Chapter 296: Full-Wave Projector
"A gateway to another world!"
Hearing beast roars echoing from within the vortex, Reed Richards's eyes lit up with scientific fervor. Without hesitation, he shot to his feet and dove straight toward the yellow-green swirl.
His sudden movement caught everyone off guard.
Susan Storm stood closest to Reed. She instinctively reached out to grab him, but she was a split second too slow. Reed had already reached the vortex's edge, his hands gripping its shimmering border as he thrust his head through.
"Lunella, what exactly is this thing?" Johnny asked the young girl in a low voice, watching Reed's body freeze in that awkward position—hands splayed, clinging to the vortex's edge like he was peering through a window.
"Reed said he might've figured out how to activate the device, so he tried it," Lunella explained.
Technically, since Lunella had discovered the circular device, disposal rights should have belonged to her.
But Reed Richards seemed utterly fascinated by this object that had triggered Baxter Building's highest security alert the moment it activated.
So fascinated that in the two hours since its arrival, Reed had already figured out how to activate the device before Lunella had even begun her own examination.
"Are we sure this is actually some kind of gateway to another world and not just, I don't know, a fancy hologram?" Ben Grimm eyed the vortex that appeared to be projected by the device. "This looks more like a projector to me."
"You're right. Reed calls it a full-wave projector—"
Lunella's words cut off abruptly.
Reed Richards—his head still buried in the yellow-green vortex—suddenly screamed.
Everyone's bodies went rigid with tension. In the next instant, Reed flew backward as if something had kicked him hard in the chest. He sailed through the air in a curved arc and hit the floor with a heavy THUD.
"Reed!" Susan Storm rushed forward, grabbing his shoulders and rolling him face-up. "What happened? What did you see?"
"Fuck!" Johnny snatched up the coffee mug he'd been using during his conversation with Ben, holding it defensively while eyeing the grass-green vortex with suspicion.
Ben Grimm—a former pilot with professional combat training—reacted instantly to seeing Reed get launched backward by an unknown force. His hand shot out and slapped the side of a nearby workbench.
CLICK!
Two handguns appeared in Ben's grip. He tossed one to Johnny.
"Use this instead."
Johnny fumbled to set down the mug and caught the pistol awkwardly.
Many of Baxter Building's walls concealed fingerprint-activated weapon compartments—Reed Richards's contingency plan to prevent himself from being trapped helpless anywhere in the structure.
But aside from Ben Grimm, none of the others had professional training. Even facing potential danger, their first instinct was to grab whatever random object was nearby for defense rather than retrieve firearms.
With guns in hand, both Johnny and Ben exhaled simultaneously in relief. They began advancing toward the vortex, step by cautious step.
THOOM! THOOM!
As Johnny and Ben approached the swirling gateway, dull thuds began echoing from within the full-wave projector's portal.
The sounds grew more urgent, rapidly building into a continuous drumbeat of heavy impacts.
"Guys, I'm getting a bad feeling about this." Ben kept his pistol aimed at the vortex while speaking to Susan. "Susan, get Reed out of here."
"Yeah, take him and go," Johnny added, his voice tight.
Susan nodded. She pulled Reed Richards's arm across her shoulders and began half-carrying, half-dragging him toward the lab exit.
She'd only taken three steps when something felt wrong.
The thumping from within the vortex grew more frantic, and the sounds seemed to be getting closer.
It felt like some kind of monster was charging madly through the gateway toward them.
The thought had barely formed when she heard Ben Grimm and Johnny shout from behind her.
"Don't move!"
"Stop right there!"
The terror in their voices made it clear they weren't yelling at Susan—who was helping Reed toward the exit—but at something emerging from the vortex.
"&%¥#@!"
Beyond Ben and Johnny's warning shouts, a string of incomprehensible, guttural sounds filled the air.
Susan turned her head. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of dozens of figures bursting through the portal—covered in thick hair, arms hanging past their knees like primitive humans.
Several of the primitive people glanced around briefly before spotting young Lunella Lafayette standing near the full-wave projector.
Without the slightest hesitation, those creatures scrambled forward, grabbed the girl, hoisted her onto their backs, and vanished back through the vortex in a blur of motion.
They moved so fast that Ben Grimm and Johnny—standing not far away—didn't even have time to react.
By the time Susan's scream registered and Ben and Johnny realized Lunella had been abducted, a completely different type of creature was already charging out of the swirling gateway.
Dinosaurs.
Unlike the hair-covered primitives, these reptilian beasts burst from the portal with jaws wide open, roaring furiously. Their vicious eyes locked immediately onto Ben Grimm, Johnny, and Susan.
Olive-green scales covered their bodies, and mouths full of razor-sharp teeth made these prehistoric monsters—over thirteen feet tall and twenty-five feet long—look absolutely savage.
One, two, three...
Five massive creatures from Earth's ancient past emerged from the vortex and materialized inside Baxter Building's laboratory.
Ben Grimm's professional training and rock-solid nerves kept him from overreacting even while facing dinosaurs that had just stepped out of a dimensional portal.
But Johnny Storm lacked that discipline. The same guy who'd recently been trying to discuss global population statistics with attractive young women now found himself staring at massive primitive beasts. His wrist trembled violently, and his finger squeezed the trigger.
BANG!
The bullet struck one of the dinosaurs with a metallic CLANG. The round ricocheted harmlessly off its scales without even penetrating.
Johnny's hands shook as he raised the gun again, forcing himself to take another shot through sheer willpower.
But before he could pull the trigger, Ben's hand pressed down on the barrel.
"Johnny, don't."
Ben spoke carefully, eyes locked on the dinosaur that had just been shot.
Whether the bullet had caused zero pain or for some other reason, the dinosaur only snorted once through its nostrils. It showed no signs of preparing to attack.
Ben exhaled quietly in relief. Only then did he remember that besides the few primitives who'd kidnapped Lunella, five or six others had remained on this side of the portal.
When he looked toward the remaining primitive people, he found them staring back at him. One of them opened its mouth.
"¥%#@"
The instant the primitive finished speaking, all five dinosaurs opened their massive jaws and lunged viciously at Ben Grimm, Johnny, Susan Storm, and the dazed Reed Richards.