Fantastic Four A New Story

[Spideyrules99]

Here is my Fantastic Four Story. It takes place in the same univevse as My Spiderman Stories. It takes place at the same time as my first Spiderman Story. Here it is. As always feedback is welcome.
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Fantastic Four

“But sir you have read my findings, you know that what I wish to try can happen.” Came the voice of Victor Von doom.
“Yes I have read your findings. And I am not convinced that you experiment will work.” Came the reply of The Dean of Empire State University. “And even if it could work, the idea of what you wish to do is better left for movies and books. Not a place of higher learning.”
‘You have read my findings, my proposal.” Doom said again, this time with more harsh tones in his voice.
“I will not change my mind on this no matter how many times I read your reports.” The Dean took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Victor you are the brightest student here, your potential in limitless. Why must you always want to follow these outrageous theories?”
“They are only outrageous to scared old men with their noses in dusty old books to look at the future.” Doom snapped.
“That is enough Doom.” The Dean started to raise his voice. “I will here no more of this. And if you continue down this path you will find yourself expelled from this school.” The Dean warned.
“BAH! I have learned all I can from this wretched place anyway.” Doom turned and left the office, closing the door with a slam. He stormed down the hallway not caring who he bumped into, ignoring the shouts from other students. He only stopped when he came to his dorm room. He threw open the door and glared at his roommate Reed Richards.
“Why did you do it Richards.” Reed look at Doom, he knew what the man was talking about.
“Go to the Dean. What else could I do Victor?”
“You could have stayed out of this.”
“I could not. Not after I read your data. It was flawed. Had you gone ahead you would have hurt, maybe even killed someone.”
“HOW DARE YOU!” Doom yelled out. “Are you so jealous of my work that you will try and stop me at every turn?”
“I am not jealous, I am concerned.”
“Save it. You are just like the foolish old Dean. Wrapping your head around decades old ideas. To afraid for real advancement.” Doom turned to leave but stopped at the door. “Do not come near me or my work again, or you will regret it.”

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!! Reed sat up in his bed at the sound of the alarm. He jumped to his feet and opened the door. The hallway was filled with dark smoke and running students. He grabbed one by the arm.
‘What is going on?” He demanded.
“An explosion in the Science Labs. The fire has spread to the dorm building.” The scared student answered. He pulled free from reed’s grip and started to run again. Reed turned to wake Victor but saw his bed had not been slept in. A bad feeling crept over him.
“Oh Victor, what did you do?”

[simply4est]

Cool, a FF story!

[Spideyrules99]

I have decided to give them a try. The FF was the first group I started reading and was a huge fan. I hope I do a good job.
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The small room was packed with students, far more than a normal disciplinary hearing would have gathered, but most of these students were ones who lost their dorm rooms and belongings in the fire, others were people who wanted to see the man scientist who created all of that havoc. A small bell chimed at the front of the room and everyone fell silent. Three men sat at the front of the room at a large polished table, The Dean of The university, The Dean of Sciences, and The Head of Student affairs. They all looked grimly at the man at the table across from them. It was Victor Von Doom sitting in a wheelchair, his face and hands wrapped in bandages protecting the burns he had suffered.
“Victor Von Doom.” The Dean of the University started. “Despite our orders you went ahead with a dangerous experiment even after being warned that your data may be flawed. Because of your actions The Science Building has been destroyed, The Dorm building has been damaged, and tragically two of your fellow classmates have died. The police for some reason have decided not to press charges against you. Do you have anything to say in your defense?” Doom just sat there staring at the men. The fact he said nothing made them wonder why he bothered showing up at all.
“Since you have nothing to say I will go on. It is the ruling on this panel that you be expelled from Empire State University and to hold you responsible for paying all the damages that you have caused. And on a personal note Doom I will see to it that you are not admitted to another American university as long as I live.” Doom sat silently as a nurse came behind him to push him out of the room. He held up his hand as they passed the back of the room where Reed Richards was standing.
“You sabotaged my work Richards. I am not sure how but it is the only explanation for what happened.” Victor said in a raspy voice, his throat having been burned with the rest of his body. “I will make you pay for that. I will spend the rest of my life making you pay.” He stared at Richards as he was pushed out of the room. Reed felt a chill go up his spine at the threat and the look Doom had given him. Reed left the room shortly after looking over his shoulder the whole way back to his new room. If anyone could live up to a treat like that it was Victor Von Doom.

[simply4est]

Beware (former) Doctoral Candidate Doom...

[Spideyrules99]

Yea I dont think I can make him a doctor now that he has booted from school. Wouldnt seem fair to the real doctors out there.

______________________________________________________________
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER

Reed Richards sat in the lab and read the results of the latest test. Everything preformed they way he had expected and it pleased him very much. It had taken almost five years of work but at last things were done and ready for the final stage. He looked over at his two assistants and saw the smiles on their faces as well. They had put just as much into this as he has, all the late nights, the failed attempts, everything. Standing nearest to him was Bobby Drake, a young man fresh out of college. He was a bit childish but when it came time to do the work he snapped out of it. For the most part anyway. Then there was Susan Storm. A few years older the Bobby. He watched her as the light shone off her bright blonde hair, as a smile worked its way across her face. Reed was very much attracted to her. But he would never admit it to her. The age difference and the fact that he was her boss made that impossible for him.
“Professor!” Came the loud voice of Bobby snapping Reed from his thoughts. He turned to the young man.
“No need to shout Mr. Drake I am right here.” He said.
“I am sorry Sir but I have called your name three times.”
“Three.” Reed said a bit embarrassed at his lack of focus.
“Yes. Lost in thought again?” Bobby asked glancing over at Sue.
“Yes.” Reed fumbled to say. “The shield tests. Very stressful.”
“I am sure.” Bobby smile.
“What did you want Bobby?”
“General Ross is here to see you. He is in your office.” Reed quickly stood up and rolled his eyes.
“How can we ever finish if that man won’t leave us alone for more than five minutes?” Richards fumed as he walked towards his office. His office was a cluttered mess. His desk covered in files and loose papers, three chalkboards covered with formula s, two bookcases with books thrown on there in no real order. Most of the time the office felt cramped, now with three people in it, it felt like a prison.
“What do you need General?” Reed asked hoping to get right to the point as he sat behind his desk.
“You know Dr. Banner correct?” The General asked.
“Of course we have met a number of times. Good to see you again Bruce.”
“When you came to my office you said yours was in worse shape. I see now you were not joking.” Bruce said as he looked around the office.
“I spend to much time in my lab to worry about housekeeping in my office.” Reed answered. He looked back at The General. “So what is it you and Dr. Banner need with me. I have a lot to do in the next couple days.”
“I asked Dr. Banner here to go over your notes since he was here on another project.” Ross answered. Reed looked up.
“I don’t need anyone double checking my work.” He said with an edge to his voice.
“The government has a great deal of time and money invested in the Starcore Project. I want everything checked and triple checked. If that hurts your ego to bad.” Ross shot back. He was not about to let Reed talk down to him. Reed let out a sigh.
“And what did you think Dr. Banner?”
“I am very impressed. The design of the shield you have developed is first rate. I love the program that will link it with the computers on Starcore that will protect it from radiation. For the most part it should work.”
“Most part?”
“Well Reed to be honest I am concerned about the Cosmic Radiation. “
“I have that covered. And have even allowed for a twenty percent increase in the Cosmic Rays. We will be fine.”
“And what if there is more than a twenty percent jump?” Ross broke in.
“There is a slim chance of that.” Reed answered.
“How slim?”
“One in a million.” Bruce answered. “But we know so little about the Rays that it very well could happen. What will happen with the solar flares? They are predicted to be at an all time high the week of the launch.”
“It has been taken into account.” Reed was getting angry that his work was being doubted.
“And you are betting your life on that?” Bruce said almost shocked.
“Yes I am. I would not even think of sending my team up there if I was not sure.” Reed stood up from his desk and pushed past the two men. “Now if you will excuse me I have work to finish.” He walked out of his office and slammed the door behind him.
“What an ego on that man.” Ross said as he left.
“He seems to think that he has taken everything into account. And I pray that he has. Who knows what would happen if he is wrong.”

[simply4est]

An interesting combination of characters developing here... I look forward to seeing what happens..

[Spideyrules99]

The next few days were a blur to Reed and his team. Checking and rechecking everything they were sure they were ready. Today though had nothing to do with checking figures, today they would be at a press conference with Ross and the other members that would make up the piloting team. Reed and his team walked into a small room while they waited for the conference to start. The door opened and in walked General Ross followed by another man. He was six foot and had a muscular build. And his clean shaven head would make him hard to miss.
“BEN!” Reed yelled out as he went to shake his old friends hand. “I didn’t know you were the pilot for this mission.”
“I’m the only one they trust to fly this blasted machine.” Ben answered. He knew of course that was not true, but he was never a modest man. General Ross stepped forward and started to speak.
“Since you two know each other already I wont have to introduce you.” He said. “But perhaps the others on your team would like to meet this man.” He look at Bobby and Sue “My I present to you Lt. Commander Benjamin Grimm United States Air Force.” Ben smiled as he nodded at Bobby, then his smile grew even wider as he locked eyes with Sue. He took her hand and kissed it.
“It is very nice to meet you indeed.” He smiled at her. She blushed at the show of attention.
“It is very nice to meet you Commander.” She answered.
“Please call me Ben.” Reed did not like the way the two were looking at each other. He stepped forward and placed his hand on Ben’s shoulder and guided him away from Sue.
“So how long have you known you were flying with us?” He asked his old friend.
“Just a couple weeks. The fact we know each other is probably what got me this gig.”
“And what about the other man?” Reed asked referring to Ben’s copilot.
“His name is Lucas Cage with NASA. Good solid kid. Worked his way up from a poor kid in Harlem that kind of thing. He will be at the conference so you can meet him there.
“And how do you two know each other?” Bobby asked.
“Old stretch and I were roomies back at ESU.”
“I thought that one guy, what’s his name was your roommate.” Sue said.
You mean Vic Doom?” Ben asked and answered at the same time. “Well after he pulled his doc Frankenstein bit they moved me in with Reed. This guy is the only reason I got a degree. Smartest man I ever met.” Now it was Reed’s turn to blush at the praise.
“If you are all one catching up it’s time to get started.” Ross butted in. He looked at his watch and saw they were a few minutes behind and that didn’t make him happy. He left the room followed by the others to the press room. Once there they would talk about their mission. Starcore had cost a lot of tax payer money and it was time to learn where it was all going. Reed took a breath. He didn’t like speaking in front of crowds.
“Relax pal just smile and let me do all the talking.” Ben joked. As they took their seats.
“I wish I could Ben. I hate speaking to reporters.” Ross started to speak first.
“I am here to present to you the team that will fly The Starcore mission. This station will allow us to study distant stars and solar systems, as well as be a line of defense with the treats of space.”
“Little green men.” One reporter joked. Ross looked at the man.
“Not only from little green men, but from meteors that may strike Earth, deadly radiation, and number of things.” Reed stopped listening to Ross part of the way into his speech. He knew what the mission was for he didn’t need to hear it again. In fact Ross had to call his name a second time to get him to come up and speak he was so lost in thought. When it was over he filed out of the room with the other.
“I will be in my office.” He told Bobby. “See to it I am not disturbed.” He walked back into his office, he had two days before the launch and he had a lot of work to do. He sat at his desk and saw that someone had been doing work. His computer was turned on, he looked at the words on the screen.
“I have read your data, it is flawed. If you go forward someone will be hurt or killed.” the screen read.
“Who the devil did this?” He thought of Banner, but that wasn’t his style. He was a direct man when it came to matters in the lab. He shut off his computer in anger. His data was not flawed, he knew it wasn’t.

[Spideyrules99]

Reed sat in his seat on the shuttle, Bobby to his right Sue to his left. Luke Cage and Ben sat in the front two seats running down the preflight checklist. Ben turned his head back.
“Alright people simple flight. Thirty six hours to the station, two weeks setting up the computers them a quick flight back. Easy as pie.” He said. Luke pressed a button turning on the commutation system.
“This is The Shuttle Atlantis to mission control, we are ready for lift off.”
“Roger that Atlantis, begin countdown.” Reed paid no attention as the countdown began.
“LIFTOFF!” Ben yelled as the engines came to lift. Reed’s head snapped back on his seat as the shuttle lifted off. He got a queasy feeling in his stomach and almost lost his lunch.
“You all right back there stretch?” Ben asked using the radios in the helmets. When he heard no answer he turned his head. “HA!” He yelled as he saw Reed had passed out.

It had been twenty four hours into the flight and so far things had gone as planed.
“I have revised the work schedule for the station. This will help us get it done a couple days ahead of where we should be.” Reed said as he sat down in his chair and strapped himself in. He didn’t like the idea of floating around in zero gravity. His two assistants however were having a fun time. Doing flips and goofing around.
“Shouldn’t you have turned on the artificial gravity Ben?” He asked his friend.
“Yea I shoulda. But how often are we going to get a chance to be up here Reed. Let the kids have fun.”
“This mission is not about fun. We have a lot of work to do.”
“And we will do it when we get to Starcore Mr. Richards. But for now let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride. I mean look at that view.” Luke butted in as he looked out of the window. “Have you ever seen anything like it?”
“Yea Professor.” Bobby added as he floated over their way. “If you would have told me as a child I would be in space I would have called you crazy.”
“It’s the most amazing thing I have ever seen.” Sue said lost in thought as she looked out with Luke at the stars. The sudden beeping at a computer station behind them snapped them all from their thoughts. Reed turned around and looked back. The sound was coming from the radiation monitoring system.
“All right Ben fun time is over.” He said as he hit a button on the control panel turning the gravity back on. He stood up and ran to the station.
“What’s wrong?” Ben asked as he turned towards Reed.
“A sudden spike in radiation. Above what we projected.” Reed answered in a clam voice.
“What from?” Cage asked.
“I am not sure.”
“The shields they will hold right?” Ben asked.
“They will hold…” Reed started to say. But before he could get it out the lights dimmed in the shuttle.
“What the Hell?” Ben asked. Cage looked down the control panel.
“A power surge. It’s starting to cut the power.” He answered.
“That’s not good. The surge will overload the shield generator.” Bobby said with worry in his voice.
“Not if I can help it. Your with me kid.” Ben said as he stood up and headed for the back of the shuttle.
“Where are you going?” Sue asked.
“To the power core at the back of this thing. If that generator does go out I need to get the back up on line in a hurry.” He opened the small hatch to the back and looked at Bobby.
“Come on kid we got to hurry. Cage the birds all yours.”
“I’ll take care of her. Hurry back. Things are going to get rough up here.” Ben and Bobby walked through the hatch.
“Anything I can do?” Sue asked.
“Yes sit down and strap in.” Luke answered. “It’s going to be a rough ride.”
“It’s about to get rougher.” Reed said in alarm. “We have a huge wave of energy about to ht us.”
“How soon?” Luke asked. When Reed didn’t answer Luke looked back. “How long Richards?” Reed grabbed onto his console.
“FIVE SECONDS!” He yelled out. “HANG ON!” The wave slammed into the shuttle with amazing force. The ship rocked back and forth as Cage tried to stabilize it. A shower of sparks flew from many computers and a small explosion was heard coming from the back of the shuttle.
“Ben.. Bobby..” Sue said softly as she looked towards the hatch. “We have to help them.” Reed stood up and ran to the hatch. He twisted the handle and threw it open.
“BEN!” He yelled down the darken corridor. “BOBBY!”
“You going to stand there and yell stretch or are you going to help?” Came the gruff voice of Ben as he stepped through the hatch, carrying Bobby over his shoulder. Reed reached over to help him place Bobby in one of the seats.
“Is he?” sue started to ask.
“No.” Ben answered. “We had a hull breach back there. The suction slammed him into a wall. I was able to drag him through a small hatch before we were both sucked out.”
“What about the shield generators?” Reed asked.
“Shot to hell.” He sat back down in his own seat. “What’s working up here?”
“Not much.” Cage answered. “Communications are down, we are running on backup power.”
“Let’s turn around and head back to Earth.” Ben ordered.
“We are closer to Starcore.” Sue said. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to go there?”
“We would never make it. With no shields we would never live through the radiation, and with the computers shot I would never be able to dock with the station.” Ben answered.
“As it sits right now we have a very slim chance to make it back to Earth.” Reed said grimly as he slumped down onto his chair. It would seem Bruce was right, the shields were not good enough, he was wrong. And because of that everyone on this shuttle was about to die.

It had been almost forty eight hours since the accident on the shuttle. The going home was slower then the way up due to engine troubles. And the work on the shuttle seemed to go just as slow. Luke and Ben worked on the engines and Communications, while Reed, Bobby, and Sue worked on the power and shield generators. They also wielded the hull breach shut. It was a fast patch work job but with a lot of luck it may hold.
“Everyone strap in.” Came the voice of Ben. His tone matching his last name, very grim. “We are going to make an emergency landing. I am not sure if the work we have done the past few days was enough. If it wasn’t then we wont live long enough to find out as we reenter the atmosphere.” He pressed a few buttons and the shuttle started its descent back to Earth. Reed heard Ben say a private message to his wife and son. Reed turned down the radio in his helmet, he didn’t want to hear the things Ben was saying. He also found his own lips moving, doing something he had not done since he was a child. He was praying.

[simply4est]

Hmmm... will it be a Fantastic Five... ?

[Spideyrules99]

I wanted to make it the fantastic five I just cant find a way to get Herbie the robot in here. O hero like that should have his own story.
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“SIR!” Came the shout of one of the flight control officer looking at a radar. “The Shuttle is inbound. Impact in less then five minutes.”
Any word from the crew?” Ross asked, he knew the answer but he was hoping he was wrong.
“No Sir. Not since the last contact with them twelve hours ago.”
“Impact Zone?”
“Not far from here sir. I have no idea how he has done it but Commander Grim has them almost on the return flight plan. They will impact in the large field about a mile from here.” The man answered.
‘A mile is pretty close considering all the damage done to the shuttle.’ Ross thought. He pressed the intercom. All emergency teams to field Alpha.” “Form a perimeter around the field. I want no one getting onto that field unless I give the order.” He looked out the window and saw a small object in the sky, the shuttle and it was coming down fast, he didn’t see how anyone in there could be left alive.

The shuttle crashed down causing a huge crater where it landed, the emergency crews sprayed fire retardant foam on the shuttle to cool it down and put out the few small fires that had started.
“REPORT!” Came the loud voice of Ross over the headset of the crew leader.
“We are going to open the shuttle doors now sir, I will report back in a few..” He was cut off by the sound of another rescue worker.
“SIR YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!” The crew leader ran over and looked into the open hatch towards Grim and his team.
“Oh my god…” He said softly as he saw what was inside.

[Spideyrules99]

Reed opened his eyes but quickly brought his hand up to shield them from the light. He looked around and saw that he was in a hospital room, and he was alone.
“Hello?” He said weakly. He swung his feet off the bed and tried to stand, he fell to the floor. He looked up and saw a door open.
“Dr. Richards you shouldn’t be out of bed.” Came the voice of a female nurse. She ran over and helped him back onto the bed.
“Where, where am I?” he asked.
“You are back on the base in the infirmary.” she answered.
“Where are the others?” He asked. She looked away from.
“I had better let the Doctor know that you are awake.” She stood up and quickly left the room. After a couple of minutes Reed was going to try and stand up again, find out where she went, but the door opened and in walked a doctor and a general, it was not Ross.
“Hello Dr. Richards I am Dr. Clark. How are you feeling?” He asked.
“A little weak.”
“That’s not a shock with everything you have been through.” Came the voice of the general.
“Who are you?” Reed asked. “Where is Ross. Where are the others?”
“I am General Wayne, General Ross has been reassigned out west to work with Dr. Banner. Tell me what do you remember about your landing?”
“Nothing. We had all passed out as we reentered the atmosphere. How long have I been here?”
“Two weeks. The date is May the second.” Clark answered.
“Where are the others.” Reed demanded. “Are they ok?”
“There where complications after the landing. Your team in resting the same as you.”
“What kind of complications?” Wayne took a photo out of a folder and handed it to Reed. Reed could not believe what he was seeing.
“This was taken just after you landed.” Wayne informed him. The picture showed Reed. His arms and legs wrapped around the cabin of the shuttle, Sue’s body was half gone, bobby was covered in some kind of ice, Luke’s skin had a metallic shine to it, but worst of all, Ben had some form of rocky growth over his body. Reed put the picture down and looked at his arms and legs, they were not stretched out like they were in the picture.
“What happened to use?” Reed asked in shock.
“We were hoping you could tell us.” Clark said. “You said you were feeling ok?” Reed raised his arm and stretched it out, he looked on in horror as it began to get longer and longer.
“No Doctor, I don’t think I am.” He said with a worried voice.

In the week since Reed had come out of his short lived coma he had jumped right back into the lab. It was the only place he truly felt at home. And he was a bit more relieved when his other teammates woke up as well, well almost all of them have. Ben had still not come around. He sat in a chair surrounded by Luke, Bobby, Sue, Dr. Clark and General Wayne.
“Well Richards you called us here.” Luke started. “Care to tell us why.”
“Yes Luke of course. Over the past week I have been running tests on all of use, they included the exercises that you all have done to test your new abilities.” Reed started.
“Do you know what happened to you all?” Wayne asked.
“I do. With Luke and Bobby it was easy. Luke you were covered with a liquid metal that bonded to your Dna, your skin is now covered with that metal it has enhanced your strength to unbelievable levels, and it has now become almost impossible to hurt you.” Reed turned to Bobby. “With you the radiation has activated a dormant X Gene.”
“X-Gene? You mean I was a mutant?” Bobby asked.
“Yes. One with the power to control ice. Sue what happened to us is harder to explain. For some reason our Dna has been altered as well. You can bend the very light around you and become invisible to the naked eye. While I..” Reed stretched out his arm to the other side of the room. “Can do this. I have turned into a rubber man.” He said with a smile.
“And what about Ben?” Sue asked softly.
“I am not sure. He has that rocky growth all over his body, but I cant test any limits of what has happened to him without his being awake.”
“Then you get your wish.” Clark butted in. I just got the call he is awake."

[simply4est]

So is Luke's iron skin permanent like Ben's hide or can he turn it on and off like Colossus?

[Spideyrules99]

Reed was uneasy as he walked down the hallway to his friend’s room, he wasn’t sure what he was going to say to him. What could he say? Dr. Clark in front of him opened the door and walked in followed by Reed. There sat Ben on his large bed. His body covered in hard orange rock that showed no signs of going anywhere. Reed and the others were lucky, what happened to them was easy to hide as they could still pass as normal humans, Ben had no chance of that.
“Hello Ben.” He said quietly.
“Reed.” Ben answered without looking his way.
“How do you feel today Mr. Grim?” Clark asked.
“How do I feel?” Ben asked. “HOW DO I FEEL! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL” He yelled out and he slammed his hand onto a table next to his bed. It shattered with the force of the blow.
“Ben try and remain calm.” Reed started to say. Ben looked his way at last.
“Calm? You want me to stay calm. Look what the Hell happened to me Reed. I am a freak, A MONSTER!”
Ben we have all changed.”
“But you don’t look like this. And I bet that Luke and the others don’t. What the Hell happened? You told me the shields were safe.”
“The..” Reed started to say but Ben cut him off.
“Banner, Ross they thought your data was wrong. But you kept insisting that it wasn’t. You told me before we took off that everything would be ok. DOES THIS LOOK OK TO YOU?”
“Ben I know this is a shock but..”
“A shock? Damn right it’s a shock. How can I look at my wife, my son every again. How would they look at me, like I was some kind of thing that’s how.”
“I am doing everything I can to fix this.”
“Fix this? How can you fix this.” Ben turned away. “Get out Reed, Get out of my sight.”
“Ben..”
“GO! Before I turn into the monster that I look like.”
“I will come back later Ben. Try and get some rest.” Reed backed out of the door followed by Dr. Clark. In the hallway stood General Wayne.
“It would seem he is very upset with you Dr Richards.” The man stated.
“Can you blame him. I don’t.” Reed answered. “He thinks he is a freak, some kind of monster. He is also worried about his wife and son. Perhaps if he could see them.”
“Out of the question.” Wayne said in a hurry.
“But why?”
“No one outside this base knows what happened to you, they think you are still in a coma, and right now I am going to do nothing to dispute that.”
“But his family.”
“Will never see him again unless you cure him.” Wayne said in a harsh tone. “We cant have someone like that walking around on the streets scaring people, what kind of life could he live?”
“General were not back at Fort Horton are we?” Reed asked thinking of the base where all his work on this project has been done.”
“What makes you think that?”
“This building does have the same layout as Horton, but my lab is different, none of have been aloud outside, there are no windows, no way to talk to anyone outside this building..”
“Alright Reed you got me., I knew you would figure it out sooner or later. Fact is you were moved before you came out of your coma.”
“Why?” Reed asked.
“For a simple reason. What if what has happened to you has not finished? What if there are long term effects of your transformation? What if your transformations are not yet done? I can not allow you to endanger innocent lives until I am sure.” Reed thought that over for a few seconds. He did not like what Wayne had told him but he understood it. He just hoped the others would as well.
“I do understand General. I really do. Now if you will excuse me I will get back into the lab to make sure that there will be no long term effects. I would like to sleep in my own bed sometime in the next couple years.” He turned and walked away.
“Don’t count on it.” Wayne said to himself. If he had his way Reed and his men would never set foot off this base again.

[Spideyrules99]

To answer our question from before. Luke cage in this stroy has metal skin that is permenant. He still looks african american but his skim now has a metal tint to it. It reflects metal like most shinny metal things do.
_____________________________________________________________

General Nicholas Wayne stood in Ben Grim’s hospital room looking at the large orange man. It had been two days since he had recovered and he hasn’t said much of a word to anyone outside of his blowout on Richards. The General felt bad for Ben, he was a soldier just doing his duty when this happened to him. Wayne and a few others still blamed Richards. That is why Wayne was so happy to see Reed confined on this base. It would be a cold day in Hell before he let a group of people with powers he didn’t understand walk around endangering lives.
“You asked to see me Commander.” He said Ben turned to face him and saw the three guards The General had standing next to him. It was clear to Ben that this man was scared of him, of what he might do. When Ben stood the General had to force himself not to take a step back. He stood over seven feet tall and was massive with his rocky body.
“Yes I did Sir. I wanted to see about contacting my wife Jill and son Benny. Maybe see them. “I want to let them know I am ok.” Ben looked at the mirror in the room. “Or at least as ok as I can be.”
“I am sorry to say that is not possible at the moment.”
“Why?”
“You family along with most other people think you are still in a coma from the radiation.”
“You mean she has been worrying the past three weeks? Not knowing anything.”
“Until Dr. Richards finds a way to reverse what has happened we feel it is best if you all remain here.”
“I can understand that, there is a lot that has to be studied. But at least let her come here and see me. Let me talk to her.” Ben started to sound upset.
“As I have said Commander that is not possible. And given your present condition I am shocked that you want to see her.”
“SHE IS MY WIFE!” He Yelled. The men in the room took a step back. Ben turned his back to the men. “And if you wont bring her here then I will go see her myself.” He clenched his fist and hit the large concrete wall in front of him sending a chunk of it to the ground.
“Commander I order you to stop this instant.” Ben hit the wall again.
“I am leaving General. Don’t try and stop me.” He raised his fist again and slammed it into the wall. A third chunk hit the ground Wayne looked at the guards and nodded. One of the pulled out his baton and slammed it into the back of Ben. Ben turned around picked the man up with his massive hands and threw across the room. He slammed into the door of the room and flew through it. The other two men looked at The General.
“Stop him. Use any force you need to. They pulled out the guns they had clipped to their belt and fried at Ben. They had mercy bullets in them meant to subdue not kill. Those bullets just bounced off Ben’s Rocky body. He reached down and picked up the bed he was laying on. He used it to swat the two men aside. They hit the side wall and fell to the ground.
“BEN! I ORDER YOU TO STAND DOWN!” Ben picked the General up.
“General I resign my commission.” He said as he threw the man hard against the wall. Wayne’s head hit the wall with a thud, he fell to the ground not moving. Ben smiled, it was time for him to leave.

[simply4est]

Wondering if a shiny metal Cage stop the Grimm hulking one...

[Spideyrules99]

Reed sat in his lab when he heard the base alarms going off. Bobby and Luke came running in.
“What’s the matter?” He asked them.
“It’s Ben he attacked General Wayne and a few others. He has escaped.” Luke answered. Reed stood up.
“Come on we have to see if..” He was stopped as four armed guards entered his lab guns drawn and pointed at him.
“You are going no where.” The young Captain in the lead said.
“What is this?” Bobby demanded.
“Orders from Major Moss. We are to keep you from interfering while we contain Commander Grim.”
“That’s foolishness.” Reed objected. “We can help.”
“I have my orders. You are not to leave this room.” The man said.
“Let us talk to Moss.” Reed started to walk towards him, the Captain pointed his gun right at Reed.
“As I said I have my orders.”
“Stand down Captain.” Came a new voice. It belonged to General Wayne, he was walking along side Sue.
“Sir I heard you were injured.”
“I am well enough.” Wayne answered. Reed saw he was lying. He was holding his head, he had blood on his uniform and he looked very shaky. He turned to Reed. “Do you think you and your team can stop Grim?”
“I am not sure the extent of his powers, but given our powers I would say we have a better shot of it then your men.” Reed answered. General Wayne turned to the Captain.
“Get a plane ready for Dr. Richards and his team they are going after that thing.”
“Yes sir.” The captain clearly did not agree with him but he was a good enough soldier not to say so, he left the lab to carry out his orders.
“You want to see an extent of his powers follow me to the plane.” Reed and the other followed. They stepped outside of the large building for the first time is weeks. The sun hurt Reed’s eyes and he had to shield them for a second. When he got used to the bright light he saw the extent of Ben’s powers. Or at least a small part of them. The large building had a huge hole in the wall from Ben’s escape. Outside the building where two tanks, both twisted hunks of metal, and many men laying on the ground.
“He tore through my men like they were nothing. Bullets bounced off of him.“ The General looked towards the plane. “I don’t know what you can do.” Truth was Reed didn’t know himself, but he had to try something. He couldn’t let his old friend hurt anyone else. He and the others bored the plane.
“We try and talk to Ben first. If that doesn’t work then we hit him with everything we can.” Reed was just worried that what they had may not be enough.

[Spideyrules99]

The small plane flew over the wooded landscape, it was a good place for Ben to hide in and it was working. So far they had not seen him, but the path of overturned trees hinted they might be going the right way.
“A small town by the name of Rosen is about a fourth mile ahead of here. You have to stop Ben before he gets there.” Wayne ordered in a worried voice. I am going to fly ahead and meet with the civilian authorities just in case.”
“We will do what we can Sir.” Reed answered.
“I hope so. I wont have any backup for you for a little while thanks to the mess he made at the base. And I don’t want to resort to more drastic measures in a populated area.” Reed understood what he meant. Before he could say anything the plane rocked from a small explosion.
“What the Hell was that?” Wayne demanded.
“Sir I cant believe it. A huge tree just flew up from the surface, it hit our right wing and took out the number two engine. We have to land.”
“Alright Richards time to go.” Wayne said as he opened a small door for Reed and the others to jump from. “GO GO GO!” He yelled as they all four jumped out of the door and deployed their parachutes. As they drifted to the ground he saw Ben in the woods walking towards the town. He also saw the shocked looks on the faces of the others. This was the first time they had seen the monster that Ben had become.

“That’s far enough Ben.” Reed said blocking the path of the large orange monster, to his left stood Sue and Bobby, to his right stood Luke.
“Get out of my way Reed I am going to go see Jill.”
“Ben you know that’s not possible right now. We have to take you back..”
“NOOO!!!” Ben grabbed a large tree, ripped it up roots and all and hurled it at Reed. Richards and his the others dodged the large missile. Reed decided it would be a good time to discover just what his new powers could do. He wrapped his body like a rope around Ben pinning his arms against his body. He head was facing Ben’s.
“Ben I know what happened to you is upsetting, I know you want to see Jill and Benny, but you have to let me cure you.” He pleaded with his old friend.
“CURE ME! IT’S YOU FAULT I AM LIKE THIS!” Ben looked at the others. “YOU CAN ALL HIDE WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU! I CAN’T! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!” He drove his head into Reed’s with a powerful force. Reed went limp and fell to the ground dazed.
“Alright Ben I have had enough. We have tried to reason with you but you wont have it. It’s time to take you down.” Luke said as he stepped forward. Ben swung a large fist at Luke who dodged it and returned a blow of his own. Ben flew back ten feet and fell to the ground.
“Holy Christmas.” Luke said as he looked at Ben laying on the ground.
“Don’t just stand there pal, don’t let his get up.” Bobby said as he ran forward. He raised his arms and fired a stream of ice at Ben. He watched as a large lair of ice covered Ben’s legs pinning him to the ground.
‘That should hold him.’ Bobby thought to himself. He saw how wrong he was. Ben sat up and slammed his fist down on his leg shattering the ice freeing his leg. He got to his feet and picked up a piece of ice and flung it at Bobby. It caught him in the legs and sent him tumbling to the ground. Luke punched him in the face while he was not looking. This time he did not fall to the ground. He just looked at Luke and smiled.
“Is that all you got?” he asked a stunned Luke. He kicked the large man in his chest and sent him flying back destroying trees as he smashed into them.
“Ben please stop this.” Sue said to him as she walked slowly next to him.
“Get out of my way Sue. I don’t want to hit a woman but I will if you don’t move.”
“I am not going anywhere.” She said in defiance of the large man. Ben tried to walk around Sue but she blocked his path.
“I don’t have time for this.” He raised his hand to backhand her. He brought his hand down but it didn’t hit her. It stopped a couple inches above her head. It was blocked by some invisible barrier. Sue looked just as shocked by this as Ben was. He tried to slap her again. She staggered a bit from the force of the blow but he didn’t hit her.
“AARRRGGG!” He yelled as he raised both hands above his head intending to smash the young lady.
“HEY BEN!” Reed yelled. Ben turned to the sound of the voice. He saw Reed had his body wrapped around two trees like a rubber band, Luke was holding on to a tree.
“NOW!” He yelled as he let go. He used Reed’s body to slingshot him at Ben. He slammed into the large man and sent them both flying. They landed fifty feet away. Reed knew he was down but not out.

[Spideyrules99]

Officer Stoops walked down Main Street.
‘Another exciting night in Rosen.’ He thought to himself as he looked at the empty street. A Thursday night and not a thing going on. Not that it was odd. Nothing happened in this town. He looked up as he saw an army jeep drive past him.
‘It must be just as boring on that army base if they are coming here.’ He thought to himself. Every once in awhile some of the men from the Fort would come into town looking for what little fun there was here. Stoops stopped in front of a Chevy truck. The meter read Expired. He pulled out his ticket book. ‘Another victory for law and order.’ He stooped writing the ticket as a shadow blocked the light. Looked up and saw something huge falling fast from the sky. He dove out of the way just in time as it came crashing down on the old truck. He held his arm over his face to shield it from flying glass and metal. When he did look up he saw something that made his heart stop. A large orange monster standing on top of what was left of the truck. He slowly stood up and pulled out his gun. The thing looked his way.
“D.D…Don’t move..” He said fear in his voice. Ben looked at the man who had his gun pointed at him, and the fear in his eyes. It did nothing but make him more angry.
“ARGG!!” He yelled as he ran at Stoops. The young cop fired his gun but the bullets seemed to bounce of his rocky hide. Ben reached out and grabbed his hand crushing the gun and bones. He lifted the cop up and threw him through a plate glass window in a store front. The sudden noise brought people out of the diner down the street. Ben walked back into the middle of the road.
“OH MY GOD!!” Came the cries of one man.
“IT”S A MONSTER!” came the yell of another woman.
“MONSTER!” Ben yelled. “I WILL SHOW YOU A MONSTER!” He reached over and picked up a parked car. He sent it flying towards the diner. People ran out of the way as it crashed through the roof exploding in a ball of flame. He picked up another car and was about to throw it as well, but something hit the back of hit head. He looked down and saw that it was a large ice chunk. That could only mean one thing. He swung the car around to hit Bobby but Luke pushed the teen to the ground taking the hit from the car instead. The force of the blow sent him flying through a building to his left. Ben stepped forward to press the attack but fell to the ground. He looked at his feet and saw Reed had stretched his body across the road causing him to fall. Reed wrapped his body around Ben’s legs to keep him from standing. Bobby poured on the ice covering the top half of his body.
“ENOUGH!” Came the yell of Ben Grim. He waved his arms around and broke free of the ice holding the top half of his body. He reached down to his legs and grabbed Reed’s Neck. He punched Reed in the face three times before letting go. The man fell to the ground knocked out. Ben reached down and tore up a huge chunk of the street. He threw it at Bobby who had no time to duck. The only thing that saved him was a force field created at the last second by Sue. But the force was still enough to send the iceman to the ground. Luke stepped out of the building.
“Alright rocky your big and tough, but I’m the one who put your on your ### twice now. Come face me.” Luke ran at Ben full speed and threw a punch. Ben caught it with his hand and with a twist brought Luke down to one knee. Ben then took his free hand and punched Luke in the stomach.
“I remember that you put me down. And now I am going to pay you back.” he rammed his head into Luke’s dazing the man. He did it one more time to knock him out. He then lifted the man and threw him into the diner. “Let’s see if those hot flames can melt that metal skin.” He said as he started to walk away. He turned towards Sue who was standing there in shock.
“When they wake up tell them the next time they come after me I will kill them.” he said in an angry tone. Looking around at the town and her three friends laying on the ground she didn’t doubt that he had the power to do it.

[simply4est]

Sue needs to teach Ben some respect!

[Spideyrules99]

“Out of the question.” Came the harsh voice of General Wayne, “I gave you your shot Richards and you blew it.”
“But sir.”
“There is no way I am going to let you try again. Not with Grimm so close to New York City.”
“Your making a mistake.” Reed tried to object.
“My men will be able to handle this.”
“They have done a great job so far.” Bobby shot out.
“That’s enough out of you.” Wayne ordered.
“No it’s not. After he fought us your men have done nothing to stop him, not even slow him down.”
“I am going to bring in better, heavier equipment.”
“That’s just what we need. Tanks firing in the middle of Times Square.” Luke added.
“The tanks were the only thing that did knock him on his ###. Normal bullets didn’t faze him.” Wayne stated. “Besides I have picked an area outside of New York City to hit him.”
“It is true his strength his amazing, but it does have limits. We proved that when we fought him. And what I have been working on the past two days..”
“Will do us no good.” Wayne cut in.
“We wont know unless we try.” Sue said. “Reed has a plan.”
“I’m sure he does and so do I.”
“Do you have a plan that wont destroy New York City.” Came a new voice. Everyone turned to see another man walk into the room. It was Assistant Secretary of Defense General Flood.
“Sir I was not aware you were coming.” Wayne snapped to attention.
“I decided to stop by after your men failed to stop him this morning. To see how things were going, and what you had in mind to stop him.” He walked in and took a seat. “Now Dr. Richards I heard you had a plan.”
“Yes I do. We know where Ben is going. I say let him get to where he wants.”
“WHAT!” Wayne yelled. “Let him walk around free? What if he attacks?”
“He won’t. The only time he has attacked anyone is when we attacked him. Ley him get to a point of our choosing then strike.”
“How?”
“I have been working on this weapon. It is a powerful gas. It should stop him.”
“But you only have a very small dose.” Wayne objected.
“I do. That is why he must be distracted when I try and give it to him.”
“This is insane you are talking about letting five super powered humans fight inside of New York City.”
“We will hit him outside of the city just as you were going to. Let him get by your men and we will handle the rest.” Flood sat there thinking for a few moments.
“Richards you will have your chance to stop him.”
“Sir..”
“Wayne you and your men will be backup just in case they fail.” He looked at Richards. “If you do fail Wayne will hit him with everything he has no holding back.” Everyone stood up to go to the plane to engage Ben one more time.
“Sue I have a special mission for you.” Reed said.

[Spideyrules99]

Ben walked down the road. He had stolen a heavy trench coat and large hat to help hide his bulky frame. So far it had worked. He had not had an encounter with The Army for many hours. And Reed and his lackeys had not come after him again. Reed. How he hated that man for what he has done to him. He just wanted to be left alone to go home. Home. How would his wife and son react to seeing him. Maybe he should have called first.
‘And said what Ben?’ He asked himself. ‘Honey you know how we said for better or worse? Does that mean you will stay with me even though I am a monster?” He looked down the road and saw the lights of New York City ahead of him. He was going to enter through an area that had nothing but power plants and warehouses. Nothing important and this time of night not to many people. He heard the sound of a plane over head. He looked up and saw an Army plane hovering above him.
“Not again.” He said as he ripped up a huge chunk of the road. “NOT AGAIN!!” He yelled as he threw it. The plane veered and dodged the attack. He saw the plane door open and three people jumped from it. The first one used an ice slide to get to the ground, the second turned into a ball and bounced safely on the road. The last one just jumped down, he caused a huge crater when he landed.
“All right ugly round two.” Luke said as he stood there next to Bobby and Reed.
“Didn’t you learn anything from our last fight. I cant be stopped. Not by you. NOT BY ANYONE!” He ran forward in a rage. He swung at Luke who ducked the attack and landed one of his own on The Thing’s face. He staggered back. Luke did not let up. He slammed an elbow into Ben’s stomach and followed that with a blow to the chin. Ben hit the ground.
“Last time I held back because I wasn’t sure what I could do or how much you could take. This time I wont.” He raised his fist preparing to land a blow on Ben. It never arrived. Ben raised his own hand and caught the attack.
“You want to hear something funny? I was holding back too.” He smiled as he kicked Luke in the chest. He stood up still holding onto Luke. He slammed his fist into him again then grabbed him by his neck and picked him up.
“I am going to enjoy this.”
“NOO!” Bobby yelled as he formed a large chunk of ice and slammed it into Ben’s face. Ben dropped Luke at his feet and turned to face Bobby.
“Alright runt if you want to fight. We will fight.” he ran towards Bobby. Bobby lowered his hands and shot ice all over the road. Ben lost his footing and fell to the ground. Bobby formed a huge ice wall at the end of the ice slide. Ben slammed into it shattering it. Bobby kept hitting him with large chunks of ice as he tried to stand.
“You like ice?” Ben asked as he picked up a large chunk of ice the size of a bowling ball. “Have a piece.” He threw it as hard as he could at the young iceman. Reed jumped in front Of Bobby and extended his body like a tarp. The ice chunk flew into it and bounced back towards Ben hitting him in the face. Ben stood again but couldn’t launch an attack of his own before he was slammed into by someone else. Luke wrapped his arms around Ben’s waist and started to push him back.
“You think you can hurt me?” Ben asked as he raised his hands above his head. “You can’t hurt me.” He slammed his massive fists into the back of Luke Cage sending him to the ground. Ben picked him up turned around and threw his as hard as he could away from the fight.
“Out of all of you clowns he is the only one who could hurt me. Once he is gone I will come back for you two.” He ran towards Luke Cage, and as Reed saw towards the city. He stretched his body and wrapped it around Ben hopping to slow him down.
“You have to stop this Ben.” He said in Ben’s ear. He reached down towards his pelt for the gas pellet. “No one else has to be hurt.”
“Only you.” Ben smiled as he drove his elbow into Reed’s face. Reed went limp and fell to the ground. “You always did have a glass jaw.” Ben joked as he ran off towards where Luke had landed.

[Spideyrules99]

Jill Grim sat on the sofa reading a book trying to tune out the tv her son was watching in the back round. He was watching some war movie he was entranced by the fighting men on the screen. She couldn’t even look at it. She had her fill of The Army, and The Air Force. They had angered her beyond words. She had been trying for the past three weeks to try and see her husband. They would not they would not even let her talk to him. She knew only what they told him, the shuttle had crashed and they he was hurt. But they did not say how bad. Only that he alive. She looked up at the sound of a knock at the door.
‘Who could it be this late.’ She fumed. She was not in the mood to talk to anyone. She opened the door and saw a young blonde woman standing there. She knew right away who it was from her picture in the paper, she was one of the people who went to space with Ben.
“Jill Grim?” She asked.
“Yes and I know who you are Miss Storm. Please come in.” Sue walked past her and into the apartment. She looked very upset. “What’s wrong?” Jill asked. “IS Ben ok?”
“He is the reason that I have come here. I need your help. But first there is something you should know.”

[Spideyrules99]

Joe Robertson walked through the power plant with the foreman Nicholas Griffin. He didn’t really want to be here, it was late at night and covering a strike by the cities power workers was not something he wanted to do. And he was stuck here until at least midnight when the workers gave the city pasted. He would rather be trying to dig up more dirt on Osborne, He was sure the man was The Kingpin and after the murder of Justin Hammer he knew he was right. He just couldn’t prove it. He was a the office doing research on a story when J.J sent him down here to cover the story.
‘Oh Well.’ He thought to himself. He was half listening as the foreman told him about worker demands and budget cuts from the city when the whole world crashed in around him. He had no idea what hit him, he looked around for Nick and his photographer Eddie, He saw them a few feet away legs trapped under a large chunk of the roof. He also saw another man, a muscular african american man also trapped under large chunks of metal machines from the plant. He stood up and limped over to the man.
“Are you ok?” He asked as the man opened his eyes. He tried to move a large chunk of metal but could not. The other man put his hands on the metal and pushed it off him with ease.
“I’m fine. How are you? Anyone else in here?” He asked as he stood.
“Um. Yea two more men over there.” Joe said in shock as the man walked over and freed the two.
“What’s going on?” Joe demanded as he helped Eddie to his feet.
“Get everyone out of here now.” The man shot out. Before Joe could question him further another large man landed with a crash behind them. This man was full of muscles but he was covered in what looked like orange rock. “NOW!” The man yelled as Joe and the others. He charge the rock man and slammed into him knocking him through a wall and outside. Joe looked at Eddie.
“Come on Eddie I think the biggest story of our lives just landed on us.” He ran as fast as he could with Eddie to follow the two fighting men.


“I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!” General Wayne yelled out to anyone who would listen. Major Moss stood next to him. They were in a hastily assembled command tent just outside the power plant.
“What should we do Sir?”
“What we should have done in the first place, we hit Grim with everything we have and I mean now.” He picked up a phone that connected him to a near by air strip. “How long before I can have air support?” There was a small pause while he got his answer. “WHAT! WHY SO LONG?” Another pause. “Just get them here and I wont listen to another word about fog. Have those birds in the air and I mean NOW!” He turned to Moss. “Get everything we can up here now. When they are ready bomb the Hell out of Grim.”
“NO!” Came a cry from behind them. They turned and saw Sue standing there with another woman.
“Who is that?” Moss demanded.
“She is Reed’s backup plan. Ben’s wife.”
“She shouldn’t be here.” Wayne shot back. “Besides it is to late for Reed’s back up plan what ever it was. He is already inside the city limits.”
“Reed can stop him just give him a bit more time.” Sue pleaded. Wayne let out a sigh.
“Major start to evacuate the Power Plant, as well as the two warehouses on each side. Set up a perimeter around all three areas.” He turned to Sue. “Whatever Red is going to do he has got until my air support gets here. If he hasn’t stopped Grim by then or if Ben tries to get out of the plant I will bomb him and anyone else in there off this Earth.”

[simply4est]

Sue's got the Ben Grimm lesson plan!

[Spideyrules99]

Reed stood and looked at Luke, he was bleeding from his mouth and nose and he looked tired. He and Ben had been battling it out for a long time and he was showing the effects. So far he and Bobby had not been much help, they had done nothing more then annoy Ben. The two gas pellets he had could stop Ben, it would drop him pretty fast. The only problem was he couldn’t get close enough to use them, even if he could Ben would be able to get away from the gas if he was not distracted. Worst thing of all they were not on the outskirts of New York City, in the middle of a power plant. Most of the people had seemed to escape but Reed was sure there were some who were trapped in the rubble. He stood next to Bobby.
“When is Sue going to get here with your back up plan Reed?” He asked with a bit of fear in his voice. He was right to be afraid in Reed’s eyes. They were all facing something no human had faced before, and with powers they knew little about.
“I don’t know Bobby. Soon I hope. We cant keep this up much longer.” Reed answered.
“Speak for yourself slim I can go all night.” Luke added in with a weak smile. “Besides old rocky there is starting to give in.” It was true Ben was moving slower and the force behind his blows were weaker. But still Reed thought he would go on longer then the three of them.
“Well we wont beat him by standing here.” Luke grunted as he ran forward. Ben ducked his attack and landed a blow on Luke’s stomach then followed up with a shot to the back of the head sending Luke to the ground.
“When will you three learn you cant beat me. Sue must have figured it out cause since she aint here.”
“We haven’t even started.” Luke shot out. He reached over and grabbed a thick wire.
“NOO!!” Reed yelled as he saw what Cage was going to do. Thousands of volts of electricity shot through Luke’s body, the metal of his skin working like a super conductor. He reached out with his other hand and grabbed Ben’s ankle sending the electricity through the large man. Ben fell to his knees then dropped to the ground. Reed reached his arm over and grabbed a rubber glove nearby and jerked the wire out of Luke’s hand.
“Look’s like we didn’t need your back up plan after all Reed.” Bobby said as he walked over and knelt down next to Luke to check on the man. He couldn’t touch him because of the electricity still stored in his metal skin. “He is still breathing.”
“So am I.”
“It cant be.” Reed said in shock as Ben got back to his feet. Although it was a very slow effort.
“What does it take to put you down?” Bobby asked as he formed ice on his hands,
“More then you have got tiny.” Ben backhanded him. The force of the blow knocked Bobby to the ground, but it also caused Ben to step back a few feet to keep his balance.
“Ben look at you. You can hardly stand. Enough is enough.”
“Not until.. Not until you pay for what you did to me.” He made two massive fists and got ready for another attack.
“Ben..” Came a new voice, a females voice. Ben turned and saw his wife Jill standing behind him.
“Jill?” He asked as he saw her. “What..”
“Ben please stop this.” She pleaded her voice a mix of shock and fear.
“But baby look what he did to me. He made me a monster.” Jill looked at her husband and started to cry.
“No Ben he didn’t. You did by the way you are acting, by the people you have hurt. Please stop this. I’m begging you.”
“LOOK AT ME!” Ben roared. “He took everything away from me!”
“No Ben he didn’t. You still have me. And nothing will change that.” Jill started to walk over towards Ben. He started to relax as she placed her hand on his arm. “Please go back with them. Let Reed help you.
“I..I..I cant. I will never trust him again.” Reed saw his chance. Ben had his back turned it was now or never. He reached into his belt and pulled out the two pellets. He squeezed them releasing the gas as he stretched his arm around to the front of Ben’s face and threw them in his mouth. Before Ben could do anything Reed wrapped his body around Ben’s head to keep him from breathing in fresh air, and from breathing out the gas. Ben screamed as he tried to pull Reed off of him but it did no good. He dropped to one knee, then two, then finally he fell to the ground. Reed unwrapped himself and stood up he turned to Bobby.
“It’s over.” He said to his teammate.
“Not yet.” Sue said as she heard the sound of a plane over head. She turned and ran out of the power plant.

“Sir our spotters report that Grim is down. I repeat Grim is down.” Major Moss said with relief in his voice.
“Reed did it.” Wayne said in shock.
“Yes Sir he did. Should I send our tam in to retrieve Grim?”
“No Major.”
“Sir?”
“Our planes circling overhead. They will drop the bombs as soon as I give the word.”
“But Sir Grim is defeated.”
“I know. Now I will make sure he wont trouble us again.”
“What about Reed and the others.”
“With one word I can end whatever threat they would have posed.”
“Sir you cant mean that. We still have men in there.”
“Casualties of war.” Wayne said as he reached for the radio to give orders to the pilots. Moss slapped his hand away.
“No Sir. I wont let you do this.”
“You wont let me? Who the Hell do you think gives the orders around here? Now stand down.”
“No Sir I will not.” Wayne pulled out his side arm and aimed it at Moss.
“Major I said stand down.” He looked at the other soldiers in the tent with him. “I am relieving Major Moss of command. If he or anyone else interferes with me giving orders they will be shot.” He reached down and picked up the head set and pushed a button.
“Pilots this is General Wayne you have a…” He didn’t finish the order as he was hit from behind by an unseen force. As he staggered Moss reached out and slapped the gun out of his hand and landed a punch to the face. He looked around confused until he saw Sue appear out of no where.
“Thank you Miss Storm.”
“You can thank me by calling off those bombers.” Moss nodded and pressed the button.
“This is Major Moss Bombers return to base. I repeat return to base. Do not engage target.”
‘Roger that. Returning to base.” He let out a smile as he heard the confirmation that his order was received. He looked over at one of the soldiers.
“Corporal take General Wayne into custody.”

[Spideyrules99]

Major Moss stood in front of the command tent with Reed, Bobby, Sue and a weaken Luke Cage. He was showing the effects of his fight with Grim, they all were. Moss looked at them with respect. They had been through Hell that night and it showed. Ben was taken away as fast as they could move him, he also ordered his wife Jill out of the area. He looked out at the assembled group of reporters and on lookers who just wanted answered to what happened. He stepped forward.
“I have prepared a small statement.” He started. “The man we have labeled The Thing appeared two days ago in the woods outside Fort Benton. We do not yet know where he came from or why he started his attack. Our forces engaged him and made every attempt to stop him before he got to the city of Rosen. He then began a two day journey to New York moving under the cover of night. Again what he wanted here is unknown.” Moss hated to lie but a cover up in this matter would be for the best. “Once he was here he was stopped by Professor Reed Richards and his team.”
“What happened to Richards and the others?” A reporter asked he had a Daily Bugle jacket on. “Where is Ben Grim?” Moss winched at the question.
“What happened to Richards and his team are unknown, we assume it is a side effect of the radiation they encountered on their Starcore mission a couple weeks ago. We are still studying that. As for Ben Grim.” Moss took a breath as he started again. “He died two days ago in The Thing’s first attack. He died saving the lives of many soldiers. That is all I can say for now. But know this he died defending his country and will be laid to rest a hero. That is all for now, more details will follow.” Moss turned his back on the crowd and walked back into the tent with Reed and the others.
“That was a very good thing you did back there Major.” Reed said as he placed his hand on Moss’s shoulder. Moss turned to him.
“I didn’t do it for Grim, or for you. I did it for the government. If the public learns that our experiments have created a monster there would be no end to the Hell we would catch. And it would be the end of The Starcore project. I can not allow that. Fact is that Ben Grim will never see the light of day again. All the lies we are going to make about how he can live a normal life after he is cure, if he can be cured will b just to keep him calm to prevent another rampage.”
“What happens to us?” Bobby broke in. “Now that people know who we are I mean and what has happened to us.”
“I wish I had an answer for you son. I really do.” Bobby and the others stood there a little bit worried and not sure where to go from here.

[simply4est]

Sue saves the day!

[Spideyrules99]

The question of where to go from here was answered in a hurry. Reed and the others were taken to The Pentagon. They were at a large conference table in a large briefing room with them were two Generals and three of their staff officers, as well as Defense Secretary Robert Hummel.
“Well we cant very well sweep you under the rug now. Not after this.” Hummel said as he laid a newspaper on the table. Reed picked it up and read the headline out loud.
“Fantastic Four stop The Thing.” He showed the paper to the others. “Look we even have codenames.”
“Cool let me see that.” Bobby smiled as he snatched the paper out of his hands. “Reed you are Mr. Fantastic, I am The Iceman.” He looked around. “I love that name. But not as much as this one. Luke you are..” He paused and laughed. “Power Man.”
“What?” Luke grabbed the paper. “Man that’s lame. I am made of metal here it could have been steel or something cool like that.”
“Invisible Girl.” Sue said as she looked over his shoulder to read her name. “Girl. Come on.”
“That’s enough guys we have more important matters to take care of.” Reed scolded as he took the paper away.”
“My last name is Cage. He coulda done something with that.”
“Enough.” Reed said again in a more stern voice. “Now Secretary Hummel what were you saying?”
“Thank you Dr. Richards. As I was saying we cant hide you so I say let’s use you.”
“Use us? How? I will not let us get turned into some super powered strike force.” Reed objected.
“It is nothing like that trust me.” Hummel handed a folder to Reed. “Do you remember hearing about the Super Soldier Program?”
“The program that was reasonable for Captain America?” Reed asked.
“Yes. And we are going to start up the program again.”
“What? Can it work?” Reed asked happily as he looked over the file.
“We think it will. And we think it is needed.”
“Needed?” Bobby asked.
“Yes. The growing mutant population, the reappearance of super powered beings most of them clearly not on our side we have to have a man who will fight for us just as Captain America once did.”
“Then what do you need us for?” Sue asked.
“Just a little help for threats we cant handle. Threats like The Thing. We even have a place for you to stay.”
“For us to stay? You mean we are not going home?” Luke asked.
“Not yet. Wayne was crazy to try and kill you. But his fear was not. We have no idea what may happen to you down the road so until we do you will be under our watchful eye.”
“A prison.” Bobby grunted.
“No Mr. Drake, where The Thing his going, where Wayne is going those are prisons. We have something much nicer planned for you.” Hummel turned to Reed.
“Doctor I am sure you remember The Baxter Building.”

[Spideyrules99]

Reed and the others stood with Major Moss their lesion with the Us Government in the front room of their new home. They had chosen him because of his experience with the four over the past few weeks,
“The top fifteen floors of The Baxter Building our yours.” Moss told them.
“Fifteen floors?” Bobby asked shocked. “Why so many?”
“As Dr. Richards can tell you this place was designed to hold more then four people.”
“That’s right Bobby. It was the home for a long time to some of the best scientists this country had. Working on many projects at once. Before is was closed down.” Reed added.
“Here is the layout.” Moss started again as he pointed to a map on the wall. “The top floor is a landing bay for aircraft that we housed here. One of which we have left for you. The next two floor are storage areas. Then the next nine are lab and testing areas and offices. Part of that space will be converted to a training center for you four. The floor we are on now is your living area. It has your bedrooms, kitchen, entertainment room things like that.”
“What about the two floors below us?” Luke asked.
“They are nothing.”
“I smell a cover up.” Bobby joked. “Something you don’t want us to see. An old experiment perhaps.”
“No Mr. Drake sorry to disappoint you. It really is nothing. Soundproofing, extra reinforced concrete, and metal, things to protect the residents below incase anything up here would go wrong.” Moss turned to the front door to leave. “You know how to contact me. Anything you need will be provided for. Your personal effects will be arriving soon. I will leave you to get settled in.” With that he left the four alone.
“Not the worst prison I can think of.” Luke said at last.
“Well what do we do now?” Sue asked.
“Well we do have a lot of work to do around here, tests to run on our powers. Perhaps we should get started on that.” Reed answered. “I don’t see them letting us leave anytime soon so we may as well get comfortable.”

[Spideyrules99]

It had been two weeks since the fight with Ben Grim and things have been busy for Reed and the others. One of the things they had to do was the unpleasant task of attending a fake funeral for their friend and former teammate. As far as the world was concerned Ben Grim was dead. They had even made a couple public appearances letting the world know who The Fantastic Four were and they the world had nothing to fear from them. Reed also used the time to test out his powers and the powers of the others. The results were fascinating to say the least. Bobby could create ice out of the moisture in the air but he could also cover himself in the ice over the past couple days. Forming a sort of shield around himself, he also could create what he called an ice slide. It helped him glide in the air. Then there was Susan. She could become invisible but she could also create a force field around herself. She did it the first time fighting Ben by mistake, but now she could control it. She could also make herself an invisible platform that she could use to float in the air. Reed had no idea how that worked. He had also tested Luke’s power. The man’s strength was great indeed. He could lift over ten tons with ease. He was also bullet proof, and was not harmed when he was engulfed in flames. Reed also had tested his own growing powers. He could stretch his legs ten feet, his torso twenty feet, and his arms and neck ten feet for a full length of forty feet. And though he could not mimic flying like the others he could fall from great heights without being harmed. Turning his body into a parachute, or rolling into a ball and bouncing. There were other things he could do but these so far were the most significant. He had also oversaw the construction of the training and exercise rooms, as well as the refit to the lab areas. Things were coming out great. He sat in the living room of their new home reading over the files. He stopped when Sue walked in holding two boxes.
“What do you have there?” He asked as she set the boxes on the coffee table in the center of the room.
“A gift.” She smiled.
“A gift you shouldn’t have. I didn’t get you anything.” He stumbled out.
“It’s not just for you silly, they are for everyone.” She walked back to the door way of the living room. “Bobby, Luke could you come in here for a moment.” The two men walked in.
“Make it fast Sue me and Metal Man here were going to one of the training rooms. I owe him from last time.”
“HA! Like you are going to be able to collect on that frosty.” Luke mocked.
“Oh hush you two this is important.” Sue said as she pointed to the sofa, the two men took a seat. “Now I have been thinking about what happened to us, about these powers.” She opened the top box and pulled out a dark blue outfit. On it’s chest was a white circle with a blue four in the middle of it.
“What are these?” Reed asked.
“Well I was thinking since we are superheroes now we should dress like them.”
“Cool like Spiderman.” Bobby smiled as he grabbed one of the suits from the other box.
“Who?” Reed asked.
“You have to get out of the lab more.” Luke said as he picked up a newspaper from the table and gave it to Reed, the lead headline was a story about a new hero in the city.
“But we are not superheroes.” Reed object.
“Where are the masks?” Bobby asked.
“Bobby everyone knows who we are.” Sue answered.
“All the other heroes have masks.” Bobby whined.
“If all the other heroes jumped off a bridge.” Luke mocked. Reed and Sue rolled their eyes.
“As I was saying we are not superheroes.”
“That’s not what the people of this city think, not what the people of Rosen think.” Sue countered.
“Besides if he can do it.” Bobby pointed to the photo of Spiderman.
“Reed we were given these powers for a reason. And I think that reason is to help people. Do things no one else can. And if you don’t see that then I feel sorry for you.”
“I agree Reed.” Luke said as he stood up and walked next to Sue. “So far your tests haven’t shown that these powers are going to go away. And I would like to do more with my gift then sit around and lift weights or be your lab rat all day.”
“Same here.” Bobby added as he jumped up. “I mean other then the lifting weights part.”
“Well Reed?” Sue asked waving a costume in front of him. Reed sighed.
“I’m in.” He said at last.
“Alright. But what do we call ourselves. Every team needs a name.”
“We already have on Bobby. What do you think I put this symbol on here for. The Fantastic Four.”

[Spideyrules99]

Two days later Bobby and Luke sat eating lunch.
“You know I didn’t know what to think of these uniforms at first. But there not so bad. Cant even feel it under my cloths.” Luke said.
“Yea. And that thing Reed did to them, making them adapt to our powers. How did he come up with that so fast?”
“My guess is he had something like this planned Sue just beat him to the punch.”
“Reed? You think so? He never struck me as the hero type.” Bobby said.
“You don’t seem like the nerd type. And yet there you were working with Reed and going into space.” Luke took a drink of his soda. “How did that happen anyway? What’s you story?”
“You really care?”
“Well we never got to know each other that much, and since we are going to be roomies for awhile may as well learn about ya.”
“Well to be honest I am not much of a science nerd. Truth is I was bombing my classes before Reed had me come work for him last year.”
“And the kid who was bombing science went into space?”
“I am great with computers. Filing research and running programs, things like that. That is why I went. Besides I couldn’t flunk out my folks woulda killed me.” Bobby took a bite out of his burger and looked at Luke. “What about you?”
“Not much to say, was raised by my grandma after my parents died when I was kid, never met them. Got into trouble when I was younger broke my grams heart.”
“So what happened?”
“Couldn’t stand to see her hurting like that. Not with everything she did for me. So I turned things around. Studied hard and graduated collage.”
“She must have been very proud.”
“Oh yes. Like you wouldn’t believe. When she was a kid she couldn’t even go to school. Or at least not a good one. Never got past high school. I was glad I could do that for her. Was glad she could see it before she..” Luke’s voice trailed off. “I just wish she could have seen me now.”
“I am sure she would be very proud.” Bobby said.
“Alright enough of this mushy #### kid, lets pay the pill and get out of here.” Luke said. As the two stood up there heard a gunshot and a scream from out side.
“Well kid you wanted to play hero, here’s your chance.” Luke smiled as he ran for the door.

[Spideyrules99]

“What happened?” Luke asked a woman running by.
“The bank.” She said in a panic. “Four men inside. Shot a police man.” She pointed and Luke saw a man laying on the stairs of the bank.
“Go call for help. We will handle this.” Bobby told the frightened woman and he tore off his shirt revealing his costume.
“Oh my god. Your Iceman and Power Man.”
“I am going to kill that reporter.” Luke said as he ran off towards the bank. Before he got across the street four men burst through the doors of the bank and fired into the air and over the heads of the near by people to scatter them.
“There trying to get to that van.” Luke shouted.
“Let me help.” Bobby smiled as he raised his hands. He fired a stream of ice on the stairs of the bank. The would be robbers stepped on the ice and slid down the stairs. They slammed hard into the van.
“What the Hell was that?” One man asked.
“The name’s Iceman punk.” One of the men reached for his gun on the ground but Bobby froze it and the man’s hand to the ground.
“And one else want to try something?”
“Let’s not give them the chance.” Luke said as he picked up the other three guns and crushed them in his hands. The four men just looked on wide eyed as the pieces of metal fell to the ground. Bobby froze their legs to the ground to keep them from going anywhere before the police showed up. Bobby turned to the gathering crowd.
“Yes ladies and gentlemen the city need not fear with The Fantastic Four protecting you. Bank robbers beware, kidnappers hide in fear…” He was cut off by the sound of the squealing tires. The van was pulling away from the bank as fast as it could.
“Must have been a man inside.” Iceman said.
“Way to go Sherlock Holmes.” Luke mocked as he jumped into the air. He came down on the back of the van crushing it. The driver stumbled from the drivers seat and fired a shot at Cage. The bullet bounced off his metal skin. Luke reached out and grabbed the man.
“Better put a stop to that before someone gets hurt. Like you.” Luke back handed the man in the face knocking him out. He carried the driver and threw him down next to the other men.
“Now as I was saying.” Bobby went on as if nothing happened.
“I think they get the message kid.” Luke put his hand over his partners face causing a few in the crowd to chuckle.

As the police loaded the men into the back of their cars Bobby looked on.
“Why did you stop me from talking back there?”
“Because you were acting like a fool.”
“What? I am a hero, I stopped those four men.”
“This is not a game Bobby.” Luke spat out with a hint of anger in his voice.
“Your just mad cause I did most of the work.” Luke grabbed Bobby by his arm and forced him to walk with him towards the ambulance where the injured police officer was being loaded in.
“Look at him.” Luke said harshly. Bobby turned his head but Luke grabbed him and forced his to look. “I SAID LOOK! That man is lucky to be alive. He doesn’t have the power to turn people into ice, or have bullets bounce off his skin like me. It’s a game to you but real heroes like this man are going to get hurt while you goof around.” Luke let go of Bobby and turned his back on Bobby. “And if you cant understand that you need to take off that costume right now.” He walked away leaving Bobby to stand there thinking about what he said. He didn’t care if he was too rough on the kid. He had to learn that in this line of work it could be game over in the blink of an eye.


He slammed his metal gloved hand down on his desk cracking the heavy oak.
“Heroes. They are heroes.” he fumed to himself. “And they are led by that bumbling fool Reed Richards.” He turned off the monitor giving him the feed from New York. His accident left him scared and shunned by his fellow man, Reed’s left him a hero after a freak accident.
“Go ahead Richards and enjoy your moment in the spotlight. Soon you will be destroyed by my hand.”

[Spideyrules99]

Sue and Reed walked down the street. They were enjoying the day out. Sue was glad that she could drag Reed away from the lab for a few hours to go out with her. She was worried about him, the last two weeks spent in the lab, trying to test what happened to them, the limits of their powers. And trying to find a cure for Ben.
“What a great day.” She smiled.
“Yes it is. I just hope our outing is a bit less eventful then Luke and Bobby’s yesterday.” It was all over the papers. But Bobby really hasn’t said much about it.”
“I think he feels bad for the way he acted, the talk that Luke gave him must have shaken him up.” Sue added.
“Good.” Sue shot him a puzzled look. “I am not sure what to think of this whole super hero business. But I know what Bobby thought of it. Fun and games and someone was bound to get hurt. I am glad Luke scolded him.” He was about to add more but the shaking of the ground stopped him. Windows in shops around them started to break showering the street in broken glass. Reed extended his body into a protective bubble around Sue to protect her from the falling debris.
“An earthquake in New York?” She asked in a panic. It was over thirty seconds after it begun. He helped Sue back to her feet.
“You ok?” He asked in concern.
“I think so.” She answered as she brushed glass from her hair. “What happened?”
“Could have been an Earthquake. Let’s get back home, I am sure the news reports can tell us what happened.” As they made their way back to the Baxter Building they saw more broken windows then they could count. A few buildings were worse off though and Reed saw a few people who had been hurt. He wanted to stop and help them but most were not hurt badly and those that were hurt are being tended to by paramedics.
After what seemed like forever they made it back to the building.
“What took so long?” Bobby asked as they stepped off the elevator.
“The subways were shut down. Any idea what happened?” Sue asked as she walked into the living room. But she stopped when she saw Major Moss standing there. Reed followed her into the room.
“Dr. Richards I am glad you decided to join us.”
“Major. What is going on?”
“We need you help and we need it now. Or all of New York is doomed.”