The Fall Of The Fantastic 4

POV Rasputin

I watched as another fight was happening between the Fantastic 4. I was expecting them to be more impressive but my new ally insisted that they were a threat and to not underestimate them. The fight ended and what we were waiting for finally happened. One of them left the group.

Rasputin: "Now I can show you my skills."

Doom: "Yes, we shall see if they are as impressive as you claim."

The one known as the Human Torch flew away from the group which meant that he would be far away from his allies. I was somewhat impressed by his ability to ignite his body.

'Imagine the undead I could make with such a corpse. Patience Rasputin. I will have the complete set before long. Then I won't have to suffer this insufferable wannabe ruler.'

I look at Dr. Doom but look away after he opens the portal. The next step was mine as apparently he never learned my kind of magic. We waited for Johnny to deignite and then I made my move. I cast an instant death spell. It seemed to work flawlessly.

Johnny: "Ergh! My chest!"

Once he fell over we waited for a moment before I looked at Dr. Doom. Even with the mask, he was astonished by my skills.

Doom: "How? He was one of my nemesis's allies. While he may not have been the strongest he was no easy foe."

Rasputin: "I may be a necromancer but I don't only know how to create undead. While I admit I am not a master nor even an expert in this kind of magic but I can use it well enough. The spell I used caused him to enter Cardiac Arrest. Unless your foes can retrieve his body in the next few minutes there will be no trace left behind of what caused the Heart Attack. As far as they will be able to tell the stress got to him and he died. In his flame form, he might have been able to resist it but in his human form he dies as easily as any other living being."

Doom puts his hand on his chin and seems to think but I ignore him and go to claim my prize. But I am stopped by Doom. I glare at him and prepare to fight if he has decided to go back on our agreement. He must have noticed my hostility because he explained himself.

Doom: "I am not breaching our deal. But you can't take his body yet. They must find his body and retrieve it. It will be the final piece to the collapse of their team. Once they are dealt with you will have your corpses and the knowledge I promised. And I will have my revenge."

Rasputin: "Fine! But this better work or else we will do things my way."

I didn't notice that he practically radiated disdain and hatred but even if I did I would have likely not cared.

Rasputin: "How will they find his body?"

Doom: "The Thing will be arriving here soon. Mr. Grimm will not leave Johnny out here all alone."

We leave the area and wait for The Thing to arrive. It seemed my ally was right. A man in a large trench coat appeared a bit later and when they saw Johnny lying face down they rushed to him and tried to revive him but it had been over 10 minutes since his death and nothing they could do would bring him back.

'Now to see if his plan works.'

The Thing takes Johnny's body back to their secret lair and what happens surprises me. The group practically dissolves almost immediately. The Thing and Reed Richards end up fighting and the fight causes The Thing to leave the group with the only female of the group taking the body of her brother with her.

'She must be planning to bury him.'

Rasputin: "Who shall we eliminate first?"

Doom: "The Thing. Then will deal with Reed Richards."

'He didn't mention the woman. I suppose he doesn't have to say who is last.'

We track down The Thing and with our efforts combined, it doesn't take too long to eliminate him. But we did get injured a few times. The Strength of The Thing was very impressive.

'His Corpse will be a perfect guardian. With some Runes I can make him the perfect weapon. Then that whorse will get what's coming to him.'

POV Reed Richards

I try to work on the ship but I can't seem to focus. I keep thinking about the fight and what was said. I get so angry that I throw the tool I was holding at the wall. But I stop when I hear some one walking in the base. I smile and get ready to try and amke amends.

Reed: "I am sorry about what happened. I will make this right."

Doom: "Oh, I am afraid it is too late for that. My old friend."

Reed: "Victor! How? I thought this world didn't have a Latveria."

Doom: "They don't. And now my home is dead because of you. I came here to get revenge but looking at the sorry state you are in makes me almost want to leave you here. Almost."

Reed: "I made a mistake but I will fix it. I always do."

Doom: "That's where you are wrong. There is no fixing it. Everyone is dead. Their souls are now taken by Death. No matter how smart you may be you can't restore what has been taken by her. She owns them and there is no way anyone can bargain with her. Trust me. I tried."

He removes the glove of his right hand and I gasp at the gruesome injury. His hand is purple and black as if it were dead. They were shriveled and even from this distance I could smell a foul stench wafting from it.

Reed: "What... What happened to your hand?"

Doom: "It was the price for trying to negotiate with death. The Soul of my right arm was taken. Nothing can repair the damage. I can now only move it with the use of my armor."

He puts his glove back on.

Doom: "So like I said there is no way to fix it. So to avenge my countrymen I am here to kill you."

Reed: "You can try but I will stop you as I always have."

Victor smiles at me and I prepare to fight.

Doom: "No, you are all alone. Even your so-called family has abandoned you because they finally see what you truly are. An arrogant fool who doesn't care about anyone but himself. The most dangerous man in the Multiverse."

I don't wait any longer and attack him but I find that I can't move. I was very confused and tried to figure out what happened.

Doom: "You really thought I came here unprepared to deal with you? You can't move because my ally here made it so."

Rasputin: "Kill him already! This isn't easy. And don't damage his body too much."

Doom: "Fine! Goodbye, Reed. I can't say I will miss you."

I try to move or getaway. Anything but nothing works and I realize that this is it.

'Huh, so this is how it ends? All alone and unable to resist.'

My vision goes dark and I feel my life fading.

'I guess I now get to see what the afterlife is like.'

POV Dr. Doom

I watch as Reed collapses and dies. I feel like I should have felt something but I just felt numb.

'It seems that my revenge wasn't enough. I feel nothing. I am not sure I even want to spare Susan anymore. What was even the point? Nothing will bring them back.'

I think about the smiling faces of my people. The children and elderly that are now dead and nothing I do can bring them back. I don't even notice as Rasputin takes Reed's corpse away.

'I once thought I could defeat Mephisto and reclaim the soul of my mother so how is Death any different?'

Despite my inner turmoil, I know that defeating Death is impossible. I knew that after communing with her. Even with all my skills and knowledge I was utterly defenseless against her. I couldn't even resist when she took the soul of my right arm. The only reason she didn't take more is the deal I made with her. I was allowed to stay alive if I killed one being for her. I look at my ally.

'Why is she so interested in his death?'

Death gave me a spell that could kill Rasputin even without locating his Phylactery. Regardless of the reason I decided to finish the job before fighting Susan. I didn't care if I killed her or she killed me all I cared about was fulfilling my deal with death so I was no longer marked by her.

'Then I can die without her claiming my soul.'

As Rasptuin has his back turned to me I cast the spell that should force his soul into his current body. It hits and he nearly collapses.

Rasputin: "What have you done!"

He casts spells at me but my armor effortlessly repels them and I grab his throat and start squeezing it. He struggles but eventually, a satisfying snap is heard. But that didn't kill him. I had never fought a Lich before nor did I fully understand how they worked but I didn't care to learn. I cast another spell this one on my hands and his body ingnited.

Rasputin: "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

Rasputin tries to flee but I grab him. But the next second I am confused as I am suddenly outside the base. I look around and notice that my ears are ringing. The first thing I see are the ruins of the base. I try to figure out what just happened.

'It was Reed. He must have been working on something or our fight caused something to go off.'

I get up and walk over to Rasputin or rather what remains of him. All that was left was his head. Which was surprisingly intact.

Rasputin: "You are a fool if you think she will let you go. I made a deal with her as well. I offered her the souls of everyone I killed in exchange for my soul never being claimed by her. She will betray you as she did me."

I put my boot over his head and stomped on his skull. His skull exploded and I could hear the screams of many tortured souls as his soul was taken by Death. A message was burned into the ground.

Death: "You have fulfilled your end of the bargain. Now you are free."

Doom: "As if."

I walked away from the burning wreckage of the base and wandered through the forest. After an unknown amount of time, I found Susan Storm. When she saw me she was shocked and furious. I was a bit confused but then I saw her in front of a dug-up grave. I didn't even have time to say a word before I was attacked.

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Authors Note:

Rasputin couldn't outrun death forever. He isn't Wally West. Until Next Time Ciao.