FANTASTIC FOUR # 426
by Mark Bousquet
THE EMPTINESS OF BEING YOU
THE PLANET AK'YEN'JA
Cold, empty space surrounds the planet Ak'yen'ja, residing deep within the heart of the Shi'ar Empire.
The planet - a lush garden of Eden - is too small for the Shi'ar to bother with other than to occasionally send a starcruiser to collect the Empire's taxes.
It's inhabitants - six separate cultures - are a peaceful people for the most part. Only one culture, the Unthans, have developed any type of computer technology. The remaining five cultures are deeply religious, deeply organic peoples. They seek to live and experience, not to kill.
It hasn't always been this way, but it is now. Joined together by their hatred of the Unthans, all in-fighting had been put aside and they came to realize their similarities instead of being overwhelmed by their differences. Even the Unthans were invited to join the Elder Council when they saw that their similarities to their fellow Ak'yen'jans were of more value to them than their differences with the Shi'ar.
But the differences do remain.
Cold, empty space resides on the planet Ak'yen'ja, centered in the place where the heart resides inside a human body.
Victor Von Doom has come to Ak'yen'ja, though he doesn't know how. He also doesn't know who he is. That gives him something in common with the residents of the planet. That is why he now stands before the Elder Council - everyone wants to know who he is and what he does.
"The Elder Council is called to order!" proclaims El'kana, her luscious, soft voice nonetheless filling the Chamber. It has been ages since the Elder Council held a public meeting. Even in peaceful societies, the rulers would rather their people knew as little as possible. Such is the way of government.
El'kana serves as the moderator because she is the only one who volunteered.
The ruling leaders of the six cultures enter the room. El'kana announces each of them in turn: Ja'lana, Healer of the Ba'na'ay (El'kana's people), her blue skin complemented by her brown robes representing the Planet itself; Tykan, King of the Unthans (and father of Tytan, El'kana's arranged husband-in-waiting), his grey robes representing the Future; Ioeya, Chieftan of the Eaau; his blue robes representing the Sky; Porunesclamano, Emperor of the Wenthorions, his red robes representing the Past; Haak, leader of the Leghtians, his purple robes representing the Heavens; and Pythtani, Czar of the Eckdrasi, her black robes representing Death.
They take their seats in a semi-circle, sitting high above the floor. On the opposite side of the meeting chamber sit representatives from the six cultures. The assembled masses - about 100 in number - sit in a mixed state of nervousness, apprehension and excitement.
"Call in the ... guest," Tykan announces.
The door's of the Chamber open and, surrounded by a guard from each culture, in walks the armored form of Victor Von Doom.
El'kana shudders as he walks past, for though the man inside the armor has been nothing but polite and kind, she senses there is a great emptiness inside him. 'Or maybe,' El'kana tells herself, 'maybe it's just I'm so put off by a man who would burn a steel mask onto his face and choose to reside inside a metal form that I'm misreading him.'
Dr. Doom is escorted into the center of the Chamber. The six guards pull back several steps to stand in a circle around him.
"What is your name stranger?" Pythtani asks coldly.
"That," Doom answers, his voice commanding the attention of anyone within earshot, "I do not know."
EARTH - PIER 4
The Silver Surfer helps Johnny Storm to his feet from the spot on the floor where he lay since Thanos put him there.*
*( See FF # 423 )
"Ugh ... what ... happened?" Johnny asks as the Surfer moves him to the couch.
"Thanos kidnapped me," Franklin says matter-of-factly.
"Oh yeah," Johnny remembers. "My head ..."
"You need rest, Johnny Storm," the Surfer cautions. "Perhaps I shall stay and watch Franklin."
"That won't be necessary, old friend," Alicia Masters speaks as she enters the room. She walks to the Surfer and kisses him on the cheek. "It is good to see you."
"It is ... good to see you, as well, Alicia," the Silver Surfer says, though he's not sure if he means it. While the heroes were in the Franklinverse and believed dead, he had developed strong feelings for Alicia. Feelings that Alicia might have returned if the Fantastic Four and her beloved Ben Grimm hadn't returned from their seeming death.
The blind sculptress takes a step back as Franklin runs over and hugs Alicia's legs. "I will watch Franklin, if you'd like. Maybe you have someplace you need to be?"
The Silver Surfer winces at the words. The last time they were together, he left suddenly, leaving the Fantastic Four and her in Costa Rica.*
*( See FF # 418 )
"I am sorry, Alicia, but there were things that needed to be attended to. Things that were ... of cosmic significance." The Surfer watches the beautiful face of Alicia Masters, looking for any sign of forgiveness. With a small smile, it is given.
"That's okay, Surfer," she speaks softly.
"But I should stay. Thanos might attack again."
"Thanos?" Alicia asks, bewildered. "What does Thanos want with Franklin?"
The Silver Surfer starts to answer, when Johnny Storm ignites his flame and tears out of the room.
Johnny aches all over, but he's got to get out of here. He can't stand melodrama and watching the Silver Surfer and Alicia Masters is just inviting another head-ache. At least the one he has now came from Thanos.
'Sis is gonna kill me,' he thinks to himself. 'But at least she won't ask me to baby-sit anymore.'
He approaches the end of a hallway. The wall, sensing the heat from Johnny's flame and the speed at which he's approaches from the sensors Reed has built into the walls, slides to the side and the Human Torch exits into the night sky. There is one and only one thought in his mind ... the Black Cat.
THE PLANET AK'YEN'JA - THE FOLLOWING DAY
THE LEGHTIANS
The meeting before the Elder Council went as the man we know as Doom expected. Nothing was learned about who he is or how he came to be on this planet. Doom knew he was from Earth - a planet none of the Ak'yen'jans had ever heard of - but that was it.
He grows tired of the questions.
He stands outside the village of the Leghtians, here to meet with their leader, Haak. Over the day he will meet with all of the cultures, so that they may get to know him and he may grow to know them.
"Greetings, visitor!" Haak welcomes as Doom is ushered into his ruling chamber. Doom takes in the room with a glance. It is a simple wooden room in a simple one-story wooden building.
"Greetings, Haak," Doom speaks, shaking the Leghtian's hand. The Leghtian towers over Doom in height, but not in stature. Leghtians are a tall, thin race. They have bright red skin, adorned with claws for hands and feet, a beak for a mouth and feathers instead of hair on the top of their heads.
"So, figured out your name, yet?" Haak asks with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.
"No," Doom responds.
"Well, we can't keep calling you Visitor," Haak says. "Let's call you ... hmmm ... I got it!" he exclaims, snapping his talons. "We'll call you the Man of Steel. That seems like it should be funny, doesn't it?"
"You may call me whatever you wish," Doom says. "I am your visitor afterall."
Doom - the Man of Steel - spends the next hour with Haak. He finds the Leghtian to be a humorous, easy-going person. Haak tells him that even though his place on the Council is that of representing "The Heavens", the Leghtians are a carefree people, favoring laughs over study, the present over history. When the Man of Steel asked why, then, the Leghtians represent the Heavens on the Council, Haak responds that his people believe that the afterlife is the time for seriousness, and that the present is the place for personal enjoyment.
As the hour comes to a close, the Man of Steel thanks Haak for his time, "I look forward to seeing you again," and exits the village, heading for the Eckdrasi underground caverns.
NEW YORK - NIGHT
Johnny Storm grows tired and angry as his search for the Black Cat goes fruitless. They had a connection the other night, one that he is not about to give up on. His night with Silver Sable* was enjoyable, but not fulfilling. There was no chase, no hunt, just the act itself.
*(Between the sheets of FF 419 & 420 - Nudge Nudge Wink Wink Say No More!)
'This is insane,' he thinks to himself, 'how am I supposed to find someone who's thing is that she blends into the shadows?'
Another hour passes when Fate throws Johnny a favor in the guise of the Vulture. The aging bald villain, his green wings flapping in the night, was busy fighting with someone on a roof off in the distance. Half-hoping it was Spider-Man, the Human Torch flies over and burns the Vulture's wings, causing the villain to fall to the roof of the building he was flying over.
He swoops down, ready to take the villain into custody, when he spots the Black Cat.
"Hey!" he yells, as the shapely female ducks moves to hide behind an air-duct. "Wait, I want to talk!"
Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, frowns, but stays in the open. "These people are the scum of the earth, you know," she says defiantly. "They deserve what they get."
"Er, of course they do," the Human Torch says, coming to a landing on the roof and extinguishing his flame. 'God this woman is beautiful,' he thinks to himself.
"I'm not giving back the video tapes," the Black Cat says defiantly, her black suit blending into the night.
"No problem," Johnny says, taking a step closer.
"You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"
"Nope."
"This ... scum," she spits out the words, pointing towards the Vulture, "has been subsidizing a company that makes fur."
"You don't like fur?" Johnny asks, another step closer.
"Do you have any idea the way they slaughter these animals to make the coats. It's wretched, disgusting act. If I could--," she pauses, "one, why are you looking at me like that, and two, why do you keep taking steps closer to me?"
Johnny smiles, "I thought we might finish what we started the other night."
"Now it's my turn to be confused," the Black Cat says warily.
"You know. You, me ... the couch." Johnny steps to within an arms length of the Black Cat.
"Look, Torch," Felicia says, stepping close to Johnny, "I'm flattered you dream about me, but I don't know what you're talking about."
"C'mon," Johnny smiles, "last night? You came over to Pier 4 because 'cats hate the rain'? We almost shared a moment on the couch?"
"Hmm," Black Cat smiles, "nice pick up line, but I've never been to Pier 4 and it wasn't raining last night." She lifts her knee, connecting hard, causing Johnny to double over in pain. "Maybe you've got time to waste away the moments of your life, but I don't. Try your corny pick-up lines on someone without a purpose in their life. I've got things to do."
Johnny looks up to say something, but all he sees is a graceful figure jumping over the side of the building. "That went well," he groans, "how'd she manage to find the one spot that wasn't sore before to hit."
THE PLANET AK'YEN'JA
THE ECKDRASI
"Welcome, Vissssitor," Pythtani, Czar of the Eckdrasi welcomes.
"Thank you for inviting me into your ... cavern," Doom says. The room is just that, a large round cavern with a ceiling not more than seven feet high.
Doom spends the hour conversing with Pythtani, a being the complete opposite of Haak. The Eckdrasi are an insect-like people, reminding Doom of upright cockroaches.
"I hope the cavernsssss don't bother you. They can be conssstricting to surface dwellers," Pythtani says with no hint of concern in her voice.
"No, I don't mind at all. Living in this armor I am very much used to living inside a small area."
The hour passes slowly. Doom finds the Eckdrasi to be a pitiful people, accustomed to living underground and feeding off the dead carcasses of others (fitting in with their position of Death on the Elder Council). And entirely too religious and dependent on whatever Fate delivers to them. They are almost devoid of emotion.
When the hour is up, Doom is actually looking forward to spending some time with the Wenthorions.
SOMEWHERE - A CASTLE
A figure clad in metal sits in a darkened room and watches his beloved monitors. On one screen Franklin Richards, the Silver Surfer and Alicia Masters discuss Thanos and where the Fantastic Four went after Baluur exploded.*
*(You don't need to hear this since you read all about it in the FRANKLIN MUST DIE storyline, FF # 423 - 425 - Saving space Mark)
On another monitor the Human Torch is leaving the Avengers Mansion. Whatever it is he wanted is unknown to the man in armor as his spy devices could not get past the Mansion's defenses. But he can guess what the Torch wanted, though what female Johnny was inquiring about is of no concern to him.
On a final monitor there plays an image taken from a Spanish castle. A thin man returns from the country side, a bag of herbs in a pack on his back.
The man watching sighs, "You are such a pitiful man to me, Diablo, but like the Mole Man and my Frightful Four before you, you will serve your purpose. The Frightful Four could not defeat the Fantastic Four with might and anarchy, so maybe you can succeed with guile and alchemy. And while I would choose to test the Fantastic Four with someone other than yourself, I will let your plan proceed for the time being, but only because it serves to meet my ends. Otherwise, you would die."
THE PLANET AK'YEN'JA
THE WENTHORIANS
"Enter, visitor," Porunesclamano commands.
"Thank you for inviting me," Doom says in a voice lower than Porunesclamano's, yet louder in stature.
Doom spends yet another hour of his life in the company of the Wenthorian, the leader of a tribe of warriors, who's only purpose in life used to be to conquer. Deep is the scar of their long ago loss to the Unthans. "It wasn't enough for us to be the mightiest," Doom is told by Porunesclamano, "we lost because of the Unthans and their damnable science. We could kill them if we could've reached them, but we couldn't."
Doom leaves an hour later, knowing that warriors like nothing more than a leader who gives them a reason to fight.
TITAN
His name is Mentor and he is ruler of the Eternals of Titan. He stands, looking at the Tree of Eternity and he thinks. He thinks long and hard about the actions of his son, Thanos. He thinks long and hard about a boy from Earth, who not only caused the Celestials to take action, but brought the attention of Thanos upon him. He thinks long and hard, though his decision was made before he rose out of bed this morning.
"Mentor!" a voice yells to him from the distance.
Mentor turns. "Eros, my son, what is it?"
"We have found what we were looking for ... and something we weren't." Eros says, perplexed.
"Let me have a look, then," Mentor says, as he and Starfox head away from the Tree of Eternity and into the future of Franklin Richards.
THE PLANET AK'YEN'JA
THE EAAU
"We are humbled by your presence, Visitor," Ioeya, Chieftan of the Eaau welcomes Doom into his mud hut.
"I am humbled by your offer of hospitality," Doom responds.
"Here," Ioeya offers, handing Doom a cloak of green cloth.
"What is this?" Doom asks.
"We are a people of feelings. Of thought. Of meditation. Of impressions. We believe that all answers to who a person is can be found just by looking at them or touching them. You only need to have eyes to see."
"And when you look at me, what do you see?" Doom asks cautiously.
"From the meeting today, I saw that you wear a green cloak over your metal armor," Ioeya says, "so we, the Eaau, made you one from the sturdiest cloth we know of."
"I thank the Eaau, then, for this cloak feels as right to me as your vision did to you," Doom says as he puts the cloak on. He looks into a mirror that Ioeya provided and nods, "Yes, this is right. This is very right." He turns to Ioeya, "You said that you can also have your visions from physical contact. Might I ask of you that you try that technique so that we may discover who I am?"
"Of course," Ioeya smiles and touches Doom's arm. He chants softly as he closes his eyes, prepared for the contact with Doom's aura and the vision that will come. Contact is made, "Aaaaarrrgghhhhhhhhh!" Ioeya screams and falls to the ground shaking.
"What is it, Elder?" Doom asks.
"You ... you are so ... cold ..."
"Do you know my name?" Doom asks, helping the old man to his feet.
"I saw only one name, and that name is ... Victor."
"Yes," Doom says, thinking, "Victor. That is correct, I'm certain of it. Victor."
EARTH - SPAIN
"You have your duties, yet you falter?!?" a thin Spanish man screams at a tall, beautiful red-headed woman. "Why do you wait to mop the floor?"
"I-I am so ... confused," the woman dressed in rags says, teetering on her feet.
The man walks close to the woman, reaching into one of the countless hidden pockets in his purple tunic for a pellet. He drops the pellet to the ground, watching it's fumes waft up around the female's figure.
"Tell me, woman, tell me who you and who you serve."
"I ... I ... am Sharon. Sharon ... Ventura," the woman says, inhaling the pellets fumes, when a moment of clarity overcomes her, "and I serve ... DIABLO!!!"
END FF 426
NEXT ISSUE:
FANTASTIC FOUR # 427: Think we forgot about that group called the Fantastic Four? We didn't, don't worry Fanatic Ones! Find out what happened to the FF when Baluur went BOOM! Meet their new best friends, the ... Skrulls?!? Find out how much a room at the Hotel Titan costs! See the Human Torch realize he's been duped by Lyja! See Sharon Ventura escape from Diablo! All that and "Victor" makes a statement to the people of Ak'yen'ja, a statement for ... peace?!?
mbQ 2.4.98