Chapter 7
Only a day later and Sue sat on the couch in the living room. She nibbled on her thumb as she watched the news about her.
“My inside sources are telling me that the unlucky bride-to-be, Sue Storm,” the newscaster said, “turned invisible and it seems she’s staying that way after yesterday’s embarrassing fiasco.”
Reed walked into the room as Sue closed her eyes. He stood by the couch and watched with her.
“Coming up next, the Invisible Woman’s greatest fashion blunders and an impromptu dance routine from former scientist Reed Richards,” The newscaster continued.
Reed jumped into action after hearing his name. “Sue, why do you keep watching this? Just ignore it.”
He picked up the remote control, turned off the TV, and faced Sue.
“I can’t ignore it, Reed,” Sue said as she put her head into her hands. “There’s no getting away from it.”
“I believe there is,” Reed said.
“How?”
Reed sighed, unable to give her an answer.
“See, no answer,” Sue said.
Reed sighed again and sat against the TV stand. Something sparked in his brilliant mind and he looked at Sue.
“Yes, there is,” Reed said. “What if, after this crisis is over, we leave it all behind?”
“What are you talking about?”
“We move out of the Baxter Building,” Reed stood up and sat next to Sue. “I’ll take a teaching position somewhere, get back to my research, and the two of us will live out lives and raise a family like normal people.”
Sue smiled, “You would do that?”
“Nothing’s more important to me than our future together,” Reed replied.
Sue’s smile got bigger and she hugged Reed, “Oh, thank you.”
They pulled apart and Sue laughed. A thought popped into her head and she frowned.
“What about Ben, Johnny, and Hunter?”
Reed replied, “Well, they’ll understand.”
Sue opened her mouth, but Reed continued.
“Besides, Johnny’s always been more of a solo act, and well he’s got Hunter.”
“Oh I don’t know…” Sue trailed off thinking of Hunter’s delicate problem.
“It’ll be fine,” Reed said.
Sue bit her lips, “Oh alright, let’s not mention it to them yet. Johnny’s got enough to worry about as it is with his power problems.”
Unbeknownst to them, Johnny had overheard their entire conversation in the hallway and left upset.
“And Hunter, well…she has enough on her plate as well.”
Reed cocked his head confused.
“Hunter? I’m not sure I understand,” Reed asked.
Sue waved her hand and stood up, “It’s nothing.”
“Sue,” Reed said.
She looked at him and away. “It’s not important. It’s fine.”
Reed didn’t believe her and he stood up.
“Sue.”
She looked at him, again biting her lips.
“Ooh, I promised not to tell,” Sue said.
“Sue, I need to know. If whatever this is, is going to affect her abilities and the performance of this team, I really need to know,” Reed said as he gently took ahold of her arms.
“She’s gonna kill me for this,” She said. “She’s pregnant.”
Reed widened his eyes and stuttered, “She’s pre-preg-pregnant?!”
Sue nodded, “yeah.”
Down in the kitchen where Hunter was gathering food for her and Ben stood by the island, and Alicia sat on the couch, Johnny came in.
“They’re breaking up the team!” Johnny declared.
Hunter pulled out a plateful of cut up meat and cheese, closed the fridge door, and set it down next to another plateful of crackers. She smacked Ben’s hand away.
“Those are mine,” she said to her brother.
“Huh?” Ben asked in response to Johnny’s declaration.
“Reed and Sue, I just overheard them,” Johnny said. “They want a nice, normal, boring-ass life. No more Fantastic Four.”
Hunter looked at Ben.
“Well, what do they expect us to do, keep it going, just the three of us?” Ben asked.
“And call ourselves what, the Fantastic three?” Johnny said.
Hunter picked up the plates and sat down next to Alicia. She was afraid of the real answer. Alicia put her hand on Hunter and squeezed in reassurance.
“When were they gonna tell us?” Ben continued.
Alicia answered for them, “They’ll tell you when they’re ready to tell you. It’s their decision, not yours. You can’t be mad at them for doing what makes them happy.”
Ben and Johnny looked at each other, not satisfied with the answer. Reed came in.
“Guys, we’ve got a serious problem,” he said.
Ben and Johnny followed him. Hunter stayed behind for a bit.
“Do you think everything really will be alright? Even if Sue and Reed are wanting to get out.” Hunter asked Alicia.
Alicia smiled, “It will be okay, trust me darling. Now go save the world.”
Hunter barely gave her a smile as she stood up and followed the others into the lab. She joined the others as Reed talked.
“I’ve been cross-referencing the Surfer’s radiation through every astronomical database. Altair 7, Rigel 3, Vega 6,” Reed explained as he pushed several buttons and the screen rotated and expanded.
“He’s been to all of these planets?” Ben asked.
Reed nodded, “And now they’re lifeless, barren, some even shattered.”
“My god,” Hunter whispered.
“Everywhere the Surfer goes, eight days later, the planet dies,” Reed continued.
“And how are we gonna stop him?” Ben asked. “We don’t even know where he is.”
Each looked at the screen and at one another. The severity of the situation impacted them.
“What about the craters?” Sue asked.
Reed didn’t answer as he pushed buttons and the screen switched images. His eyes widened and he straightened up as he realized what the screen was telling him.
“They’re appearing in a numerical sequence,” Reed said. “The last crater was formed in Greenland, so…the next in the sequence should be…latitude: 51 degrees, 30 minutes north; longitude: 0 degrees, seven minutes west.”
“Wait a minute, what?” Hunter asked. “He’s coming here?”
“Looks like it,” Reed nodded. “Let’s go.”
Moments later, they suited up and left. Fifteen minutes later, they were on a helicopter flying towards their destination. Inside the helicopter the team sat.
“When he surfaces, you’ve got to move the fight away from the crowd,” Reed said as he looked out his window.
Hunter sat across from Ben next to Johnny. She looked at him as he spoke.
“No, he’s too fast to be contained,” Johnny said. “When I see silver, I’m hitting him.”
“Wait, you can’t do that. We’ve got to stick to the plan and work as a team,” Reed said.
“Oh, so we’re a team now?” Johnny quipped. “That’s news to me.”
“Not now Johnny,” Hunter warned him.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” Johnny responded to Reed.
Reed sighed, instantly understanding what Johnny was talking about. He sighed as he spoke.
“Look, we were gonna tell you guys-”
“When were you gonna tell us, when you moved our stuff out of the Baxter Building?” Johnny said.
Sue and Reed looked at each other.
“Johnny, this really isn’t a good time,” Sue said.
Ben joined in, “Kid’s got a point, Reed. You should’ve told us.”
“All right, all right!” Reed said. “That’s enough! We’ll talk about this later.”
Reed looked at General Hager, who had joined them in the helicopter.
“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Hager cried.
Reed looked away without an answer. The helicopter lapsed into silence. Hunter looked outside her window to see the people down below gathering. She looked at the water to see a whirlpool developing. Her eyes widened.
“Oh. My. God,” Hunter said, catching the attention of the others.
Then suddenly as she watched, a powerful wave erupted and smashed against the concrete and cracked it. The crack continued and hit the Ferris wheel, snapping the wires. They landed as the people ran screaming. They all got off and headed towards the wheel. The wheel fell slowly forward.
Reed turned towards Hunter and pointed at her.
“You stay here!”
“What?! Are you crazy? Why shoul-” She ranted angrily before realization dawned on her. “You know don’t you?”
Reed nodded silently.
“She told you!?” Hunter screeched. “Doesn’t matter what you say Reed, I’m helping whether you like it or not!”
She ran past Reed who failed to stop her in time. Reed sighed and ran after her. She watched Sue as she put her hands up and a force-field stopped the large wheel in place. Sue struggled as she pushed the wheel forwards. The wheeled moved backwards with the help of Ben as he held the bottom of the wheel. Hunter flew up into the air as she iced her body. She stood at the apex of the machine and waited until the wheel was almost in place. Reed helped even further by stretching his body and wrapping it around all the wires and the apex where Hunter was. As soon as it was deemed close enough by Hunter, she brought her hands out and cold ice streamed out and covered it. She covered both ends as it went closer and closer and then it froze over. Johnny, not one to be left out, flew into the air as soon as he saw the Silver Surfer.
He flamed up and headed towards the wheel, but a wire snapped and hit Johnny, pushing him towards Reed. Reed and Hunter watched as Johnny slammed into one of Reed’s appendages.
“No, Johnny!” Reed yelled.
But it was too late as Johnny hit Reed and instantly they switched powers. Reed reformed and became a man of fire as Johnny fell through the air, his body flailing. He landed on the ground and his body moved as if it was made of jelly. The ice cracked and broke apart as the wheel regained its momentum. Hunter watched in horror, as she could do nothing. Just as she was about to jump off the apex, another wire snapped away and hit Hunter in the side. The force of the wire pushed her off the apex and flying into the air, all the ice melted off her body in shock.
Reed gasped as he watched and he flew towards her. He caught her.
“Are you okay?” Reed asked as Hunter iced over once again.
She pulled away from him, “I’m fine.”
“Guys?” Sue cried out.
They both looked down to see her stepping over the ledge and struggling even harder to push the wheel back. She kept walking backwards and a field appeared underneath her.
“What are you doing?” Sue continued as she walked backwards.
Blood started trickling out of her nose as she struggled.
“Ben!” Reed cried. “Lift it higher!”
Ben grunted from below the wheel, “I’ll try.”
With a deep breath, he pumped his arms up and pushed the wheel above his head. Reed flew over to the apex, where Hunter once was, and as soon as it connected, he blasted a stream of fire at it and melted them together. The force field disappeared as the wheel stayed connected. Sue groaned and landed on her knees. Ben panted and looked over to see a family hugging each other. The man nodded his thanks, and Ben nodded back. Hunter flew down to where Johnny was and landed next to him.
“Oh Johnny,” Hunter murmured as she watch him flail a bit.
Johnny got control of his body and stood up. Hunter followed him as they hurried towards Sue. Reed ran past them and as he did so, he put his hand on Johnny, and the powers switched again. Johnny stopped as Reed continued on. Hunter stood next to him.
“Sue!” Reed cried.
Sue groaned as she lost her footing and Johnny noticed. He stepped forward and Reed noticed.
“Stay back!” Reed said, pointing to Johnny, “Before you get somebody killed.”
Hunter looked at Johnny, noting his despondent look and back at Reed.
“How dare you,” Hunter said. “How dare you act like this?”
Reed looked at her.
“Any one of us could’ve killed somebody! That’s part of the damn job!” Hunter shouted. “He’s trying to do something good to help these people, and all you do is shoot him down. He cannot help what’s happening to him!”
Hunter turned towards Sue, “And you! How dare you tell Reed after you promised not to tell anyone, least of all him!”
She stepped towards Sue and Reed. Sue had tears pooling in her eyes as she listened to Hunter. Johnny grabbed Hunter’s arm, ignoring the power swap.
“Babe, come on, it’s okay,” Johnny whispered as she leaned into him.
“No, it’s not! How is any of this okay?” Hunter cried.
Johnny had no answer for her as she put her head into his shoulder. He held her to him as Reed did the same to Sue.
“Oh, my god,” Ben said.
All looked at him and followed his eyesight. They widened their eyes as they looked into what was once a beautiful river. The water had disappeared and what was left was junk all over the place, fish flapping here and there, and a giant hole thanks to the Silver Surfer.