by Marv Wolfman
It took several minutes, but they soon found themselves in a small wine cellar. Large casks sat on heavy wooden shelves. There was barely enough space to breathe in. But Johnny saw the girl who had led them to safety, and he gulped. “Anna? You?”
The dark-haired Latverian glared at Johnny. “Perhaps now you know what I meant when I said Doom was evil. You refused to help free Latveria, but I will still help you.”
The others looked on in confusion. Johnny grinned sheepishly. Introductions and explanations were definitely in order. “I met Anna while you three were getting yourselves captured. She and I sort of had an argument.” He shrugged his shoulders noncommittally.
Then Anna spoke. Her words were bitter, yet without hatred. “I wanted, I pleaded, with him to help us overthrow the despot who rules us. He refused.”
Reed understood. “Johnny was right, Anna. As much as we would like to see Doom done away with, we can’t enter any country we wish to just to overthrow its leaders. That would be an abuse of our powers, and, worse, that would force us to become the decision-makers between who is right and wrong, who should live and who should die. If Doom hasn’t that right, we can’t claim it, either.”
Reed saw the girl was beginning to complain. He continued, not letting her speak. “What would happen if we, on our own, decided the government of America was unjust, or England, or the Soviet Union? We know, we can feel for those who live in oppressed nations, but we dare not use our powers to destroy their leaders. You have to fight for yourself. That’s the only answer.”
The girl was angry; the words sputtered from her lips. “That is the coward’s decision. Doom is evil. He subjugates his people. We have no freedoms. We want to be free, and to be free we need your help. Cowards. Liars. That’s what you people are.”
From the distance they heard an old man’s voice call out. “Anna, come up here quickly. His sentries are at the door. I want you by my side.”
With a sneer on her lips, Anna mounted the steps and vanished. “Yes, Grandfather. Hold on. I will be there.”
“Awright, Reed, whadda we do now? That gal thinks we’re lower’n scum. She ain’t gonna raise a hand ta save us, and we’re trapped down here.”
They eyed the large casks of wine. Reed studied them carefully.
“I have an idea,” is all he said.
“Have you seen the Americans?” The robot pushed its way into the small house; its scanners analyzed the room’s interior. No excessive heat patterns. “Speak!” Its voice was cold and mechanical, deliberately designed to instill fear.
“No. I haven’t seen anyone,” the girl said. Her eyes grew narrow, her hateful expression lost on the steel sentry.
“You lie. Perspiration rate has increased. Heartbeat has increased. You have lied. Where are the strangers? Take us to them or face immediate elimination.”
The old man hobbled toward the robot sentries, his cane tapping on the wood-planked floor. “My granddaughter said she saw them earlier, when they came. Yesterday. She is not lying. Check me if you think so. I have not seen them.”
“You tell the truth, yet you lie. There is something amiss. Is this your only cluster of rooms?”
There was no point in lying. The robot sensors would discover a lie. “No. We have a basement, a wine cellar. I make the wine myself, from the grapes I grow in my garden. I have permission.”
The robots pushed passed the old man, knocking him back. Anna caught her grandfather and helped him to his seat as the robots descended the stairwell to the cellar.
Light beams glowed from their eyes, turning the dark basement into daytime. There were only large casks, nothing else.
Suddenly their arms lifted, and their laser rifles slid into place. With a wide arc they circled the room, blasting each cask. Wine spurted out from half the casks, yet the deadly rays slashed through all. Anna cried out in horror. She understood what had happened, but it was too late. There was nothing she could do.
The robots paused. Their leader turned toward the girl. “We did not detect the presence of outsiders, but our computer tapes indicated you have not yet made this year’s payment for your wine-merchant license. You have been operating illegally. Tomorrow you will appear in Municipal Court number three and pay your fine. In the meantime, all illegalities have been removed.”
The girl was silent, struck numb, as the robots left without another word. Wine flowed everywhere; it formed puddles around her feet. Then she heard one cask shudder and open. Johnny Storm slipped safely outside. Her eyes grew wide with astonishment.
The other casks opened. Reed Richards, Sue Richards, and the orange-skinned monster called the Thing eased their way to safety. “Yer plan worked perfect, Stretch. How’d ya know?”
Reed eased a pain in his back as he answered his friend’s question. “We passed through Doom’s robot control room during the tour, remember? I knew the frequency he operated on. I was sure a minor adjustment in our belt radio would block out our heartbeats. Fortunately, I was right.”
Anna couldn’t hold her shock in any longer. “They shot you. How did you live? I saw them use their terrible rays. I saw it.”
“Each of us,” Reed began, “has special powers. You must know that by now. Sue’s force field protected her.” Reed nodded toward Johnny. “The Human Torch’s flame helped to deflect the light beams. I was able to stretch out of the way, anticipating their moves, which wasn’t as difficult as you might suppose.” They stared at him, confused. Reed grinned. “There was a small hole in the cask. I saw where they were aiming and shifted my body to the opposite side.”
“As fer me, there ain’t no laser built that can put the ol’ kibbosh on yer’s truly.” The Thing grinned a wide, toothless grin that seemed distinctly out of place. Behind them they heard Johnny begin to giggle, then laugh, then convulse. “What’s so funny, hot-head?”
It took more than a minute for Johnny to control himself, to clear the tears from his eyes. “You know why you survived, Benjamin, my orange buddy? You know why? The blamed robot missed you, that’s why. But if you want to see what the laser hit, take a peek behind you.”
Ben turned his massive head, and if it were possible for his orange-hued body to turn red, it would have. He backed into the corner, behind a cask still emptying its wine. The others saw his consternation. Then Sue noticed the reason and she broke into fits of laughter.
Ben was fit to be tied. “Awright! Awright! So what’s so funny, lady? Ya never seen a orange butt before? Sheesh! Hey, wot’re ya all starin’ at me fer? Ain’t ya got no courtesy? C’mon, get movin’. Get movin’!”
Laughing, Reed turned to Anna. “You wouldn’t have any material we could alter for Ben, would you? I think my friend here is a bit embarrassed.”
Ben squarked. “This is another one I owe Doom fer. Burnin’ off my britches! That’s a new low, even fer him!”
It took fifteen minutes before the laughter stopped.
Twenty-Three
A green glow filled the massive wall-screen, leaving Dr. Doom speechless as he peered deeper and deeper into the strange, undescribable universe revealed before him. Alien shapes stretched into infinity, weird, crag-like formations jutted out in all directions, and then there was the vast emptiness, the long stretches of green melting into blue, fading into red and into black.
Crimson clouds floated freely through the void, wisping past multicolored dots of light: planets man had never before seen, worlds no living life forms had ever set foot upon.
This was the Negative Zone, the cosmic field of reverse polarity that Reed Richards had discovered months before and had only lately begun to explore. Doom was overwhelmed by the incredible sights he witnessed: the vast panorama of a totally alien dimension. This mind-numbing discovery had always eluded him; the piercing of another dimension had been his dream, and he had failed miserably at making that dream a reality.
But Reed Richards had pierced the cosmic plane; he alone had uncovered the secret of negative force. And though Doom cursed
his foe, despised his own failure, still what he had always sought was now here within his grasp. The Negative Zone was his to harness.
He reached for the coupling units. He had to enter this Negative Zone. He had to witness firsthand its awesome power. And more, he had to siphon its negative energy, to draw it into his armor, which had been especially prepared for this very moment; the unbridled energy he needed to complete his vast cosmic scheme.
His years of planning, hoping, having his hopes dashed, re-scheming, and re-plotting were finally on the threshold of realization. Very soon the one truth that had always eluded him would be his.
The coupling unit to the Negative Zone door was melted over. Beneath his armored mask, Doom sneered. His hand grasped the adamantium steel door, electrical energy crackled from his gauntlet, and the coupling began to melt anew.
His heart beat faster; his perspiration increased. Doom felt elated, light-headed, giddy. Success was within his grasp. The steel dripped down the door like rain on a windowpane. He could hear himself breathing heavily in anticipation. Any moment now, any moment and he would fling open the door and an entirely new universe would be his.
“Hold it, Doom. You’ve gone far enough.”
Doom knew the voice and he cursed his foe even before he turned around.
Reed Richards stood grim-faced behind him. Behind Richards was the lumbering Thing, Susan Richards, the Invisible Girl, and Johnny Storm, the Human Torch.
“You bumbling, insignificant dolts!” Doom shouted, displaying an almost insane hatred of this foursome. “I cannot be stopped now, not while I stand here ready to realize all my dreams!”
Even as he spoke, his hands danced with electrical fire. Within moments the small lab room was filled with a fearsome static charge. But Richards only shook his head sadly. “It won’t help you, Doom. Our costumes are constructed from unstable molecules. Your tricks won’t stop us now.”
Doom’s iron face-mask seemed to take on a demonic bent. Bolts of raw energy poured from his fingertips. “You contemptible fools! Don’t you understand that I will not be defeated? This is the day I have awaited all my life. Nothing will go wrong. Nothing can go wrong.”
The Fantastic Four moved apart from each other. Sue, Ben, and Johnny waited for Reed’s command. They were a well-oiled fighting team; they knew how each of them fought, and they learned through the years how to work together like no other four people had ever done before.
At the same moment Reed Richards stretched toward Doom, his arms snaking around the master villain, Ben Grimm leaped forward and grabbed Doom’s green tunic with his massive orange hand. Johnny Storm flamed on and circled over Doom, ready for any action, as Sue Richards stood back, her force field prepared to encircle Doom in an instant should Reed need her help.
Doom’s hands lashed out, and they grabbed the Thing’s face even as Ben’s hands began to crush Doom’s armor. “How dare you touch me, you misanthropic monster? For that you will perish.”
Instantly, Ben’s face began to freeze, and ice formed around his eyes and nose, then spread across his mouth. “What in Sam Hill are ya doin’ ta me, tin-head?” Ben shivered. He released Doom from his powerful grip and clawed at the ice covering his face. “I can’t breathe! Ya blasted rust-spot—yer killin’ me!”
Doom laughed. “You had better believe that, you lumbering lummox. I will destroy you as I will all your friends.”
Reed’s hands pulled Doom away from Ben, forcing the iron Monarch to the floor of the Baxter Building. “Johnny, help Ben—now, before it’s too late. Sue, use your force field—surround Doom, isolate him.”
Johnny dived toward the fallen figure of Ben Grimm. He could hear Ben choking through the thick coat of ice that surrounded his face. “Hold on, you big ox. I’ll melt this gunk off you.”
He doused his flame; only his hands glowed red with heat. His burning fingers touched the ice and it melted instantly. Ben shook his head weakly, gulping for breath.
“Thanks, junior. I owe ya one, but don’t expect me ta pay.”
Johnny grinned. “Just remember me in your will, blue-eyes.”
Ben snorted. “Don’t hold yer breath, hot-shot.”
With a powerful backhand, Doom slammed Reed away from him. He saw Sue Richards poised, her temple throbbing. He only had a moment to act before her force field would surround him, entrap him.
He fired a shock wave at Sue’s feet. She tumbled and fell backward into the small computer bank that lined the far wall. Sparks shot out in every direction as Sue crumpled to the floor.
Doom whirled and fired another blast at Reed, but the master scientist leaped backward toward another wall and reshaped his elastic body into a ball which richocheted off the wall and back into Doom. Then Reed flattened himself, and like a sheet he covered Doom completely, while his fingers probed the incredible iron armor for any weak spots. But there were none to be found anywhere.
Once more Doom electrified his armor, but this time he centered a concentrated blast at Reed’s exposed face. Richards yelped with sudden pain, then fell back.
Doom lunged forward toward the Negative Zone couplings, but he was suddenly caught within a wall of fire which sprang up from nowhere. Above him he could see the Human Torch, poised and angry. “All right, Doom, you can’t escape. Why not just give up and make this easy on all of us?”
Doom thrust his hands forward and fired a blast of cold air at the flaming Human Torch. “Never, you doltish clod! Doom will never surrender—not when he is so very close to final victory!”
The cold air stunned Johnny Storm. His flame ebbed, then faded, and then he fell.
Ben Grimm ran under him, his hands outstretched. “Don’t worry it, junior. I got ya—though I don’t know what I’m gonna do with ya.”
Doom’s hands grabbed the Negative Zone door and he pulled with all his power. The door creaked, whined, protested, but it opened a fraction, and that was more than enough.
The room was suddenly bathed in green as the door flashed open. Doom’s eyes grew wide with wonderment; then his scientific curiosity turned to horror.
He found himself lifted off the floor like a leaf in the wind. The pressure grew all about him. He was unable to find a handhold as he was sucked through the door into the green vastness beyond. Behind him he saw his foes also fall victim to the incredible suction.
They were helpless, buffeted about in the stormy seas of a totally alien dimension. Doom could see the Negative Zone door move farther and farther away from him as he fell and twirled and was drawn to the center of the Zone.
Reed Richards opened his eyes and instantly he knew they were all doomed. Helpless, they were being drawn to the core of the Negative Zone, the magnetic center composed of pure negative energy.
But what frightened Reed the most was the knowledge that the moment any of these five out-of-control humans reached that central core, as their positive energy joined with the negative force, the entire Negative Zone would be completely destroyed in an explosion that could quite possibly annihilate every living being on the Earth itself.
Reed saw the Zone door still opened in the far distance. There would be no way to prevent the dimension-searing blast from escaping and taking the Earth along with it.
Helpless, tumbling head over heels, these five knew they just might soon witness the end of all life everywhere. The thought did not sit well.
Twenty-Four
Doom arced forward and Reed saw a stream of smoke appear from under his long green cape. Blast! He has a jet pack. I should have realized he’d be prepared for this. He’s been waiting for this moment, waiting to do whatever it is he’s planned.
Reed watched as Doom alighted on a floating asteroid. Then he removed his cape and spread his arms upward toward the center of the Negative Zone. Tiny suction devices lined Doom’s armor; intricate circuitry crisscrossed his chest beneath his tunic. Good Lord, he’s absorbing the negative energy—that’s a “power drainer” he’s wearing.
The iron Monarch
laughed. “You understand what I’m doing, Richards?” he shouted at the tumbling figure rushing past him. “Do you understand? I needed to tap this dimension’s power. I’ve reconstructed my armor for this very moment. Even as we speak, even as you rush headlong to your death, negative power is being absorbed into my power condensers. I feel my strength increase, my very body changing, growing.”
“It isn’t gonna grow for long, Doc.” The Human Torch unfurled half a dozen fireballs at Doom as he fought the tremendous suction grabbing him. He would get Doom, stop the iron madman, then find a way back into the Baxter Building.
But Doom was ready. His fingers were spread apart and the air pulsed around him. The fireballs skidded off the energy shield Doom created. “You are a moron, child. This negative energy has given me powers you cannot even dream of. There is nothing I cannot do. Observe, you dolt—observe!”
He held his hands high, then asteroids suddenly altered course and circled Doom. He began to grow; he was more than one hundred feet tall when he paused and stared into his iron palm. Light danced across his fingers, changing shape, forming duplicates of the Fantastic Four. “With my new cosmic powers I can recreate life . . .” suddenly the figures burst into flame, then withered, ash slipping through his fingers—“. . . and I can destroy that life just as simply.”
Doom glanced at Ben, falling toward the destructive core. A glow surrounded the orange monster, then faded, leaving not the powerful Thing in its place, but the slimmer, human, Benjamin Grimm. “You despise your monstrous body, Grimm. It makes you little more than a mindless beast. It keeps you from the woman you love. ‘How could a monster marry a human?’ you cry to yourself each night. With little more than a thought, I can make you human once more. I can make your miserable life happy. You could return to your loved one not as a lumbering monstrosity, but as a human . . . as a man.”
Ben Grimm gasped. It had been years since he was human, since he had become the Thing. And Doom was right—it was only his monstrous orange hide that kept him from proposing to the blind Alicia Masters . . . kept the two of them from finding happiness. But now—now he was human again. Now he—his flesh faded; it turned pink, then orange. His skin hardened, became thick, brickish. He was no longer Ben Grimm. He was the Thing again, and he was mad as hell.
