Now with a complete fic-let!
Dr. Frightful and the Frightful Four crash the latest StarkTech factory from Stark Industries-- the Foursome are more than happy to cause wanton destruction, and Frightful "allows" it, as long as he gets the photonic inducer! CRASH! Into the center of the facility--- where they find the villainous Iron Man already there! IMan appears to be ransacking the place, too, and Dr. F loses it, ordering the Frightful Four-- to attack!
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The Four happily oblige, but Iron Man keeps his distance. At least Frightful is able to secure the inducer-- or is he? Iron Man has the second part to it! The armored enemy proposes they go for something... LARGER. They can use their inducer as a component for a full-spectrum quantum multi-accelerator! What? Impossible! No, it's being constructed (and heavily guarded) by The Hammer Corporation. They'll need to get it *together,* and quickly. The science heroes of 4-Victory are on their way. Let's go!
Frightful barks a command, stopping everyone in their tracks. He accepts Iron Man's offer to team up, but he will not allow them to go their separate ways-- Iron Man still has half the normal inducer, and Frightful won't risk a bluff, allowing that to disappear. Iron Man nods.
THE SCORCER & DR. FRIGHTFUL
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The Scorcher longs to just take off-- this is all too hot, even for him. Besides, why should he care if Frightful doesn't get what he wants? The Scorch can be a villain on his own! Reed reminds Johnny how far that got him-- usually beaten up by a goblin or two, forcing him to always rely on Frightful's *genius* to bail him out. Sometimes literally.
Besides, he reminds the young Scorcher, the hot-head only has Sue (aka Malice) now, and if he wants to make sure Sue stays safe, he'll stay with right where he is... with Frightful!
IRON MAN, MALICE & the THING
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Iron Man is privately plotting~ he doesn't trust Frightful to at all. In fact, Reed's brilliance is tempered only by his insane whimsy. It was only a matter of time before the Frightful Four plundered Stark Industries, so why not stage it, so Iron Man (Stark himself) could help guide the situation HIS way-- a team-up would ensure the Four stay away from Stark, and give him the excuse to break into Stark's rival, Hammer Corp, a U.S. think tank!
Iron Man notes that the Thing is overprotective of Sue, and she just shrugs the annoyance away. Oh, Tony's intrigued! A manipulative little queen bee is she! He throws out a flirt, catching her off guard a bit...
==AT THE HAMMER CORPORATION==
Iron Man gives each of the Frightful Four a hovering "iron cam" to coordinate the attack while he remains "topside" and plugged into the system. For "insurance" purposes, Frightful doesn't trust him, and orders one of his team to stay with Iron Man. Malice! What?! But why? She want to see some action, to inflict a bit of malice herself. "Woman!" he barks at her, and "fine," is her only answer.
INSIDE, the Thing is moping, self-loathing while he follows the iron cam's direction. Why can't Sue see that *he* is better man than Frightful? Oh, yeah. 'Cause he's not a man, just a misshapen monster. Then... **WHIP!** Ah, a hero to clobber! Finally, some violence to bury his thoughts. __Whiplash__ notes his whips were designed to crack even Iron Man's armor-- what chance does the Thing's rocky lumps hope to have?
INSIDE, the Scorcher burns the hallway around him as he goes-- just for fun. Sue's the only family's he's got, but why should he always be holding himself back on _her_ account? If SHE wants to stay held down with the domineering Frightful, that's not HIS fault, and no reason HE couldn't cut loose, right? Then... **BLIZZ!** The Scorcher's been snuffed! The Blizzard informs Johnny that Mr. Justin Hammer pays his bodyguards not only for investigative research and retrieval, but also for the best defense modern technology can provide. Guess which category the Scorcher falls under? Johnny's all too ready. You want to cut loose? Let's cut loose!
OUTSIDE, Iron Man comments on the Four's progress so far. Malice self-deprecates that Frightful was right to sideline her-- but Iron Man flirts again, then notes that he senses that she's more powerful than anyone gave her credit for. Then... **BLACK!** Iron Man and Malice are ensnared by inky-black energy. Blackout, his dialogue playful and a bit... unbalanced, calls IMan and Malice "bad guys" against Mr. Hammer.
Iron Man fights back with uni-beams and repulsors, while Malice uses her invisible lashes. Blackout's darkforce keeps it all at bay, his dark black objects serving as shields, as scissors, as giant kid-like shapes (bucket & shovel, mallet, Legos, etc.) Malice gains the upper hand by making Blackout's constructs invisible. It brings him up short-- has he lost his powers?! Oh, thank you! Thank you!
Taking advantage of the distraction, Iron Man comments that Malice's invisible force shows a similar frequency signature as Blackout's darkforce-- what if she tried something similar? Suddenly, Blackout is trapped in an invisible force bubble! That's... fantastic!
INSIDE, Dr. Frightful, in the meantime, has reached the center of Hammer's operations. He marvels that it was all he had hoped for, even if its arrangement is a bit amateurish. He attaches his part of the inducer to the accelerator, and informs his iron cam that he's ready. Then... **PULSE!** Iron Man informs Doc Frightful that there's a change in plans. Frightful's had the real inducer all along (Hammer's accelerator begins to churn into action!) Frightful is surprised-- that means Iron Man has forfeited his claim. It's all Frightful's, do you hear? IMan agrees, especially since he sabotaged the device to accelerate out of control. Iron Man doesn't want to claim yet another paltry piece of tech-- he'll claim something else entirely. He gathers Malice, the Scorcher, and the Thing around him.
Never! Frightful tries to attack Iron Man directly, but he's held back by an invisible force field. Malice informs Reed that he's been holding her back, holding them all back. He would dangle the promise of romance, protection, and curing Ben's condition, but it was all for his own purposes. Well, they'll follow his lead no more!
With the accelerator's energies crackling around him, Frightful explains it was all for them. The accelerator would enhance the cosmic energies in their bodies, making them all even more powerful! Malice says she doesn't need that-- she just found out she's already more powerful than he could have imagined. The Hammer-accelerator flares out of control, and Dr. Frightful is lost to the Kirby-crackle, while Malice's force field carries her and the rest out of the area. Reed's last image is of Malice resting her head on Iron Man's shoulder.
Then... **KRAKKABOOOM!**
Later, out of the rubble, Frightful manages to squirm/elongate himself free. Even returning to normal, his face and body remains a droopy, soggy mess. The cosmic accelerator must have worked, but its forces were rampant, unchecked. Frightful rests, but his mind races... "why... why... why..." He must not, he cannot, stop. Not until he knows "why..."
Cover and text by Danny Wall
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