Gorgilla, the Monster of Midnight Mountain, reared back with a shriek as a tiger launched itself from the top of the faux rock cliff in its enclosure and smashed into his back. The cat clawed at the great ape’s flesh before it was plucked loose and hurled aside.
Shanna Plunder, sometimes known affectionately (or not so affectionately) as the She-Devil, shoved Franklin Richards aside as the flying tiger took out an ice-cream cart. “Down!” she said, landing on the youth, pressing him down against the pavement. Franklin tried to keep his eyes at a manageable width as he stared up into Plunder’s prominent assets.
“Eep.”
Shanna looked down. “What?”
“Nothing!”
Another tiger tumbled end over end overhead, roaring piteously as it hit a stand of plastic palm trees. Shanna winced. “Ouch.” She looked down. “Your parents aren’t in the immediate area by chance?”
“They had something at the UN,” Franklin mumbled, wrenching his eyes up to her face. “Uncle Ben called my dad and-ah-LOOK OUT!”
Shanna grabbed Franklin and rolled them both aside as a hairy fist slammed down on the pavement. Gorgilla made an agitated sound and raised his fist for another blow. Shanna rose smoothly to her feet and plucked a blade from a sheath inside her coat. Before another blow could fall, she was scrambling up the giant ape’s side, grabbing handfuls of its hair and swinging herself up at great speed.
Gorgilla twisted and squirmed, grabbing at the lithe shape that stayed just out of reach.
Franklin got to his feet. By all rights, he knew he should run. The question was, where to? Besides which—
A snarl grabbed at his attention. Franklin spun. “Crap.” The tiger, covered in globs of swiftly melting ice-cream, padded towards him, tail swishing, eyes alight with feral anticipation.
“Crap,” Franklin said again. “Can’t run, cat will eat me.” He looked up as Gorgilla swayed overhead, hooting in anger as Shanna the She-Devil crested his shoulder. “Can’t yell for help, monkey will squish me. Or her. Or both of us. Crap!”
And on that note, the tiger lunged!
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#3
MAY 10 |
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The Mole Who Roared, Part Three:
“Creatures on the Loose!”
The United Nations.
“So, you’re who now?” Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing, and one quarter of the World’s First Family, said as he swiveled his orange bulk, avoiding the sword that chopped into the street.
“Prince Hadal, Son of Harvey the First, Exile of Lemuria,” the gray-skinned warrior said conversationally as he wrenched his weapon loose from the pavement. “And you?”
“Benjamin J. Grimm, atcher service,” the Thing said, tossing off a looping punch that skidded over Hadal’s shoulder. “So, Moley had a kid hunh?”
“It happens,” Hadal said, side-stepping another blow and slashing his sword across the Thing’s chest. Orange chips flew and Ben grunted, falling back a half-step.
The Thing looked down at the tiny crevasse carved into his chest, his eyes narrowing. “Hunh.”
“Leviathan fang,” Hadal said, taking a two-handed grip on the weapon. “It’ll cut most anything.”
“A good enough reason to take it away then,” Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman said, gesturing. A bubble of force shoved Hadal’s fingers aside and the sword was wrenched away from him. He gave a bark of frustration and lunged for the weapon, right into a blow from the Thing.
“Dirty pool,” Hadal grunted, rocking back on his heels.
“Only kind there is, kiddo,” Ben said, raising his fists. Hadal growled and hurled himself at his opponent, gray fingers scrabbling over Ben’s orange hide.
The Invisible Woman swept her hand out, sending the sword swiping at the wave of armored Moloids who charged towards her in a disorganized, if enthusiastic, fashion. The yellow-skinned subhumans fell over themselves trying to avoid the blade. But despite the momentary lull in the surge, there were hundreds of the little creatures. Sue looked up. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, careened through the air, pursued by something that resembled a prehistoric bird, its beak snapping shut on his flame trail.
“Johnny, stop playing with that thing and try and drive the Moloids back before we’re forced to hurt them!” Sue said, raising a fist and catching the bird around its ridiculously long neck with a lasso of force. It struggled against the invisible restraint, but to no avail.
“Thanks, sis!” Storm turned at a sharp angle and cut across the line of advancing Moloids, creating a wall of flame. The sudden burst of light and heat sent the creatures tumbling in panic. “Man, I feel bad for the little fellows; Moley ought to feel like a chump, forcing them to fight like this!”
“They’re hardly being forced, Johnny,” Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, said, his protean form billowing out like a tarp. He had gathered several dozen of the Moloids in his grasp and was steadily forcing them back towards the hole they’d erupted from. “Strange as it may seem, the Moloids are utterly loyal to Rupert. It’s no surprise they’ve gone to war…though the improvements in their equipment is somewhat worrisome.”
“You mean the fact that they no longer look like rejects from the Stone Age?” Sue said, catching a leaping Moloid in a bubble and sending the skinny creature bouncing among its fellows. “Practically Iron Age now.”
“And what’s with big, gray and cranky over there?” the Human Torch said, swooping past. “Where did Moley get him from?”
“He’s a Deviant,” Reed said, lassoing three Moloids creeping towards the police barricades and flinging them back into the press of bodies. “From Lemuria,” he continued, quickly, before Johnny could comment. “Which means this situation could be even more complicated than I first thought.” Reed’s neck twisted and extended, carrying his head back over the barricades, where the police and Code: BLUE were attempting to evacuate the crowd of onlookers that had gathered before the attack.
“Richards!” Lieutenant Stone said, turning. “How long can you keep those little freaks back?”
“Indefinitely,” Reed said. “They’re little threat, as long as the monsters don’t attack. And for whatever reason, Rupert seems to be holding them in reserve. But I’m more worried about a possible attack from another quarter: the Deviants.”
Stone frowned. “Damn. SHIELD installed—”
“Sub-surface alarm systems, yes. I know, I designed them.” Reed glanced back at the fight. “They haven’t been tripped yet…Rupert’s forces didn’t set them off. Too close to the surface. But we might want to—”
“Check on it? Yeah, my thinking exactly. SHIELD already has people en route,” Stone said. “Think you can take him down? If we can question him, figure out what’s going on…”
“I’m confident that Ben can…” Reed began, but was cut off as the Thing hurtled overhead, flailing wildly. Reed looked down at Stone, who was watching the Thing’s inglorious exit from the immediate area.
“You were saying?” Stone said.
“Give me a minute,” Reed said.
Inside the United Nations.
Crystal Amaquelin-Maximoff stood at the podium, meeting the terrified gaze of the gathered dignitaries. Despite the presence of armored Moloids and something that might have been a distant, primeval, exceedingly large cousin of her kinsman, Triton, the diplomats were ready to argue.
She raised a hand to forestall it. “Simply listen, gentlemen and ladies. We have a chance to disarm a threat to the civilized world with but the gentle application of a few votes.” As she spoke, she watched her-for lack of a better term-allies, go about their business with characteristic ruthlessness.
Count Krang leaned back over the Japanese representative, flexing blue muscle. “So, you'll think about what I said? After all, with but a word, I can make whaling in the Pacific a much more dangerous task than it already is. Indeed, fishing as well. Not a nice prospect for an island nation to face eh?”
Elsewhere AlphaOne’s cold, inhuman eyes bored into the nervous brown ones of a Western European representative. “You would do well to reconsider, monsieur. Even your country is not immune to subterranean invasion. Do you understand?” the Doombot said, with the precise, clinical tones of the man it had been patterned after. The diplomat nodded, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Behind Crystal, the Mole Man watched it all with the giddy ignorance of a child. Leaning on his staff, surrounded by a dozen of his yellow-fleshed minions, he licked his lips in anticipation.
“Is it done?” he said.
Crystal glanced at him, one hand covering the microphone. “They’ll debate it for a bit. But I doubt the vote will go against you…us.”
“Excellent! At last, I will have my due respect!”
“No,” Crystal said. “What you will have is but the first step towards sovereign status.”
“But—” the Mole Man began, face twisting.
“You cannot simply snap your fingers, Mr. Elder, and make this happen. Nor, for that matter, can you bully your way into this.” She made a calming gesture. “But we will help you. As, I think, will others.”
“What others?” the Mole Man said, suspicion evident in his voice.
The Bronx Zoo.
Shanna Plunder had been in New York for several weeks, representing the interests of the Savage Land at the United Nations. For the most part, it had been a deadly, dull routine of paperwork and rote questions that no one really wanted an answer to.
The Savage Land’s sovereignty was always a matter of debate; there were any number of countries, the US included, that wanted to have it declared up for grabs. With the global decrease in natural resources, the Savage Land was fast becoming the prize of the century.
There were a few allies - Wakanda. Genosha. Latveria, interestingly enough, even Atlantis - all states which had their own problems with the UN and world opinion.
None of that was on Shanna’s mind at the moment, however.
Shanna shimmied up Gorgilla’s back just as the tiger lunged at Franklin. Knife clenched between her teeth, she wrapped her fingers in the ape’s hair and gave it a yank, using every bit of the savage strength that her lithe frame possessed.
Gorgilla shrilled, more shocked than hurt, and lurched forward. He slapped the tiger aside, sending it rolling across the pavement. Franklin darted between the ape’s legs as Shanna hauled back on her makeshift reins.
As the monster clawed at the sky, Shanna shifted her grip and slid out of her coat. With a flick of her wrist, she twirled it down. “Grab hold, kid!”
Franklin jumped and grabbed the edge of the jacket. Shanna hauled him up with one hand, face twisted in effort. Franklin grabbed hold of Gorgilla’s hair and hung on for dear life as the great ape began to stumble forward, shaking itself, trying to dislodge its passengers.
“What do we do now?” Franklin yelped.
“Just hold on!” Shanna said. She dug her heels into the sides of Gorgilla’s neck and yanked on his hair. The monster bellowed and stumbled away from the tiger enclosure. “I’ve done this before. Never with an ape, though!”
Gorgilla howled piteously and began to amble faster, shaking himself every time Shanna kicked him. She looked back at Franklin.
“How we doing, kid? You okay?”
“For now. Where are we going?”
“I figure that Magilla here didn’t pop up on his own. And considering what was going on today at the UN, I bet I know why your parents got called away.” She smiled grimly. “I knew I shouldn’t have skipped out on that security council meeting.”
The United Nations.
Hadal grunted as flames swirled up around him suddenly, burning the air from his lungs and singing his hair. The Human Torch circled him.
The Deviant plunged his hands into the street, fingers tearing through concrete as if it were tissue paper. Grasping the length of a water-pipe, he yanked it upwards. An explosion of high-pressure water caught Storm, sending him spiraling from the air to land in a cushion of force summoned by his sister.
Hadal tossed aside the pipe and stalked towards the Invisible Woman. “If you surrender, I’ll make it quick,” he rumbled.
“Funny, I was going to say the same to you.” Sue extended her hand and Hadal screamed as spiky bubbles formed in the canals of his brain. Shuddering in agony, he stumbled, falling to his hands and knees. Then, a sudden blow, and he was skidding across the street.
“You set ‘em up, I knock ‘em down, Susie-Q,” the Thing said, stomping forward, dusting his hands together. He pointed at Hadal. “That’s fer knocking me almost ta Jersey.”
“I was aiming for Queens,” Hadal grunted, pushing himself to his feet. He shook his head, trying to clear it.
The Thing cocked his head. “Strong sucker, aintcha?”
“Strong enough.” Hadal wrenched the hood of a nearby car off and slung it towards the Thing, who blithely swatted it aside.
“Stronger than most Deviants,” Reed said, suddenly enveloping Hadal in his rubbery coils. “Almost as strong as an Eternal, I’d say.”
“Very observant,” Hadal growled, grabbing for Reed’s face. Reed’s face slid through his fingers.
“Yes. I am. Indeed, your physiognomy is quite telling.” Reed tightened his grip, binding Hadal into near-immobility. “Indeed, after this close an examination, I believe I could name your parents.”
“That is none of your concern!” Hadal snarled, flexing. Reed was flung aside with a sound like a rubber band snapping.
“When yer right, yer right,” the Thing said, launching a blow across the Deviant’s jaw. Hadal, caught by surprise, folded. Ben rubbed his knuckles. “Kid had a jaw like adamantium.”
“This has gone on too long,” Reed said, climbing to his feet. “We need to get inside before any other distractions rear their heads.”
“Way ahead of you Stretch!” the Thing called from a few feet away. He hefted a hunk of shattered pavement the size of a small bus over his head and sent it sailing into the side of the UN building, bashing an immense hole in the wall.
“BEN! NO! I…never mind.” Reed massaged his temples as Sue patted him consolingly on the shoulder.
Ben looked up at a cackling Human Torch. “What? What did I do?”
Inside the United Nations, Krang raised an eyebrow as the hunk of pavement smashed through the wall behind the stage. Then, shrugging, he turned back to the Wakandan ambassador.
“You won’t regret this, I assure you.” Turning, he waved a hand towards the podium. Crystal nodded and leaned into the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the free world…a petition has been set before this august body this morning. Now has come the time to vote on that petition. Will Monster Island join the United Nations as its own sovereign state on a trial basis? All in favor?”
To Be Continued...
Next Issue: In Fantastic Four #4: It’s the FF vs…the United Nations? Can the Thing punch out politics? Be here in thirty for ‘HERE BE MONSTERS!’
Previous Issue | Next Issue
“So, you’re who now?” Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing, and one quarter of the World’s First Family, said as he swiveled his orange bulk, avoiding the sword that chopped into the street.
“Prince Hadal, Son of Harvey the First, Exile of Lemuria,” the gray-skinned warrior said conversationally as he wrenched his weapon loose from the pavement. “And you?”
“Benjamin J. Grimm, atcher service,” the Thing said, tossing off a looping punch that skidded over Hadal’s shoulder. “So, Moley had a kid hunh?”
“It happens,” Hadal said, side-stepping another blow and slashing his sword across the Thing’s chest. Orange chips flew and Ben grunted, falling back a half-step.
The Thing looked down at the tiny crevasse carved into his chest, his eyes narrowing. “Hunh.”
“Leviathan fang,” Hadal said, taking a two-handed grip on the weapon. “It’ll cut most anything.”
“A good enough reason to take it away then,” Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman said, gesturing. A bubble of force shoved Hadal’s fingers aside and the sword was wrenched away from him. He gave a bark of frustration and lunged for the weapon, right into a blow from the Thing.
“Dirty pool,” Hadal grunted, rocking back on his heels.
“Only kind there is, kiddo,” Ben said, raising his fists. Hadal growled and hurled himself at his opponent, gray fingers scrabbling over Ben’s orange hide.
The Invisible Woman swept her hand out, sending the sword swiping at the wave of armored Moloids who charged towards her in a disorganized, if enthusiastic, fashion. The yellow-skinned subhumans fell over themselves trying to avoid the blade. But despite the momentary lull in the surge, there were hundreds of the little creatures. Sue looked up. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, careened through the air, pursued by something that resembled a prehistoric bird, its beak snapping shut on his flame trail.
“Johnny, stop playing with that thing and try and drive the Moloids back before we’re forced to hurt them!” Sue said, raising a fist and catching the bird around its ridiculously long neck with a lasso of force. It struggled against the invisible restraint, but to no avail.
“Thanks, sis!” Storm turned at a sharp angle and cut across the line of advancing Moloids, creating a wall of flame. The sudden burst of light and heat sent the creatures tumbling in panic. “Man, I feel bad for the little fellows; Moley ought to feel like a chump, forcing them to fight like this!”
“They’re hardly being forced, Johnny,” Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, said, his protean form billowing out like a tarp. He had gathered several dozen of the Moloids in his grasp and was steadily forcing them back towards the hole they’d erupted from. “Strange as it may seem, the Moloids are utterly loyal to Rupert. It’s no surprise they’ve gone to war…though the improvements in their equipment is somewhat worrisome.”
“You mean the fact that they no longer look like rejects from the Stone Age?” Sue said, catching a leaping Moloid in a bubble and sending the skinny creature bouncing among its fellows. “Practically Iron Age now.”
“And what’s with big, gray and cranky over there?” the Human Torch said, swooping past. “Where did Moley get him from?”
“He’s a Deviant,” Reed said, lassoing three Moloids creeping towards the police barricades and flinging them back into the press of bodies. “From Lemuria,” he continued, quickly, before Johnny could comment. “Which means this situation could be even more complicated than I first thought.” Reed’s neck twisted and extended, carrying his head back over the barricades, where the police and Code: BLUE were attempting to evacuate the crowd of onlookers that had gathered before the attack.
“Richards!” Lieutenant Stone said, turning. “How long can you keep those little freaks back?”
“Indefinitely,” Reed said. “They’re little threat, as long as the monsters don’t attack. And for whatever reason, Rupert seems to be holding them in reserve. But I’m more worried about a possible attack from another quarter: the Deviants.”
Stone frowned. “Damn. SHIELD installed—”
“Sub-surface alarm systems, yes. I know, I designed them.” Reed glanced back at the fight. “They haven’t been tripped yet…Rupert’s forces didn’t set them off. Too close to the surface. But we might want to—”
“Check on it? Yeah, my thinking exactly. SHIELD already has people en route,” Stone said. “Think you can take him down? If we can question him, figure out what’s going on…”
“I’m confident that Ben can…” Reed began, but was cut off as the Thing hurtled overhead, flailing wildly. Reed looked down at Stone, who was watching the Thing’s inglorious exit from the immediate area.
“You were saying?” Stone said.
“Give me a minute,” Reed said.
Inside the United Nations.
Crystal Amaquelin-Maximoff stood at the podium, meeting the terrified gaze of the gathered dignitaries. Despite the presence of armored Moloids and something that might have been a distant, primeval, exceedingly large cousin of her kinsman, Triton, the diplomats were ready to argue.
She raised a hand to forestall it. “Simply listen, gentlemen and ladies. We have a chance to disarm a threat to the civilized world with but the gentle application of a few votes.” As she spoke, she watched her-for lack of a better term-allies, go about their business with characteristic ruthlessness.
Count Krang leaned back over the Japanese representative, flexing blue muscle. “So, you'll think about what I said? After all, with but a word, I can make whaling in the Pacific a much more dangerous task than it already is. Indeed, fishing as well. Not a nice prospect for an island nation to face eh?”
Elsewhere AlphaOne’s cold, inhuman eyes bored into the nervous brown ones of a Western European representative. “You would do well to reconsider, monsieur. Even your country is not immune to subterranean invasion. Do you understand?” the Doombot said, with the precise, clinical tones of the man it had been patterned after. The diplomat nodded, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Behind Crystal, the Mole Man watched it all with the giddy ignorance of a child. Leaning on his staff, surrounded by a dozen of his yellow-fleshed minions, he licked his lips in anticipation.
“Is it done?” he said.
Crystal glanced at him, one hand covering the microphone. “They’ll debate it for a bit. But I doubt the vote will go against you…us.”
“Excellent! At last, I will have my due respect!”
“No,” Crystal said. “What you will have is but the first step towards sovereign status.”
“But—” the Mole Man began, face twisting.
“You cannot simply snap your fingers, Mr. Elder, and make this happen. Nor, for that matter, can you bully your way into this.” She made a calming gesture. “But we will help you. As, I think, will others.”
“What others?” the Mole Man said, suspicion evident in his voice.
The Bronx Zoo.
Shanna Plunder had been in New York for several weeks, representing the interests of the Savage Land at the United Nations. For the most part, it had been a deadly, dull routine of paperwork and rote questions that no one really wanted an answer to.
The Savage Land’s sovereignty was always a matter of debate; there were any number of countries, the US included, that wanted to have it declared up for grabs. With the global decrease in natural resources, the Savage Land was fast becoming the prize of the century.
There were a few allies - Wakanda. Genosha. Latveria, interestingly enough, even Atlantis - all states which had their own problems with the UN and world opinion.
None of that was on Shanna’s mind at the moment, however.
Shanna shimmied up Gorgilla’s back just as the tiger lunged at Franklin. Knife clenched between her teeth, she wrapped her fingers in the ape’s hair and gave it a yank, using every bit of the savage strength that her lithe frame possessed.
Gorgilla shrilled, more shocked than hurt, and lurched forward. He slapped the tiger aside, sending it rolling across the pavement. Franklin darted between the ape’s legs as Shanna hauled back on her makeshift reins.
As the monster clawed at the sky, Shanna shifted her grip and slid out of her coat. With a flick of her wrist, she twirled it down. “Grab hold, kid!”
Franklin jumped and grabbed the edge of the jacket. Shanna hauled him up with one hand, face twisted in effort. Franklin grabbed hold of Gorgilla’s hair and hung on for dear life as the great ape began to stumble forward, shaking itself, trying to dislodge its passengers.
“What do we do now?” Franklin yelped.
“Just hold on!” Shanna said. She dug her heels into the sides of Gorgilla’s neck and yanked on his hair. The monster bellowed and stumbled away from the tiger enclosure. “I’ve done this before. Never with an ape, though!”
Gorgilla howled piteously and began to amble faster, shaking himself every time Shanna kicked him. She looked back at Franklin.
“How we doing, kid? You okay?”
“For now. Where are we going?”
“I figure that Magilla here didn’t pop up on his own. And considering what was going on today at the UN, I bet I know why your parents got called away.” She smiled grimly. “I knew I shouldn’t have skipped out on that security council meeting.”
The United Nations.
Hadal grunted as flames swirled up around him suddenly, burning the air from his lungs and singing his hair. The Human Torch circled him.
The Deviant plunged his hands into the street, fingers tearing through concrete as if it were tissue paper. Grasping the length of a water-pipe, he yanked it upwards. An explosion of high-pressure water caught Storm, sending him spiraling from the air to land in a cushion of force summoned by his sister.
Hadal tossed aside the pipe and stalked towards the Invisible Woman. “If you surrender, I’ll make it quick,” he rumbled.
“Funny, I was going to say the same to you.” Sue extended her hand and Hadal screamed as spiky bubbles formed in the canals of his brain. Shuddering in agony, he stumbled, falling to his hands and knees. Then, a sudden blow, and he was skidding across the street.
“You set ‘em up, I knock ‘em down, Susie-Q,” the Thing said, stomping forward, dusting his hands together. He pointed at Hadal. “That’s fer knocking me almost ta Jersey.”
“I was aiming for Queens,” Hadal grunted, pushing himself to his feet. He shook his head, trying to clear it.
The Thing cocked his head. “Strong sucker, aintcha?”
“Strong enough.” Hadal wrenched the hood of a nearby car off and slung it towards the Thing, who blithely swatted it aside.
“Stronger than most Deviants,” Reed said, suddenly enveloping Hadal in his rubbery coils. “Almost as strong as an Eternal, I’d say.”
“Very observant,” Hadal growled, grabbing for Reed’s face. Reed’s face slid through his fingers.
“Yes. I am. Indeed, your physiognomy is quite telling.” Reed tightened his grip, binding Hadal into near-immobility. “Indeed, after this close an examination, I believe I could name your parents.”
“That is none of your concern!” Hadal snarled, flexing. Reed was flung aside with a sound like a rubber band snapping.
“When yer right, yer right,” the Thing said, launching a blow across the Deviant’s jaw. Hadal, caught by surprise, folded. Ben rubbed his knuckles. “Kid had a jaw like adamantium.”
“This has gone on too long,” Reed said, climbing to his feet. “We need to get inside before any other distractions rear their heads.”
“Way ahead of you Stretch!” the Thing called from a few feet away. He hefted a hunk of shattered pavement the size of a small bus over his head and sent it sailing into the side of the UN building, bashing an immense hole in the wall.
“BEN! NO! I…never mind.” Reed massaged his temples as Sue patted him consolingly on the shoulder.
Ben looked up at a cackling Human Torch. “What? What did I do?”
Inside the United Nations, Krang raised an eyebrow as the hunk of pavement smashed through the wall behind the stage. Then, shrugging, he turned back to the Wakandan ambassador.
“You won’t regret this, I assure you.” Turning, he waved a hand towards the podium. Crystal nodded and leaned into the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the free world…a petition has been set before this august body this morning. Now has come the time to vote on that petition. Will Monster Island join the United Nations as its own sovereign state on a trial basis? All in favor?”
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To Be Continued...
Next Issue: In Fantastic Four #4: It’s the FF vs…the United Nations? Can the Thing punch out politics? Be here in thirty for ‘HERE BE MONSTERS!’
Previous Issue | Next Issue