Post by DiscipleofBob on Feb 1, 2015 4:28:40 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #4:
Rush Hour
By Adrini and DiscipleofBob
Rush Hour
By Adrini and DiscipleofBob
"Slow down, big man. This house isn't what it used to be."
Ben Grimm gradually woke up to the pounding sounds of hard rock drums blasting away in his head. Instinct kicked in and he immediately scanned his surroundings for any chance of familiarity. He was in a thin, long, plaster-walled building that clearly hadn't aged too gracefully. A fireplace was lit in the center of the building with a flu constructed above it for the smoke. There were no separate rooms, just doors leading outside at either end of the building, with dividers set up rather than walls.
"Where am I? Where's Reed? Sue? Johnny?" Ben asked without really waiting for an answer. He tried pushing himself up, but his movements were extremely groggy and clunky. His whole body was as stiff as a rock, and a brief glance down at his orange crusted body reminded him of his situation.
"Please be quiet!" the man tried keeping Ben down, only managing to do so because he was still too wiped out to really stand. "The three we found with you are still unconscious, but they're here." He motioned to some of the other dividers. "You're on the Winterwood Reservation in Quebec. We found you out in the wilderness. My name is Wyatt Wingfoot. Can you tell me what happened to you?"
Ben settled down a bit after confirming that the others were being cared for. "Name's Ben Grimm, and you wouldn't believe me if I told ya."
"I'm talking to a man made of rock. I feel my mind is open to new possibilities today."
Ben almost smirked, but in this form he wasn't sure if he even could. "We survived a space station crashing from orbit. We were kidnapped by mole people and held in caves against our will. I suddenly look like I was bitten by a basketball during a full moon, and who knows what's happened to the others."
Wyatt blinked a few times trying and failing to come up with a response.. "Maybe we should just stick to the bare essentials for now."
"Friggin' told ya."
"Are your friends mutants too, or is it just you?"
"What?" Ben was taken aback. "Look, no offense to 'em, but I ain't no mutie. This whole... thing only happened a couple days ago, and let's just say enough has happened to me in recent events that I'm not attributin' this to genetics." Ben tried to awkwardly sit up, still getting used to his new body. "But now that you mention it, something's probably up with them too. I saw the kid light himself on fire without getting burnt for one thing."
"That would explain why we can't keep his temperature down and none of our thermometers could give us a reading that made sense," Wyatt took out a notepad and began writing things down. "Any medical issues we need to look out for? Allergies? Old injuries or recent surgeries? Has your lady friend been pregnant in the past few years?"
Ben suddenly got quiet, glad the others weren't yet awake for this part. "I don't really feel comfortable discussin' these sort o' private affairs."
"It's important, Ben. Our healers need to make sure that any pain medications we administer won't have any adverse side effects."
Ben hesitated before answering. "About a year ago, Sue lost a kid she was carrying. It was real messy for everyone involved."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I won't pry further. Thank you. This will really help in their treatments."
"Just let me know if I can do anything to help," Ben offered.
"Right now, you just need to rest. You seem more resilient than most. It's only natural that you'd wake up first. Your friends should be just fine."
It wasn't long before the other three woke up. When they all managed to gather together, Ben, Sue, Johnny, and Wyatt as well, all turned to Reed. "Well, genius? What do ya got for us?" Ben said bluntly.
"Why do you assume that I have all the answers?" Reed asked defensively.
"We don't, but your mind is always moving light years ahead of everyone else. You probably have some of the answers, along with a couple really good theories." Ben replied.
Reed sighed in defeat. "All right, let's start from the top. I don't know what happened to the space station to make us suddenly lose orbit, and without more data there's really nothing I can do but speculate, and nothing I can think of makes sense. The Future Foundation was stable and safe, everything with more than necessary safeties and redundancies. With a full investigation I could likely determine the source of the problem.
"As for how we survived the crash, again, I honestly have no idea. We did have systems on board in case of a crash, but they only function in a best-case scenario. We crashed into the frozen tundra. There's no way we should have survived. It may have something to do with the changes to our bodies, it may be that the safety systems worked better than planned, or it could be something else entirely.
Johnny piped up. "Okay, but why can I suddenly light myself on fire? And why are you all elastic and stuff? And why does Ben suddenly look less ugly?" The last comment got a disapproving but silent glare.
"My best theory is that some of the more volatile experiments mixed in the crash and interacted with our bodies, such as blasting them with radiation. We'll have to run some tests when we get back to the lab, but at least the effects appear to be mostly benign." Now Reed was on the receiving end of Ben's glare. "I said mostly! We could have all been just riddled with tumors and radiation burns. As long as we're alive, we can research the possibility of reversing these conditions."
"Screw that! This is awesome!" Johnny said excitedly.
"Well, I certainly don't feel any different. Maybe I didn't get the same dose of whatever caused this," Sue remarked.
"Sue... please forgive me if this doesn't work, but I need to test a theory," Reed said meekly as he picked up a nearby empty mug and suddenly chucked it at her.
Sue immediately threw her arms up in protection and turned away as the mug crashed harmlessly near her. "REED, WHAT THE F-"
"Uh, Sue? Where'd ya go?" Before Sue could lay into the already flinching Reed, she noticed the others staring in awe at her, or rather her position. Then she noticed the mug which hadn't crashed near her, but directly in front of her, the shards laying on the ground.
"I was pondering how Sue could follow those creatures without being noticed, or how the cart managed to avoid most debris when we crashed, or a number of other unexplainable phenomena. It would appear as Sue's 'ability' involves generating not only a force-field, but one that refracts light to the point where subjects within the force-field appear invisible.
"Speaking of which, Mr. Wingfoot, do you know anything about a subterranean race of primitive humanoids of varying sizes and shapes that may live near here?"
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Richards," Wyatt answered before adding, "though there are some local legends about certain spirits appearing in the night."
"Sounds like a lame ghost story," Johnny smirked before Ben elbowed him and knocked him off his chair.
"What kind of spirits?" Reed inquired further.
"Earth-dwellers. Spirits of the land. They would find men who had abused their power over the land and drag them back underground for punishment," Wyatt explained.
"And do you know where their habitat is?" Reed asked.
Wyatt shook his head. "I'm afraid I've never actually seen one of these 'spirits' and until today dismissed them as nothing more than urban legend."
"There's every chance that Victor is still in captivity, however," Reed reasoned.
"Victor? There's someone else still out there?" Wyatt asked surprised.
Ben, Sue, and Johnny all looked at each other uncomfortably, until Reed addressed all three of them. "Look, I know Victor Von Doom isn't your favorite person in the world right now, but you can't honestly think he deserves whatever fate those mole creatures have in store for him?"
Wyatt's eyes widened at the celebrity name drop. "Victor Von Doom?!"
"I'd argue that he probably does deserve it," Sue said with some bitterness, "but you're right. We can't just leave him."
"So wait, you ain't sayin' we're gonna go BACK to where we just escaped from just to find Victor?" Ben asked incredulously.
"Of course not!" Reed answered. "That would be an illogical and inefficient method. We should contact people back home as soon as possible. Lucia can send a team to help pacify the creatures as well as comb the area for any sign of Victor. At the very least, I'm sure Hank, Janet, and everyone else are worried sick about us, and we can simultaneously arrange for transportation and get Hank to set up some diagnostic equipment so when we get back we can determine the full extent of our conditions. Mr. Wingfoot, is there a phone we can use here?"
Wyatt shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The only phone on the reservation has been busted for 15 years. The nearest town is New Salem, twenty miles away."
"Then we haven't a moment to lose. I know we're imposing a lot on you, Mr. Wingfoot, but can you give us a ride?" After a brief glance at the toboggan outside, he added, "Preferably in something that's powered by an engine and not a team of huskies?"
"Aaw..." Johnny complained.
"Of course. The doctors say you're free to go, and frankly you could probably use some better equipped medical facilities than what we can offer. We can leave as soon as we're up for it."
"We don't have any time to waste. Let's go!"
The only vehicle that could accommodate them was an old pickup truck. Ben could only fit in the back amidst piles of hay and some inexplicable crates of chickens. The trip was made only more insufferable by the fact that the hay and feathers kept getting caught between the rocky crags of his skin.
Johnny was cramped in the small space behind the seats that were technically supposed to seat a child. Reed, Sue, and Wyatt were scrunched up front. Reed, being the most flexible as well as the biggest doormat, allowed himself to be squished in the center, trying to narrow his body to make things more comfortable for Sue and Wyatt. Even still the seats were too small, and Sue and Reed found themselves pressed up against each other, especially during most turns in either directions, and this was a long, winding, very bumpy road.
"How long until we hit the interstate?" Johnny complained.
"We don't have interstates up here. Welcome to Canada," Wyatt smiled, much to Johnny's horror as he continued to be jostled around without a functioning seat belt. "Don't worry, we'll hit the Trans-Canada highway soon, and from there it's a mostly smooth ride until we reach town."
The awkward silence was unbearable, at least for Reed who kept clearing his apparently permanently parched throat.
"Reed, I just want to say thanks," Sue said.
"What for?"
"For everything. This whole past year has been... really rough. You, Johnny, Ben, Hank, Janet... You were all there for me. I'm not sure what I would have done if I had to go through that alone. And I know you value your friendship with Victor, so in case you were ever in a situation where you felt like you had to pick sides, I'm sorry."
The fact that this was said with Ben, Johnny, and an almost complete stranger in earshot didn't help make things any less awkward. "You shouldn't apologize. It was a terrible situation, and you shouldn't feel responsible for anyone's pain, much less your own," Reed carefully responded, unsure of what exactly to say in this kind of situation, especially with the others nearby. "Still, nonetheless, I suppose I should accept your gratitude gracefully. Just know that, as always, I... er... we are always here for you."
"I appreciate that, Reed, really," Sue smiled. In a combination of their tight quarters, bumpy ride, and tender moment, Sue's hand found Reed's and silently held it for the majority of the ride.
A few minutes after they arrived on the highway, there was a tap on the rear glass as Ben frantically motioned for the others to look behind them. Behind the lanes of cars traveling cross country, the road swelled. Cars were knocked to the side as it rolled crushing towards them like a wave on the beach.
"What is that thing?!" Wyatt shouted after seeing the tidal wave of earth grow larger in the rearview mirror.
"That would be one of the larger versions of our captors," Reed answered meekly.
"Why is it here?"
"I confess that I hypothesized that these creatures can track by, among other senses, a sort of scent left wherever we walk on the earth. If we had stayed at the reservation, we would likely have been putting your people in grave danger."
Wyatt grimaced. "Not that I don't appreciate the concern, but aren't we putting more people at risk here?"
"Depends on traffic," Reed answered without thinking as three separate hands slapped him in the back of his head. "I was hoping that they wouldn't be able to track a car on a highway, but apparently however primitive they may seem, these mole creatures are expert trackers."
The swelling ground erupted in a giant explosion, as a mole creature nearly 50 feet high roared. Its claws were so large they could pick up individual cars from the street and crush them. Massive horns and jagged bone spikes covered it from head to toe. The sun from above almost caused it to retreat back into the ground, but the creature was determined and pushed onto the highway.
"I would recommend accelerating just a tad more," said Reed to a flustered Wyatt.
"I'm already flooring it!"
The creature was surprisingly fast, bounding over the highway, leaping over huge groups of semis at a time, and easily catching up with the old truck.
As it drew nearer, Ben Grimm slowly stood up, having to struggle to maintain his balance.
"Ben, sit down! What are you doing?!" Reed called out.
"We need to ditch some weight, Reed. And in case you haven't noticed, I've put on a few extra hundred pounds recently. Someone has to go stop that thing from tearin' up everything between here and Alaska!"
"Ben, no!"
Ben let himself drop off the back of the truck. He somesaulted awkwardly to a stop before getting up to face the charging beast. "Guess what time it is, fugly!" Ben charged, aiming to tackle its leg and get the creature back down to the ground where it belonged. "IT'S CLOBBERIN TIME!"
Ben was right about the truck going faster. Of course, the creature was now already occupied with one actual obstacle. Johnny Storm sat up in his seat as best as he could, despite being crammed in the back in the first place. "We can't just leave him out there!"
"That's not going to be the only creature they send after us! If we go back now, we'll never reach help!" Reed tried to convince him, but Johnny was already getting into position to undo the latch to the back door.
"Johnny, stop!" Sue yelled.
"Hey, I've got superpowers now! What if something happened to Ben or those people that I could've stopped? How would you expect me to live with myself?"
"Ben's an adult, and this was his decision! You're..." Reed tried to reason before being interrupted.
"What? A kid? Like that makes it any different? I don't see anyone else with awesome fire powers showing up to save the day!" Johnny smiles confidently and kicked the door open. Leaping out onto the freeway left him with little time to activate his powers before the concrete could activate the pain on his face. "FLAME ON!" Johnny's uniform scraped against the concrete as his body lit aflame and he rocketed in the direction of the giant monster.
"JOHNNY!" Sue cried out before instantly working to undo her belt buckle.
"Sue, no!" Reed tried to stop her.
"I am not leaving my brother out there!" she yelled back before nervously grasping the passenger-side handle. "So I can make invisible force-fields, huh?" On a leap of faith, Sue stepped out of the vehicle and onto a series of invisible discs which cushioned her movement from hurting. Although she couldn't keep up with someone flying like Johnny, she could at least follow behind.
"Will someone just stay in the damn car?!" Wyatt yelled as half the doors on the truck were open. Reed, however, was already searching the glove compartment for a napkin and a pen where he hastily scrawled a few names and numbers. "Not you too!"
"I'm truly sorry to put this burden on you, Mr. Wingfoot, but I'm afraid I've been outvoted," Reed said with a casual smile hiding the terror in his heart right now. "Those three are like my family. I can't let them do this without me." Reed pinned the napkin to the bottom of the rearview mirror. "When you get a chance, try to call either Lucia Von Bardas, our boss, Hank Pym, or Janet Van Dyne. Just give them the basics of what happened and let them know we need transportation back home and lab equipment ready to test when we get back."
"This is all insane!"
"Insane? No. Just a little fantastic," Reed laughed as he stepped out the same door as Sue. He expanded the surface area of his body, admittedly somewhat eager to test out the limits of his new power. He left the safety of the vehicle and took to the skies like a kite.
To be continued...