In a crisis, every moment mattered, so Reed quickly pushed his distractions away and focused on the problem at hand.
Dealing with the Sentinels.
It wouldn't be easy; they couldn't rely on their powers. They simply weren't strong enough.
But humanity had never been about dealing with problems like that anyway.
Humanity had risen to power due to one thing, one trait.
Using tools.
If something was too hard to break with your hands, use a stone or a hammer; tools could make an impossible task easy.
This was also where Reed was at his best.
Not because of his powers, but because of his mind.
He didn't have long, so before arriving in Boston, where the others were, he would need to know which tool to use and how to make it.
Using the data he had available and what he could gather from seeing the Sentinels in action, he started analyzing their strengths, their weaknesses, everything.
The alloy they used to build the bodies was incredible, but he was a genius. It didn't take him long to find a potential method to deal with it.
The alloy itself was a bio-mechanical composite, designed to be self-repairing. However, the process required energy, drawn from the central power core. If he could create a feedback loop — a device that would force the Sentinels to pour all their energy into repairing nonexistent damage — it would be possible to cause a cascade failure.
It would drain them of power and leave them as motionless husks.
He also noticed something else; while the bodies were built to resist Magneto, they also had high electrical conductivity. A high-powered EMP could fry their circuits, but it would also disable the city's infrastructure, causing more chaos.
But he could probably build a focused one, one that would only affect the Sentinels.
"No," he shook his head. That wouldn't work. There were simply too many. A powerful enough EMP would burn itself out in one go, a single-target consumable item.
It would be fine if there were only one Sentinel, but against at least ten thousand, it was not a viable move.
He needed something that could target more of them, destroy them en masse.
"Maybe a virus?" He looked at the data. Their network was Chitauri-based. Normal tricks couldn't deal with it. Doom had some ideas for how to interfere with it, but it wouldn't be easy.
He looked over at the data sent by Doom and Stark, who were also working on finding a technical solution. Or at least Stark was; Doom was busy fighting in his home country.
A virus targeting their biological elements?
It was possible... He quickly pulled up data on the alien biology of the Chitauri; plenty of research had been done on them since the invasion.
Plenty of people were hopeful they could unlock the secrets of immortality from them.
Reed didn't believe so from what he had seen, but maybe a virus could be made that would shut them down?
"No, not enough time," he muttered as he pored over the data.
As a future project, it had merit, but for now, it was pointless.
"What if..." He thought back to the Ultron project he had been working on with Tony.
They had been discussing things that could go wrong, ways the entire system could get shut down, trying to figure out ways to counter that.
One worry had been signal interference, which would stop them from issuing new orders remotely.
It was a real worry, and they had gotten far trying to solve it.
He couldn't replicate the entire thing in a few minutes, but maybe he could replicate part of it?
The systems were different, yes, but maybe he could interfere with it? Overload their intakes?
The Sentinels shared more than data; they were also a singular entity that shared its energy, remotely transmitting it using Chitauri technology.
"Stark, I have an idea," he quickly told the second-smartest man his idea.
"That could work. It would be easier than what I am trying to do, though also not as effective," Tony replied after a moment. "Can you do it?"
"I should be able to handle it, yeah, though not while flying. I need to get to my lab, and I lack some equipment. Maybe you could have Jarvis send it over? So it's ready when I arrive?" Reed asked.
"Already on its way, Stretch," Tony replied.
"Good," Reed replied, feeling much better now that he had a plan, a goal.
Now he just needed to get to the lab and get to work.
------
Doctor Victor von Doom, Monarch of Latveria, genius, sorcerer, and many other things.
Yet now, he was not a king, not a sorcerer, not a genius. He was a warrior, standing in the ruins of his own capital city.
His armor, a masterpiece of science and magic, was scorched and dented. The green cloak, a symbol of his authority, was tattered and burned at the edges. But Doom stood unbowed, a lone figure against a tide of steel.
The Sentinels had come to Latveria.
Of course, they had.
Trask might hate mutants; he might target them, but for others, Latveria was an equally important target.
His was a nation built on the supremacy of its ruler, a place where technology and will had forged a sanctuary from the chaos of the outside world. To men like Trask, and more importantly, those who backed him, it was an abomination. An affront to their own fragile powers.
Three Sentinels surrounded him in the central square of Doomsstadt, before the grand statue of Doom's parents that had once stood proud.
It had been destroyed in the fight, though twenty-seven Sentinels had paid for it, as their remains lay scattered about.
"You have come to your Doom!" he declared as he looked at them.
Yet the Sentinels knew no fear.
Only a threat to be eliminated.
Yet Doom was not there to eliminate.
He was there to make a statement.
"Mutant threat detected," a Sentinel announced, its cold, synthetic voice echoing in the smoke-filled square. "Threat level: High. Prepare for termination."
Doom laughed, a deep, resonant sound that held no humor, only contempt.
"Threat? You are but toys, puppets dancing on strings you cannot see. Your master is a fool, and you are the instruments of his folly."
He raised one gauntleted hand. "Behold the true power of Latveria! The power that you, in your limited programming, cannot possibly comprehend!"
Runes etched into his armor flared once more. These machines were mighty indeed, but Trask knew nothing of magic, nothing about the power that he, Doom, commanded!
It was something he mostly kept hidden, disguising his magical prowess under layers of technology. Today, however, he revealed his fangs, and his enemies fell before DOOM!
Dark energy coalesced around him, swirling like a vortex of pure shadow. The very air grew cold, and the light of the fires seemed to dim, as if afraid to touch the power that was being unleashed.
The Sentinels opened fire with their plasma cannons.
But the beams of superheated gas never reached their target.
They struck a barrier of pure magical energy, a shimmering wall of green and black that defied the laws of physics. The plasma sizzled and dissipated, leaving the barrier unscathed.
"Your weapons are useless against me," Doom said, a note of finality in his voice. "I am Doom. And I have power beyond your comprehension."
He clenched his fist, and the barrier expanded outward, a wave of energy that slammed into the three Sentinels, pushing them back.
But they did not fall.
They were, after all, built to withstand powerful attacks.
Then again, so was Doom.
"I grow tired of this game," he said, his voice a low growl.
He raised both hands to the sky, and the very ground began to shake. Cracks appeared in the pavement, and from those cracks, tendrils of pure dark energy erupted, wrapping around the Sentinels' legs.
The machines struggled, their powerful thrusters roaring as they tried to break free.
But it was no use.
The tendrils were magical in nature, and they were not bound by the laws of physics. They tightened their grip, pulling the Sentinels down.
"Behold your end," Doom declared, a triumphant smirk on his face.
He then brought his hands down, and the tendrils pulled with all their might. The Sentinels were torn from their feet, their massive bodies crashing to the ground with a deafening roar.
But it was not over yet.
Doom knew that he couldn't just destroy them; he had to make an example of them, to show the world that no one, not even a foolish scientist with a grudge, could challenge the might of Latveria and get away with it.
He walked towards the fallen Sentinels, his footsteps echoing in the sudden silence.
He stopped in front of one of them, its red eye still glowing, its systems still functioning.
"You see?" he said, his voice dripping with scorn. "You are nothing. You are but a mere tool, a weapon in the hands of a madman. And I, Doom, am the master of all weapons."
He then placed a hand on the Sentinel's chest, and the dark energy flowed from him, pouring into the machine's systems.
No matter how powerful a machine, before magic, it was nothing. Slowly, he transmuted the inside of the Sentinel, delicate machinery, highly precise circuitry, all turned into solid matter, a machine turning into a steel statue.
Doom soon left the square; there were still Sentinels left in Latveria, and he would teach their mechanical brains, their core programming, to fear Doom!
As he left, he left behind a new set of statues, shining steel. The horrors of the Sentinels who dared attack his home were gone. Instead stood his parents and him, three Sentinels fully transformed into statues, replacing the ones they had destroyed.
The world would know that none crossed Doom and lived, and those who dared target his nation would pay for any damage caused.
(End of chapter)
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