The Brute, Thwarted by Brains!

This is so sad! Sue figured out it must be the Brute all of one second after she made her speech.

The moment Reed gives her a sad look, it was obvious who it was. Because the real Reed would never look at her that way, and this IS counter earth, after all: The Brute did not need to move through space to get here, because he lives here.

She steps very quietly to a spot where the Brute is between her and Doom, so that if Doom shoot at her, the poor Reed of counterearth gets hit first.

Sue concentrates as she has never concentrated before and puts a small bubble of force right in the middle of the Brute's mighty palm!

She expands this bubble was quickly as she can, trying to catch him by surprise and force his fingers apart the barest fraction of an inch needed to slip a forcefield under his fingertips and around the orange stone.

To help the Brute lose his concentration, she takes out her compact (which she always carries with her in her belt. It is made of unstable molecules. Also a lipstick.) and blows compact powder through a forcefield straw leading up the nose of the Brute.

POP!

The air around the Brute's hand is repelled with tremendous force, enough to knock him down! Also he's sneezing.

The orange Soul Gem apparently has vanished!

John Jameson, the Soul Gem parted from him, heals instantly, then concludes the Soul Gem exploded.

Dr. Doom, on the other hand, concludes it is invisible, and sprays the sky with magnetic particles. In one part of the sky, the particles disappear, becoming invisible when they adhere to the Soul Stone.

"Now! To banish the Soul Gem beyond any possibility of recall -- for the safety of the universe!"

Says Doom, gesturing with his glove and powering up a mighty blast!