Back to GatefoldIssue #3 by Tobias Christopher
|
Franklin Richards, the teenage son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, is ready to step out of the shadows of the Fantastic Four and become a hero in his own right. When the Baxter Building's A.I. unit, H.E.R.B.I.E., discovers that a powerful force is destroying other worlds in the multiverse, and with no other heroes willing to investigate, Franklin decides to gather a group of heroes on his own to go with him on a dangerous journey.
Unfortunately the only people willing to go are the local paperboy, a teenage robot, and a tech genius who hangs around in a junkyard, who just happens to be harboring a Sentinel that now wants Franklin dead for being a mutant...
Unfortunately the only people willing to go are the local paperboy, a teenage robot, and a tech genius who hangs around in a junkyard, who just happens to be harboring a Sentinel that now wants Franklin dead for being a mutant...
“WHERE NO BOY HAS EVER GONE BEFORE”
"HALT, MUTANT!" the Sentinel ordered as it held its hand forward and fired a powerful blast of energy at Andy and Franklin. Franklin shoved Andy out of the way of the blast, falling forward into the dirt. Just as he was about to be hit, an old Chrysler landed in front of the boy, taking the force of the blast.
"Don't just sit there like a speed bump, move!" Adam shouted as he stood on top of a pile of old rusted cars. He picked up a bumper and tossed it at the Sentinel's head. "Hey, ugly, over here!"
The Sentinel turned its head and scanned Adam.
Artificial life form
Analysis: Poses no threat
"No threat detected," the Sentinel said as it turned its attention back toward Franklin.
"What did you just say?" Adam said, feeling offended. "You big bucket of bolts, I'll show you who's the threat!"
Adam picked up another car, tossing it at the Sentinel's head as it tried to attack Franklin again. This time, Andy grabbed Franklin's arm and pulled him out of the line of fire.
"Wait! Stop!" Juston shouted as he pulled out a remote. "Command override!! Do not harm the mutant!"
"Mutant must be destroyed, command cannot be overridden," the Sentinel said as it reached out to grab Franklin.
"Give me that!" Adam said as he grabbed Juston's remote. "Can't believe you still have this thing. You'd think yours truly would be awesome enough to play with."
Adam opened up the back of the remote and pulled back a small door on his right wrist, pulling out two wires. He plugged them into the remote and pressed a few buttons. As the Sentinel was about to grab Franklin, it suddenly stopped and pulled back.
"Okay," Franklin said as he shrugged his shoulders as he took another step back, which was the Sentinel started doing the Hustle, pointing its finger to the sky and towards its hip again. "Wow. What the fu-"
"Seriously?" Juston asked as he looked at Adam. "You're making him look like an idiot!"
"Oh, come on, you know that's funny," Adam said as he punched another button as the Sentinel shut down, lowering its head. He shoved the remote back into Juston's hands as he rushed toward his friends. "You two okay?"
"That... was... awesome!" Andy shouted as he looked at Franklin. "High five for stayin' alive!"
"That was actually the Hustle, totally different disco song, but whatever," Adam told them. "I think since Juston tried to kill you, he kind of owes you a favor now."
"I'll buy you dinner," Juston deadpanned as he approached them. "There is no way that I am going-"
# # # # #
"To another dimension!" Juston shouted as he woke up an hour later in the middle of Reed Richard's lab. "You knocked me out, didn't you?"
Andy just looked up at the sky and whistled innocently as he tossed a broken piece of board away. Juston stood up and looked around, taking in the sights.
"Are you kidding me!?" H.E.R.B.I.E. shouted as he floated into the lab. "There's four of you now? What are you, Gremlins? Do you multiply when you get wet?"
"Wow, another robot," Adam said in a flat tone. "Hopefully one that won't try to kill us this time."
"Don't hold me to that," H.E.R.B.I.E. said as he looked at Franklin. "This madness ends now. Tell your friends to go home, because... where are you going?"
"To get us some suits," Franklin replied as he headed toward Johnny's room. "We can't go on an mission without the proper attire. I think Uncle Johnny keeps some of his old suits from when he was younger in his walk-in closet."
"Your Uncle has a walk-in closet?" Juston asked.
"Just a small one," Franklin replied as the others followed him. They got to his room and opened the closet door, revealing a very large closet with clothes racks that were at least a half a mile long. "We might need to use the golf cart to go through it, we're kind of in a hurry."
# # # # #
Shortly, Franklin came out of Johnny's closet wearing a black and blue FF costume; Adam had the red and white FF suit; Juston was wearing the blue and white suit; and Andy was wearing the black and grey suit.
"These are kind of form fitting," Andy said as he looked down. "Wow, you can see my... cell phone through my pants."
"They're made of unstable molecules," Franklin told them as they headed back toward the lab. "They'll give us some degree of protection out there, where ever 'there' is."
Franklin pushed the button to open the door to the lab, but nothing happened. "What the- Why isn't it opening?"
"Maybe because I changed the access code," H.E.R.B.I.E. told them. "And there's no way you're to guess what I changed it to because-"
"Got it," Juston said as he pushed two buttons, opening the door as the group walked in.
"Your father isn't going to like this," H.E.R.B.I.E. said as Franklin started working on the dimensional portal. "He's going to dismantle me and send you to military school!"
"Franklin Richards at a military school?" Franklin asked as he thought about it. "Sounds like a bad fanfic waiting to happen."
"Maybe when we get back," Andy told him. "It'll break up the monotony of writing Human Torch and Iceman slash fics," Andy said as everyone in the group just stared in his direction. "DON'T JUDGE ME!"
"I- I'm not even sure I want to do this anymore after hearing that," Franklin said quietly as Juston sighed.
"Push the button, Frank," Juston told him, shaking his head as Franklin turned onto the portal. The four teens just stared ahead into the void ahead of them.
"You coming, H.E.R.B.I.E.?" Franklin asked.
"Someone has to keep you out of trouble," the robot said as he followed. "And possibly carry your mutilated corpse back after you inevitably die horribly."
The group stepped through the portal, wondering where they would end up.
# # # # #
45 Minutes Later
"Okay, I think if no one's realized it by now," Franklin said as the group was standing in a one long, continuous moving line that was planet wide. "This dimension is just one huge DMV line."
"What's weirder is that this line moves faster than an actual DMV line," Juston told them. "And is weird that I haven't seen a single car since we've been standing here?"
Andy looked down at the ticket he had grabbed from the ticket kiosk upon landing. "Well, we're #919,192,912,371,437," he said as he looked up at a floating clock that read 8. "Hey, I think we're close!"
"Maybe we should try a different world," Franklin said as he looked at the counter, which wasn't too far away from them.
"#9!" the alien at the counter said as the next customer approached and put his ticket down. The alien behind the counter pulled a chain as the customer fell into a fiery pit. "#10!"
"We're out of here," H.E.R.B.I.E. said as the portal opened as the group ran through.
# # # # #
"Okay, this place looks normal," Adam said as they arrived on what looked like an empty street. "No signs of life, though."
"I think I see a car coming," Andy said as he pointed toward a small car that was driving toward them. It came to a stop, and after a few moments, a clown stepped out, followed by another. Then more clowns started coming out.
"I think we're in a reality where clowns are the dominant species," Juston said as he looked up at the windows of a building, where he saw several clowns waving at him. "That's not creepy at all."
"Well, at least it beats standing in line, right Andy?" Adam asked as he saw Andy was frozen in fear. "Andy?"
"Hmm... frozen in fear, can't speak, a trail of urine running down his leg," H.E.R.B.I.E. said as he scanned Alpha with a bio-sensor on his chest. "He's got coulrophobia. The fear of clowns."
"Not exactly the kind of person who should be on a planet where everyone's a clown," Franklin sighed as clown suddenly popped up in front of Andy. This one just happened to look like Pennywise the clown.
"Would you like a balloon, little boy?" the clown asked. "They float."
Andy just blinked once before letting out an ear piercing shriek loud enough to shatter the window behind him.
"I think we should try another dimension," Franklin said, rubbing his ear in pain.
# # # # #
"I'm getting queasy!" Juston shouted as he bounced back up against his will. "I hate this world!"
"Are you kidding? I'm having the time of my life!" Andy shouted as he bounced around. "A dimension where the whole world is one big bounce house is awesome!"
"I just hate that we had to leave our boots at the door of the clown dimension," Franklin said as he tried to stay level while everyone else was moving around. "What if they make off with them? Lousy bounce house world and their stupid rules."
"Oh, relax," Adam said as he walked around with no problem whatsoever.
"How the hell are you doing that?" Franklin asked.
"Hey, like a prostitute, a magician never gives away his tricks," Adam replied as H.E.R.B.I.E. floated next to Franklin.
"Are we any closer to finding this thing that's killing worlds?" the robot asked.
"The energy trail is getting stronger," Franklin replied. "We're very close. The next world should be it."
"I hope so," H.E.R.B.I.E. told him. "Remember, we go in, we collect the data, we get out. No monkey business, got it? This is strictly an intel mission."
"Andy, grab our boots from the clown world while I open the door to the next world," Franklin told him.
"M-me?" Andy asked nervously.
"Just reach through and grab them," Franklin said as the door opened and the others walked through. "We'll meet you on the other side."
Andy just gulped as he looked at the door to the clown dimension.
# # # # #
The next world had been completely devastated, with no traces of life left except for the trio of brothers who were just finishing their work.
"Yet another world that poses no challenge," A sighed as he looked around at the carnage. Not a building was left standing, fires had spread everywhere, and charred skeletons were all around. "I'm beginning to think that we'll never find anyone worthy of us."
"I'm sure that someone in some world will challenge us, brother," B said. "In the meantime, we'll just keep searching until we find such a world."
It was then that the portal opened, with Franklin and the others coming through.
"Huh, this must be the dimension of After Earth. And by that, I mean a dimension where everyone was forced to watch the Will Smith abortion 'After Earth'," Juston said as he looked around.
"Whatever's killing worlds was here," Franklin told them.
"Correction, they are here," Adam replied as he pointed forward.
"Where's Andy with our boots? We can't fight like this," Franklin said as he looked down at his stocking feet.
"We're not fighting," H.E.R.B.I.E. said. "We're collecting information. If we're quiet, they might not even notice us. Just as he said that, Andy ran shrieking through the portal.
"The clown touched me! Quick, cut off my hand before I get infected!" Andy shouted as he jumped into Adam's arms. The three brothers turned their heads at the sound of the noise.
"... Well," Juston said as he tried to find the right word to sum up the situation. "Shit."
"It looks as if we've missed some lifeforms," B said as he held his staff forward.
"No, these lifeforms are not of this world," A told him. "These creatures are alien to this world."
"So? Let's just kill them and be on our way," C said as he floated forward. "They shouldn't be that much trouble to us."
Just as C said that, a large slab of debris hit the brothers, knocking them onto their backs. Adam dusted his hands off and smirked.
"And that's the end of that chapter," Adam said.
"You watch a lot of Simpsons, don't you?" Franklin asked. "I mean, it's cool, and I quite it myself, but I don't think that those guys are-"
The debris exploded as the brothers began to rise up with their staffs in hand.
"Okay, field trip's over!" H.E.R.B.I.E. shouted. "Everyone back into the portal, we're going home!"
"He's right, we can't fight this," Franklin replied as he looked at his friends. "We need to get my dad and the others and tell him about this while we can."
"Last one back to Earth has to smell the Hulk's jock strap!" Andy said as the group headed to the portal, which was blocked off by a large wall of debris.
"Okay, that's bad," Franklin said. "H.E.R.B.I.E., defense mode!"
"Defense what?" the robot asked as A's staff struck him right through the chest.
"NO!" Franklin shouted as A tossed the deactivated robot to the side. Juston and Adam rushed to get Franklin, but B waved his staff, sending an energy wave at them to toss them a good twenty feet backward into a collapsed wall.
"I'll make your death quick, and maybe a little painful," A said as he grabbed Franklin by the throat, lifting him up into the air as the boy started kicking.
"Leave him alone!" Andy shouted as C held his staff forward, lifting Andy into the air with its power. C just smirked as he tossed Andy high into the stratosphere, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
"Pathetic," B said as he headed toward A. "Finish him and let's go."
"No," A said as he stared at Franklin, sensing something within him. "It's him. It's the Fourth. I can sense his power."
"It can't be, he hasn't even tried to defend himself against us," C told them. "He has no powers."
"Because they're being blocked by something," A said as he looked at the boy. "Someone has tampered with his powers. But that's easily fixed."
A phased his hand into Franklin's head as the boy screamed in pain.
TO BE CONTINUED...
"Don't just sit there like a speed bump, move!" Adam shouted as he stood on top of a pile of old rusted cars. He picked up a bumper and tossed it at the Sentinel's head. "Hey, ugly, over here!"
The Sentinel turned its head and scanned Adam.
Artificial life form
Analysis: Poses no threat
"No threat detected," the Sentinel said as it turned its attention back toward Franklin.
"What did you just say?" Adam said, feeling offended. "You big bucket of bolts, I'll show you who's the threat!"
Adam picked up another car, tossing it at the Sentinel's head as it tried to attack Franklin again. This time, Andy grabbed Franklin's arm and pulled him out of the line of fire.
"Wait! Stop!" Juston shouted as he pulled out a remote. "Command override!! Do not harm the mutant!"
"Mutant must be destroyed, command cannot be overridden," the Sentinel said as it reached out to grab Franklin.
"Give me that!" Adam said as he grabbed Juston's remote. "Can't believe you still have this thing. You'd think yours truly would be awesome enough to play with."
Adam opened up the back of the remote and pulled back a small door on his right wrist, pulling out two wires. He plugged them into the remote and pressed a few buttons. As the Sentinel was about to grab Franklin, it suddenly stopped and pulled back.
"Okay," Franklin said as he shrugged his shoulders as he took another step back, which was the Sentinel started doing the Hustle, pointing its finger to the sky and towards its hip again. "Wow. What the fu-"
"Seriously?" Juston asked as he looked at Adam. "You're making him look like an idiot!"
"Oh, come on, you know that's funny," Adam said as he punched another button as the Sentinel shut down, lowering its head. He shoved the remote back into Juston's hands as he rushed toward his friends. "You two okay?"
"That... was... awesome!" Andy shouted as he looked at Franklin. "High five for stayin' alive!"
"That was actually the Hustle, totally different disco song, but whatever," Adam told them. "I think since Juston tried to kill you, he kind of owes you a favor now."
"I'll buy you dinner," Juston deadpanned as he approached them. "There is no way that I am going-"
# # # # #
"To another dimension!" Juston shouted as he woke up an hour later in the middle of Reed Richard's lab. "You knocked me out, didn't you?"
Andy just looked up at the sky and whistled innocently as he tossed a broken piece of board away. Juston stood up and looked around, taking in the sights.
"Are you kidding me!?" H.E.R.B.I.E. shouted as he floated into the lab. "There's four of you now? What are you, Gremlins? Do you multiply when you get wet?"
"Wow, another robot," Adam said in a flat tone. "Hopefully one that won't try to kill us this time."
"Don't hold me to that," H.E.R.B.I.E. said as he looked at Franklin. "This madness ends now. Tell your friends to go home, because... where are you going?"
"To get us some suits," Franklin replied as he headed toward Johnny's room. "We can't go on an mission without the proper attire. I think Uncle Johnny keeps some of his old suits from when he was younger in his walk-in closet."
"Your Uncle has a walk-in closet?" Juston asked.
"Just a small one," Franklin replied as the others followed him. They got to his room and opened the closet door, revealing a very large closet with clothes racks that were at least a half a mile long. "We might need to use the golf cart to go through it, we're kind of in a hurry."
# # # # #
Shortly, Franklin came out of Johnny's closet wearing a black and blue FF costume; Adam had the red and white FF suit; Juston was wearing the blue and white suit; and Andy was wearing the black and grey suit.
"These are kind of form fitting," Andy said as he looked down. "Wow, you can see my... cell phone through my pants."
"They're made of unstable molecules," Franklin told them as they headed back toward the lab. "They'll give us some degree of protection out there, where ever 'there' is."
Franklin pushed the button to open the door to the lab, but nothing happened. "What the- Why isn't it opening?"
"Maybe because I changed the access code," H.E.R.B.I.E. told them. "And there's no way you're to guess what I changed it to because-"
"Got it," Juston said as he pushed two buttons, opening the door as the group walked in.
"Your father isn't going to like this," H.E.R.B.I.E. said as Franklin started working on the dimensional portal. "He's going to dismantle me and send you to military school!"
"Franklin Richards at a military school?" Franklin asked as he thought about it. "Sounds like a bad fanfic waiting to happen."
"Maybe when we get back," Andy told him. "It'll break up the monotony of writing Human Torch and Iceman slash fics," Andy said as everyone in the group just stared in his direction. "DON'T JUDGE ME!"
"I- I'm not even sure I want to do this anymore after hearing that," Franklin said quietly as Juston sighed.
"Push the button, Frank," Juston told him, shaking his head as Franklin turned onto the portal. The four teens just stared ahead into the void ahead of them.
"You coming, H.E.R.B.I.E.?" Franklin asked.
"Someone has to keep you out of trouble," the robot said as he followed. "And possibly carry your mutilated corpse back after you inevitably die horribly."
The group stepped through the portal, wondering where they would end up.
# # # # #
45 Minutes Later
"Okay, I think if no one's realized it by now," Franklin said as the group was standing in a one long, continuous moving line that was planet wide. "This dimension is just one huge DMV line."
"What's weirder is that this line moves faster than an actual DMV line," Juston told them. "And is weird that I haven't seen a single car since we've been standing here?"
Andy looked down at the ticket he had grabbed from the ticket kiosk upon landing. "Well, we're #919,192,912,371,437," he said as he looked up at a floating clock that read 8. "Hey, I think we're close!"
"Maybe we should try a different world," Franklin said as he looked at the counter, which wasn't too far away from them.
"#9!" the alien at the counter said as the next customer approached and put his ticket down. The alien behind the counter pulled a chain as the customer fell into a fiery pit. "#10!"
"We're out of here," H.E.R.B.I.E. said as the portal opened as the group ran through.
# # # # #
"Okay, this place looks normal," Adam said as they arrived on what looked like an empty street. "No signs of life, though."
"I think I see a car coming," Andy said as he pointed toward a small car that was driving toward them. It came to a stop, and after a few moments, a clown stepped out, followed by another. Then more clowns started coming out.
"I think we're in a reality where clowns are the dominant species," Juston said as he looked up at the windows of a building, where he saw several clowns waving at him. "That's not creepy at all."
"Well, at least it beats standing in line, right Andy?" Adam asked as he saw Andy was frozen in fear. "Andy?"
"Hmm... frozen in fear, can't speak, a trail of urine running down his leg," H.E.R.B.I.E. said as he scanned Alpha with a bio-sensor on his chest. "He's got coulrophobia. The fear of clowns."
"Not exactly the kind of person who should be on a planet where everyone's a clown," Franklin sighed as clown suddenly popped up in front of Andy. This one just happened to look like Pennywise the clown.
"Would you like a balloon, little boy?" the clown asked. "They float."
Andy just blinked once before letting out an ear piercing shriek loud enough to shatter the window behind him.
"I think we should try another dimension," Franklin said, rubbing his ear in pain.
# # # # #
"I'm getting queasy!" Juston shouted as he bounced back up against his will. "I hate this world!"
"Are you kidding? I'm having the time of my life!" Andy shouted as he bounced around. "A dimension where the whole world is one big bounce house is awesome!"
"I just hate that we had to leave our boots at the door of the clown dimension," Franklin said as he tried to stay level while everyone else was moving around. "What if they make off with them? Lousy bounce house world and their stupid rules."
"Oh, relax," Adam said as he walked around with no problem whatsoever.
"How the hell are you doing that?" Franklin asked.
"Hey, like a prostitute, a magician never gives away his tricks," Adam replied as H.E.R.B.I.E. floated next to Franklin.
"Are we any closer to finding this thing that's killing worlds?" the robot asked.
"The energy trail is getting stronger," Franklin replied. "We're very close. The next world should be it."
"I hope so," H.E.R.B.I.E. told him. "Remember, we go in, we collect the data, we get out. No monkey business, got it? This is strictly an intel mission."
"Andy, grab our boots from the clown world while I open the door to the next world," Franklin told him.
"M-me?" Andy asked nervously.
"Just reach through and grab them," Franklin said as the door opened and the others walked through. "We'll meet you on the other side."
Andy just gulped as he looked at the door to the clown dimension.
# # # # #
The next world had been completely devastated, with no traces of life left except for the trio of brothers who were just finishing their work.
"Yet another world that poses no challenge," A sighed as he looked around at the carnage. Not a building was left standing, fires had spread everywhere, and charred skeletons were all around. "I'm beginning to think that we'll never find anyone worthy of us."
"I'm sure that someone in some world will challenge us, brother," B said. "In the meantime, we'll just keep searching until we find such a world."
It was then that the portal opened, with Franklin and the others coming through.
"Huh, this must be the dimension of After Earth. And by that, I mean a dimension where everyone was forced to watch the Will Smith abortion 'After Earth'," Juston said as he looked around.
"Whatever's killing worlds was here," Franklin told them.
"Correction, they are here," Adam replied as he pointed forward.
"Where's Andy with our boots? We can't fight like this," Franklin said as he looked down at his stocking feet.
"We're not fighting," H.E.R.B.I.E. said. "We're collecting information. If we're quiet, they might not even notice us. Just as he said that, Andy ran shrieking through the portal.
"The clown touched me! Quick, cut off my hand before I get infected!" Andy shouted as he jumped into Adam's arms. The three brothers turned their heads at the sound of the noise.
"... Well," Juston said as he tried to find the right word to sum up the situation. "Shit."
"It looks as if we've missed some lifeforms," B said as he held his staff forward.
"No, these lifeforms are not of this world," A told him. "These creatures are alien to this world."
"So? Let's just kill them and be on our way," C said as he floated forward. "They shouldn't be that much trouble to us."
Just as C said that, a large slab of debris hit the brothers, knocking them onto their backs. Adam dusted his hands off and smirked.
"And that's the end of that chapter," Adam said.
"You watch a lot of Simpsons, don't you?" Franklin asked. "I mean, it's cool, and I quite it myself, but I don't think that those guys are-"
The debris exploded as the brothers began to rise up with their staffs in hand.
"Okay, field trip's over!" H.E.R.B.I.E. shouted. "Everyone back into the portal, we're going home!"
"He's right, we can't fight this," Franklin replied as he looked at his friends. "We need to get my dad and the others and tell him about this while we can."
"Last one back to Earth has to smell the Hulk's jock strap!" Andy said as the group headed to the portal, which was blocked off by a large wall of debris.
"Okay, that's bad," Franklin said. "H.E.R.B.I.E., defense mode!"
"Defense what?" the robot asked as A's staff struck him right through the chest.
"NO!" Franklin shouted as A tossed the deactivated robot to the side. Juston and Adam rushed to get Franklin, but B waved his staff, sending an energy wave at them to toss them a good twenty feet backward into a collapsed wall.
"I'll make your death quick, and maybe a little painful," A said as he grabbed Franklin by the throat, lifting him up into the air as the boy started kicking.
"Leave him alone!" Andy shouted as C held his staff forward, lifting Andy into the air with its power. C just smirked as he tossed Andy high into the stratosphere, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
"Pathetic," B said as he headed toward A. "Finish him and let's go."
"No," A said as he stared at Franklin, sensing something within him. "It's him. It's the Fourth. I can sense his power."
"It can't be, he hasn't even tried to defend himself against us," C told them. "He has no powers."
"Because they're being blocked by something," A said as he looked at the boy. "Someone has tampered with his powers. But that's easily fixed."
A phased his hand into Franklin's head as the boy screamed in pain.
TO BE CONTINUED...