Twenty-Three
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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.
To Be Continued...Tomorrow at
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