Our splash page has split in two-- on one side, there's a small long-necked winged creature that's racing down the hallway of Victory Castle, with Fantastic Girl, Mole Man, Doc Ock, and Electro chasing after it. The Wizard calls out, "Stop that thing!" On the other side, "Stop that thing!" calls out Dr. Frightful. The Thing, Scorcher, and Malice are chasing something, too, down the length of some abandoned corridor, where races a lump of animate protoplasm!
***
Mole Man had thought the little lost Jersey Devil would feel better at Victory Castle, since its natural habitat was virtually destroyed by the encroaching Jersey suburb. But it's spooked now more than ever! It jumps through the closing-in tentacles of Doctor Octopus, spits a steaming pile of orange onto Electro (in response to Electro's gently prodding lightning bolts), and ducks so quickly back around a corner that Mole Man (who's running from behind and yelling that everyone needs to just calm down and let him use his monster-empathy) and the Wizard (who's flying from above to try to attach a Grav-Disk™) bump into each other. It takes the Fantastic Girl to shapeshift into a Jersey Devil-form (albeit green instead of reddish-orange) to get the creature to stop.
*
Dr. Frightful had thought that his protoplasmic syntho-DNA sample would be inanimate until it received properly calibrated stimuli. But his experiments worked too well! The protoplasm sprang through the closing-in elastic arms of Frightful, smacked the Thing's face with such force that the misshapen man was staggered, and seemed to absorb the flames of the flame-flinging Scorcher. It took the invisible lashes of Malice to whip the protoplasm backward so that Frightful could contain it in a clear plexiglas container.
*
The Fantastic Girl is fascinated by the small creature. Mole Man proudly discusses it, although he can really only give his best guesses based on the empathy he shares with such creatures. FanGirl's questions become overwhelming, though. She asking so much about its eating habits, typical size, natural enemies, communication patterns, unique biology, possible ancestry… Mole Man begins with the last one, hypothesizing about creatures like the Loch Ness Monster, Mokèlé-mbèmbé, Dover Demons… The Fantastic Girl ecstatically claps her hands-- let's go find them right away! She's excited about the possible expedition and begins to tick off her checklist.
No, no… the Mole Man waves it away. This Devil needs help and understanding. They must take time to understand it, to find the best place for it, and to help ease it into its new environment. Noting the FanGirl's disappointment, the Wizard stepped in to try to encourage her. *He* felt the same way-- demonstrating by "juggling" small objects with his anti-gravity controls all the while he gave his speech--
"There's an excitement, an joy, that comes from discovery. It's like taking a quick peek behind the curtain of reality for just one moment, and for that brief moment, you, too, are outside reality, above it, because you KNOW something. That there's a reason behind it. And that reason connects you to another reason, and another, until the world is suddenly so much larger, more *spectacular* than you've ever dreamed. Each discovery makes you crave the next one, and the next one, like a kid on Christmas morning!"
The Mole Man gets frustrated. He tells Wizard and the Fantastic Girl that the excitement of discovery is one thing, but discovery has its consequences! It requires analysis, study, steadiness… You *can't* be more concerned about just the breadth of experiences, and not the depth of them!
Too late, Mole Man realizes he's hurt Fantastic Girl's feelings. Steeling herself up, De'Lila thinks that it would be good if they could discover as much as possible. After all, this Jersey Devil's habitat was threatened until they could save it! Maybe it would be better if she just left on her own… The rest of 4-Victory was silent, taken aback. The Wizard began, "Well, of course you can, if you want, b--" Fantastic Girl didn't let him finish his "but." She left, determined, but gave a little look back, half-hoping that Mole Man would be coming after her. He wasn't.
With a tear born more from confusion than sadness, De'Lila left.
*
Malice lashes out (verbally) at Frightful. What good does all his science do, anyway? Look at this dump they're in. That rocket flight they took was supposed to give them all fame, fortune-- the world bowing before their darling, daring adventurers! Instead, all they've got is days upon days of doing nothing while Dr. Frightful, Scientist Supreme, goes on his private head trips. She stamps her foot. "You-- you promised! Promised things would be different!"
"Woman!" Frightful holds up one finger to "shush" and one finger to wrap around Malice's head and cover her mouth. Anything he had promised with that rocket flight had paled in comparison to what they had actually received-- power! Raw power beyond what they could ever dream! With that power came consequences, and they'd have to live with that. Cue the Thing: "Consequences like THIS?!" His monstrous, lumpy hide seemed to mirror his frustration and seething hatred. He pounded a dent into the wall for good measure. (The Scorcher played around by sending little fireballs swimming around the Thing ("If you ask me, whatever happened was an improvement!) The Thing launched himself at the Scorcher, but Malice held him back with her invisible lashes-- ("Oh, no. Not MY little brother!") Bah! The Thing turned again on Frightful. "Promises, promises! That's all this guy ever does, and nothing more!"
Not true! Frightful holds up the grayish protoplasm in a tube. He's just cracked the wall between life and artificial life! His synthetic DNA could create alternate clones, duplicate organs, even android humans! But he'll admit he was far from doing enough. There was still realms of science just out of reach-- still something missing! Even Dr. Frightful himself couldn't pierce the veil between body and soul. Only one other human had ever done that-- Mister Victorious, with his blasted arcanotech! Could it be that Victorious was truly smarter than he? No, never! With this syntho-DNA, Frightful would batter down the halls of Victory Castle and steal the secrets of Victorious' arcanotech once and for all! Once he had that, he could promise his friends more than just fame and fortune. He could promise the very world, nay, the universe!
*
At the end of the day, the Wizard shows off to Doctor Octopus the way he combined his gravity-well platform with Mr. Victorious' Encephalo-Display. He points out that it could very well allow matter-displacement on the microscopic level. Octopus wonders what that might mean-- perhaps a new way to store objects, perhaps solving waste disposal issues? Or perhaps teleportation travel? What? The Wizard excitedly says "I don't know!", as if he's saying "Isn't it great?!" at the same time.
Elsewhere, the Mole Man finished the final touches on the Jersey Devil's temporary corral. His mental notes about gathering more greenery for the diorama-like enclosure was interrupted by Electro. "You know, for a man with great empathic powers you were pretty cold back there." Where? Electro tries to prompt Mole Man to go after Fantastic Girl. "Should I had said something?" Electro said he tried to find her earlier, but she must have left. "But she's coming back, right?" Mole Man asks, genuinely not knowing the answer. Electro shrugged, but pointed out that, if Skrulls were supposed to blend in, undetected, into a world, it might be too late to try to find her. Suddenly, the Mole Man knew that was exactly what he wanted to do.
"This is all YOUR doing!" The Mole Man stormed in to the Wizard. Why, yes, the Wizard *was* quite proud he could tweak Victorious' invention (and secretly he *was* quite proud that someone noticed.) Not that! The Fantastic Girl has left because of YOUR pretty speeches! The Mole Man took aim with his power-staff and blasted energy at the Wizard! The Wizard instinctively threw up a gravity-field, then returned with a blast of fire from his own Wonder-Gloves™.
"STOP, STOP, STOP!" Electro tried to step in. This won't get us anywhere! A blast of flame struck the area among 4-Victory, and Electro repeated his command to stop. "Uh, that wasn't me," Wizard acknowledged, and Mole Man shook his head too. Doctor Octopus started "Don't look at m--" when he suddenly flew to the other side of the room, struck by some invisible hand!
Invisible? It must be the Frightful Four, returning to infiltrate Victory Castle in its new location above the clouds of New York City!
The Mole Man can sense there *is* an intruder! He's over there! But if he's over *there,* then why did his power-staff get snatched from him? It must be Dr. Frightful, using his elongation powers. But Mole Man's staff is raised in the air, and is snapped in two! The area erupts in an explosion as the staff's energy-reserves are breeched! Mole Man and the others go flying! "I never knew he had such strength!"
Doc Ock sends his tentacles out, flailing to see if he can connect. Instead, something else grabs *him,* and he's flung aside. The Wizard yells at Mole Man, telling him to double-check the Castle security. Mr. Victorious was supposed to have set traps or wards to keep the Frightful Four out, after what happened last time* But before Wizard can use his gravity-bending, he's engulfed in a fiery tornado, forcing him back. Electro guesses at the source of the flames, zapping with his electricity. But the area simply-- absorbs his lightning? Huh? What's going on?
*-- It started in 4-Victory #10
The Mole Man has used a nearby computer to verify the security is in place, but then he's throw aside by… something! The computer knobs seem to work themselves, and Doc Ock tells their foe that he's finally made his first mistake! Knowing his location, Doc Ock wraps his arm around his foe-- a massive, 12-foot invisible being!
The invisibility slowly goes away, and 4-Victory beholds some featureless, grey-skinned brute. "It's some kind of … awesome android," breathes Doctor Octopus. And with that, the android shrugs, sending waves of electricity through the arms of the Octopus. Hey, wasn't that Electro's power? Can it be? Can it have all the powers of the Frightful Four PLUS 4-Victory's?! It's displays of the Thing's strength and Dr. Frightful's stretching help prove the theory, causing 4-Victory to duck and dodge once more. Well, whatever he is, he just shut down the Castles' defenses. They better work quickly, which might be tricky, seeing as how the Android has started dishing out both flame-blasts and electrical-bolts from either hand.
*
The Frightful Four make their way through the halls of Victory Castle, and the Scorcher comments on the weirdness of it all. Yeah, the Thing agrees, there's this low hum everywhere that's making his head hurt. He's ready to just bash it in to make it stop! Dr. Frightful warns him not to destroy anything! Not until he can crack open the secrets its technology holds. Really? Malice wonders if that's all he really thinks about. "Yes!" is the fervent response. "Yes! To crack open each scientific discovery, even if I have to crack it open with extreme force! I won't rest until I can cut open the belly of reality and see its guts splayed out, laying bare all the secretes of infinity!"
What?! What happened to his android?! The villains round the corner to see the Android stock-still in the middle of the lab.
The Frightful Four are frozen where they stand, and 4-Victory comes out from the other end of the room. The Wizard holds up a Grav-Disk™. Seems like the android can only copy natural powers, and the Wizard's power over gravity is simply mechanical. All they had to do was attach this on his back, and he's caught in a hi-gravity ward, kinda like the Frightful Four are right now.
"Give it up, Frightful," Electro calls to him. "For a guy who's supposed to have one of the smartest brains on the planet, you're pretty single-minded."
"Do you really think so?" Frightful tells the heroes that his brain sometimes hurts it has so many thoughts running through it any given time. One thought leads to another, to another, and each winding trail explodes into branches of tangents and alternatives… "Is there a point here?" the Wizard wonders. Frightful finishes-- "and contingency plans!"
Suddenly, Doctor Octopus' tentacles go wild! Two of them pin down the Wizard, while the others each knock aside Electro and Mole Man! "Wha--?" Did you think that Octopus' powers were purely mechanical? That Frightful's android couldn't duplicate his mental processes? Octopus shares a mechanical empathy with his arms, something his android can share, now, too, regardless of being pinned down by artificial gravity! "No! Stop!" The Wizard can't help it as Octopus readies another tentacle to twist the Grav-Disk on the Wizard's chestplate.
The room bubbles over with competing energies from three separate areas of high gravity! There's too many gravitational particles being twisted! In the maelstrom, the very room itself feels like it's twisting, morphing! Hero and villain alike, they scream at the forces tearing at their bodies!
The Wizard grips the Octopus-pinning arms with his Power-Gloves™! The gravity-added strength actually starts to dent, to bite into them! Recoiling, Octopus cries out, and the android bellows in its own similar way. The Wizard crawls forward under the pressure and energy, crawling toward the platform he was experimenting with earlier. Perhaps he could use it to transport himself-- to at least rid the area of his influence. Despite the cries of Doctor Octopus, who reminds him they have no idea what will happen, the Wizard props himself up on the control panel, and activates it!
The whole area becomes centered on a whirlpool of light and sound! Doctor Octopus grabs a hold of the walls, the floors, securing himself with his arms. Frightful does the same with his stretchy body, and although Malice tries to hold on, she and the other Frightful Fours are drawn forward toward the platform! 4-Victory can't help it, either! One by one, they fly into it, until the portal gives one final spasm of crackling, bubbling light!
4-Victory and the Frightful Four have disappeared. All, that is, except Dr. Frightful, who slowly disentangles himself and looks in wonder at the lab around him. Despite its obvious shambles, he laughs. It's his! All of it, it's HIS!!
To be continued!!
Cover and text by Danny Wall
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