The Fantastic Four #9

[fan4]

The Fantastic Four #9
Master of Puppets

Written and edited by Aaron Martel

The man blinked his eyes open, regaining consciousness, feeling a strange tickling sensation under his nose. As his eyes began to focus, he saw to his amazement that the tickling came from a few strands of long red hair, lightly rubbing his nose as if the strands were alive and functioning of their own accord. He sat bolt upright-

And saw that he was lying in a bed, in a darkened room lit only by the single spotlight that was shining on him. The hair belonged to a beautiful, slender woman who was sitting in a chair next to his bed. The woman wore a purple, form-fitting costume with mask, and her hair- her really long hair- snaked around her body like a mass of red-hued serpents.

“He’s awake,” the woman spoke in a regal tone.

The bedridden man, now more alert and aware, saw another man standing next to the woman. This man wore a brown and green striped shirt and brown jeans, and his hair was shaped in a flat top crew cut. He scowled at the man lying in the bed.

“This’s the other guy?” the standing man flatly said.

“Peter Petruski,” an arrogant, imperious voice came from the shadows. “Otherwise known as Paste Pot Pete. We must do something about that name.”

Paste Pot Pete couldn’t see who was now speaking to him, as he strained to peer into the shadows. “Who the hell-“ he began.

“The man standing next to you is the Sandman,” the haughty voice continued, “And I see you have already met Madam Medusa. You have been summoned here by me.”

“Who are you?” Paste Pot Pete asked suspiciously.

A figure emerged from the shadows, clad in purple armor and helmet that did not disguise his conceited, dark-goateed face. But what was most intriguing was that this man glided toward Pete, his feet off the floor, floating on the air itself.

“You may call me the Wizard,” the floating man stated, “And I am about to make the proverbial offer you cannot refuse.”

[fan4]

Baxter Building, headquarters of the Fantastic Four

Reed Richards, alias Mr. Fantastic of the famous Fantastic Four, was making delicate adjustments on a large machine he had been working on for the better part of a month. His robot assistant, H.E.R.B.I.E., was floating nearby, awaiting instructions from the brilliant scientist/superhero.

“Okay, H.E.R.B.I.E., please hand me the gyrospanners. I’m almost there-“

“REED!”

Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman and Reed’s fiancée, ran into the laboratory in a panic. Reed quickly lifted his head, banging it against the machine he was working on, and though he wasn’t hurt, he nevertheless grunted in frustration.

“What is it, darling? My dimensional portal was nearly finished-“

“Reed!” Sue yelled, irritated with Reed’s tone. “Haven’t you heard the news?”

“No.”

“The TV reports say Ben’s knocked over an armored truck and attacked Johnny!”

“What?” Reed didn’t believe it.

“Let’s go!” Sue barked, running to the rooftop hangar elevator.

“Coming,” Reed called, following his beloved. “H.E.R.B.I.E., prepare the portal for recalibration. We’ll try again later.”

“Yes, sir,” the hovering robot droned.

[fan4]

Midtown Manhattan

Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, rubbed his sore jaw and stared in disbelief at his teammate, Ben Grimm, AKA the Thing, as the large orange rock-skinned hero lumbered down the street with two money-filled duffel bags over his shoulder. Johnny’s jaw was sore because Ben had punched him, and though the Torch couldn’t understand why his friend had done that, he was nevertheless quite ticked off about it. Ben had knocked over and robbed an armored truck, for crying out loud.

“FLAME ON!” Johnny yelled, and his entire body burst into flame, eliciting gasps from the thrilled onlookers who were gathering at the scene.

“Hey, ugly!” Johnny called out to Ben, who was undeterred in his plodding pace.

“Must…bring…money…to…Master,” the Thing spoke in a flat monotone.

Ben doesn’t even talk like that, thought Johnny as he flew toward Ben and zoomed around him, encircling the Thing in a ring of fire. Johnny had to be careful, as he didn’t want to burn either Ben or the duffel bags.

But he needn’t have worried, as Ben threw one of the bags at him, connecting solidly and crashing Johnny to the ground in a fiery skid. The duffel bag landed unharmed from the impact, and Ben reached down to pick it up-

“All right, I’ve had enough! Have a hot seat!” Johnny shouted and unleashed a jet of flame that struck Ben right on his bottom.

“YEEEOWWW!” Ben yelped, and he turned to see the giant hole that had been burned in his jeans, revealing his blue FF trunks, which were undamaged due to the unstable molecules that comprised them.

Ben turned and scowled at Johnny, who was now hovering in the air before him, but before the mightily muscled Thing could act, a WHOOSH of air blew into his face and he backed up a step, looking in the air directly above him.

The flying fantasticar came into view, slowly lowering for a landing in the middle of the street, and then Mr. Fantastic along with the Invisible Woman leaped out of the extraordinary transport to confront Ben.

“Ben! What’s going on, old friend?” Reed asked incredulously.

“Must…bring…money…to…Master,” Ben grumbled, and then he moved forward.

[fan4]

In a third story apartment just a block over from where the battle was taking place, Philip Masters, the self-styled Puppet Master, was manipulating a tiny clay figure of the Thing down the street of a remarkably life-like miniature representation of midtown Manhattan. Years ago the Puppet Master, on a exploratory expedition, had accidently stumbled upon a mass of strange, radioactive clay, and discovered that by molding the clay into a facsimile of a person, that person’s mind would fall under the control of the Puppet Master’s will. Returning to New York City and taking this residence with his blind stepdaughter Alicia, the Puppet Master began practicing his newfound abilities until he had honed them to perfection, taking control of the minds of ordinary city-folk and willing them to perform simple tasks.

Unfortunately, Philip Masters had become hopelessly insane, and filled with delusions of grandeur.

Fancying himself the ruler of the world, the Puppet Master had begun his campaign of domination by creating a puppet of Alicia’s friend Ben Grimm, commanding the super-strong hero to rob an armored truck and bring the money to the mad figure-maker. An unusually broad smile came to Philip’s lips as he charted the Thing’s progress, and he spoke to himself as he moved the clay figure down the street and closer to the detailed scale model of his apartment.

“Yes, you hideous, muscle-bound oaf,” the Puppet Master whispered. “Let nothing stop you. Bring the money to your master.”

Just then the door to the room banged open and Alicia came through, her walking cane tapping in front of her. The noise so startled Philip that he dropped the puppet he was handling and whirled to face his stepdaughter.

“Father!” Alicia cried. “What are you doing? What have you been saying?” Alicia, who had been listening to Philip’s wild rantings, had never been allowed in this room before so it was unfamiliar territory to her.

“Alicia! How dare you enter my forbidden room! Leave this instant! Wha-” The Puppet Master turned and examined the clay figure of the Thing, which now had one arm and one leg broken off it.

“No! NO!” the Puppet Master screamed. “He’ll be free from my control!” Then he turned to glare at Alicia. “You wretched, ungrateful…”

Alicia had never heard this tone of voice from her stepfather before, and she was frightened beyond words. And the next thing she knew she was sprawling backwards, victim of a vicious backhand from the enraged Philip. Alicia scrambled to crawl away from him, but she felt helpless and alone in her world of darkness.

“Now,” the Puppet Master hissed, “I’ll teach you not to interfere with my work.”

[fan4]

Realizing that Ben seemed to be under some sort of mind control, Reed felt he had no choice but to act. He stretched his arms toward Ben, intending to wrap up his friend and immobilize him, but the Thing was ready for him. Grabbing Reed’s outstretched arms in his mighty hands, Ben quickly spun around, whipping Mr. Fantastic like a rubber band and tripping up Sue, and then snapped Reed in the air to knock Johnny out of the sky in one fluid motion. He then let go of Reed arms, flinging the elastic superhero into a nearby lamppost and knocking him senseless.

Ben once more retrieved the duffel bags filled with money and began to trudge down the street, oblivious to the sounds of police sirens headed in his direction. He then collided with some sort of unseen barrier, halting his forward movement and momentarily puzzling him.

“Ben!” Sue yelled, now recovered from Ben’s assault and throwing up an invisible force field, “Stop this! What’s wrong with you?”

Ben ignored his teammate and began to pound the force field with his rocky fists. Sue felt the mental strain Ben’s battering was causing her, but she held the invisible field firm. Ben was so deep in his trance his focus was only forward; he didn’t comprehend he could move in another direction, and Sue was grateful she didn’t have to completely enclose her friend in an invisible cell.

Johnny had also recovered and was hovering in the air above Ben. “That’s it, sis! Hold him while I give him what he’s got coming to him!” Extending his hand, the Human Torch shot an enormous jet of flame toward Ben, who didn’t even notice what Johnny was doing.

Ben was still hammering Sue’s field, droning, ”Must…take…money…to…huh? Wha-? Waitaminute! Hey-ey-ey! OOOWWWWCCHHHH!!!! Hey, Matchstick! Cut it out! It’s me! It’s ME, YA BLASTED BLOWTORCH!”

“Johnny, stop!” Reed barked, extending his hand in a “halt” sign in Johnny’s line of sight. Johnny saw him and extinguished the jet of fire that was consuming Ben.

Reed approached Ben, whose orange, rock-skinned body was smoking from Johnny’s attack. “Ben, it’s really you, correct?” Reed asked.

“Yeah, Stretcho, I’m back. Dunno what came over me, I just hadda bash that truck…” Ben then realized the full implications of what he had done. “Aw man, I’m so sorry…”

“Ben, was something making you do this?” Sue questioned. “It seemed like you were under a spell.”

“Yeah, it wuz like there wuz a voice in my head tellin’ me ta do it,” Ben’s face was crestfallen, apologetic. “I couldn’t stop myself.”

“You got some haymaker, Rocky,” Johnny quipped, landing and flaming off.

” Sorry ‘bout that, kid,” Ben mumbled. “Didn’t wanna hitcha.”

“Ben,” Reed wondered, “Do you know where you were being compelled to take that money? Because you mentioned something about a ‘Master’.” Ben’s eyes flashed as a lightbulb seemed to turn on in his head.

“Yeah, I know where,” Ben’s voice rose with his anger, pointing up at an apartment building window down the street. “Right up there.”

[fan4]

The apartment door burst into splinters as Ben charged through the doorway like a mad bull, with Reed and Sue close behind him. He was certain this was the place he had been drawn to.

“Awright, who’s gonna ‘fess up-huh?”

Ben was shocked to see Alicia, her normally beautiful face bruised and swollen, lying on the small living room floor, with her stepfather Philip standing above her and pointing a pistol at her head. The Puppet Master smiled his broad, maniacal grin and his eyes were dancing with mad fervor.

“Take one step closer, monster, and I’ll shoot her,” Phillip snarled, and by the look in his eyes, Ben believed him.

“Ben!” Alicia cried out, her body visibly shaking with fright. “Ben, is that you?”

“Yeah, ‘Licia,” Ben spoke slowly, carefully. “Everythin’s gonna be okay.”

“Oh yes, everything will be okay,” Philip sneered. “We’re leaving, and you’ll stand aside if you wish her to live.”

Reed piped up, trying to distract the evil man. “I don’t understand exactly what’s happening, but what do you hope to gain from this?”

Philip noticed Reed for the first time. “So, the great Reed Richards makes an appearance at last. What do I hope to gain? Everything! I’m the Puppet Master! I control all!”

“Enough!” Sue shouted, and pushed Philip with her invisible field. The Puppet Master was lifted off his feet, dropping the gun and slamming into the far wall.

Instinctively, the three heroes rushed to check on Alicia’s condition, but the Puppet Master recovered quicker than any of them expected. In a panic, Philip spun around and threw open the nearest window, swiftly clambering on the fire escape before Reed, Sue or Ben were aware of his doings. He smirked wickedly to himself-

And froze as the blazing form of the Human Torch hovered before him, arms folded and grinning.

“Well, well, well,” Johnny taunted. “Look who’s trying to get away...”

[fan4]

Three days later

It took a couple of days for the Fantastic Four to clear the air with the authorities. Ben was absolved from any wrongdoing, helped greatly by Philip Masters’ own crazed tirades about puppets, mind control, and world domination. The city held a press conference in which the mayor along with the FF explained what had happened, and soon after there were numerous reports of recent bizarre behaviors of regular citizens that became attributed to the Puppet Master. Ben still felt horribly about what he had done, and he volunteered to perform one hundred hours of community service as penance. The furor over the entire incident quickly died down, and the city returned to its usual sense of chaotic normalcy.

In the Baxter Building, Ben stood by the telephone, a business card in his hand, rubbing his head in hesitation. Reed and Sue sat nearby, watching their friend and teammate in empathic silence.

Reed stood up. “Well, I think I’ll go examine that sample of clay we brought over from Alicia’s apartment. There may be certain properties in the chemical composition that could reveal-“

“Yeah, Big Brain,” Ben murmured. “Ya better go do that.” Reed paused, wanting to say something, and then left the room.

“You really should call her, Ben,” Sue encouraged.

“I know, but…I mean, it was her dad. What if she hates me now?”

“Ben, her ‘dad’ is a psychopathic criminal who physically abused her. I bet she’s wondering where you’ve been the last few days.”

“Think so, Susie?”

Sue gave him a wink. “You’ll never know if you don’t try to talk to her.”

“Awright. Mebbe she ain’t home an’ I kin leave a message.” Ben began to dial the number on the card, and Sue quietly departed. The phone rang three times before it was answered.

“Uh, hello? ‘Licia? It’s Ben Grimm…Naw, I been busy, wid FF bizness…What? No, that ain’t it…I wuz gonna come by the museum today…Yeah, I’ve missed ya, too…Hey, lissen, I wuz wonderin’ if mebbe…if mebbe ya wanted to go fer lunch today…wid me. Really? Ya would?”

The end