The Silver Crystal

[The Count]

Aw man... Feel like this good thing ended too soon.
Giving you points for the W.I.T.C.H. girls' dates, didn't know you had all their last names too.
Huge points for Capt. Frankie Ray, though I won't spoil it by revealing her Marvel hero name.
Spamela's last name is "Hamderson", minor nitpick.
Got a bit confused when Clifford and the rest of the staff gathered, was it meant to be the staff simply walking by or coming together for a meeting before the show? Cause from the initial reading, I thought it was that the rest of the cast were merely walking past the host of the show.
The line about Clifford praying for a good show or quick painless death made me laugh.
Also giving you points for the angle of the Fantastic Four Plus Two appearing on MT, it reminds me of the two-part first episode of the 94-96 animated series.

Loved the whole thing... Mustread more soon please!

 

[muppetwriter]

This one ended too soon mostly because the usual number of pages that I write for each chapter ranges from ten to twelve, and this one had almost gotten close to fifteen or twenty if I had included the next scene in the chapter. I'll have the third one up real soon; it will focous primarily on the Silver Surfer's impact on the planet, the wedding, and the arrival of our new heroes and adversaries.

I was going to just include the first names of the girls' dates, until I found this information on Wikipedia that gave me each of their last names, too. I knew Matt's last name right off the bat (they've mentioned it several times on the show), as well as Martin's. But Eric's and Nigel's were unknown to me.

And I can't believe I got Spamela's last name wrong in this chapter. It was easy remembering it in that "additional scene" with her and Lady Holiday in the extended version of "The Amazing...Sequel!"

The staff were doing a little bit of both in that scene. They were just walking by and stopped just as they realized that Clifford was talking about Reed and Sue's wedding. Sorry for the confusion.

I'll have more up soon.

 

[The Count]

Sounds groovy... Whenever you can man, that's the plan Stan. Why am I sounding like a Sesame sketch from the late 70's? Eh, let's just pan to the man from the zan... That silvery surfer's scan. Yeah, that's the plan man.

 

[muppetwriter]

OK. So the wedding, the Surfer, and everything else I thought would be in this chapter isn't in it, but I still have something that's just as good.

Chapter Three​

As soon as Luft and his men were inside the station, several more attendees were ushered out of the building, with the exception of the Guardians and their dates (and the undetectable Traveling Matt, who got lost as soon as he was inside the building). The KMUP crew was more than surprised by the general’s arrival, even Bunsen and Beaker were forced to remove themselves from the Muppet Mobile Lab to appear more formal for what could be a serious visit. Pepe most of all remembered seeing General Luft at the C.O.V.N.E.T. headquarters years ago, when he took part in Gonzo’s escape to meet his alien family. When Luft and his bunch of military brass entered the backstage area, both Reed and Ben recognized him and knew that his presence meant trouble.

“General Luft?” Reed uttered.

Luft made no attempt to hide his contempt. “I’m only here, Richards, because I’m under direct orders from the Joint Chefs of Staff. Personally, I don’t like the idea of sharing sensitive information with a civilian scientist—especially one who loves the public spotlight so much.”

“Always a pleasure to see you, too, General.” Reed spoke up. “What can I do for you?”

Luft ignored Reed’s tone and continued. “As you may know, there have been recent, unusual occurrences all over the world. Officially, we’ve downplayed their significance to the public. But we’re concerned these anomalies might pose a credible threat to our national security.”

“Would dat ‘national security’ include de initials C.O.V.N.E.T., h’okay?” Pepe asked, and Luft shot him a cold, hard look that forced the king prawn to do something he rarely did…keep his mouth shut.

The grizzled general turned to his aide and nodded. She pulled a file out of a metal briefcase and handed the file over to Reed. “This was taken by one of our spy satellites three days ago,” she explained to him.

Reed opened the file, marked “confidential,” and pulled out a grainy satellite photograph. The picture showed a silvery blur just above the Earth, followed by a wake of radiant energy. Bunsen, Beaker, and the others peered over Reed’s shoulder to see the photo.

“Mee moo meep mee.” Beaker commented.

“You’re absolutely correct, Beaker. It kind of does look like a comet of some sorts.” Bunsen remarked before turning back to Luft. “What do you believe it is?”

“We have no idea,” Luft replied, nodding in Reed’s direction. “We were hoping Dr. Richards here could tell us.”

“I’m afraid I have never seen anything like it,” Reed responded. “Bunsen? You have any more opinions?”

Bunsen Honeydew stared at the photograph, searching his vast knowledge to try to come up with some kind of explanation. “I would say it was a meteor or a piece of space debris burning up in the atmosphere, but the trail is far too negative.” He paused to consider his words. “It is giving off some form of energy.”

General Luft’s face showed his concern. “Take a look at this,” he said before having Captain Raye bring up an image on a laptop computer, showing huge craters in the most isolated locations on the planet: the Amazon rain forest, the Australian outback, and the Ural Mountains. All of the craters were uniform in size and equally round, perfectly smooth, their walls made of reflective silver metal.

“They’ve been appearing in remote areas all over the world since the events started.” Captain Raye informed.

“Have you identified the silver alloy?” Bunsen asked her.

She shook her head. “It’s not any known element.”

Luft spoke up quickly. “We believe something that we had come across on near Penny Box, Texas might give us some leads on all of this.” His eyes shot towards the Guardians, their dates, and the entire KMUP staff and gazed at each of them with great suspicion. “I really believe we should be discussing all of this in a more private area.”

When Reed and his team took notice of Luft’s suspicions towards their friends, he was about to speak up in their defense, but was robbed of the chance as soon as Clifford exploded in anger. “Hey, man! Listen! You come here and scare away just about every payin’ customer we had for tonight’s show, which is now—thanks to you and your G.I. Joe rejects—canceled!” Bunsen tried desperately to stop Clifford before he dug his grave any deeper, but the rants kept flowing out of his mouth. “So if you’ve got to say anything to the Fantastic Four or Bunsen and Beaker, you can say it in front of us! Because as long as you’re standin’ in this building, you’re on our property and we’re in your business!”

There were a lot of people in that room who had seen Clifford lose his cool at times when he was under extreme stress. But none of them until that very moment ever seen him lose it in front of a military figure like General Luft before, which made the atmosphere feel a little uneasy, especially with no one uttering a single word due to being in a state of shock. Luft just stared at Clifford, with no look of fear from Clifford’s words at all. He then turned and nodded to Captain Raye again, and she took her laptop computer and brought up a new image for everyone to see: the enormously large and shiny Crystal of Thra being held in the center of a chrome-plated room by a machine emitting a magnetic field.

“Bueno dios!” Pepe exclaimed, while Reed, Bunsen, and Will were the ones that were staring at the image the closest. Will could remember seeing something like it in the dreams that the Oracle placed in her subconscious, only small enough to be held by the small elf-like creature she had seen in them.

Bunsen and Reed were just about to ask General Luft about the crystal, until he lifted his hands up and stopped them before they had the chance to speak out. “We haven’t quite figured out what it is yet, because we’ve only just come across it earlier this evening. All we know is that it’s not like any crystals you’d find here on Earth. It’s a completely different element—one that makes even kryptonite look like a crappy excuse to push researchers into proving it actually exists.”

“And you believe that it could help us figure out what our ‘silver comet’ might be or where it might’ve come from?” Reed asked.

“When we’ve done some further studies on it, we think it might.” Luft replied. “But so far, we believe we have a lead as to where the crystal itself might’ve originated from with this recording that our satellites had picked up only minutes after we had departed from the sight of its crash.” Once again he commanded Captain Raye to bring up the recorded conversation between John Crichton and Jen that had blared through the laptop’s speaker, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear every single word that both of them said. Even Andy and Randy Pig were intrigued over a couple of words that they had never heard before or could’ve found in the English dictionary.

“What does ‘frelled’ mean?” Randy asked, and—surprisingly—no one could’ve given a straight answer to clear up the young pigs’ confusion.

Meanwhile, as Ben and Johnny were listening to the recording, their eyes widened in surprise and directed towards each other, recognizing one of the voices that was coming through the laptop speakers. Ben didn’t hesitate to express his surprise in words as he said, “Oh my god! I can’t believe it’s him!”

“Me neither.” Johnny remarked.

Captain Raye had stopped the recordings, as soon as everyone’s attention was directed to the bewildered Johnny and Ben. “Do you know one of the two gentlemen in his conversation?”

Johnny nodded in reply. “Yeah! That’s John Crichton, the IASA astronaut who ended up missing after an experiment involving his ‘gravitational slingshot’ theory.”

“They said that both him and his Farscape-1 module were never found after that accident.” Ben added, while Reed and Sue were listening to them intently with everyone else, a little surprised that neither of them had mentioned anything about it to them. “Crichton disappeared just two years before we went up there and got involved in our own accident.”

General Luft pondered over the name of John Crichton and slowly began to recall hearing it somewhere before during an important meeting. “I know Crichton’s father, Jack. He spent years blaming both the IASA and the government for allowing his son to go through with that insane experiment. If I were to let him hear this recording and find out that his son is very much alive and possibly missing somewhere out in space, I could not just be doing us or the world a favor by getting further into this mystery, but also help reuniting a family and getting back on good terms with a marvelous former astronaut.”

“I see you have a bit of a soft side there. Eh, General?” Clifford commented, and Luft glared at him in response. “Guess not.”

Luft quickly returned his focus on the situation at hand. “If we’re really going to find out what all of this is about, we need a way to locate and intercept that silver object.”

Reed’s mind already appeared to be wandering, examining the mysterious objects that Luft had shown them and the problems they presented from a variety of directions. He said, “It would be possible to build a sensor, tie it into the Baxter Building’s satellite grid, then pinpoint the exact location of the object.”

Bunsen rapidly nodded in excitement over that idea, while a small look of relief crossed Luft’s face. “Good. So you’ll build it for us.”

Reed and Bunsen exchanged glances, and as Bunsen began to nod his own head, Reed stopped himself as he started to nod his own. He looked at Sue’s face, which was filled with both concern and curiosity about these anomalies.

“I’m afraid I can’t,” he said.

Luft’s tone was unmistakable. His relief had turned back to contempt. “What?” The group exchanged puzzled looks, while Johnny tried to make eye contact with Captain Raye. She held her focus on the general.

Reed cleared his throat and spoke up. “General, I’m getting married tomorrow. So I just don’t have the time.” He locked eyes with Sue, who gave him her sweetest smile.

Luft was outraged. “Richards, your country needs your help.”

Pulling out a business card, Reed scribbled a number just under the name. “Call this man—Doctor Jerome Christian. I am sure he can help.”

The tone of the general’s voice made Reed uneasy. Luft wasn’t used to not getting his way, and he had no problem showing it. “I expected more. Even from you.” The temperature of the room fell by degrees and Reed doubted that even Johnny or Taranee could heat up the chill caused by the general. General Luft turned on his heel, Captain Raye right behind him. He led his entourage out of the backstage area of the studio and out of the building itself.

“Wow.” Irma uttered. “That sure was an uncomfortable visit.”

“Yeah.” Clifford affirmed, with a frustrated tone still staining his voice. “Hope we don’t have another one like it.”

Will turned to Matt and the other boys that they had brought along with them as their dates, feeling a bit discouraged by the sudden intrusion that ruined their chances of seeing a good show that good friends offered free good tickets for. “Listen, guys, I’m sorry that everything went to heck in a hand basket so quickly. Maybe we can catch another show…sometime next week perhaps?”

“Thanks, but the guys and I have another performance coming up.” Matt said, much to Will’s displeasure.

“O-kay.” She remarked, trying not to sound too disappointment. “What about you, Martin?”

Martin let out another strange snicker, as he placed his arm around Irma, who didn’t hold back the disgusted expression on her face. “As awesome of a time I had tonight, I’m sorry to say that my sweet onion ring and I will be broadcasting Wreck 55’s performance for the school that evening.”

“Martin, remind me to point out the two biggest errors in that statement for you when we’re not around other people.” Irma said, as Will turned her attention to Caleb and Cornelia.

“Oh, don’t even bother asking us.” Cornelia told her. “We’ll be busy catching up on times that we wished we could’ve shared before the whole Nerissa problem. Right, Caleb?” Her date didn’t respond immediately to her, which gave her the impression that his mind was, like always, on something other than their relationship. If there was one thing Cornelia could relate to Sue about, it was being with someone who never once considered putting work aside for love. But when Caleb thought more about his position as rebel leader for Meridian more than his love for Cornelia, it made her twice as angry as Sue often became when Reed thought more about his theories and experiments more than her. Cornelia just cleared her throat and again said with a much louder tone in her voice, “Right, Caleb?”

Caleb snapped out of the trance he was in, once he realized that his girlfriend was addressing him. Unbeknownst to her, he still had the image of the Crystal of Thra in his mind, after seeing it on the laptop that Captain Raye had brought with her. He had seen it before himself, but was uncertain if it was in a dream (like Will’s first sighting of it) or just in his imagination. But something was giving him the notion that he had seen the enormous crystal somewhere before. To keep Cornelia from overreacting like she often did, he did his best to pretend that he was only daydreaming in front of her, as he clarified her statement. “Yeah…uh, right, Cornelia.”

He wasn’t fooling Cornelia, because she was glaring at him like she knew right away that he was up to something, and he wasn’t fooling Will either—she could see the troubled expression on his face and knew what General Luft and Captain Raye had shown them might’ve heavily interfered with the hard work they had put in to protecting Meridian. Cornelia might’ve hated it when he put business before pleasure, but Will knew that it was important that he did to keep things in order like they were supposed to. If there was anything troubling him about the crystal or anything else regarding the mystery surrounding the anomalies, it was important that he shared it with them all as soon as possible.

Hay Lin quickly took notice of the way Will neglected to ask her and Eric if they were too busy to catch another Muppets Tonight show. Being the cool and collected girl that she often was, she didn’t make a big deal out of it. Instead she just stepped up and said, “Eric and I would love to come back for another show, Will. We probably won’t be doing all that much for the rest of the summer anyways.”

Will smiled at the happy couple that was Eric and Hay Lin. If there were any of them that seemed to have been having the perfect relationship lately, it had to be the one that they shared. Meanwhile, Clifford had been listening in on their conversation and was somewhat annoyed about having to get more free tickets for the teens.

Clifford let out a big sigh as he began walking away from the group. “Lemme get Kerm on the phone and see if I can get ya’ll some freebies. I hope ya’ll use these, too. We can’t afford to waste money on free tickets like this.”

“No problem, Cliff.” Will said, as she and the other Guardians started to head for the back entrance, along with their dates. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow at the wedding.”

As soon as the Guardians, their dates, and half of the KMUP staff were out of the room, Bunsen and Beaker were left to be with their teammates and discuss the visit from General Luft and Captain Raye. “Reed, might I ask you an important question?”

“Sure, Bunsen. What is it?”

“How do you know the general?”

Reed seemed slightly uncomfortable on discussing the subject, but knew it was important for Bunsen, Beaker, and the rest of his team (with the exception of Ben) to know if it could help them grasp the situation that they were part of only a moment ago. “A few years back, he was attempting to create a new missile defense system for the group that Pepe mentioned earlier, C.O.V.N.E.T.” That much information was enough to shock both Bunsen and Beaker at the same time. “I testified that the technology wouldn’t work, and the general wasn’t too happy about it.”

Bunsen nodded in understanding, while Beaker gave his comments. “Mee moo meep meep mee.”

“Yes, Beaker. It is fortunate that Dr. Richards turned him down.” Bunsen remarked. “C.O.V.N.E.T. is not an organization to be messed with. And we speak from experience on that matter.”

“I just can’t believe you turned down a science project.” Sue stated, before Reed took her hands in his.

“They can build a sensor without me. The most important thing right now is our wedding.” He told her. “No interruptions. No postponements.” He emphasized his words with small kisses on her hand.

“Okay,” she said softly and kissed him on the lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The rain was coming down in sheets half a world away, in the small and remote European village known as Latveria. The coming night cooled the water as it blanketed the heavy trees and forests surrounding the mansion. Water leaked through the centuries-old stone, just as it always had, leaving drops and puddles throughout the damp manse, the chill of the air even colder than it was outside. The moon stayed high and hidden above the clouds of the storm as if it also wanted to steer clear of the decaying stone palace.

Inside the main room of the mansion, a spark of activity could be detected through the sheets of rain and occasional thunder. Dr. Phil van Neuter and his assistant, Mulch, stood nervously in the darkened room, scarves tied thickly around their necks and their breath showing in the cold air. Only Dr. Neuter seemed to have been the one who could be open about his feelings on being in the cold and damp place—so far from civilization—while Mulch could only grunt in agreement.

“Seriously, Mulch, is there nothing we would do for this man?” Phil asked, while prying away the damp, thick side of the large rectangular crate and watched it fall heavily to the dusty stone floor. “Seriously, I feel like we’re reenacting a scene from one of those Abbott and Costello meet so-and-so movies, and we’re going to see Bela Legosi pop out of here and you’re gonna run away screamin’ or somethin’.” Mulch let out a puzzled grunt that also sounded somewhat like he was offended. “Oh, please. You would be the first one to run out of here, Mulch. You couldn’t even stay during the opening credits to Dawn of the Dead.” Mulch grunted disappointedly, shaking his head while Phil peered inside the crate, seeing the solid metal statue standing silent, dark, and heavy with anticipation. “Oh, my goodness! Look at him, Mulch!” His assistant peered inside the crate with him and gave a grunt that sounded as if it was somewhat in amazement. “He’s just the way we last saw him…hardened harder than…uh…anything that’s really…hard.”

While Phil was in bewilderment over the state of the statue (and Mulch over Phil’s lame comment), a third man appeared in the cold room, carrying tools fit for welding as well as a heavy New York accent. “Hey, youse guys want me to get started on your thing here or not.” Phil and Mulch looked in the direction of the welder, both shooting dirty looks at him.

“He is not a thing, kind sir.” Phil remarked, and then shouted dramatically from the top of his lungs, “He is a human being!” Thunder crackled outside soon after Phil said that and made him jump with fright as it flashed through the windows.

The welder just seemed unimpressed by Phil’s poor acting skills and even the perfect timing with the thunder. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’m bein’ paid by tha clock here, buddy. Would ya mind givin’ me some room to work?”

“Oh, sure. No problem.” Phil politely said, and he and Mulch cleared out enough room for the welder to work. In the thin light of a single bulb, the welder approached the statue. He looked over his task, the metal unpolished and unimpressive in the dirty, stingy light. His eyes followed a trail from its two feet up the thick legs to the brandished torso and, finally, to his mark. The faceplate dated back generations yet looked modern in its shadowed malevolence. The eye slots were dark, which was a good sign for the welder, but the rigid, tarnished look of the metal told him this would be a difficult task. He didn’t want to be there—he was freezing and hungry. He wasn’t even sure if it would work, but tried anyways for curiosity.

With shaking hands, the young welder lit his acetylene torch. The flame burned true in the cold, inky room. It offered little heat, and the welder could see his breath as he let the air out of his lungs, gathering his calm. He raised the torch to the faceplate of the statue. He thought he saw a flicker of something, though it could have been a trick of the light. Suddenly a window blew open, startling everyone in the room. The welder jumped back and lowered his torch, looking over at Phil and Mulch.

“I’m warnin’ ya, buddy!” He exclaimed. “That Tales from the Vet stuff is buggin’ tha crap out of me! Now knock it off or I’m chargin’ ya extra!” Phil wanted to tell him that the incident wasn’t their doing and that it was just another freak occurrence courtesy of the bad storm outside. They only wished they could’ve had something as marvelous as that for their old Muppets Tonight skit.

Deep in his thoughts, the welder knew that neither of the two former actors could be capable of performing such an astounding effect, because they looked too amateurish to have executed it so perfectly. But accusing them of it was keeping him relaxed, as he let out another long breath and steadied his hands, raising the torch to the faceplate again. He had no idea why anyone would want to take off the face of a statue, but he took the job, no questions asked.

The welder deftly brought his torch to the side of the faceplate, just below the statue’s ear. The rigid metal gave way with surprising ease. The welder could tell by the brittle flaking that the metal hadn’t seen heat in a while, having been locked away in the damp and dust for God knows how long. When he brought the torch down the side of the neck, he smelled something burning. The smell grew stronger, wafting out from the statue and across the room. He looked back to see if Phil or Mulch had done something, perhaps lit a cigarette or candle or even one of the tapestries. But they were standing as still as the statue, eyes wide and fearful, watching him. He could not quite place the smell, a rancid burning aroma, familiar and distinctive.

“Well, well...isn't that something,” came the voice of Dr. Phil van Neuter from behind him.

As the welder turned back toward the statue, he recognized the smell: that one time he caught his finger in the torch—the smell of burning flesh. He looked back at the faceplate just as the statue’s eyes sprung open. The welder gasped, letting out his last breath. The arms of the statue came to life, one arm flashing up quickly to grab the welder’s hand—the one holding the torch. He dropped it, with its flame catching his pant leg on the way down.

The welder didn’t look down as the familiar smell once again appeared in the room. His eyes were locked on the eyes of the statue, the one that had suddenly come to life and held the welder by the throat and raised him off the cold stone floor of the mansion. The last thing he heard was the voice of Phil van Neuter behind him saying, “Hello, Doctor Doom,” before he was thrown across the room, with his neck shattering upon impact with the wall.

Not paying any mind to the welder’s unfortunate fate, Phil smiled at the moving statue and then turned to Mulch. “Mulchie! Just don’t stand there like a log! Say hello to our old…I mean, our current boss.” Mulch was frightened beyond belief of the sight before him. All he could do was let out a small grunt as he passed out onto the cold stone floor.

While Phil was checking on Mulch, he was also keeping an eye on the statue, as it put its hands together and wiped the dust from them. It locked eyes with Phil for a moment and then reached up to rip away the faceplate, screaming as it had done so. Bits of flesh hung loosely from the cold, hard metal.

“Whoa.” Phil uttered. “It’s hard to believe the MPAA actually gave this story a PG rating.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

With all of the strange dreams that she had been having for nearly years now, Will wondered if it were wise to have fallen asleep that evening she had gotten back from the KMUP station. So she decided to stay up late that night, even though she knew her mother would have disapproved of it, but felt like she had good reason for it (not just because it wasn’t a school night—it was still summertime). All she had done for six hours straight was lay on her bed with her street clothes still on and listened to a copy of a CD that Matt gave her a few months ago and was just starting to listen to. It had all of Matt’s greatest songs on it, from “The Demon in Me” to “The Will to Love,” the latter being a song that was written especially for her.

She was getting so much into Matt’s songs that she barely even heard the tapping noise that was being made on her window by Robin the Frog, who stood outside on the ledge and looking through the clear glass at his partially relaxed friend. With her eyes shut, it was difficult for Will to take notice of the fact that he was there, waiting patiently for her to do so. It was only when Will caught herself nearly drifting off to sleep that she opened her eyes and shot up from her bed with a huge gasp. She was so jittery that she had knocked her CD player off the bed with her, causing it to fall to the floor along with the headphones that were over her ears.

Robin, who started to become worried at the sight of her wildly jumping off from the bed like she had, knocked louder on the glass. “Will! Will! Are you alright?”

With her headphones off her ears, Will heard the tapping sound that Robin had been making and directed her attention to the window, seeing the tiny frog standing there outside of her bedroom. “Robin?” She was so used to him coming there so often and so late in the night that she refrained from being taken by surprise. Approaching the window, she unlocked and opened it for her small green guest, as she picked him up and set him down gently on her bed. “Hey, little man. What brings you here this time of night?” He was about to reply to her question, until she realized something important and interjected. “You know, not to sound like an overprotective mother—God knows that I’ve been gettin’ a little sick of my own, but you really shouldn’t be out this late at night all by yourself. You’re just a little guy, Rob. Big guys can take advantage of that, you know.”

Robin smiled, interjecting himself before she could’ve spoken any further on the matter. “Well, that’s just the thing. I’m not all by myself tonight.”

Will was slightly puzzled as to what the tiny frog meant by that. She didn’t see anyone else standing near the window with him at the time. But someone else had to have been in the room with both of them, because she could sense his or her presence right behind her. When she turned her head, she was more than surprised to see her boyfriend (Matt), her greatest ally (Caleb), and any woman’s worst nightmare (Pepe the King Prawn) standing in her room after climbing through the window. “Whoa! Didn’t expect to have another slumber party this soon!”

“Sorry we didn’t call before comin’.” Matt said, walking up to his girlfriend and giving her a small peck on the cheek. “I don’t think your mom would’ve gotten the memo that her daughter is in need of coming to another planet for an important meeting.”

Their arrival was one big surprise itself, but the reason for it was an even bigger surprise to her. “You want me to go to Meridian…at four o’clock in the morning…with Robin and…and…” She looked over at Pepe with a look on her face that was more than odd. “Why did you even bring him here?”

“Hey jou!” Pepe exclaimed, sounding a little offended. “I watched some freaky stuff happen ta jou and jour witchy friends back when we were fightin’ de metal-faced man! If it were not for me, jou would be dead, h’okay. I saved jour butts back t’en, so don’t omit me from t’is opportunity ta go ta where no king prawn has gone before.”

Will couldn’t believe all of the B.S. that was coming out of his mouth. “Saved our…Really? The way I remember it, you were hiding back in the KMUP station, holdin’ a Holy Bible in your hands at the time.” She looked down at his four hands, as they were clutching onto a small black book. “You’re holdin’ one right now!”

“What? Can I not be religious for one minute?” Pepe asked, and they all shook their heads at him in disgrace, while focusing back on the current situation.

“Listen, we have to talk to Elyon about the crystal we saw earlier.” Caleb told Will. “I remember talking about it with her one day at the castle. She told me that she had a dream about it one night, during the time Phobos was keeping her under his wing.”

Will’s eyes widened in disbelief. “I’ve been having dreams about it, too! I even dreamed one night before Robin came to my window about her telling me that the crystal was the power and that it will save the lives of everyone in every dimension. And she wasn’t alone. She was with this elf guy that was holding a smaller version of the crystal itself. She said that I should trust him, because he could help save our way of living.”

Matt was truly captivated of the vivid description she gave of her dream. “What does it all mean? And how does it connect to what the general and Mr. Fantastic were talking about earlier?”

“The only way to find out is to go and ask Elyon herself.” Caleb replied. “Her power is strong. She could tell just about everything that’s happening in the universe right now.”

Robin was impressed already of their dearest friend. “Wow.”

“C’mon! We have to get there as soon as possible.” Caleb demanded.

“What about jour girlfriend, de ‘Earth Girl’?” Pepe asked.

The mentioning of her name made Caleb feel slightly agitated, as he thought of the way he was excluding her from their mission. He tried not to look at it as a form of disobedience, because he was doing what he had to for the good of mankind. Caleb just looked at Pepe and gave him a strict look. “If you tell her about any of this, I will feed you to my Passling friend, Blunk.”

Pepe was almost afraid to ask, but he forced him to anyways, because he was that curious. “What’s a Blunk?”

Caleb grinned at him wickedly, making the king prawn feel a little uncomfortable. The sinister way he had responded to his question didn’t help much either. “You’ll see.”

Will smiled at the way Caleb was threatening Pepe, knowing that it would keep him in line during their visit to Meridian. But Caleb didn’t intend for it to affect Robin the way it had as he nervously tugged on Will’s pants leg. “Uh, Will?” She looked down at him with the smile still remaining on her face. “Does Blunk like frog legs?”

Knowing how affected he was by Caleb’s words, she chuckled as she picked him up and set him down on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Rob. We’ll bring tartar sauce with us to keep the scent solely on Pepe.” Robin smiled and laughed a little from Will’s joke, as she pulled the Heart of Kandrakar from beneath her shirt.

Meanwhile, Matt had been so keyed up about returning to Meridian that he had completely forgotten about the big day that awaited them tomorrow. Before Will did her thing with the Heart, he stopped her for a moment and addressed her with a hint of wariness in his voice. “Will, hold up a sec. What about the wedding? Everybody will be wondering where we’ve been.”

She waved off that notion with a smile. “Ahh, don’t worry. We’ll be back in time to see Sue walk down that aisle. All we’re doing is gettin’ some more info on all these weird dreams we’ve been having.” Matt trusted his girlfriend enough to know that he could have her word on that.

“OK.” He said, nodding in affirmation, which pleased Will very much.

“Alright! Hold on!” Will exclaimed, just before she used the Heart to open a large, round sparkling blue portal that illuminated Will’s room with its magnificently bright light. Pepe and Robin were so astounded by the sight of it that they could barely express their excitement in words. And with no one holding them back, they all walked up to it and stepped through it, disappearing from the room right before the portal vanished as well.

Just as soon as both the portal and the group had disappeared, there was a knock on the door to Will’s bedroom that was accompanied by the voice of her mother, Susan Vandom. “Will, are you asleep now?” When there wasn’t a response, Susan just assumed that she was and thought about leaving her be. That was until she had second thoughts and opened her bedroom door, coming in to the empty room. The sight of it brought a mixed feeling of anger, suspicion, and fear into Susan, as she wondered why her daughter would just up and leave in the middle of the night. As she began walking away from the room, all she told herself to ease her stress was that she was with her friends and everything was okay…at least she hoped it were.

END OF CHAPTER THREE​

 

[The Count]

Sean... Congrats on keeping the balance with such a wonderous mixture of characters and storylines. Yes, Will now confronts the dreams she had which you hinted at back when we first met them as they assisted Gonzo and the X-Men. Reed showed he has a backbone inside all that rubbery mass when he declined to build the machine for Luft. Noticed Johnny getting a little interested in Frankie, that's a good little nod to the Marvel fans out there reading this. And wow, a past between Reed and Luft that generated the cold shoulder between the duo. Also loved the scenes with Phil and Mulch as Doom was revived. He'll have a role in all of this, I just know it. Must read more, so please post it as soon as you can!

 

[muppetwriter]

Here's the chapter with the stuff that I'd promised for the previous one.

Chapter Four​

The laboratory of Reed Richards was humming with activity. He’d risen at dawn, eager to speak with Doc Christian about his unsettling and quite unexpected meeting with General Luft. Reed stared at the video console that showed him the face of the elderly inventor, who was accompanied by his dog and best friend, Sprocket. Doc was already complaining to Reed about the general’s gruff demands.

“Reed, I told the general it would take me months, maybe years, to figure out how to construct this kind of sensor.” He tried desperately to brush away Sprocket, as he was licking the lens of the camera that was capturing the image of his face. “Sprocket! Get away from there! This isn’t a toy!”

Meanwhile, Reed was dismissing the inventor’s penchant for drama. “It’s not that difficult,” he said.

“I’m doing everything I can,” Doc said. “But we need your help on this. Maybe you could take a few minutes away from playing superhero to work on some real science.” He could’ve left those words be the last ones burning in Reed’s ears, but had chosen not to, because he still had good feelings for his former student. “I’ll see you later today at the big evening, son. Maybe we can talk about this some more after the cake is cut.”

Reed smiled at his old teacher and friend, as he finished their conversation. “Yeah, that is if Sue doesn’t first give me an invisible kick in the groin.” Both he and Doc laughed as they said their goodbyes and signed off.

Already exhausted, Reed let out a deep sigh. He didn’t understand Doc’s inability to work on his own. He scrolled through his wedding to-do list, which didn’t seem to be getting any shorter. The display screen on his PDA listed a host of various errands: pick up Sue’s ring, arrange limousine transports, double-check flower arrangements (Sue was allergic to orchids), and pick up the wedding cake. He tossed the PDA aside, glad to be rid of it. As eager as Reed was to have the event over with, he admitted to himself that the real source of his anxiety was not his upcoming nuptials, but a certain satellite photo of an unknown silver entity reaching Earth and the image of the enormous, intergalactic crystal that Luft and his men discovered. What also bothered him were the accompanying strange disturbances and mysterious craters, as well as the recorded conversation between Ben’s old friend and another unfamiliar source. They all had to be related. Reed stared once again the photos of the silver object and the crystal, and then listened once again to Crichton’s conversation. He knew he had to do something.

That night, Reed worked under the cover of a bright moon laced with a silver glow. The rooftop deck, where he would soon marry Susan, was covered with equipment and tools and scraps of metal. Reed stretched himself thin all over the space, hastily building a large satellite antenna. Sweat appeared on his brow as he worked at a feverish pace, trying to finish his project under the cover of darkness.

The guts of the device were exposed, showing a mess of circuitry and wiring extending across the floor of the deck. Reed uploaded data into the antenna using his PDA, typing multiple digits at a furious pace by splitting his thumbs into three separate miniature thumbs, each exactly alike. Meanwhile, Bunsen Honeydew stepped out onto the deck with Beaker and Ben Grimm. Ben’s presence caused the entire roof to shudder slightly. The motion startled Reed, who looked up from his PDA quickly. He let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Bunsen, Beaker, and Ben.

The sight of the antennae awed Bunsen. “Good heavens! I can’t believe you decided to go on with this without me and Beaker.”

“Mee meep moo mee!” Beaker complained.

“It’s really no big deal, guys.” Reed said, trying to push a group of wires away from his foot. “I just came up here for air. That’s all.”

Ben looked unconvinced. “You’re building that thing for the general, aren’t you?” Reed nodded his head reluctantly. He should have known better than to try to pull one over on his best friend. Bunsen, Beaker, and Ben surveyed the mess around the roof that in a few days would house the wedding guests—all their friends and family.

“You need not worry about this getting out to Sue, Reed.” Bunsen promised. “Consider our lips sealed.” With being said, both he and Beaker took hands, which had been clad with the black gloves of their uniforms ever since they first put them on the day the others discovered their special abilities, and made a zipping motion over their lips. “You will hear not one peep or meep from either of us.”

Reed was grateful but not surprised. He knew he could count on his three best friends. But then a new thought entered his mind. “And don’t tell Johnny,” Reed added.

Just then, a bright flame appeared in the sky. At first it looked like a low-flying shooting star as it headed directly for the roof of the building. But the familiar colors soon became visible: swirling flames of red and orange. Johnny landed on the rooftop deck and smothered his flames.

“Don’t tell Johnny what?” He asked, before surveying the mess of circuitry and wires all over the floor of the deck. His eyes ran up to the large piece of metal that was the main body of the sensor. “Hey…you’re building that thing, aren’t you? Man, when Sue finds out…”

“She won’t!” Ben snapped. “We’re keeping it quiet.”

Johnny ignored Ben and turned to Reed. “I thought you had too much wedding stuff to do.”

Once again, Johnny wasn’t wrong. “Actually, that is a problem.” Reed checked the list on his PDA again. Just looking at it made him feel hopeless. “I don’t know how I’m going to get it all done.”

Ben Grimm saw the look of concern on his best friend’s face and decided to step up. “Don’t worry,” he said, corralling Johnny, Bunsen and Beaker with his thick, rocky arms. “We’ll help you out.”

“Meep mee?”

Bunsen and Johnny shared Beaker’s confusion and surprise with him. “We will?” Ben nodded his head, glaring at the three of them, as they let out a long, discouraged sigh. “We will.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The large framed tapestries seemed to be suspended from the walls of the mansion, floating in the dark and forgotten space. Each painting featured one solitary figure clad in armor and holding a weapon. History might have banished these figures to oblivion, but there the portraits were generous: taking away their blemishes and plagues, casting their cadaverous skin in hues of sunlight and shadow, turning their blood-stained weapons an attractive shade of crimson to offset the pale carpets and walls. The portraits portrayed a line of warriors, the kind that used to rule the forgotten European village of Latveria, back when gold and land meant wealth and power. In each portrait, a Von Doom held the family’s faceplate, an ancient piece of metallic jewelry, forged in fire generations ago. To each of the figures in the paintings, the faceplate was worth more than gold, for it symbolized a power that could be passed down to each succeeding generation. Power was important, they knew, but power increased exponentially throughout history was limitless, unstoppable, and—most of all—a dynasty.

Victor Von Doom had been spending a great deal of time in the hall of portraits with Phil van Neuter and Mulch. He ran his eyes once again over the portraits with the two, the rich canvases framed in old wood newly polished to a shine by his own deformed hand. The men trapped in the paintings would be surprised to learn that their most recent scion had earned his wealth and power not through brute force and strength but through the more nimble manipulations of corporate business and advanced technologies. Von Doom Enterprises was once a billion-dollar company, a cutting-edge leader in many fields, and Victor’s perfect face once adorned the cover of magazines the same way these portraits covered the walls. But that was before Reed Richards reentered his life and before the cosmic storm.

If there was one thing that Victor could relate to Phil and Mulch with, it was the fact that they had all lost a great deal of things to not only Reed Richards, but Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker as well. Together, they had lost the company, their lives, and—in the case of Doom himself—Susan. Victor had been shucked back into this isolated tomb with only a crazed scientist and his dim-witted assistant as companions. He wondered what his ancestors would say about that.

Phil and Mulch stared at the portraits one more time with Victor. Phil was truly impressed at the sight of his ancestral lineage. “You know, I once believed that my great-great-great-great-great grandfather was the king of Germany and the reason we’re eating hamburgers to this very day. It turned out that he was nearly the cause of an early extinction of Earth, because he developed a formula that could’ve wiped out the planet with a single drop from a beaker.” Mulch grunted in despair over Phil’s family history, finding no difference between then and now. “I should really give you credit for having such a powerful family, Dr. Doom. I would kill to have my name remembered as much as yours has.”

Victor left the hallway, with Phil and Mulch towing behind. Listening to Phil’s voice was worse than the pain he received as he touched his scarred and burned face, which he couldn’t yet bring himself to stare at too long in the mirror. He almost blamed Phil and Mulch for the abysmal loss they sustained in their fight against the Fantastic Four, Bunsen Honeydew, and Beaker. The plan was simple: steal the team’s powers and wipe them out with them, so they would be free to control the world. Had Phil noticed beforehand that Bunsen and Beaker had been affected by the cosmic storm just as much as Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny were, they would be having the President of the United States at their feet. With that mistake, Doom would have killed both men, but had chosen not to because he needed followers for his next plan of attack.

They all entered a large room secreted toward the back of the manse. Thick stone walls protected Victor’s new laboratory, and by the fact that everyone thought he was dead. Open storage crates sat haphazardly around the large room, revealing high-tech equipment. A bank of computers took up an entire wall. Assorted weaponry that could fund a small revolution (and many of the weapons had done just that) lay scattered across the floor and several tables. Two satellite dishes sat in one corner of the room, waiting to be added to the others already in service. Victor, Phil, and Mulch looked around at the cherished relics of their former lives, their former company. These were the spoils of their last war—their most painful defeat. But they would use them to launch something new—something that would allow Victor, Phil, and Mulch to emerge victorious.

“So how are we going to do it, sir?” Phil never got tired of addressing him that way, even though the man was no longer his boss. “There’s gotta be some demented way of getting back at the people responsible for taking away what was so dear to us.”

Victor was only listening partially to Phil’s words, as a wide bank of flat LCD television monitors brought the modern world into the medieval mansion, reintroducing Victor to events occurring around the globe. He dismissed most of the frivolous news channels, with their features on politics or celebrity or upcoming weddings, and instead focused on the ones closer to home. Phil continued to ask him what their next plans were, but Doom kept silent as he watched the news from his homeland, this isolated strip of forgotten culture. He felt assaulted by images of starving people dressed in rags waiting in line for bread or water; clips of riots breaking out over the presence of a stray chicken or goose; miles and miles of wasted, empty roads, littered with the suffering and starving of his people. His ancestors would cringe if they could see what modernity had done to Latveria.

More than one video monitor had been thrown against the wall—a victim of his rage that Phil and Mulch were thankful not to be a part of. But today, Victor called up the image he had become obsessed with: a satellite photograph of a silver object entering Earth’s lower atmosphere. Written across the image were the words, “United States Spy Satellite Epsilon, Transmission 89337 Intercepted.” It was that image and one sent via email to Phil van Neuter’s laptop computer of the intergalactic crystal obtained by C.O.V.N.E.T., who Phil still had clearance with, that Doom had highly been interested in, feeling deep within his gut that the objects were both symbols…catalysts for change and perhaps redemption.

“It’s a good thing I’m still cool with the C.O.V.ies, despite that incident with those lab rats.” Phil uttered, quivering over the horrible memory while clutching his own body.

Victor held the images in his metal hand, whispering in a menacing voice, “What are you? More important, what can you do for me?”

Phil and Mulch exchanged puzzled and offended looks. “I know we’re not supposed to be in this story, but he still means ‘us’, right?” Mulch let out an uncertain grunt, shrugging his shoulders to further express himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The rising sun on the morning of Reed and Susan’s wedding was yet another spotlight to shine on the big event. Even the heavens seemed interested. The Baxter Building was crawling with security guards making sure only guests and appropriate personnel gained entrance. The hard work that Ben, Bunsen, Johnny, and Beaker had put in paid off: the space looked perfectly suited for an elegant wedding. The rooftop deck was adorned with flowers in each of its four corners. White chairs fanned out from a long row of carpet leading toward the domed white pergola where the couple would exchange their vows. Flowers scaled the height of the pergola and dripped down on all sides in gentle, fragrant cascades. Beyond the wood structure sat the breathtaking view of the city. Tall skyscrapers buffeted the elegant rooftop deck, their silver facades reflecting the warm and bright sunlight. Overhead, helicopters buzzed like hungry mosquitoes, trying to film the event for the legion of fans out there hoping to get a glimpse of the fantastic bride.

Down on the street, traffic snarled for blocks as legitimate guests worked their way through the dozens of police cars and media vehicles already swarming the site. Cops stood watch on foot as well as on horseback, trying to keep the flow of guests moving and the avalanche of reporters at bay. The great city of New York was no stranger to this type of high-profile event, and the police had the same presence as would benefit a visiting world leader or president. But a wedding, especially one as public as this, was a different affair. Excitement filled the streets like it was New Year’s Eve in Times Square.

Upstairs in his lab, groom-to-be Reed Richards tried to isolate himself from the frenzy down on the streets. Truth be told, it wasn’t hard to do. Reed had been pushing himself for days, trying to get the sensor online for General Luft, and exhaustion showed on his usually elastic features. His eyes were thin and dry, his face a grizzled carpet of unshaved stubble. Bunsen Honeydew had repeatedly offered his services to him, but Reed kept setting him aside by assigning him and Beaker other jobs to do that mostly pertained to the wedding. Though they took pleasure in assisting all they could for the event, they consciously knew that they belonged in the laboratory with him.

For what seemed like the billionth time for the day, Bunsen and Beaker came into Reed’s lab to see the disheveled figure of their best friend. They were a bit surprised to find Reed in such a state. He barely noticed their entrance, focused instead on the final adjustments he was making to the sensor. A video monitor next to Reed showed the sensor antenna on the roof, not far from the main entrance of the wedding guests. Johnny had wanted to put some flowers over it, but Reed did not want anything to interfere with its signal.

Bunsen cleared his throat and spoke loudly. “Um…Reed? You must get a move on. You’re going to miss your own wedding if you don’t.”

Reed looked up to see his two friends in formal wear. A smile crossed his face. “Almost done.” He turned back to the video monitor, which now showed the dour face of General Luft. “General, I’m putting the sensor online now.” Reed punched a few buttons on the console and the machine hummed to life. “There. If there’s a surge in cosmic radiation anywhere on the planet, you’ll know about it.”

“Let’s hope so,” the general barked. “We’ve already gotten reports of two more craters.”

Two more? Reed thought, growing more concerned. He knew he better keep track of the general’s progress. He pulled out his PDA. “Just linking it to here…and that’s it.”

Though Bunsen and Beaker were truly shaken up by the report of the appearance of two more craters, they knew getting Reed to the wedding on time was of the most importance at the moment. “Now all you have to do is get a nice shave and put on your tux. You’re getting married in two hours and…well…as Benjamin would say…you look like a bum.”

Reed set his PDA down on the table. “Absolutely.” He started to walk toward his room but stopped suddenly. A look of anxiety crossed his face. “Oh my God! I’m getting married.” Even for someone who could stretch his body to great lengths, Reed’s knees appeared a little wobbly.

“Oh, no! Quick, Beaker!” Bunsen and Beaker were immediately at Reed’s side, both holding him up by his lab coat. “There we go,” Bunsen said, leading Reed down the hall to his quarters, one foot elongated and dragging behind them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Back down on the street, in the midst of the huge line of cars piling up the street, one minivan had pulled to the side, right in front of the half-emptied KMUP station. Anna Lair, the mother of Irma Lair, drove the minivan. She closely resembled Irma, only she was taller and with longer hair, and her personality was similar to Irma’s as well, but she was a little more mature. She could hardly believe the huge build-up of traffic that currently plagued the streets, as she dropped off her daughter and her friends (Cornelia, Taranee, and Hay Lin) at the curve.

“Now be sure to call me no later than five o’clock, OK?” Anna demanded.

Irma just rolled her eyes at the way her mother was treating her as if she were going to a kid’s party. “Mom, this is a wedding! We could be here longer than that.” She could tell by the look on her mother’s face that she wasn’t taking “No” for an answer. Letting out a long sigh, she said, “Fine. Five o’clock it is.”

Anna smiled at her daughter’s acknowledgement. “I will see you right here then. Don’t keep me waiting, young lady.” And with that being said, Irma closed the door to her mother’s minivan just as she drove back onto the road. She should’ve looked behind her as she had done so, because a taxicab almost ran into her on the way out.

“And don’t get into an accident either.” Irma murmured, finding herself angrily clutching onto her bridesmaid dress, which was carefully placed in a protective plastic sheet just like the dresses that Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Taranee were carrying also. “Man! I cannot wait for the day I’m old enough to drive myself to wherever I want and maybe even stay out as long as I want, too!”

While Irma had spent her time complaining, Hay Lin and Taranee got a good glimpse of the massive traffic that they had arrived in. They found it remarkably unbelievable how they were able to get through it without any difficulty. “It’s hard to believe that all this is for Reed and Sue,” Hay Lin said.

“Why is it so hard to believe?” Irma asked. “Those two are bigger than Paris Hilton right now.” Irma stopped for a minute and realized what she just said, then contradicting it. “You’re right. It is hard to believe.”

“What do you think, Cornelia?” Taranee inquired.

“Yeah, my ‘Paris Hilton’ crack suddenly reminded me that you were with us.” Irma stated.

Cornelia shot a dirty look at her. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve barely said anything since we picked you up at your house.” Hay Lin pointed out with a concerned tone in her voice. “What’s wrong?”

“What? Does it have to be any more obvious for ya?” Irma sarcastically asked. “Both Caleb and Will aren’t here right now…neither is Matt for that matter…which leaves the question of where they could be.”

“Oh, I know where they are.” Cornelia furiously said. “They’re off right now solving the mystery of that stupid object from space and that stupid crystal the military found.”

Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee found her deduction very impressive. She could read anyone she knew very well, like Will and Caleb, just like a book. In realization of the fact that she might’ve hit the nail on the coffin, Hay Lin’s hand went to her shocked face, covering her mouth. She mumbled slightly as she said, “This isn’t good at all! They’re going to miss the greatest wedding of the century to solve the greatest mystery of the century.”

Taranee tried her best to look at the positive side of the situation. “Well, who knows? They might be involving themselves in the real good stuff. All that stuff General Luft was talking about last night did sound pretty intense.”

“Yeah. An oversized gem and a comet are the news of the century. Sure, Taranee.” Cornelia jested, with her arms crossed and a look on her face that had pretty much summed up how angry she was that Caleb would leave her without giving her any hint as to where he would go with Will and Matt. She wanted to be there to cheer on Reed and Susan for their wedding with much enthusiasm. But that was a little hard to do when her boyfriend was off handling something than he thought was more important than the wedding and her.

The girls were suddenly accompanied by a familiar voice. “Yo, yo, yo!” They each turned their heads to see Clifford approaching them in a spiffy-looking tuxedo, along with Andy and Randy, whose tuxedos looked as if they had been used as bibs with chocolate, mustard, juice, and peanut butter stains all over them. “How’re you ladies doin’ this afternoon?” There was a lot of smoothness in his voice as he addressed him.

“We’re doing great, Clifford.” Randy answered.

“Yeah. Thanks for asking.” Andy added.

Clifford shook his head as he turned and faced the dim-witted pigs. “I ain’t talkin’ to you two hams!”

Hay Lin tried to keep a straight face as she responded to Clifford’s question. “We’re cool, Cliff. Just a little bummed that Will, Matt, and Caleb couldn’t be here with us.”

“Lemme guess…wedding day jitters?” Clifford asked with a chuckle.

“Try just ‘jitters’ in general.” Irma replied. “And the general himself is the reason they were jittered into trying to solve the mystery of those objects from space they found.”

Clifford sighed uncomfortably. “Man! What is it with all this talk about UFOs and everything? I’ve got two friends missin’ myself because of it.” The girls were puzzled even further by this new information.

“Who else has disappeared?” Taranee asked.

“Robin and Pepe.” Clifford replied. “They left the studio just last night after our little problem and didn’t come back this morning.”

Irma pondered for a moment. “Well, knowing the shrimp and how ‘sexy’ he thinks we all look in our Guardian forms, I wouldn’t be surprised that he free willingly chose to accompany Will on this. And Robin is like her closest friend right now and follows her around just about everywhere. But I wouldn’t involve the little dude in something as huge as something that goes as far as alien contact.”

Cornelia had just begun to reach her highest level of annoyance over the subject and didn’t hesitate to express to everyone around her. “Look, can we please stop talking about this and focus more on getting our butts over to the Baxter Building before we’re omitted from the list?”

“What does ‘omit’ mean?” Andy asked.

“Yeah, and do we even have butts?” Randy inquired.

Clifford and the girls looked at the two strangely, wondering what in the world could’ve led them to be so ridiculously dumb. They dismissed their thoughts on the pigs (as well as their questions) by just making their way towards the Baxter Building next door. As soon as they were near the entrance, which was being heavily blocked by a huge crowd of fans, they noticed Johnny Storm pulled up to the Baxter Building in his fire-red sports car and revved the powerful, expensive engine for the crowd before turning off the ignition. Johnny’s date, a shapely young woman with hair that matched the car, sat beside him, obviously thrilled with the crowds.

“Can this guy be anyplace where he doesn’t have to showboat so much?” Hay Lin asked with a disgusted look. “This is a wedding after all.”

“Do I get a million dollars for answering that question?” Irma bantered.

Johnny jumped out of the car, straightening his brand-new tuxedo jacket as the camera crews and reporters swarmed him. He raised his hand for silence. “Hey! Listen up! This is the most important day of my sister’s life, so I just want to tell all of you…” For a minute, Clifford and the girls started to believe that Johnny was showing a more sincere side of himself, until he let out a small chuckle and continued by saying, “…to check out our website, www.fantastic-four-inc.com, for all the latest news, merchandise, and fan-club information.” The surrounding crowd started to roar and cheer. “Thank you!”

Clifford and the girls shook their heads in disgust at the sight of Johnny yelling and holding his hands in the air. Randy and Andy—having no idea why they were—shook their heads as well. They watched him as he took the hand of his voluptuous date and made their way through the crowd toward the entrance of the Baxter Building, where Clifford, Andy, Randy, and the Guardians were.

“Hey, kids!” Johnny exclaimed, while taking a glance at the tuxedo Clifford had been wearing and gave him a high five. “Cliff, you’re just a sharp as ever, my man!”

Clifford pretended for at least the time they were near Johnny that he was hotter than he felt. “Thank you, my fiery friend! Ain’t lookin’ so bad yourself!”

“Theoretically speaking.” Irma whispered to the person nearest her, which was Hay Lin, who chuckled after she said it.

Meanwhile, Johnny and his date were taking a good look at the ruined tuxedos of Andy and Randy, and both making disgusted looks. “What happened to their suits?”

“Don’t ask.” Clifford replied in a deadpan voice.

At that moment, a reporter grabbed Johnny’s arm, shoving a microphone in his face and asking, “What’s it take to date the Human Torch?”

A grin spread like fire across his face. “Fireproof lingerie and a lot of aloe.” His date winked to the camera before they disappeared through the revolving door with Clifford, the pigs, and the Guardians following him. After Johnny’s comment, the Guardians were rolling their eyes in disgust, while Andy and Randy were extremely amazed by it.

“Wow. I didn’t know they made fireproof lingerie!” Andy exclaimed.

“Yeah, me neither. That’s really cool.” Randy remarked, before realizing one thing. “What is lingerie?”

“I dunno. What does ‘fireproof’ mean?”

“You’ve got me.”

“I do?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Moments later, the weather was perfect for the ceremony. The entire roof was filled with friends and family eager to see the couple finally married. Reed surveyed the crowd, feeling his nerves disappear—he was ready for this. The fragrance of flowers filled the air as he walked down the center aisle to where a minister was waiting under the domed wooden pergola. He was followed by Ben Grimm (who escorted Alicia Masters), Bunsen (who escorted Taranee), Beaker (who escorted Hay Lin), Clifford (who escorted Irma), and Andy & Randy Pig (who the replacements for Caleb’s escorting job for Cornelia). Ben guided Alicia to her chair before joining Bunsen, Beaker, Clifford, and Andy & Randy, as they took their place at Reed’s side, while the Guardians took theirs at Sue’s side.

“I almost forgot,” Reed whispered to them all. “Any of you have the ring?”

They all began stammering as they checked their pockets and dresses for the ring. Andy reached into his pocket and felt a small, round object with a hole in the center nesting in it. “Wait! Wait! I think I’ve got it!” He pulled the object out and showed it to Reed and everyone else. All of them rolled their eyes and made disgusted looks, as they saw a greasy, stinky onion ring in the palm of Andy’s hand. “I was wondering where I left this.”

“Wait. I think I’ve got it.” Ben said, and after reaching into his pocket, he glimpsed down into his rocky hand, which held a vaguely circular and damaged band. “Well…what’s left of it anyways.”

“At least it’s not an onion ring.” Irma joked, as Randy took the onion ring from his brother’s hand and gobbled it up, much to Andy’s displeasure.

Before Reed could react to Ben’s hesitation, a short beeping sound came from the PDA in his coat pocket. He fumbled for it, pulling it out just as the screen flashed the words, “Cosmic Radiation Surge Detected. Calculating Location and Trajectory.”

Bunsen and everyone else were surprised to see it in his hands. “Reed, what on earth are you doing? You can’t have Sue seeing that here.”

“I realize that, Bunsen.” Reed said. “I just have to…”

He was interrupted by the string quartet, which started playing the wedding march. With the familiar music in the air, everyone stood, the eyes of all the guests turning to watch Susan Storm walk down the aisle, escorted by her handsome brother, Johnny. Reed put the PDA back in his pocket, excited at the arrival of his beautiful bride in her perfect dress.

“Dearly beloved,” the minister began after the guests had once again taken their seats. “We are gathered here today to join this couple in holy matrimony.” As the minister began his introduction, Reed slyly slid open his pocket flap to view the screen of his PDA. The display now read, “Destination: New York, NY. Calculating Time Until Impact.”

Sue noticed Reed’s distraction and whispered angrily to him, “Reed! Did you actually bring that thing to our wedding?”

“Mee moo.” Beaker murmured, shoving part of his head down past the collar of his tuxedo, which caused only his nose, eyes, and hair to stick out, as if he had foreseen a possible altercation approaching.

“Yes,” Reed whispered back. “But there’s a good reason.” He leaned in to the minister. “We need to get through this quickly.”

“Oh, that’s romantic,” Irma said, seeming to be sharing the frustration that Sue was.

The minister, obviously flustered by the famous couple arguing in front of him, tried a different tack. “There are many kinds of love…”

Reed nervously interrupted him again. “Could you skip to the end, please?”

“Excuse me?” the minister asked. They could all hear whispers coming from the rows of guests behind them. The Guardians felt really embarrassed standing in front of them all while the couple had been bickering, while Clifford was shaking his head along with Bunsen. Andy and Randy, in the meantime, were busy fighting over the onion ring that Randy had eaten.

The unobstructed view of the Manhattan skyline from the roof of the Baxter Building allowed everyone to see the thick and heavy clouds moving with unnatural speed across the city. Their dark, ominous color quickly covered Central Park in a midnight shadow. Soon the sun was all but covered, leading some to think they were witnessing the beginning of a solar eclipse. But the clouds were humming, expanding and contracting their form, pulsing with cosmic energy. A loud thunderclap boomed across the city, and fingers of electricity shot out from the clouds and struck the tops of several buildings on Central Park South as they moved closer to the Baxter Building. The wedding guests started eyeing one another nervously, wondering if their concern and growing fear were justified. The clouds looked like they were coming straight at them.

“You know, this wedding sure is turning out weird.” Waldorf commented.

“Yeah,” Statler agreed. “I think I had much more fun when it was a frog and a pig standing at the altar.”

“Maybe we should start singing ‘He’ll Make Me Happy’ to lighten the mood?” Waldorf suggested.

Statler gave him an odd look. “We’re not that desperate, are we?”

The minister raised his hand to quiet the murmuring crowd and continued. “Love is always patient and kind…” The shadow of the cloud reached the tip of the roof.

Reed stared down at his PDA. “Come on,” he said to the minister. “Let’s go, let’s go…”

Sue’s voice was rising in alarm and confusion. “Reed, what is wrong with you?” As soon as the words left her mouth, a sudden gale swept over the entire roof. Silk scarves and decorative hats went flying, lost to the invisible and powerful winds. Tablecloths fluttered violently. Alicia gripped the sides of her chair fearfully. She could feel the strong winds and hear the murmuring around her. She thought she smelled fear.

“What the heck’s goin’ on here, man?” Clifford exclaimed.

“It might possibly have something to do with the recent anomalies.” Bunsen assessed.

Irma heard what Bunsen had just said and couldn’t help but to sound sarcastic as she said, “Possibly?”

Reed’s PDA displayed the words, “Landfall Imminent. Impact in 5 Seconds.” “Too late,” was all Reed said, looking sadly at his bride. The display counted down slowly, each second seeming to linger.

The entire roof was now enveloped by the angry, threatening clouds. Lightning struck more often, extending its energy down around the roof. The sudden change in weather caught the helicopters circling the Baxter Building by surprise, exposing their vulnerability to the hostile winds; they were sitting ducks. A long piece of lightning lashed out against a news helicopter, blindsiding the pilot. The chopper fell from the air, heading straight for the rooftop and everyone at the wedding.

“LOOK OUT!” Taranee screamed.

By now, the scene on the roof was sheer pandemonium. Guests were screaming and pointing, lost in the disarray caused by the electrical storm. Many gasped as they saw the copter falling toward the roof. The metal seemed to be screaming as the helicopter’s silver belly smashed against the side of the building. Then it tipped forward, offering its main rotor blade to the guests, in a deadly somersault. The blade began chopping through the rows of empty seats left vacant by the terrified, fleeing guests. One couple, a man and his date, who was in a leg cast, huddled against each other, unable to move as quickly as the others. The man looked up to see the helicopter blade heading right for them. They hugged tightly and closed their eyes, prepared to meet their end.

Seeing the danger they were in, Beaker immediately speeded towards them. He tried not to run so fast that he would tear them to pieces, just enough to carry both of them out of harm’s way. As soon as they were, he dropped them off near the door leading to Reed’s lab, where they immediately took cover afterwards.

The chopper, eating through the wedding seats, rolled toward the pergola. The loud whir and constant wind were deafening. Bunsen saw the vehicle heading in the direction of himself and Sue amid a flurry of debris and developed a crystal shield to protect both of them. The crystal shield didn’t last for very long, as it had shattered under Bunsen’s control.

“Oh, dear!” Bunsen exclaimed. “It didn’t have enough time to harden!”

Sue stepped forward and stood right in front of him. “Let me have a shot.” She threw up her force field and was successful in causing the copter to bank off it and head back toward the chairs, where a terrified Alicia sat, unable to move because she could not see where she should go. She felt the wind coming at her and knew the blade was heading directly for her.

Suddenly Ben leapt in front of her. The blade grinded through his rocky chest, sending pebbles flying all over the floor of the roof. Impervious to its deadly sharp edges, Ben smashed his large, meaty fist through the blade and the entire tail of the helicopter, sending it skidding across the roof to the parapet wall, where it came to a rest. He turned to embrace Alicia, to hold her and protect her from the madness that was all around them.

Nearby, the Guardians felt a little helpless in the situation, as they just watched and tried their best to protect their own hides. Andy and Randy were cowering in fear behind Cornelia, gripping onto her dress and nearly tearing it from her body in the process. Cornelia looked down and glared at the both of them, thinking her day couldn’t have gotten any worse after her boyfriend ditched her a wild goose chase and had himself replaced as best man by a couple of dim-witted pigs.

Clifford saw them just standing there and got a little upset over their inability to help. “What’re ya’ll doin’ just standin’ there? Do your thing and turn into oversized butterflies!”

“We can’t do that without Will.” Taranee told him.

“She carries the object that gives us our powers.” Hay Lin added.

Clifford shook his head in desperation and exasperation. “You girls are startin’ to become worse than the Power Rangers!”

Meanwhile, the crowd was running from the roof and making their way out of the chaos and desperately wanting to get back to the streets below. In the confusion that ensued, no one noticed a figure inside the lab. It ignored the large object hovering under the cover of a plastic tarp, walking instead to a shadow-filled corner and approaching Reed’s sensors for the antenna outside. Although almost completely in the dark, the figure continued to give off a reflected light. Two silver arms reached out to the sensor. One touch and the molecular structure of the arms began to change, transforming into pure crystal.

Outside, the rooftop deck was destroyed. Tables and chairs lay in chunks and ruins. Flowers, mostly in pieces, lay strewn around the ground. Sue picked up the tattered remnants of her wedding bouquet and surveyed the damage. Her heart sank as she fingered a large tear in her beautiful dress. She let the destroyed bouquet fall limply to the ground, joining the ruins of the day.

Ben, Reed, Johnny, Bunsen, and Beaker were soon at her side, with their faces still a picture of shock. Johnny looked at his sister, standing there crestfallen, her beautiful dress ruined. He also surveyed the damage all around them and felt anger rising in his chest. “Reed, what in God’s name happened?”

“The source of the anomalies,” he said darkly. “It’s here.”

Suddenly the silver object streaked past them, leaving the lab. It hovered above them, shining brightly against the dark, menacing clouds. The eyes of the super-powered team and their friends grew wide—above them all floated a being seemingly made of pure silver, something in the shape of a man but obviously otherworldly, balanced on a sleek, thin board the same color as its skin. A chill ran through each of them as they realized that the thing they feared, the cause of the craters and molecular anomalies and possibly the arrival of a strange, oversized intergalactic crystal, was standing right in front of them.

“Oh, crap.” Irma uttered. The silver figure eyed them warily, its cool skin reflecting the light. No one in the group could stop looking at it. The shock of the sudden storm, the ruined wedding, and the appearance of the silver figure had stalled their reactions.

Suddenly, the stalemate was broken. The silver figure turned and sped into the sky. The group watched it streak quickly away from the Baxter Building and turn a corner, mixing into the Manhattan skyline, out of their sight.

Reed broke the silence. “Johnny…”

Johnny was right at his side. “I just bought this tux,” he said pleadingly. But Reed’s look was all business. Johnny ran toward the edge of the roof and jumped, casting his body into thin air. He yelled “Flame on!” and flames quickly covered his entire body, burning away the tux, turning him into living fire.

“Coooool!” Andy and Randy both said, their fear quickly being replaced by excitement as they watched Johnny take off into the clearing sky, intent on following the silver object.

“Think he’ll be able to catch whatever that was.” Clifford asked Bunsen, who the person standing the closest to him.

All Bunsen was able to say was, “I hope so.”

END OF CHAPTER FOUR​

 

[The Count]

Simply amazing... Let's see, things I liked...
The conversation between Reed and Doc, Sprocket playfully licking at the camera lens.
The history of the Von Doom family line and the plot starting to formulate back at the mansion. You're doing a wonderful job enfusing Victor Von Doom with some humanity amidst his villainry.
The addition of the Guardians works particularly well here with the Fantastic Four, but I'm especially interested in Cornelia and how the events taking place make her feel as if she has bonded with and that she can sympathize with the same situational emotional worries of Susan Storm.
The wedding was much better than what I could've expected... Everybody got a chance to shine, even the mysterious silvery stranger. Absolutely enjoyed the storm and the aftermath.
Even Johnny pleading with Reed to keep his tux was a nice touch.

This is just getting good... Please post more!
PS: Another thing. Watched Atlantis yesterday afternoon, and I couldn't help feel reminded of the overall sort of storyarc you're going for here with Dark Crystal + Fantastic Four.
Really great job, again... Please post more!

 

[muppetwriter]

Thanks, Count. The next chapter will be posted sometime today. I promise.

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Five​

The red-orange planet of Meridian had streets full of merchants and extraordinary underground caves. People here lived mainly from agriculture, although some had other jobs. Its inhabitants were separated into two major groups: Galhot—the original inhabitants with blue skin and stone-like plates coming out of their faces—and Escanor—descendants of the first human to come to Meridian through the veil whose wife was later given the throne, starting the planet’s long lineage of Queens.

Instantly after stepping through the portal, Will arrived with Matt, Caleb, Pepe, and Robin in the forest region of Meridian, where several creatures of unknown origin resided, including one small, smelly Passling named Blunk who greeted the group upon their arrival. The sounds of the creatures howling and moaning in the distance made Robin feel very uncomfortable, clutching onto Will and hiding behind her for protection. Those noises were soon drowned out by Pepe singing “Rico Suave” so loud that his voice echoed throughout the forest, possibly attracting a few of the creatures.

Caleb, Matt, Blunk, and Will were either covering their ears or just trying their best to ignore Pepe as he sang. What frustrated Caleb more than Pepe’s way of singing the song was the Spanish lyrics that came with it. “Argh! He’s annoying in any language!”

Will had just about had it with Pepe more than Caleb was. “Pepe! Can you please hold off on the singing?”

“Oh, c’mon.” Pepe remarked. “Jou know de words. Sing along with me, h’okay!” He continued on singing the song, driving the others further into frustration.

Even Robin couldn’t stand his singing, as he felt it was driving the strange forest creatures closer to them as they journeyed towards the Queen’s palace, where Elyon Brown lived. The tiny frog at one point felt as if there were a set of eyes following them as they trekked. “Does anyone else have the feeling that we’re being watched?”

“All de time, h’okay.” Pepe said with a chuckle. “De best part of it is guessing which part of jou dey’re starin’ at.”

Will shook her head in disgust. “He didn’t mean in that way! Honestly, Prawnie, do you actually think before you speak?”

“I have someone do it for me.” Pepe replied.

Will shook her head again, just as she began to feel herself as if someone was keeping up with their movements. Her hand went to her chest, which the Heart of Kandrakar had been dangling in front of, and felt as if her real heart was beating faster and faster. “I’m starting to feel it, too, guys.” Her eyes darted left and right along with Caleb’s, Blunk’s, Matt’s, Robin’s, and Pepe’s. All they saw were bushes and other otherworldly plant life that surrounded them as they walked down their path.

“It’s probably just nothing more than something looking for food.” Caleb assumed, which didn’t really comfort Robin, as he believed that they were being hunted by one of Meridian’s deadliest creatures. “C’mon. Elyon’s palace isn’t that far from here. We should reach it by sundown.”

Caleb didn’t know how much he was alarming Robin with his words. “Should?” He exclaimed.

“Don’t worry yourself, Rob. I’ve got your back.” Will assured with a wink.

Robin nodded his head, trusting Will with her promise. They continued their way towards the palace, creatures in the distance still howling and moaning through every step they took. Pepe, beginning to fear himself over their noises, only hummed the beat to the song he had been singing to avoid attracting their attention. Little did either of them know that someone was indeed watching them from the shadows, only it wasn’t just one…it was three.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

It didn’t take long for Johnny to spot the silver man, as he moved through the air with incredible speed, tearing around the skyline and dodging roofs and the sides of buildings, a trail of cosmic dust in his wake. Johnny was fast on his tail, heading due east, both of them soon coming upon the Chrysler Building, just west of the East River. Johnny’s flames burned brighter as he neared the man, who was heading like a metallic missile right for the side of the historic building. He waved his hand and the windows of the Chrysler Building changed right in front of his eyes. The windows rippled and moved like liquid, spreading open to form a hole. The silver figure soared through the opening and into the building without breaking one pane of glass. But just as quickly as the hole was created, it disappeared, once again becoming rigid metal and glass.

Johnny, still moving at incredible speed, watched the building return to form and used all his strength to veer from his path, around the side of the building. “Son of a…” he muttered, catching a glimpse of the East River as he pulled himself back down toward the other side of the building just in time to see the figure emerge, the metal and glass once again rippling like water.

He then made an abrupt stop, right in midair. For the first time Johnny could get a clear look at his elusive prey. He felt his stomach drop at the sight. The figure, clearly the shape of a man, gleamed like a star atop the flying, shining board. Power and energy seemed to radiate from his being. His silver skin cast a brilliant hue, smooth and fluid, like liquid metal. His limbs moved gracefully atop the board, his form lithe and muscular. Surrounded by a city of metal and still the figure was radiant, almost celestial. Johnny couldn’t help but think of some cosmic, shining, avenging angel.

Words escaped him, as they so often did, and all he could mutter was “Aw, that is so cool.”

The silver man eyed him once again, his face stoic and blank. He then plunged downward, surfing on his board along the downward slope of the building. This time there were no ripples or changes, and the “Surfer’s” violent downward plunge left a sea of shattered glass and twisted metal in its wake, falling around him to the streets below. Johnny dived after him, incinerating as much debris as he could, fearing for the safety of the people at street level.

Their chase resumed as the silver figure sped through the city, banking on the sides of buildings and whipping around corners, leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. They backtracked over the island, toward the west side. From this height, Johnny could see the Empire State Building and other landmarks, bordered by the two rives on either side of the wide strip of the heavily populated city.

The Surfer eyed a snakelike line of cars heading into the Lincoln Tunnel, an underwater throughway that connected New York to New Jersey. The burnished glare of the sunlight on the cars couldn’t hold a torch to the shining silver man, who sped up as he raced smoothly into the two-lane underwater highway.

Inside the tunnel, the Surfer streaked over the traffic, cars moving quickly in the opposite direction, the lights of the tunnel exploding in his wake as he surged by. Johnny watched the lights explode, his burning body safe from the shards of glass, which incinerated upon contact with him. He burned brighter and started gaining ground on the figure as he continued to zig and zag around the upper reaches of the tunnel and the roofs of the moving cars. Sparks flew recklessly about. Startled drivers screeched to a halt, triggering a traffic bottleneck in the suddenly cramped and claustrophobic space. Johnny ignored them and flamed forward, squeezing between two cargo trucks. He was gaining on the Surfer, who had just come upon the back end of a commuter bus.

The Surfer waved his hand and again the metal and glass rippled as he moved through the bus unharmed, the vehicle returning to form once he had passed through. Johnny almost crashed into the bus but once again at the last second pulled his body up and squeezed through the narrow pocket of space between the roof of the bus and the tunnel. The ensuing chase did not stop the speeding traffic, the cars grinding into one another as disoriented drivers tried to make sense of what they saw.

The Surfer slowed abruptly and paused. Johnny could see him begin to shine brighter as he inexplicably leaned forward and gracefully melted through his board. His body moved through the board like it was made of air, and then reformed on its underside. He began surfing upside down, regaining some of his speed. He looked back at a shocked Johnny and extended his hands. With one subtle gesture from the Surfer, cars took to the air and flew right into the path of the Human Torch. Johnny dodged the flying vehicles, trying to keep the destruction to a minimum. The sound of screeching and twisting metal was all around him, echoing in the crowded tunnel.

The silver man then came upon a large flatbed truck hauling pallets of wood. He once again flicked his hand and the pallets snapped off the truck, rising into the air. They formed a grid of crossing beams, a patchwork wall, right in front of Johnny. He burned his flame higher, hoping to burn through the wood, but it was too late. He smashed through the flying wall, the wood hitting his body with hard, loud thwacks. The pallets battered his body savagely; Johnny could feel the pain coursing through him as pieces of wood showered the traffic below. The cars tried to stop too quickly and went spinning in the narrow lanes of traffic, the loud squealing of their brakes and collisions adding noise to the already intensely loud chamber. Johnny clutched his side, skidding and bouncing against the walls of the tunnel, leaving a trail of lames behind him.

He righted himself again, still clutching his side, just in time to see the Surfer melt back up through his board. Both figures seemed to draw deep breaths, steadying their nerves, before increasing their speed and shooting out of the tunnel and into the air above New Jersey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Will, Caleb, Matt, Blunk, Pepe, and Robin stood before the Queen of Meridian—Elyon Brown—inside the massive throne room of the palace. Before coming there, Pepe was told by Will and Caleb to be on his best behavior as they were in Elyon’s presence, because she was royalty and didn’t need comments of innuendo or numerous songs of 80s and 90s pop culture coming out of him. Robin, who had been on his best behavior since they arrived in Meridian, was impressed more of the fact that the Queen of Meridian was just a teenage girl than of the remarkable castle she lived in.

Elyon was not just the Queen of Meridian, but the Light of Meridian as well. She was born in Meridian, lone daughter to the Queen and King and heir to the throne. However, after the disappearance of her parents, a Meridianite named Galgheita took her to Earth to evade the wrath of the cruel and heartless Phobos (her evil brother) and protect her from him, having plans to steal her superior magical powers. Elyon was raised there as a normal girl by the Browns, Meridianites who Elyon believed to be her parents, knowing nothing of Meridian or her true identity.

The description that Will gave Elyon of her dream was so vivid that she could barely believe how similar it was to her own. Everything from the elf-like creature to the crystal itself reminded her of the dreams she had been having. At least, she once believed they were dreams.

“What does it all mean?” Will finally asked Elyon, after finishing her description.

Elyon took a deep breath before answering Will’s question. “They have to be a warning of some type. Something alerting us of an approaching danger.”

“Phobos? Cedric?” Caleb asked, just before his hand went to the Heart of Meridian that hung around his neck. “You don’t think Nerissa is starting to realize that she’s living in a false reality, do you?”

Elyon shook her head. “No, this is something bigger, if we’re seeing the same elf-like creature in our dreams.”

“Maybe he’s the one who’s putting these visions into our heads.” Will assumed. “But what is he trying to warn us of?”

“Last night, I had another one, and this one seemed to have given more details of what this is all about.” Elyon said. “I dreamt that a world had suffered greatly under the wrath of this vortex of some kind that had sucked all of its energy…all of its life…away.” The dream was so haunting to her that she had no trouble describing it through hard swallows, deep breaths, and sweat protruding from her forehead. “This was soon after this silvery figure had stolen the same crystal we’ve been seeing lately. But I think that was what killed the planet the most.”

Will pondered heavily over what Elyon was telling them. “You think the crystal was the planet’s life source?”

“I think the crystal is life itself, Will.” Elyon replied. “It’s no different than the Heart of Meridian and the Heart of Kandrakar. I wouldn’t be completely surprised if they both originated from it.”

Matt’s mind was more on the silver figure that Elyon mentioned, which brought him back to the satellite photo that General Luft had shown them on the previous night. “I’m curious to know more about this silver figure that everyone’s been talking about. I mean, what is it doing going around and causing so much havoc?”

Elyon was about to give her input on it, until the entrance to the palace busted open. A familiar face rushed inside afterwards—that of the Galhot known as Vathek, a friend of Caleb’s and spy for the rebellion that was once the prison keeper of Phobos when he was prince of Meridian, but soon after he was removed from the throne, he became the prison keeper for Phobos’ cell. On his usual visits to the palace (at least from the moment Elyon became the rightful ruler of the throne), Vathek had always seemed calm and collected, like a true warrior was supposed to have been. But on this visit, he was the complete opposite, showing great fear and shock on his face and in his eyes.

“Queen Elyon!” He shouted upon entering the palace, nearly out of breath.

Caleb could see how fearful he was. Even when Phobos was taking control of Meridian, he never looked that frightened. “Vathek…what’s wrong?”

Vathek could barely utter a word. All he was able to bring himself to say was, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

His words puzzled them all. Elyon had to force herself to stand up from her throne and approach the startled Galhot, as he trembled before her. She attempted to ask him what it was that he and his men had encountered, but something highly unexpected kept her from doing so. Out of nowhere, a bright flash appeared behind Vathek, and the next thing they all knew, Vathek was lying face down on the floor.

“Vathek!” Caleb cried, as he and the others gazed down at his unconscious body, which had a massive burn right in the center of its back.

Robin gasped at the sight of Vathek’s singed flesh, never before seeing such a grotesque wound on any person, especially one that wasn’t even human. Will quickly turned to him and shielded his eyes from it, not wishing that to be his first painful memory. It wasn’t long before she heard the unfamiliar voice of a young woman addressing her. “Let him watch. I’m sure it’ll make him tougher as he grows into adulthood.”

They all turned their heads towards the palace entrance where three girls stood, one of which had blue flames protruding from her fingertips—something that was just as startling as their sudden appearance. Elyon was not very pleased over how the girls had wounded Vathek or over their trespassing into her palace. She wanted to believe that they were no more than common Meridianites who might’ve been followers of Phobos and just now attempting to remove her from the throne. But what Elyon didn’t know about them was that they weren’t from Meridian at all.

The one leading the other two girls and giving off flames from her fingertips was named Princess Azula, a gifted Firebending master and highly favored crown princess of the Fire Nation on her home planet, born to Fire Lord Ozai and his wife, Ursa, about two years after her brother, Zuko. She grew up in the riches, splendor, and privileges of being royalty in the Fire Nation. Her sharp wits and the fact that she was a Firebending prodigy gained great attention and acclaim, and quickly made her Ozai’s favorite child. A dedicated nationalist, Azula relentlessly drilled herself towards perfection and would settle for nothing less from herself or those that served her. She exhibited a need to be the best among her peers; as a child she would react violently when other children would outdo her. To Azula, only power and domination were what made a person strong.

Elyon mustered the courage to ask her, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

A sinister grin crept across Azula’s face, as she extinguished the flames from her fingertips and stepped forward. “I am…curious to know more about this crystal that you all have spoken about. This source of life.” As she had gotten closer to them, they felt a remarkable change in room temperature—it was cold a second ago, but unbelievable warm the next. “If it is as powerful as the seven of you have claimed, then perhaps I can find a marvelous use for it when I conquest this planet and the one beside it.”

“You are not going to take over Meridian!” Elyon angrily snapped, which didn’t please Azula very well. “And you sure as heck aren’t taking over Earth either!”

Azula wanted to fry Elyon then and there because of the aggressive tone that she detected in her voice. No one spoke that way to the Fire Nation princess and got away with it without being tortured as punishment. But she didn’t do anything more than just smile wickedly, as she walked over to Robin, who seemed to be the one that was most intimidated by her presence after what she had done to Vathek. “Hello there,” she said with mock sweetness as she approached the tiny frog and knelt down to face him. “My name’s Azula. What’s yours?”

Robin only stuttered a response. “R-R-Ro…”

Before Robin could even get his full name out, Pepe had stepped in front of him, seeming to be highly intrigued by Azula’s beauty. “Hola! My name is Pepe, h’okay! And I have just one question for jou…are jou eighteen?”

Azula just gawked at the king prawn strangely. But her view of him quickly changed as Will had stepped forward and stood in front of Azula, glaring viciously into her eyes. “Why don’t you just get to steppin’ before we step all over you?” she said, which didn’t seem to intimidate Azula whatsoever.

“I might be new to a few things on this planet,” Azula said, “But if there is one thing that I am familiar with, it’s a threat.” She then turned to her allies, Ty Lee and Mai. “Girls…show them what we do to people that threaten the Fire Nation.”

With that being said, Ty Lee and Mai then commenced in attacking them all. Mai started off by throwing small, fletched darts called stilettos at Caleb, which he instantly deflected with an iron shield that he immediately picked up from a statue nearby. He then hurled the shield at Mai, forcing her to duck as soon as she saw it flying directly at her like a Frisbee. Only after it passed over her head and clattered loudly against the stone wall did Caleb realize how much of a mistake that was, as Mai stood up straight and continued throwing more stilettos that were spring-loaded in holsters on her wrists and ankles, all of which he was successful in either deflecting with his sword or dodging from.

Meanwhile, Matt was about to break into his Shagon form and use his newfound powers to defeat Ty Lee, who was somersaulting her way towards him. It was only until Ty Lee had attacked a few of the pressure points on his body did Matt find himself utterly useless to fight, falling the floor totally limp. Believing that she was the victorious one of the brief battle, Ty Lee began to walk away from Matt’s limp body, skipping and giggling gleefully.

“Gotcha!” Matt’s powerfully amplified voice uttered, catching Ty Lee’s attention and making her turn around to face him again. When she did, it wasn’t Matt that she was facing, but his new super-powered alter ego, Shagon—a black-winged, muscular being with dreadlocks, a green vest, black boots and pants, and a golden mask. A powerful green energy beam shot from the eyes of the golden mask and fired directly at Ty Lee, who dodged as soon as it came near her. Shagon flew up in the air and continued firing blasts of energy from his eyes, forcing Ty Lee to avoid each one of them.

After witnessing Matt’s transformation into Shagon, Azula was slightly impressed of the abilities that her adversaries possessed. Addressing Elyon and Will with her back facing both of them, she said, “The skills and abilities of your protectors are very impressive. You must be extremely proud of the men here on your planet.”

“Men aren’t the only ones who can kick butt here!” Will said, right before a bright pink flash of light shined over the corner of Azula’s eye, catching her interest very quickly. She turned her head to see Will in her Guardian form, in which she was exactly the same height as Azula, who was taller than Will when she was in human form. “And let us show you how good we are!”

Elyon and Will generated huge amounts of electrical energy from their hands and sent it flying towards Azula with great speed. Azula only grinned as she held up her arms and crossed them, blocking the electrical wave of energy that came her away. The impact of the energy hitting her body was great, and it was enough to knock her off her feet and to the floor. She lied there, barely conscious, as Elyon and Will looked to the battle taking place between Matt/Shagon and Ty Lee and Mai and Caleb. Then they turned to where Vathek had been laying the whole time, face down on the floor with his back still singeing.

“We have to get Vathek out of here now!” Elyon exclaimed.

Will nodded in agreement and then turned her attention back to Matt/Shagon and Caleb. “Matt! Caleb! Let’s bail! And help Vathek on the way out!”

Following her orders, the two men did whatever they could to stun Mai and Ty Lee, from deflecting a stiletto that grazed the side of Mai’s left arm to firing an energy beam that struck and paralyzed Ty Lee. After the two were down on the floor, Matt/Shagon and Caleb went to Vathek’s wounded body and helped him up, carrying him past the entrance to the palace. They were soon followed by Will, Elyon, Blunk, Robin, and Pepe, all running (or in Will’s case, flying) out through the front door and leaving behind the inert bodies of Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Johnny’s flames still burned brightly, but his speed was tremendous. The Surfer was indefatigable. Johnny continued to chase the Silver Surfer over the eastern seaboard, past the landscapes of forests and countrysides. He kept the Atlantic Ocean to his left so he wouldn’t lose his sense of direction as the world blurred by. Soon landmarks presented themselves. They chased over the nation’s capital, the metallic Surfer whizzing by in stark contrast to the large white edifices. He whipped around the Washington Monument; his powerful wake of energy and dust causing the tall white structure to crack. Johnny followed, growing angrier at the endless pursuit. He thought of everything he’d seen today: the terrified drivers in the tunnel, the destruction of the buildings and property back in Manhattan, and—most of all—the broken-hearted look on his sister’s face at her ruined wedding, the dying bouquet of flowers falling limply from her hand. His rage increased his flame.

Johnny pulled his hand in front of him and unleashed a fireball toward the Surfer. The swirling, concentrated mass of flame burned more white than orange, a weapon borne of Johnny’s intense emotional state. It hit the Surfer squarely in his back and Johnny could see the tremble move through him, his feet suddenly wobbly on the board.

The silver figure turned around to face Johnny, stopping itself in midair. Johnny, all flame and inertia, could not stop in time. The Surfer reached out and grabbed him like a child choosing a toy, one hand tight around Johnny’s neck. The Surfer held Johnny tightly on the board and began raising them both high into the air.

Even in full flame, Johnny could feel the energy of the being pulsing through him. It was unlike anything he had ever felt, a sense of vertigo and nausea and power that was trying to overcome him, to take control of him. Johnny struggled to get away, to be released from the being’s otherworldly grip, but he could not budge. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s see what it takes to melt that silver butt of yours.”

Johnny poured on the heat, using everything within him to burn brighter and brighter. He quickly approached supernova, the dangerous state Reed had always warned him about, the type of fury and power he’d used to help defeat Victor Von Doom. He could feel the flames in every part of his being, down to his core, burning away the feelings of relinquishing control. But the Surfer was unaffected. His strength remained constant, unmoving and uncaring. He maintained his savage grip on Johnny and continued to rise higher and higher into the air.

The Human Torch saw the blue sky begin to fade and dim. The black edge of space came into fuzzy focus. The distant light of small silver stars appeared on the horizon, mimicking the form that held him tightly. From this vantage point, Johnny could see the beginning of outer space and beyond, the finite edges of the Earth and its surrounding atmosphere. The power of the silver figure and its board still surged through him, once again infiltrating his mind. His own flame, in the thin oxygen, grew dangerously low. He could not draw breath and began to extinguish. Suddenly he was face-to-face with the silver figure, drifting on the cusp of space and consciousness. He began to feel his own life dimming. He had been to space before, but it hadn’t felt like this. A feeling of isolation overtook him; he felt dwarfed by the ethereal figure of the Silver and the looming heavens of space, and the thin air was making his mind feel clouded and confused. His last thought was of Earth: How majestic it appeared to be against the deep sea of black space, how lonely it looked in such a great expanse.

“Uh…you win?” Johnny finally managed to get out.

The Surfer released Johnny from his grip. The limp figure of Johnny Storm plummeted from the upper skies, falling like a piece of unwanted debris back down to Earth. He tried to regain his composure, stifling the screams that were welling up inside him. The free fall seemed to take forever, and yet no time at all. “Flame on!” He tried to reignite his body, but to no avail. He was too shaken up, still reeling from his encounter with the dangerous and enigmatic Surfer.

The land below was coming fast upon him, and just as he was about to hit, something that seemed to have come out of nowhere arrived and carefully scooped him up. Johnny looked down at the thing that had saved his life, as it flew through the skies at a speed greater than his and the Surfer’s combined. It was a space module with the International Aeronautics and Space Administration logo printed near the cockpit window. Johnny recognized the module, with its wings at a V-shaped position and its nose colored in black.

“Farscape One?” He puzzlingly exclaimed, just as the cockpit window opened and revealed the pilot of the space module: John Crichton.

Johnny stared at him in surprise as he turned his way, gestured to the second passenger seat inside, and shouted, “Get your a** in here!” Not wanting to disobey an order—especially one that just might save his life—Johnny jumped into the cockpit of the Farscape One module, sitting himself right behind Crichton as he pressed a button on the controls that had closed the cockpit. Instead of heading back to Earth’s atmosphere, Crichton piloted the module back directly into space.

Johnny looked out the cockpit’s window, staring at a sight that he was familiarized with only a moment ago. “W-Wait, man! What’re you doing? He’s…”

“Still out there? Yeah, we know.” Crichton remarked. “Let the son of a b***h follow us if he wants!”

As they had escaped Earth’s atmosphere, they passed through the location that the Silver Surfer had been hovering in. He watched the space module fly past him and disappear into the far reaches of space. But he had chosen not to pursue it, solely because he had a job to do for his superior, as the noble herald that he was. And he returned back to Earth’s atmosphere to continue that particular important job of his.

END OF CHAPTER FIVE​

 

[The Count]

Great job man, great job. Sorry if I don't comment more, reading DH and I gotta get back to it. Plus Operation Overdrive team-up episode tonight.
Hope for more when you can post it.