Fantastic Four

[Earth-199999ba]

Fantastic Four Tower

In the tower's laboratory, the only sounds were the low hum of machinery and the crisp tapping of a keyboard.

Reed Richards's hands flew across the keys. The images in the holographic projection kept refreshing, but his gaze was unfocused.

His hair was messier than usual at the sides, and a few strands stuck up over his forehead.

Normally, that would have been almost impossible. He was Mr. Fantastic, after all: always calm, always rational.

But now his son was missing.

"Still no signal."

Reed's voice was hoarse as he swiped across the screen and pulled up the last record.

It showed the energy fluctuations left behind the instant the Interuniversal Teleporter had activated.

Susan Storm stood beside him, resting a hand gently on his shoulder, hoping to comfort her husband.

But her fingers trembled slightly, betraying her own distress.

"Reed," she said softly, then found she had no idea what else to say.

She had already offered every comfort she could. Reality remained cruel.

Their son, Franklin, had simply vanished.

"We have to do something."

The Human Torch wasn't grinning or joking for once. He leaned against a lab bench, fists clenched.

"We can't just sit here and wait!"

"Calm down, Matchstick Man," the Thing said in a low voice, though his rocky face was just as tense.

"We're doing everything we can to find him."

"Everything we can?"

The Human Torch straightened abruptly, his voice rising.

"We don't even know who took him! Was it Doctor Doom? Some lunatic from another universe? Or an enemy whose name we don't even know?!"

"Johnny!" Susan frowned, raising her voice.

"No, Susan. He's right."

Reed spoke suddenly. His fingers stopped on the keyboard, and his gaze sharpened.

"We've missed something."

He sprang to his feet, strode to