Victor, who had been watching everything from a secretly installed video, smiled. He knew how he could get more power. He had his assistant call Ben to the Baxter Building.

Victor stood around admiring the machine, when Ben came in. "Ben, come in"

Ben looked around. "What is this? Where's Reed?"

Victor said, "Where do you think? With Sue"

"What do you want Vic?" Ben asked.

"To help you. I've run every test known to man. And they all yield the same result: the machine is ready" Victor said.

Ben shook his head, unable to believe him. "But, Reed said it would take weeks"

"He also said we'd avoid that storm in space. And we know how that turned out." Victor said.

Ben nodded, Victor was right, Reed had been wrong before.

Victor continued, "He couldn't generate enough power for the machine to reach critical mass. Yet another mistake for 'Mr. Fantastic'"

"And you can? Power it up?" Ben asked.

"Yes, I've found another energy source," Victor said, "Tell me...do you want to be Ben Grimm again?"

Ben looked at the machine and nodded. "Let's do it."

Victor turned away and smiled. He got him.

Ben got into the machine and Victor started it up. The same thing happened as before with Reed, with one exception, Victor Von Doom. Victor watches Ben tense in pain. He walked over to the control panel and lifted it open. His eyes greeted the orange swirls, and he stuck his hand in it. Ben screamed as lights flickered on and off.

Lights outside in the dark night, flickered on and off as well. Some going out and not coming back on.

Reed, in his bedroom with Sue and Nat, looks up as the lights flicker. Sue was in the bathroom when the lights flickered. She paused. Nat looked up and to Reed. Reed started to get out of his bed, but Nat pushes him back down.

"I'll go check it out. You just stay here." Nat said.

Natalie left the room as Reed disobeyed her. He struggled with all his might and tried to get up from the bed.

Outside in the city, Johnny walks along the sidewalk alone. He looks up when he noticed bright lights coming from a building. He knew what building it was and he started running towards it.

The Lights stop and the machine is done. Victor had removed his hand and hidden in the shadow. Ben came out of the machine, weak and back to normal. He stared at his hands, his mouth gaping open. Natalie came down the stairs when she noticed the machine was on. When Ben came out, she gasped and went towards him.

"Ben?" she asked.

"Nat?" Ben looked at her, he smiled. "I'm back...I'm back!"

Natalie watched Ben as he looked at his hands.

"Oh my gods...thank you. Thank you, Vic!" Ben said.

"Vic?" Nat asked.

Ben didn't respond as he looked behind her. Nat turned around to see Victor walk out from the shadows. He had a mask on, and his arms were covered with sparks.

"Everyone thought I was safe behind those shields." Victor, now Doom said.

"Victor, the machine worked for me. It can work for you-" Ben started to say.

"It did, Ben. It worked perfectly" Doom said.

"You planned this...?" Ben said.

"You bastard" Nat whispered.

Doom smiled and reached out his hand. The sparks of electricity coursed from his fingers to his shoulder. "I've always wanted power. Now I've got an unlimited supply."

"And no Thing to stand in your way." Ben said, now standing with Natalie slightly behind him.

Doom smiled. "Take a good look, Ben. This is what a man looks like who embraces his destiny."

Without warning, Doom clenched his fist and swung his hand towards Ben and Nat, sending them flying backwards across the room. Nat and Ben lay next to each other on top of a crumpled shelf. Natalie groaned and stood up. Nat looked down at the unconscious Ben and back up to Doom. Angry, Nat brought up her hand and a blast of Ice came from her hand. But before the ice could hit Doom, he blasted her with his electricity and ducked away from the ice. Nat flew back again, and this time she stayed down.

"Two down, three to go" Doom said. He walked to Nat and picked her up. He walked back to Ben and glanced down at him.

"Victor? What happened?" Reed, from above asked.

Doom looked up at him and moved Nat over his shoulder.

"Exactly what I said I would: I built a better, stronger being. And outsmarted the great Reed Richards." Doom said.

Realization dawning on Reed, he said, "Victor, this isn't the way to-"

Doom interrupted, "You always know best. So tell me, what happens when you superheat rubber?"

Doom blasted Reed and he flew out the window. Doom looks out the window with an evil smile and watched Reed as he slinked down the building, unable to control his body. Doom went down to the Lobby, Nat still on his shoulder unconscious. The doorman looks up at Doom.

"Mr. Von Doom? Are you okay?" He asked.

Doom casually swipes at the doorman, sending him through the doors.

"Never better, Jimmy. And it's Doom now." Doom said. He stepped out the doors and over Jimmy's body in time to see Reed land on the sidewalk.

Doom grabbed Reed's face, and asked, "Why the long face?" He pulled on Reed's arm, pulling him along.

Back in the lab, Sue comes out from above. She sees Ben coming out of unconsciousness and trying to get up.

"Ben?"

Sue helps him stand up and Johnny comes out from the elevator.

"Sue?" Johnny calls out.

He notices Ben and says, "Jesus, Ben! I go away and look what happens. You got a lot of explaining to do.

"The machine works. And Vic's gone mister Hyde on us-" Ben said weakly.

"Really? With a name like Von Doom? Never saw that coming." Johnny said sarcastically.

Sue gives Johnny a look. She looks around.

"Where's Reed?" Sue asks.

Ben looks around. "Victor must've taken him and Nat too"

Johnny looks at Ben, despair written all over his face. He had just gotten her back.

--------------------------------------------

"Chemistry 101, Part two. What happens to rubber when it's super-cooled?" Doom asked from the darkness. He steps out when he gets no response. He has a mask covering his face and a dark coloured hood.

He goes up to Reed, whose been frozen solid by tubes inside him blowing ultra-cold vapour. Reed struggles to speak but he can't. Nat is nowhere to be found.

"Allow me" Doom says. He takes one of Reed's fingers and pulls it back with a horrific cracking sound. Reed's face contorts with pain.

"Painful?" Doom asks. "You don't know the meaning of the word, but you will." Reed tries to say something but fails. Doom catches on and guessed what he's trying to say.

"Where's Nat you say? Well I've put her somewhere where she's out of her element...she'll probably die" Doom says. "And there is nothing you can do about it."

Reed remains motion-less but inside his emotions are rolling like a storm. He's mad as hell that someone would hurt Natalie. She's like a sister to him.

"I've got something planned for your precious team." Doom said, as he goes to his table and takes out a weapon. It is a heat-seeker.

As Reed watches from out of the corner of his eyes, Doom goes to the window, aims the weapon in the air, and shoots. The loud noise rips the silence out of the night sky. Doom pulls the weapon down and says, "Flame off."

--------------------------------------------

Johnny, Ben, and Sue hear the loud booming sound and they turn to the window to see a glowing thing heading straight for them. They go out to the balcony and the missile speeds up towards its' target.

"What is that?" Sue asks.

"I...I think that's for me. It's a heat seeker." Johnny said, looking down to the ground. He steps up onto the ledge.

"What are you doing?" Sue demands.

"Sis, let me take care of you for once." Johnny said.

"But Johnny...you can't fly" Sue said.

Johnny looks at Sue. "Well then there's a first time for everything." He leans back and falls off the ledge.

"JOHNNY!" Sue yells, lunging forward to catch him.

Johnny falls straight down. He mutters to himself under his breath. "Come on...Come on...Come on."

Then all of sudden he yells, "Flame On!" and his entire body bursts into flame, and he banks up into the night sky. Finally flying.

Sue and Ben watch as he leads the missile away from them.

"We need to help Reed." Ben said.

Sue looks at him and shakes her head. "Ben, you got what we all wanted. You need to stay here. It's too dangerous."

Ben watches Sue take off and he looks to the machine, the broken shelves, and to himself.

"What have I done?" he says out loud to himself.

-------------------------------------------

Johnny zigs and zags through the air. Whatever Johnny does, the missile does. It gains speed as Johnny tries to find a way to get this missile off his tail.

--------------------------------------------

Despite efforts, Reed still cannot move. Then all of sudden he hears something. It sounds like a footstep, but it doesn't seem to be Doom. The footstep is softer. He then hears a creak, more creaks come as it gets closer and closer to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a tube start to move on its own. A hand appears out of nowhere and reveals to be Sue.

"What has he done to you?" She whispers, as she turns knobs and tubes off.

"How romantic" Doom's voice booms from the darkness.

Sue whips her head around to see Doom, and she stands up. "Victor, please-"
"Uh, it's Doctor Doom now" Doom says, with a wagging finger.

"We know the machine works. It worked on Ben, it'll work on you. We can turn you back-"
Victor interrupts, "Do you really think fate turned us into gods so we could refuse these gifts?"

"Victor, you always thought you were a God" Sue said.

Doom puts an arm behind him. "Susan, let's not fight"

"No, Lets." Sue said, as she hurled a force-field at him.

It hits Doom and knocks him backwards. He gets back up with no problem. "Susan, you're fired." He fires off an electric shockwave that hits her. Sue flies through the air, hit the wall, and crashes to the floor. As he gets closer to her, she goes invisible.

Doom stops where he is as he looks around. "Marco...Polo." He spins around and grabs Sue, and throws her to where Reed is. Sue looks up at Reed, helpless and beaten. Reed notices light flickering off in the distance.

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Johnny continues to do acrobat moves as the missile gains speed. He flies over the water when he notices a garbage barge. An idea pops up. He flies faster and goes behind the barge and blasts off a fireball at the garbage. The flames catch and the garbage goes on fire. He flies into the large flaming fire, the missile following him. He goes through the fire as the missile hits the barge and explodes. Johnny is thrown out of the barge and into the water, immediately killing the flames on him.