[center][img]https://i2.wp.com/thefwoosh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/fantasticfour_570_newlogo.jpg?w=1280[/img][/center] [hr][h1][b][i]Then...[/i][/b][/h1] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/970137af72ea571b5bd1aa3baaa8a833/tumblr_o0po4z6ogo1s2a0gyo4_500.jpg[/img] The booming voice of the man who would be [b]DOOM[/b]. [color=darkgreen][b][i]“Ten... Nine... Eight…”[/i][/b][/color] Victor’s sharp eyes made another final sweep across the whole control panel. They had cleared every check and test. But what man could leave the fate of so much to another’s vision? A lesser mind’s decision? To do such a thing, one might as well leave such a thing to the winds of chance. [color=darkgreen][b][i]“Seven…”[/i][/b][/color] Ben Grimm flexes his fingers for one last time as he prepares to white-knuckle it, and grips the controls in sure, steadfast hands. He wouldn’t want the responsibility anywhere else. Ol’ blue eyed Benji holds their lives and his in his hands, knows exactly what it means, and the whole damn universe couldn’t pry him off his duty. So just let ‘er try. [color=darkgreen][b][i]“Six… “[/i][/b][/color] Reed and Sue lock eyes lovingly. After these years the married couple share the mutual knowledge that whatever comes next, whatever they now face, they have the strength for what comes. Together. [color=darkgreen][b][i]“Five…”[/i][/b][/color] The young lovers hands embrace. Even through the suits, Johnny Storm could swear he feels Valeria Von Doom’s warmth radiating through, as in all things. [hr][h1][b][i]Now…[/i][/b][/h1] "Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five…” The producer counted down, before reverting to silent hand signals, and finally shooting a pointed finger towards the people in front of the camera. The bright lights were nothing new, but the makeup and activities of so many people scurrying around in service of a single goal - interviewing the new Head of the long thought lost mission - certainly were. So many people, after so long without seeing another human than their own small group. Of course ‘Not another human’ certainly didn’t mean ‘Not another person’. Nor did it mean that they were alone. Unfortunately, the truth was far from that reassuring... [hr][h1][b][i]Five Hours Ago…[/i][/b][/h1] Children playing in the sparse green fields of Central Park. A tour group rides by on bicycles. College students with books spread open come to grips with their course load whilst talking about the day to day frivolities. All interrupted by rolling thunder. A space between places opened by an explosive cacophony of sound. Feet touched down on Earth’s soil which hadn’t known it for over a decade, as well as three who had never known it as home. The tall bug said something in Sue Storm’s ear. She looked concerned, and replied, as people raced towards them. But none could hear over the sound of the cosmic gateway. The bug confirmed, and Sue swept her hair back, deep in thought over the meaning of what she had just been told. People were racing towards the five strange humans, their robot and one strange rock monster. The bug gave a final wave, walked between the humans and their means of arrival. Shielding itself from the sight of other people and used a small box to open a similar portal to return, presumably, from wherever they came. The blonde haired youth looked at his craggly compatriot and noticed no change in his appearance. [color=orangered][b]“Hey? Looks like our powers are still kicking in here too.”[/b][/color] He said, flicking a finger off of his rocky shoulder and setting his finger aflame. People ran to the group on the grass, but then kept their distance. Standing in stunned silence, the crowd was seemingly scared of the strange man with the stony flesh. [color=orange]“So…”[/color] Ben said, breaking the awkward silence. [color=orange]“Whaddid we miss?”[/color] [hr][h1][b][i]Now…[/i][/b][/h1] “So, Doctor Storm, the world wants to know. How exactly you all survived that disastrous mission and where you have all been for so many years?” [img]https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/3/30334/1982369-mu7858.jpg[/img] Susan stopped and thought for a moment. She took a long draw from a glass of water and smiled first to the interviewer and then to the camera as she formulated a considered response. [color=lightblue]“We were remarkably fortunate all things considered. And as for where we’ve been? The Negative aperture that we were testing worked a lot better than our ship did. A credit to both Reed and Victor for their theoretical work. If anything, it worked even better than we were expecting. Thankfully.”[/color] “When you speak of ‘Victor’ you are of course referring to…” [color=lightblue]“Victor Von Doom. Naturally.”[/color] “You are aware that since your departure he has become something of a… controversial figure... at the centre of massive upheaval presently taking place in the Balkans?” [color=lightblue]“I’ve been told something along those lines, but we don’t really know anything about that. The Victor Von Doom I have known is an honourable friend and colleague. But I can attest to the fact that whatever is going on with him has made him extremely difficult to get a hold of. As his position in the mission dictated, he was the first person we’ve tried to make contact with since our return. We’re nowww… five hours later, and unless Reed’s had more success since I left him to come here, we’ve yet to have any luck on that front.”[/color] The interviewer leaned in closer holding a prop pen to his lips. There were of course no notes to be taken, his questions were rehearsed and this was purely for television. “And as for your return..?” Sue smiled playfully. She picked up the glass again, but this time didn’t drink. [color=lightblue]“Ah! That’s the crux of the matter isn’t it? How did we survive..?”[/color] She turned the glass upside down over the desk between them, but the water held to the lip of the glass as if some strange invisible force had formed a lid on it. [color=lightblue]“Let’s just say, the disaster you spoke about did not exactly leave us all unchanged...”[/color] The interviewer looked on stunned, before gesturing to the camera operators to make sure they got the glass rather than his reaction. Sue put the glass back on the table, without a drop out of place. [color=lightblue]“And as for where we came from? Quite simply, the aperture did so much more than was intended. It didn’t merely enable us to catch a glimpse at a theoretical sub-space testing ground across dimensional planes. It opened a gateway there. My family and I have spent our entire time there. In this Negative Zone, which we were merely meant to view by experiment.”[/color] The interviewer dropped the pen that had mindlessly been tapping and was stunned into silence for a few seconds. Until Susan’s decision to take another drink of water snapped him back to reality, stammering wildly. “W--W--Wait, so… So-- so you’re telling us that you’ve all spent this time-- in another universe?” Sue placed the glass back down. [color=lightblue]“Well, technically no…”[/color] The interviewer leaned in to ask a follow up question, before Sue finished the thought. [color=lightblue]“...the Negative Zone is more an adjunct of THIS universe. We weren’t crossing multiversal lines. Merely dimensional ones. We breached the surface tension of the fourth dimensional planes. That’s what the Aperture does.”[/color] Sue flicked her hair back out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, after it had escaped and got in her face leaning forward with the glass. “Dimen-- Hmm.” The interviewer took a few seconds to think of a new question, after Sue’s explanation. “Forgive me if I’m being ignorant, but I was under the belief that ‘Time’ was the fourth dimension. Wouldn’t that make this the fifth?” [color=lightblue]“Well, we’re splitting hairs now. But the first three dimensions are all spatial. This breach, also spatial, allowed us to travel through a shunt in dimensional planes to another zone that we can now prove exists. If you were going to group the dimensions doesn’t it make more sense to bundle those dealing with space together before time? For what it’s worth, Doctor Reed Richards has also hypothesized a further fifth dimension whilst we’ve been away. Which would make ‘Time’ the sixth. But since it is at this point merely theoretical, I think it makes sense to consider ‘Time’ the fifth dimension for now until practical physicists can determine experimentation to prove the theory. I’m sorry if this is more boring shop-talk and semantics than your viewers were hoping for… This hypothetical further Fifth dimension is hardly a point of focus for us right now. If you’ll pardon the pun, the Aperture has opened up enough for us to think about right now with knowledge of the Fourth.”[/color] The interviewer steered the conversation in a different direction. “Yes, I’m sure you’ll also have your hands full coming to terms with everything that's changed in THIS world as well, and returning to a sense of normalcy.” Suddenly two children run up and jump on their mother’s lap as their father let them go away from the other side of the camera. Valeria hugs her mother, then turns and looks down the barrel of the camera. Franklin hugs Sue as well, and is content to just look around from the other side of the lights. “I can only imagine how much pressure it must alleviate to know you’re able to raise your family back at home.”[center][h3][b][i][sub]Screaming. Running. Powers flaring. Spatial anomalies initiate. Conquerors callously hurl unthinkable dispensible numbers chasing total annihilation. Gods struggle for omnipotence over all things.[/sub][/i][/b][/h3][/center] Sue gave her kids a gentle squeeze and responded. [color=lightblue]“It does feel good to come back home, and we do have a lot to catch up on. But we’re not hanging up the lab coats… or form-fitting all purpose suits, just yet.”[/color] Her husband Reed walked around from behind the camera as well, and took a place behind Sue’s chair. [color=blue]“That’s right. There’s still plenty more to be done. We're not yet done exploring. What gives this family its purpose and its joy isn't the destination... it's the journey.”[/color] He said. Sue seemed to agree, warmly tapping the hand he held her seat with. [color=blue]“The [b]FANTASTIC FOUR[/b] still have much more to accomplish!”[/color]