Ant-Man & Spider-Man: Earth's Mightiest Scientists

Chapter 11: Doctor Doom in the Microverse of Madness

Author's Note: Based on Fantastic Four No. 16-17 (1963).

Downtown Manhattan

A giant flaming fireball that could easily be mistaken for a comet quickly dart past the roof of an apartment building which had an amateur astronomer gazing in to his telescope, a large hospital which was experiencing a blackout, and a robbery in progress that was going on in the same neighborhood was thankfully foiled due to the bright light in the sky.

The fiery comet turned out to be none other than Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, who was flying back home to the Baxter Building for a little rest and relaxation after apprehending two of his old enemies, The Wizard and...Heh! Paste Pot Pete who teamed up together against him. However, the young hero couldn't get a hold of any of his teammates for some inexplicable reason.

"I tried calling headquarters but nobody's responding. No one is answering my signal," Torch said as he finds himself concerned for whole team's well-being and that includes Ben's. "What could be the problem? It's not like anyone can put the Fantastic Four out of commission. Right?..."

Baxter Building

Johnny finally arrived at the Baxter Building but it seemed like a ghost town in there.

"Reed! Ben! Sue! You home?!" Torch flew around the long corridors calling out for his companions' names but no one is answering back. "Where is everybody?"

He then entered the living room and kept on looking for his lost teammates. "Is anybody here? I tried calling over the phone, but nobody was there to pick it up!"

Suddenly, Torch could make out what appeared to be a faint voice that could be heard right next to him.

"We here, Johnny! Just look down!!" Reed Richards yelled while stretching out his tiny arm and waving his hand around to get his attention.

"Where? I don't see-" Torch looked down and his eye's widened when he saw the shrunken forms of Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl and the Thing who were all about to be sucked in to an air duct. "What the heck happened to you guys?! You're about the size of my old G.I. Joe action figures."

"Quit your gawkin' and start helpin', Hothead!" Thing shouted while wrapping his big arms around a table leg with all his might as Sue and Reed also hold on to him for dear life.

"Save us, Johnny, before we get sucked in through the vents!" Sue screamed out for her younger brother to come rescue them.

"There's no time to explain! Hurry, Torch! You're our only hope!" Reed shouted to him and Johnny jumped into action.

The Human Torch shot a hot stream of fire like a living flamethrower at the air vent. The intense heat caused it to melt the metal welding it shut much to everyone's overall relief.

"Oh thank goodness!" Sue huffed as she and the rest of them were glad that the nightmare was finally over.

Reed, Sue and Ben reverted back to their regular sizes while being disoriented from the whole ordeal of almost meeting certain doom. 

Johnny couldn't be anymore confused. "Could someone please explain to me what in the world is going on?!"

"I don't have the foggiest idea of what just happened myself, Johnny," Mr. Fantastic was in the middle of rubbing his temples trying to get his bearings in order.

"Aren't you suppose to be the brains of the outfit, Stretch Armstrong?" Thing sarcastically asked while rubbing his face and then began to cross his rocky arms to compose himself as he faced the rest of his team with a serious demeanor. "I gotta come clean, guys. This ain't the first time this happened to me. I shrunk a few days ago but I didn't have the guts to tell any of ya because it seemed too nutty!"