FANTASTIC FOUR # 430

by Mark Bousquet

THE LATVERIAN CONNECTION, PART ONE

REVENGE OF THE ALCHEMIST

PROLOGUE

201 YEARS INTO THE FUTURE

Galactus stands in the middle of what was once a dead cosmos. Around him, planets have begun to reappear. Empires have risen from non-existence. People long thought dead live again.*

* ( This is a continuation of the timeline introduced in FF 423, and seen again in FF 425, the first and third parts of the FRANKLIN MUST DIE TRILOGY - Hostess Fruit Pie Devourer Mark )

The Planet Destroyer waits for the arrival of Steve Rogers, his once and future nemesis and ally.

"I have ... come." Galactus turns to see the man who spoke those words, Captain America, the earthly hero. His dark blue and white uniform are torn and tattered, but there is hope and a glint of fire in his eyes. "Always wanted to say that," Captain America smiles.

"Found a sense of humor, did you?" Galactus asks, bemused.

"Yes. I found it in the exact same spot that I found the thought-dead Living Tribunal."

"Ah," Galactus says, understanding. "Things go well, then."

"They go better," Captain America explains, his voice and manner back to being deadly serious. "Thanos is on the run in the outer systems. His army of Brood Phalanxes apparently abandoned him, but there are rumours they're regrouping in the Neg Zone. Then, on the way back here, I ran into a pirate ship named the Supreme Unintelligence. Crew was a rag-tag group of Skrulls, Kree and Shi'ar forces that banded together for revenge on Thanos. They're the ones that busted up the Wraiths a few weeks back."

"It is good to see things changing, Captain," Galactus reasons.

"It is indeed, Galactus. The Everything is in much better shape than it was last year at this time."

"Are the rumors true about my former Herald?" Galactus asks, trying to sound disinterested.

"As far as I know," Captain America responds. "Moonstar the Valkyrie said she ran into the Cosmic Flame, disorientated, but alive, in the wreckage of Olympus."

"That is good," Galactus says, nodding in approval. "The more of my heralds that return to us, the greater our chances."

"Has the Richards boy reappeared yet?"

"No."

The float in space for a few moments, when Steve Rogers breaks the silence. "You know, Galactus, I think we might just pull this off. The future looks bright for the first time in a very, very long time."

"Indeed it does, Captain. Indeed it does."

EARTH - PIER 4

Reed Richards can't say that he's enjoying himself. It has been an emotional couple of days. Mentor's offer* has taken a lot out of him - not too mention what it's done to Sue. He frowns as he checks his equipment. It has become apparent that when he and Sue look towards the future, they see very different images.

* ( See recent issues of FF - Titan Tourist Board Chairman Mark )

For Reed, the Fantastic Four is everything he could ever want: a great facility with tremendous resources from which to do as much research as he wants, plus the continual chance of fantastic adventuring. Reed has heard Sue say that if he lived forever and a day, he still wouldn't have time to do half the things he wanted.

He looks across the Pier 4 garage to Sue, his wife and the unchallenged love of his life. He knows that the Fantastic Four is not everything she ever wanted. While she has a true hero's heart, she doesn't share his own love for adventuring and research.

And that difference scares Reed because he knows that sometimes love is not enough. That's not say he's a cynical man, but he is a man of research and research tells him that in this lifestyle, relationships seem to fail more than they succeed.

In another part of Pier 4, a very troubled woman sits on a bed, staring at the floor. Sharon Ventura has been through a lot in recent years, from female wrestler, to a member of the Fantastic Four, to being a slave of Diablo, to sitting in this room, staring at the floor, unsure of what to do. She knows only one thing - that the Fantastic Four must go to Spain and fight Diablo.

She wants nothing more - other than getting the FF to Spain - than to wring her strong hands around his scrawny neck and pop his head like a dandelion top.

But she doesn't know if she wants to do it with what lies on the floor: her old Ms. Marvel costume. Too many memories with a name that was never really hers. She wonders what the original Ms. Marvel ever thought of her - or if she even cared.

Troubled thoughts belittle yet another member of the FF. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, stares out the window, desperate for some kind of change in his life. And he doesn't mean another tryst with the likes of Silver Sable, or the conquest of the Black Cat, or finding Lyja. He wants something real and tangible this time, something with a lasting effect.

Believe it or not, there is a member of the FF that doesn't feel the weight of the world pressing in on him. Benjamin J. Grimm, the Thing, sits on a large couch, a smile upon his rocky face from ear to ear. He watches the love of his life, Alicia Masters, nibbling on a cookie as her blind eyes stare ahead.

"You're looking at me, Ben," she says, smiling.

"Yep," Ben answers.

"Nothing's wrong, is it?"

"Nope, Alicia, nothing is. In fact, for the first time in a long time, I think things are just about perfect."

Alicia turns to Ben and brings her left hand to his face, "It's going to work this time, Ben. I just know it."

Ben Grimm's smile grows even larger.

SPAIN - DIABLO'S CASTLE

Diablo stands in a room in a tower of his castle and looks out at the grounds of his estate. He is a happy man, to be sure. He wonders, for not the first time, if maybe he shouldn't just be content to live out his life in the peaceful confines of an ancient castle instead of trying again and again to defeat the Fantastic Four.

He sighs smiling, knowing that he could never stop plotting and planning, never cease his dreams of victory and his nightmares of defeat. A life of simple luxury is not his way. Not until the Fantastic Four have been defeated, at least.

His gaze falls to a pile of rock, laying in a large mound in the back yard. He spent a good deal of time and effort to acquire that particular group of rock, but it will all be worth it when the FF see what Diablo has planned for them

THE PLANET AK'YEN'JA

The man known to the people of Earth as Doctor Doom, but to himself only as Victor, has discovered something about his armor - it is not just for show, it is a weapon. Left to his thoughts when Ioeya, Chieftan of the Eaau, had him thrown out of the Elder Council meeting, Victor had decided what his next course of action would be.

War.

The complete domination of this entire planet.

A decision made all the more agreeable when he discovered his armor had a full array of armaments.

Victor smiles behind his iron mask. Though he doesn't know for sure who he is, he has discovered two truths about himself that he knows in his cold heart to be true. One, he is a man of science and two, he is a man of greatness. Not the kind of man who has greatness thrust upon them, but the kind of man who simply decides what he wants and takes it, the price be damned.

"You wanted to see me, Victor?" Tykan, King of the Unthans, one of Ak'yen'ja's six cultures asks pointedly, storming into the room, his son, Tytan by his side.

"Do not take that tone of voice with me," Victor responds, his voice flat and commanding.

"Bah!" Tykan snorts. "You are a blowhard and nothing more! Since you have been here you do nothing but posture and frighten the other fools. But you do not frighten me, Victor."

"Dad, don't-" Tytan pleads.

"Silence, you fool!" Tykan commands his son. "Do not be swayed by the stranger just because he is a stranger."

"Than you won't listen to what I have to offer?" Victor asks. "You will not do me the honor of listening to what I have to say, even though it was my plan that brought about the defeat of the Starjammers?"*

* ( Fantastic Four # 428 - Fond Memories Mark )

"They escaped, as I recall," Tykan retorts.

"Only because of Ioeya," Tytan answers, but quickly silences himself at his father's hardened glance.

"See, Victor? See how I command? I do not need words to instill fear in my troops, only a glance. That is a lesson you should learn," Tykan speaks confidently, striding closer to Victor.

Victor merely looks back, making no move nor sound. Tykan meets the gaze and holds it for half a second before fear creeps into his being. He knows he's dead a minute before thought becomes fact.

"A man uses words to instill fear when those he subjugates are too ignorant or lack the complexity to understand what he wants of them. Do you know what I want of you, Tykan?" Victor asks. "I want your armies to help me conquer this pitiful planet. It is not a shame for me that to get your troops you will die!"

Victor raises his right arm and points a finger at Tykan. "Goodbye, dolt. Know that it was I who was your doom!"

A beam of energy fires from the gauntlet and Tykan is dead before he hits the ground. Off to the side, Victor hears Tytan yell his father's name, but the emotion moves him not. His mind is already racing ahead.

But a small corner of his mind is replaying his own last words over and over, 'Know that it was I who was your doom!' trying to wrap itself around a feeling that he has given himself a clue to something. 'Know that it was I who was your doom! ... it was I ... your doom ... doom ... doom ...'

A smile again creeps across Victor's lips.

EARTH - OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

The Fantastic Four - Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, Thing, Human Torch and She-Hulk, along with Sharon Ventura, the former second Ms. Marvel sit inside the Fantasti-Jet, each with their own thoughts.

Franklin remained behind, watched by Alicia Masters.

"Uniform still looks good on ya, Sharon," Ben comments on Sharon's choice of wardrobe, smiling, trying to bring Sharon out of her fog.

"I guess, Ben," Sharon answers, her eyes still glued to the floor. "Had to wear something, and it was around."

"Ya could've worn one of Shulkie's FF costumes," Ben says.

"Why would someone wear the uniform of a group they don't belong to?" Sharon sighs. "We didn't part last time under the best of circumstances."

"Don't live in the past, Sharon," Ben says quietly, reaching over and laying one of his alrge rocky hands on Sharon's trembling hands. "It's what you do today and tomorrow that define you."

"For the love of- if I put a red curly-haired wig on you will you break into a chorus of 'Tomorrow'?" Johnny asks.

"If you put a wig on me, Flame Brain, tomorrow is where you'd end up when I got my hands on you!"

As Johnny and Ben trade their trademarked insults, Reed and Sue sit up front with the controls and don't talk at all.

LATVERIA - CASTLE DOOM

A man in a suit of armor sits in a control room and watches the Fantasti-Jet fly across a screen one of of his many monitors. On another monitor, a picture of Diablo's castle rests upon the screen. On a third, smaller monitor in the corner, the Super Skrull begins to rise from the floor where this mysterious man in armor left him.

* ( last issue - Didja Forget Already? Mark )

"This should be a fun couple of days, shouldn't it ... Kristoff?" the man asks.

Kristoff mumbles something in response, but the gag in his mouth muffles it into incoherancy.

"What was that?" the man asks as he moves over and pulls the gag out of Kristoff's mouth.

"The Fantastic Four will defeat you, Doom, as they always have!"

"Ah, the ignorance of youth," the man in armor laughs as he turns back to the monitors, focusing on the Fantasti-Jet. "It is almost time to see about that. Come to me, Fantastic Four," he sneers. "Come to me my children and know the icy grip of defeat!"

SPAIN - ABOVE DIABLO'S CASTLE

"Okay, then everybody know what their role is?" Reed asks his assembled group inside the Fantasti-Jet as it hovers behind a low laying cloud just outside of sight of Diablo's castle.

"Yeah, Stretch, geez, we got it," Ben grumbles. "This ain't the first time we've ever fought anybody, ya know?"

"I know, Ben, but Diablo has to be expecting something, and he probably knows it will be us."

"I-I shouldn't have gone to you, should I, Reed?" Sharon asks timidly. "I've probably endangered all of you just by being here."

"Don't worry, Sharon, we can handle ourselves," Sue comforts.

"And we take care of our own," Reed states flatly.

"Let's get to it, then," the She-Hulk says matter-of-factly.

Johnny goes to stand next to an outside hatch. "Cover me, sis," he says to Sue.

"Done," she answers as she makes an airlock with her invisible powers around Johnny, so when he opens the door, no air will be sucked out of the jet. Johnny opens the door and jumps out, and Sue uses her powers to extend an invisible arm to grab the door and slam it shut.

Johnny ignites and heads towards Diablo's castle to scout the scene out.

"What do you see, Johnny?" Reed asks over the com-unit.

"Just a castle, Reed, nothing special," Johnny answers. "Whatthe-?"

"What is it, Johnny?" Sue asks.

"It's Diablo. He's standing outside next to a pile of rocks looking up at me."

"He was waiting for us!" Ben roars.

"To be expected, Ben," Reed answers.

"I'm going to fly in for a closer look!"

"No, Johnny, don't!" Sue shouts.

"Stupid kid," Ben mumbles. "Get us there, Reed!"

"Already on it, old friend," Reed says, his arm stretching out to hit controls on the far side of the cockpit.

And as the three original members of the Fantastic Four strain to see out the front window for a sign of the Human Torch, Jen Walters, the She-Hulk stands in the back and watches Sharon Ventura rock back and forth in her seat, her eyes closed, words running across her lips without sound, sweat pouring off her body.

The Fantasti-Jet does a vertical landing on a small patch of the Spanish country-side. The FF and Sharon exit and run toward Diablo's castle. They see Diablo standing calmly in a field, but there is no sight of Johnny.

"Where's my brother, Diablo?" Sue asks as they get within shouting distance.

Diablo says nothing, just patiently waits for the FF to approach. "Ain't he being awfully cocky?" Ben grumbles.

Sue reaches ahead with her invisible powers to grab ahold of Diablo, but her invisible hand passes right through him. "What?" Sue asks.

"Don't be silly, Susan Richards!" Diablo's voice booms over the land. "Do you think Diablo would put himself in the path of the charging Fantastic Four? You were watching a hologram all along. The Human Torch came hurtling into my hologram-"

"Where is he?" Sue shouts, looking around, both for Johnny and Diablo.

"Gone."

"Unnacceptable answer."

"My my, Invisible Woman, you are full of vigor these days, aren't you?" Diablo's voice asks as twenty Diablos walk over the small hills that surround them, encircling the FF. "Yes, my dear enemies, I am one of these images. Cliché, I know, but you see there is no way I am not going to have a front row seat to see your faces when you see what I have planned."

"We're ready for anything you've got," Ben states flatly.

"Are you, Thing? Are you really?" the Diablos' grin. First we need to take care of-"

"Oh god, Sue, help!" Sharon screams, holding her stomach as she doubles over in pain.

"What is it, Sharon?" Sue asks stepping close to her. Sharon responds quickly, lashing out and decking Sue with a roundhouse right. Sue gets a force field up in time to cushion the powerful blow, but is still sent hurtling backwards. She would land in an unconscious heap on the ground, except for the fact that Reed quickly extends his arms to catch her.

"Sharon, wha ...?" Ben asks, stunned.

She-Hulk says nothing, save to curse herself for not keeping an eye on Sharon. She thought something was odd with her in the plane and she shouldn't have turned away to look for the real Diablo.

"I-I'm sorry, Ben," Sharon stammers, dropping to her knees, "but my master-"

"Oh stuff it!" She-Hulk yells as she hurtles herself at Sharon, knocking them both onto the lush green grass.

Diablo smiles. It is good to see the Fantastic Four in such a state of confusion. He knew the FF would come. He knew it for an entire month before he programmed Sharon to escape and head to New York. How else would an unkempt woman in rags just happen to have enough money in a hidden pocket she hadn't known she had (but hadn't found it's discovery odd) until she got to the airport for a one-way ticket to New York City? He knew they would come and he was prepared, but not with a bag of his usual tricks. No, they would know it was him and they would come ready to fight him, so Diablo invested some money in technology to make holograms. He learned some real magic spells - nothing too fancy, but enough to keep the FF off-balance for the big surprise.

Diablo smiles and he reaches into his inner pouches and pulls out a bag of blue dust. He sprinkles the dust onto a large mound of rocks.

"You're done, Diablo!" The Thing roars as he approaches. Diablo smiles at the large man. Behind him Sharon and the She-Hulk are knocking each other around. Reed is busy comforting Sue's unconscious body. The Human Torch is long gone, thanks to a small spell of madness that sent him screaming into the distance.

"I don't think so, Thing," Diablo smiles as he quietly chants ancient words. "You see, my old enemy, it has taken me a great while to accumulate the proper rocks. And now, to steal a phrase you are rather fond of ..." The mound of rocks next to Diablo begin to rise from the ground, more rocks are pulled towards the center, and slowly but surely the begin to form into a human shape. Then the form begins to grow and grow and grow, reaching a height of 25 feet tall, until finally, Benjamin J. Grimm finds himself standing in the shadow of It, the Living Colossus!

Diablo smiles, completing the phrase, "It's Clobberin' Time!"

END FF 430

MBQ ... 4.5.98