Back to GatefoldIssue #12 by Tobias Christopher
|
The New Warriors have reformed under the leadership of 16 year-old Franklin Richards... who then elected Franklin's younger sister Valeria as their new leader. Upset over this betrayal, Franklin and newest team member Icarus (Josh Guthrie) decided to leave the team and form their own superhero duo. The two decided to improve their skills, and have left their universe in search of adventure in the hopes that they'll return as better heroes...
"Franklin and Josh's Excellent Adventure"
On a planet several dimensions removed from our own, Franklin Richards and Josh Guthrie were sitting at a campfire while they took a break from their adventuring. The planet was nothing but one large forest, which made a great spot for camping. It had been three days since the boys had left Earth, and they had already stopped a war on a planet filled with nothing but Dr. Who and Game of Thrones fanboys. They had solved a seltzer shortage on Clown World. They had even just recently saved several lives in a nearby world by stopping a showing of the Jem & the Holograms movie, which would have resulted in mass suicide.
The two were trying to relax for the night before continuing on, with Josh strumming on his guitar as he played a song for his new best friend. Josh's large red wings were hanging over his shoulders like a cape as he played.
If we could take the time
To lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine
So if you want to love me
Then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain
Franklin was teary-eyed by the end of the song as he sat there. "Josh, your singing voice is... beautiful. Why the hell are you dimension hopping with me when you should be a famous music star? You could be the next Rick Astley or Phil Collins."
Josh put his guitar down and sighed. "Because it's not real, Franklin. My voice is one of my mutant powers. Whenever I sing, it... entrances people. Makes them do whatever I want. People would only love me for my powers. I want people to love me for who I am, not because I can enslave them. I used to play the Blues Clubs back home, and always got the same result. So I decided to come to New York and maybe see if my big brother could help me control my power. Maybe let people listen to me without the siren song part."
"You know, ever since I got access to all of my powers, I've been finding out all kinds of weird things I can do," Franklin told him. "If I listen really close, I can hear a butterfly flap it's wings from a few blocks away. Maybe... I'm able to block out the hypnotic stuff and just enjoy your music for what it is."
"How would I know if you could or not?" Josh asked.
"Sing and tell me to do something," Franklin said.
Josh strummed on his guitar as he sang for Franklin. "Take off your left shoe and toss it as far as you can."
Franklin just sat there, smiling. "See? Nothing? And I'm telling you, you've got a great voice, whether you can hypnotize people or not."
"Thanks, Franklin," Josh said as he stared at the ground. "You're probably the best friend I've ever had. Ever since I grew my wings... everyone always stares at me, makes me feel like a freak. I don't get that with you. You always treat me like I'm normal."
"You're as normal as I am, which probably isn't saying much," Franklin told him as he put his hand on Josh's. "I think this adventure's been really good for the both of us. We're helping people, and we're learning to be better heroes. By the time we get back to Earth, we'll show Valeria and the
others who the real New Warriors are."
"Yeah, just you," Josh said as he looked at directly at Franklin before his words fell into a soft whisper. "And me."
The two leaned in closer to each other, their lips barely a half inch apart, but quickly jumped back from each other at the crackling sound of their dwindling campfire.
"I'll get some more wood for the fire," Franklin said as he quickly stood up.
"Good idea," Josh said. "I'll just... stay here."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Earth
Latveria
Sophie Von Doom barged into her brother Vincent's room as he was on his computer.
"Have you found him yet?" Sophie asked impatiently. "I want to know where my love is!"
"Relax," Vincent said. "That bug you put into the Baxter Building to keep an eye on Franklin only told us that he used his father's dimensional teleporter to leave this world. I've been tracking his movements over the last few days and I think I've finally found him. He's on a little forest planet."
"Then I'm going to assemble the Doombots," Sophie said. "By this time tomorrow, Franklin Richards will be in my arms where he belongs."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
The following morning, Franklin was washing up by a stream as Josh was cleaning up their campsite.
"So, what world do we go to next?" Josh asked.
"Well, according to the scanner, there's a heavily populated world a few dimensions over, I figured we'd head there," Franklin said as he stood up. "Look, about last night..."
"What about it?" Josh asked. "It was just... a weird moment, it didn't mean anything, right? Last time I checked, we were both straight and into girls."
"Yeah, we are," Franklin laughed. "I was going to ask a girl at my school out on a date once things settled down at home."
"Cool, I dated a girl for a while, until I found out she was seeing a guy behind my back," Josh told him. "Like, literally making out right behind me in a movie theater."
"So, we're... alright?" Franklin asked.
"Hey, we're still partners. Nothing's going to break us up, not even some stupid moment," Josh told him. "Let's go have more adventure."
Franklin opened the portal to head to the next world, just as a stray blast shot past them. "What was that?"
"Those!" Josh shouted as he pointed toward several Doombots headed towards them. "Those guys again!*"
(*Fantastic Four #70)
"Let's get the hell out of here!" Franklin shouted as he a Doombot headed toward Josh. He pushed his friend out of the way as the Doombot opened fire. Franklin pushed Josh through the portal, closing the portal behind him.
"Franklin!" Josh shouted as he stood up. "No!"
"At last," Sophie said as the Doombots surrounded Franklin. "You saved your friend, but I just wanted you."
"Who are you?" Franklin asked. "How are you controlling the Doombots?"
"Oh, honey, we have an eternity to get to know each other," Sophie said as she looked at the Doombots. "Bring him."
"I think you forgot something," Franklin told her. "I'm one of the most powerful beings alive. I can turn you and all of your Doombots into mice."
"You could," Sophie told him as the Doombots started tasering him all over his body. "Or I could do that to keep you down until I get you home."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Josh looked around his new surroundings, finding a futuristic society with flying cars, moving sidewalks, and people with oversized heads walking around.
"Where am I?" Josh asked himself.
"I'm afraid that the name of our word is unpronounceable to your species," one large-headed being said as he walked by. He was shorter than Josh, with green skin, dressed in futuristic clothing. "It would take 18 years to learn how to pronounce one letter in our very advanced vocabulary."
"Then how am I talking to you?" Josh asked.
"Our advanced intellect grants us the ability to speak to you in your language, as well the ability to read minds," the being told him. "Joshua Guthrie of Earth. My name is also too advanced for your mind to comprehend, so you may just call me... Bob."
"Okay, Bob," Josh told him. "My best friend is in trouble and I have to help him. I need to get back to him, but he shut the portal. Can you help me?"
"Yes, Joshua Guthrie of Earth, we can take you to your friend, but we must ask of you a favor first," Bob said.
"Anything," Josh said. "Name it."
"I can see in your mind that you have a rare gift for singing," Bob told him. "Our people our intelligent and far more advanced than any being in the known cosmos, but in exchange for knowledge, we lost our ability to create art and music. Perhaps if one such as yourself performed a concert for us, we could once again learn to create instead of just taking in knowledge."
"Help me save Franklin and I'll give you as many concerts as you want," Josh told him.
"Very well, follow me," Bob told him.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
"Are we ready to go yet?" Sophie asked as she looked at the Doombot.
"Calibrating the portal for a direct route back to Earth takes time, otherwise we will have to go through multiple worlds," the Doombot said.
"I'd better not miss Pretty Little Liars," Sophie said as she saw something flying overhead. Icarus swooped down with his giant red wings, and stopped in mid-air to use them to flap a powerful gust of wind at the Doombots, sending several of them into the stream. The rest began to open fire as Icarus started dodging the blasts. When he had a free shot, he swooped down and picked one Doombot up, flying just high enough to drop it onto the rest, putting them out of commission.
"Let him go!" Icarus shouted as he landed in front of Sophie, who had Franklin bound in chains, while strapped to a dollie she could wheel him home in.
"Sorry, bird boy, Franklin's all mine now," Sophie said as she looked him up and down. "Although I suppose I could have a large bird cage made for you."
"This is your last chance," Icarus said angrily. "Let my best friend go."
"And if I don't?" Sophie asked as she held a laser gun toward him.
Josh opened his mouth and started singing high notes as Sophie started getting dazed. "Drop the gun!" Josh sang as he hit a really high note, causing Franklin to start coming around. "Now go home and never bother us again!"
Sophie just calmly walked away as Josh rushed over to Franklin to unchain him. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"
"You saved me," Franklin said, still dazed from the tasers.
"Of course I did, you didn't think I'd just let them take my best buddy away, did you?" Josh asked as he put an arm around Franklin's shoulder. "I don't know how long she'll stay gone, we should find another world to go to before she comes back."
"You saved me," Franklin said again as he leaned his head onto Josh's shoulder.
"Alright, you are totally out of it, so I guess we're staying for the night," Josh said as a heavy rain started. "Come on, I think I saw a cave nearby. We'll hide out there until you're a little less loopy."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Bob walked into a building, where a council of beings with even bigger heads was waiting.
"The boy with the golden voice will bring the one known as Franklin Richards here soon," Bob said. "Then we will harvest his infinite power for our own."
"And what of the boy with the golden voice?"
"He thinks we have no art, no music," Bob said. "We will put him on display and force him to sing for us nightly. Both boys will never see Earth again."
TO BE CONTINUED...
"Franklin and Josh's Excellent Adventure"
On a planet several dimensions removed from our own, Franklin Richards and Josh Guthrie were sitting at a campfire while they took a break from their adventuring. The planet was nothing but one large forest, which made a great spot for camping. It had been three days since the boys had left Earth, and they had already stopped a war on a planet filled with nothing but Dr. Who and Game of Thrones fanboys. They had solved a seltzer shortage on Clown World. They had even just recently saved several lives in a nearby world by stopping a showing of the Jem & the Holograms movie, which would have resulted in mass suicide.
The two were trying to relax for the night before continuing on, with Josh strumming on his guitar as he played a song for his new best friend. Josh's large red wings were hanging over his shoulders like a cape as he played.
If we could take the time
To lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine
So if you want to love me
Then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain
Franklin was teary-eyed by the end of the song as he sat there. "Josh, your singing voice is... beautiful. Why the hell are you dimension hopping with me when you should be a famous music star? You could be the next Rick Astley or Phil Collins."
Josh put his guitar down and sighed. "Because it's not real, Franklin. My voice is one of my mutant powers. Whenever I sing, it... entrances people. Makes them do whatever I want. People would only love me for my powers. I want people to love me for who I am, not because I can enslave them. I used to play the Blues Clubs back home, and always got the same result. So I decided to come to New York and maybe see if my big brother could help me control my power. Maybe let people listen to me without the siren song part."
"You know, ever since I got access to all of my powers, I've been finding out all kinds of weird things I can do," Franklin told him. "If I listen really close, I can hear a butterfly flap it's wings from a few blocks away. Maybe... I'm able to block out the hypnotic stuff and just enjoy your music for what it is."
"How would I know if you could or not?" Josh asked.
"Sing and tell me to do something," Franklin said.
Josh strummed on his guitar as he sang for Franklin. "Take off your left shoe and toss it as far as you can."
Franklin just sat there, smiling. "See? Nothing? And I'm telling you, you've got a great voice, whether you can hypnotize people or not."
"Thanks, Franklin," Josh said as he stared at the ground. "You're probably the best friend I've ever had. Ever since I grew my wings... everyone always stares at me, makes me feel like a freak. I don't get that with you. You always treat me like I'm normal."
"You're as normal as I am, which probably isn't saying much," Franklin told him as he put his hand on Josh's. "I think this adventure's been really good for the both of us. We're helping people, and we're learning to be better heroes. By the time we get back to Earth, we'll show Valeria and the
others who the real New Warriors are."
"Yeah, just you," Josh said as he looked at directly at Franklin before his words fell into a soft whisper. "And me."
The two leaned in closer to each other, their lips barely a half inch apart, but quickly jumped back from each other at the crackling sound of their dwindling campfire.
"I'll get some more wood for the fire," Franklin said as he quickly stood up.
"Good idea," Josh said. "I'll just... stay here."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Earth
Latveria
Sophie Von Doom barged into her brother Vincent's room as he was on his computer.
"Have you found him yet?" Sophie asked impatiently. "I want to know where my love is!"
"Relax," Vincent said. "That bug you put into the Baxter Building to keep an eye on Franklin only told us that he used his father's dimensional teleporter to leave this world. I've been tracking his movements over the last few days and I think I've finally found him. He's on a little forest planet."
"Then I'm going to assemble the Doombots," Sophie said. "By this time tomorrow, Franklin Richards will be in my arms where he belongs."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
The following morning, Franklin was washing up by a stream as Josh was cleaning up their campsite.
"So, what world do we go to next?" Josh asked.
"Well, according to the scanner, there's a heavily populated world a few dimensions over, I figured we'd head there," Franklin said as he stood up. "Look, about last night..."
"What about it?" Josh asked. "It was just... a weird moment, it didn't mean anything, right? Last time I checked, we were both straight and into girls."
"Yeah, we are," Franklin laughed. "I was going to ask a girl at my school out on a date once things settled down at home."
"Cool, I dated a girl for a while, until I found out she was seeing a guy behind my back," Josh told him. "Like, literally making out right behind me in a movie theater."
"So, we're... alright?" Franklin asked.
"Hey, we're still partners. Nothing's going to break us up, not even some stupid moment," Josh told him. "Let's go have more adventure."
Franklin opened the portal to head to the next world, just as a stray blast shot past them. "What was that?"
"Those!" Josh shouted as he pointed toward several Doombots headed towards them. "Those guys again!*"
(*Fantastic Four #70)
"Let's get the hell out of here!" Franklin shouted as he a Doombot headed toward Josh. He pushed his friend out of the way as the Doombot opened fire. Franklin pushed Josh through the portal, closing the portal behind him.
"Franklin!" Josh shouted as he stood up. "No!"
"At last," Sophie said as the Doombots surrounded Franklin. "You saved your friend, but I just wanted you."
"Who are you?" Franklin asked. "How are you controlling the Doombots?"
"Oh, honey, we have an eternity to get to know each other," Sophie said as she looked at the Doombots. "Bring him."
"I think you forgot something," Franklin told her. "I'm one of the most powerful beings alive. I can turn you and all of your Doombots into mice."
"You could," Sophie told him as the Doombots started tasering him all over his body. "Or I could do that to keep you down until I get you home."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Josh looked around his new surroundings, finding a futuristic society with flying cars, moving sidewalks, and people with oversized heads walking around.
"Where am I?" Josh asked himself.
"I'm afraid that the name of our word is unpronounceable to your species," one large-headed being said as he walked by. He was shorter than Josh, with green skin, dressed in futuristic clothing. "It would take 18 years to learn how to pronounce one letter in our very advanced vocabulary."
"Then how am I talking to you?" Josh asked.
"Our advanced intellect grants us the ability to speak to you in your language, as well the ability to read minds," the being told him. "Joshua Guthrie of Earth. My name is also too advanced for your mind to comprehend, so you may just call me... Bob."
"Okay, Bob," Josh told him. "My best friend is in trouble and I have to help him. I need to get back to him, but he shut the portal. Can you help me?"
"Yes, Joshua Guthrie of Earth, we can take you to your friend, but we must ask of you a favor first," Bob said.
"Anything," Josh said. "Name it."
"I can see in your mind that you have a rare gift for singing," Bob told him. "Our people our intelligent and far more advanced than any being in the known cosmos, but in exchange for knowledge, we lost our ability to create art and music. Perhaps if one such as yourself performed a concert for us, we could once again learn to create instead of just taking in knowledge."
"Help me save Franklin and I'll give you as many concerts as you want," Josh told him.
"Very well, follow me," Bob told him.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
"Are we ready to go yet?" Sophie asked as she looked at the Doombot.
"Calibrating the portal for a direct route back to Earth takes time, otherwise we will have to go through multiple worlds," the Doombot said.
"I'd better not miss Pretty Little Liars," Sophie said as she saw something flying overhead. Icarus swooped down with his giant red wings, and stopped in mid-air to use them to flap a powerful gust of wind at the Doombots, sending several of them into the stream. The rest began to open fire as Icarus started dodging the blasts. When he had a free shot, he swooped down and picked one Doombot up, flying just high enough to drop it onto the rest, putting them out of commission.
"Let him go!" Icarus shouted as he landed in front of Sophie, who had Franklin bound in chains, while strapped to a dollie she could wheel him home in.
"Sorry, bird boy, Franklin's all mine now," Sophie said as she looked him up and down. "Although I suppose I could have a large bird cage made for you."
"This is your last chance," Icarus said angrily. "Let my best friend go."
"And if I don't?" Sophie asked as she held a laser gun toward him.
Josh opened his mouth and started singing high notes as Sophie started getting dazed. "Drop the gun!" Josh sang as he hit a really high note, causing Franklin to start coming around. "Now go home and never bother us again!"
Sophie just calmly walked away as Josh rushed over to Franklin to unchain him. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"
"You saved me," Franklin said, still dazed from the tasers.
"Of course I did, you didn't think I'd just let them take my best buddy away, did you?" Josh asked as he put an arm around Franklin's shoulder. "I don't know how long she'll stay gone, we should find another world to go to before she comes back."
"You saved me," Franklin said again as he leaned his head onto Josh's shoulder.
"Alright, you are totally out of it, so I guess we're staying for the night," Josh said as a heavy rain started. "Come on, I think I saw a cave nearby. We'll hide out there until you're a little less loopy."
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Bob walked into a building, where a council of beings with even bigger heads was waiting.
"The boy with the golden voice will bring the one known as Franklin Richards here soon," Bob said. "Then we will harvest his infinite power for our own."
"And what of the boy with the golden voice?"
"He thinks we have no art, no music," Bob said. "We will put him on display and force him to sing for us nightly. Both boys will never see Earth again."
TO BE CONTINUED...