Superior Reed Richards

BAM!

Thor's hammer smashed through Ben's defenses and lifted his body, which weighed a few hundred kilograms, into the air.

Ben felt a sharp pain from the attack, but Grimm was no stranger to taking hits. He quickly regained his bearings and countered the strike that followed the hammer.

Grimm struck faster than Thor, sending the God of Thunder crashing into another part of the training hall. Ben knew perfectly well that such a soft landing meant nothing to Thor, so upon landing, Grimm didn't let up his assault.

The massive stone body moved swiftly toward where Thor was now. However, Thor wasn't considered one of the strongest fighters among the Avengers for nothing.

Thor's hammer met Ben before Thor himself did; the Asgardian had already managed to get up.

"Ha!" laughed Thor as the hammer struck directly into Ben's torso.

Thanks to his strength, the stone golem managed to alter the hammer's trajectory. Ben was quite accustomed to what the hammer was capable of. Due to numerous sparring sessions with Thor, he also knew what would come next.

Their fists met simultaneously. The shockwave from the collision swept through the hall.

"I like this!" exclaimed Thor with a satisfied grin.

A smile also lit up Ben Grimm's face.

Thor's smile shone because, as an Asgardian god, he was always ready for a fistfight, while Ben enjoyed the battle due to his own nature.

The exchange of blows continued for about four minutes until Ben felt a familiar notification.

Because of the notification, Ben missed Thor's strike.

"What happened, my friend?" asked Thor, understanding that Ben could have dodged the attack.

Ben looked more closely at the notification and confirmed that it was indeed what he thought.

"Reed is back," said Ben. "Thor, I need to go meet him."

The Asgardian knew about Ben Grimm's close friend. He also remembered what had happened with Reed Richards when he helped save the city.

"I understand, my friend," said Thor.

The look in the God of Thunder's eyes was more eloquent than his words. Ben nodded gratefully and activated teleportation.

—= Reed Richards =—

"Reed!" exclaimed Sue, who was among the first to appear on the island.

Thanks to the body enhancement I left just in case, Sue had become much faster. With a single leap, the blonde crossed a distance of thirty meters.

I caught the girl who leaped at me in a surge of emotion and wrapped her in my arms. A pleasant scent of mint and something resembling citrus filled my nose. At that moment, I realized how much I had truly missed home.

"I missed you," said Sue.

"Me too."

Sue's head rested against my chest. She held onto me as if afraid of losing me. We stood like that for about a minute before she was convinced I wasn't going anywhere.

She raised her face and carefully studied mine.

"How much time did you spend there?"

"Much longer than I wanted," I admitted.

Sue understood everything without words. She gently pulled me toward her, and I didn't resist. Soon, our lips met in a kiss full of passion and tenderness, like a knight and a princess from an old fairy tale.

The kiss was filled with such strong emotions that the ice encasing my soul instantly melted. The warmth of her lips and the touch of her hands made me forget everything else. Every moment with Sue seemed both infinitely long and fleeting. I felt her heartbeat, her breath, her love.

Her fingers gently touched my face, awakening forgotten feelings within me. Our kiss was not just physical contact but a true merging of souls. We stood there, forgetting all the problems and trials behind us. In that moment, only we existed, and nothing else.

When our lips finally parted, we looked into each other's eyes. I saw in hers the same things she saw in mine: hope, love, and confidence that together we could overcome any difficulty. It was a moment that needed no words. Everything was clear without them.

—= Some time later =—

Ben appeared shortly after Sue, but we had to wait a bit for Johnny, as he decided to use his powers to get here.

By the time Johnny arrived, I had already had ample time to learn what had been happening in the world during my absence. The events were extremely interesting. Notably, the formation of the Avengers—a team uniting under its banner the most powerful heroes on the planet. As if in opposition, there was a significant increase in crimes involving superpowers. It seemed the world had decided to balance the forces of good and evil, following some strange, invisible law of the universe.

I understood that this would lead to superheroes and supervillains motivating each other's growth in numbers. Measures needed to be taken so this world didn't turn into cosmic ash.

Reality had changed, and the world adapted to new conditions. Events that once seemed unthinkable were becoming everyday occurrences.

A friendly squabble between Johnny and Ben pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Now that everyone's here," I said when Johnny and Ben finally calmed down, "I can start explaining what happened when Thor and I ended up in the Mirror Dimension..."

—= Some time later =—

I told them everything that had happened to me on the day Thanos's subordinates attacked our planet.

"You said you killed Victor?" said Ben. In my friend's voice, I heard no condemnation, only confusion, as if two pieces of a puzzle didn't fit together.

"Yes," I nodded.

Ben scratched his head and said, "But then I don't understand—where did Victor von Doom come from in Latveria?"

Ben's question didn't surprise me. I fully expected that Victor would have contingency plans in case his life was threatened.

"Did Fury's agents manage to infiltrate Latveria?" I asked, though I knew the answer was likely no.

Ben told us he had several operations with Steve Rogers. For this reason, it could be expected that my best friend would have some connections with Fury's spies.

"No," Ben shook his head.

"Then we don't know whether the one sitting on Latveria's throne is our old acquaintance or not..." I muttered.

"We can't act openly while Victor von Doom is in Latveria," I said.

After what happened to us because of Doom, every member of my team was ready to punch that ruler of Latveria in the face.

"And it's not just that it would create certain problems for our loved ones who live in society, but also because Latveria is Doom's fortress, and its defenses are quite formidable."

"Are you suggesting we just drop this matter?" Johnny asked.

Among all my friends, the blond was one of the most proactive, but this time his sentiment was echoed by Ben as well.

"No. I suggest we prepare."

Ben understood me much faster than the others.

"You want to use Fury's services," Ben stated bluntly.

"Partly," I admitted. "However, I don't particularly believe that Fury will be able to do anything against Doom."

Fury had far fewer resources than Victor von Doom.

"For now, we need to focus on another issue," I continued in a more serious tone. "We need to become strong enough so that the threat I managed to notice isn't so unreachable for us."

Those beings beyond existence were terrifying enough to imprint themselves on my consciousness like childhood traumas.

"And that means it's time to strengthen each of you."

—= Some time later =—

To prove the existence of the threat, I had to use my new powers. After they saw what kind of menace looms over the multiverse, they too wanted to become stronger.

The enhancements my friends received were extremely diverse. Given that there were many possibilities for improvement, I was quite surprised when Johnny and Ben refused possible eye enhancements.

Ben justified his choice by saying he didn't want to change his fighting style. Johnny explained that he needed to maintain the image he had in people's eyes.

As a result, Ben received an enhanced version of the Eight Gates and Wolverine-level regeneration. Johnny gained levitation and the Heat element. Of course, both received extensive enhancements to their bodies at a basic level. Now they were not defenseless in their normal forms.

Sue, on the other hand, agreed to eye enhancements. However, she decided to take the Tenseigan instead of the Rinnegan. According to my girlfriend, it was all about me having the Rinnegan, so for variety, the Tenseigan was needed. Along with that, she received omega-level mutant telekinesis.

All this together strengthened each of them. In my opinion, the number of individuals on this planet capable of causing harm had become much smaller.

"Hmm, this is really quite interesting," Sue said, using her eyes to examine the products of my fūinjutsu. In particular, her gaze was directed at the parts responsible for storing various items in the scroll's subspace.

I could have provided her with full information on what needed to be done to create such seals. However, Sue refused, saying she wanted to study it on her own.

At that moment, I received information that my clone, who was responsible for modifying some of the island's defense protocols, had managed to finish his work. Now the defense protocols included the developments I was able to create after gaining access to the shinobi world.

—= Some time later =—

After the team got used to the new abilities they received, and I left my clones to refine the remaining defense protocols, we had time to complete matters that required my presence.

"The issue regarding the rights to Herbert's books can be considered resolved," I said, looking at the promising director who wanted to make this film.

The reason I decided to enter the media industry war was to set the appropriate trend among the young. Movies, TV series, games, books, anime, cartoons, and animated series—all of this together is a powerful tool for influencing the population.

"Oh, and by the way," I added, looking at the people who had recently arrived here, "our work will proceed without any external funds that might allocate money."

Thanks to the fact that my finances were managed by an AI, I didn't have the usual problems that large companies had.

Each of them perfectly understood that we were talking about the Big Three investment companies, but particularly about Laurence Fink, who had already begun pushing his vision of how this world should work in a rather radical way.

"Which means," I continued, looking at those who would be creating these products, "you must fully showcase your artistic potential without regard to anyone's wishes but your own."

My words had the desired effect. I felt that the creators appreciated what I said. I was essentially giving them free rein in many aspects. The only limitation that existed was hidden in the budget the director would receive.

Sue, who was next to me, smiled when she saw my gaze. She was also pleased that we could enjoy spending time together like this. Compared to what we had to do before... this was something of a respite.

"I suggest we start discussing the list of screenwriters we have on hand at this very moment," said Sue.

—= Some time later =—

—= Avengers Tower =—

Stark Tower was renamed Avengers Tower soon after the Battle of New York. It was in this tower that I now found myself.

"This is our workshop where we create!" Tony exclaimed with a satisfied grin.

Tony had brought me here in hopes of showing off his toys.

The laboratory was located on the upper floors and was full of gadgets that Stark himself had created, where Hank Pym was currently working. The scientist was engrossed in his work and didn't notice Tony's exclamation.

Stark noticed this and gave me a meaningful look.

"Sometimes I think you're a teenager," I said, understanding what my friend intended to do.

The smirk on Stark's face only widened. Then Tony proceeded to carry out his plan.

Stark approached Pym silently.

"Boo."

—= Some time later =—

The Avengers team at the moment included: Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America, Ant-Man, and Wasp.

At this moment, each of them was in the room that, as I understood, would be used for negotiations in the future. The table in the center of the room and the chairs around it clearly paid homage to Arthur's Round Table.

"My name is Reed Richards," I said, observing the reactions of these highly impressive personalities. "And I am the leader of the Fantastic Four. I hope this is the beginning of a strong friendship."

Read chapters ahead on [email protected]/patreonarcane