Alicia Masters was working on a sculpture of the Thing holding a newborn baby in his arms when a horrific pain struck her stomach. She bent over in pain, now fearful for the life of her unborn baby...
#79 by Jason Bruss & Tobias Christopher
October 2018 Mr. Fantastic
Invisible Woman
Human Torch
The Thing
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"The Quest for Franklin Richards: Family Road Trip"The Baxter Building, Hours Earlier
"Johnny, we're trusting you to keep an eye on things until we get back," Sue said as she hugged her brother. "We'll be back soon, with Franklin." "I hope so, I have a lot of begging to do to get him to forgive me for what I did," Johnny told her. "Tell him-- tell him how much I missed him." "You can tell him once we get him home," Sue said as she joined Reed, Ben and Valeria at the portal. "See you soon." "Don't worry, hot head," Ben told him. "Franklin's going to be okay, we're the Fantastic 4, we ain't lost anyone yet, or at least let 'em stay lost." Sue glared at Reed as she heard Ben as the portal opened and the team headed off to find their lost family member. "You haven't said a word to me since we started planning this adventure," Reed said to Sue as they arrived in the first world. "You should be excited. We're bringing our boy home." "This is not an adventure, Reed," Sue snapped at him. "My little boy is lost, and we should have been searching for him the second he was taken from us. But you were too busy screwing around with the natural order to even notice that Franklin was gone." "I was trying to make our family whole again," Reed reminded her. "Sue, Franklin is seventeen years old, he wanted his independence. You were perfectly okay with letting him move into his team's headquarters." "On the basis that he spends at least a few nights a week with his family," Sue told him. "I don't care how old Franklin gets, he's still my baby. He will always have a home with us, no matter where he decides to spend his nights." "I should have kept a closer on him," Valeria said to Ben as they explored together. "Franklin's never been the brightest person in the family." "He gets that from Johnny," Ben told her as he let Valeria sit on his shoulder as they walked. "What Franklin lacks in brain, he more than makes up for in heart. The whole reason he wanted to form a team of heroes was so that he could do good in the world." "Then I stole his team," Valeria said. "Does that make me heartless?" "The kid cried his eyes out for two days over that one, but that doesn't make you heartless," Ben told her. "I think you were just trying to find a way to do some good yourself, you just kinda went about it in the wrong way. But we'll find your brother and then we'll all sit down and hash this whole thing out." "Is Alex really going to be living with us?" Valeria asked. "For a while, i suppose," Ben said as he continued walking. "You got issues with Alex?" "... No," Valeria said, trying to forget the sight of Alex walking around in just a towel. "He's okay. As long as he stays out of my room." "The scanner Sam gave me is working," Sue told him. "I really do feel my love powering it. It feels like it's drawing me closer to him." "Then let it lead the way," Reed told her. "Which way?" "That way, in a different world," Sue told him. "Do you think he's okay? He's been gone for months, what if he's traumatized?" "He's our son, there's nothing he can't overcome," Reed reminded her. "You'll see, he's going to be okay. Then we'll take him home and everything will be just fine." Back at the Baxter Building, Yoshi was noticing that more of the Richards' pictures were fading away. "I have to do something soon." Yoshi said. "Before I lose the family forever." "So you and Franklin are a thing, huh?" Alex asked as he looked at Icarus while he pulled his boots on. "Not officially, but I'm hoping we are when he gets back," Icarus blushed. "Huh. Always thought Franklin and Katie would have been a thing," Alex said as he stood up. "Kid's like a brother to me. Treat him right." "I will," Icarus promised as he stared out the window. "But for right now I want to bring my nephew home to save Sam. You sure you can do this?" "I'm not Dr. Richards' level of genius, but I know my way around a lab," Alex told him. "We just have to find the guy who opened that portal in the first place. Think you can track him down?" "Got his address off of Sam's phone," Icarus told him. "I can have him here in a half hour." "Then move your ass, flyboy, we got lives to save!" The Fantastic 4 were wrapped in vines on a jungle planet as they ventured toward Franklin. "Fascinating," Reed said as he stretched his upper half to pull Valeria out of the clutches of a vine that was trying to smother her. "The plantlife here is sentient and must think we're intruders. I must return here for some samples some time." "Great, yeah, bring killer plants into our home where they can murder us in our sleep," Ben said as he punched a vine. "And I thought you was the smart one." "We're getting closer to Franklin," Sue told him. "The closer we get, the more love I feel thanks to this crystal. It's really... euphoric." "I can't believe an alternate universe version of our son was here and didn't try to contact his family," Reed said. "And why would he give Joshua Guthrie of all people a crystal like that?" "You-- you really haven't figured it out, have you?" Sue asked as she used her force field to push some approaching vines back. She knew the second she saw how close Franklin and Josh were that it was only a matter of time that they started having feelings for one another. She didn't care if her son was gay, only that he was happy. "Figured what out?" "He's the brains of this outfit, let him figure it out on his own," Ben told her he uprooted a vine. "He'll get there, just give the egghead some time." "There," Sue pointed forward. "Open the portal there. I think the next world is the one." "That's what you said two worlds ago," Valeria told her. "And I'll keep saying it for a million more worlds until my little boy is home," Sue said. "I will never give up my children, Valeria, no matter what. Not Franklin and not you. I will move entire worlds for my children." Castle Von Doom Dr. Doom stormed into the chamber he shared with his beloved. "What is the meaning of this?" Doom asked. "Whatever do you mean, my love?" Malice asked as he sat in front of a mirror while brushing her hair, staring at her husband's reflection. "You have been making plans without me," Doom said. "Do you dare move against me?" "I would never betray you, my beloved, what I do in my spare time is merely to entertain myself until we are together again," Malice told him. "Do not concern yourself with my activities, love. Not when there are those who actually do plot against you." "My son," Doom said through gritted teeth under his mask. "I am well aware of Vincent's motives, but he does not scare me. His magic is pathetic at best, and he can not even best a group of children. He poses no threat to my empire, and even if he did, I would crush him before he even got his foot in the door." "Are you so sure?" Malice asked. "Children have a way of surprising you." The Fantastic 4 arrived on the alternate Earth that had been ravaged by a new Dr. Doom who just happened to be a version of their own daughter. "He's in there," Sue said as she pointed to the Baxter Building. "My baby's in there." The group headed up to the penthouse, finding a hole in the wall which they could easily walk through. They saw Franklin's aura laying on the floor, slowly fading into nothingness. "We're too late," Ben said. "He's dying." "No," Reed told the family. "He's not gone yet. We have one chance, but we must hurry. Dr. Strange once told me the ramifications of an aura that astral projects too long. His aura still exists, we just have to latch onto it before it completely passes." "So where is he now?" Sue asked. "A limbo between life and death," Reed told him. "The last stop before an aura dies. If we can get a trace on it, we might be able to pull it out and send Franklin back to his body. I can use the same frequency I use to track down Ben before I--" Reed looked at Sue and sighed. "This is our son, Sue. You said it yourself. You'd move worlds for our boy. Let me do the same." In a void somewhere inbetween life and death, Franklin Richards found himself face to face with his great-great (there are a lot of them since he's from the year 3018) grandson Kodi. "I have grandkids?" Franklin said as he stared at his distant relative. "So I do have a girlfriend at some point?" "You've had a lot of relationships," Kodi said. "Men, women, aliens. My favorite was that genderless sentient cloud. It smelled like strawberries." "So, if you're dead, what are you doing here?" "I think a piece of my soul is still alive in my time," Kodi told him. "So I can't truly die until it finds its way back to me." "If I die, doesn't that mean you won't exist?" "As I understand, not a lot of heroes stay dead in your time." Kodi reminded him. "That is true," Franklin said. "But I don't know if I want to get pulled out of Heaven or where ever I end up. I'd kind of like death to be final if I have to go." "So you can be with your first great love?" "Josh isn't dead yet," Franklin said as he stared down into the void. "I think he only dies if we make our relationship official. I love him so much, I don't want to lose him or see him get hurt. I don't know what to do." "Okay, I've made adjustments to the tracker," Reed said. "Once I push this button, Franklin will be pulled from what ever limbo he's in and pulled back toward his body like reeling in a fish. Let's head back to our reality and hope this works." "And what if it doesn't?" Valeria asked. "What if something goes wrong?" "We have his body and we're retrieving his soul. What could possibly go wrong?" Reed asked. The magically enchanted doll of Franklin hung off of Icarus's belt as he flew through the air of the alternate world where the search for Josiah Guthrie had begun. TO BE CONTINUED... |