(*This issue takes place before the F4 New Year's Eve Special)
Issue #36 (December 2018)
Written by Tobias Christopher Featuring: Franklin Richards
Valeria
Spider-Girl
Icarus
Machine Teen
Juston
Ms. Marvel
Alpha
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"Quest for Franklin Richards - Homecoming and Reckoning""Mom... it's been five minutes, you can stop hugging me. Seriously, I can't breathe." Franklin said as Sue kept her arms wrapped tightly around her formerly comatose son.
"Welcome back, Frankie," Ben Grimm said as he mussed Franklin's hair. "We missed ya, little buddy." "Yeah, now the world can stop revolving around you and we can move on to other things," Valeria said as she stood with her back against the wall while playing on her phone. "But... I'm glad you're alright." Reed smiled as he put a hand on Franklin's shoulder. "I'm sorry it took so long to bring you home. I should have made you my top priority, and I failed you." "It's okay, Dad," Franklin told him. "At least I know you care, and now I'm back and I have a few apologies of my own to make. Where's Uncle Johnny?" "This isn't the greatest idea in the world," Johnny said as he stood in the meeting room at New Warriors' Headquarters. "Shouldn't we call the rest of the team in on this? Franklin could be brought back any minute." "We don't need the entire team charging in," Spider-Girl told him. "We're helping Rawhide Kid get justice for his family, not waging war." "Maybe you should go be with your family," Lyja said as she held Johnny's hand. "I'll stay here and help them." "I couldn't ask you to do that," Johnny said. "This isn't your team." "No, but... maybe it could be," Lyja told him. "We have been looking for more things to do together. Maybe helping people could be one of them." Johnny looked at he cell phone, having just received a text from Sue. "Franklin's back and he's awake, I have to go to him. Just don't do anything insane until I get back, okay? I love you." Johnny quickly kissed her before flaming on and flying out the door. Icarus was flying back toward the Baxter Building as he talked to his big brother over the phone. "Josiah's going to do it," Cannonball said as he waited for his son to get dressed while he sat in the forest. "He's going to let me have some of his blood." "I wish I could be there to see you get healed," Icarus told him. "But Franklin's awake and--" "I know, you need to go to him," Cannonball said. "Just don't--" "I won't," Icarus promised. "I'm strong now, remember? I can handle however this turns out, thanks to you. You still upset over me bringing him here?" "I'm not happy you ignored my orders, but... thanks, Josh. I have my little boy back in my life for the time being, thanks to you." "The time being?" "Josiah's going to give me his blood, but... on the condition I send him back to that world when we can open the portal. I'm going to go with him this time, Josh. It's time to be the father that Josiah deserves." Johnny arrived back at the Baxter Building just as the rest of the team arrived, having gotten word that Cannonball had found Josiah and that the boy was safe. They crowded into the elevator and headed to the top floor, where Johnny headed to the lab where Franklin was still trying to get the feelings back in his atrophied legs. “Uncle Johnny," Franklin said. "I--" Johnny grabbed his nephew tightly and hugged him. "Shutup," Johnny told him. "Don't say anything, kid. I am so sorry for everything. I was a dick, alright? You did the right thing by trying to keep me grounded and I did something horrible in retaliation. You acted like a real hero, better than I ever would in that kind of situation. Can you ever forgive me?" "I forgave you a long time ago," Franklin said. "I love you, Uncle Johnny." "The second you're back on your feet, you and me are going to a ball game, just the two of us. Just like old times." "I'd like that." Franklin smiled as Adam walked in and grabbed Franklin's hand, putting it on his chest. "Feel that?" Adam asked in a condescending tone. "That's my heartbeat. I don't like having a heartbeat. I don't like getting tired and sore from running and lifting things. I don't like having to eat all the time to keep my energy up. I don't like the the taste of honeydew or raisins or sweet tea. And I really don't like getting erections from, well, pretty much everything. This morning I got one watching The Food Network. Fix. This. NOW." "Uh... okay," Franklin said. He lifted his hand and put his finger on Adam's nose. "Boop." Adam just stared blankly at his friend. "It better be a LOT more complicated than that, or I'm gonna kick your aura out of this dimension again." Adam lifted his shirt and found his control panel on his chest, opening it to reveal wires and flashing lights. He let his shirt down and shifted his eyes as he walked out of the room before shouting seconds later "Woo-hoo! It's detachable again!" "Here we are," Sam said as he arrived at the alley with Josiah. "This is where we need to do this. This is the scene of my greatest failure." "That happened here?" Josiah asked as he stepped into the alley, wearing the clothes his father had brought for him. The sneakers felt uncomfortable on his feet, like they were too tight. The boy didn't understand how people wore such constrictive things. "What exactly was your greatest failure?" "Losing you," Sam told him as he stared at the wall where his friend Jesse had made the portal to another world. "The night I lost you and Grandpa, I guess I lost a part of myself. I should have been the one to take you to that place, to watch you grow and teach you how to be a man." Josiah grabbed a knife and cut into the palm of his hand as Sam winced. "Relax, it's not the first time I've been cut. When I was learning to use my powers, I'd crash a lot. Always ended up getting scraped and bruised until I learned to control where I was going." "You had a lot of time to figure that out, didn't you?" Sam asked. "I wish Grandpa could have seen me, he'd have been so proud." Josiah said. "He was proud," Sam said. "Just like I am." Sam cut his palm and took Josiah's bloodied hand. As soon as Josiah's blood touched his, Sam felt the poison running through his body fading away. He fell to his knees, holding his stomach as he stared up at his son. "Thank you." Sam smiled as he blacked out, hitting the ground. "Come on," Franklin said as he tried to stand up, but fell back onto the bed. "Stupid atrophy. I can create entire universes but I can't make my legs wake up." "Maybe you should try stretching your legs for a while before you try to stand," Josh said as he stood at the door. "Hey, Franklin." "Was wondering when you were going to come by," Franklin said. "Come on in, I guess we need to talk." "Yeah," Josh said as he came and sat on the bed. "It's been a while since we... talked." An awkward silence filled the air for several seconds before both said in unison as they stared at each other. "I love you." "I have wanted to say that for so long," Franklin said. "But-- this can't happen, Josh. I'm sorry." "But we just said we love each other." "And if we get together, one of us will die," Franklin said. "Look, I'm kind of used to dying so I don't care if it happens again, but you? I've seen what happens when you have to pay the price for us being together, and it's not just here. It's every reality where we meet. It's like we're cursed." "I'm a big boy, Franklin. I'll take my chances with you." Josh said. "You're worth dying for." "You don't get it," Franklin said as he stared into Josh's eyes. "You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I've thought about you just about every waking second. And when I found out what happens in every reality between us... I can't live with that pain, Josh. If I lose you, even thinking of losing you, it physically hurts. At least if we don't do this, then you get to live, even if you're with someone else. Don't hate me for this, but I can't be with you." Josh nodded his head and turned his focus from Franklin. "I don't like it, but I can't force you to be in a relationship. I love you, too, Franklin. If this is how you feel, then I guess... this is it." "We can still be friends, though, right?" Franklin asked. "Yeah," Josh said as his smile faded. "Friends. We'll always have the wilderness planet, and our first kiss. Look, i have to go meet up with Sam, but I'll see you at headquarters when you're walking again. You going to be okay?" "Yeah," Franklin told him. "See you later." Josh walked out of the room and to his own surprise, he didn't feel any tears coming. Instead, he felt like laughing. Maybe he was stronger than he thought. Although if he'd stayed a few seconds longer, he would have seen the tear falling down Franklin's cheek as he watched Josh walk out of his life. Sam started to open his eyes, finding that he'd been propped up to sit against the wall. He looked down to see Josiah asleep under his arm. "Josiah? What happened?" Sam asked. "You passed out, I guess the cure worked," Josiah said. "I didn't know where to take you, so I just stayed here until you woke up. When do I get to go home?" "As soon as I get us back to the Baxter Building. We should be able to get to the portal without Jesse risking his life to open it this time," Sam told him. "We should probably get some supplies before we go this time." "You're really willing to give up your life here to go with me?" Josiah asked. "I should have done that four years ago," Sam told him. "I missed out on watching you grow up. I won't make that mistake again." "I hate this world," Josiah said. "It's loud and it smells bad and it's confusing." "I know, son," Sam said with a heavy sigh. "But it's a world I wish you'd have been able to grow up in. Come on, we'll go home and pack before we go see Dr. Richards. You sure you want to go this soon, Josiah?" "Grandpa used to call me 'Joey'," the boy said. "I guess you can, too." "Okay... Joey." Sam smiled as they left the alley. The entire team, except for Cannonball, Juston and Icarus had gathered in Franklin's bedroom. "It's good to be home," Franklin said as he looked around. "You guys held it together without me. I'm proud to be on a team that kept going, and that we grew to have more people. I know I wasn't that great of a leader, which is why I'm officially stepping down. When Cannonball shows up, I'm officially giving the team over to him." "You're not quitting again, are you?" Valeria asked. "I hate to admit it, but we really do kind of need you." "No, I'm not quitting," Franklin said. "But I have more growing to do as hero. I've seen a lot of different realities where I could have made a difference if I was able to handle my powers better. Realities where some of you were great heroes, even under the worst circumstances. Maybe with a guy like Cannonball in charge, he can get you to that place where you can be your best." "I want you to join the team," Johnny whispered to Lyja. "You're right, we should be doing more things together. I love you, and I want you by my side." The two held hands as Lyja smiled. "So when do get to meet this girlfriend?" Ms. Marvel asked Alpha. "Never," Alpha told her. "I keep my personal life and my hero life separate. I have an entirely different life outside of this team." "Sure you do," Valeria said mockingly. "I'll believe that when I see it." "You okay, Adam?" H.E.R.B.I.E. asked Machine Teen. "Still getting used to being mechanical again?" "I thought becoming an android again would put me back to factory settings," Machine Teen told him. "But now I have to do a total purge to wipe out the memory of being human. Nothing... feels right. It's like what I experienced as a human isn't meshing with what I was programmed with. I feel like I'm two different beings." "Are you sure there's anything to fix?" H.E.R.B.I.E. asked. "Just be the android you want to be. There's nothing wrong with choosing your own path. Now that haircut, that's a problem you should deal with ASAP." "You're wrong, this isn't natural," Adam told him. "I can get rid of these emotions. It's just... a virus is all. I can purge this and be back to my original programming in no time. My father knew what he was doing when he programmed me, that's what I have to be." At New Warriors Headquarters, Juston was sitting in his workshop, typing away at his computer. "Come on, already," Juston said as the program buzzed. "Are you kidding me?" Juston was trying to fit a piece of metal into a schematic of his spine, and nothing was working. "Incompatible." the computer said for the fifty-seventh time. "I won't be stuck in this chair," Juston said as he started from scratch. "I'm going to walk again." Sam and Josiah returned to New Warriors Headquarters, where Josh was sitting the rec room, reading a book. "Uh oh," Sam said. "You're here instead of the Baxter Building, does that mean--?" "We're not together, and I doubt we ever will be," Josh said as he put his book down. "I guess I lost my first boyfriend before we even really made it official." "Want to talk about it?" Sam asked. "I'm thinking about taking a break from the team, maybe go home for a few weeks to see the family," Josh said. "Get my head together so when I come home, I can be a better hero, maybe I'll even start dating." "Guys or girls?" "Why limit myself? I'm a confident bi-sexual mutant now, Sammy, I no longer have limits in what I can do." "That's my boy," Sam told him. "I'm proud of you, kid. Wanna see me and Joey off?" "You're really doing it," Josh realized. "You're leaving us." "I'm doing what's best for Joey," Sam told him. "This isn't his world. He deserves to have the life he's used to, only now I'll be there to help him. I'll miss all of you." The two brothers hugged as Josh held him tight. "I'll find a way to come visit you, maybe bring the siblings when I do. We'll have a big ol' Guthrie reunion." Josiah had found Sam's room and found a scrapbook on the nightstand. He picked it up and started looking pictures of aunts and uncles, his grandparents and all of Sam's friends in the X-Men, New Mutants, New Warriors and other teams he's been affiliated with. Then he got to the page where Sam had put Josiah's hospital bracelet and birth certificate with the caption "My baby boy, so proud of him!" "He has a life here," Josiah whispered as he flipped to the next page, seeing how happy Sam was with his friends and teammates. There was even a picture of Cannonball and Wolverine sharing a beer and smiling. "I can't take him away from this." "Alright, we're agreed," Johnny said as the team gathered in the meeting room. "We'll send a small group in to investigate the guys Rawhide Kid says killed his family. That way we're not creating chaos and getting innocent people killed in a possible gang war." "Lyja, Spider-Girl, Rawhide Kid and Machine Teen will go in," Ms. Marvel said. "With the rest of us on stand-by." "You know, this would probably be a good time for you to tell us your origin and how you came to be here with us," Alpha said as he looked at Rawhide Kid. "Out with it, dude." "Uh, this issue's already running long as it is, let's save that for when we actually start the adventure," H.E.R.B.I.E. told him. "Where's the rest of the squad? Cannonball, Icarus, Juston?" "I thought I saw Sam and Josh here earlier," Spider-GIrl said. "And Franklin's trying to get his legs working with Valeria's help. I don't know what Juston's up to." "He just lost his legs, he's probably in his lab with a bunch of deadly machinery and his own suicidal thoughts," Alpha said. "Of course he could also be making s'mores." Sam headed to his bedroom to pack a few things when he saw Josiah standing in the doorway. "Just going to pack a few things and we can go," Sam told him. "Maybe we should stop off along the way and get you a few pair of sturdy boots to grow into when we get to your world." "We're not going to that world," Josiah told him, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "I can't let you leave your family here. I know why you didn't go the first time. You have a lot of people here who rely on you. Your brothers and sisters, your teammates, that old guy with the mutton chops, Grandma..." "You found my scrapbook," Sam said as he kneeled down to look at his son. "I think you need me more. If you want to live in that other world, then I'm going with you, no matter what I have to give up." "Maybe-- maybe I can stay here for a little while," Josiah said. "Just until you get tired of me and want me to go." "That's never going to happen," Sam told him as he hugged Josiah. "I will never abandon you again. Where you go, I go, got it? If you want to go back there, just say the word and we'll go as a family. But if you want to stay here, then you're getting an entire family that's going to love you." "I guess I could learn to live with the noise, and the smell," Josiah said. "I can't get used to these shoes, though." Sam looked down. "Maybe that's because you have them on the wrong feet." "You sure you want to do this?" Alex asked as he watched Franklin pushing himself to get back on his feet. "I can get another room." "You're like my big brother, I don't mind sharing a space," Franklin told him. "Besides, I can't live at the headquarters, not with... him there." "Are you really going to avoid your ex-not-ex?" Alex asked. "Dude, just make up and be with him already. Don't drag this out anymore than you already have." "I can't," Franklin said as he continued to try to stand up. "I love him too much to put his life at risk by, you know, loving him. We're cursed to not be together in every reality." "One in a million." Alex said as he put an arm around Franklin's shoulder to help him walk. "What?" "Those are the odds of finding that one person who makes you happy," Alex told him. "The person you're going to love with all your heart your entire life, no matter what happens. Whether you die, they die, or something comes inbetween you, you will never lose a single ounce of love for that person. My dad said that about my mom, and I see it with your mom and dad. And from what I've heard from your friends, they see it with you and Josh. Avoid him all you want, but at some point you're not going to be able to deny it any more and you're going to go full John Cusack and stand outside his window, holding a boombox over your head and begging him to forgive you. You two are gonna happen, Franklin, it's just a matter of time. Oh, by the way, you're walking on your own." Alex had taken his arm off of Franklin's shoulder the second he got him to thinking about Josh. "Power of love, bro," Alex said as he sat on the bed. "Amazing thing." "You okay in here?" Adam asked as he knocked on the door to Juston's lab. "Please don't be dead." "Why would I be dead?" Juston asked sadly as he wheeled out into view. "I'd probably just mess up a suicide anyway. I've tried over three hundred different schematics. I can't fix my spine through science, Adam. There's no compatible parts to rebuild a spine that I have access to." "Well, Franklin's awake, maybe he could fix it," Adam suggested as he lifted his shirt. "He made me an android again." "You're metal and wires again? Cool," Juston said, trying to smile. "Congratulations. At least you'll always be whole now. You'll never have to worry about your girlfriend leaving you to rule an entire planet, and you'll never have to grieve over losing your kid brother or hear your dad tell you that you were a mistake and the wrong brother died." "What? When did that happen?" "When I tried calling my Dad after Kittania left the team," Juston said. "We fought for ten minutes on the phone before he said that. Last thing the old man said to me before he hung up. I'd give anything to trade places you right now so I don't have to feel things anymore." "You think I don't have feelings or sympathy?" Adam asked. "A lot of the human stuff somehow melded with my programming. I... feel now, and not just what my Dad programmed into me. In fact, a lot of my human feelings go against what he wrote into my behavior patterns." "Like what?" "It doesn't matter," Adam said as he patted Juston on the shoulder. "Right now my best friend needs cheering up. I'll order a pizza and we can marathon BoJack on Netflix. That show can't possibly make you feel sad." A Few Days Later The bank alarm sounded as three tall black men rushed out of the door, each one wearing a different colored mop on their head, with googly eyes attached. They were robbing the bank on the orders of a new criminal in town, one who would soon cross paths with-- "The New Warriors!" the head Fry Guy said as the trio stopped in their tracks. Franklin, Valeria, Machine Teen, Alpha, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Girl, Cannonball, Icarus, Rawhide Kid, Johnny Storm, and Lyja were standing in the street, waiting for them. "Tell you what," Franklin smirked while wearing a white and black costume. "We'll give you guys a three second head start." Elsewhere "The New Warriors will soon be whole again. They have the Boy-God with them once more, and once he taps into his true potential, they'll be unstoppable. This can not come to pass, these... heroes must be stopped before they realize what they can truly do as a team. They need to be eliminated now, and to do that, I'll need a group of my own to counteract them. A team capable of destroying the New Warriors. A team that will tear them apart so completely that they'll never be able to stand together as a group." A series of screens showing not only the New Warriors, but other teenagers as well, some showing mutant abilities and other skills that were required for this new team. There were heroes from the Young Avengers; Alex Power and his siblings who were in various locations; all of Cannonball and Icarus' brothers and sisters in Kentucky; several X-Men students in training; and various others around the globe such as a boy in Australia trying to deal a power that he viewed as a curse. One of the cameras had Riley, the boy with uncontrollable ice powers in full view as he sat in a containment cell at Horizon Labs. "Soon I'll have everything I need to destroy the New Warriors as well as every child who believes they can be a superhero." Who is this villain plotting against our heroes? And what plans does he have for not only the New Warriors, but every super-powered youth on the planet? Find out soon... |