[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZfvPPwT.png[/img][/center][b]Castle Doom, Latveria[/b]
[center][i][color=#ffffff]DOOM.[/color][/i]
[i][color=#ffffff]DOOM.[/color][/i]
[i][color=#ffffff]DOOM.[/color][/i][/center]
[color=#ffffff]The chant continued as Victor von Doom stepped away from the balcony and into Lucia von Bardas’ presidential office. A satisfied smile adorned Victor’s boyish face. The crowd had been baying for Lucia’s blood when Doom had begun his address but he had impressed on them the need to rise above violence. She would stand trial for her crimes against Latveria – and if found guilty she would spend the rest of her life in prison. Doom was determined that his revolution would not go the way of Kahndaq.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Doom’s second-in-command General Karadick did not share his enthusiasm for turning the other cheek. The Romani man they called the “Green Bear” had been fighting von Bardas since before Victor had been born. On those rare occasions that Doom allowed intellectual pretension to distract him from the business of revolution, it fell to Karadick to refocus his mind.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Karadick more than any other in Doom’s inner circle held sway over the revolutionary’s opinion. And the Bear suspected that Latveria might live to regret granting von Bardas the luxury of a trial.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]His spoke in snarl more than words.[/color][color=#45818e] “Are you sure about this, Victor?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Victor nodded.[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“Latveria has seen more than its fair share of blood these past twenty years, General. Let its people witness mercy for a change. It will do them some good.”[/color]

[color=#45818e]“The Marquis escaped with around a thousand men,”[/color][color=#ffffff] The Green Bear asked pointedly. [/color][color=#45818e]“Will we show him mercy, also?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]It was Clyde Wyndcam that had given Karadick the scars across his face. For two years Karadick had been Wyncham’s captive. In that time he had undergone all manner of torture and never once had he revealed the liberation movemenet’s secrets. His resolve was legendary – supplanted only by his desire to exact bloody revenge on the Marquis.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Before Doom had a chance to respond a soldier appeared with a message for them.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“The Americans are here, General.”[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“Show them in,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Victor said with a smile.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The doors to the presidential office swung open and through them stepped Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm, and … a golem of some kind. The floor shook beneath the golem’s footsteps and the green-clad soldiers eyed it suspiciously as the four approached Doom.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]For Doom’s part there was no sign of hesitation. All the regality he had exuded atop the balcony melted away and he cantered over to Reed with a broad smile on his face. His arms wrapped around Reed’s shoulders and he patted him on the back with genuine warmth.[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“It is good to see you again, Reed Richards.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]One of the golem's large orange fingers prodded Victor back from Reed. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“Hey! Ease up there, Doom.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]A roomful of guns cocked all at once. Doom commanded the men to be at ease with a wave of his hand and glanced towards the orange creature stood before him. The voice was familiar to him. Deep, gravelly, with a thick New York accent that could only have belonged to one man. As hard as it was to believe it, Victor’s mind came to only one conclusion.[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“Is that you, Ben?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Grimm shrugged. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“Yeah, well, I know I ain’t exactly much of a looker but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before so I’d appreciate it if you kept your grubby little mitts to yourself.”[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“What happened to you?” [/color][color=#ffffff]Doom said, laying a sympathetic hand on Ben’s rocky chest. [/color][color=#6aa84f]“I returned home before the launch with Franklin’s blessing. He assured me that there would be no complications but when I tried to contact him there was no response. I feared the worst.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Johnny Storm’s bruised face soured. He had been trying to contain his anger, to hide his contempt for Doom, but he could contain it no more. His breathing hastened and his fists clenched. Heat began to emanate from his every pour and without warning Storm’s arm was engulfed in flames.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“Alright, I’ve had enough of this little song and dance. We want answers. What kind of sick charade is this? You were meant to send us back through time but this isn’t the past. Not any kind of past I recognise. So you’d better start talking or things are about to get real hot in here.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Again Victor’s troops burst into action and this time he commanded them to stand down with but a look.[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“My god,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Doom murmured as the light from Johnny’s flame reflected off his black eyes. [/color][color=#6aa84f]“You are incredible.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Sue Storm reached a comforting hand out towards her brother and calmed him with a single touch. [/color][color=#c9daf8]“Johnny.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Reed looked disapproving at Johnny and then let out a sigh.[/color]

[color=#3d85c6]“I didn’t but want to do this now but it appears I have no choice. We are not your Reed, Ben, Johnny and Sue. I mean, we are, but… Christ, where do I begin? The shuttle. The shuttle’s coating was not sufficient. We were bombarded by cosmic rays that changed us, made the four of us into what you see today, and once we made it back we set out to use our abilities to help people. We did that for... well, years, Victor, until something awful happened, until our world was attacked by a force so unstoppable that [i]you[/i] helped us travel back in time to avert it.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Ben cleared his throat and then offered his own, simpler explanation for their sudden appearance in Latveria.[/color][color=#f6b26b] “What Stretch is trying to say here is that we’re from the future, dummy.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]There was no look of surprise from Doom. He merely lent against the gaudy desk that once belonged to Lucia von Bardas and considered the implications of Reed RIchards’ tale. He knew Richards to be a man of his word – indeed, he had considered him a close friend during college – so did not discount it as quickly as he might otherwise from someone else. No, Richards was telling the truth, he decided. And in this case the truth was more dangerous than a lie.[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“You shouldn’t be here.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Doom ran a hand through his thick beard.[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“If what you’re saying is true then your presence here, every word you speak, changes the natural order of things. Every tiny change you make in the present – [i]your[/i] past – risks making your future worse.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Ben shook his head gravely. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“It don’t get much worse than things were when we left, Vic.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Before Reed had a chance to expand on the comment, a soldier came marching through the doors of von Bardas’ office. In his hand was a communication device that looked as if it had been pieced together from old car parts.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“Forgive my interruption, General, but there’s an urgent call for you. President Kelly’s attache wants to pass on his congratulations.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]One of Sue’s eyebrows cocked. “President Kelly,” she whispered under her breath. She couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right.[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“Kelly can wait,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Doom said by way of dismissal. [/color][color=#6aa84f]“There are more important matters at hand.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Sue stepped forward and gave voice to her reservations.[/color]

[color=#9fc5e8]“Victor, at the risk of sounding even more deranged than we must [i]already[/i] sound, what is today’s date?”[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“4th July 2018.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Reed shook his head. [/color][color=#3d85c6]“That can’t be right.”[/color]

[color=#6aa84f]“You may have beaten me to the Kirby Award, Richards, but I assure you that I am still capable of telling the date correctly,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Victor laughed.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Ben Grimm’s jaw dropped as the significance of the date settled in his mind. It had been 4th July when they had fled from Darkseid. Doom’s machine was meant to send them back in time but here they were on the date they had left in a world that bore no resemblance to their own.[/color]

[color=#f6b26b]“If we’re not in the past, then where the hell are we?!”[/color]