Earth-717: Fantastic Four Vol 1

Chapter 10: Latveria

With his hands held behind his back, Doom paced back and forth across the stage, perpendicular

to the crowd. He tuned out the conversations that were being had in front of him, turning the gears in

his own mind. He then stopped as he heard Xi speak to him.

“Von Doom. Time's up.”

“Thank you,” replied Doom, nodding.

Doom faced the crowd.

“Your time has ceased. What are your decisions?”

Several of the delegates began walking towards the stage. Ellis then put up his hand and waved

down.

“I can't speak for all of us . . . . but I can speak for many of us. We will never submit to your

rule, Doom. Someone will stop you. It might not be us, but someone will. You can't enslave an entire

planet and expect to come out on top.”

“Under normal circumstances, you would be correct. The difference . . . . is that I am Doom.”

The Doombots on the stage activated their holographic video screen, showing an aerial view of

a large city.

“Your words are courageous, Mr. President, but courage will not save the millions of people

living in Chicago. Perhaps after you watch them die, your courage will be dissuaded.”

Doom pulled the remote from his cloak again.

“Set co-ordinates.”

“Co-ordinates locked in,” said the Doombot.

Ellis looked down. Some of the people started to hold their breath and cry. Doom sneered before

pressing the button.

Nothing happened.

Doom furrowed his brow and waited for ten seconds before speaking out.

“Confirm the co-ordinates.”

“Co-ordinates confirmed, Lord Doom,” said the Doombot. “No signal detected from the

geothermal extractor.”

“What? How?”

A loud crashing noise was heard from the front of the hall. Everyone turned to look as Ben

broke through the wall, scattering chunks of concrete and debris around him. As the grey dust settled,

he rushed into the room and put his fist through the nearest Doombot.

“Anyone else?!”

Disabled, the Doombot fell onto the floor as Ben receded his fist. Johnny flew through the hole

in the wall and hovered next to Ben. Reed stretched into the room, and Susan materialized in front of

him, her arms crossed.

“It's the Fantastic Four!” shouted someone from the crowd.

“Having trouble with your device, Victor?” asked Reed, grinning.

“Richards,” grumbled Doom. “What have you done?”

“We had a little chat with your good friend, the Mole Man,” explained Susan. “After getting his

pet monster out of the city, which we suppose you unleashed so that attention was away from the

United Nations building, he surrendered and told us everything. How you contacted him and

commissioned him to steal the extractor from Project Pegasus. How you met with him and modified the

device to create earthquakes. How you promised him a kingdom in your new world order in exchange

for his assistance. He spilled it all, and now he's on his way to Ryker's, and your device is a piece of

scrap metal.”

Johnny pointed his finger at Doom.

“Yeah! So take that!”

Ben punched his fists together.

“Felt good to put my skills to productive use.”

“Face it Victor,” said Reed. “You failed.”

“Failed?”

Doom's eyes widened as he glared at Reed.

“Doctor Doom . . . . does not fail!”

Doom stretched out his arm to his side and fired a purple beam from his hand, which created a

small portal on the stage.

“Cabal, get to safety! Doom shall deal with these insolent worms.”

Putin, Natalia, Xi and Harper all ran into the portal, which closed after they were gone. All of

the Doombots then turned and looked at the team.

“That's . . . . a lot of robots,” said Ben.

“All Doombots! Lethal force authorized! Destroy the Fantastic Four!”

The Doombots activated their green laser cannons and began firing. Susan quickly tossed up a

force field around the entire team. The delegate crowd screamed and began ducking for cover, or lying

on the ground. Reed stretched upwards.

“Now!”

Susan let go of the force field and created a shield in front of her. She then blitzed it forward,

crashing into a Doombot, which exploded on contact. Johnny boosted into the air and speedily rotated,

shooting multiple streams of fire which melted three of the Doombots. Ben grabbed two of the

Doombots and smashed their heads together. Another tried to strike him from behind, but he dodged

and landed a haymaker on its face.

“Doom shall avenge me!” shouted the Doombot, as its head was knocked off.

Reed stretched over the battle, and confronted Doom.

“Stop this Victor! Before you end up regretting it.”

“Doom regrets nothing, Richards.”

“We'll see.”

Reed leaped forward. Doom braced himself, but then gasped as Reed stretched his body in a

circular fashion, wrapping himself around Doom. For a moment, Doom struggled, before an electrical

current lashed out of his armour, shocking Reed, who screamed in agony. Reed's elastic form collapsed

on the stage at Doom's feet. Doom reached down, grabbing Reed's neck and pulling it up to his eye

level.

“By the end of this day, it is you who shall be doing the regretting.”

Reed coughed out a word as he choked.

“Victor . . . .”

Doom tapped a button on his belt, which glowed blue in response.

“Bodyslider. Activate.”

Susan's eyes widened as she saw a blue energy field envelop Doom and Reed. She jumped at

them, but they immediately disappeared, and she landed on an empty stage.

“Reed?!”

Ben smashed the last Doombot against the ground before turning to look at Susan.

“REED!”

Trembling, Susan fell to her knees on the stage. Johnny landed next to her and reverted to

human form. Ben sighed and looked down. Susan closed her eyes.

“Sis?”

“He's gone . . . .”

“Who's gone?”

Ben perked up his head upon hearing the voice in his earpiece.

“Herbie?”

“Hi guys! How is your epic showdown going?”

“Egh, Herbie, now might not be the best time . . . .”

“Reed's gone!” shouted Susan. “Can't you see that?”

“Doctor Richards? He's not gone . . . . although, I suppose that depends on your definition of the

word . . . .”

Susan raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“Doctor Richards is gone from your location, yes, but he's merely been transported somewhere

else.”

“Where?!”

“Locational tracking data from his earpiece suggests that he's . . . . wow, halfway around the

world. In a small country called Latveria. Huh. Why would he go there?”

Susan stood up.

“Herbie, prep the ship. We're leaving!”

* * * *

Clutching his stomach, Reed groaned as he felt his eyes slowly open. Coughing, he then looked

at his surroundings. The containment cube that he was in was completely transparent, and two metres

in width, length, and height. It was on the floor in the middle of a large, stone chamber. The adornings

and decorations suggested a medieval theme, but a set of hyper-advanced computer consoles were off

to one side. At the end of the chamber was a long, crimson carpet, which lead to a metallic throne.

Reed furrowed his brow upon seeing who was sitting on it.

“Doom.”

Doom softly laughed as his grip on the armrests of his throne tightened. Reed tried to stretch out

and exert pressure on the containment cube, but the walls let out an electrical shock when he touched it.

Receding, he breathed heavily as Doom continued to laugh. He then stood up from his throne.

“I must say, I find your pathetic struggling quite amusing, Richards. To think, that you were

referred to as the greatest mind of our time by the corn-fed commoners that make up your idiotic media

outlets. Yet here you are, by way of a simple box, utterly defeated.”

“If you're so smart, Victor, then why couldn't you have devised a way to defeat my team without

resorting to cowardice?”

Doom began walking towards Reed as he spoke.

“Your appeal to honour holds no bearing on me. Strategy determines my actions. You would be

wise to follow my example.”

“Your example? You were willing to kill millions so that you could, what? Conquer the world?

Why?”

Doom glared at Reed as he stopped a metre away from the containment cube.

“Our species is at a critical crossroads in our evolution. You should know this. I merely wish to

ensure that we move along the right path.”

“No. Not the right path. Your path.”

“And you would have us do what? Follow you? You who stole everything from me? Who

ruined my life?”

Reed's eyes widened. Doom pressed his finger against a button on his wrist gauntlet,

electrifying Reed. Holding it for several seconds, he listened as Reed screamed. Doom then released

the button as Reed panted.

“Victor . . . . please . . . . y-you can't . . . . I didn't mean . . . .”

“Didn't mean to what? Steal my face? Kill the woman I loved?!”

Doom pressed the button again, and Reed writhed around in the box as the electricity rippled

across his body. After a few more seconds, Doom released it again.

“I'm sorry . . . . I k-know, that I . . . . told you . . . . that there . . . . w-was, a . . . . m-

mistake . . . .”

Doom sneered.

“But, the mistake . . . . was mine.”

Reed looked up at Victor. For a minute, they just stared at each other.

“I know that my error caused your accident,” said Reed. “I know that you lost everything, and

Victor, with all of my being, I am truly sorry. I know what she meant to you. We were all friends once,

or do you not remember that?”

Victor inhaled and held his head up high.

“Whether you hate me or not, that doesn't give you the right to do the things you're doing.

Victor, you once wanted to help people. To use science for progress, not tyranny. You don't have to do

this.”

“That is where you are wrong.”

Reed sighed. His eyes then widened as he saw Lucia walk into the room, with her metallic

plates showing.

“Viola?”

“Lucia,” said Doom.

“Lord Doom, we have an approaching aircraft. Small, and with greater speed than usual for a

ship its size. It is alone.”

“No doubt the rest of Richards' foolish team are coming to rescue him. I'll make sure that they

fail. Return to your duties, Ms. Von Bardas.”

“As you command, your Excellency.”

Lucia bowed, and then turned away. She smirked at Reed for a second before leaving the room.

Doom then walked towards the computer consoles.

“It was her,” said Reed. “She sabotaged the plasma batteries.”

“How perceptive of you, Richards,” replied Doom, without turning to look at him. “I sought to

end your miserable existence because I knew that you were one of the only people who could have

stood in the way of my plans.”

“So . . . . I created you . . . . and you created us.”

“The poetic irony is not lost on me, I assure you.”

Doom pulled open a metal closet to the side of the computer consoles. Reaching inside, he

pulled out a sleek, futuristic rocket launcher.

“However, I'm afraid that this is where our game ends.”

Doom then calmly walked towards the large glass window at the other end of the chamber.

Reed felt his breathing quicken as he looked out the window, seeing a small speck coming into view

over the forested mountains.

“Just as you destroyed any chance of me having a family with the love of my life, so shall I

destroy the family that you have adopted as your own.”

“Victor, don't do this.”

Doom aimed the rocket launcher at the window. Reed gritted his teeth.

“Stop it, you evil bastard!”

“In the words of the immortal Bard: 'There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it

so.'”

Doom fired the rocket, which broke through the window. Reed felt his jaw drop as the rocket

soared towards the speck. For five seconds, there was no sound. Then, the speck was struck, and an

explosion cleared the skies.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”