A premium-class limousine was parked outside the Watsons' house. The sun was dipping toward the horizon.
Harry sat behind the wheel, buried in a newspaper. In the passenger seats, John, Jane, and Cain mindlessly scrolled through their feeds, eyes glued to their screens.
"Where's our girl?" Cain frowned as his phone beeped a low battery warning. "How long is she gonna cry it out?"
"Her name is Mary," Thunderheart corrected him, always proper. "Give girl some time. Unlike us, she has people to say goodbye to."
"Like her boyfriend," John snorted. "My detector says she left her aunt's place two hours ago through the back, climbed over the fence, and slipped in through the neighbor's window."
"I don't get it," Cain blurted out. He was clearly sick of browsing the internet and itching for a chat. "What does she see in that tights-wearing twig?"
"I think he's a good guy," Jane chimed in, also apparently up for a chat. "You should judge people by their actions, not appearances."
John stayed silent. He didn't care. His only goal was to stay out of the pointless conversation—but not all dreams come true.
Jane poked him in the shoulder.
"What do you think?"
"That I'm tired of sitting in this car," Rider muttered, tearing his attention away from online poker. "And I don't like leaving our little matchstick unsupervised for too long. If the bird flies the cage, I won't be there."
"I'll talk to her," Jane promised.
"We should hurry her up," Cain said, knocking on the limo roof.
"Yes, sir?" Harry folded the newspaper. "Are we ready to leave?"
"Nope, man. We're still waiting on number four. Honk, get her moving."
"Don't, Harry," Jane warned. "That would be rude."
"And what do you say, Captain Skull?"
Everyone turned to John—their leader, the one supposed to make the call.
[I'm so sick of this...]
"I'm not sitting through another teenage meltdown," said Rider. "Besides, I gave her my word she'd get to say goodbye. I may be a crook, but I keep my promises."
No one argued after that.
Another hour passed. The sun had fully disappeared behind the horizon when Mary finally came out of the Parker house. For some reason, she was wearing a light green dress.
[Changed for her boyfriend? Cute.]
"Glad to see you picked a dress over being on time," John grumbled. "We actually had a meeting scheduled today."
"Don't grouch, or your face will get stuck like that!" Mary laughed, though no one else did. "I'm ready for adventure!"
"Let's wrap up business in New York first," said Rider, putting away his phone. "Harry, drive to the Baxter Building."
"Yes, sir."
The limo smoothly pulled away toward Manhattan.
[If everything goes according to plan, we'll have a new home.]
"The Baxter Building? That's the Fantastic Four's HQ!" Cain frowned. "What do we need with those clowns?"
"Well, you did want to find out who's stronger—Juggernaut or Thing. Here's your chance."
"Sweet!" giant grinned ear to ear. "Like a Christmas gift in July—awesome."
"John!" Thunderheart looked at him reproachfully. "You're not serious?"
"I'm dead serious, darling," he met her eyes. "Going to New York and not fighting superheroes is like going to Paris and skipping the Eiffel Tower."
"Bro!"
John and Cain bumped fists.
"We can't fight good people!" Jane snapped. "Either you tell me what's really going on, or I'm out!"
"All in good time. I promise, our meeting with the Fantastic Four won't break your justice code."
Her shoulders eased a bit at his words.
"And Cain—I promise you, too—you'll get your fight with the Thing."
Juggernaut was grinning like a kid at an amusement park.
"Just visiting the Baxter Building is already an adventure!" Mary smiled dreamily. "I read only real celebrities can get inside. I bet everything there is elegant, luxurious… Harry, turn around!"
Harry, being a professional, didn't slam the brakes or pull any other Hollywood nonsense. He ignored the teenager's order and glanced at the rearview mirror—at the one who signed his checks.
"Sir?"
"Keep going," John said, looking at Mary. "What's the emergency?"
"You don't understand!" schoolgirl cried. "I packed a suitcase at home and forgot it!"
"So what?" Cain asked.
"All my outfits are in there!" fashionista fumed. "I can't wear the same thing every day!"
"Forget it," Rider leaned back in his seat. "Just buy new stuff. I can't even remember the last time I used a washing machine."
"You guys buy new clothes every day?"
"Yes."
Mary was stunned. She tried to figure out if this was a joke by glancing at Jane—but Jane just shrugged.
"Are you all millionaires or something?!"
"Well, yeah," John raised a brow. "You didn't know? I was planning to send your aunt twenty grand a month. That sound like a joke to you?"
"No, but…" Mary bit her lip. "Throwing money around like that—it's insane to me."
"Don't worry," Jane gave her a side hug. "It felt weird to me at first, too. But you get used to it real quick."
"Yeah," Cain nodded. "Last time I had to think about makin' money was before I got powers."
"Big leagues now, Mary," John reminded her. "You're on a different level. Different needs, different problems."
///
The limousine rolled to a stop beside the towering giant of concrete and glass. The Baxter Building loomed over New York, its windows cold and impenetrable, reflecting the lights of the city.
No one truly knew what one of the world's smartest men was doing inside his lair. The internet was full of wild theories:
— Richards is building an army of cyber-mutants to take over the world.
— Richards is building a quantum bomb that'll blow up the whole planet.
— Richards is creating a new race to replace humanity.
But the truth is—no one knows the truth.
[Time to find out.]
"Harry, your job's done," John said by the driver's window. "Your tip's on the back seat."
"You're very generous, sir. When should I expect the next ride?"
"Never."
[I like Harry, but riding with him is becoming impossible. Gotta censor too much when he's around.]
"It was a pleasure working with you, sir," Harry said with dignity as he drove off.
John and the crew headed toward the Baxter Building.
The plain lobby with a single elevator was packed to the brim: sweaty t-shirts, greasy hair, backpacks, the scent of energy drinks and cheap Chinese noodles. John scanned the crowd of geeks who clearly hadn't bathed since the superhero era began.
One guy even wore a Thing costume—twice the size of the original.
Mary pinched her nose at the stench of unwashed humanity.
"What's going on here?" Rider asked a pimply fat guy.
"What are you, a level-one elf?" the tubby nerd adjusted his glasses. "This is the Baxter Building. The Fantastic Four live here."
"Yeah, I know. Why the crowd?"
"Man, you are such a noob. And you came with females, too—probably your sisters," geek glanced at Jane and Mary, immediately sweating and blushing for no reason. "We're trying to guess the password to the elevator to get upstairs."
John looked past the mob. A long line snaked toward the impenetrable elevator door—no buttons in sight. Above it, a small camera. Every nerd got one minute to say the magic words or attempt a dance to gain access.
[Some people really got too much time. Dancing for a camera every day instead of washing your hair—or getting a job.]
"Have you ever tried just blowing the door up?" John suggested.
"That's something only a noob would say," the geek replied with smug superiority. "Any hostile action triggers the security system: vandals get sprayed with suppression foam, a video of their offense is sent to the police station across the street, and they get arrested."
[So they're trying to beat a robot without breaking the rules. Interesting. I like games like that myself.]
"How long have you been trying to get into the elevator?"
"Eleven months."
[I take it back. They're idiots. Only idiots would waste that much time on a game with no clear ending.]
"Alright, move aside," John said. "I have an appointment with the Fantastic Four."
"Everyone has an appointment," pimply nerd puffed up his chest and pressed forward with his belly. "Get in line, noob."
"Cain," Rider turned to the giant, "would you kindly clear a path?"
"I was wondering when you'd ask," Juggernaut grinned and plowed into the crowd.
Geeks toppled like bowling pins. Outraged cries filled the air:
"Server cheater!"
"I'd wreck you in WoW!"
"I'm logging out!"
John and the girls followed behind the giant like a convoy behind an icebreaker.
"Feels like school all over again," Juggernaut laughed, tossing fanboys aside. "Didn't understand a damn word back then either!"
"Just don't kill anyone," Jane reminded him.
One downed nerd crawled to Mary's feet.
"Oh, fiery-haired princess," he gazed up. "Please, bless me for battle with a kiss…"
"Ew," Mary recoiled in disgust. "Cain, you left trash on the floor."
"Ah!" geek clutched his chest. "Critical hit!"
A minute later, Juggernaut had dumped all the geeks outside by the nearest dumpster. Breathing became noticeably easier.
John stepped up to the silver elevator doors and looked into the security camera.
"Welcome to the Baxter Building," said a robotic voice from the ceiling. "We do not offer tours or sell souvenirs. If you have a commercial proposal for the Fantastic Four, please email us. If you are not an authorized user but wish to ascend, state the password."
The robot clicked like an answering machine, waiting for input.
Everyone looked at John, but of course, he didn't know the password. Still, he always had the right answer.
"Listen up, toaster. In a moment, my blonde friend gonna hit this building with a million volts of lightning, frying all your electronics and security systems. Then my giant friend will tear the door off like it's paper, and no foam will hold him. Then my redheaded friend will turn all your homunculus creations back into babies. And finally, I'll burn the soul of whatever idiot is making me wait."
The robot clicked again.
"Thank you for the provided information," said the mechanical voice. "Processing your request."
Three seconds later, the elevator doors slid open.
"Welcome, Ghost Rider, Thunderheart, Juggernaut, and Lady Phoenix," the robot said. "You are expected."
They stepped into the elevator—no control panel inside. The doors shut behind them. Soothing music played from the speakers as the elevator glided upward.
"This is insane!" Mary shouted, examining the walls. "I'm in the Baxter Building! Everyone is going to be so jealous!"
She immediately started taking selfies of herself from every angle.
"Kinda disappointed they didn't send any robots down," Cain sighed from the back. "At least the elevator's roomy."
"It was built to fit Thing," Jane noted, still in study mode. "Is it just me, or is it weird that the robot recognized us? We could've lied."
"Allow me to clarify," said the polite mechanical voice. "Scanners detected and analyzed the energy signatures you emit. They matched the incident from two days ago with one hundred percent accuracy."
"You answer all questions?" John asked.
"Only if not prohibited by my protocols."
Cain raised his hand like a schoolboy in class.
"I've got a question: is the Invisible Woman open to dating a guy who looks like a wrestler on steroids but has the soul of a pony?"
Thunderheart and Lady Phoenix rolled their eyes.
"Disclosing personal information about the Fantastic Four is prohibited," a red light blinked in the elevator. "My protocols advise terminating further interaction. Have a nice day."
"Smart one," John smirked.
[I figured the world's smartest man would write a solid AI, but hey, worth a shot.]
The elevator stopped. The doors opened. Outside was a surprisingly spacious but otherwise ordinary apartment.
"Cute," Mary said, eyeing the wall lights. "Pretty sure this decor was all the rage last season."
Somewhere in the distance, a TV was on—sounded like a football game.
"Uh, John?" Jane hesitated by the still-open elevator. "Is it… supposed to be like this?"
He didn't answer. Mostly because he had no idea himself.
At that moment, the well-known playboy Johnny Storm walked out of the kitchen. Same blond hair and blue eyes. But he wasn't in his iconic suit—he wore sweatpants, a T-shirt, and no shoes. He looked... domestic.
Johnny froze. One hand held a bucket of chips, the other a bowl of cheese dip. He looked like someone caught mid-shower—only worse, because his shirt had Pokémon on it.
"Johnny, what's taking you so long?" came Thing's booming voice from the living room. "Second half's about to start."
"What's the holdup, dipstick?" Cain snorted. "Get more snacks. There's a lot of us now."
"Juggernaut!" Johnny shouted, bursting into flames. "Supervillain attack!"
An alarm blared through the house.
"Thunder formation!" Ghost Rider barked.
Jane instantly stepped in front of Mary—without partial transformation, she was a regular human.
Cain stepped forward and projected a crimson shield in front of the team—just in time to absorb Human Torch's fireballs, which fizzled on impact.
[Glad we trained for this. Always nice to see teamwork pay off.]
The Thing stormed in, each step shaking the floor. Crumbs and ketchup stains dotted his rocky skin.
From the bathroom came Susan Storm in light blue pajamas, a streak of toothpaste on her cheek. She'd clearly been getting ready for bed—what a surprise this must've been.
"Knock yourself out, Cain," John said, leaning casually against the wall.
And the battle began.
Juggernaut's punches knocked stone chips off the Thing's face. The rocky brute had the strength of a hundred bulls, but not one of his punches could pierce Cyttorak's protection.
The Invisible Woman trapped Cain in a force field—and paid for it with a splitting headache when he shattered it with one flex of his muscles.
The Human Torch drenched Cain in flame, but all it did was make him sweat.
"That all you got?" Cain grabbed Johnny by the ankle and spun him like a helicopter. "Boring!"
He hurled the Torch straight out the window.
John and the girls watched the fight like front-row spectators.
"This is gonna get a million likes!" Mary whispered, filming everything on her phone.
"I really don't like this," Jane said, arms crossed, eyes locked on Cain's every move. "We should stop the chaos."
"If our friend had crossed the line, you would've already done it," John replied. "Besides, they attacked us first. It's fair play."
Johnny came flying back in through the window, a fiery missile aimed straight at Cain—and caught a punch square in the face for his efforts.
"Don't get in the way, punk!" Cain roared. "The grown-ups are fighting!"
The Thing could barely stay on his feet. There wasn't a single uncracked stone left on his face—just chips and fractures.
Juggernaut delivered an uppercut. The Thing flew several feet into the air, a chunk of his jaw breaking off midair. He hit the floor with a thud and didn't get back up. Knockout.
"So, who's the strongest now?" Cain placed his foot on the fallen brute. "Next level—smacking around that green loser!"
Suddenly, a force field formed around John's head.
Sue Storm's voice came from all directions:
"I don't know who you are, but if you're his commander—tell him to stop. One more pulse and you'll lose your head."
The field tightened around his neck.
[Taking me hostage? What a dumb move.]
"Cain, six o'clock."
Juggernaut spun instantly and clapped his hands. The shockwave sent Sue flying—she slammed into a wall and lost focus, becoming visible again.
"That's enough," said a male voice from above.
Everyone looked up. Hanging from a coin-sized crack in the ceiling, attached by a flesh-colored strand, was a talking head.
[Okay… even I find this weird.]
"Reed?" Sue gasped as she got up from the wall debris. "Help! We're under attack! Call Namor, call Avengers!"
"That won't be necessary," said Mister Fantastic's head calmly. "They're my guests."
"What?!" Johnny sat up, rubbing his jaw. "Would've been nice to get a heads-up!"
"You two are always whining about lacking real—not simulated—combat experience," Reed said in a bored tone. "So I gave you a live supervillain scenario. I trust you're satisfied and won't bother me again while I'm working."
The Storm siblings gave him matching death stares. Ben still hadn't moved.
"What if Juggernaut had killed us?!" Sue snapped.
[My cue.]
"Everything was under control," John said. "My passenger doesn't allow killing good people. And the lady with the hammer can move at lightning speed. You were never in real danger… just a little beatdown."
"But Ben—" Sue looked at the unconscious rocky brute.
"Mild concussion," Dr. Richards diagnosed. "The med-scanners recorded everything. With his regeneration, Ben will be fine by morning."
"Appreciate my restraint," Cain said innocently. "I only hit the rocky parts."
"Who the hell are you people?!" Johnny flared up again, clearly trying to look intimidating.
"Like he said—we're guests," Ghost Rider stared him down. "Reed warned me that if I showed you Juggernaut, you'd attack on sight… and voilà."
Human Torch's flames grew slightly brighter. Looked like he was blushing—from anger.
[Yikes. Always awkward when someone reads you like an open book.]
"Technically, we did you a favor," John tried to smooth things over. "You should consider this a team-building exchange."
"Teamwork, my ass," Cain snorted. "I wrecked 'em solo!"
He gave a big thumbs-up.
[God… Why can't he just shut up?]
"You knew it would go like this!" Jane glared at John. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
[Great. Now my blonde is scolding me.]
"I gave a heads-up," Ghost Rider shrugged. "Details come later."
"Now that everything's sorted," Mister Fantastic muttered, "I've got important research waiting. Sue, please escort our guests to the thirty-ninth floor and show them Object #M4S."
"I'm not your secretary!" Sue snapped.
Reed didn't care. His head stretched into a thin thread and vanished into a vent, sucked away like by a vacuum. The sin-detector says that head traveled twenty floors before reattaching to its body.
"Who else can bail on responsibility like that?" Mary mumbled, staring after the vanishing head.
"Sometimes I hate him," Sue sighed.
Sue no longer tried to kill them, and Johnny wasn't burning up. They weren't friends—but they weren't enemies either. What remained was a careful, tense politeness—like a truce made under pressure. It seemed the whole team trusted Reed's judgment.
"Give me ten minutes," Sue said to the guests. "I need to pull myself together."
The blonde disappeared into the bedroom.
A cargo robot arrived via elevator to transport Ben to the medical wing.
"I'll help!" Jane offered, helping lift the stone brute.
Johnny went pale as he saw how effortlessly Jane picked Ben up.
Cain was beaming with joy—he'd finally gotten to break something.
"This is so dumb…" Mary muttered, scrolling through the comments on her video. "Everyone thinks it's fake. No one believes I'm actually in the Baxter Building."
"They'll believe you if we take a selfie together," the fiery ladies' man rolled up beside her. "I even know how to boost the likes—let's kiss!"
"Back off," Mary lost interest in him instantly. "I have a boyfriend."
"Oh yeah? Who?" Johnny kept pushing. "Doubt he's as handsome and famous as me!"
"Yeah, but he'll yank your underwear over your head!" came a booming voice from behind.
Human Torch turned slowly and started to sweat when he saw Juggernaut grinning at him.
"What're you staring at?" Cain struck a relaxed pose. "Girl's taken. Fly outta here before I toss you out the window again."
Johnny Storm mumbled something unintelligible and took off for a nightclub.
"Thanks, Cain," Mary gave him a soft smile. "You have no idea how sick I am of those narcissistic macho types."
The cargo robot carried Ben away in the elevator. Cleaning bots arrived to tidy up the mess.
At last, Sue Storm emerged from the bedroom, now wearing a blue pantsuit—pure business. She had a tablet in hand.
"Follow me," she said briskly, stepping into the elevator.
[She's not a secretary? She acts like a corporate manager.]
The elevator descended to the thirty-ninth floor, which looked like an actual factory: gray walls, high ceilings, machinery, conveyor belts.
"You've got a factory in your house?" John examined the giant crates full of parts. "Who even uses this? Robots?"
"Reed writes the schematics, robots build the rest," Sue replied, leading the way. "The first part takes longer than the second."
They passed by the machines, heading deeper into a storage area filled with wooden crates, each marked with a serial number whose meaning only the creator understood.
They stopped in front of a giant crate marked #M4S.
Sue tapped a few buttons on her tablet. The crate clicked as locks disengaged, and slowly unfolded before them like the petals of a wooden flower. Inside wasn't just a van—it was a heavily armored monster on wheels, gleaming with future tech.
"This beast is our new home," John said, patting the hood. "Now the whole world is our road."
"Holy crap!" Mary flung open the door and slipped inside. "Everyone's got their own room!"
"You convinced Richards to build us a ride?" Jane eyed the massive wheels. "How did you pull that off?"
"I pitched him a business deal," Ghost Rider smirked. "Sent a message to his promo inbox. Told him who we are and the kind of adventures we're heading into. The deal's simple: Reed builds us a mobile home; we travel through magical dimensions and collect data he can study later."
"Sounds like Reed," Sue muttered. "He'd do anything in the name of science."
"The kitchen's bigger than the one in my house!" Mary shouted from inside. "It's even got all the gadgets!"
"Yeah, but does it have a TV?" Cain frowned.
"Massive one!" teenager called back.
"Gotta check that out," Juggernaut grinned and stepped inside with ease. The vehicle was clearly built to his scale.
"What else does this thing have?" John asked Sue.
"Water generator that automatically collects and filters moisture from the air," she read off the tablet. "Batteries. Says here they're powered by the user."
"That's you," John winked at his blonde.
"It has a flight mode with retractable wings, a battle mode, a defense mode, a coffee machine…"
Sue spent a good thirty minutes listing off all the features.
[I gave Reed a simple idea: we need a van that can go anywhere and keep us comfortable. And he tuned it to 'divine' level.]
"Weight: ten tons. That's the end," Sue finished reading, then raised an eyebrow. "There's a weird note at the bottom: by all known laws of physics, the vehicle shouldn't be able to move. It can only be started by Ghost Rider."
"Heh. This baby's gonna move faster than lightning."
Ghost Rider placed a hand on the van, transforming it into a hell-on-wheels. The body lit up with fiery chains, and the engine roared like a demon breaking free.
/////
3800 words.
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