Chapter 13
“I’ve got a lock on Victor’s energy trail,” Reed said to the group. “He’s headed over Southeast China. Hang on.”
Reed boosted the speed and changed directions. Johnny flew beside Sue and he turned his head as he heard the Silver Surfer.
“Norrin Radd,” the man said.
“What?” Sue asked.
“I was once called Norrin Radd,” Norrin repeated.
“Norrin,” Sue said to him, “we’re gonna need your help to save our world. Do you understand?”
Norrin simply looked at her. Suddenly, up front the machine began to go haywire, and then a blast hit the craft. Hunter and Johnny flew away as the craft was knocked about.
“Whoa! What the hell was that?” Ben cried.
Reed looked up to see Doom flying at them.
“Victor, the board is drawing the destroyer here!” Reed shouted over the wind. “You have to give it up!”
“You know, “Doom said. “I’ve never been the giving type, Reed.”
Doom pulsed his arm up but Reed was ready and maneuvered the craft away. They headed to a forest area and Johnny turned in the air and aimed for Doom. Hunter continued on with the craft. Doom brought his hand up and water drenched Johnny. He screamed as the fire was forced to disappear. Doom aimed for the craft but missed as he hit the water instead.
“We’re sitting ducks!” Ben shouted.
“We’re gonna have to split up,” Reed said.
“What?” Sue screeched.
Ben muttered to himself, “This ought to be fun.”
The aircraft broke apart as Reed shouted to Sue.
“Stay close to me, Sue!” Reed said.
Hunter flew beside Sue.
“I’ll be here! I’ll help you,” Hunter said to the other woman.
Hunter stayed close to Sue as the others flew off. A rockslide occurred thanks to Doom and they were forced to fly under the debris.
“You’re doing good Sue!” Hunter encouraged her just as a blast from Doom barely missed them.
Hunter turned as she flew and sent off a blast of ice towards him. Doom waved it away as if it was just dust. Reed saw them and headed for them, knowing they needed help.
“He’s really pissing me off!” Sue hollered.
“Agreed,” Hunter muttered as she followed Sue.
Another bout of rockslide had Hunter avoiding it but Sue still heading for it. Reed stretched his arm out and pulled Sue’s craft away. Doom banked out of the way and turned but was met with Ben’s fist instead.
“Surf’s up, metal boy!” Ben growled.
Reed went back to Victor to keep trying to convince him to give up the board.
“Victor,” he said, “only the Surfer can stop the destroyer! But he needs his board!”
“Come and get it Richards,” Doom said.
Someone said his name, and he looked around to find that the Fantastic Five surrounded him.
“Let’s all go for a spin!” Doom shouted as he spun himself around, creating a whirlpool of air.
The five yelled as they became stuck in the whirlpool. All tried to regain control, but Doom sent them flying to the city. Hunter landed on Sue’s aircraft, and the force of her land pushed it towards the approaching ground faster. Sue’s craft hit several buildings before it finally slid along the road. People screamed as it landed. Suddenly they stopped. Silence ensued for a moment, before Hunter, who groaned, broke it.
“Oh god,” Hunter moaned. “Sue?”
She slid off the craft and sat on the ground. She turned when she heard Sue.
“Hunter?” Sue asked.
“I’m here,” Hunter responded as she stood up straight.
She followed Sue’s eyesight to see that the Surfer wasn’t in the craft but standing in the street. Hunter looked up to see Doom coming at them.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Hunter screeched as she iced over and flew at him.
Doom chuckled and grabbed her throat. Hunter grunted as he squeezed the air out of her.
“I’ve waited a long time for this moment,” Doom whispered. “You know, it was you I hated the most because you condemned me to my fate.”
“And I’ll do it again,” Hunter grunted, “if I have to.”
“Ah, but you won’t. I killed you last time,” Doom said.
“Then what are you waiting for?” Hunter whispered.
“This,” Doom replied as he brought out a knife that was hidden in his cloak.
Hunter’s eyes widened as she saw it. She wriggled as she tried to get out of his grip.
“Ah,” Doom said as he noticed her eyes, “I’m not going to kill you. I’m just going to make you suffer.”
With that, he pushed the knife into her stomach and Hunter gasped. She squeezed his arm as her iced form melted away.
“By killing your child,” Doom continued as he twisted the knife.
Hunter let out a strangled cry as Sue screamed her name. Doom cackled like a witch as he let her go, and she dropped to the ground with a thud. Hunter pressed a hand to her stomach as she tried to stop the bleeding. Tears pooled in her eyes as the realization of losing her child hit her. She rolled over to see Sue looking at her with horror.
“You bastard!” Sue screamed at him.
“Uh uh, language Sue,” Doom said as he put the knife away.
He brought his hand up and conjured up a large, thin weapon.
“Norrin!” Sue cried as she pulled off her seatbelt and scrambled out of the aircraft.
She ran as Doom threw the weapon. She stood in front of Norrin and brought up the force field. But the field did not protect them as it was meant to because the weapon simply passed through it and hit Sue.
“Sue!” Hunter screamed as she struggled to get up from the ground. “No!”
“Sue!” Reed called out as he watched her fall.
Hunter finally managed to stand up just as he passed her by. Reed landed on his knees beside her and cried out her name twice. Ben and Johnny joined them, Hunter just behind Ben.
“Sue,” Johnny whispered as he went to her.
“Johnny, don’t touch her,” Ben said.
“Oh god, oh god,” Reed said as Sue looked at him.
“You need to find a way to get the board,” Sue said.
“Sue, I-”
“Okay?” Sue asked.
Tears poured down Hunter’s cheeks as she muffled her cries behind her hand, the other still pressed against her wound. She shook her head when she spotted Sue looking at her. Sue knew what it meant, and she didn’t say anything about Doom knifing Hunter. A rumble resounded from above and all looked at up.
“He is here,” the Surfer said.
The sky turned grey as a storm brewed, indicating that Galactus is indeed here.
“Reed,” Ben said as he put a hand on Reed’s shoulder. “Reed.”
Reed looked at him and then back to Sue, “Victor’s got to have a pulse emitter linking him to his board. We take it out, we can separate him from his board.”
“He’s too strong for me,” Johnny said.
“I could whale on him, if I could get close enough,” Ben said. “But he could see me coming from a mile away.”
“My powers don’t work on him,” Hunter said.
Reed looked at Sue, who was coughing.
“It would take all of us,” Reed said as he looked back to his teammates.
“Or maybe just one of us,” Johnny said.
Everyone understood the idea.
“We don’t know what it could do to you,” Reed said.
“Let’s not make this about me,” Johnny said.
All agreed as each one put their hands together. Hunter was careful to put down the blood-less hand. Johnny put his on top of the others and instantly all the powers went to him. Ben went back to normal, without his rock-like appearance. Johnny nodded to them and flew off. Hunter watched him as she stepped away from the huddled group. She stood as more tears came down.
“To quote a friend of mine,” Johnny said as he flew up to Doom, “it’s clobbering time.”
Doom looked over to see nothing but his reflection in one of the buildings. Johnny appeared from the invisibility power, fire and ice on parts of his body that is helping him fly. Doom gasped as Johnny formed a rock-like fist, expanded it, and pulled it back to hit Doom. Doom flew back from the hit and Johnny caught him and kicked him. Doom flew backwards again and hit one of the buildings. Then he caught his bearings, and headed for Johnny. Doom pulled all the pieces of the building apart and threw it at Johnny. The force hit him and he flew backwards. He stretched, caught a building, and swung himself around.
Down below, Ben found clothes that fit him and he went climbing onto a construction site. He went up the ladder and into one of the machines. Johnny continued to fight Doom. The surfboard went falling as Johnny managed to knock out the controller.
“You ain’t goin down fighting, kid,” Ben said as he turned on the machine and moved the controllers inside. “Not without me.
The machine held a large metal bar and Ben moved it towards them. The bar hit Doom, and had him flying out like he was a baseball. He landed in the water. Hunter smiled as she watched him fly. She looked over when she heard footsteps. She saw the Surfer and he stood in front of her. He looked down to her blood covered hand.
“I cannot save both,” he said.
“I understand,” Hunter said as she nodded. “Don’t bother with me, save Sue. She’s the glue to this family, we can’t lose her.”
Norrin Radd gave her a nod and walked passed her to Reed who was holding Sue. Johnny landed and touched Hunter’s shoulder, giving her power back. Hunter gasped slightly as Johnny continued on. He touched Ben, Reed, and Sue, giving them all back their powers. Hunter turned and nearly stumbled from the lack of blood and energy. She watched as Sue succumbed to her death. She walked up until she was right behind Ben, hidden from the others. They watched as Reed cried and pulled Sue into his arms. Norrin looked away as his board came back. He summoned it to him and stood on it.
Reed looked at the Silver Surfer, “You’ve got to go.”
He watched as the surfer bent down and touched Sue. Patches on his body dimmed from bright silver to a dull grey. Sue glowed a bit as Reed and the others watched.
The Surfer pulled back and spoke, “Treasure each moment with her and tell her she was right- we do have a choice.”
Reed looked down to Sue in his arms and back up when the surfer spoke again.
“Tell her also, that I could only save one,” the surfer said before he looked up and flew away.
“I don’t understand,” Ben said.
Reed shook his head, neither did he. He looked at Sue and to his surprise, Sue moved. She was alive. He smiled and looked at the others. Johnny made a decision and flew off after the surfer.
“Thought you could use a hand,” Johnny said as the surfer looked back.
The surfer smiled and propelled forwards.
“Oh, my god,” Johnny said as he caught sight of the destroyer.
He let go of the board and fell before he flamed on and headed towards the ground. Johnny continued as the buildings and electricity exploded on the ground around the other four.
“Why isn’t working?” Ben asked.
Reed looked up to the sky and responded, “We were too late.”
Reed looked at Sue as the roaring and everything stopped. Everything darkened for a moment before the electricity came back on. Reed smiled when he saw that Sue was looking at him.
“Hi,” Sue whispered.
“Hi,” Reed whispered back.
Sue looked around and back at Reed, “What’d I miss?”
Reed let out a small laugh and Sue smiled. Ben laughed as well, relieved that Sue was all right. Johnny landed in between Hunter and Ben. Ben headed for him.
“Heh, great job kid,” Ben said as he smacked Johnny’s back.
Johnny scampered away, “Whoa, whoa.”
He looked at Ben and laughed.
“Ha! I’m not changing,” Johnny cheered.
“Hey, that’s right!” Ben laughed as Johnny touched his arm and then hugged him. “Great! Oh, okay. Now you’re making me uncomfortable.”
Hunter smiled through her tears as she watched them. She looked down at her hand and pulled it away to see the red staining her hand. She swallowed thickly and looked back up to see Johnny walking towards Sue. Hunter wiped the tears away and stood next to Ben who wrapped an arm around her shoulder. They watched as Sue and Johnny hugged each other. They pulled apart, and Sue looked at Hunter.
Hunter smiled at Sue and leaned her head on Ben’s chest. Her eyes closed and her legs gave out just as Sue called her name. Ben quickly held on to her as she fell.
“Whoa,” Ben said as he laid her on the ground. “Hunter?”
Ben palmed her cheek and put his hand on her stomach only to find there was sticky, wet blood.
“No,” Ben whispered.