Chapter 5

"What do you think of this suit?" I asked Ben.

At that moment, we were in my house.

"Hm, you should change the tie," Ben Grimm said with a thoughtful expression.

I listened to Ben's words because he had a better perspective.

"Now?" I asked, adjusting the dark blue tie.

"Much better," Ben replied.

After finishing the main part of the work on the Unstable Molecules, I was able to head to my date with a peaceful mind.

"In that case, it's time to go," I said, grabbing the car keys.

"Have a good evening," Ben said with a slight smile.

"Thank you, and you have a productive evening," I replied before leaving the house.

My car was a typical American, a very simple fourth-generation Dodge Charger. It suited me, although there were certain details I wanted to change.

—= After a while =—

It was extremely difficult to keep my eyes on the road when Susan Storm was sitting next to me, dressed in a light evening gown.

"We're here," I said, stopping in front of the French restaurant.

I got out of the car first, opened the door, and offered Susan my hand, following all the gentlemanly rules. Her graceful hand rested on mine, and I helped her out of the car.

"What a gentleman," the girl said with a sweet smile.

There was no mockery or anything like that in her tone, just the joy of the attention I was giving her.

"A magnificent lady like you deserves only the best," I replied, barely holding back a grin.

The girl smiled, and at that moment, we entered the restaurant, where we were greeted by the hostess. A lovely girl in her mid-twenties with chestnut hair and brown eyes. Some might call her incredibly beautiful, but at that moment, all my attention was on Sue Storm.

"Mr. Richards and Miss Storm?" the girl asked as we entered.

I met her eyes, nodded briefly, and said, "Yes."

"Allow me to take you to your table," the girl said.

Soon, we were in the VIP hall. I wanted the evening to be wonderful, which meant I was willing to spend money. I didn't mind spending it on the quality of the evening.

"What will my lady have?" I asked, raising the menu and memorizing today's dishes with a glance.

Sue raised an eyebrow but replied, "I'll trust the chef's vision. What about you?"

"Hm, I'll trust his vision too; after all, this man managed to get a Michelin star."

After making our choice, we just had to press a button to call the waitress. In this place, the staff usually consisted only of women.

"Good evening," the pleasant-looking waitress said. As I understood it, a presentable appearance was a necessary quality for this job. "What have you decided?"

"We decided to trust the chef's vision," I replied with a polite smile.

The waitress noted our order and said, "Your wait time will be twenty minutes."

Sue and I nodded. I didn't really want to rush the evening. I wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.

—= After some time =—

"It's a shame that this evening is coming to an end," I said.

"Why?" Sue asked, turning to me.

At that moment, the moonlight illuminated Sue as if she were a goddess descending to this mortal world.

"Because I would like to enjoy this moment for eternity," I replied, savoring the scene.

The girl smiled and said, "Reed Richards, despite being a genius... You can be such a fool sometimes."

Then she pulled my head towards hers and said, "We will have many more moments like this."

My eyes met Sue's beautiful eyes... From there, I acted on instinct rather than reason. My lips met hers. That moment stayed in my memory. I'm sure the memory of this moment will sustain me for years.

—= Norman Osborn =—

"Damn!" Norman roared, throwing the phone he had been using just seconds ago.

BANG

The phone, unable to withstand the throw, broke like a toy.

"Damn SHIELD, damn Stark!" Norman muttered, calming down.

Norman's gaze fell on the folder labeled "OZ." The project that was supposed to help Oscorp get out of the crisis. However, due to the complexity of the task before them... The project stalled.

"What is missing from my serum?" Norman asked himself.

Oscorp's scientists, led by Norman, believed that "OZ" should create a super soldier. They were missing something... If only he could find the answer...

"There's no point in wasting time on empty thoughts," Norman said, fully regaining his composure. "We need to act."

Osborn left his office, throwing the phone in the trash.

"Clean up the office and get a new phone," Norman said, heading towards the laboratory.

In his hands was a briefcase containing his laptop with research data.

After passing through a couple of doors, Osborn entered the laboratory, where the scientists were already working.

"Did the samples arrive?" Norman asked, placing the briefcase on the table.

The scientist nodded and pointed to a glass container, saying, "The spiders are here."

Norman sighed and said, "In that case, let's get to work."

—= Los Diablos Military Base =—

"Bruce!" the girl's voice pulled the man out of the grip of his thoughts.

Bruce Banner, a genius in nuclear physics, raised his eyes and saw the one who had won his heart. Betty Ross, daughter of Thaddeus Ross. She was his guiding star in this godforsaken place.

"Have you been working on your task all night again?" Betty asked, raising an elegant eyebrow.

Bruce awkwardly smiled and said, "M-Maybe?"

"Bruce."

"Betty, I-I..." Bruce started, but Betty interrupted him again.

"Bruce." Her voice was stern. At moments like these, Bruce clearly saw the resemblance between General Ross and Betty. They were both stubborn. "You've finished work on the bomb. All your calculations are correct. There's no need to worry."

Seeing the girl's eyes, which burned with incredible faith in him, in Bruce... Banner couldn't say anything against it.

"What happened, Bruce?" the girl asked.

Bruce looked at his hands and said, "It's just that the test is next week... And I'm nervous. You know I want to start working on research for the harmless use of gamma energy as soon as possible... And for that, the bomb needs to work as the military wants."

The girl understood the anxiety in Bruce's thoughts... She loved him for his desire to create something that helps ordinary people.

"Everything will be fine," the girl said, hugging Bruce. "We'll finish this project and start work on the 'Good Gamma Rays' project."

Bruce understood Betty's joke perfectly, but the hug also played its part, and the two lovers merged in a kiss.

"Thank you for your work, Mr. Murdock, Mr. Nelson," I said, looking at my lawyers.

These two managed to resolve all the legal issues in a very short time.

"It wasn't that difficult, Mr. Richards," said Foggy Nelson with a slight smile.

Matthew added, "Since there were no problems on your end, our work went very smoothly."

Foggy deflated a bit at Matt's words. He glanced at Matt with mild disapproval.

"I hope it continues this way," I said before leaving the law firm. "See you soon."

—= Reed Richards' House =—

"Rockhead, did you ever find out why we're here?" Johnny asked Ben.

Grimm looked at Johnny and said, "What goes on in Stretch's head is a mystery, Matchstick."

Susan glanced at them and said, "Silence."

Johnny and Ben fell silent under Sue's stern look. She could be intimidating when the situation demanded it. By this time, I had brought in three containers. All eyes were on these containers.

"I want to show you my latest invention," I said, placing the four containers before them.

"What is it?" Ben asked, looking at the shimmering material inside.

"These are Unstable Molecules."

With those words, I opened one of the containers. Thanks to my fine-tuning, they took the desired shape almost instantly. Inside was the Fantastic Four uniform.

"You brought us jumpsuits?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes and demonstrated the material's ability. Taking off my jacket, I stretched my arm to an absurd length... and they could see that the clothes on me remained intact.

"However, for a more noticeable demonstration, I suggest you change into these uniforms."

—= Some Time Later =—

"Stretch, you've outdone yourself," said Ben Grimm, who decided not to wear the upper part of the uniform.

Johnny was fully suited up, as was Sue.

"I agree, the fact that my clothes don't burn is really great," said Johnny.

Sue examined her uniform with interest, especially her now-invisible hand.

"This is innovative, Reed," said Sue. "Why don't you want to put it on the market?"

I just smiled sadly and said, "This material is very difficult to clean. Due to its structure, it can destabilize other materials in proximity. That's why I created a special machine for washing this material."

During this explanation, I showed my friends images of the tests we conducted on the Unstable Molecules. The demonstration was quite impressive.

"I see..." they said, slightly shocked.

"This is not the final iteration of our uniforms," I continued. "The Unstable Molecules are just the foundation for future improvements."

"What kind of improvements?" Sue asked.

"At least armor. This material will serve as a buffer between the armor and our bodies."

"Are you sure we need armor?" Johnny asked with a slight smile, pointing to himself and Ben.

"It may seem unnecessary now, but caution is never a bad thing. I haven't added these changes yet because I haven't been able to create adequate nanorobots from this material."

The three of them looked at me with surprise.

"Sounds fantastic, Stretch," said Ben, breaking the momentary silence.

"Heh, maybe, but that's why I'm Mr. Fantastic, right?" I said with a slight smile.

"Mr. Fantastic?" Ben and Sue asked, puzzled.

I glanced at Johnny, who gave an awkward smile.

"You didn't tell them?"

"I-I was going to..." Johnny said, smiling awkwardly under Sue and Ben's gazes.

"Johnny..."

"Matchstick..."

"What did you do?" they asked in unison.

Johnny Storm quickly confessed under the pressure, "I gave an interview."

The blonde chose the worst possible words... I sighed, knowing this would take a while.

Soon, Susan Storm started typing on her phone to find Johnny's latest interview. After skimming through it and letting Ben hear it all... Let's just say dark times awaited Johnny Storm.

"Invisible Girl?!" Sue exclaimed in anger.

"The Thing?! Matchstick, are you serious?!" Ben shouted.

I spent the next several minutes calming Sue down, while Johnny tried, rather unsuccessfully, to calm Ben, who was trying to hit him.

"Well, it could have been worse," I said, trying to diffuse the negativity. "And most of the blame lies with the reporters and the show's producer."

"Exactly! Do you think I wanted to be called the Human Torch?!" Johnny yelled.

This earned him three thoughtful looks.

"No!" Johnny exclaimed. "It's all the reporter's doing."

"That I can believe," Sue said.

Ben slowly nodded in agreement.

"Now that we've settled that, I think we can move on to the next topic."

I pressed a button, and the projector in my house displayed dozens of pages with the same headline.

"As you can see, these names have already spread."

Ben and Sue frowned but nodded.

"That's why we need to work with what we have now," I said, looking at Ben, Sue, and Johnny. "Going against the wave started by the reporters makes no sense."

My friends nodded, having understood all the details of our situation.

"They gave us these nicknames, but it's up to us to define what they mean," I said. "We've already had one victory; we just need to keep it up."

My words managed to encourage Sue and Ben, judging by the slight spark in their eyes.

DING

A notification on my device indicated something important.

"And now we're moving," I said with a slight smile.

"Where?"

"What?"

"Stretch..."

"I'll explain on the way," I said, gathering my equipment. "Grab your things and head to the garage."

They had no choice but to follow my request, and a few minutes later, we were in the garage.

"What's that?" Johnny asked, pointing to a car without wheels.

"This is one of my side projects," I said with a slight smile, as I enjoyed working on this. "A flying vehicle I call the Fantasticar."

"Flying?"

"Is it a plane?"

"Fantasticar, seriously?"

I took the driver's seat and said, "All questions later, just get in."

Sue sat to my left, Ben and Johnny took the back seats. I pressed a button, and the vehicle lifted into the air.

"Whoa!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Reed?" Sue said, gripping her seat.

"Stretch, I hope this thing doesn't explode..."

I just smirked and hit the gas.