[man] Amongst the mightiest, the most savage of all Earth's creatures,
I sit in peace,
I dwell in safety.
For food has been plentiful, and no longer do they hunger.
Unlike the humans who call you beast,
there's no violence in your heart,
no hint of avarice, no smoldering hate.
Yet man, who has won dominion over all this worid,
is a stranger to peace,
a prisoner caught in the net of his own nameless fear.
And here stand I,
hopelessly trapped in a worid of madness,
where reason is shunned while violence prevails.
But no longer shall the Silver Surfer be part of man's insanity.
Let humanity do what it will.
As for me,
I shall dwell amongst the beasts,
or search for some semblance of freedom
in the polluted skies of this mad, orbiting prison which men call Earth!
I, who have crested the currents of space,
I must resign myself
to this pale blue orb
upon which Galactus has sentenced me to remain...
forever.
[man] The web is woven. My prey is in sight.
[woman screams]
- What? - Help me! Oh, please, help me!
What has this woman done?
Nothing, I swear! I was merely bringing Grandfather some firewood...
- [soldier] Cut from the royal forest. - Wait.
This does not concern you, alien. The law forbids it.
[woman screams]
[woman gasps]
[woman] I thank you for your kindness, stranger.
Please have tea with Grandfather and me?
Grandfather? We have company.
You!
Welcome to my humble cottage.
[cries out]
[Doctor Doom laughs]
[Doctor Doom] Yes.
Power enough to challenge Galactus himself.
Your Highness.
Well done, my dear subject.
You have earned the greatest reward of all.
The gratitude of your sovereign.
Imagine, I now possess the power
to end hunger, to abolish disease,
to eliminate crime,
to establish a perfectly content, perfectly ordered worid.
All under the benevolence of my iron will!
- But first,... - [gasps]
I have a little unfinished business
with the Fantastic Four.
[eerie organ music]
- [mumbling] - [footsteps]
- [bang] - Yaaa!
Easy, Ben. Sorry.
Sorry? You're sorry? My heart...
It's just my suitcase.
Suitcase? It ain't you, Stretch,
it's this book, The Zombies Of Madison County.
I'm just at the part where the zombie dentists run wild, flossin' everyone...
I'm all packed for a romantic weekend. Ready to sweep me off my feet?
Hm, consider yourself swept.
Ben, you'll be okay with those zombie dentists?
Hey! Takes more than floss to scare me!
Johnny and Crystal should be back from the movies soon,
and then you'll have company. You have our number at the lake?
Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. Go, already!
[lightning]
Oh!
Man, I gotta switch to decaf.
[laughter]
Ho! What the...?
Yaaah!
Doom! Hey, that's the Surfer's ride you're on!
Quite true, you insufferable blot on the escutcheon of humanity.
And as possessor of his cosmic powers,
I am now veritably undefeatable.
Yeah? That's the same mouthful you mumbled
the last time you stole the Surfer's gig, Metal-puss,
and you ended up getting your tin tail shellacked by Galactus. Gah!
I assure you, that is not an error I will repeat.
I've monitored Galactus' movements for some months.
At the moment he is quite occupied,
at the other end of the galaxy.
Now, feel the limitless power in these very hands
which you once nearly crushed.
Oooph! Yaah!
[Ben] Hey, Lead-lips!
- Candygram! - Aargh!
Company's coming!
Maybe you swiped the Surfer's power again,
but you got more than a little to learn about how to use it!
[Ben] Yaah! Yeuh!
Now sing, you rotten rust-pot,
or I'll clobber it out of ya piece by piece. What did you do with the Surfer?
You brick baboon!
Why, I... I...
[Doctor Doom] Feel it, Grimm.
Feel your body's metabolism grow slower and slower,
until you become a virtual living statue,
unable to move, unable to speak,
for the rest of your days.
And now, if you'll excuse me,
I must pay a long-overdue social call on your friends.
[Doctor Doom] Do keep an eye out for pigeons.
[laughs]
[Johnny] Sis! Reed!
Hm. Must have left already for the lake.
I wonder where Ben is? [gasps] Johnny, look!
Holy...
[barking]
[Reed] I'm afraid this won't afford you much protection against the elements.
- [Sue groans] - Kidding, darling, just kidding.
- [Reed] What the...? - Reed! [screams]
Sue!
- [Sue] Doctor... - [both] Doom!
Is this a bad time?
[Crystal] There he is, by that tree.
[Johnny] Ben. [laughs] Hey, big guy, waiting for a bus?
Johnny, there's something wrong. He looks frozen, like a statue.
Ben! Ben? Oh, man.
I haven't seen him like this since he found out about the Tooth Fairy.
Strange... He's got a heartbeat,
but it's slowed down to a crawl.
Johnny, I'm gonna try something.
[Crystal] It worked!
I used my elemental power to speed up his metabolism.
[Johnny] Ben. Ben, buddy, what happened?
[groans] Doom...
- [thud] - [Reed groans]
Leaving so soon, Mrs. Richards?
No!
Insolent cockroach.
- [grunts] - [Doom groans]
My new-found power allows me to create any weapon I choose.
- [cries out] - Reed!
Excruciating, wouldn't you say?
I thought I'd start with a time-honored classic.
And I thought I'd start by kicking your tin-can... Ooph!
- Sue, Reed, get going! - [Sue] Johnny, no!
Okay, time to up the heat.
What child's play.
The cabin's gas line could explode any second!
[Ben] Hey, Braino, we came to warn you about Doc...
[groans]... Doom.
[Johnny] That ought to put a little crimp in his cape.
[Doctor Doom] One would think so, wouldn't one?
- [all] What? - [Ben] Look out.
I'm gonna clobber him so hard, his grandchildren will be born bouncin'!
Ah, forget it, Ben. His power is simply too great.
- What? - I'm afraid it's hopeless.
- You've won, Doom. - [gasps]
Do with us what you wish.
I assure you, I will.
Are you nuts, Reed? Before I surrender to this creep, I'd rather die fighting.
Die? But who said anything about dying?
Doom is no common murderer.
Besides, I would never dream of letting my dearest enemies off that easily.
- But, then, why did you... - Attack?
Call it a lesson in humility, my fiery friend.
No. For the Fantastic Four, I have devised a much more fitting revenge.
You, the legendary bravest of the brave,
shall live out the rest of your days in abject fear,
watching helplessly as I bend the worid to my will,
knowing you are utterly powerless to stop me,
that you are no longer important enough for me to destroy.
Till we meet again, on Doomsday.
Reed, how could you give in to Doom so easily?
- There must have been another way! - Are you outta your...
Just a little bit of play-acting.
During the battle, I noticed Doom passed up many opportunities to finish us off.
Right, I get it.
So once you figured out he had no intention of killing us,
- you pretended to give up! - Exactly.
I played to his vanity, to buy us time to develop an effective strategy.
And when you're playing to his vanity, you're playing to a packed house!
[Doctor Doom] Let mankind beware,
for Doctor Doom has attained powers without limit,
and this time, there will be no failure,
[screams]
no defeat.
- I can breathe life into stone, - [screams]
or raise the very ocean floor.
Hear me, nations of the worid.
My power is without limit.
I can turn day to blackest night,
summer to winter.
But I am, above all, a reasonable man.
Thus, I have granted your leaders one week
to surrender to the rule of Doom,
or suffer total annihilation.
- I say, we nuke his bolted butt! - [loud agreement]
Generals, please listen to reason!
Your weapons would have no effect
but to wreak untold destruction on innocent people.
Shoot, Richards, we gave you four days to find a way to get rid of Doom.
You got one more left.
After that, we step in. Hard!
Blast it, Stretch, they're right!
Come on, let's go and clobber the creep.
Come on, Reed, it's time to move.
He'll put you both out of action before you can throw the first punch.
- Aw, says who? - Says me!
This fight will call for far more than brute strength.
Look, are we gonna stand around arguing, or do something?
Aw, I get it. If you can't be the big hero, you don't wanna play, heh?
Well, blue-eyed Benjamin ain't hanging around any longer.
I'm going after him myself, right now!
Johnny!
[both] Now look what you've done.
[electrical buzz]
- [whoosh] - What?
Holy cannoli!
Flying can-opener at four o'clock!
Ack! Come on...
[Reed, chuckling] Perfect.
[pants] What the...?
You mean that blasted gizmo is yours?
Sorry I had to use you as a guinea pig, old friend,
- but I... - Not as sorry as you're gonna be.
Yes! Exactly the response I'd hoped for. You're still weak as a kitten.
If it can affect a powerhouse like you, imagine the effect on Doom.
Hold it. You saying that Flying Rabbit's gonna KO ol' Brass Bottom?
Hardly, Ben. This is just a miniature prototype.
And it's most important function isn't to weaken Doom.
- It's to make him angry. - Gee, great idea, Mr. Wizard.
Maybe next, we could sneak up and give him a wedgie.
Stark Enterprises is manufacturing a full-size model.
- I hope they finish it in time. - [beeping]
- You see, the basic idea... - Reed! Ben!
Johnny's gone to Latveria to battle Doom to the finish.
Alone!
You've gotta stop him before he gets killed.
[Ben] I don't get it. Why's the little sparkplug
think he's gonna do any better against Doom this time?
Johnny's been practicing something called his "supernova blast. "
He's never dared use it near people before, but now...
Please don't let anything happen to him.
Hey, being heroes is what we do best.
As future Emperor of the Worid,
I require a castle befitting my station.
You! Most evil of all who dwell upon this earth.
You shall pay for your colossal conceit.
[chuckles]
[Surfer] Power such as that which you have stolen from me
is too vast, too universal.
If it is misused, it can destroy a galaxy.
Your unselfish concern touches me deeply,
you unearthly clod.
You who refused to appropriately wield your cosmic powers.
I, on the other hand, shall use them to enslave an entire planet.
And after that, perhaps a universe as well.
- [Johnny] Hey, Your Highness! - What?
Be glad to help with the demolition.
So, the young cub defies me. Oh, how tedious.
I fear your nuisance
forces me to retract my magnanimous offer
to let you live!
[Johnny] Yeah? Well, let's see you retract this, Doom!
- [Doom] As you can see... - What?!
...I altered my body into a crystal that can withstand a million degrees Celsius.
Then I'll just up the ante to two million degrees!
Get your sunscreen ready, Tin Man!
Amusing as this may be, please forgive me if I cut short our tête-à-tête.
By exterminating you!
- [Johnny shouts] - [Doom laughs]
[Reed] That's him!
The output of Doom's cosmic power makes him easy to track.
- What about Johnny? - [Thing] Aw, c'mon. Don't worry.
The little mosquito chaser can take care of himself.
Take care of yourself, kid.
[Reed] Jump to the tree!
- Reed! - Hang on, Sue!
I'm releasing one hand. Brace yourself!
All right, Doom. Show yourself!
I ain't leaving till I wrap this hunk o' termite food around your neck!
[Doom] Indeed, you shall not leave.
You grimy, grotesque abomination!
[Sue] Johnny!
- Johnny! - [Johnny groans]
Thanks heavens! He's alive.
Exemplary! Let's have some sport first, shall we?
Sue! A force shield.
- Ben! Incoming! - Gotcha!
[Doom cackles] Wonderful!
A more spirited game than I dared hope for.
Get ready to eat those words, Nickel Nose!
A bold counteroffensive, Mrs. Richards. Unfortunately, it will be your last.
[Johnny] Cool! Way to sucker in Doom by making that boulder invisible.
We just need more time.
Okay, Fender Face. It's my turn.
[Doom] No, fool.
Our little sessión is now ended.
Your feeble efforts at self-preservation no longer amuse me.
I now call on the most destructive of my cosmic powers.
The power to disintegrate living matter!
For example, you!
Sorry, Doom.
- We'll have to take a rain check. - What?!
What is happening?
[Reed] It's my anti-cosmic flying wing.
Courtesy of Tony Stark. And just in time to drain you of your misbegotten powers!
Not quite.
As you see, your little weapon has fled.
My cosmic power is too great for any of your pathetic contrivances.
Hey... You did your best, Reed.
Yes, Richards, your pitiful best. And it wasn't quite good enough.
Now my victory is doubly sweet.
For even your overrated intellect couldn't vanquish me.
No? Are you so certain my flying wing won't be back to defeat you?
Defeat my cosmic power?
It is the fabric of creation. Ultimate power!
The stuff of gods!
As a final courtesy,
I shall allow you to watch as I obliterate first your puny toy.
And then, ultimately, yourself.
Oh, Reed, we've failed.
Not necessarily, darling. Crystal...
Send it towards the stratosphere.
Everything is going according to plan.
What?! No!
[Reed] Here it is! It's all over.
[Sue] The board is returning to Doom's castle.
Hey, hello! Anybody want to show all their cards here?
See, Doom made one fatal mistake, Johnny.
He didn't know Galactus left a cosmic force barrier
to keep the Surfer trapped on Earth.
My instruments detected it two days ago.
[Surfer] Though invisible, its walls are thicker
and more powerful than any prison made of stone.
[Ben] Oh, I gotcha!
So when your flyin' wingding hot-rodded for outer space,
you was hoping Ol' Lead Lips would follow it.
He'd wipe out on the barrier.
And the Surfer's power would shoot back to the tinfoil boogie-boarder!
Then you mean Doom is finally...
Well, maybe. But with Doom, what you see is rarely what you get.
I have much to learn of the ways of human beings.
It is true you are slaves of greed and fear.
And yet...
There is a nobility in your hearts that cannot be denied.
Perhaps one day I will understand.