Twenty-Two
You Can Read the Previous Chapter HERE!
As they watched the Fantastic Four running down their main avenue, Doom’s robot sentries on their tail, firing their dreaded laser rifles, the frightened Latverians ran into their homes, bolted their locks, and prayed that this battle, like the ones before it, would pass them by. They had often been caught between Doom’s troops and runaways. Over the years they came to realize no harm would befall them if they simply minded their own business, locked themselves away, and came out again when the church bells chimed, indicating all was once more clear.
A miniature missile exploded on the road before the Fantastic Four. “We ain’t gonna make it, Stretch. Let’s stand still an’ fight ’em. Runnin’ won’t get us anythin’ but killed!” Ben Grimm shouted; his voice rang like cannon fire.
Johnny Storm circled and fired at the onrushing army. A wall of fire sprang up before them, but the robots braved their way through. “I think Doom prepared these guys for us, Reed. They’re fireproof.”
Reed leaped at a tree, his hands grabbing its trunk. He saw another oak across the narrow street. “Ben!” he shouted. “Grab my legs! Tie them around that other tree!”
“Huh? What’re ya doin’ now, big-brain? Gonna pretend yer a clothesline an’ hope they’ll pass us by?”
A volley of missiles was fired at them. Reed relaxed his body as he stretched into a wide sheet. The missiles hit him, three in the chest, two in the stomach. Sue shut her eyes in horror. Ben’s fingers, firm on a tree stump, closed tight. The stump shattered under his grip.
The missiles stretched Reed’s body backward. He seemed to elongate almost to the end of the block. Concentrating, Reed snapped his body forward like a rubber band, shooting the missiles back at Doom’s robots. Four were instantly destroyed. The shattered fragments lodged in two others. All six were useless.
“C’mon, let’s go!” Reed shouted, his long legs leading the four of them. He stretched upward toward Johnny, saw three divisions of robot sentries approaching from varying directions. There were just too many of them. They’d never make it out of Latveria alive.
“Come, this way, hurry. You haven’t any time.” It was a girl’s voice that called out to them.
Reed shrank back to normal height. “Who are you?”
The girl shouted at him angrily. “There isn’t time for introductions. If you want to live, follow me. Hurry.”
Reed turned to the others. “There’s no other choice. Let’s go.”
They ran down a side street and ducked through a low door. Johnny landed behind them and followed. A dark tunnel appeared before them, but the girl held a small candle which she had picked up at the door. “Follow me. Be quiet,” she whispered softly.
It took several minutes, but they soon found themselves in a small wine cellar. Large casks sat on heavy wooden shelves. There was barely enough space to breathe in. But Johnny saw the girl who had led them to safety, and he gulped. “Anna? You?”
The dark-haired Latverian glared at Johnny. “Perhaps now you know what I meant when I said Doom was evil. You refused to help free Latveria, but I will still help you.”
The others looked on in confusion. Johnny grinned sheepishly. Introductions and explanations were definitely in order. “I met Anna while you three were getting yourselves captured. She and I sort of had an argument.” He shrugged his shoulders noncommittally.
Then Anna spoke. Her words were bitter, yet without hatred. “I wanted, I pleaded, with him to help us overthrow the despot who rules us. He refused.”
Reed understood. “Johnny was right, Anna. As much as we would like to see Doom done away with, we can’t enter any country we wish to just to overthrow its leaders. That would be an abuse of our powers, and, worse, that would force us to become the decision-makers between who is right and wrong, who should live and who should die. If Doom hasn’t that right, we can’t claim it, either.”
Reed saw the girl was beginning to complain. He continued, not letting her speak. “What would happen if we, on our own, decided the government of America was unjust, or England, or the Soviet Union? We know, we can feel for those who live in oppressed nations, but we dare not use our powers to destroy their leaders. You have to fight for yourself. That’s the only answer.”
The girl was angry; the words sputtered from her lips. “That is the coward’s decision. Doom is evil. He subjugates his people. We have no freedoms. We want to be free, and to be free we need your help. Cowards. Liars. That’s what you people are.”
From the distance they heard an old man’s voice call out. “Anna, come up here quickly. His sentries are at the door. I want you by my side.”
With a sneer on her lips, Anna mounted the steps and vanished. “Yes, Grandfather. Hold on. I will be there.”
“Awright, Reed, whadda we do now? That gal thinks we’re lower’n scum. She ain’t gonna raise a hand ta save us, and we’re trapped down here.”
They eyed the large casks of wine. Reed studied them carefully.
“I have an idea,” is all he said.
“Have you seen the Americans?” The robot pushed its way into the small house; its scanners analyzed the room’s interior. No excessive heat patterns. “Speak!” Its voice was cold and mechanical, deliberately designed to instill fear.
“No. I haven’t seen anyone,” the girl said. Her eyes grew narrow, her hateful expression lost on the steel sentry.
“You lie. Perspiration rate has increased. Heartbeat has increased. You have lied. Where are the strangers? Take us to them or face immediate elimination.”
The old man hobbled toward the robot sentries, his cane tapping on the wood-planked floor. “My granddaughter said she saw them earlier, when they came. Yesterday. She is not lying. Check me if you think so. I have not seen them.”
“You tell the truth, yet you lie. There is something amiss. Is this your only cluster of rooms?”
There was no point in lying. The robot sensors would discover a lie. “No. We have a basement, a wine cellar. I make the wine myself, from the grapes I grow in my garden. I have permission.”
The robots pushed passed the old man, knocking him back. Anna caught her grandfather and helped him to his seat as the robots descended the stairwell to the cellar.
Light beams glowed from their eyes, turning the dark basement into daytime. There were only large casks, nothing else.
Suddenly their arms lifted, and their laser rifles slid into place. With a wide arc they circled the room, blasting each cask. Wine spurted out from half the casks, yet the deadly rays slashed through all. Anna cried out in horror. She understood what had happened, but it was too late. There was nothing she could do.
The robots paused. Their leader turned toward the girl. “We did not detect the presence of outsiders, but our computer tapes indicated you have not yet made this year’s payment for your wine-merchant license. You have been operating illegally. Tomorrow you will appear in Municipal Court number three and pay your fine. In the meantime, all illegalities have been removed.”
The girl was silent, struck numb, as the robots left without another word. Wine flowed everywhere; it formed puddles around her feet. Then she heard one cask shudder and open. Johnny Storm slipped safely outside. Her eyes grew wide with astonishment.
The other casks opened. Reed Richards, Sue Richards, and the orange-skinned monster called the Thing eased their way to safety. “Yer plan worked perfect, Stretch. How’d ya know?”
Reed eased a pain in his back as he answered his friend’s question. “We passed through Doom’s robot control room during the tour, remember? I knew the frequency he operated on. I was sure a minor adjustment in our belt radio would block out our heartbeats. Fortunately, I was right.”
Anna couldn’t hold her shock in any longer. “They shot you. How did you live? I saw them use their terrible rays. I saw it.”
“Each of us,” Reed began, “has special powers. You must know that by now. Sue’s force field protected her.” Reed nodded toward Johnny. “The Human Torch’s flame helped to deflect the light beams. I was able to stretch out of the way, anticipating their moves, which wasn’t as difficult as you might suppose.” They stared at him, confused. Reed grinned. “There was a small hole in the cask. I saw where they were aiming and shifted my body to the opposite side.”
“As fer me, there ain’t no laser built that can put the ol’ kibbosh on yer’s truly.” The Thing grinned a wide, toothless grin that seemed distinctly out of place. Behind them they heard Johnny begin to giggle, then laugh, then convulse. “What’s so funny, hot-head?”
It took more than a minute for Johnny to control himself, to clear the tears from his eyes. “You know why you survived, Benjamin, my orange buddy? You know why? The blamed robot missed you, that’s why. But if you want to see what the laser hit, take a peek behind you.”
Ben turned his massive head, and if it were possible for his orange-hued body to turn red, it would have. He backed into the corner, behind a cask still emptying its wine. The others saw his consternation. Then Sue noticed the reason and she broke into fits of laughter.
Ben was fit to be tied. “Awright! Awright! So what’s so funny, lady? Ya never seen a orange butt before? Sheesh! Hey, wot’re ya all starin’ at me fer? Ain’t ya got no courtesy? C’mon, get movin’. Get movin’!”
Laughing, Reed turned to Anna. “You wouldn’t have any material we could alter for Ben, would you? I think my friend here is a bit embarrassed.”
Ben squarked. “This is another one I owe Doom fer. Burnin’ off my britches! That’s a new low, even fer him!”
It took fifteen minutes before the laughter stopped.
Continued...Tomorrow at Atomic Kommie Comics
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