The Fantastic Four #1

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Fantastic Four #1
From the Heavens...

Written by Aaron Martel
Edited by Daniel Dyer

Bubba Perkins didn’t know about flying saucers. Bubba Perkins just liked to fish.

His line was cast at his favorite fishing spot on Lake Peacetree, close to shore, and Bubba was relaxing and settling in for another fine day of bass-catching. All by his lonesome, not a care in the world. Just Bubba, the bass and big ‘ol Peacetree.

He heard it before he saw it. A low rumble, slowly growing in intensity and seemingly coming from the sky itself.

Bubba craned his neck skyward and saw a tiny pinpoint of light appear from what seemed to be the heavens themselves. As he stared in wonder Bubba began to feel a sense of dread as the light grew bigger and bigger at an alarming rate. And coming at an incredible rate of speed. Straight towards him.

Bubba ducked his head as a spaceship roared over him and plunged into Lake Peacetree with a thunderous splash. The giant wave caused by the crash capsized Bubba’s tiny fishing boat, and it was all he could do to keep his head above the water as he was tossed around like a rag doll. After a few terrifying moments the lake settled itself down somewhat, and Bubba saw to his astonishment that the spaceship had come to rest on the opposite shore, a good three quarters of a mile away. Thick black smoke was billowing from the craft into the sky, and Bubba figured the ship must have skimmed clear across the lake before slamming into the shoreline. A spaceship. Must have aliens aboard too.

Bubba turned and swam for the shoreline as fast as his arms and legs could propel him.

---

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Dr. Reed Richards blinked his eyes open, pain shooting through them like a hot knife. Dazed and disoriented, he tried to focus on his surroundings, though the heavy smoke was making that extremely difficult. He tried to move but realized he was still strapped into his seat. Through the jumble of his thoughts one came to him clear as a bell.

Sue...

Reed fumbled with the heavy duty safety straps designed for space travel and somehow managed to free himself from the seat. He staggered to his feet and swooned as the blood rushed to his head like a raging river. Steadying himself, Reed looked over to the seat next to his. Another figure in a bulky spacesuit sat motionless strapped into the seat it was occupying. Reed reached out and gently shook the figure.

“Sue? Sue, honey… are you all right?”

Gazing into the wide face shield, Reed recoiled in shock and horror.

She’s not there! Sue’s gone!

And then he passed out.

---

[Spider-Man Beyond]

When Reed awakened again he found himself in a hospital bed in a single patient room. An unfamiliar man, obviously a doctor, was staring at him curiously as Reed tried to gauge his surroundings.

“Dr. Richards? I’m Dr. Smithers. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, but…” Reed’s eyes opened wide. “The others! Are they-”

“They’re fine, all of them,“ the MD said in soothing tones. “It’s quite miraculous, but all four of you came out of the crash in relatively good shape. A few bumps and bruises, some cuts, but not one of you has so much as a broken bone. That Mr. Grimm must be one ace of a pilot.”

“And Sue?”

“She’s a little banged up but none the worse for wear. I’d say you all will make complete recoveries, but there’s nothing any of you need to recover from, really.”

Reed let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Thank heavens. It’s true that I actually feel quite well. When can I see the others?”

“I’ll leave that to this gentleman here. I’ll be back in a little while to see how you’re feeling. It’s a pleasure to treat you doctor.”

Dr. Smithers left the room and an older, stately man approached Reed’s bed. He smiled kindly at Reed and addressed him with concern.

“Hello, Reed. It’s good to see you alive.”

“Commander Lee,” Reed was pleased to see his friend. ”Good to see you as well. Where…where were we?”

“You crashed into a large lake upstate. Damn near emptied the lake of water. You all were found unconscious and taken to St. Mary’s. You’re the last one to wake up, and you’ve been out over forty-eight hours.”

“Two days?”

“Of course we feared the worst,” Commander Lee pulled up a chair and sat next to Reed.

“But like the doctor said, you’re all in remarkable condition. The media’s been all over this, but we’re hoping we can stem the tide and keep things fairly low key.”

“What have you said in the media?”

“Just that a shuttle full of scientists had mechanical trouble and was forced to make an emergency landing. Since no one really knows who you are it’s been fairly easy to deflect questions. Heck, we don’t even have to lie to ‘em.”

“No,” Reed smiled. “I suppose you can tell them we’re all okay.”

“Already done. And no one was injured during this entire episode so that angle’s been cut off. Grimm did a fantastic job landing the shuttle.”

“Ben…” Reed thought for a moment. “Jack, what condition is the shuttle in?”

“Ever the scientist, eh? The shuttle’s got the usual heat shield damage, and the bottom is completely shredded from the crash, but otherwise she seems intact. Why?”

Reed seemed too preoccupied with his thoughts to answer. He looked up as Commander Lee addressed him again.

“Okay, Reed. What the hell happened up there?”

What happened?

---

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Before.

Reed was sitting with former college roommate and best friend Ben Grimm in the cafeteria lounge at Cape Canaveral. The men were so excited that they were ignoring their trays of lunch as they spoke to each other.

“Just think, Ben, at this time tomorrow we’ll be in space on the way to the station,” Reed said.

“Hey Big Brain I’ve done this a few times before, y’know,” Ben retorted. “Though it was kinda cool you pulled some strings ta get me on this mission.”

Reed sheepishly grinned. “I just told them I wanted the best shuttle pilot they have, and that pilot is you. Ben, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, but I have been able to keep an eye on your career. I’m very impressed with your determination. I thought by now you’d be a professional football player.”

“Yeah well it wuz either the NFL or the Air Force, so I just did what I hadda do. Ya knew I always wanted ta be a pilot.”

“Yes but I thought about the easy money…”

“Ah that’s awright but that ain’t what I wuz really lookin’ for,” Ben had a glint in his eye. “An’ the Air Force gig got me inta NASA.”

“When I was asked about this opportunity my first thought was if you would be the one to fly me to the stars. Remember when we used to dream about that?”

“Sure do, Big Brain. So whatcha gonna do up there?”

“Well for years now I’ve been studying the effects of a certain type of celestial radiation that’s been slowly irradiating the cells of life here on earth. I’ve dubbed them ‘cosmic rays‘, and I theorize they may be responsible for much of the bizarre mutations we’ve discovered in certain life forms recently. I’ve been hampered by the Earth’s atmosphere itself but I’ve calculated that a virtual ‘hurricane’ of this energy should be traversing a vector relatively adjacent to the earth’s orbit at approximately this moment in the timesteam. So I need to be free of the Earth’s atmosphere in order to allow me the conditions conducive to-”

“Whoa! Whoa! Ya totally lost me there! Awright I get it. Funny thing, though…”

“What?”

“You mean ta tell me they’re gonna let ya up in their fancy space station so’s ya can do yer pet project fer free?”

“Well, I do have a few little experiments NASA wants me to perform.” Reed rolled his eyes.

“Somethin’ else too. I don’t like the idea of this kid goin’ with us.”

“Johnny’s been through the space qualifications and training with all of us,” Reed stated. “He’s actually very bright. He will assist me along with Sue. And if I’m not mistaken, I believe he has received some flight operator cross-training.”

“Yeah, that’s what I don’t like. I mean I know he’s Susie’s brother an’ all, but-”

“She wouldn’t go unless he did also,” Reed said quietly.

“Oh. Well, that’s Susie fer ya. You are one lucky sonovagun.”

“I know.”

“So how long ya gonna be up there?”

“Three months, then our relief arrives. They keep their scientists in six month rotations so I’m sort of an anomaly in that regard.”

“Whatever. Hey, mebbe I’ll bring ya back down ta Earth too.”

“I certainly hope so.”

“Grimm’s Space Taxi, at yer service.” Ben stood up to go. “Reed, it’s been great ta see ya.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Reed said warmly as the two men left the cafeteria with their lunches untouched.

---

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Now.

Ben Grimm thought, Ya gotta be kiddin’ me.

All those doctors, poking and prodding at him. Nurses asking him how he felt. Aside from a little tummy ache now and again Ben felt fine. Pretty damn good, in fact. The docs all told him everyone else was doing fine as well, but Ben wanted to see for himself.

Looking at his own body Ben saw some bruises on his arms and legs but he knew they were minor, superficial. He actually felt nearly invincible. I survived a space crash! Mama Grimm’s little boy Benji had saved the day again with his stellar piloting skills. And he was fully ready to bask in the praises and accolades of all his admirers. He could picture himself as an idol of millions, even.

Ben winced as a sudden surge of strength flowed through his body like an adrenaline rush. It centered in the pit of his stomach, and Ben was so overcome with pain he rolled over and fell out of bed. In an instant a nurse bolted into his room, helped him to his feet and guided him back into bed. The pain was fading from his stomach now, and he began to breathe easier as the nurse wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Mr. Grimm!” the nurse exclaimed. “What happened?”

What happened?

---

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Before.

The launch went perfectly without a hitch. As the shuttle blasted through the atmosphere Ben stole a glance at Reed, who was adjusting the little hand-held device he caried on board with him. Reed said the doohickey measured the levels of the “cosmic rays” he was going to be studying in space, and he wanted to get a measure of them as soon as possible. Ben had laughed at his friend’s boyish enthusiasm and shook his head in amusement. Only Reed would bring carry-on luggage on a space flight.

The other two were holding their own as well. Even the kid, Johnny, had performed his tasks with a professionalism Ben wouldn’t have expected from the smart-mouthed hothead he had originally met. Ben didn’t worry about Sue; Susan Storm was more than equal to any obstacle set before her. Ben had known her since their college days when Reed first began seeing her. Now they were engaged. Ben was very happy about that, even though he was sad to learn that Sue’s parents had passed away recently and she had taken it upon herself to raise her kid brother Johnny. No wonder she had insisted Johnny be part of this crew, and as it turned out, she had made a good call.

The giant fuel tanks were ejected and the shuttle began to glide into orbit in line towards the space station. Ben settled back and breathed his customary sigh of relief before radioing NASA command that things went smoothly with the launch. He glanced over at Johnny, who gave him a smirk and a wink.

“So you still ticked that I’m here?” Johnny remarked.

Ben grinned. “Nah, ya did good, kid. I knew it all along. I wuz just testin’ ya.”

“Yeah right.”

“This is amazing,” Sue said in wonder, gazing out the viewport. “Look at this, Johnny. Could you ever imagine actually seeing something like this? The Earth looks so beautiful up here.”

“Yeah, sis, pretty amazing,” Johnny replied.

“Reed, are you seeing this?” Sue asked.

“Hmmm? Oh, yes, I’m just trying to get this- there. It’s finally working. It won’t give me a completely accurate measurement but at least it will give me some idea-”

Immediately the small machine began pinging loudly. Reed seemed genuinely surprised and an audible gasp escaped his helmet.

“No…” Reed whispered. “It can’t be.”

“Reed what is it?” Sue questioned.

“Oh, God. Ben, Ben we have to turn around,” Reed stammered.

Ben was flabbergasted. “What? Are you crazy? Reed there’s nothin’ wrong. We’ll be there soon-”

“Ben,” Reed interrupted. “That cosmic storm I told you about? It’s closer than I first- Ben it’s right on top of us!”

“What are you talkin’ about? I don’t see nothin’-”

And Ben’s next words were lost as a searing pain exploded all over his entire body, even through the protection of his space suit. It was if a million hot needles were stabbing him all at once and there was no escape from the blinding agony. He could feel the blazing energy penetrating his skin as his body jerked uncontrollably inside his suit. After a few moments that seemed like an eternity Ben fell unconscious.

---

[Spider-Man Beyond]

When Ben came to the pain had gone and he heard the frantic voices of mission control over the radio.

“Shuttle Avenger this is Houston! Do you copy? Shuttle Avenger you are drastically off-course! Do you copy?”

Ben tried to shake the cobwebs from his head as a loud buzzing noise overwhelmed his ears. He finally pulled himself together enough to realize the shuttle was plummeting through the Earth’s atmosphere as he saw the flames generated from the heat of re-entry through the viewport. He radioed mission control to let them know he was back.

“Avenger to Houston. Copy.”

“Commander Grimm! You’re radically off-course and returning to Earth! What’s happening?” Ben recognized the voice of Commander Jack Lee, the head of mission control and a man Ben respected.

Johnny Storm had stirred awake next to Ben. “Ben? What-”

“Ah, Houston it seems we ran inta somethin’ an’ we all blacked out,” Ben reported.

“What? Then why isn’t your autopilot responding?” came the static-hampered voice.

Ben was much more in control now. “Autopilot’s out. Gotta bring ’er in manually.”

Johnny was horror-stricken. “Ben, can you do this?”

“Gonna have to, kid.” Ben wasn’t sure if he could fly the shuttle in manually at all. But he gripped the controls with a determined look.

Reed and Sue were reviving now, groaning in pain and shock. Ben quickly glanced at them and barked an order.

“Strap in tight! We’re goin’ down!”

---

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Now.

Susan Storm stood staring out the window in her hospital room, watching two birds perched together on a tree limb outside. She had gone through the drill with the doctors and scientists and answered their questions patiently but now that patience was wearing thin. She just wanted to see her fiance and her brother and make sure they were as okay as everyone told her they were. Sue always worried over the men in her life, especially Johnny, who was fairly immature and liable to cause a commotion if he thought-

“Sue! Sue!”

Sue whirled around. “Johnny!”

The siblings ran to each other and hugged fiercely. Sue felt tears well up in her eyes but held them back for Johnny’s sake. She looked at him and was elated to see that he appeared to be in good shape and spirits.

“How are you?” Sue asked.

“Good, sis, good. You look like you’re okay too,” Johnny answered.

“Do you have a fever? You feel so warm.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Geez, Sue, cut it out.”

Sue smiled. “All right, all right. Have you seen the others?”

“No, the docs took forever just to let me see you. They said they’re okay though.”

“Yes…” Sue tried not to think the worst.

“Hey sis, this has been one crazy trip, huh? What do you think happened to us up there?”

What happened?

---

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Before.

“Johnny, I’ve got something to tell you,” Sue said.

Johnny looked up in alarm. The last time his sister had said that, it had been to tell him their parents were dead. “What is it?”

She saw the concerned look on his face. “No no, it’s nothing bad. It’s about Reed.”

Johnny basically liked his sister’s fiance. True, Reed was a little stiff, and sometimes it was hard to understand anything he said, but he was loyal and helpful and obviously crazy about Sue. Then again, who wouldn’t be?

“NASA has asked him to go to their space station for a few months to do research and experiments,” Sue continued.

“Wow,“ Johnny said. “You’re gonna miss him, huh?”

“Johnny… he asked me to go with him as his assistant.”

“What?” Johnny’s temper flared. “You’re just gonna take off into space and leave me here? What the hell am I supposed to do while-”

“I told him I wouldn’t go without you,” Sue said seriously.

Johnny’s mouth formed a big “O” as he pondered this. Like flipping a switch, his mood brightened instantly. “We’re going into space? You mean that? How’s this all gonna happen? I mean what do we-”

“Nothing’s definite but Reed thinks he can make it happen,” Sue cut in. “I guess NASA really wants him. I told him you’re pretty good with mechanical things and I’m sure he could always use another assistant-”

“ALL RIGHT!” Johnny leaped up, pumping his fist while Sue watched, smiling. “I’m gonna be an astronaut! Yeah!” Then he abruptly caught himself. “Waitaminute. What about that teaching job you were going after?”

Sue shrugged her shoulders. “I can always look for one when we get back. It’s not like there’s a shortage of teaching jobs in the city. We’ll be gone for a while with space training anyway. Reed said he’d help us out with the bills here at the house for the time we’re gone.”

“Yeah, Reed does help out a lot…” Johnny was thinking of the past year in which Reed allowed them both to stay at his place in the Baxter Building from time to time. He had been so understanding during that emotional crisis, for Sue and Johnny both. Though Sue had taken the role of mother hen towards Johnny, Reed had been more of the big brother type…or rich uncle, truth be told. But Johnny really did have a great deal of respect for Reed.

“I know this is a lot to put on you. You just graduated high school, and Mom and Dad… if you really don’t know about it I can tell Reed-” Sue began.

“No! I want to go, sis, are you kidding? I just wanted to make sure you wanted to go.”

“All right then. I’ll tell Reed we’re in. And I just found out I already know someone at NASA. An old college friend. Reed’s best friend from those days actually.” Sue’s eyes grew wistful, reminiscing.

“When do we start training?” Johnny asked excitedly.

“Pretty much right away, if I remember Reed correctly. We’ll know all about it in the next couple of days. Now Johnny, I know this is some sort of big adventure for you but remember this is no joke. There’s all kinds of rules and dangers we may have to face and I need you to understand that.”

Johnny brushed her off. “Aw, c’mon Sue. With the year we just had what more could go wrong for us? What could possibly happen?”

To be continued...