[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/rJW8t59.png[/img][/center] [color=Pink]"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to WHIH Newsfront! I'm Christine Everhart, and tonight, our guests need no introduction, but I'll be happy to provide them one anyway. Arriving from a parallel universe just in time to help save the Earth thirteen years ago, they've since become global sensations! Pioneers in science, captains of industry, best-selling authors, billion-dollar movie stars, inspirational figures for boys and girls the world over-- not to mention world-saving superheroes! The First Family of the Future, Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four!"[/color] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/19CYYyr.png[/img][/center] [color=SteelBlue]"A pleasure to be here, Christine."[/color] [color=Pink]"The pleasure's all mine, Doctor Richards. Now, first, if I may, [i]love[/i] the new look. The beard really suits you."[/color] [color=SteelBlue]"Ah, thank you, I guess, I, err, I've been spending a lot of time in the lab lately and haven't had much time to shave--"[/color] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/F6wjA1qm.jpg[/img][/center] [color=Orchid]"Though I did manage to convince him to trim it a bit before we came today. Poor thing looked like he'd been castaway on a desert island. Once he gets his mind on an idea, it's all he can think about until he cracks it."[/color] [color=Pink]"Well, I think I can say for everyone that we're all [i]very[/i] excited to see what incredible new experiments Doctor Richards comes up with next. Now then, Miss Storm, you--"[/color] [color=Orchid]"It's Doctor Storm, actually."[/color] [color=Pink]"Ah, yes, my apologies. Now then, [i]Doctor[/i] Storm, you're well-known for running the day-to-day operations of the Future Foundation, a multi-billion-dollar think-tank and humanitarian organization. Given how well you handle running such a fast-paced and highly stressful position, enduring the rigors and strains of your activities as a super-heroes, and rebounding gracefully from your [i]very[/i] public break-up with Olympic swimmer Namor McKenzie, do you feel like you set an example to the lonely older women out there that they can still be an inspiration in their advancing age?"[/color] [sub][color=SandyBrown]"Hey, did it just get colder in here?"[/color] [color=Yellow]"[i]*pffft*[/i] Oh yeah it did."[/color][/sub] [color=Orchid]"....well, first of all, [i]Ms.[/i] Everhart, I believe that everyone has the potential to be fantastic regardless of trivial things like age, gender, or status. That's what the Future Foundation stands for: helping every man, woman, and child on Earth achieve their best possible future. We believe everyone has the potential to make the world better, whether it's through saving lives, fighting injustice, advancing knowledge, or just brightening someone's day. It's never too late to start being fantastic-- and it's never too early to start pursuing worthwhile goals instead of, for instance, spreading tabloid trash."[/color] [sub][color=Yellow]"....yeesh, and I thought [i]I[/i] was the one who handed out burns."[/color][/sub] [color=Pink]"[i]*ahem*[/i]...which, ah, which brings us to you, Johnny Storm, The Human Torch! The thrill-seeking kid brother of the four, you were a teen heartthrob when you first arrived on our world! And throughout your twenties, you became the red-hot face of the Four, with six Teen Choice Awards and voted Sexiest Man Alive three years in a row! And then, this year, you [i]lost[/i] that title to your best friend Wyatt Wingfoot, coinciding with your thirtieth birthday. Tell me, now that you're no longer the hot young face of the super-hero scene, what's next for the Human Torch?"[/color] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dLoBbBum.jpg[/img][/center] [color=Yellow]"Okay, well, first of all, thirty is the new twenty, okay? Secondly, I'm really happy that Wyatt won Sexiest Man Alive; he's a great guy and an even better friend, why [i]wouldn't[/i] I be happy? And third, just because People Magazine gave some made-up award to someone else doesn't mean the Torch has lost his sizzle! I've still got [i]Rise of the Rawhide Kid[/i] coming up this spring, and--"[/color] [color=Pink]"Actually, I heard this morning that the studio has hired James Gunn to take over the project, and he's replacing you with Euro-star winner Lon Zelig."[/color] [color=Yellow]"...o-okay, that's news to me, but I'm sure it's just--"[/color] [color=Pink]"And lastly, we come to Ben Grimm, the powerhouse of the team! Sometimes known simply as 'The Thing,' Ben, you've become a real favorite to many fans out there! You've come to show everyone that you can be a hero even if--"[/color] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/k745eUfm.jpg[/img][/center] [color=SandyBrown]"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm ugly. Think that's gonna be news ta me?"[/color] [color=Pink]"....right, well. There are rumors that Doctor Richards has been attempting to experiment on your skin cells to create new building materials. If you don't mind my asking: why go through all the trouble to replicate orange rocks?"[/color] [color=SandyBrown]"Well, first, it ain't exactly rock. My skin, it's made outta....ahh, whaddya call it, atomic lasagna?"[/color] [color=SteelBlue]"Close, it's '[i]nuclear[/i] lasagna.' A somewhat whimsical-sounding name for a rather extraordinary material. The atoms in each cell of Ben's skin are so closely packed together that the nuclei form a lattice structure in flat layers. Layers that look like, well, lasagna. This material is so dense, in fact, that it is nigh indestructible, quite possibly the strongest substance in the known universe! And there are only two places in all of the cosmos where you can find it: the heart of a neutron star, and my good friend Ben here."[/color] [color=SandyBrown]"Yeah, guess I'm kinda special after all."[/color] [color=Pink]"So with that in mind, why try to replicate this 'nuclear lasagna' as a building material?"[/color] [color=SteelBlue]"Well, the possibilities could be limitless! The nearly indestructible nature of such a material could be the basis for entire new fields of mega-architecture! Infrastructure that would never have to worry about erosion and aging! Buildings, homes, entire cities that no longer need to fear the ravages of natural disasters! To say nothing of the fact that it would make the most high-profile threat of the modern world, the costumed 'super-villain,' a thing of the past virtually overnight! If we could unlock this secret, we could have an indestructible world....one that would never....never have to...."[/color] [color=Orchid]"....Reed? Reed, are you all right?"[/color] [color=SteelBlue]"Hm?....Oh! Oh, yes, I'm.....I'm fine. Thank you for your time, Christine, it was lovely."[/color] [color=Yellow]"It was?"[/color] [color=Pink]"Yes, well, we hope you'll come back soon and--...I'm sorry, we've got a breaking news report. Sources are reporting an explosion and multiple gunshots here in downtown Manhattan. Police are attempting to cordon off the area, but eyewitnesses claim a super-human is on the scene, and--...Doctor Richards? Where are you going?"[/color] [hr] [quote=@Retired] "Mort!" The panicked voice came from the front of the Roxxon truck in the moment of silence following the pause of gunfire. "We've got a problem, there's something in the—" The shouting was cut off by the abrupt sound of tearing metal and thick glass exploding, replaced by a short-lived scream of terror and a sickening crunch. Mortimer Norris, leader of the assault team, took a step back as he witnessed a hulking figure drag itself out from the passenger side door - or rather, where the door had once been. Standing seven-and-a-half feet with thick, armored plates decorating his massive, orange-grey body, the monstrous Antonio Rodriguez towered over the assembled men circling the tanker. His services retained to guard this particular shipment, he growled ferociously as the onslaught of bullets returned, this time harmlessly ricocheting off his body. "You don't know who the [i]fuck[/i] you just messed with." [/quote] As the enormous armored man loomed over the hopelessly outmatched gunman, a loud [i]swoosh[/i] came from overhead. A gleaming white, T-shaped vessel, held aloft by fantastical anti-gravity technology, swooped down from the city skyline, depositing four figures in blue. [color=SandyBrown]"Hey, pipsqueak!"[/color] the Thing called out, his fists making the sound of grinding boulders as he approached. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZZg9elzl.jpg[/img][/center] [color=SandyBrown]"How's about you watch yer language? There's kids about, y'know."[/color]