“I believe I owe you an explanation?”

“So, tell me again – who the hell are you and why the hell should I care what you say!?” Johnny Storm spits his message across the room as his sister, Susan Storm, shakes her head in shame, hiding the scarred flesh from the sight of everyone. The siblings and their host sit in the middle of an underground chamber, lined with the flashing computer screens, glimmering holograms and constructs of infeasible scientific discoveries. They also happen to be far beneath the streets of New York.

“My name is Richards, Reed Richards. If you have not heard of me it is clearly because your life is filled with the mundane and the banal. I am confident to present the assertion that I am the most intelligent person on this planet. In each generation, an exemplar is born – a legendary intellect that changes the world forever. Da Vinci? Newton? Einstein? Hawkins? In this time, I am that exemplar and indeed, I eclipse them all. I would offer that in the history of this planet, there has never been an intellect greater than mine.”

“And clearly no understanding of the word ‘humility’?” Sue shakes her head and pushes herself back from the confrontation further still.

“I find it hard to believe that someone like yourself, Ms Storm, would suggest that I should be anything less than public in my declaration of my towering intellect. Were I, say, an amazingly attractive and athletic man, my very existence would be tracked and measured by my countenance, would it not? I am a man of knowledge and aptitude and because of this, I should be silent? Pretend I am not as fantastic a specimen as I clearly am? No. That would be sheer folly Ms. Storm.”

“This is all very nice, Reed – I can call you Reed yeah? So what does this have to do with us?” Johnny spins a pencil between his fingers and taps it on the table, impatiently. Around him, the computers in Richards’ base process information, flashing images and data streams constantly. On a monitor, the gargantuan figure of Ben Grimm sleeps.

“As a fact in and of itself, nothing but maybe, everything. Many years ago, when I was a student, I won a scholarship to M.I.T., a scholarship I later discovered was funded by an organisation known as the Advance Idea Mechanics, a front for a more secretive organisation, hopefully known to you, The Hellfire Club.”

Johnny raises an eyebrow when he hears the name. Reed smiles. “I see that you, at least, have an idea of the implications of that name. A.I.M. sought to perfect numerous breakthroughs in technology – defence, genetics, transportation and other more esoteric fields. As a young man, I was more than happy to pour myself into their work, excited beyond belief at the paltry facilities they provided me with. Through A.I.M. I was able to work alongside some of the most imaginative and innovative men of our time. It was a wonderful time. My mentor, one Dr Anton Diablo, is a genius in the field of genetics.”

“Again, I ask, while I am finding your potted C.V. utterly enthralling, could you get to the point some time this year?”

“Johnny!” Sue shakes her head. “Show just a little patience?”

Reed ignores Johnny and continues. “The problem was that every single experiment I did, every single invention I created, every single breakthrough I perfected, was being passed out of M.I.T., through A.I.M. and into the hands of the Hellfire Club. Take the Baxter Effect, that allows us to teleport around the planet? That was something I worked on then and have since then perfected. The Hellfire Club have a similar technology but it is much more limited. I hope that you noticed the similarity between the Mandroid armour’s enhancement systems and the exo-skeletal implants that have been placed into Mr Grimm?”

“Of course I did …” replies Johnny, sarcastically.

“Again, to revel in your own ignorance should not be seen as a virtue, Mr Storm. In particular, there was one series of experiments that they showed a particular interest in – those involving what I playfully called ‘The Negative Zone’ but who’s correct name was Project: Annihilus.”

Hellfire Club Meeting

“ Excellent work from both of our Rooks, I am sure you will agree. We have already benefited from the resources that Ulysses brings to the organisation as our Black Rook. However, I have been especially pleased by the returns that your new White Rook, M’Kaba of Wakanda has brought to the table. A healthy profit from the ‘Great White Ape of Wall Street’. Welcome to the Hellfire Club.”

“Thank you Black King. I hope I can repay the confidence you have shown in my abilities.” M’Kaba’s thick African accent crackles across the eight-way video conference.

“ And I look forward to matching your every move, M’Kaba. Never let it be said that Ulysses Klaw does not relish a challenge.”

The silky smooth English tones of Sebastian Shaw, the Black King, echo through the speakers of the seven other Inner Circle members around the world. Shaw looks up at the shadowed faces on the monitors before him and he steeples his fingers, directing his interrogation to Storm’s pet scientist.

“ Dr Diablo, your reports tell us that you have made some progress stabilising Project:Annihilus. Would you be so kind as to furnish the Inner Circle with the details?”

The precise tones of Diablo’s South American accent narrate an animation which floods onto the screens.

“ As you are all aware, Richards developed a method to access another dimension, which he rather dramatically called ‘the Negative Zone.’ He discovered that within the mirror of Earth on this dimension, there was one fundamental difference – where we estimate that our planet has a meta-human potential rate of around one in two million, this alternate Earth has an incident rate of non-meta development of that magnitude. Virtually every single person on that planet has some level of meta-human potential.”

The screens show a world where powers are rife and normal humans are treated with sympathy and shame. “Richards also discovered one very special property of this so-called Negative Zone. The inhabitants’ powers are tied somehow to their dimension. When they pass between that dimension and this one, these powers bleed off. The capture of this bleed and its use is what we term Project:Annihilus.”

“And this ‘bleed’ as you call it removes the powers? It prevents a massed invasion of our world from theirs?” Valerie Cooper, United Nations Director of Earth Security, has a reputation for covering every angle.

“Oh it does better than that, Ms Cooper. It kills them. Observe.” Diablo activates the next animation.

“You killed them?” Sue looks aghast at Reed as he confesses his involvement.

Reed looks down and then stares up at Sue without moving his head. He speaks very quietly. “Think for a moment, if you would, about the chance we had. This was not first contact with an alien species. This was first contact with a parallel to our species. This was a chance that no scientist would have turned down. I did not know what would happen when we brought them across. How could I?”

“But you did after the first one, right Reed? Don’t give me this bullshit! A man of your amazing ‘intelligence’? You would have known. You treated those people like lab animals, disposable pieces of an experiment.” Johnny Storm glares at Reed and his eyes flicker a deep orange.

Reed looks between them both and smiles. “Every cent that has been spent on you during your exceptionally entitled lives has been paid for from the proceeds of these experiments. I may have created the means of the deaths but you have bathed in the profits of those deaths. Don’t even begin to lecture me on morality. Especially considering how those deaths affected your lives?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about?” Sue is talking in almost a whisper now, terrified by the simmering anger in the room. The light flickers through her body, as she begins to phase out of reality.

“ The ‘bleed’ as we called it, was the separating of the metahuman potential from those test subjects. We gathered that potential, concentrated it and reintegrated it into some test subjects.”

“Test subjects? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see where this is going. Hey sis – we were nothing more than guinea pigs!” Johnny’s sarcasm barely hides his fury.

“ Subject Four: John Storm. The p-subject..”

“ I think it would be better if you avoided some of the abbreviations, Dr Diablo. I would have thought by now you would have developed some more comprehensive presentation skills. Its what comes with living in your laboratory.” Dr. Bentley Whitman, the inventor commonly dubbed ‘The Wizard’ but the popular press, sneers at his rival.

“Dr Whitman, when I need a lecture from you, I will be sure to attend one of your ridiculously over-priced public affairs. After all, you are ‘The Worlds Most Intelligent Man’ or was that just a piece of spin by that nice young Danish publicist you have under your wing?”

“Gentlemen, please. Leave the intellectual jousting to the lab? The last thing we want is our White and Black Bishops at each other’s throats.”

“As I was saying, the p- … parallel-subject was a man possessing pyrokenetic powers. John Storm was bonded with the bleed in-utero. Early tests showed that the procedure had little physical effect on the young man and but psychology tests showed that his rather erratic behaviour was due to the effect of the experiment rather than normal teenage hormones. Monitoring since this time has confirmed that he has developed the self-same pyrokenetic powers.”

“He is not in our custody now though, is he? Richards has him – and he destroyed millions of dollars worth of my equipment.” Valerie Cooper shuffles the papers before her in a show of indignation.

“Ms. Cooper, we are aware of the situation and we have that under control. Subject Ten: Benjamin Grimm. This was a special case as it happened in conjunction with some of Richards’ other experiments – organic adamantium, artificial nervous systems and a whole slew of nanorobotics. The bleed infusion was performed without his knowledge under the cloak of a fake ‘cosmic ray generator’ and some other trace elements. Hyper-muscular growth, skeletal acceleration, increased strength, endurance and dermal density as well as cell regeneration on an unprecedented scale. The p-subject was a mass murdering monster plucked from a secure facility.”

“ Another under the control of Reed Richards?”

“ Yes Ms. Cooper….”

“ Subject Thirty Seven: Susan Richards….”

“I don’t want to know…”

“I cannot see you, Susan. You have faded from sight and as far as I know, you may have phased from this reality. That was the bleed potential that your father had introduced into you when you had your accident. I remember the subject when we brought her over.”

“How did you bring them? I assume it was against their will?” Sue’s voice is all that shows she is in the room.

“The teleportation technology? We use that. As I was saying, she was an urban myth, an angel of mercy who moved through the streets of their slums, bringing solace to the dying. Her touch could calm people and she could go anywhere, without being seen. I remember that Diablo was obsessed with her, he had to bring her over. He was convinced she wouldn’t die. She died. She died and she was melded with you because your father wanted you to fade away and disappear.”

“My father loves me…”

“Like Hell he does! He loved me enough to use me as an experiment in Mom’s womb! That’s all I have been to him – a damned experiment! You? You weren’t experimented on, not his darling daughter, but me? No, I got this .. thing .. inside me!” Johnny grabs a plastic cup off the table and it melts in his hand.

“John, please, calm down.” Reed rises from his chair but Johnny jumps up before he can get his balance and grabs him by the throat and slams him against the wall. The air around him flickers in a heat haze and small flames play up and down his bare arms.

“You! You’re the one that caused this and you are …” Johnny takes a step back, sighs and drops his arm. Behind him, Sue rests her hand on his back. She is visible again and her scars are plain to see down the side of her face.

“ Reed didn’t do this to us Johnny. Daddy did. I remember before you were born. I can remember him and Mom arguing about you. I can remember Mom crying. I can remember the men coming to take her to hospital. He used you as an experiment. He created a monster with Mr. Grimm. Me? He tried to make me disappear when I wasn’t the wonderful little girl he always wanted. Daddy did this to us Johnny, not Reed.”

“Never … EVER …do that to me again!” Johnny spins around and screams at his sister.

“ You are not the only ones. There are others.” Reed’s bombshell silences the room.

“ Thank you for that synopsis, Dr Diablo, but what about the stabilisation?”

“ Well, the bleed effect still kills the subject, but we have been able to remove some of the emotional resonance from the process. The merging of the personalities that we have experienced in the past can now be suppressed. We can take these powers and safely make them our own.”

“ I find that hard to believe, Dr Diablo.”

“ And why is that, Dr Whitman?”

“ Because an ego as large as yours would have trumpeted this from the rooftops.”

“ And a man as shallow as you would have used the science on himself. No, your analysis is correct, Dr Whitman, there are some small complications, but I am sure that I can overcome them.”

“ How have your experiments in reversing the process gone, Dr Diablo?” The world-weary voice of General Storm cuts across the duelling wits of the two scientists.

“ We have higher things on our minds here, General and ..” Whitman stops as Storm erupts.

“ You will damned well give me the answers that I want and the respect I deserve Dr Whitman! You may not work on my team, but I am the White King of the Hellfire Club and your work occurs because of me, rather than despite me. Now tell me, can you reverse the process!?”

Diablo answers. “ No. We have not perfected that process as of yet.”

“ Gentlemen, this is wonderful news, but we have another, more pressing matters.” Sebastian Shaw brings the meeting to silence. “Ms. Cooper? Mystique? Our Queens. Tell us about your projects?”

Valerie Cooper is the first to answer. “I have tried for some time now to track Richards. We nearly had him in Tokyo and Singapore, but he escaped. We did destroy one of his bases and recovered a number of data banks which have been passed onto the Bishops but we have, sadly, lost contact with him again. We can confirm that he has custody of both of your children, General Storm, and as we suspected, Benjamin Grimm.”

Shaw grunts. “Quite an army there, if he knew what to do with them?”

“ Grimm has succumbed to almost total personality suppression. He has become the monster he was on his world. Johnny Storm is currently on the Interpol top ten most wanted list for multiple murders and worse. Susan Storm? She is ineffectual at best. I would not worry about them – I would be more concerned with Mystique’s quarry in Wundagore.”

“ There was a breakout? You have to be kidding me?” Johnny laughs out loud.

“ The Shaw Industries facility in Russia was targeted by separatist terrorists and the holding cells were broken open. A whole batch of experiments were released into..”

“They escaped Reed. Experiments are released. People escape.” Sue raises her eyebrows.

“Sorry. Yes, they escaped. The Hellfire Club has amazing resources, but against a group of people with these enhanced powers, they are at a distinct disadvantage.”

“I can sense a ‘but’ here?” Johnny leans forward.

“ They are at a disadvantage, but I am not. Their scientists – Diablo and Whitman – are no match for me. The escapees are currently in Wundagore.”

“ Wundagore? Where on Earth is that?” Johnny wrinkles his nose.

“ It is a mountain state, a principality bordering Latveria. Populated by shepherds and farmers. A simple place, ruled by superstitions. Hellfire agents have been searching the place for weeks, looking for the escapees.”

“ But you know where they are?” Sue asks.

“ I do. And we are going to find them and bring them home.” Reed stands up but Johnny shakes his head.

“Now why would we want to do that? I’m not part of some team of nutjobs. I’ve got places to go and people to see.”

“ Johnny, you and your sister owe me nothing. Nothing at all. But I ask you, as a man who has unleashed great evil – help me make things right? You hold great power, as does Ben and believe it or not, so does Sue. I am just an ordinary man but I have to do something to reverse this horror.”

“Reverse it? You can do that?” Sue sounds excited, expectant.

“ Yes, I believe I can. But I need your help and those poor souls on Wundagore Mountain need your help as well.”

“Why? What’s going to happen to them?” Sue and Johnny both look into Reeds sunken desperate eyes and they know the answer already.

“ My men have found the missing subjects. Agents are primed to be despatched to the area as soon as we get clearance from the authorities in Latveria for the incursion.”

“Why the delay?” Shaw seems impatient.

“ Von Doom and his cabinet covet the riches of Wundagore Mountain. It takes some time to convince them that a full strength Termination Squad in the area does not constitute a clear and present danger to their dominion.” The shadowy voice of Mystique flows across the transmission.

“ But it will not be a problem?” Shaw presses her.

“ No. These experiments will be terminated. Every single man, woman and child.”

Next Issue: “Something Wicked This Way Comes” – The Four begin their quest for other Annilihus experiments, starting in a pleasant town called Wundagore and a visit to the Freak Circus Maximus.