longshot

reed’s arms were crossed as he stared at the young man in front of him, a little concerned and amused at the state that he was in. “well i think that solves the myth of the mothman in west virginia.” reed approached peter, nodding his head as he observed the young man. “you are okay though, right? besides the whole—” he gestured at the state he was in, “—mothman thing?”

“ah, stephen. you’re looking well. not hit with this new problem, i hope?” from what he observed, quite a lot of them were affected by this new red sky. personally, reed himself went from flexible human being to immovable object and it was taking some getting used to. “what...are you holding?” if reed didn’t know any better, he’d think the sorcerer was holding a wand. unless... “you’ve been hit too, haven’t you? are you finally living your harry potter dreams?”

there’s a breath of relief that’s exhaled from her lungs as her hands dropped to her side. honestly, she didn’t really want to fight anyone over some run down apartment – if she was going to fight, she’d at least make it worth it. “yeah, i am –” she began, head nodding in response. “i’m lorna dane, or polaris. and you’re that guy from the fantastic four, right?” it only took her a quick look over him to realize it, but to be fair, she was only an occasional member of the x-men, often on and off with the team, while he had something of a more celebrity status. she was, sometimes unfortunately, more known for her family. “dr. richards?” she verified, finally pulling a name from her memory. “you can do that, uh.. stretchy thing, i think.”

reed, admittedly, still didn’t know who she was despite introducing herself. and he knows he sounds like an asshole but while he had good memory, it tended to be on his research. “just reed is fine. i’m not really one for titles.” he wasn’t victor von doom, after all. “it’s nice to meet you, miss dane. and yes, i can do the stretchy thing.” he silently asked permission from lorna to check the view from the window and how big it actually was. “i’ve been looking for a place that would be good shelter and probably house a very small lab. i asked for pietro’s help in scouting places and here i am. but no worries, i’m not one to kick anyone out so you’re fine.”

erik hummed - not quite giving much in the conversation department and knowing full-well that reed would accept it. if he wanted someone to speak with him over philosophy and humanity, then he would perhaps shove charles in his direction. they were, of course, friends. “the stones, yes - ” erik sighed in irritation, turning to face the other man. “i was on genosha, rebuilding what had been destroyed and left to ruin. thanos is dead though, yes? then who is in charge of this monstrosity of replacing us here?”

and that was the million-dollar question. thanos was dead and he didn’t know any other wielder of the stones except for stephen strange and the asgardians. but even then, the stones were destroyed when tony sacrificed himself to kill thanos. “good question. unfortunately, i don’t have an answer as well but it’s what i’ve been trying to figure out since we got here. stephen is just as confused the last time i heard and tony could only give us so much despite being here longer than us.” reed definitely understood the frustration (and possibly irritation?) on erik’s part—the mutants were rebuilding, after all—but even with his big brain, reed could only do so much; magic was not his area of expertise. and he did have his own suspicions of the whole thing—if tony and natasha are alive here, who’s to say thanos isn’t?

Let's dance to Joy Division And celebrate the irony Everything is going wrong But we're so happy

“dr. richards?” you too, huh? despite her tone she smiled when she greeted him. whatever caused this universal catastrophe had apparently taken no prisoners – despite the vast emptiness of this place, everywhere she turned she glanced another familiar face. for that she was grateful – especially when it was someone like reed richards. “the professor hasn’t turned up, no.” kitty sighed, shaking her head. “i’d feel a lot better if he did.” his question was one she’d been dreading, because the answer wasn’t one she wanted to give. hope was a big mantra in the mutant community, and the truth of her experience so far didn’t have very much of that. “more or less.” she sighed and shook her head, raking both of her hands through her hair. “i don’t know. it doesn’t make sense. the buildings are essentially the same as back on earth and i have no problem phasing through them, but the actual place? like the ground? nothing. it’s the only solid thing i’ve ever come across since the black vortex.” 

ah. well looks like charles was either a lucky son of a bitch who stayed back on earth or he was the unlucky bastard who was probably trapped somewhere else that was not in this stone. reed can’t say for sure. but charles’ students probably didn’t need to hear that from him. “let’s hope charles is in a better place than we are. he might already be trying to figure out how to get us out of this place.” not that he’d know, but he’d much rather ease the worries of the kid. reed could at least admit that charles using his telepathic powers on him was fun—although he can’t say the same for the others. “ best thing we should probably do is to figure out this place. if you’re phasing through the buildings but can’t phase through the ground, then we at least have something. we’re not working on nothing anymore.” because now, reed’s mind was working on overdrive.

❝ i don’t like secrets ❞ - ( @drrccdrichards​ ) reed richards to erik lehnsherr

“neither do i,“ erik turned towards the other man with ire in his eyes. “i guess that makes us equal in some eyes, doesn’t it?” he asked, a mirthless smile upon his lips. he knew doctor reed richards, knew of his friendship with charles - and though reed had not done anything personally wrong to himself or to mutantkind, erik understood that when one was friends with charles, they tended to align their politics with him. “so tell me doctor, how did you find yourself trapped with all of us?”

reed shrugged at the man as he gave him a cordial smile. “i’d like to think so.” erik lehnsherr was definitely a character just like he heard, but he could also see why charles was friends with the mutant. if he were a psychologist, reed would say erik and charles were somewhat kindred spirits—although he’s pretty sure that wouldn’t go well with either mutant. “that’s what i’m still trying to figure out. i was in my lab one moment then i found myself here next. looks like the stones aren’t in the least bit done with us just yet.”

OPEN // LORNA DANE

as tempting as it had been to immediately go search the green oasis, lorna first moved to the buildings in the other direction. there was something of a survivalist nature in her that told her to find shelter first – they were going to be here a while. her hand hovered over a jammed door, swirls of emerald green encircling her fingers and to the door before her abilities forced it open. “anyone in here?” she called out before taking a step in. it, overall seemed like a deserted apartment in serious need of cleaning, but it was livable and she didn’t need much. the sound of a floor board creaking caused her to turn again to find she definitely wasn’t alone there. “i was just about to call dibs on this place, but i’m open to negotiating if you don’t try to start a fight.”

“no worries, i only just got here.” reed immediately opened his hands and held them up, showing her that he meant no harm. using his powers in these old buildings was obviously a bad idea considering he had no idea how many more creaky floor boards there were. the woman, however, looked familiar. she had green hair, after all; hard to forget someone with such striking hair. but if she wasn’t anyone he regularly saw in the avengers, then... “ah, forgive me but are you a mutant?” reed wasn’t sure after all if she was one of charles xavier’s kids or his more temperamental friend’s. erik lehnsherr is definitely a character. but reed can’t say he blames him either.

if he were someone else, the first thing reed would probably do was to ask why he was in his basement screaming. but he’s long since accepted tony for who he is and as a fellow scientist, he could understand where he was coming from. kind of. “hmm. you sure you didn’t soundproof your walls? i understand not wanting your family to hear what you’re working on but it does have some consequences.” reed personally has long since given up on soundproofing his lab considering everyone came and went as they pleased.

“well that is assuming that time is a linear concept as we are led to believe. however, there exists parallel universes and realities that could very well disprove that fact.” the very concept of time was something he was always interested in. then a lot of things happened that up-ended his own beliefs on time that reed couldn’t help but study it more. of course, the time stone magic was out of his hands but it was always nice to ask stephen about the dynamics of the time stone—even if he didn’t fully understand magic yet. “but i would concede that changing the past could have grave consequences in the future and it’s not something i’m willing to experiment on.”

reed was glad that peter was an incredibly optimistic person. way too sarcastic sometimes but definitely optimistic. he definitely appreciated that peter always saw the good in everything and hoped that he would continue on doing so. “that always counts for something, peter. that should be higher on your list, quite frankly,” he said with a reassuring smile before a grim look was on his face. and he leaned back on the wall, finally taking a rest since he got there. “i’m just hoping johnny and ben are doing okay.”

“i—” reed stopped before he looked at the dagger in his hand. well as much of a superhero he was, he’d rather not deal with pointy objects especially since said pointy objects were used to poke him while stretched before. “you know what, you’re right. here.” he then handed her the weapon because she obviously knew how to handle that better than herself. “what is that dagger anyway? and where’d it come from?”

hmm. well this was interesting. one minute, he was in his lab, trying to figure out where sue went. the next, he was already in this place with nothing but his uniform and a few equipment. reed looked around, a little disoriented at how orange this place was, before finally seeing the ruins and immediately made his way over. and stopped when he saw a familiar figure. “sue? is that you?”

reed liked to think that he knew how to be diplomatic with how much he dealt with the other teams. sue, of course, had a better handle in dealing with people than he did, but he’d like to think he learned quite a lot from her. but he did like the banter with his contemporaries from time to time. “stephen,” he greeted the sorcerer, “just the man i was looking for. this place is, unfortunately, not my area of expertise.” magic, after all, was something reed hasn’t figured out yet. “how the hell are we even in this stone?”

if he was being honest about it, reed was far too used being with fantastic four that it almost felt like they were his own limbs. so imagine how disoriented he had been when sue disappeared first then to find himself here. as curious as he was, he was also pretty worried of the two people he might have left behind. “i was half-expecting johnny to be with you,” he sighed out as he saw peter. “well i hope he’s doing better than the rest of us.”