Welcome Back! It's so good to see you again in a brand new chapter of this Fantastic Adventure featuring Spidey and the Richards children and the Grimm children. In the last chapter, they managed to find Sue Storm and helped her and Weirdworld's Swamp Queen Jennifer Kale to regain her lands from Diablo and in the process Peter and Lockheed are finally getting along! We have 3 out of 4 and it's time to find the big brain but this one won't be an easy one.
But before we jump into it, let's check the reviews!
Timeless Writer: Glad you loved it. It sure was about time that Peter and Lockheed got along, and yes, out of all the F4, Susan Storm rules above them all in the badass department (Sorry Ben). IF you think the MJ fans are pissed, just read their reactions with how Wells is handling Peter's love life now LOL!
Wilcard Sparda: Yes, and this time was for an all-different reason since he did it back then just to annoy Wisdom (and back then not even Kitty knew he could actually do that). I agree that Kaine right now has the better time out of the spiders (Unless he appears in this new series for the End of the Spider-Verse)
Sergio Kirelli: I wouldn't say "Shock" more like annoy, like saying "Is he really getting along with Spider-Man of all people?". As for Peter's reaction, he would definitively be stunned to hear that (and Kitty as well)
cornholio4: Pretty much a general consensus amongst us around here
alphaknight99: Ten en cuenta que Yana la llama "Katya" en vez de "Kitty", tal vez por eso es que Jennifer Kale no hizo esa conexión como lo mencionaba Peter. Lo de Spyro quizás sea porque no le gusta que lo comparen, lo ve más como un fastidio. Concuerdo con que esta ruptura debe ser la definitiva, más con lo que parece prepararse con cierta gata pero... como reza el dicho: "Amanecerá y Veremos". Y lo de Bendis, eso debería ser una camiseta XD
Epiphany616: I'm really glad you enjoyed the team-up, I couldn't let go at the chance of having Peter and Lock do a "Dracarys" moment and of course, a location like Weirdworld was perfect for that. And you can bet it'll be a funny moment when Kitty finds out about the friendship
And now, on to the story!
Enjoy the reading!
SPIDER-FOUR: THROUGH THE FOREVER GATE
Chapter 8: Big Brain Down
Time flows by on 4 Yancy Street but there is still a certain level of tension due to the events that are transpiring. The Power siblings keep their eyes glued on the Forever Gate's control panel while Bentley-25 and Dragon Man keep watching the containment cells now occupied by Mister Hyde, Yellowjacket and Diablo. The three men complain and make gestures to their wardens but thankfully those cylinders are soundproof, meaning that they can scream all what they want, no one will listen to them. Meanwhile, Ben talks to his wife Alicia, reassuring her that Jo-Venn and N'Kalla are safe with Franklin, Valeria and Spider-Man.
"I know that they are well guarded but still I can't help to worry, Jo and Nikki are venturing out there and we're not there to make sure they're OK" Alicia voices her concern about her children travelling.
"I know yer worried about them, but they're bein' raised with one helluva family, we're adventurers by nature, baby and they will keep learnin' a lotta crazy stuff from all of us" Ben reassures his wife, but then the couple looks at Susan, who is just approaching them as she comes from the lower levels of the laboratory "Howza Matchstick, Suze?"
"He still doesn't want to talk about what happened" Susan replies, deeply concerned about her brother's wellbeing.
"Ever since he returned from wherever he felled, his voice sounded deeply depressed, like something happened to him out there" Alicia comments, also showing concern for Johnny.
"From what I heard from the Foundation kids, Johnny landed on his ex-girlfriend's home planet" Ben mentions what the Power siblings told him "And Sky was actually here in the building when those bozos attacked"
"Maybe that's what happened" Alicia replies her husband's comments "Maybe he bumped into her and, well… I have to ask, did she know about what Johnny did with… that woman?" she asks sheepishly, worried that she might sound too intrusive.
"Maybe that's what happened, maybe Sky knew about that and well…" Sue replies with a sad tone and then sighs "That situation really hit him hard; add up that Reed's still missing…"
"Don't worry 'bout nuthin' Suz, Spidey and the kids brought us back, I can assure you that they'll bring back Stretcho too, we hafta have faith in them" Ben tries to reassure the women and give them the confidence that Peter and the children will make it back, having succeeded so far through their rescue mission.
MEANWHILE, IN ANOTHER DIMENSION
The portal opens in the middle of a vast futuristic city with blue and white glowing lights, towering skyscrapers that reach beyond the known limits up above and beyond. The group jumps through the portal and while Peter and the Grimm children look in awe, the Richards children are more cautious than curious.
"This place feels very utopian!" Jo-Venn exclaims as he contemplates the tall buildings.
"Nothing we haven't seen before, Jo" Valeria casually replies as she begins to check her device for data "But I have to say that we're on a truly unchartered territory, it's not registered on Dad's database journal"
"Have you tried searching for Dad's really classified data?" Franklin asks her while N'Kalla transforms into a bird to fly upwards and check the surroundings, finding a large tower with a purple light glowing in the distance.
"I've just seen a huge castle further in the distance, but the light it emanates glows brighter than the lights of this city" N'Kalla explains as she points towards the glowing light.
"I am checking them, Franklin" Valeria responds her brother's query "Dad haven't registered it but it is marked as a potential site for exploration" she adds as the group begin to walk towards the towering light, noticing the brief details around them.
"This doesn't feel like a future timeline, and I've been on future timelines before" Peter comments "Man, I feel so tempted to swing around" he then fires a web line towards one of the buildings but the surrounding energy breaks the line "Huh… now that's weird"
"What happened?" Jo-Venn asks him.
"I shot a web line to see if I could swing around but the building appears to have an energy shield or something" Peter replies and then looks at Lockheed "Buddy, can you throw a few fireballs to corroborate, please?" he asks him, to which Lockheed nods and flies to another building, throwing a couple of fireballs that are blocked by the surrounding energy, thus confirming Peter's suspicions.
"What was that?" N'Kalla poses the question while the Richards children take a closer look.
"It appears that the entire city is enveloped in this energy field" Valeria comments as she checks her device.
"Or maybe they're hard light holograms?" Franklin poses another theory while Lockheed returns and Peter walks towards them.
"The mystery just keeps getting weirder, right?" Peter replies "Which means that we must follow it! To the light!" he exclaims pointing to the towering light, prompting the group to move forward through the city.
"Am I the only one who feels like this is too calm?" Jo-Venn makes the commentary, something that the group agrees as they look at each other.
"My Spider-Sense isn't blaring my head, Lock up there hasn't found anything, I'm taking this calm as a good sign after all the crazy stuff we just went through" Peter replies, noticing how the road now becomes clearer, revealing a massive floating structure in the distance "WHOA… Kinda resembles the I/O Tower from Tron"
"What's a Tron?" N'Kalla asks him curiously
"It's a sci-fi movie about a dude who got trapped in a computer world, it was one of those movies that was much unappreciated in the past but people values it nowadays" Peter replies, explaining to her about Tron's movie status as a cult favorite "Can't say the same about the sequel though"
"Hey, I liked that sequel!" Franklin quips at Peter in response.
"You only liked it because you were crushing on that black haired girl" Valeria pokes fun at her brother.
"Don't blame you one bit, who could resist crushing on Olivia Wilde?" Peter replies with a laugh "Even Kitty crushes on her too" he mutters that last part for himself but then they notice that the path is now divided in floating platforms, each further distant from the other.
"Now what? How can we traverse these platforms?" Jo-Venn poses the question while Franklin and Valeria check the platforms.
"They seem to be floating by that light generator on the base" Valeria points at the first platform "Which means that they're not anchored to a fixed position unless we move them"
"And how are we gonna move them?" Franklin asks his sister but Peter steps forward.
"I got an idea" Peter comments and then shoots a web line to the platform, pulling it towards the edge so they can board it. Once they step in, he kicks the platform so it can slowly move back into its position "I can pull the platforms and move them, but the trick is moving forward afterwards"
"I can help!" N'Kalla exclaims as she morphs into a large flaying creature.
"Aroooo!" Lockheed roars as well, prompting Peter to give him a 'thumbs up' sign.
"Thanks for volunteering buddy!" Peter replies as the flying creatures use their strength to push the platforms close enough for Peter to shoot his web lines at them and march forward the massive structure.
"At this pace, we'll make it in ten to fifteen minutes" Valeria comments as she makes her calculations while Peter, Lockheed and N'Kalla make their work and Franklin and Jo-Venn help balancing the platform.
"Sounds good! Finally we're having a good run for once!" Franklin exclaims as they reach closer and closer, with the platforms being further, yet not impossible to reach through their current method.
"Let's hope this good run lasts Frankie, knowing my luck… that doesn't tend to happen" Peter comments, making a reference to his infamous Parker Luck.
Once they jump to the last platform, they reach the massive structure, which now resembles a lighthouse with brighter lights on the inside and a spiral staircase that goes downwards while below them lays a crystal floor that shows a large tetrahedron underneath. The children gasp at the amazement of the crystal while Peter and Lockheed look upward to the beam of light.
"Arooo?" Lockheed roars as if he makes a query.
"Yeah, this definitively feels like the source" Peter comments and then looks down "My best guess is that the crystal is what powers this city, or whatever you can call it" he then looks around "But I still wonder what happened to…" right then Peter begins to feel his head buzzing and that only means one thing "Spider-Sense" he whispers, trying to pinpoint the source but then a purple light begins to glow from underneath "Kids! Look out!" he jumps towards the children just as the crystal floor cracks, opening a gap that releases the purple light that slowly begins to take a human shape.
"Would you look at this? It seems that the living rubber band isn't the only annoyance around here" the voice comes from the figure that slowly begins to take shape and reveals himself as the Wizard "Four little pesky brats, the annoying spider and… what are you supposed to be?" he looks at Lockheed, who promptly shoots a fireball at him but he manages to deflect it.
"You're the one who attacked our family!" Jo-Venn furiously exclaims, pointing at him while N'Kalla growls as she transforms into a feline creature.
"You won't stand for long!" N'Kalla exclaims as she rushes towards the Wizard ready to pounce on him but he manages to deflect her, making her fall to one side.
"NIKKI!" Franklin and Valeria exclaim while Lockheed growls at him.
"You're really annoying, have anyone told you that?" Wizard speaks in a menacing tone as he floats approaching them "Of course, I know why you're here for… you're here for Richards" he then looks at the children "I'm sure this is the part where you ask 'What have you done to our father, bleh bleh bleh', so since I'll be monologuing a bit, let's make sure you'll stay put while I'm at it" right then he release a series of energy bursts from his hand heading toward them, quickly surrounding their bodies and changing into crystal prisons that only leaves their heads exposed "You like them? I made these new bracelets that converts energy into solid crystals, I only needed a good power source; now, where was I?"
"You know? I was so eager to skip to the part of the beatings, but I do have to say, this wasn't part of your repertoire" Peter quips at him to keep him distracted, prompting the Wizard to glare at him.
"For crying out loud, you really are annoying!" Wizard complains towards him "Yes, this isn't my usual power set, it's not cosmic power though but it sure feels close to it" he then flies around the energy beam that shoots upwards "You see, I found out about this thanks to my young ward Bentley-27…"
"Yes, we know you were spying through his eyes" Valeria angrily interrupts him.
"Of course I did, and yes, I had to deal with every time he was looking at you with puppy eyes because he was in love with you, especially all the time he was practicing in the mirror how he was going to speak to you, until you killed his chances when you went all mopey about a dumb Prince kid breaking your heart, pushing you to give up any chance at a love relationship and focus on science, to which I must say… you made the smartest choice" The Wizard spews his speech, leaving Valeria a bit impressed at how this reveals Bentley's feelings towards her, corroborating what already happened when they went to Arboros' planet "But aside of that, I paid attention at how that Forever Gate works, because that would be my ticket to gain access to the one thing I needed to finally succeed and beat that family once and for all… ABSOLUTE POWER!"
"Oh great, we got a Palpatine turned Sidious thing…" Peter mutters as he made the reference to Star Wars.
"You father was doing the research about this place" Wizard now speaks towards Franklin, having learned about his power loss "You were supposed to be this 'omnipowerful' kid but you were losing your power by the days, so your father was searching for a suitable location to give you a recharge"
Those words act as a shocker to the group, revealing the fact that Reed had found what it could have been the catalyst to Franklin's restoration of his powers, the one thing Franklin wanted so eagerly, and now he feels with anger fueling him at the sight of the Wizard stealing his chances.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY FATHER!?" Franklin screams at him, struggling in an attempt to break his confines to no avail, to which the Wizard laughs at his attempts.
"Try all you want child, not even the Hulk could break this material, it would take a raw powerful energy like… this one to accomplish such a feat" the Wizard shows the energy beam "Just imagine a huge wellspring of energy, not on a cosmic level but powerful enough to give every single superhero out there a run for their money, especially the rubber band" he then flies back towards the group noticing their anger increasing due to their impotence at their current state "And now, to answer the still lingering question about Reed Richards' whereabouts… all you have to do is go down"
Right then he charges his fists and fires a double energy beam at the crystal floor beneath them, shattering it to take then down, then he fires smaller beams to break the crystals containing them, prompting Lockheed to flap his wings while N'Kalla quickly transforms into a bigger flying creature, managing to catch Jo-Venn and Valeria while Peter manages to grab Franklin.
"I got you Frankie!" Peter exclaims as he catches Franklin and moves his other hand to spin a web-parachute as fast as he can to soften their landing, reaching the bottom of their location after a few minutes. The group lands nearby the glowing crystal, all of them landing relatively safe "Everyone OK?" he asks the group once he sees their silhouettes.
"We're good!" Valeria replies "Nikki and Jo are fine with me"
"Rooooo!" Lockheed roars in response as well, prompting Peter to sigh in relief "OK kids, gather round, we need to remain close" he calls for them as he looks around until he notices another silhouette nearby "Wait, you guys see what I'm seeing?" he asks the children who begin to notice the same silhouette.
""It looks like a prisoner, like he's chained onto something" Jo-Venn speaks "Hello? Are you alive?"
"HHHNNN? Hello?" a male voice is heard, one that the group begins to recognize.
"Wait, is that…?" Valeria poses the question but her brother already figured it out.
"Dad? DAD!" Franklin exclaims, finally finding Reed Richards, but the group stops when they discover his stance. Reed is kneeled with his arms stretched and locked into crystals.
"Reed!" Peter joins them as he looks at the scene with deeper concern.
"Franklin? Valeria? Peter? Wha-What happened? Did the accident on the Forever Gate brought you here?" Reed tries to regain his senses while the Wizard hovers downwards their location.
"Awwww, the family is finally reunited" the Wizard taunts the group while he approaches them "Here, let me help you" right then he fires energy beams to break the crystals holding down the leader of the Fantastic Four "Now that I got you right where I wanted you to be…" he begins to speak with an ominous tone "I don't have to keep you restrained anymore" he then fires a barrage of energy that turns into a small crystal barrier that holds them down.
Right then he flies towards the large tetrahedron and goes through the large energy beam, using it to absorb as much energy as he can through his suit, flaring with intensity as he begins to charge his fists, much to the shock of the group, with Peter and the Grimm children watching while Franklin and Valeria help their father.
"Don't… Don't let him… destroy the tetrahe…" Reed tries to warn the group to stop the Wizard from destroying the tetrahedron, but when they realize of his plan, the villain has charged his fists long enough to fire a powerful blast of energy towards the power source, causing it to fracture.
"Oh my God, GUYS!" Peter feels his Spider-Sense going into overdrive as the tetrahedron fractures into larger cracks, prompting Reed to jump and stretch his body long enough to cover the group just as the tetrahedron explodes into a massive burst of light and energy that engulfs the surroundings just for a brief moment until then everything goes dark, from the bottom to the lighthouse to the city itself, everything has turned into darkness, the only glimmer of light coming from the aura surrounding the Wizard's body after having absorbed that amount of energy.
He decides to fly back to the city, looking at what it was a wide city full of hard lights turned into nothing but a void full of empty glass panels resembling a city, but after a few minutes that changes when a portal opens in the middle of the place, much to the Wizard's delight.
"Right on cue…" the Wizard murmurs with a malicious grin as he flies towards the portal, knowing exactly where it leads to.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT 4 YANCY STREET
"Valeria? Franklin?" Alex Power tries to contact the Richards children from the control deck "Kids, do you copy? Franklin? Valeria? Spider-Man? Anybody?" he keeps trying to contact them but all they receive is static.
"No luck?" Susan approaches the Powers siblings as they keep trying to make contact with the other side.
"Nothing yet, Mrs. Richards" Julie replies to the Invisible Woman while Ben Grimm enters the room.
"No news from Stretcho and the kids?" Ben asks, but Susan looks at him with concern in her face "Awww, now I'm getting worried!" he groans in frustration upon hearing no news from them.
"Let's just open the portal" Alex comments "If they walk through, it means that wherever they went was messing with their communications, if they don't, then we'll shut the gate and keep trying to contact them" he then sets the controls and activates the Gate, opening the portal right on the last coordinates they opened it before. They wait for any sign coming out, keeping their eyes peeled and their ears hanging but there is no response "Alright, let's close it and…"
"Wait!" Julie interrupts her brother as she spots a light from the other side, but as the light intensifies, Sue instinctively creates a force field to protect them.
"Look out!" Sue warns the group just as a large energy beam goes through the portal hitting Susan's force field but as she tries to hold it, the beam keeps pushing until she is forced to relent, pushing everyone away from the control and hitting the wall nearby, all of them falling into unconsciousness. The alarms begin to blare signaling the arrival of an intruder while the captive villains look in awe at the scene just as the Wizard walks through the portal.
"Honey, I'm home" Wizard sarcastically quips in a sing-song tone, turning his sights to his captive allies "Gentlemen, don't worry, I'm here to help you… I can't start the new era of the Frightful Four with three quarters of the group in captivity" he comments, ready to release his allies and complete his plan of ridding the world of the Fantastic Four once and for all.
WOOOOO! Where do I start!?
First of all, FINALLY, a new chapter! It's been a LONG time since the last one and honestly, I always fear that I may have lost people because of my long delays (It's well known that people tend to lose interest in a story if it takes too long to update) but I'm grateful for the ones who remain and the new ones who come. I've been dealing with LOTS of stuff both creatively and personally, but I'm here to deliver and I hope I'm not disappointing (and on that front, I apologize for the short length, I was having a hard time dealing with this one and a few friends have pitched in suggestions to help, which I'm grateful for that).
On a side note, let's update on the Spider-Front. Zeb Wells' current run of Amazing Spider-Man has been… mixed. The whole "What did Peter do" mystery really needs to be answered and some things still don't match (Honestly, I was surprised that Peter had the thumbs up during Judgment Day). The one thing that impressed me though is that apparently they're rekindling the Spidey/Black Cat relationship (I bet the PeterFel shippers are tuning their engines for next year's "PeterFel Week") and in my opinion, I have mixed feelings
Those who know me and have followed me are well aware that Kitty Pryde is my OTP for Peter Parker but the lack Cat's recent growth and personal evolution have made her a worthy character again and I'm actually hoping they get through, but then… I fear that Wells will use her as a transition until the end of his run when he'll reconcile Peter and MJ in a weird, convoluted, illogical way just to appease the angry fans and say "We won't ruin what the previous run established" so I'm taking it one issue at a time and enjoying the ride while I can.
As for the story, the group have found Reed Richards but what happened here? What is this place? Where did that energy source came from? All of these questions will be answered in the next chapter when the Frightful Four fight against the Fantastic Three while Reed and the children try to find a way back and Peter finds the answer to one of the biggest issues the family was dealing with, so stay tuned for that!
NEXT CHAPTER: PETER PARKER FINDS THE SOLUTION!