Back to GatefoldIssue #69 by Jason Bruss & Tobias Christopher
July 2016 |
“Long Live the Queen”
Months Earlier
Earth-9811
In a dark limbo where his powers had been disabled, Vincent Von Doom sat naked and alone as he waited for the day that his father would see fit to release him from his punishment. He had disgraced his father's name and failed to live up the image of Victor Von Doom. So now he was being forced to live in this limbo until Dr. Doom saw fit to give him a chance to redeem himself.
He had been waiting two years for that moment.
Then, one day a bright light opened and Dr. Doom stepped into the limbo, seeing the young man sitting there.
"Father," Vincent whispered as Doom handed him a neatly folded pile of clothes.
"No, not the father you know," Doom told him. "The father you need. Come, son, we are leaving this void. We are leaving this dimension. I have plans for you, and your sister."
"S- sister?" Vincent asked as he stood up.
# # # # # # # # # #
Present Day
Latveria
The comatose body of the Shadow Queen lay in a glass case as Dr. Doom looked over her. His beloved Invisible Queen, who looked exactly like Susan Storm would someday awaken and take Doom's hand in marriage so that his family may be complete.
"Soon, my love," Doom said in a cold metallic voice as he ran his hand along the glass case. "Soon we will be together again, and the world will kneel before our might."
As Doom spoke, Vincent was eavesdropping from the next room.
"The Queen is lost to us, father," Vincent whispered to himself. "The throne is rightfully mine."
"Why are you eavesdropping on father?" Sophie asked as she walked up beside him.
"He is not our real father, we are merely time displaced children here to help this Doom fulfill the need for a family, nothing more," Vincent told her.
"Do not take this new life for granted brother," Sophie told him. "For instance, my love is alive and well and waiting for me here, and soon he will be mine, and mine alone."
"And what if he refuses?" Vincent asked.
"I have my ways," Sophie said as she walked away. She headed downstairs, past a small army of her own personal Doombots and hit a few buttons on a console. A portal opened as she looked into the dark limbo that she had created from Vincent's description, where she would place her beloved until he saw things her way.
Upstairs, after Doom had left the room, Vincent approached the glass case.
"He refuses to believe that you are brain dead," Vincent whispered as he looked at the Shadow Queen's body. "But he also refuses to believe that I am the only suitable heir for his throne, and I alone will rule this world."
Vincent pulled out a black necklace with a silver medallion and placed it around the comatose woman's neck. "Farewell, mother," Vincent said as he turned away as the woman's eyes began to open. "And welcome, Malice."
# # # # # # # # # #
New York
Alicia Masters was in the park, where she was doing her weekly volunteer work with the neighborhood blind children. Currently she was teaching braille to the children on the sunny day. She stood over an orphaned boy named Casey as he ran his hand over the bumpy texture in the book.
"Y- you be... be...," Casey said, trying to say the word.
"Beguile," Alicia said softly.
"Beguile me, Ch- Chris-ti-an. Comp... complete-ly overwh- overw-helm me. I feel like Ic- Ic-arus flying too close to the sun,"
"Very good, Casey," Alicia told him as sudden chill ran down her spine. A hand placed itself on her shoulder as she smelled the cologne that could only belong to one man.
"Hello, daughter," Phillip Masters, a.k.a. the Puppet Master, said. "It's been a long time."
"You should be in prison, you can't be here," Alicia said nervously. "Kids, the lesson's over for today. Parents and guardians, please collect your children and we'll meet at the usual place next Tuesday."
"Early parole, my dear," Phillip smirked as he saw all of the blind children being taken back to their parents. "Such lovely creatures. Tell me, have you and your husband considered having-"
"That is none of your concern," Alicia said angrily. "You need to go. I never want you to contact me or my family again, is that clear?"
Alicia grabbed her walking stick as Phillip watched her leave, knowing that Ben must be at the Baxter Building where the Fantastic 4 reside.
"I'll see you again soon, daughter," Phillip said to himself as he walked away, whistling.
# # # # # # # # # #
Hawaii
"Are you sure this is such a good idea, given everything that's happening?" Sue asked as she lay on the beach with Reed. "Between your father showing up and the kids-"
"The kids are fine," Reed promised her. "Valeria's leading the New Warriors and Franklin and his new friend are able to just be normal kids. Ben's watching my father, so we have nothing to worry about."
"I am proud of our children, but they're growing up fast, and Franklin was devastated by losing his team,"* Sue reminded him.
* (Check out New Warriors #9 for the full story – Dave)
"He'll get through it, he's a Richards," Reed said as he kissed her softly. He stretched his arm across the sand and grabbed another wine bottle from the cooler. "Besides, it's our anniversary, it was time we got away. We'll deal with my father and the kids when we get back."
Further up the beach, Johnny was playing frisbee with his girlfriend Laura, who was really the shapeshifting love of his life, Lyja. He's conned Reed and Sue into them come along so he could spend some downtime with her.
As they played frisbee, Lyja saw a young couple playing with their children in the water. The frisbee rushed past her as she started to feel sad. Johnny looked to see what had caught her eye and realized what was happening. He went to pick up the frisbee, lighting his finger on fire to burn the cord on his swimsuit, causing it fall down as he stood up.
"Oops," Johnny said, accidentally mooning her as Lyja started laughing.
"You did that on purpose," Lyja said as Johnny pulled his trunks up, but not before getting stares from other men and women on the beach.
"This is so going on the 'The Flaming Torch' website," a young man said, having snapped a photo with his cellphone.
"Got you to smile, though," he said as he pulled her into a kiss.
# # # # # # # # # #
The Baxter Building
New York
"You don't understand," Nathaniel said as he paced around the living room as Yoshi came out of the kitchen, bringing Ben a sandwich. "The future is in peril unless we do something!"
"Future's always in peril, chief," Ben said as he took the sandwich. "Thanks, Yoshi. I missed your cooking, you got me spoiled on having the crusts cut off."
"Someone is going to die!" Nathaniel told him. "At first I thought it was going to be one of my family, but you were all alive and well when I arrived, but now the future is entirely uncertain. "
"What about friends? What about Sharon? And Franklin's little friends?" Ben asked.
"The New Warriors will be fine, outside of that little war they end up getting Earth into," Nathaniel told him. "But Sharon? The outcome isn't good, but we can fix that if you let me help."
# # # # # # # # # #
New York Memorial Hospital
Sharon Ventura had collapsed in the middle of the shopping center and had been rushed to the hospital. Her condition was getting worse, despite what she was telling her friends. As she was brought into surgery, she started flatlining on the ER table...
# # # # # # # # # #
"What's with the outfit?" Josh asked, wearing a button down shirt just in case he needed to bring out his wings at any moment. He looked Franklin up and down, who was wearing cargo shorts, open toed sandals and a tank top. "It's barely warm out."
"Yoshi said dress warm, so I changed to this," Franklin told him.
"You really don't like having her back, do you?" Josh asked as they sat down at the pizza place.
"She abandoned me when I needed her most," Franklin told him. "I don't need a nanny anymore, so from now on when she says to do something, I'm doing the opposite."
"Wow, that's... that's a stupid plan," Josh said as he read the menu as the doors burst open and Sophie Von Doom walked in, followed by six reprogrammed Doombots. "Ah, dammit, and I was really hungry for pizza."
"Franklin Richards, my true love," Sophie said. "Come with me, and together we will rule side by side."
"Let me think about that," Franklin said as he put a hand to chin and stroked it. "No."
"Destroy the other one and bring me my beloved," Sophie ordered the Doombots, who stepped forward to obey her orders.
"Can't we at least get some breadsticks before we fight?" Josh asked.
# # # # # # # # #
Latveria
The body of the Invisible Queen stood nude on the table where she had just woken up. But this wasn't the Invisible Queen, only her body, which was now just a shell to house the spirit of Malice. "It's so very quiet in here," she said as she looked down at her hand and wiggled her fingers. "Amazing, I have complete control over this form. Zero resistance from the vessel's owner."
Vincent walked in and smiled. "You awaken. I knew it would work. Are you okay?"
"I am better than okay, I am pure," Malice said as she blasted him with an invisible force field.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Earth-9811
In a dark limbo where his powers had been disabled, Vincent Von Doom sat naked and alone as he waited for the day that his father would see fit to release him from his punishment. He had disgraced his father's name and failed to live up the image of Victor Von Doom. So now he was being forced to live in this limbo until Dr. Doom saw fit to give him a chance to redeem himself.
He had been waiting two years for that moment.
Then, one day a bright light opened and Dr. Doom stepped into the limbo, seeing the young man sitting there.
"Father," Vincent whispered as Doom handed him a neatly folded pile of clothes.
"No, not the father you know," Doom told him. "The father you need. Come, son, we are leaving this void. We are leaving this dimension. I have plans for you, and your sister."
"S- sister?" Vincent asked as he stood up.
# # # # # # # # # #
Present Day
Latveria
The comatose body of the Shadow Queen lay in a glass case as Dr. Doom looked over her. His beloved Invisible Queen, who looked exactly like Susan Storm would someday awaken and take Doom's hand in marriage so that his family may be complete.
"Soon, my love," Doom said in a cold metallic voice as he ran his hand along the glass case. "Soon we will be together again, and the world will kneel before our might."
As Doom spoke, Vincent was eavesdropping from the next room.
"The Queen is lost to us, father," Vincent whispered to himself. "The throne is rightfully mine."
"Why are you eavesdropping on father?" Sophie asked as she walked up beside him.
"He is not our real father, we are merely time displaced children here to help this Doom fulfill the need for a family, nothing more," Vincent told her.
"Do not take this new life for granted brother," Sophie told him. "For instance, my love is alive and well and waiting for me here, and soon he will be mine, and mine alone."
"And what if he refuses?" Vincent asked.
"I have my ways," Sophie said as she walked away. She headed downstairs, past a small army of her own personal Doombots and hit a few buttons on a console. A portal opened as she looked into the dark limbo that she had created from Vincent's description, where she would place her beloved until he saw things her way.
Upstairs, after Doom had left the room, Vincent approached the glass case.
"He refuses to believe that you are brain dead," Vincent whispered as he looked at the Shadow Queen's body. "But he also refuses to believe that I am the only suitable heir for his throne, and I alone will rule this world."
Vincent pulled out a black necklace with a silver medallion and placed it around the comatose woman's neck. "Farewell, mother," Vincent said as he turned away as the woman's eyes began to open. "And welcome, Malice."
# # # # # # # # # #
New York
Alicia Masters was in the park, where she was doing her weekly volunteer work with the neighborhood blind children. Currently she was teaching braille to the children on the sunny day. She stood over an orphaned boy named Casey as he ran his hand over the bumpy texture in the book.
"Y- you be... be...," Casey said, trying to say the word.
"Beguile," Alicia said softly.
"Beguile me, Ch- Chris-ti-an. Comp... complete-ly overwh- overw-helm me. I feel like Ic- Ic-arus flying too close to the sun,"
"Very good, Casey," Alicia told him as sudden chill ran down her spine. A hand placed itself on her shoulder as she smelled the cologne that could only belong to one man.
"Hello, daughter," Phillip Masters, a.k.a. the Puppet Master, said. "It's been a long time."
"You should be in prison, you can't be here," Alicia said nervously. "Kids, the lesson's over for today. Parents and guardians, please collect your children and we'll meet at the usual place next Tuesday."
"Early parole, my dear," Phillip smirked as he saw all of the blind children being taken back to their parents. "Such lovely creatures. Tell me, have you and your husband considered having-"
"That is none of your concern," Alicia said angrily. "You need to go. I never want you to contact me or my family again, is that clear?"
Alicia grabbed her walking stick as Phillip watched her leave, knowing that Ben must be at the Baxter Building where the Fantastic 4 reside.
"I'll see you again soon, daughter," Phillip said to himself as he walked away, whistling.
# # # # # # # # # #
Hawaii
"Are you sure this is such a good idea, given everything that's happening?" Sue asked as she lay on the beach with Reed. "Between your father showing up and the kids-"
"The kids are fine," Reed promised her. "Valeria's leading the New Warriors and Franklin and his new friend are able to just be normal kids. Ben's watching my father, so we have nothing to worry about."
"I am proud of our children, but they're growing up fast, and Franklin was devastated by losing his team,"* Sue reminded him.
* (Check out New Warriors #9 for the full story – Dave)
"He'll get through it, he's a Richards," Reed said as he kissed her softly. He stretched his arm across the sand and grabbed another wine bottle from the cooler. "Besides, it's our anniversary, it was time we got away. We'll deal with my father and the kids when we get back."
Further up the beach, Johnny was playing frisbee with his girlfriend Laura, who was really the shapeshifting love of his life, Lyja. He's conned Reed and Sue into them come along so he could spend some downtime with her.
As they played frisbee, Lyja saw a young couple playing with their children in the water. The frisbee rushed past her as she started to feel sad. Johnny looked to see what had caught her eye and realized what was happening. He went to pick up the frisbee, lighting his finger on fire to burn the cord on his swimsuit, causing it fall down as he stood up.
"Oops," Johnny said, accidentally mooning her as Lyja started laughing.
"You did that on purpose," Lyja said as Johnny pulled his trunks up, but not before getting stares from other men and women on the beach.
"This is so going on the 'The Flaming Torch' website," a young man said, having snapped a photo with his cellphone.
"Got you to smile, though," he said as he pulled her into a kiss.
# # # # # # # # # #
The Baxter Building
New York
"You don't understand," Nathaniel said as he paced around the living room as Yoshi came out of the kitchen, bringing Ben a sandwich. "The future is in peril unless we do something!"
"Future's always in peril, chief," Ben said as he took the sandwich. "Thanks, Yoshi. I missed your cooking, you got me spoiled on having the crusts cut off."
"Someone is going to die!" Nathaniel told him. "At first I thought it was going to be one of my family, but you were all alive and well when I arrived, but now the future is entirely uncertain. "
"What about friends? What about Sharon? And Franklin's little friends?" Ben asked.
"The New Warriors will be fine, outside of that little war they end up getting Earth into," Nathaniel told him. "But Sharon? The outcome isn't good, but we can fix that if you let me help."
# # # # # # # # # #
New York Memorial Hospital
Sharon Ventura had collapsed in the middle of the shopping center and had been rushed to the hospital. Her condition was getting worse, despite what she was telling her friends. As she was brought into surgery, she started flatlining on the ER table...
# # # # # # # # # #
"What's with the outfit?" Josh asked, wearing a button down shirt just in case he needed to bring out his wings at any moment. He looked Franklin up and down, who was wearing cargo shorts, open toed sandals and a tank top. "It's barely warm out."
"Yoshi said dress warm, so I changed to this," Franklin told him.
"You really don't like having her back, do you?" Josh asked as they sat down at the pizza place.
"She abandoned me when I needed her most," Franklin told him. "I don't need a nanny anymore, so from now on when she says to do something, I'm doing the opposite."
"Wow, that's... that's a stupid plan," Josh said as he read the menu as the doors burst open and Sophie Von Doom walked in, followed by six reprogrammed Doombots. "Ah, dammit, and I was really hungry for pizza."
"Franklin Richards, my true love," Sophie said. "Come with me, and together we will rule side by side."
"Let me think about that," Franklin said as he put a hand to chin and stroked it. "No."
"Destroy the other one and bring me my beloved," Sophie ordered the Doombots, who stepped forward to obey her orders.
"Can't we at least get some breadsticks before we fight?" Josh asked.
# # # # # # # # #
Latveria
The body of the Invisible Queen stood nude on the table where she had just woken up. But this wasn't the Invisible Queen, only her body, which was now just a shell to house the spirit of Malice. "It's so very quiet in here," she said as she looked down at her hand and wiggled her fingers. "Amazing, I have complete control over this form. Zero resistance from the vessel's owner."
Vincent walked in and smiled. "You awaken. I knew it would work. Are you okay?"
"I am better than okay, I am pure," Malice said as she blasted him with an invisible force field.
TO BE CONTINUED...