Issue #33 (August 2018)
Written by Tobias Christopher Featuring: Franklin Richards
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"Quest for Franklin Richards - As the Alternate World Turns""I'm dying," Franklin Richards said as he looked at his hands. "If I don't get back to my body, my astral form's just going to fade away into nothing and my physical body is going to die. It'll just be a dead, empty shell with nothing to come back to it."
"Then we have to get you home," Captain America said. "Thoughts, anyone?" "I have one." Icarus whispered as everyone gasped. He slowly stood up and made his way to Franklin, trying to touch his astral form and feeling like it was actually there. "You're not my Franklin." "No, I'm not," Franklin told him. "And I am sorry for what happened to you. I have my own Icarus waiting for me back in my world. One that I love with all my heart." "Then let's get you back to him." Icarus said. "How?" Wolverine asked as she watched from the doorway. "None of us are trained in the mystical arts and Doctor Strange was one of the first ones Doom went after when she assumed power." "Then let's go to Doom," Icarus told them. "She probably has the power to send him back." "I doubt she's going to lend a helping hand." Franklin said. "Then we'll make her," Captain America told them. "It's time to end this war once and for all or die trying. Who's in?" Franklin looked at Icarus. "Okay, let's save this world." "Doom's taken up residence in the old Baxter Building," Spider-Man told the group as they looked over a map. "She rewired H.E.R.B.I.E. using a virus program that once nearly wiped out New York." "I was told about that," Franklin told him. "My friend Machine Teen was infected with it as well. But my team stopped it before it was too late." "Here it was only contained when H.E.R.B.I.E. sacrificed his A.I. to stop the virus at its core," Woody said. "He became just a blank slate. Reed Richards was killed before he could restore H.E.R.B.I.E. to his old self. Now his program is an enhanced security system that protects the building with lethal protocols." "I can talk you through shutting him down," Franklin told them. "He has a failsafe program that the Fantastic 4 as well as me and Valeria knew about just in case his programming was taken over by Doom. If Valeria thinks the whole family is dead, she might not have changed it." "We'll run that risk, then," Captain America told him. "We'll storm the Baxter Building once the security grid is down. But taking down Doom herself won't be easy. She's mastered both science and magic." "Which is why we'll have to hit her with everything we have," Wolverine told them. "We can't afford any screw-ups." "Which is why we'll all have to go," Franklin said. "Everyone but Icarus." "Is it because I'm blind and powerless?" Icarus asked. "Because I can still fight." "No, it's because I love you, and if you're there I'm going to be distracted with the thought of you getting hurt," Franklin told him. "She's already maimed you enough, buddy. It hurts thinking about what she did to you. If you go, I'm going to focus solely on getting you out of there alive. If you stay here, I can focus on kicking her butt so we can end this." "Okay," Icarus said. "Just make sure my friends come home safe, okay?" "There it is, the Baxter Building," Captain America said as the group looked at the tall structure, which looked far more advanced than the one in the world Franklin came home. "It looks way different from what I remember," Franklin said. "Is that the nano virus?" "Doom can use it to change the structure on a whim," Spider-Man told him. "It's all connected through her. With the city infected with the virus, she can bring the entire city to life to attack us." "Which is why our base is located out in the country," Iceman added. "With all the heroes dead, she never really felt the need to take the nano-virus global since all the real threats to her power were already wiped out." "I can't believe my sister would do this," Franklin told them. "What could possibly turn her this evil?" "That's-- that's not important," Captain America said as he coughed uncomfortably as the group made their way to the building. "There should be a keypad," Franklin said as they got to the doors. "If my personal keycode is allowed here, it should shut down the main defenses, leaving only whatever Valeria installed after she took over." "With you and the Fantastic 4 being dead, she might not have deleted them since there were no threats left," Iceman said. "Go for it." Franklin scanned his iris setting the first light to green. He looked at the keypad as Iceman started typing in Franklin's personal keycode. "It's the day that I met Icarus." "You really do love him, don't you?" Spider-Man asked as Iceman put the code in as the next light lit up. "I'd die for him," Franklin admitted. "Ever since I realized how much I love Icarus, I don't know, I just feel more... confidant in what I can do now. Like I can do anything as long as he's there at the end of the day." "We'll get you home to him, I promise," Captain America told him as the doors opened. "Alright everyone, be on your guard. We don't know what we'll find in here." Captain America held his shield close as he led the group in. "The defense mechanisms should be shut down from what my father installed," Franklin told them. "Unless she added some new stuff." As they got into the lobby, they found it was now a giant chessboard. "This is new," Franklin said as the red squares opened and a giant chesspieces of various X-Men and Avengers started to rise up. "That is definitely new." The Cyclops piece started firing an optic blast at the group. They dived as the blast struck the floor, shattering the tile. The Iron Man piece started shooting plasma blasts from his wrists as Captain America held up his shield to block. "Head for the staircase!" Iceman shouted as he created an icewall. "I'll hold them off!" "Stay safe, Bobby," Captain America said as he gently touched his cheek. "I'll see you real soon." "Seriously?" Franklin asked. "Are you two--?" "He's gay, I'm bi-curious," Captain America told him as they ran for the stairwell while Iceman created more ice walls to hold the chess pieces off. "Your world's version of us aren't?" "I don't know, I never bothered to ask, but the Alex from my world has always been into women as far as I could tell." Franklin told him as they raced up the stairs. "I'm pretty sure my world doesn't have a teenage Iceman, though. What's the deal with that anyway?" "Alternate timelines, time lost X-Men, Jean Grey being a bitch with her powers, it's a long story," Woody said as they got to the next level's doorway. "We'll fill you in when we're not fighting for our lives." "I wonder if Valeria's in the building," Franklin said. "Or if she knows we're here yet." As the group headed down the hallway, H.E.R.B.I.E. floated out to greet them. "Hello, Franklin, it's good to see that you're not dead," the robot told him. "Let me fix that situation for you." "Don't worry," Wolverine said as she unsheathed her claws. "I can handle this little tin can." As H.E.R.B.I.E. started to float toward them, he started growing in size as weaponized arms started extending from his body, including a laser, a chainsaw, an ax and a broken bottle. "Well, the bottle is just overkill," Spider-Man said. "You guys go, me and Wolverine have got this." "Time for some recycling." Wolverine smirked as Cap, Woody and Franklin headed for the elevator. Cap pried it open with his shield as Woody shot a grappling hook upward. The two started climbing as Franklin floated up with them. "You can fly?" Woody asked. "I'm just an astral projection, it's just about all I can do." Franklin reminded him. "We'd better wrap this up, we're running out of teammates," Cap said as he continued to climb. "I just hope the others are doing okay." "I think this is our floor," Woody said as Cap pried the door open. "Let's hope that Doom is home. Then again, she has murdered a good chunk of the population. Maybe we should leave a message and just come back later." "I don't have until later," Franklin said. "I can feel myself getting weaker. My body is dying. It's now or never." "He's right," Cap said as they climbed out. "We've been sitting around too long, putting out fires here and there. We need to stop this madness at the heart before we're all dead." Franklin stared ahead at the end of the hall, where the entrance to the home of the Fantastic 4 stood. "It feels like I haven't been home in forever," Franklin said. "It's going to feel weird walking through those doors, even in an alternate world." "Just remember that this world's version of your sister is a murderous monster," Woody reminded him. "She's not going to go easy on us. She'll probably try to murder you a second time." "Let her try," Franklin said as he headed toward the door. "I managed to access some of my powers just before I got pulled away from my world. Maybe if I focus hard enough, I can do it here, too." "Well, you better start practicing, because here we go!" Cap shouted as he rushed toward the door, breaking it down. Woody and Franklin followed, shocked by what they found. The apartment was dimly lit with a lit fire in the fireplace. There was classical music playing as an 18-year-old Valeria was sitting in a chair without her armor, sipping a cup of tea. "Alex, Hank... Franklin," Valeria said calmly. "Please take off your boots, I don't want you tracking mud all over my carpet." "You knew we were here?" Franklin asked he watched Cap and Woody taking off their boots. "Really?" "We're in someone's home, dude," Woody told him. "We have to be respectful." "How did you know I was here?" Franklin asked as he turned his attention back to Valeria. "I'm the Sorcerer Supreme now," Valeria told him. "I sensed you the second you arrived. Sit down, gentlemen. Would you like some tea?" "We came here to stop this madness," Cap said as he sat down. "You've killed most of the population." "And our family," Franklin told her. "And you maimed Icarus." "Oh, yes, your winged pet," Valeria sighed. "You know, hearing the crunch of his wings as I ripped them off was almost orgasmic for me. Do you know why I did that to your boyfriend? Because I wanted you to join me, and he was a... distraction. He always was, Franklin, and not just in this reality. After I killed Dr. Strange and took all of his mystic magic, I looked through every reality to make sure that there would be no threats to me in the future. I discovered two things, brother." "Can I get some of that tea?" Woody asked. "I discovered one threat among billions of worlds, and it was you," Valeria told him. "The other thing I discovered is that in every reality where you and Josh Guthrie meet, you inevitably become an item, until one or both of you end up getting hurt or dying. You're both toxic to each other, Franklin. In one out of every ten realities, it's you that dies. But the rest? It's Icarus that ends up suffering. Your love kills him in every reality you two are together." "It's not true," Franklin told her. "You're lying." "I'm many things, dear brother, but a liar isn't one of them," Valeria said. "In the off-chance that you get to go back to your world, you'll see. It could be tomorrow, or years from now. It could even have already happened. But Icarus will die, and it'll all be because of you." "Enough of this," Cap said as he stood up. "We came to stop your madness once and for all, Doom." "Have you?" Valeria asked as the door opened, watching as her Doombots tossed an unconscious Bobby, Wolverine and Spider-Man to the floor. "That's half of your team right there, and they had actual powers. What do the three of you have to stop me?" Captain America rushed over to Bobby, slowly lifting him up. "He's still alive," Valeria told him. "If I wanted, I could have had all of you killed at any time. As if I didn't know where you've been hiding all this time. I've let you live this long simply because you amused me. But now I think I'm getting bored of the lot of you." "Valeria, stop this!" Franklin shouted as he felt a pain in his stomach and fell to his knees. "What's the matter, brother?" Valeria asked. "Are you dying? At this point you probably only have hours left, if that. Which is more than what your friends have. Well, except Alex. I'll need someone to help repopulate the Earth once I've remade it in my image." "Lucky me," Cap told her. "You'll have to kill me first." "Maybe after," Valeria said as the Doombots charged into the room. "Kill them all but Alex. Take him to my lab." "No!" Woody shouted as he charged toward her. Reaching out her hand, she lifted Woody up into the air. As she walked toward him, her Doom armor started forming on her body. "You killed my foster father!" "Your foster father wasn't a hero, Hank. He was a warped daddy's boy who picked you out of an orphangedto fulfill his fantasy of being a hero. You were just a pawn that he used, and odds are once you grew up, he was going to toss you away and replace you with a newer model," Doom told him. "But if you really want a reunion so bad." "No, please," Cap whispered as Doom snapped her fingers, flaying Woody from head to toe before letting his corpse fall to the ground. "You monster!" "He's one of the lucky ones," Doom said as she faced him. "His pain has ended. The rest of you still get to suffer." "Stop," Franklin pleaded as he tried to get up, trying to put all of his focus on the unconscious Bobby. "This isn't you, Valeria." "It is, brother. This has been me for a very long time. And you could have been a part of this new life. The two of us, forging a new world free of pain and sin. But you chose that winged freak over your family." "I love him." Franklin told her. "But I love my family, too. But I can't watch you commit all this destruction and death. You have to be stopped." "And who's going to stop me?" Doom asked. "You're intangible, Franklin. You have no effect in this world. You couldn't hurt me if you tried." "Not me," Franklin said. "Him." Doom turned around to see Franklin had used what was left of his powers to push Iceman's mutation to its full potential. He now stood twelve feet tall in a hulking ice form with spikes all over his body. "This is it? A parlor trick at best, he couldn't possibly--" Doom was cut off by Iceman grabbing her by the leg and slamming her all over the ground, leaving large holes in the floor before slamming her one last time. "That felt pretty damn good," Iceman said in a deep voice. "Is that my voice? Cool, I'm a badass now." "He's not going to look like that when he de-ices, is he?" Cap asked. "He shouldn't," Franklin said. "I only pushed his mutation, not his human side. That was the last of my energy, Alex. I've only got a few minutes left before I fade away. I can feel it. This is the end of the road for me." "I wish we could have sent you home," Alex told him. "You helped us stop Doom. We can rebuild our world now with those that are left. Is there anything I can do for you?" "Tell Josh how much I loved him," Franklin said. "That me dying was worth it so he could live." Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Thing, and the Alex and Valeria from the other world came in through the wrecked door. "What the hell happened here?" Reed asked. "Why am I dressed as Captain America?" Alex asked his alternate counterpart. "Nevermind that, why am I dressed as Doom?" Valeria asked as she saw her alternate version in a crater on the floor. "Franklin!" Sue said as she rushed toward her soon. "No, we can't be too late!" "He used the last of his power to save our world," Cap told her. "He's dying." "Not yet he isn't," Reed said to the group. "I have a plan, and if it works, we can get Franklin back to his own body. I'm not losing my son today." TO BE CONTINUED... |