Chapter Two, Comeback!

"Stretch, Sue, Matchstick! Wake up you guys, we're almost there!" Ben bellows, waking us up extremely effectively, as we jump in our seat in surprise. "HAHAHAHA! I LOVE THIS! I've got to wake you all like that again sometime!" He says, as he transforms back into his human form.

"Please don't…" says Sue.

"Yeah, it would be a shame if you woke up in a burning bed, right, Captain Boulder?" Johnny retaliated.

"So you got it under control?" Sue asks, and Ben sighs, shaking his head.

"No, I need to stay focused to turn back, and as soon as I get emotional, I turn to stone."

"Guys, focus, we don't know what changed, it's been a week since the experiment, and we've gone missing ever since. Your dad should be scared, and could have contacted the authorities. If they touched that machine, it could be dangerous for everyone involved. Once we touch down, we'll need to get to the Baxter building to check everything out." I say, and I see Johnny and Sue's faces scrunch up in worry. Ben is stoic, but not saying anything.

As we pass by the Statue of Liberty, the helicopter slows down to a normal speed. Flying around the buildings, I try to see if I could make out anything that could help me figure out what kind of plotline we were entering. The helicopter seem to be taking us directly to the roof of the Baxter Building, who doesn't look any different from when we last saw it. Once it touches down, the automated voice speaks once more.

"Welcome to New York City. You can unfasten your seatbelts an leave the aircraft in a calm manner. Please check behind you to make sure that all your belongings are accounted for. Once you are out of the aircraft close the door behind you. Have a nice evening." As soon as the door closes behind us, the aircraft takes off and becomes invisible.

"So much for checking it out…" Johnny says, visibly disappointed, while Ben sighs. Susan is intrigued by how it became invisible, but quickly turns around and goes towards the roof entrance of the building.

"Come on guys, let's go." I say, asking them to follow after sue.

Once we get into the building, we notice a few things. First of all, it's empty. No one is there, the employees that used to roam the place are all gone, which put all of us on edge. Sue hurries, and goes to her father's office, with Johnny in toe. We follow after them. Bursting the door open, she shouts: "Dad! Dad!"

Her dad is half sitting on a chair, half lying on his desk. She shakes him. We hear "What? What! What do you want?" He wakes up, Sue hugs him and he sees us. "Oh my… Is this really you? Where were you? What happened to you? We all thought that you died like the others!"

"What? What others? Who died?"

"Well about three days ago, the machine turned itself on by itself, surcharging the generators and electrocuting three people, then the remaining pods all exploded except one, who opened up, and something flew out of it. No one got a good look at it, and the security cameras were down because of the generators." Welp, I think. There goes our first villain. Doom is still alive.

"We don't know, we woke up today somewhere in the arctic circle and only just came back."I say.

"Where is everyone? Why is it so empty here?"

"Well with your disappearance and the explosions after that, everyone resigned, no one want to work where people die or vanish… I'm not sure I'll be able to keep the building for long, with the bills accumulating, the insurance doesn't cover extra-dimensional deaths, all the scientists took their projects with them as they left and-"

"Dr. Storm, we're back. It's all right, we'll start again, no more dimension hopping for a while." I say, and he calms down a bit, giving in to his daughter's hug.

"I'm so glad you're back, baby girl… Johnny boy, come here too." he says, pulling Johnny into the hug. "Ben and Reed as well, I'm happy you're here."

"We have so much to tell you about dad', Sue says, once he frees her from his embrace, and proceeds to tell her about the experiment.

"Ben, if you would." I ask him, pointing outside the office and going out with him. "Let's leave that to them, we need to discuss a few things." I say, getting serious.

We walk in the empty hallways, towards the destroyed pods.

"Victor is still alive." I drop the bombshell, and I see him visibly shocked, and dropping his concentration, turning back into his rocky appearance.

"We need to get him!" he bellows.

"No need, he's out. He turned the machine on from the other dimension to escape. He's like us, now. I think he's the reason why the generator surcharged and the pods exploded. He probably thought we abandoned him and wanted revenge."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't know for sure, but it's highly probable. Something came out of his pod and destroyed ours. He got hit by the lightning storm out there, and the machines here surcharged and electrocuted people. That's too specific to be a coincidence. Once he hears we're back, he'll come for us. We need to be prepared, and for that, we can't be seen outside of the building until we're ready."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I need your help keeping Johnny here. If he learns about that, he'll probably do something stupid and reckless."

"Learn about what?" Johnny says, a smirk on his face.

"Dammit. It was supposed to be a surprise." I say, trying to shift his attention. "We were planning to build a flying car after seeing that helicopter, and gift it to you later." I say, looking at Ben, who nods at me in understanding.

"You? You're building a car?"

"No, I'll be working on gadgets to put in the car. Like some kind of repulsors."

"Like, to make it fly and shit?!" Johnny says, excited at the prospect of a flying car.

"Something like that," I said with a smile, happy to have derailed that conversation. "You want to work on it with us? Since you know about it, might as well use your talents."

"Who are you and what did you do to Reeds 'I work better alone' Richards?" He says, amused. "Hell yeah, I'm in!"

"Good, because we're going to be cooped up here for the duration of the project," says Ben, and Johnny looks as if betrayed. "The Baxter foundation needs a win, and this will be it, the return of the missing scientists, with a new product to put the accounts and public satisfaction in the green again." The younger Storm sibling seem to take all this in, thinks for a bit, and nods.

"Alright, but I'm keeping the first model, and I want flame paint on it."

I forgot about it, but no one here is legally adult yet. Sue and I are 19, Ben is 20, and Johnny is 17. Some of us might be geniuses, but we need an adult with us. We're fortunate Franklin, Sue's dad, is still here.

"I need to talk to Sue and Franklin about that. Can you guys start clearing out some space for the project? I'll come back as soon as I'm done." I say, and Johnny knocks his fist into his palm, turning to flames again. Fortunately, it seems the clothes we had on when we went to the other dimension adapted somewhat to our new physiology, as Johnny's and Ben's pants stayed on, while my top seems to be able to stretch somewhat. "We're going to need on some clothes for us as well, you can't keep burning shirts like that." I mutter, leaving the room.

For this, I know that I'm supposed to be able to create unstable molecules, but I'll try to see if I can find Spider-Man, to ask for his help. Unstable molecules inter-weaved with a derivation of his spiderweb formula might be one of the strongest and most resilient textiles to exist, so it could also help our funding. But for that, Spider-Man needs to exist, and while it's highly probable, with the spider-totem being a constant, Peter Parker is not. I'll have to check on that.

So many things to check on, so many things to invent, so little time.

As I return to Franklin's office, I hear Sue talking about the helicopter trip, it seems her retelling of the events is almost over.

"Mr. Richards!" Franklin yells. "Have you come to take responsibility for my daughter for forcing yourself on to her like that?!"

"What?!"

"Dad!"

"HAHAHA, your faces! Oh, don't worry, I'm kidding. Your feelings were obvious since you first saw her. If anything, I'm glad you took a plunge. Now, if you hurt her, I will kill you. But otherwise, have fun, and use protection." He says, leaving his office.

"DAD!" Sue yells, visibly embarrassed, before her face turns invisible.

"Dr. Franklin, we need to talk, it's important." I say, trying to fight the blush on my face. Franklin, seeing my look, understands that it's serious, and comes back in his office, closing the door behind him.

"What is it, son?" he asks, and I proceed to tell him about Victor, my plan to train our powers, to build defenses and a flying car, as well as the idea of unstable molecules. Sue, still shaken about Victor being alive, looks down, not speaking. Franklin is concentrated as well, his hand scratching his beard. "Well, that's a lot to take in." he says. "And you're correct, all of this is going to need some money, but the only thing I can do for now is sell old projects and machines, as by myself, I can't possibly do anything that will be able to sell, since you're supposedly dead. If I create anything, it will only attract some attention, so I'm afraid you're all going to have to tighten your belts for a while." and I nod at that. Sue only looks even more saddened by all of this.

"The priority is the understanding and control of our powers. Second comes the car, and third, the molecules. Once we have a good enough handle on ourselves, we should be able to restrain Victor. After that's done, the car should put us into the public eye again, and give us enough funding for the rest."

What I wasn't saying was how I planned to kill Victor, instead of sending him away or imprisoning him. I'm not as naive to think that he wouldn't try to kill us again and again if we give him the chance, and with his intellect and powers, he's very well capable of that. I'm hoping he's the only person I'll ever have to kill, but I have to be resigned to do the necessary to protect everyone.

For me, in this instant, it's not a comic-book, or a movie. This, right here, right now, is real life, with real consequences. I know reincarnation is real, but what would be the odds for me to re-reincarnate. I never learned how I died, and what made me able to go through reincarnation, so I can't be sure I'll have a third chance at this. I will not let this life be ruined because I didn't do what was necessary. And the safety of those I love or of innocents people come before my mental and moral well-being. If I have to sacrifice my moral compass this time to save my family in the future, that will be a small price to pay.

"I'm going to check what can be salvaged, I'll leave you two youngsters alone for a bit." Franklin sighs, and exits his office again.

"Susan, talk to me."

"Is it true? Is Victor alive? Why would he try to kill us?"

"I'm certain, but the only way to know is to show ourselves to the world. And I don't want to risk it just yet. And for him, we must have abandoned him, leaving him there to die while we escaped. You he might not kill, because he loves you, but he'll definitely try to hurt you to hurt me, before killing me. I don't think he cares too much about Ben or Johnny, but as an extension of the team that left him, he would want to kill them just for spiting him. He may be our age, but he was not educated like us. He is supposed to become the absolute ruler of Latveria when he's deemed worthy, or kill his predecessor. He was raised to never leave enemies a chance to comeback. He destroyed our pods, because they might have allowed us to come back like his did. I'm sorry, Sue. He's not the same anymore. His filter turned off when we escaped the storm." I say, and I see a couple of tears falling from her eyes.

"I know. I just wanted to be sure. She says. She looks up at me, and softly smiles. "But if you ever say that I'm only here so that you can be hurt, I'll show you hurt." And at this instant, her soft smiles scares me more than the possibility of fighting Doom.

"Yes, Madam. Sorry, Madam."

"Good, now. Let's get to work. She says, wipes the remaining tears, and stands up, heading for the door. "By the way, we need to talk about us, right? Because you never actually said anything about us…"

"We will. I-I mean… I will. I mean, will we? I want to, but do you want to? I mean, I'm not talking about that, that... but I do also want that- I mean, if you want that… I-I…"

"Hm… Well… I'd like- What? Yes, maybe… I'm not… I mean… WE'LL TALK LATER!" she shouts, and scurries out of the room, leaving me sweating in nervousness. Which makes me wonder if while my soul and memories carried over, the body might still prevail sometimes. For example in this case, hormones, or in the case of me lying, my right hand tapping against my leg, which is something this Reed Richards used to do before I came into the picture. It would somewhat explain why some characters in reincarnation stories that are depicted to be logical thinkers do stupid decisions on a whim.

But all of that is another matter entirely, and I see that Richards' brain tendency to think about three thousand things at once carried over as well…

So I go after her, and help everyone to clean the building, salvaging machines that can be sold, and in general tidying the place up, while talking about our plans for the future. Ben, Johnny and I will focus on the car, while Franklin will manage the funds, and Susan will take care of making training programs for our different sets of powers. Slowly, a sort of schedule is put in place, where in the morning, we will all work on the car, at noon, we'll eat together and discuss the previous day and afternoon to come, and in the afternoon, some will train while others have a free quarter, still locked in the building, though. The week-ends will be dedicated to people's personal interests. Be it training, research, leisure, or working on the car, it will be up to each one's decision.

And just like that, three months passed. The most happy advancement is my relationship with Susan. We're not yet sleeping in the same room all the time, but we do sometimes spend the night in each other's bedroom. Other than that, the car is taking shape, the repulsor work, but we'll need to find a power source, as it is pretty resource intensive. The theory for unstable molecules is mostly written down, so that will need funding to try out.

The training went well for everyone. Now, Ben spends most of his day in his rock form, and says he's happy that way. He can control himself to avoid changing to stone while in human form because of emotions, but came to like his default state.

Johnny can control his flames to a high degree, achieved flight, and even accessed a similar state as the Nova-Burst, although not to that degree just yet.

Sue can turn any part of her body invisible, and managed to turn outside elements invisible as well, although only for things she touches, and not a big surface just yet. She also learned how to use force-fields, shaping them a bit, and using a small force-platform to elevate herself, achieving a kind of levitation.

As for me, I have a lot of control over my elongation ability, and some degree of success with shape changing. My skin is now almost impervious to physical damage (up to which point is not known, yet, because we didn't try Ben's full force) such as blunt force, laceration or puncture.

We were sitting in the living room, chatting and eating pizza when the news broke. Tony Stark, missing for three months, is coming back to the United States. A whole wave of ideas comes to me, now that I know that while different, this timeline is concurrent or at least similar to the MCU, as I learned of the science experiment gone wrong of Dr Bruce Banner about five years ago.

The first idea, of course, is using Stark's Arc reactor to power the flying car, but it will only be palladium-free in the first semester of next year, so it would delay our plans a bit. It's able to lift off, and the theoretical speed is around 210 km/h with a 550 km range on the ground, and about 300km in the air. The range and speed are theoretical, since we can't use it outside the building. For now, it has a designed inspired by what Tesla made in my previous world, with the wing doors on the side. When I poached this idea, Sue had asked if it was necessary, as it would raise the price a bit, and Johnny and Ben responded immediately that it absolutely was.

For now it's electric, and powered by a huge battery, thus restricting the range quite a bit. If it was powered by the Arc reactor, the range wouldn't be a problem, and the car would be faster. We decided to work on it for two more months before calling a press conference.

Until then, Susan changed the training regime, from individual to team exercises. We either fight each other, or practice together, to improve our coordination.

So far everything is on the road, and I even managed to start a couple of small AIs to take care of a few things, including a bigger AI dedicated to cybersecurity, called Circe by Johnny (for Cyber Security: Cy-Se → Ci-Ce→ Circe, he was really proud of the name, so we let it slip). None of the AIs but Circe are connected to the internet. Circe is connected, but a lot of fail-safes have been implemented. Hopefully, we don't hear any reports from Circe, as it would mean someone is attacking her or us through her. The AI in charge of the others in the building is Alfred, and is programmed with an english accent. What? If Tony had one, I might as well copy both Jarvis and Batman's. He's in charge of making sure the AI work well, take our inquiries and relay them, and relays the results from the AIs to us.

Johnny asked me why I didn't make just one AI, and I answered that small, dedicated AIs were far less dangerous than a single AI whose purpose is undetermined or unclear. Plus, we didn't have a lot of room for the type of servers needed for big AIs. So we settled for multiple ones. I know that I'm playing a dangerous game, but I have algorithms in place monitoring each AI, their code, and the resources taken up by them. Since they aren't connected to the internet or to machines capable of creating other machines, I figured we were safe for a while. The only thing that could be dangerous would be Circe, as she's in charge of the cyber security of the building, could have access to the other AIs if she really wanted to. But as I've said, fail-safes are in place for multiple scenarios.

So we trained, researched, and overall just played around. Johnny turned 18, and Sue turned 20. For her birthday, I went out and shape-change my face to be incognito, so that I could buy her fresh flowers, and enough food to make a nice, romantic dinner between the two of us. It could have been ruined by my inability to cook, but Ben gave me a hand, and we managed to do something edible. I promised him something so that he could browse the internet with his rock form, and he seemed happy with that promise. I think Sue cried a bit when she saw the fresh flowers, but I can't be certain because she turned invisible. It once more strengthened my resolve to out ourselves so that we can live norm- 'Normal' lives again. She decided to move into my room, and who would I be to dissuade her. So there's that.

Two months later, at the Baxter building, a lot of journalists and influential people were present for the press conference. Backstage, we were all dressed smartly, suit and ties, except Sue, who had a lovely dress, and Franklin was re-reading his notes for the umpteenth time today.

"Dad, it's going to be alright. You've got this." Sue told him, her hand softly caressing his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's no big deal, dad. There's only like a hundred journalists and cameras out there, it's fine." Johnny said, and Ben facepalmed.

"Don't listen to him, it's not your first press conference. It's almost time, dad. Breathe."

"Dr. Franklin, they are ready for you."

"Thank you Alfred. Well, kids, wish me luck," he said, going on stage. The journalists stopped talking, and Frank scraped his throat. "Ladies and gentleman. Thank you for coming. I called this conference for two reasons. Since the failed experiments a few months ago, the disappearance of my family and friends, and at a later date the explosion in this building, myself and a team of scientists managed to create something new, and groundbreaking here at the Baxter foundation. But before telling you about it, I would like to present you this team. Ladies and Gentleman, Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Benjamin Grimm and Johnny Storm."