In The Unknown (Fantastic Four)

[Reed Richards]

Location: 42, The Negative Zone
Date: 12/20/2012 on Earth
Time: Unknown

"Incredible! This place will fund our work for years!"

Reed Richards was fixing a panel on the wall of a prison. He called the entire base 42, as it was to be the 42nd functional Super Villain Rehabilitation Center under SHIELD command. He was rather excited, as SHIELD had commissioned him based on his work with the Negative Zone, which meant that they considered him to be the top scientist for the job.

Finishing that panel, he moved to the next, after examining it, Reed's torso stretched out as he moved down two floors to find the Invisible Woman.

"Susan dear, could you come up and hold this panel in place while I weld? Ben and Johnny are busy with the support beams up in the ceiling." They were in charge of building the entire base facility, which Reed had insisted on, wanting to make sure everything was perfect before contractors moved in to furnish the prison.

None of the Fantastic Four had any idea of what was lurking out in the darkness.

[Susan Storm]

The whole negative zone seemed a bit... well, shady, honestly... to Susan. They didn't understand it well, and she had a feeling it was dangerous. But, of course, that meant SHIELD would declare it the perfect place for a prison.

The government sometimes, honestly.

Reed was excited as well, but everything excited him. She liked that about him, really, but it did get draining sometimes being one of the only sane people around.

Susie was in the midst of her own task when Reed asked for help, and though she was busy he did have a point.

And she definitely wanted those panels welded securely.

Concentrating, Susan raised a hand to press the panels into place. It had the downside of still taking her away from her work, but on the plus side...

Her force fields didn't tend to shift as much as her grip.

"Take it away, darling."

[Reed Richards]

Reed beamed before heading back up to his level, welding the wall panel into place. Everything had to be in welded or bolted to the floor. This place was meant to keep supervillians at bay after all. They couldn't take any chances of a breakout.

However, that was the point of the place. If there was a breakout, where would they go? The Agents in charge would lock them in a place that they couldn't leave.

In a universe they couldn't escape.

It was the perfect prison.

With the panel in place, Reed moved back and examined the floor, "And like that, all the walls are finished." He slipped down to Susan's level and smiled, "Thank you dear. All settled. We should probably go check on Ben and Johnny. Hopefully, they're getting along right now."

[Susan Storm]

Both of their tasks complete (this stage, anyway), Susan released the force field as soon as Reed rejoined her.

“I haven’t heard anything too worrying yet, but let’s go see,” she agreed. It was hard to tell with the acoustics here, and Ben and Johnny did not have the best track record together.