The metal boots of Doctor Victor Von Doom crushed bones underfoot. Harsh winds whipped at his green cloak, but beneath the armor Doctor Doom was unaffected. His cold eyes gazed across the alien landscape and the Viox corpses that littered the ground in all directions.

“Doom is no one’s pawn, be they man or alien!” the mad despot of Latveria declared. As far as they eye could see, Vioxians lay dead, massacred by the robotic armies of Doctor Doom that flew overhead at just that moment. “As always, it shall be Doom who manipulates events to his liking. The only reason,” he stated for the benefit of the last Viox alive, “that I did not kill you outright for professing to be Doom’s equal.”

She who had once been the Shadow Queen, the Invisible Queen, and had finally declared herself Baroness Doom, lay on the ground quivering with pain and near death. “My love…please…”

“Doom loves nothing!” Screaming in rage, the brilliant villain raised a gauntlet. “Your knowledge was all Doom required. The location of this planet and information of it’s inhabitants, so that Doom may take his revenge. You have now become worthless, and Doom eliminates the worthless!”

Hot plasma burst from Doctor Doom’s gauntlet. The last of the Viox became engulfed in the deadly energy, and screamed one last time. When the energy passed, nothing alive remained on Viox save for Doctor Doom.

“Vengeance has not been denied.” Doctor Doom turned and approached the shimmering portal that would return him to Latveria. “All that remains is for Doom to reclaim what is his. And this time, even that accursed Richards shall fail to deny the will of Doom!”

The quiet reverie of a couple’s night at home was broken by the sound of blaster fire. Benjamin Jacob Grimm, more widely known as the Thing, looked out the window. He’d grown up in an area were gun fire was common, and sadly enough he’d grown into a life were blaster fire had become common. A case of things remaining the same even as they changed.

Back in those days, boys had been boys, protecting their territory from other boys. That appeared to be what Benjamin Grimm saw outside his apartment home in New Pittsburgh. Boys with large blaster rifles shooting at other boys with large blaster rifles. Only the technology had changed, and in the city of New Pittsburgh the technology was beyond anything in the world.

“Ben, what is it that’s going on?” asked Benjamin’s wife, Alicia Masters-Grimm. Blind, she couldn’t see what her husband saw, but with the hearing and the life she’s led could have made a very educated guess.

“Nothing you need to worry about, ‘licia.” The walls of the apartment were thick and sound just like everything inside, designed with a man of the Thing’s stature in mind. “Looks like some kids are about to get hurt though. I’ll be right back.”

Anyone else who heard those words from a giant man of rock might have assumed the worst. That he was the reason kids would get hurt. Alicia Master-Grimm, however, heard those words spoken by a gruff but gentle voice. Nobody would get hurt if the Thing could help it.

“Be careful, Ben.”

“I’ll do my best, honey.”

Everything in the apartment was suited to the Thing’s stature, including the wide doors, complete with knobs that didn’t break off in his rocky grip. It opened smoothly, and the Thing was outside in the midst of blaster fire. Out in the open he could get a better look, and saw that not only were the kids wielding heavy weaponry, they also wore belts from which a force-field deflected the blaster fire.

At seeing the massive and powerful Thing coming out towards them, the boys whooped and hollered. “Hey! Some new target practice!”

Bursts of energy struck the Thing’s rocky hide, and despite himself staggered back. “You good for nothing kids. Put those toys down and get back to your homes.”

“Ha!” laughed one of the kids even as he fired. “Make us!”

“You big stone dummy!” yelled another.

“Why I oughta,” muttered the Thing as he lumbered towards the punk kids. “Darn right I’ll make ya, you lousy brats. When I get my mitts on you…”

But the Thing was too slow and bulky to get anywhere close to the young boys, were continued to pepper him with blasts while dancing out of his reach. All the while laughing.

Finally, fed up with the annoying blasts and the taunts, the Thing smashed his arms against the ground. Not hard enough to generate massive shockwaves like he would usually do, but tremors that didn’t do more than stagger one or two of boys. As frustrating as they were, none of the boys were really bad, and the Thing wasn’t about to hurt any of them.

Suddenly, a stream of fire appeared in the sky, and the Human Torch was on the scene. Laughing much like the boys were, Johnny Storm hurled balls of fire at the street. These balls exploded mere feet from the boys, bright flashes of fire that were more show than force. And it was a show that affected those boys more than the Thing did.

Screaming, the boys dropped their weapons and ran off. More streams of fire, this time aimed at the weapons. The Human Torch dropped to the ground and flamed off, in the center of piles of slag.

“Ha, wow. That was fun,” Johnny Storm exclaimed. “What’s the matter, Ben? A bunch of kids are too much trouble for you?”

“You showed up just in time, Johnny.” The Thing bashed one fist into his palm. “Another second and it’d have been clobberin’ time.

Johnny grinned. “Right.”

“What’re you doing here anyway?” Benjamin asked. “Ain’t you supposed to be runnin’ the club across town.” In New Pittsburgh, the Fantastic Four ran a nightclub called Club 4.

“Nowadays that place is emptier than a ghost town,” declared Johnny. “So when Alicia called about you picking on some kids, there wasn’t much I had to drop.” Sighing deeply, Johnny looked towards the running boys and shook his head. “Truth is, that’s about the most action I’ve seen in more than a month.”

In spite of himself, the Thing had to agree. “Yeah, me too. And even if those kids are pains at least they’re spending time outside. Can’t remember the last time people came out of their homes."

Frustrated, Johnny Storm threw his arms wide. “Nothing at all is happening in this city anymore. I would love if anything, if something, happened!”

High over the heads of the Thing and the Human Torch, a great boom sounds as massive amounts of air are violently pushed aside. In the sky above New Pittsburgh, a fleet of ships have appeared along with thousands of little specks. Small, human sized shapes flying through the air that, had either the Thing or the Human Torch been able to see better, were all Doombots.

The Thing fixed his blue eyes on the Human Torch. “Ya just had ta say it, didn’t you?”

“Flame on!” Covered in flames, the Human Torch streaked into the air. “How about a little less blaming, and more clobbering?”

There were more levers and buttons that Mister Fantastic had hands. Fortunately his remarkable physiology enabled Mister Fantastic to elongate each of his ten fingers, creating six additional limbs with which to manipulate the instruments. Invisible Woman rushed into an almost macabre scene of her husband’s limbs stretched throughout the room, working the equipment all around him.

“Reed!” ducking under her husband’s left thumb, Susan Storm reached her husband’s side. “What’s happening? The alarms suddenly went off and I barely got out of Victoria’s nursery before lock-down.”

“It’s just as I’ve feared, Sue.” A button pushed ten feet away lit up the laboratory’s large view-screen. On the screen, Invisible Woman saw the fleet of ships and ranks of flying Doombots. “We’re under attack by Doctor Doom. His forces are spreading all over the city.”

“We need to get out there and fight!” the Invisible Woman exclaimed. “People could get hurt.”

But Mister Fantastic shook his head. “The show of force is a smokescreen, something meant to draw our attention. The real assault is at the New Pittsburgh’s technology.” The image on the view-screen changed. Now the Invisible Woman a digital image of red sweeping over circuitry. “I detected this less than two minutes ago. Doctor Doom has infected the nanotech with a virus that will grant him complete control.”

“How long until you stop it?” inquired Susan, not at all in doubt of her husband’s genius.

“Unfortunately, my best efforts can only slow it down. Our only hope is to inject a counter-virus directly into the source: Doom’s armor.” Contracting his fingers, Mister Fantastic stood up from his seat. “We’ll need to hurry, Sue. For now our building is still free, and the children safe, but its only a matter of time before Doom has invaded every aspect of the city.”

“Then we should be going.” The Invisible Woman quickly followed Mister Fantastic through the hallways toward the elevator. “Don’t bother honey,” she said before Reed could push the button for the elevator. The doors opened, forced by invisible shields. “Step in. There’s a column.”

“You shouldn’t bother,” replied Mister Fantastic with a wide grin. One arm had elongated, into the elevator and up the shaft. His second arm had wrapped around the Invisible Woman, and with little effort Reed hauled them both up to the hangar floor. “Although if you wouldn’t mind opening the doors again…my hands aren’t free.”

“Gladly.” Invisible Woman practically wrenched the doors apart, so eager was she to stop Doom and protect her children. “All the doors, while you get the car ready.” Another invisible shield extended over the control console and pressed a large red button. Over their heads, the massive hangar doors opened.

Mister Fantastic had no sooner compressed himself back to normal than he was stretching again, making long strides to the Fantastic-Car. This wasn’t the modern four-in-one vehicle, but rather the original flying box that Reed had kept around for nostalgia. As his legs settled in and the rest began to catch up, Mister Fantastic reached to the wall and picked up a flare gun. “We’ll need to contact Ben and Johnny. With technology infected this is the most reliable means.”

Mister Fantastic fired the flare gun through the open hangar door. The flare burst high up in the sky, creating a shape of fire that could be seen all throughout New Pittsburgh. It was a massive flaming “4”.

“See?” Human Torch said to the Thing. In the distance could be seen the number “4”, symbol of the Fantastic Four. “I told you they were all right.”

“Great,” the Thing growled. “Yer a regular fortune teller. Let them know where to find us already!”

Ever since Doctor Doom had arrived with his armada, Human Torch and the Thing had been fighting non-stop. Much as they would have liked to been fighting Doom-bots, however, none of the Doctor Doom look-a-likes had flown down from the sky. Instead, the two had been fighting against the city of New Pittsburgh. It was as though the city had gone crazy, all the technology activating on its own and with a hostile sentience. Naturally, the Thing’s mind was on one thing when it all began.

“Alicia!” Rocky fists burst through the reinforced walls of the Grimm home as though they were paper. Benjamin Grimm moved with a speed none would have expected considering his size and found his wife Alicia fleeing from her own statues. Manipulated by the technology, the were animated and moved with a life of their own. “Get away from her, ya hard-headed lumps of clay!”

Stepping between Alicia and the statues, the Thing threw a punch and shattered one that looked like the fearless Daredevil. A backhanded blow took the head off a Luke Cage, which in turn shattered the statue of Iron Fist. “Calm down ‘licia. Your ever-loving blue-eyed Thing’s here!” Picking up his wife in one rocky arm, the Thing made like his old college football days and plowed through the remaining statues. Once outside, the Thing set Alicia turned and turned to face the pursuing simulcrims. “Come on and get some! It’s Clobbering-”

Gouts of flame washed over the clay and stone statues, incinerating them all to ash.

“-Time.” Annoyed, the Thing looked up at the hovering Human Torch. “Why’d you have to go ruin my moment.”

“Because then it becomes my moment,” Johnny exclaimed. “Now come on! If the same thing is happening at Club Six, then Alison is in a lot of-”

Asphalt and stone went flying as the Human Torch’s girlfriend Alison Cory crashed through a building and into view. But only half her body resembled Alison’s. The rest contain features of a Skrull, more specifically a female that Human Torch immediately recognized. Laser blasts from her hands confirmed that Alison was in fact Johnny’s former wife…

“Lyja?”

“Not so fun, is it?” the Thing inquired of the stolen moment.

But the Human Torch wasn’t listening. He flew in the direction of Lyja, who at that moment was blasting at gun turrets as they formed on the side of building. Jets of fire joined the laser bursts in demolishing the artillery. Between the two, they were destroying faster than the city could rebuild, and the Human Torch felt free to demand some answers.

“How long have you been doing this, Lyja?” he yelled over the crackling of his own flames. “What did you do with Alison!”

“From the very beginning,” Lyja answered calmly, not betraying how deeply her former husband’s accusations hurt. “There never was an Alison. Can we talk when I’m not fighting for my life.”

“Not likely,” growled the Human Torch. “Because after this is over, I just might kill you!”

“Alicia!”

The Human Torch veered in mid-air just in time to see Alicia Masters fade away, with the Thing looking on in horror. Once she’d vanished completely, the Thing’s expression turned to rage. His heavy fists rose into the air and crashed against the pavement with a resounding KRAKATOOM!

“What’ve you done with my girl. If I have to level this whole city to find her, consider it done!” Another mammoth blow to the ground caused the buildings in a two-mile radius to shake perilously. Then again one, and the Thing raised his head up towards the filled sky and bellowed, “I’m coming for you Doom! Whatever it takes to get ‘licia back, I’ll crush ya inside that tin-plated suit a yours!”

“Ben! Please calm down!” The voice of Reed Richards boomed through the city, amplified by the speakers in the Fantasti-Car. The vehicle itself was soon in view, as were Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman inside. “I’ve teleported Alicia out of harm’s way, along with all the city’s residents!”

Relief over the news of his wife’s safety washed over the Thing. The Human Torch also whooped in delight and hovered alongside the Fantasti-Car. “Great going Reed! Now we won’t have to worry about anyone else as we’re knocking Doom out for the count! What’s the plan?”

“We have to get onto Doom’s flagship and install a virus into its systems,” Invisible Woman informed her younger brother. “That will break his control over New Pittsburgh.”

“Leave it to me!” With that, the Human Torch blazed off high in the direction of Doctor Doom’s armada.

“Johnny, wait!” On the ground, Lyja started running after he ex-husband. As she moved, the Skrull’s legs began to shift, grow more muscular. When the process had completed, Lyja made a leap comparable to the Hulk’s!

“Was that Lyja?” Invisible Woman asked in bewilderment.

“Fascinating. I’ll need to update our alien detection systems.” Mister Fantastic had thrown a leg over the side of the Fantasti-Car and stretched it to the ground. “Follow him, Susan. I’ll be along with Ben shortly.”

The great armada of Doctor Victor Von Doom loomed over the city of New Pittsburgh yet did nothing. Dozens of flying ships and hundreds of Doombots hovered immobile, allowing the appropriated technology of the city of do all the work. Even as the Human Torch blazed up towards the armada, it wasn’t their attacks that he was evading. Turrets grown out of the streets and buildings of New Pittsburgh fired up at the Human Torch’s back, and he couldn’t evade an assault from behind much longer.

“Yeow!” exclaimed the Human Torch as a heavy well suddenly fell upon him. “Hey, what the-!”

Luckily, the first thing Human Torch failed to avoid was his ex-wife, the Skrull known as Lyja, who had previously leapt in pursuit of him. She landed on his back, her skin having already shifted to a material resistant to his flames. With her legs wrapped around his mid-section, Lyja faced the turrets and fired laser bursts at them.

“Keep flying, Johnny!” Lyja yelled out. “I have you covered!”

As hurt and betrayed as he was feeling over Lyja’s recent deceptions, the Human Torch begrudgingly smiled. “Thanks, but don’t hang on too tight!” He poured on the speed, and was soon in the midst of Doctor Doom’s armada. “Because once I’ve found Doom’s flagship, you won’t want to be anywhere near me!”

The flagship of Doctor Doom was not difficult to find. Plastered all over its hull were the images of Doctor Doom’s masked face, much more prominent than the other ships. As he flew up towards it, the Human Torch picked up speed, flared the sheath of fire around his body, and spun rapidly through the air.

“End of the ride Lyja! No way you’ll be able to take this kind of heat!”

Despite her efforts, Lyja wasn’t able to stay on and fell from the Human Torch. “Johnny!” she screamed while reaching up towards her departing ex.

Only a few feet below the flagship’s underside, the Human Torch stopped his ascent and hovered. “Doom, I hope you’re watching this.” The flames around his body contracted momentarily. “Because this is about to blind you!” The flames surged as Human Torch went nova, exploding outward through the rippling air and consuming all around for hundreds of feet. Doombots caught deep in the blast radius exploding, with most others being severely damaged to the extent that some fell out of the sky. Doom’s flagship was consumed entirely by the tidal wave of flame.

Unfortunately, the basis of utilizing his Nova Blast meant that Human Torch used all of his power in one surge, and thus was temporarily rendered powerless. This resulted in the fall of Johnny Storm from a great height. The last thing Johnny saw in his fall was Doom’s flagship, barely damaged in the blast save for a scorched underside.

Fortunately, this would not be the last thing Johnny ever sees, because his big sister was there to catch him. Flying close by in the Fantasti-Car, Invisible Woman had thrown up an invisible force-field to protect herself from the Nova Blast. An additional force-field, made as cushion-soft as possible, was there for Johnny Storm to fall safely into. Carrying her brother alongside, Invisible Woman steered the Fantasti-Car to the nearby rooftop where Lyja had fallen.

“Please watch him,” Susan asked of the Skrull. “When he’s recovered, you can both follow us into the ship.”

“How are you going to get in there?” inquired Lyja.

Invisible Woman smiled. “I have a feeling that Ben and my husband are working on that right now.”

No sooner was that said than a rocky shape careened through the air behind the Invisible Woman. It was the Thing, slingshot by Mister Fantastic at the weakened underside of Doctor Doom’s flagship. A terrific crash of the impact reached Susan Richard’s ears, and she said to Lyja: “Excuse me.”

The Invisible Woman turned and threw another invisible force field. But it wasn’t needed, as the Thing had managed to catch hold the edge of the hole he’d created. In turn, Mister Fantastic had a hold of the Thing’s leg, and had been carried along on the flight. Now Mister Fantastic was pulling his stretched body back together, climbing over the Thing’s form and into the ship. The Thing soon followed, and once the Fantasti-Car was underneath the Invisible Woman lifted herself up on an invisible column through the hole.

“Victor will have detected the breach,” Reed informed his wife and best friend. “He’ll know we’re here. Ben, how busy can you keep the defenses?”

The Thing cracked his rocky knuckles in anticipation of a fight. “Stretcho, what part of ‘It’s Clobberin’ Time’ don’t ya understand?”

Deep in the command center of his flagship, Doctor Victor Von Doom observed the breach of the Fantastic Four. Instantly he sent commands to his robotic servants.

“Grimm is dangerous, but of little threat,” Doctor Doom mused to himself. “Richards is a fool to think me distracted by that brute. Only by accessing the armor of Doom can they hope to wrest this city from my grasp.”

Doctor Doom rose from his elaborate throne, his cloak billowing grandly. “Neither Richards nor the woman shall be permitted to touch my person! Even daring such is an affront, for which I shall see them dead!”

So great is the level of exertion required for his Nova Blast that it often leaves Human Torch semi-conscious as well as powerless. It took some minutes for him to even open his eyes, and the first thing Johnny Storm saw was Lyja’s scaly green face.

“Johnny, are you all right?”

“Hhhnn.” Moving with effort, Human Torch pushed away from Lyja and rose unsteadily to his feet. “Where did everybody go?” But a quick glance up at Doom’s flagship and the gaping hole told him the answer. “Never mind. I think I got it.”

Maybe it was because he didn’t cry out “Flame on!”, but the most Johnny Storm managed to do was smolder his body. Barely a flicker of fire appeared, along his skin.

Lyja hesitated, but couldn’t help herself and placed on hand on the Human Torch’s shoulder. “Johnny, you’re still recovering. Take you’re time. We can use this opportunity to talk.”

Take his time? While Susan, Reed and Ben were off fighting Doom with him, Lyja wanted Johnny to take his time? For that he almost yelled at her, but Johnny realized that that wouldn’t make his powers return any faster. Instead he said, “Talk, yeah, okay. I’ll start. You did it again.”

“What?”

“Pretend to be someone else, make me fall in love with her. A lie. Did you manage to get ‘pregnant’ again? It’s been a while since the Skrulls last tried to kill us.”

“Johnny, this isn’t-”

He rounded on her. “How did you get your powers back, Lyja? When you gave birth to that…that weapon egg, you lost the implant that allowed you to fire laser blasts. What’d your superiors ask for a replacement?”

Under the barrage of accusations, Lyja stood her ground. “This is actually the same implant. You remember some regular guy came across it. I got it back from him.”

“What’d you have to do to him to retrieve it?” Johnny demanded.

“Nothing he hasn’t recovered from.”

“Glad to hear.” Flames started to gather around the Human Torch. “Otherwise we’d have a whole other problem. I’m gone. Don’t be around when I return.”

With those words, Human Torch flew up through the air and into Doctor Doom’s flagship, leaving Lyja alone.

Some years ago, the Invisible Woman had gone through a dark period, and discovered that it was possible to create an invisible force field into a small space and expand it. The result was rather destructive, as Doctor Doom’s robotic minions learned. Pieces of them littered the floor, and the Invisible Woman stepped carefully over them on her way through the ship.

At first, Susan had tried to sneak along the ship, invisible. But Doctor Doom’s sensors were sophisticated, able to pick up the Invisible Woman anyway, and she quickly decided it wasn’t worth the effort. It was better that she just stuck to force fields.

Blaster fire aimed at the Invisible Woman was deflected. Robots exploded from the inside out. Invisible columns punched through ceilings and carried the Invisible Woman up through the ship’s levels. Nothing Doom threw was slowing her down.

The design of Doctor Doom’s ship had taken Mister Fantastic into account, and there was no ventilation system to access. Richards Richards had to make his way through the corridors and pry and seams in the metallic plating to move up the levels. All the while he was fired upon by robotic drones and automated weapons systems.

Mister Fantastic’s pliable body was weaving to avoid the blaster fire. At places he became as thin as a sheet of paper, and as far around as a needle. Fists extended fast at the attackers and just before impact expanded to triple their size. This got Mister Fantastic through most of the way.

Snaking through the ultra-thin seams in the floor plating, Mister Fantastic stuck his head up into another level and was immediately fired upon. Bobbing his head about as the rest of his body followed, Mister Fantastic kept himself thin and tried something a little more complicated and the numerous attacking drones. Needle-thin fingers extending, found the seams on the robotic shells and forced their way in. Rapid expansion hurt Mister Fantastic, but it did the job and ten robots shut down at once.

It was slow going for Mister Fantastic, but he was making his way to Doctor Doom.

Surprisingly, it was the Thing that came across Doctor Doom first. It occurred in the most common of ways, with the quarry coming to the hunter. Benjamin Grimm was clobbering his way through the ship, smashing through robots and walls like they were nothing. On the other side of one wall, in what appeared to be an engine room, Doctor Doom was waiting for him.

“Such callous disregard for one’s property,” Doctor Doom stated. “All to garner my attention, thing.” He raised a gauntlet at the hero. “You most certainly now have it!”

Power slammed full-force into the Thing’s chest. Far more than he could stand against, and the Thing was hurtled back through the wall. As Grimm struggled to rise, Doctor Doom advanced. His gauntlets crackled with power.

“Such is the genius of Doom!” he declared. “Richards seeks me out, and thus I go to the one place he is not. You, his brutish instrument of distraction.”

Another blast sent the Thing returning to the floor. Twin bursts of power that actually brought a cry of pain from the Thing’s lips.

“Alone, neither of you are a threat,” hissed Doctor Doom. “But always you appear at the last second, to foil my ultimate victory over Richards. No more, thing. First you die, and Richards shall fall to me at last!”

An explosion rocked the other side of the room, and Doctor Doom turned towards the sound. “What affrontry is this?”

“One thing you forgot, tin-man!” bellowed the Human Torch as he rocketed at Doctor Doom. “There’s four of us!”

Flames consumed the body of Doctor Doom, an opening blast from the Human Torch as he flew nearer. But Doom was well-armored, and unharmed he raised a gauntlet. Power burst through the flames and struck Human Torch, a glancing blow that sent him spiraling out-of-control into machinery.

“I neglect you Storm children because you are not worthy of Doom’s attent-Gahh!”

The Thing had found his feet and barreled head-long into the back of Doctor Doom. The two went crashing to the floor. “Today’s lesson,” bellowed Thing as he smashed his fists against the back of Doctor Doom’s head. “Never turn yer back on the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing!”

“Away!” roared Doom. Power surged through his armor, and a backhand removed the Thing from Doctor Doom’s person. “Such annoyance is almost beneath my attention. But your deaths now shall mean the future death of Richards, and so Doom must sully his hands!”

Energy both scientific and magical crackled across Doctor Doom’s armor. The power exploded outwards, consuming the engine room and washing over half of the Fantastic Four. As the sensitive and volatile machinery came into contact with Doctor Doom’s power, further explosions rocked the flagship.

At approximately the same time, both Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman burst into the main control area of Doctor Doom’s flagship. They emerged, tired, into an empty room, devoid even of defense drones.

“He’s not here,” observed Invisible Woman. “Reed, where could he be?”

“Victor’s ego is all-consuming,” replied Mister Fantastic. “It demands that he would be here on this ship, at the head of his force. Even knowing that I would know that, be counting on it, he wouldn’t change tactics. He has to be on this ship, somewhere.”

It was at that moment the explosions rocked the ship, nearly sending Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic off their feet.

“That came from below us,” Invisible Woman said.

Mister Fantastic suddenly realized where Doctor Doom had gone. “Ben.”

Smoke filled the air, and the heat was tremendous. Doctor Doom walked through the murky haze, stepping over remnants of his sophisticated equipment. His cloak hung in tatters on Doctor Doom’s body, exposing almost the entire armor he was encased in. Just ahead of him lay the Human Torch, semi-conscious and quite helpless, but alive.

“Like cockroaches, you all manage to survive the most incalculable odds.” Stopping in front of the Human Torch, Doctor Doom raised an armored foot so that it was poised over the young man’s throat. “Nothing shall stop my triumph this time. All of you will die, beginning with the youngest.”

“No!” Lyja suddenly appeared out of the smoke, tackling Doctor Doom to the ground and away from her ex-husband. “You’re not hurting him!”

“Uhnn,” moaned Johnny Storm as he began to stir. Off at the other side of the devastated engine room, the Thing was rising to his feet.

“Rrrarrghh!” Doctor Doom struggled with the Skrull female, but her body had shifted to a dense musculature and lasers streamed from her hands. Doom’s eyes locked with hers, and power welled. “Away, reptilian pest!”

Beams of heat and force exploded from the eye lenses of Doctor Doom’s armor. Lyja was struck, her scoured head thrown back, and her scream was agony. She fell more than twenty feet from Doctor Doom, and did not move.

The Human Torch stared at the unmoving body of his former wife, horrified. “Lyja? My god, Lyja!”

Doctor Doom rose to his feet, dusting his hands. “Such is the fate of all who deign to touch Doom. Now,” he turned back towards the Human Torch. “To the matter at h-aacck!”

“Murderer!” Human Torch screamed. He had returned to his feet, had practically flown at Doctor Doom. His hands were incandescent white with built-up heat, and pressed hard against Doctor Doom’s metal-clad head. “You god-damned killer!”

“Aaaarrrrgghhhh!” The putrid stench of burnt flesh filled Doctor Doom’s nostrils. So great was the pain he couldn’t think to activate the power in his gauntlets. Doom simply punched out, striking Human Torch in the face and knocking him away. “Aahh! My face!”

A short time ago, Doctor Doom’s face had been healed of past scars. If his smoking and discolored mask was an indication, that had most certainly changed. Seething both inside and out with pain and rage, Doctor Doom raised both gauntlets at the dazed Human Torch.

“Die!”

Twin beams of power blazed at the defenseless Human Torch, but by this time the Thing had closed the distance. His rocky form got between Doctor Doom and the Human Torch, taking the full-brunt of the powerful attack. In spite of the pain, the Thing was only forced back one step initially, and slowly moved forward against the power towards Doctor Doom.

“That…the best…ya got!” grunted the Thing. He raised a hand up, intending to grab Doctor Doom.

Still crackling with energies, Doctor Doom brought up his hands to grab the Thing by his wrists. “You want to see power, monstrosity! Experience the power of Doom!”

Cracks formed all over the Thing’s rocky body as the energies surged through him. Fighting through the pain, the Thing held his tongue from crying out. The two struggled, power building all around them until only their faintest shapes could be viewed through the blinding energy.

The faintest of shapes was enough for the Invisible Woman. Though the backlash was excruciating, she formed an invisible shield between the two and separated Doctor Doom from the Thing. Perhaps it had been those painful energies that drove him up until then, because once contact had broken the Thing fell, succumbing to the agony.

But Doctor Doom was weakened as well. Cracks had also formed over his armor, and bits of mangled flesh were visible beneath the crumbling mask. But he remained on his feet, and those eyes focused on the Invisible Woman.

“So, now Richards comes to face me? Once his dogs have brought me to my weakest!” A gauntlet was raised in Invisible Woman’s direction. “Or has the coward simply sent his cow? Tell me where Richards is, wench!”

“The same place I’ve always been, Victor!” Stretched out like an trampoline, Mister Fantastic dropped on top of Doctor Doom and wrapped himself around the villain. “In your way!”

“That you always have, Richards!” Energy crackled around Doom’s armor. Mister Fantastic was forced away, but the contact had been made. Doctor Doom felt the effects immediately. “No…my armor!” No longer under his command and rendered powerless, Doctor Doom’s armor weighed heavily on him, and the man could barely move. “Impossible! None shall command Doom’s brilliance! None!”

Tremors were beginning to rock the ship. Mister Fantastic had regained his normal form, and was stretching to grab Human Torch and Lyja. “Susan, this ship has taken too much damage. Any second now it’s going to plummet into New Pittsburgh! We need to get everybody out.”

“I have Ben.” Invisible Woman had formed an invisible shield under the Thing and was slowing dragging him towards a gaping hole in the side of the ship. “Did we do it, Reed? Is the city out of Doom’s control?”

“We’ll talk about it later.” Summoned by remote, the Fantasti-Car was waiting outside. Mister Fantastic deposited Lyja and Human Torch inside, then stepped in himself while stretching to help Invisible Woman. “Right now we just have to go!”

With everyone evacuated, the Fantastic Four sped off from the crippled flagship of Doctor Doom. Perhaps because the link to his technology had been broken, the whole of Doctor Doom’s armada was falling out of the sky. On all the ships, only one living being remained. Doctor Doom stood alone, powerless as his technology failed all around him.

“Curse you Richards!!!”

The numerous crashes and tremendous explosions seemed to engulf the entire empty city of New Pittsburgh. Only Fours Tower appeared to be spared, along with the Fantasti-Car that soared over the city. Human Torch gazed over the edge at the mass destruction.

“Looks like that’s it for Club 4.”

“That’s it for the entire city,” stated Invisible Woman solemnly. “All those people with nowhere to go. Their home destroyed for the second time.”

“But just as easily repaired.” Mister Fantastic was fiddling with a device in his hands. “The nanotechnology that runs New Pittsburgh is still active, at least until the virus burns through them in a few hours. Time enough for one last job.”

Hours later, the Fantastic Four stood on the top of Fours Tower, overlooking the city of Pittsburgh. No, not New Pittsburgh. The last act of the nanotechnology was to restore the city to its former self. Pittsburgh had been rebuilt, exactly as it had been before the Viox destroyed it.

“It’s beautiful Reed,” said Susan Richards, an arm around her husband.

“Yeah, quite a sight,” agreed Benjamin Grimm. His wife Alicia was there at his side, among the first of those evacuated to be returned to the city. “At least until all the smog returns.”

Reed shook his head. “I told you, Ben. All of New Pittsburgh’s technology had to be removed. And frankly, I think a lot of the residents prefer it.”

Susan moved her hand up Reed’s back. “That’s just bad blood over what happened, Reed. It will pass.”

“Nevertheless, we should consider moving back to New York.”

Throughout the exchange, Johnny Storm hadn’t said anything. He wasn’t even looking down at the city, but up at the stars in the sky. Towards where Lyja had gone, less than an hour earlier.

“We shouldn’t have let them take her,” Johnny said at last. His eyes turned to Reed. “We shouldn’t have just let the Skrulls take Lyja like that, Reed.”

The response of Reed was to sigh. “She was dying Johnny. You know there wasn’t anything we could do. Like it or not, the Skrulls are best-suited for treated Lyja’s injuries.”

“Not,” said Johnny in response. “I don’t like it at all.”

Looking out at Pittsburgh, the Thing broke the tension. “So Stretcho, ya think Tin-Head is in any of those buildings down there?”

“It’s doubtful, Ben. The diagnostic I ran just before activating the nanotechnology reported that nothing organic was in the city at the time. It’s possible that Victor could have been incinerated by the explosion, but…”

“You think he survived,” finished Susan. “That somehow, he got out.”

“Which means he could return at any time,” added Johnny. “After recovering from the beating we gave me, that is.”

Far away, inside his castle in Latveria, Doctor Doom listened to unpleasant news. All around him, cowering doctors were pleading.

“My liege, please, if we do not remove the mask immediately, it may permanently fuse with your skin. After that…”

Doctor Doom had no armor on, save for the battered mask on his face. So when his hand gripped the doctor’s throat, it was bare and of normal strength. Nevertheless, he snapped the doctor’s neck as though it were a twig.

“It will never be removed,” Doctor Doom ordered the other doctors. “You will work around the mask. Is this understood?”

“Yes, my lord,” many of them said at once.

Satisfied that he would be obeyed, Doctor Doom lay back and allowed his servants to do their duty. As they worked, Doctor Doom closed his eyes, and imagined the revenge that he would take. Oh yes, Reed Richards would pay. Him, and all the Fantastic Four.

I just want to personally thank Steve Crosby for the incredible job he's done wrapping up the previous author's run. Not many people have been up to the task, and as such the Fantastic Four have been out of the loop for nearly a year at the site, but Steve really came through for us and with ease, to boot. Combined with the efforts of Alan Strauss, the Fantastic Four hasn't been this good at Marvel 2000 in a long time, and I have high hopes for M2K's First Family in 2007. Thanks again, Steve, and good luck to Alan!

Cory Wiegel
June 15, 2007