody nose and broken glasses which Ben had tried to fix with some scotch tape.
"Nothing, nothing happened," Reed lamely replied, trying to get his mother out of his face.
When Reed had gotten home that day, the sun was already starting to set on the sleepy Californian suburb, highlighting the outside of the house that was painted a tacky blue and which inside was painted a similarly tacky shade of yellow.
Once inside, the usual sight of the household foyer greeted Reed and Ben. The foyer was just a small hallway leading directly into the living room, where Reed could spot his little sister, Enid, messing around with a baton. Coats and shoes were piled to one side of the wall, despite the potential tripping hazard.
"Oh, don't give me that, something happened," Reed's mother protested.
"What's going on this time, Evelyn?" Reed's father asked, walking out of the kitchen, a half-washed dish still in his hands.
"Something happened at school, but Reed won't tell me what happened," Evelyn explained; however, she was interrupted by a loud crashing noise that came from behind her.
"Sorry mom!" Reed's younger sister called as she accidentally knocked over a lamp with her baton.
Nathaniel let out a frustrated sigh at the scene. Reed mentally reflected on the thought that he would have been given a harder time if he had been the one to knock the lamp over.
"Now answer your mother," Nathaniel turned his attention back to Reed. "What happened this time?"
"It wasn't my fault," Reed pitifully explained, letting his mother examine some bruises on his cheek.
"Don't give me that, I've never seen a kid get into more problems, for something that wasn't his fault."
"There were just some kids picking on him, Mr. Richards," the large ginger haired boy behind Reed explained.
At those words, Evelyn and Nathaniel finally noticed Ben Grimm who was standing behind Reed. Ben fidgeted with the collar of his jacket as Reed's parents stared at him. Something in Nathaniel's demeanor seemed to change as he saw Ben, after all Reed knew that the parents of Central Middle School admired Ben for his skill on the school's football team.
"I'm sure it was just some of the kids having fun," Nathaniel said, placing a friendly hand onto Ben's shoulder.
"Er, sure."
"Did you take care of it, Ben?"
"I ended it."
"Did you smack 'em around some?"
"Not that much,"
"That's good of you," Nathaniel commended. "That's why you're the grim reaper."
"Like my last name?" Ben asked, confused.
"Yeah, it's what all the parents are calling you," Nathaniel explained. "You're the best linebacker Central Community has seen in ages. Hell, you're the best linebacker we've ever seen!"
"The grim reader," Ben quietly reflected on his nickname.
"Are you staying for dinner tonight?"
Ben glanced towards Reed for an answer and Reed simply shrugged in response.
"I have to ask my aunt," Ben explained, looking back towards Reed's father.
"Call your aunt," Nathaniel put a hand on Ben's shoulder and led him further into the house. "Say, did you see that game the other night?"
"Oh yeah, it looked like a nightmare," Ben replied.
-)
After dinner concluded, Reed rushed up to his room with only a grief goodbye to Ben. Reed had practically crashed onto his desk's chair in exhaustion of the day's events. Reed peered out his window towards the darkened street below where an unfamiliar car was parked in the driveway, presumably to take Ben home.
Sure enough, Ben came out of the household soon after and entered the car awaiting him. As the car drove off into the night, Reed's thoughts started to wander back towards better times in his life.
Reed had not always lived in California and instead had been born in New York, even living there for the first years of his life. Reed vaguely recalled him and his father getting along well enough, with Nathaniel even encouraging Reed's hobbies. At some point early on in Reed's life something changed with his father as Nathinel became more distant and became quicker to anger.
Whatever caused that change, Reed didn't know, as both his parents refused to talk about the event. Afterwards the family had moved towards their current residence where Enid had been born.
"Sweetie, I noticed you didn't eat anything during dinner," Reed's mother said behind his bedroom door.
Reed's room briefly lit up with light from the hall as Evelyn entered the room holding a plate holding some leftovers. As Evelyn walked into the room and shut the door, she placed the plate on Reed's desk and sat down on his bed.
"Sweetie, you know you can talk to me, right?" Evelyn asked. "About the bullies, about school, about anything."
"I know," Reed solemnly replied.
"Do you want to talk to me about what happened?"
"Do you?"
"Yes, I do," Evelyn assured her son. "Reed, it really hurts me when you suffer like this, and you refuse to let me help."
"Would you even help if I told you?" Reed mumbled, not in a tone of malice but instead of a tone of defeat.
To that Evelyn did not know what to say. Luckily, she did not have to say anything at all, as her husband burst into the room a dismantled device clutched in his hands. Nathaniel stomped over to Reed and glared down at the boy.
"What the hell is this?" he demanded, shoving the machine in Reed's face.
"It's uh," Reed stammered.
"What did I tell you about pulling stuff apart!" Nathaniel shouted. "Now answer me, what the hell was this!"
"It's a phone I found," Reed looked down at his feet, not being able to gather the nerve to look his father in the eye.
"The phone!"
"Calm down, Nathaniel," Evelyn said, getting off of the bed. "Reed's just trying to-"
"I don't care what Reed is trying to do! He can't just go around destroying things to sate his curiosity."
"It wasn't just curiosity, I build things! And besides I found that thing in the attic!" Reed yelled. He didn't know where this sudden strength to stand up to his father came from, however it disappeared just as quickly as it had come.
"That's not the point!" Nathaniel yelled back, even louder. "You're paying for a new one!"
"But I don't have any money to spend," Reed mumbled.
"Then you're doing odd jobs in the neighborhood till you do!"
Nathaniel stormed out of the room tossing what used to be a phone behind him. The device shattered into pieces, dashing Reed's hopes that he could have rebuild the device. Evelyn stood in silence for a brief moment before she shuffled out of Reed's room, leaving the young inventor once again alone.
California, 1991, 2 years later
The afternoon sun gleamed into the open garden shed, illuminating the objects scattered around the workbench at the very back. Reed leaned back in his chair at the workbench, admiring his handiwork which lay in the middle of the workbench. A knock on the open shed door shook Reed out of his admiration.
Ben walked into the shed after knocking, placing his backpack in the corner. Ben was now in junior year of high school and had become once more the star linebacker of the school's team. As it was, Reed happened to not attend the same high school as Ben, but Ben was a legend enough around the town's high schools to keep Reed from being picked on too much.
"So, what's this one called?" Ben asked, leaning over the invention. "It looks like you glued a coat hanger to a square."
"It's not a square, it's a trapezoidal prism," Reed corrected. "And besides it doesn't have a name yet."
"Technicalities," Ben rolled his eyes with a slight smirk. "Just answer my question."
Reed pondered for a moment before answering, "promise not to tell anyone and I'll explain it."
"Alright then," Ben agreed. "So, what does it do?"
"I won't tell you unless you say the words."
"Dude come on; we're not five anymore."
"Come on man, this thing is going to change the whole world," Reed urged.
"Fine, I'll say the words," Ben conceded, dramatically placing his hand over his heart. "I promise, and in fact I double promise!"
"Ok, so I've been working on this for a while but most of it has just been perfecting my theory and building the base," Reed explained, spreading out a blueprint which displayed the device. "But I'm pretty sure I've got it, and I'm pretty sure I've discovered another plane."
"Like something you could fly in?"
"No, I um…" Reed paused, thinking about how best to explain something of this caliber to his friend. "I mean it's another plane of existence, but for simplicity let's call it another dimension or another zone of existence."
"So, you say you found this thing," Ben reiterated. "Can I see it?"
Reed shook his head, "I wish! Seeing another plane of existence would take something the size of a football!"
"So, if you can't see this dimension, how do you know it's real?" Ben asked. "Much less know where it is."
"Well knowing where it is, is pretty simple. "After all, the dimension is all around us," Reed explained, gesturing around the shed.
"So, your plane of existence or whatever is in your shed?" Ben raised his eyebrow, wondering if Reed had finally cracked after years of mad experimentation.
"Of course not," Reed laughed. "It's all around us, just like every other dimension."
"There are more?"
"Of course there are more," Reed replied, getting out of his chair. "There are an infinite number of planes around us in space time, we're just one of trillions."
"Some of this stuff has been researched pretty extensively," Reed added, grabbing things from a nearby high up shelf. "We live on this plane, and, for lack of a better term, custom made to fit here. And whatever lives in other planes are custom made to fit there."
"Not gonna lie," Ben said, pulling down the safety glasses which Reed couldn't reach. "You're kind of freaking me out."
"Don't worry, they can't hurt you. We can't interact with them, but they've always been there. If something would have happened, it would have happened by now."
Ben wasn't quite reassured by Reed's explanation. However any further attempt to reveal his fears would probably just make them worse, so Ben kept his mouth shut.
"Anyway, this dimension I've found is the closest to our own," Reed continued. "That's in the sense that it can carry carbon-based lifeforms. But then again, it could be an antimatter zone so who knows if life lives there."
"And that's bad right?" Ben shuttered. "That sounds bad."
"When antimatter and matter come in contact they destroy each other, but I don't think the dimension is made of antimatter judging by its proximity to ours."
"But what if it is made of antimatter?"
"Don't worry I have precautions to guard against that," Reed assured. "Making the shielding was back in phase forty-two."
"And what phase is it in now?"
"We're in phase forty-nine and I hope to show it off at phase fifty-one," Reed explained, searching his jacket pocket for a battery. "This phase is about breaking the planar and sending things through."
"What kind of things?" Ben asked, holding the battery Reed needed over the younger boy's head. "Candy bars? Apples? Toy trains?"
"Not anything food based, as I haven't done that level of calculations," Reed admitted, trying to get what he needed back. "The toys are a safe bet, but a milk dud could become an explosive and image if people are there!"
"Death by invading mars bar would be a bad way to go out," Ben agreed, tossing the battery back to Reed.
"Maybe I'll send something to show them what humanity is like," Reed pondered to himself.
Ben paused for a moment before asking, "so are you, uh, going to try and send yourself through?"
"Not this year of course."
"But you want to."
"Of course, don't you?"
"Sorry man, but I like this one," Ben refused. "Although I wouldn't say no to exploring our own stars."
"Anyway," Reed sighed. "You're here for algebra help, right?"
"You're not supposed to be using that stuff," a voice interrupted before Ben could answer Reed.
Ben and Reed turned around to see that it was Reed's younger sister, Enid. Enid had her strawberry blonde hair tied up in pigtails and had a bright pink jump rope hung over her shoulder.
"What do you want, Enid?" Reed groaned, clearly not wanting to deal with his sister.
"I'm going to go tell dad you're using his stuff again," Enid replied.
Reed's eyes widened with fear, he was unsure what his father was going to do if he found Reed messing around with his stuff, but Reed didn't think it would be pleasant. At best he would yell, and Reed would be grounded. At worst Nathaniel would destroy what Reed built, and he would have to start all over again.
"Enid, please don't," Reed begged. "I'll do anything you want."
"Anything?" Enid asked, intrigued at the possibilities.
"I'll do your chores for a month! I'll do your homework! Please just don't tell him!"
Ben tensed in worry for his friend, glancing over towards Enid who clearly had something in mind for what she wanted. Ben had historically not gotten along with Enid, and the feeling was mutual.
"I want you to take me with you when you go," Enid decided.
Reed froze, he had not been expecting that. "I'm not going anywhere," Reed feigned ignorance.
"Oh yes you are!" Enid challenged. "And I'll know when you do!"
"How long have you been listening?" Ben asked.
"I dunno, a while," Enid shrugged.
"Ok, fine! I'll take you to the Negative Zone!" Reed caved, biting back a few nasty words.
"What's the Negative Zone?" Enid and Ben asked in union, glaring at each other when they did.
"It's what I'm calling the dimension, pretty neat right?" Reed crossed his arm, clearly smug with his name.
"Who cares what it's called," Enid rolled her eyes. "So, you promise to take me?"
"Did you not hear me agree?"
"Thanks, big brother!" Enid squealed.
Content with his answer, Enid wandered away just in time to not hear her brother's disgruntled mutterings. Reed really hated that he not only had to contend with his father at home, but also his little sister who in Nathaniel's eyes could do no wrong. Reed had refused one of Enid's requests before, which was a mistake as she immediately threw a temper tantrum and blamed Reed for causing it.
"So, about that homework help," Ben said once he was sure Enid was out of earshot.
"Can you read the problems out loud," Reed requested. "I want to work on this some more."
-)
After Ben had headed home, Reed made the risky decision to bring the prototype transporter, along with a few tools, up to his room to continue working after dark. Although she was an annoyance, there was something useful about Enid being invested in Reed's project. That usefulness came in the form of a distraction so that Reed could move his materials upstairs.
Now in the dead of night the Richards household everything was almost still, the one exception being the young inventor who was getting closer and closer to his dream of interplanar travel. The still of night did not last forever, as after a few hours of sleep the whole family was woken up by an echoing bang that originated from Reed's room.
Reed could hear his family's panic as he lay spread eagle on the floor, his hissing invention still on the table which he had been working at. Reed started up in wonder at the glowing machine.
"What the hell was that!" Reed could hear his father roar from outside his room.
"Reed! Enid! Hope!" Reed's mother screamed in worry for her children.
"What the hell was that!" Nathaniel repeated.
"It came from Reed's room!" Enid exclaimed, bursting out of her room and into the hallway along with her parents. "He's leaving without me!"
Nathaniel threw open Reed's door, Evelyn right behind him. The parents gazed at their son who had just gotten up off the floor.
"What the hell are you doing?" Nathaniel shouted.
"Dad! Where's Reed!" Enid asked.
"Go back to your room, darling," Evelyn said, turning around to face her daughter.
"Are you out of your goddamn mind!" Nathaniel bellowed. "It's midnight and you're messing with God knows what!
"Nathaniel let's go back to sleep," Evelyn whispered in her husband's ear.
"Not to mention in the house, you could've burned the whole thing down!"
"Stop it," Evelyn commanded with more force, temporarily calming down her husband.
Evelyn walked into the room and knelt by her son, "are you ok, Reed."
Reed looked up at his mother with a goofy smile on his face. "I'm better than ok!" Reed assured. "In fact, I'm fantastic!"
"I don't care how you're feeling, I've put up with enough of this crap!" Nathaniel started shouting again. "You're grounded! You're grounded and I don't care what excuse you have!"
"Dad, I just broke the planar-" Reed was cut off by his father who stormed back down the halls, screaming a four-letter word I can't use with this age rating.
"Whew, you're still here," Enid said, appearing in Reed's doorway.
Reed's eyes shifted back towards the transporter whose red light was starting to fade. Even after being yelled at, the cheer in Reed's eyes didn't go away. After all, Reed had just made history by breaking the planar barrier. The transporter had worked almost as Reed had imagined.
California, 1991, one month later
"Well, Mr. Richards, what do you have for us?" Reed's teacher asked, looking at the presentation Reed had set up.
Sparsely located throughout Reed's high school gymnasium were tables with a student's experiment on them. The students stood next to their table waiting their turn for the teacher to come up and judge the student projects. Sometimes with the teachers was a group of parents. This year the high school decided to open the fair to the public as a little fund raiser. As expected, nobody outside of people's families showed up. Although there was one man, nobody recognized.
Reed stood next to his table with Ben Grimm standing on the other side. Even though Ben went to a different high school, Reed was able to convince his teacher to let Ben come and assist Reed. Ben wasn't actually much assistance and was only there to keep Reed on track. A group of bord parents stood behind Reed's teacher.
"Before I show off what I have, I want to make a little speech," Reed said, picking up flashcards which were sitting next to his small transporter.
"Teleportation, the ability to move something or someone through space by disassembling the object or person's molecular structure and rebuilding it in another location," Reed began. "However that is just a theory, and it's a theory which I believe to be incorrect as I will show you today."
"This," Reed gestured towards his device. "Is a transporter to a parallel plane of existence which I believe holds the true key to teleportation. By shifting an object though the planar barrier, one would be able to automatically move themselves to another predetermined location where they would be shifted back into our plane."
"This could change everything about our society from how we get places to humanitarian efforts," Reed continued with his explanation, although the only person paying attention was the stranger at the very back. "For instance, we would no longer need cars, food could be transported in an instant, and separated families can be rejoined."
"What I have here," Reed once more motioned towards his machine. "Is a prototype transporter which so far can only transport small, non-biological objects through, and those objects can't be retrieved. In a few years I will hopefully be able to transport bigger things through, and maybe even people!"
"Uh, Reed you may want to speed up," Ben whispered into Reed's ear.
"Why?" Reed asked, before looking around at the bord crowd. "Oh, well then maybe I'll just show you guys."
"Are you sure this is safe, Reed?" Ben whispered again.
"Of course, I already tried this on some toy trains," Reed paused before addressing the gathered group. "You guys may want to step back, however."
With a simple flick of a switch, the machine powered to life as ambient red energy started crackling around it. The energy was gathered in the center of the machine where a model train was sitting. As the energy pooled the train started to slowly disappear, much to the crowds' shock. In a flash of bright red light, the train was gone leaving nothing but air in its place.
The crowd backed away in fear as Reed's eyes gleamed with excitement, he had the first moment he broke the barrier. The man at the very back stared intensely at Reed and then towards the machine.
"What did you say this young man's name was again?" Franklin Storm asked the teacher.
"Oh, um," the teacher sputtered. "He's Reed Richards."
-)
The next day Reed was slowly walking down the path back towards his house. Reed was hunched over with his hands shoved into his pockets, too sad to face the world. It was just Reed's luck that his transporter prototype had been damaged during the science fair, Reed suspected that one of the other students there damaged the machine, although he wasn't quite sure.
Reed stopped walking when he spotted a very pretty girl sitting on the porch outside of Reed's house. The girl had wavy blond hair and grey eyes which matched the color of her sundress. Reed figured she could not have been much younger than him. The girl noticed Reed walking up and gave a friendly wave. A small boy with similar blond hair waved as well.
"Hi there," the girl greeted.
"I, um, well," Reed sputtered at a loss for words.
"What was that?" The girl laughed which made Reed's heart skip a beat.
"House," Reed blurted out hoarsely.
"House?" the girl repeated.
Reed finally found it in himself to speak in a sentence, "This is my house."
"Oh, this is your house," The girl realized, glancing at the house behind her.
"What are you here for?" Reed sheepishly asked.
"My dad is inside talking with your parents I think."
Reed wondered what anyone would want to do with him. Maybe they were one of the teacher's kids and the teacher was talking with Reed's parents. Reed glanced at a window where he could see his parents talking with the man who had been at the science fair.
"What's your name?" the girl asked, dragging Reed from his thoughts.
"My name?" Reed dumbly repeated.
"My name is Susan Storm, and that's my younger brother Johnny," Sue pointed towards herself before gesturing at her brother. "Say hi, Johnny."
"Hi," Johnny said, hiding behind his sister's leg.
"He's a little shy," Susan explained, ruffling Johnny's hair. "Now why don't you tell me your name."
"R-Reed Richards," the young genius was eventually able to stammer out.
At the sound of Reed's name, Susan's eyes lit up with excitement. She rushed over to Reed and clamped her hands around his, making Reed's heartbeat like it had never before. At the corner of his eye, Reed could see Johnny shyly back away from his sister's sudden excitable behavior.
"Really?" Sue exclaimed. "You're the Reed Richards who published all of those scientific articles in nature and science magazines?"
Reed had in fact sent various papers he had written to notable magazines, although he never expected to have those actually appear. He had no access to journals after all and Reed had never left a return address on anything he sent. Reed didn't want his father finding out that he had written such papers, even the slight chance that Nathaniel would stop Reed from doing so was enough motivation to keep his writings secret.
"I, uh, guess I am," Reed confirmed, trying not to stutter.
"Wow, I thought I was smart, but you," Sue swooned. "You're even smarter than me! Maybe even smarter than my daddy!"
The door of the Richards household opened and out walked a middle-aged balding man in an over large lab coat, Reed figured that the man was the 'daddy' Susan spoke of. Behind the man were Reed's parents. His father had a disgruntled look on his face while Reed's mother clutched her hands in worry.
Dr Storm slowly approached Reed, eying his daughter's hands wrapped around those of Reed. There was something familiar about Dr Storm that Reed couldn't quite place. Of course, Reed had read much of Storm's work, but the familiarity seemed more than that.
"Dad!" Sue exclaimed, taking her hands off of Reed's. "This is Reed Richards, the guy who wrote those papers!"
"I know, in fact he's the reason why I'm here," Dr Strom said with a slight smile. "You know you're the only thing she seems to talk about these days."
"Daddy!" Sue shrilled, her face growing red.
Storm chuckled lightly before extending a friendly hand to Reed, "it's good to see you again Reed, I'm Dr Franklin Storm."
"Again?" Reed asked, shaking Storm's hand.
"Yes, you probably don't remember it, but we met when you were very young," Storm confirmed. "I'm an old friend of your father's."
"That was a long time ago," Nathaniel disgruntledly pointed out, kicking a rock off of the house porch.
"All the same," Franklin sighed. "But I'm not just here to visit old friends."
"What are you here for then?" Reed asked.
"Perhaps it's best if I let your parents explain."
"Dr Storm has come to make us an offer," Nathaniel sighed, seeing his wife give a slight glare towards him. "Er, he has come to make you an offer."
"What kind of an offer?" Reed urged.
"The government apparently wants you to go work for them," Nathaniel scoffed. "It's simply ridiculous."
"It's not ridiculous in the slightest," Franklin argued. "Reed, you have been working on things decades beyond anyone have ever seen, it's not so strange that I want you to work with the Baxter Institute."
"What's the Baxter Institute?"
"It's a government run program that scouts young geniuses," Susan piped up. "It offers people like us a place to hone our talents and learn from the best."
"It doesn't matter," Nathaniel dismissed. "We can't pay for the kid to attend some blasted school anyway."
"Actually, we'll be paying you," Franklin corrected, which made Nathaniel's eyes light up at the prospect. "You won't just be attending to learn, but also to contribute to the scientific work of the United States Government."
"Working with the government?" Reed quietly repeated to himself.
"A-and what exactly would he be doing with the government?" Reed's mother asked with concern.
"Most students there are required to work with their professors' own experiments, however-" Nathaniel began to explain before being interrupted by Nathaniel.
"Most students? What's Reed supposed to do then? Help the other kids?"
"Me and my colleagues have something else in mind, Nathaniel." Franklin confirmed. "Reed, meanwhile, will be working on his own. It's our belief that our professors will be more of a hindrance to Reed than a help."
"Ugh, I'm so jealous," Susan complained towards Reed. "Only one other student besides you gets to work on his own, meanwhile I have to work with the Moleman."
"Susan don't call Arthur that," Storm scolded. "He can be… difficult at times, but he's still a genius mind and a family friend."
"Whatever."
"Um, where exactly is this Baxter Institute, Professor Storm?" Reed spoke up.
At being called professor, Franklin's eyes lit up seeing it as confirmation that Reed did indeed want to work for the think tank. "I assume you calling me professor means you agree?"
"Just answer the question, old friend," Nathaniel growled.
"Right," Nathaniel said, briefly glancing at his friend. "It's at the very heart of Manhattan."
"Manhattan?" Evelyn said in disbelief. "But that's so far away!"
"Whatever, let the boy go," Reed's father muttered.
"But a moment ago you said-"
"I know what I said," Nathaniel shook his head and turned around to walk back inside his home. "The sooner he's out, the better."
Reed looked at his father's retreating figure in surprise. It's probably the offer of money and the promise that he would no longer have to deal with Reed was what convinced Nathaniel to accept Franklin's offer, but a small part of Reed couldn't help but think that some small part of the choice was related to the bond that Nathaniel used to share with his son.
The revelation that Nathaniel used to be an inventor shocked Reed. And furthermore, that Nathaniel used to be friends and even worked with one of the greatest scientists of all time, made Reed wonder if that accident of Nathaniel's youth really did change him as much as Reed's mother had always claimed.
New York, 1991, 2 months later
Reed had to shield his eyes from the radiant sunlight which reflected off of the glass Baxter Building. The building was almost 100 floors tall, and each floor must have helped inventions more wondrous than the one beneath. The towering building was located at 42nd street, more specifically the four-freedom plaza named after FDR's famous speech.
The doors of the Baxter Building slid open to reveal the entrance room of the building, which already promised to be interesting. Various students were working on their own experiments and were even testing out their inventions. On one side of the room was a boy playing with a flying robot, while on the other side was a girl working on a makeshift rocket ship.
"Welcome to the Baxter Building," said the chief of security, William Lumpkin, who had been the one to escort Reed through the bustling streets of New York.
As Lumpkin led Reed towards the back of the entrance room, he introduced various professors and students who were in sight. "That's professor Arthur Molekevic," William pointed towards a short man who looked like a human mole-rat. "That woman right next to him is Professor Rhona Burchill."
Reed gazed briefly at the professors. Reed had read some of Burchill's work on experimental androids and he remembered Sue mentioning Molekevic in passing. Susan had called Arthur 'mole man' and now that Reed had seen the man, he couldn't quite disagree with her logic.
"And of course you have already met me," Dr Storm said, drawing Reed away from his thoughts.
Susan was walking right behind her father and gave an enthusiastic wave. Reed blushed once more just as he had when he first met her. Reed was hoping that his crush would have died down the next time he saw her, but that turned out to not be the case. That crush was sure to cause somewhat of a distraction, and besides it was not like Reed even knew how to approach her.
"It's good to see you again, young man," Franklin said.
"You too, professor."
"It's going to be exciting to work alongside you as peers."
Reed briefly thought of the possibilities. Not only would the Baxter Institute allow him to finish the transporter, but other projects as well. Reed's study into something dubbed an unstable molecule especially excited him.
"Don't you have something to show Reed?" Susan reminded her father.
"Oh yes," Franklin remembered. "Follow me, Reed."
Franklin led Reed towards the back of the 1st floor and scanned an ID card against a wall. All of a Sudden, a secret door slid open, revealing a large chamber which had a large terminal located in the northeast corner. Hanging from the ceiling of the chamber was a spherical object that had microscope lens protruding from all around it.
"Did you ever wonder how I found you, Reed?" Franklin asked.
"It didn't occur to me," Reed admitted. "I just assumed that you scouted around the nation for talent."
"Well, we do but your case is a little different."
"Different how?"
"Well, let me first explain that traveling between planes of existence has been something of a pet project for us," Franklin explained.
"So did you find the Negative Zone too?" Reed asked, seeing where the conversion was heading.
"Yes, we found it last year, but we've been calling it the N-Zone."
Reed felt his heart drop. The government had already found the plane which Reed was so proud of himself for discovering. What was so special about Reed if what he did had already been done.
"But what we haven't been able to do is break that planar barrier," Franklin elaborated, seeing the look of uncertainty on Reed's face.
"Wait… so I was the first to actually break through?" Reed realized.
"You were the first," Susan confirmed, taking Reed's hand in excitement. "Dad wasn't even close to finding it."
"Wait, so how far did you get?" Reed asked, trying to stop his heart from bursting out of his chest.
"So far we can only look at it," Franklin said.
"Only look at it…" Reed repeated, dumbstruck as he hadn't been able to do that.
Franklin nodded his head before snapping his fingers, a single for the room to darken. Energy pulsated through the walls and traced a way up towards the spherical object hanging from the ceiling. All of a sudden, the room was lit up by a shining red light similar to that given off by Reed's transporter whenever it activated.
Reed gazed around the room, awestruck. Large bubbles and pulsating energy traveled all around the room, images from the Negative Zone. Out of the corner of his eye Reed could see a small group of floating objects.
"We're sure glad we found you, kid," said a researcher standing next to the objects. "We've been trying to find any sign of life for months, when these things started popping up."
"When they first found it, they assumed they had gone mad," Sue snickered into Reed's ear.
"They're my toy trains…" Reed muttered to himself, looking closer at the objects.
"That they are," Franklin affirmed.
Reed's eyes gazed over the room once more, looking at each spark of energy from the Zone. Another thing that Reed noticed was a boy around his age sitting on a rolling chair at the back of the room. The boy was hunched over, presumably reading something.
"Who's that?" Reed asked, pointing towards the boy.
"That is someone I think you'll get along very well with," Franklin answered. "He's our best student and the one who made this viewing room possible."
"What's his name?" Reed asked, remembering that Susan mentioned another student on Reed's level.
"Victor," Franklin said. "Victor Von Doom."
Even at that distance away, Victor seemed to be able to hear Dr Storm calling his name. Victor looked up from what he had been reading and stared directly at Reed, bright green eyes meeting that of brown.
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