Reed

Sue

Johnny

Ben

They're off to a good start!

"Amazing!" Ultron said, as he watched the Thing slowly rise. "I would never have expected you to last this long. Your persistence is astonishing. And quite foolish!"

"You think so, do ya?" the Thing growled. "It's called determination, buddy! That's something you machines don't have! That's why you'll never be as good as us men!"

"Really?!" Ultron snapped, with a hint of anger in his mechanical voice. "Then explain why I am killing you so easily?"

"I ain't dead yet, tin man!" the Thing retorted.

"No, you're not, are you?" Ultron said. "It's time I rectified that. This has lasted much too long!"

With a mighty blow, Ultron sent the Thing hurtling through the air. The Thing crashed into the bulkhead, which was already damaged, due to earlier attempts by Ben to pierce it. The Thing crashed through the bulkhead completely, landing on the other side.

Ultron was not pleased. He had placed those bulkheads at precise locations to keep the Fantastic Four separated. He couldn't risk them getting together. Ultron stepped over the broken bulkhead. On the other side, he could see that the Thing was still alive.

Ben Grimm was crawling on the ground. He'd never been hurt so badly. He felt like something was broken inside him. But he wouldn't give up! Ben Grimm never gave up! Especially not to a damn machine!

Ultron towered over the Thing. "Time's up, human!"

The Thing couldn't even get up. He looked up as Ultron raised his powerful, adamantium arm for the killing blow!

The Sub-Zero man's ice powers were a match for the Human Torch's flame. Every attack the Torch could think of was thwarted by his foe. Johnny regretted not listening to Reed when he insisted on Johnny training more. Johnny was too cocky with his powers and so never took the time to consider alternate strategies of attack. The Sub-Zero man, however, was a recreation of an old android from the World War Two super-team called the Creature Commandos. As Johnny understood it, this new android had the same memories as the destroyed original, and so had much more experience, as well as computer precision. Johnny had no idea how to defeat it.

As they fought to a standstill, Sparx was beginning to pass out. Her struggling lessened. She was dying.

OMAC, having failed to break through her force field using his cyborg strength, tried his MASER beam, but it also failed. A knife shot out of his arm, but this attack was equally unsuccessful. Minx clawed at the invisible shield unsuccessfully. MPH threw super-speed punches at the force field. Aqualad and the Stuntman drop-kicked it. Hawkgirl hit the shield flying. Stealth bided her time, waiting for an opening.

Remnant's magic carpet didn't obey the laws of physics and so was able to pass through the force field without resistance. Stretching out, the mystic fabric rapped itself around Sue's throat. It started to strangle her. Sue had a moment of panic, but then composed herself. As Reed always said, the mind was the most potent weapon.

Sue concentrated and expanded her force field outward. It struck everyone in the room with a formidable impact. Remnant was stunned, and without his mental commands, his magic carpet relaxed its grip on Sue's throat. She tore it off of herself. Before the trainees recovered, Sue turned herself invisible and ran for the door.

Fogg, being incorporeal in his gaseous form, was the only one of the trainees not harmed by the force field attack. Fogg expanded his cloud-like form across the room. The mists surrounded Sue, creating an outline that made her partially visible. OMAC, the first recover from Sue's attack, saw the outline of the woman running for the door. Using his targeting system, he fired his MASER beam.

Sue cried out with pain as the beam hit her. She fell to the ground, unconscious. The trainees moved toward her unmoving form, prepared to finish her off.

Reed, who was very familiar with these lasers, seeing as he created all the defenses in Project Fantastic, heard the hum with he knew occurred exactly 0.75 seconds before the laser fired. With his quick thinking mind and physical elasticity, Reed was able to move out of the way with no time to spare. All the lasers began to fire at Quasimodo's command. The evil computer was targeting Reed.

However, Reed was familiar with the limitations of the laser's mobility. Also, Quasimodo underestimated Reed's ability to think quickly and react to things. Pushing his pliable powers to the limit, Reed managed to stretch and bend his way through the maze of laser blasts. He got some burns but took no direct hits. By the time Quasimodo compensated for Reed's mobility, Reed had already passed out of range of the lasers.

"Impressive, Doctor," Quasimodo said. "I won't underestimate you again."

Reed noticed that he was passing the spot where the hidden spouts for the cryo-fluid were located. Knowing what was coming next, Reed arched back, rearing like a cobra. The cryo-fluid spit out. Had Reed been an inch further along the hall, he would have been frozen on the spot. But he evaded it and so the fluid hit the floor, freezing it into a patch of ice.

However, Quasimodo was one step ahead of Mr. Fantastic. He had maneuvered Reed into the spot where he wanted Reed to be. Reed realized it too late.

The crystal dome came down and trapped Reed in a transparent cage. Reed knew that the dome was made of a type of crystal, which had a dense molecular structure. It was beyond Reed's ability to break. But there was another option. When Reed designed the dome, he had no intention of making someone suffocate inside it. He left tiny air holes in the crystal. Concentrating, Reed's elastic form started to de-solidify, almost like he was melting. His body became almost liquid-like. He oozed out of the tiny air holes, and then reformed into man-like shape.

"Excellent, Dr. Richards!" Quasimodo said. "For a human, you are quite the challenge. I am enjoying this. It will make your eventual destruction all the more sweet!"

Reed easily snaked through the iron bars that clamped down in front of him, and stretched his legs so he could step over the electrical plates on the floor. But the force field that would certainly activated in front of him would be a more difficult obstacle.

Reed reached the metal arch where the force field would activate. He knew that it hadn't been enabled yet because his elastic form would be able to feel the static charge in the air if it were. He knew why Quasimodo hadn't raised the energy field yet. The powerful force wall was a huge energy drain on the complex's systems. Reed had built the system so that the force field only activated when an intruder was within the range of the motion detectors, which was exactly 20 feet shy of the arch. Quasimodo could have superseded that protocol, but it would have required a portion of his memory that he couldn't spare if he was to control the whole complex, and he certainly couldn't risk the resulting energy drain. So he most likely left the force field as it was, activated by the motion sensors. Or at least, Reed hoped he did.

Reed needed to get past the motion detectors. But he knew the weakness in that particular defense. The motion detectors were in the ceiling, scanning downward. Therefore, Reed flattened himself out, so that he was nearly two-dimensional. He carefully slipped past the scanners, which slid off his paper-thin form without registering his presence.

Reed needed to get to the next level, where the photonic memory core was. He certainly wouldn't take the elevator. The stairways were electrified but Reed snaked his way down the railing and reached the level 3rd level. As he approached the memory core, he smelt the fruity scent that indicated to him that the sleep gas mist had been released. Reed knew that his time was running out. He had to get to the photonic memory core and deactivate Quasimodo before the gas took effect. As a logical man, he knew his odds weren't good.

It was coolant for the power core. The coolant spit out, all over Ultron. It blocked his optical lenses and clogged his joints. Some of it got inside him. Ultron staggered, momentarily blinded. The Thing knew that it would take him some considerable time to clean and purge himself totally. That gave him a chance to escape. The Thing hated to retreat, but he had to admit that he was totally out of his league against Ultron. He needed to regroup and perhaps get some reinforcements.

The Thing forced himself to stand and walked - unsteadily - to the emergency pneumatic escape tube. He slid to a lower floor and rolled onto the floor. He lay there, trying to regain his strength. He heard the sounds of battle. Taking another moment to gather his remaining strength, the weakened Thing lumbered toward the battle.

Just around the corner . . .

The Human Torch was getting desperate in his efforts to save Sparx. All his efforts to get past the Sub-Zero man had failed. The Sub-Zero man used condensation to form a cloud over the Torch's head. Before the Torch could get out from under it, the cloud began to rain a spray of water down on the Torch. Wet, Johnny's flame went out.

"Uh-Oh!" Johnny murmured.

The Sub-Zero man fired ice darts at the now powerless Human Torch. Johnny tried to dive around the corner, but he knew that he wouldn't make it. But then he saw something coming at him. Something very large.

The Thing stepped out from around the corner, coming between Johnny and the ice daggers. The daggers shattered against his rocky hide. The Thing looked at the Sub-Zero man.

"Who the hell is that jerk?" the Thing asked.

"He doesn't talk much." Johnny said, "But he has icy powers. And we gotta get him out of the way fast, because Sparx is drowning!"

The Thing saw Sparx floating in the strange, moving liquid. "I'm on it!" Ben said.

The Thing was still weak but his recuperative powers were astounding and he was getting his second wind. He shrugged off another volley of ice daggers. The Sub-Zero man tried to create a wall of ice between himself and the Thing, but Ben smashed through it like it was paper.

The Sub-Zero man tried to encase the Thing in a block of ice, but the Thing kept coming.

"Hey, wait, I remember you now!" the Thing said. "You're one of them androids Reed was monkeyin' with!"

The Thing closed in on the Sub-Zero man, who was out of strategies. He didn't know how to deal with the Thing. Ben raised his rock hard fist and brought it down on the android.

He shattered the icy android to pieces.

"All right, big Ben!" the Torch cheered, as he raised his body heat, to dry faster.

The Thing rushed toward the Glob to save Sparx. The Glob hadn't been programmed to fight the Thing. He needed some time to compute this. Turning himself into a high-pressure hose, the Glob spit Sparx out. The Thing caught her.

"Better take care of her, Johnny boy," Ben said, laying her down gently.

The Torch ran over to her. She seemed to be breathing now. Apparently, all the liquid that was in her lungs was part of the Glob. When he ejected Sparx, he took the liquid back.

"Donna?" he cried, concerned. "Are you all right?"

Donna seemed to be a little delirious. She started struggling again.

"No, relax baby, it's me!" Johnny said.

Sparx started to come to her senses. "Is that you, Johnny?" she asked, weakly.

"Yeah, beautiful, it's me," Johnny said. "Don't scare me like that any more."

"I'll try," she muttered. "Is this going on my evaluation?"

Meanwhile, the Thing faced off with the Glob. He threw a punch at the amorphous android, but his fist passed through it. The Thing wasn't sure how to handle this.

The Torch watched this, furious at the Glob for almost killing Sparx. He stood by, fully dry now. "Flame on!" he yelled.

Bursting into flame, he flew to the Thing's assistance. The Glob calculated that the odds were against him and that he should return to his master for further instructions.

The Glob oozed into an air vent and escaped.

"Chicken!" the Thing yelled.

"You won't deactivate me!" Quasimodo's voice echoed. "I have your friends at my mercy! Stop what you're doing or I will kill them all!"

Reed hesitated, but quickly came to the conclusion that Quasimodo was bluffing. If he had hostages, he would have used that advantage sooner. It was just a lie. Or at least, Reed hoped it was!

Reed hoped that he could deactivate the core before his air ran out. But it was a complicated process. He thought about smashing it, but he had made the protective casing very strong to prevent such a thing. Also, there were a lot of redundant systems that could take over in the event of hardware damage. To make things worse, Quasimodo had raised the heat in the room. Reed felt like he was being baked in an oven. He thought he might pass out before he completed his task!

"What are you doing here?" Ultron asked. "Have the Human Torch and the girl been destroyed?"

The Glob responded with a silent transmission. Ultron was getting angry.

"Fool!" he said. "I am surrounded by incompetents! Go and see why Quasimodo is not responding! I will take care of the Fantastic Four myself!"

Ultron sent out a transmission to recall the troops for a regrouping and a revised strategy.

"Goodbye, Reed," she whispered. "Goodbye, Johnny. Ben. I love you all."

But before the lethal attack came, the trainees seemed to freeze, as if they were reacting to some silent call. To Sue's amazement, they picked her up and started to carry her away. She was too weak to resist.

"What are you doing?" she muttered, semi-conscious. "Where are you taking me?"

After that, she passed out.

"You won't succeed!" Quasimodo said. "Your human form is too frail. You are doomed, as are your friends! Especially your wife! She will suffer horribly!"

Reed tried to ignore him. He knew that Quasimodo's ranting were mere desperation.

Just then, some sort of liquid oozed its way under the door. Reed recognized it immediately. It was "Smart Liquid", which meant that it was the Glob! Somehow, he had been activated.

Reed's brilliant mind quickly came up with a way to turn this situation to an advantage. Reed stood before the photonic core, facing the Glob. The Glob saw Mr. Fantastic standing there and prepared to attack. Reed, knowing quite a lot about the android's programming, was able to anticipate its attack.

As Reed expected, the glob tried a wide-angle attack, splashing out at Reed, trying to surround him. Reed, knowing the Glob's speed, timed things carefully. At just the proper moment, Reed folded his body down like an accordion, flattening on the floor. The Glob passed over Reed, and splashed all over the photonic memory core.

There was a massive electrical short. Reed heard Quasimodo's voice screaming over the monitor, and then it went silent. The charge also reduced the Glob to steam. Afterwards, the entire installation went dead. Everything shut down. Emergency lights came on, but otherwise, nothing was working.

Quasimodo was dead!

Air replaced the gas coming from the vent. Reed stretched his head into the vent to get a clean breath of air.

"I'm all right, Johnny," she said. "Really!"

"I just wanna be sure," the Torch said. "I just wish I could figure this stuff out!"

Nearby, the Thing was sitting in a chair that Reed had designed. It was made to reinvigorate the Thing when he was in a weakened condition by sending a harmless charge through his system, while it vibrated in a massage-like motion. He took some deep breaths through a small oxygen tube. He stood up, feeling re-energized.

"I'm ready to kick some metal butt!" he said.

Suddenly, the power went off. After the emergency lights came on, Ben looked at Johnny. "Something just went funny at the power core," he said.

"Or maybe its Quasimodo," Johnny said, "I think something's wrong with him. We should find Reed."

Although Ben resented Reed, blaming him for the mutation that turned him to stone, he knew that Reed was the man to deal with this kind of technical problem. "He'll probably be at the memory core," Ben said.

"Then that's where we should go," Johnny said.

"Thank God!" Reed said. "You're all right. Wait, where's sue?"

"I dunno," Johnny said. "We hoped she was with you!"

"We'd better look for her, in case Quasimodo did anything to her!" Reed ordered.

"What's the story with that stupid machine, anyway?" the Torch asked,

"I'm not sure, but I'll check it out later," Reed said, rushing out into the hall. "He's no threat right now."

"We still got Ultron to deal with," Ben said.

"Ultron?" Reed asked. "My service droid."

"He ain't serving no one now," Ben said.

He explained that Ultron had gained sentience and somehow taken over the body of the dangerous adamantium robot, which Reed had built.

"That's not good!" Reed said, concerned. "That robot body is much too dangerous to be in the hands of a crazed computer. I should have dismantled it. Well, we'll deal with that after we find Sue!"

Suddenly, a mechanical voice came over the PA system.

"Dr. Richards, this is Ultron-5. Apparently you have defeated Quasimodo. I congratulate you. I never thought a mere mortal could defeat a machine. However, you have merely defeated my lackey. Dealing with me will be much more difficult. I am now indestructible. I have an army of human slaves to serve me. And I have your wife! If you resist, I will send her to you-A piece at a time. You have fifteen minutes before I begin ripping her limbs off. Come to me. You and your three friends. Come and surrender or I'll hunt you down! You can't win. Surrender and I'll make it quick!"

The foursome stood angry and determined. Reed looked at his friends.

"No one threatens my wife!" Reed sneered. "No one! If Ultron thinks we're helpless, he's totally incorrect. We have just begun to fight! Can on, we have only fifteen minutes to prepare. The war between man and machine will begin and end here in Project Fantastic! We're holding the line for the human race. And I will not let that creature murder my wife! Let's get busy!"

The Thing nodded. "It's clobberin' time!"