Fantastic Four #144

Issue Details

Synopsis

ATTACK Reed Richards, the Thing, Medusa, and Darkoth escape from Dr. Doom's headquarters and head through the sewers of Manhattan toward the Baxter Building. As Medusa holds a lantern with her hair, Reed stretches himself across a gap to allow his companions to cross. Ben still does not trust Darkoth, but so far Darkoth has remained on their side. Unfortunately, it is not long before they become lost. This annoys Ben even more, and he angrily puts his fist through a wall, only to be deluged by a stream of water. Reed realizes that Ben is under considerable strain, because Doom still holds Alicia hostage, and he tries to calm him down. Also, Ben is still angry over what Reed did to Franklin. When it appears as if Ben is about to desert them, Reed tells him that they will not be able to make it out of there without him. Just then, an Android calling itself the Seeker smashes through a wall and attacks Ben. It knocks him over, but Reed wraps it up with his arm. This attempt to bind the android's arms fails, however, because in place of hands the creature has nuclear discharge prods with which it sends a jolt of energy through Reed's body. Then, as Reed lies stunned on the floor, Darkoth leaps onto the Seeker, but the Android shrugs him off. Medusa slams the Seeker with a rock, setting it up for Ben, who punches it with all his strength. This deactivates the Android, and it falls into the sewer water. Then Reed fishes it out, but instead of destroying it, he decides to bring it to the Baxter Building with him. The Seeker may just possibly provide a way to defeat Doom.   When Doom returns to his headquarters and finds his prisoners escaped, he vents his rage on his guards. Sam and Belle Thorne and Alicia Masters listen to Doom's tantrum, and Thorne asks him sarcastically whether anything is wrong. Doom assures them that the setback is only temporary, but Wyatt Wingfoot and the Human Torch, imprisoned in twin transparent cylinders, contradict him. Wyatt exhorts Johnny to try to flame on, but a gas in the cylinder inhibits Johnny's flame, and no matter how much he concentrates nothing happens. Doom points out Johnny's helplessness and declares that neither Thorne nor his wife nor Alicia Masters' beloved Ben Grimm can do anything to stop him.   In the basement of the Baxter Building, a janitor's musings about the fate that condemned him to his boring job are suddenly interrupted when Ben grabs him by the shirt. Reed tells Ben to put him down because they have no time for fooling around. Then Darkoth cautions Reed to be careful lest he jar the Seeker awake before they can bring it upstairs. The janitor comments that he has seen Ben on television, so Ben twists a pipe into a pretzel and hands it to the janitor as a souvenir, saying he'll autograph it later. Meanwhile, several blocks east of the Baxter Building, the missile carrying Doom's vibration bomb thunders into the sky. Ben sees the launch from the window and alerts Reed, who is busy reprogramming the Android. Just because the weapon has been launched does not mean Doom has won, says Reed. Reed tells Darkoth they will need his help, but Ben, still distrusting the demon, says Reed is crazy. Insulted, Darkoth swats Ben with his tail. Ben starts to brawl with him, and it is all Reed and Medusa can do to break up the fight. Reed declares that he is fed up with Ben's childishness.   The Vibro-Bomb enters an orbit 2200 miles above the Earth. Soon the bomb's first energy wavefront spreads across the Earth's surface, draining the minds of the people and readying them for the controlling voice of Dr. Doom. In two hours, gloats Doom, all of humanity will become an extension of his ego, and together he and they will become powerful enough to rule the entire cosmos. But within the hour the Seeker enters Doom's headquarters, unnoticed by the security system, which is programmed to accept the Seeker as a friend. The Seeker shatters the cylinders holding the Torch and Wyatt Wingfoot, and Johnny flames on and head for Doom. The guards can do little against the heat shield that Johnny forms around himself, but Doom creates a concussion vacuum that extinguishes Johnny's flame. Then the Seeker attacks Doom, but Doom shatters it with a finger-blast, calling it a "traitor." Just then Darkoth enters, followed by the Thing. Seeing little point in battling two powerful foes at once, Doom flees down a corridor. With Darkoth in pursuit, Doom enters his central control chamber and begins rapidly pushing buttons. Since the Vibro-Bomb is still in orbit, he thinks, he has only to rendezvous with it above the Earth and turn on its full beam, and the world will be his.   Then the building begins to shake. Johnny tells Sam and Belle Thorne and Alicia to follow him out as fast as possible, and seconds after the Thing, Wyatt, the Torch, and the others safely reach a nearby rooftop, an entire tower of Doom's building blasts off into outer space, carrying Doom with it. Now, gloats Doom, he is safe from any attacker. Unfortunately, Darkoth is in the spaceship with him, and he attacks just as the rocket approaches the Vibro-Bomb. Having to fend off Darkoth's attack, Doom loses control of the spacecraft, and it collides with the orbiting weapon. Reed and Medusa, watching on a monitor, see both bomb and ship vanish in the ensuing explosion. For now, says Reed, they are safe. Outside, on the rooftop, Johnny, Ben, Wyatt, the Thornes and Alicia gladly welcome the start of a peaceful snowfall. But Ben is still disappointed because the promise to have Alicia's eyesight restored was a sham.