THE VERY ATMOSPHERE OF THE EARTH SEEMED TO tremble. The thick formations of clouds parted and dissipated as it arrived, dropping down through the atmosphere without thought to the heat, fire, and gases burning all around it. The Destroyer moved closer and closer to the surface of the planet. It blotted out the sun. It dropped the temperature of the planet by tens of degrees. The very core of the Earth quickened and panicked, sensing its end was near.

Gah Lak Tus arrived in the air over the Pacific seaboard. The swirling vortex of organic matter and energy was unlike anything the world had ever seen. It held the power of more than a thousand hurricanes and yet took on the appearance of one, its layers and layers of quickly turning wind and air masking the destructive energy that lay at its center.

Down below, on a deserted, windy street in the Shanghai market district, the Fantastic Four remained motionless. The sudden and violent change in the weather surrounded them. The strong winds were ripping wooden roofs and structures apart, casting chunks and beams of timber into the air. The dark sky was menacing, filled with the energy and thundering clouds that had obliterated the sun. Large fingers of lightning could be seen sporadically lighting the horizon. Bits of hail fell, stirred by the cold winds. The ground beneath them started to crack, opening large, gaping wounds in the middle of the street that would lead to the core of the planet.

If Reed Richards had ever imagined what the end of the world would look like, it was there in the dying landscape before him. He watched buildings reduced to rubble in seconds, trees wilting and dying in less than that. The entire world seemed to creak and groan, a sharp dagger dangling just over its pumping heart. As a man of science, the logistics of what he was seeing were incomprehensible. Science and logic failed him. He was flooded with a completely emotional response.

And yet none of it mattered. Beyond the horrors around him, his world was ending on a much more intimate scale, there in his two arms. The body of the woman he loved was cradled there, drawing shallow, weak breaths, fading in and out of his vision. He held her close, trying to protect her from the debris falling all around them. Ben provided some cover, shielding them from the flying wreckage of the market stalls, so they could be alone. Alone as the world ended.

Reed held Sue close, trying to keep her long blowing hair away from her face. Her brow furrowed every few seconds as she winced at the pain from her injuries. Reed kept pressure on the large wound but he knew it wasn’t enough. She had lost too much blood. A soft moan escaped from her mouth. Her eyes remained shut. Better that she not see what’s happening, Reed thought. It wouldn’t be long now.

As Reed held her, the world falling to pieces around them, his mind took him back through their years together: the first time he spotted Sue at MIT, the first time he showed her the view from the Baxter Building, the vision of her in her wedding dress. That perfect dress. Before he messed everything up, putting that sensor on the roof. Before the Surfer arrived and all hell broke loose. But they had prevailed. They had defeated the Surfer, using Reed’s mind and the science he was so willing to give up now.

Sue’s last words rushed through his mind then. You can do this. It’s who you are. It’s why you’re here. She was right. He couldn’t let her life end this way, bleeding on a street as the entire planet was destroyed. He had to control his emotions now, and use more than just science. And he couldn’t do it alone. He had to draw on the courage of the group. They could no longer be bystanders, observing the end of the world. They had to be heroes.

Reed motioned for Ben and a stricken Johnny to come closer. Reed’s mind was racing with ideas as he tried to form a plan. “Victor’s got to have a tachyon pulse emitter linking him to the board,” Reed said, explaining how Victor was controlling the powerful silver weapon. “It must be built into his armor. We take it out, and we can separate him from the board.”

Johnny took his eyes off his sister long enough to speak. “He’s too strong for me.”

Ben’s expression grew grim. “I could whale on him, if I could get close enough. But he’d see me comin’ a mile away.”

“It would take all of us…” Reed began, until the answer hit him like a thousand lightbulbs going on in his mind. “Or one of us.”

Perhaps he had been missing the point all along. The Surfer, this intergalactic being, saw the entire planet, miraculous and complete, a living system of organic matter all connected together. One touch altered Johnny’s powers, switching them with the others. Not just any of the others, but the ones closest to him. His family. He was able to share their powers, feel what it was like to be them, and bask in the abilities that only they themselves could know. He was connected to them. It wasn’t a side effect from the Surfer. It was a gift.

Ben and Johnny looked perplexed, even as Reed’s expression was renewed and determined, hopeful. “Ben, come closer. Johnny, you too.” Reed grabbed Sue’s hand in his own, reaching out for the space between them. Ben and Johnny joined in, the four hands stacking on top of one another in close and direct contact, a sign of solidarity and strength.

The transformation began just like it had before. Johnny’s contact with the other members of the group caused the creation of a large, swirling cloud, alight with energy and cosmic dust. The light grew out from him, enveloping the entire street, the cloud pulsing and growing, lighting up the darkness, a sudden and new candle in the increasingly dark and dangerous world.

Victor Von Doom reveled in the presence of chaos. He floated gracefully in the air, sturdy atop the silver board, while the world went to hell around him. Hovering over the center of Shanghai he watched the crowded, densely populated area crack and crumble. Pieces of buildings and a few cars twirled in the air, caught on the violent currents all around him, while he stood calmly upon the board. Lightning crashed down from the heavy batch of thick clouds, causing fires in the forests surrounding the city. Entire blocks of buildings were either aflame or brought to ruin, tumbling in upon themselves. Lakes were stirred to a rolling boil and began to give off steam, killing every living thing within them as they evaporated from the liquefying of the earth’s center. The surge of power within the board that accompanied the arrival of the Destroyer was tremendous. Victor let his eyes roll back in his head, feeling the euphoria overtake his body completely. It was a divine experience, the amount of power and strength surging through him, as the Earth gave up its final resistance. The power of death was sublime.

His body trembled with delight as constant, rabid laughter spilled from his mouth. He watched a mountain crumble into dirt. He saw the craters begin to glow, opening like hungry mouths, eager to begin streaming the molten core of the earth into the Destroyer that now sat high in the sky, just inside the planet’s atmosphere. Victor’s eyes grew wide as he witnessed the sanctity not of creation, but of destruction.

Calm settled around Victor, the board protecting him from the chaos all around him. The wind did little more than whisper to him, tiny voices telling him he was safe. But suddenly a different voice whispered in his ear. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but the voice was familiar. Confident and cocky at the same time.

The voice grew louder and he realized it was the voice of Johnny Storm. He shook his head, trying to dispel it, swatting his hand at the air like he would swat a fly. The voice grew louder until he heard not just whispers but actual words.

“To quote a friend of mine…” he heard, and turned around to see Johnny materialize in front of him. “It’s clobberin’ time!”

As Johnny appeared, Victor saw that his person had changed: His body appeared to be made of rock, but his trim frame still burned with living fire. Johnny drew back his now large fist and pounded Victor in the face with its rocky power. Victor went flying back from the blow, across the vast expanse of sky. Johnny stretched out his other fist, reaching through the torrents of wind and hail, and pulled Victor back to him. Johnny then hit him again, this time with a blow that would have leveled a building.

Victor flew backward once again, reeling from the tremendous punch, which knocked him across the dark and foreboding skyline toward the center of Shanghai. He crashed directly into a large billboard, its face imploding from the sudden and powerful impact before falling to the street many stories below.

Victor quickly recovered from the blow, summoning up his strength through the surfboard, and flew toward Johnny. He raised his hands toward a large office building, pulling pieces from it to hurl at the Human Torch. One by one large hunks of glass and concrete flew at Johnny like deadly, heavy missiles. Johnny flew evasively around them, but one chunk caught him squarely in the chest, throwing him backward. Johnny flew into the side of a building, smashing through layers of glass and rubble, falling through the wreckage and ending up on its other side. Victor laughed as he saw Johnny disappear into the tangle of debris.

Johnny regained his balance and threw himself back toward Victor like a human spear made of fire. He burned his flames as strongly as he could; he was surrounded by an aura of bright reds and oranges. Victor focused for a moment and raised his hands, harnessing the strong air currents around him and using them to send Johnny up and over him. The strong rush of air caught Johnny off guard and he went flying uselessly over Victor, careening backward into the heavy air. As he flew away from Victor, Johnny passed a large antenna bolted to the roof of a building, still intact. He elongated his arm, stretching out his hand to reach it. He grabbed the metal antenna with a fist made of rock and swung back around, ricocheting through the air, using his momentum to propel himself toward Victor and the board.

Johnny concentrated and formed a fireball of rock in his hand. He hurled it at Victor, the weight of the rock carrying it through the powerful winds toward its target. Victor deflected it, forcing the air to take it far up and safely away from him. Victor smirked at Johnny, his face a mask of derision. You can’t touch me, kid, he thought, eager to destroy Johnny the way he had his sister.

Johnny caught Victor’s look and simmered with anger. Determination filled of his entire body. He thought of his sister down on the ground, his face contorting in pain. She’d want to be here for this, he told himself. So it’s only right that she gets to finish it.

Johnny clenched his fists and once again aimed himself at Victor. His body was rigid and severe. He dove directly through the powerful winds and currents, ignoring their fury and focusing solely on Victor. His fists drew tighter and his heart raced. Victor was only a few feet away. This would be over soon.

Victor stood strongly on top of the board, steeling himself for Johnny’s attack. He was growing impatient with the boy’s futile determination. Can he not see what is happening all around us? Victor thought. He did not want to be distracted from the main show: watching the destroyer consume this pathetic little planet. He eyed Johnny’s darting form and prepared to finish this once and for all. No more games, Victor thought. No more mercy.

Suddenly Johnny disappeared. A hint of confusion formed in Victor’s brain as he scanned the dark, violent sky, wondering if the boy had been taken up in the storm. Victor’s eyes narrowed as he searched the dark clouds and pulsating energy fields. He saw nothing. He scanned the ruined streets below, looking for movement among the cracked streets and twisted debris on the ground. Again, nothing. Where the hell did he go? Victor thought.

Just then Victor’s body convulsed, as if he was caught up in a seizure. He lost control of his arms, and they were drawn in tightly to his sides. He legs clamped together as if caught in a vise. Standing alone on the board, hovering in midair, Victor froze as he realized he couldn’t move an inch.

Johnny’s rocky form rematerialized as he cast off his sister’s power of invisibility, stretching his body to cover Victor entirely. Johnny used Reed’s elasticity to engulf Victor like a rubber coating, shrouding him from head to toe. Victor struggled as if in a straitjacket, but Johnny’s rocky hide was too dense and heavy to lift. Using the powers of his friends to immobilize Victor, Johnny turned to the one power he knew best: his own. He ignited his thinly stretched and rocky body, covering Victor with his living flame. He burned strong and bright, flaming as hard and fast as he could. Johnny thought of his sister’s face as he pushed himself to the limit, approaching supernova. He burned a hole in the surrounding darkness as Victor screamed and writhed in his incendiary grip.

The metallic armor smoked and singed from Johnny’s assault. Burning from the intense heat. Victor continued to struggle and toss about but Johnny kept him locked tight in his fiery embrace, bringing Victor down from his high altitude to the airspace just above a series of tall buildings. Victor’s limbs scorched and smoked. The tachyon pulse emitter melted into nothing, turning to ash and air, severing Victor’s link with the board.

Victor’s body went limp as his bond with the board was destroyed. A rush of profound despair assaulted Victor’s entire psyche as he was cast off from his link to the powerful silver weapon. The euphoria faded and the silence of the world returned to him as he lost his connection to the sublime destruction around him.

Johnny heard Ben calling out to him. He looked over to see Ben in his human form, sitting at the controls of a massive construction crane adjacent to a nearby building. Ben had been sitting with Reed and Sue, struggling with his feelings of uselessness as he watched the events around him: the crumbling city, the arrival of the destroyer, the last breaths of the dying Sue. I can’t just sit here, he’d told himself, running the few blocks to where Johnny was fighting Victor. He spied the large crane and took the wheel.

“Hey, kid,” he yelled at Johnny. “Watch out!” Ben threw a few levers on the control panel, swinging a massive bundle of steel girders, still attached to the crane, in Victor’s direction. Johnny jumped off Victor at the last second, watching the hurled girders slice through the air straight toward them. They smashed into Victor mercilessly, the screeching sound of metal clashing with metal ringing out as they knocked Victor off the shining silver board and into the air. The thundering impact of the girders knocked Victor immediately unconscious. His limp figure ricocheted through the air before plummeting, landing with a loud splash in the river, the churning waters wild with the Earth’s heat. The weight of his armor took him down quickly, his silver skin now scorched and ruined. Victor disappeared into the dark and merciless water.

A few blocks away, Reed continued to hold Sue gently, cradling her in his arms. The violent trembling of the ground was getting worse. The sky appeared darker, Gah Lak Tus now visible to them, a swirling vortex of annihilation and destruction that filled the entire sky.

The Surfer stayed silent, afraid to speak and not knowing what to say. He, too, was to be a casualty of the Destroyer, but he cared little about that. His stoic gaze rested not on the landscape but on the scene before him: the dying woman and the man who loved her. He watched the man try to comfort her, attempting to make her final moments as gentle as possible. He looked away when they started to speak because it was too painful to witness.

“Just relax,” Reed whispered to Sue, touching her face. “Think about how our life’s going to be. A nice house in the country. Kids playing in the yard.” His voice caught in his throat as he wiped a tear from his eye.

Sue opened her eyes and looked up at him. She smiled slowly. “That sounds so nice,” she said, the words barely able to leave her lips. She reached up to touch his face but her hand stopped in midair. Her fingers trembled a bit before the hand fell back to her wet, bloody chest, lifeless.

Reed kept repeating her name, his voice breaking loudly, as he clutched her to his chest. His body wracked with sobs as he realized she was gone.