HEROES FOR HIRE
|
HEROES FOR HIRE
|
|
|
THE RETURN OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR, Part I
Comings And Goings!
CHAPTER ONE: THE AFTERMATH OF DECISION
Peter Parker was stunned.
He didn't know what to answer, so he repeated the question. "Do I want to join the Fantastic Four?" he exclaimed.
"Hey, that's MY line!" Ben Grimm, the Thing, retorted.
One half of Peter Parker's brain wanted to reply "Boy, would I!" Another part of his brain knew that by taking on such a high profile assignment, his days as Peter Parker, private citizen, were over.
"You remember the press conference, though, right? That wasn't make-believe - I really AM only an average joe. Nothing special."
Ben Grimm managed a grin through his rocky exterior. He tapped his noggin. "But that's where you're wrong, kiddo. Even Reed used ta say how much ya head upstairs. You can be our replacement Mr. Fantastic. Now that you have a mandated salary as the executor of Rand Estate, yer gonna have plenty of time on your hands to figure out Reed's gizmos - and come up with a few more of yer own."
Peter wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. Replacement Reed Richards? He wasn't too sure about that. But he had to admit the gearhead in him always wanted to take a peek at Reed Richards' laboratory. He knew he had no choice. Not to mention the fact that his house had just burned down.
So that was the first thing. Peter Parker moved into the Baxter Building, just as Ben Grimm was moving out. "Time to look for more members," he said as he left.
Time did that rubber band thing it does, where days seem eventful and packed, lots of things getting accomplished, but when you look at the calendar it's day, not weeks that are going by. But then you turn around and count up the fast-paced days and find that it's weeks not days that have gone by. Just that quickly.
Peter Parker moved from press conference to press conference, from one meeting with an attorney to another meeting with a financial advisor and so on and so on. And in the evenings when he wasn't being invited to, mulling over, or attending this or that party or special event, Peter Parker could be counted on exploring every nook and cranny of the Baxter Building's special equipment rooms, of which there were many.
Ben Grimm, on the other hand, looked to be occupying his days and nights in a different fashion. He went from bar to bar, first in Manhattan, then the rest of New York City, then the tri-state area. His path was circuitous, and the Thing visited the same bars on more than one occasion. He was there on busy nights, and on nights when there was barely anyone around. Sometimes he stayed long, other times, he was there and gone. A couple of quick beers, and out.
As he made his way northward near the border with Canada, in bar in upstate New York City, Ben Grimm was having a Moosehead and some peanuts, talking with the bartender about what the heck was going on with the Yankees when something interesting happened.
A man tapped Ben Grimm's shoulder, once, twice, hard.
The Thing turned around, a frown a mile wide across his orange rocky mug. "Ya mind quittin' that?" Ben Grimm growled.
"Seems to me, you've been lookin' for me, bub," answered the short Canadian man in front of him. "Here I am," he said, surly.
Ben Grimm looked at the bartender. "Let me get two more o' these," he said indicating the beers. "I'm going to take them to the back."
He settled up, got his drinks. Grimm indicated one of the tables in the back. "Let's talk."
The Thing and the man with the swept-back, tussled hair, headed to the rear.
"Okay, what's this about?" The Canadian man asked, his gaze locked onto Ben Grimm's own. "You've been on my back since Binghamton."
"I have a proposition for you, Logan. I want you to join my new Fantastic Four."
The man looked incredulous. The Thing wasn't sure if Logan was going to storm away or laugh. "Excuse me?" Logan said. ""Do you even know me? Do I even know you? And you want me to join you in the New Fantastic Four, whatever the hell that is? Are you putting me on, or what?"
The Thing sat back in his chair. "You know me, or you did. And I know you. We have years of history, Logan, believe it or not."
The man known as Logan took a long pull from his bottle of beer. He looked as if he was trying to clear his head of some sort of mental cobwebs.
He sounded less certain of himself when he talked. "Look, I don't like your type. It makes things harder on the rest of us who are trying to do the real work. The tiny little details that you spandex guys don't ever seem to worry about... as for the rest of it, I get the vague sense that we might have known each other. But it was a different circumstance, like in a dream. This world hasn't suffered the same traumas, and there is less of that blind hatred…" Logan's eyes cleared up and he looked directly at Ben Grimm. "I prefer this reality, Mr. Grimm."
"Consider this a short term assignment, then. You can act as our liaison to the various black budget agencies that might need super-powered help."
"That's some high-grade intel you got. No one knows I've left the Canadian Secret Service. Still, I'm afraid I can't help you, Mr. Grimm. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to drink the rest of this beer in peace."
Ben Grimm got up. As he left the table, Logan interjected. "Oh, and stop tailing me, Thing."
After the Thing left, a man behind Logan spoke up. "You might have been a little hasty, Wolverine."
Logan pushed his chair back, whipped his body around and lunged forward. He had a knife in his hand and at the throat of the speaker in less than a second. He stared into the eyes of his addresser, released his collar after a moment. "Are you crazy, using my name out here in the open? That almost got you killed, Fury."
Logan pulled back. Fury pointed. "You, too, sweetheart."
Logan looked down. He turned back to his beer. He smiled. "You know that wouldn't have killed me. It would barely slow me down." He gulped down half of the bottle's amber contents.
"You gotta show me how you do that, sometime," Colonel Nick Fury said.
"Atkins," Logan responded. "Clean livin'." He took a cigar out of his pocket. "You got something on yer mind, Fury, you better spit it out. Time's wasting."
Fury spat it out.
Meanwhile in downstate New York, Peter Parker was completing a very strange interview.
"Uh, well, thank you very much…um…"
"You're quite welcome. And don't forget - the name's Firestorm."
So saying, the man with the burning head exited the room. Near as Peter Parker could tell, his sole reason for wanting to join the Fantastic Four was because there was a superficial resemblance in his power's manifestation and that of the Human Torch. Peter couldn't resist. "Now THAT guy looks like a hot-head!" He let out a guffaw.
Peter wasn't as alone as he thought. Somebody groaned. "Man, that was bad, Peter!"
Peter Parker laughed. "Oh, sure, like you've been around to field some of these weird calls and weirder visitors - and if the lawyers weren't bad enough, there are all these cut-rate heroes dropping by as well!"
Peter's guest came out of one of the private offices off of the main reception area of Fantastic Four, Inc. The man who emerged was anything but nondescript. He stood a little over two meters tall, wore a well-worn set of leathers over which was light armor. He bore two large blades crossed on his back, and an assortment of pistols and knives on many belts along his waist. "It's good to see you, Peter." The warrior said.
"How's it going, Jon?" Peter asked him.
"Not nearly so well as yourself," Jon Prophet said with a smile. His big hands embraced Peter Parker. "You have become a famous man, Peter Parker. And a wealthy one."
Peter commented wryly. "It isn't worrying about the rent and how to pay bills anymore. But it has it's own set of headaches, believe me. Now it's wondering how to balance getting used to my new responsibilities along with this recruitment drive. It's gotten totally out of control." Peter sat down, wiped his forehead. "I swear I don't know how word of this got out."
Peter sighed. "But here I am, talking all about myself again. Never mind all that. How did your thing go?" He looked at the Prophet, expectantly.
John Prophet seemed in great good humor. "There's still a lot that I don't understand about myself, but I'm beginning to. I went to Australia where I struck up an old acquaintance, and learned a little bit more about my history. It all sounds suitably mysterious, doesn't it?" Prophet's smile seemed easygoing and genuine.
Peter Parker laughed. "And do you still travel with your invisible companion?" Peter asked. Before John left, he had told the Heroes For Hire that he was in communication with one-time Avenger Doctor Druid. Only Doctor Druid wasn't in a position to be communicating with anyone.
Jon Prophet nodded. "I know it's weird, Pete, that I can talk to Druid. I'd be thinking the same thing if I was you, wondering if I had gone crazy again. But he's clued me into things I couldn't possibly have known."
Peter objected. "Trouble is, he's dead."
"I've been there a few times. Death doesn't seem to be as fatal as it used to be." Prophet's smile became broader.
"You might be right." Peter laughed again. There was something light about Prophet now, he was not as brooding as when Peter first met him.
"Where's Thing?" Prophet asked.
"He's gone. First he announced he was going to reform the Fantastic Four, then hightails it outta here, leaving me saddled with this thing. I swear he must have announced it on the superhero network."
"I get that channel on digital cable," Prophet joked. "Great commercials. Any good possibilities for the team?"
"Black Lightning had some possibilities, Nemo." Peter chuckled. "We even had this one guy, Shade, appear, but he was just TOO weird. Paladin came by, but it was obvious he was just interested in the paycheck. I don't know what's supposed to tie these people together? It's not like the Avengers or the JLA… the Fantastic Four were always more or less kind of a family - how do you recruit for something like that?
"Sounds like you got yourself some dilemma, Pete."
"The name is Peter."
"You got it, Pete."
Prophet chuckled. Peter rolled his eyes.
There was a knock on the door. Peter got up to answer it. "If it's another one of these superhero types, it'll be a welcome change," he said to Prophet. "You'd be surprised how many of them just decide to pop up through the floor, out from walls, or show up unannounced in the kitchen or the living room. 'To show what they could do' is what they normally say. Like it would even be necessary. A knock on the door is refreshing."
Peter opened the door, and his look of apprehension was replaced by an open smile. "Now you talk about somebody who really doesn't need to knock on the door if she doesn't want to…" He said, by way of introduction.
Peter closed the door, revealing a slender athletic young lady with blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail, large laughing hazel eyes, and full lips open in a smile. The only thing that stood out more than her pretty face and figure was her skin, which was of a lustrous emerald green color.
Jon Prophet took one look at her and he knew whose daughter she was. "Hello," he said in that deep voice of his as he got up from one of the large leather couches in the outer office area of the FF's Baxter Building HQ. "You must be Alan Scott's daughter, Jade. He told us all about you." He offered her his hand. Her little hand disappeared in his large scarred paw. "Pleased to meet you," he said formally.
"The pleasure is mine," she replied.
"I'm so glad to see you back again." Prophet stated.
"It was just a little disturbance on Rann…"
Prophet laughed. Jade looked confused. He explained. "I meant from the Positive Zone."
"Oh," Jade said flatly. Then she the humor of it and laughed, too.
"So what brings you around, Jade?" Peter asked.
"My dad has returned to run Sentinel Enterprises, but he is still working on this connection between Pitt and my brother. Between all that's going on with him, my duties as a Green Lantern and my responsibility to the JLE, I don't have a lot of time to see him. I needed to see some family, and you guys are it."
"I know," Peter said empathetically. "Ben told me how close some of you got over there on the PZ Earth."
Jade sat down on the couch, next to John Prophet. "There was just so much actual misery over there. The people had a true and terrible tyrant in the Sovereign. Things aren't always so clear - here or anywhere else in the universe, as far as I can tell."
"And as a Green Lantern, Jade, you would know." Peter added, superfluously.
There was a semi-awkward moment. Like when someone makes a joke which you don't know how the other party will take it, whether they will laugh along or get offended. John Prophet bridged the awkward silence with a statement. "Ben isn't here at the moment, Jade."
Peter Parker chuckled. "You mean you haven't heard? We're holding auditions for the New Yardbirds… er, I mean, Fantastic Four."
"Hmm, that explains why I saw Leapfrog and Cat-Man waiting outside," Jade commented. "But why isn't Ben around? I would think he'd want to be an important part of this."
"That seems to be the million dollar question," Jon Prophet expounded.
"You know," Peter observed mischievously, "if I didn't know better, it seems that the two of you have been seeing quite a bit of each other in the last few months."
Jade looked at Peter, her mouth agape. Then she blushed. The red showed even through her green skin.
Jon Prophet chuckled. "This is the first time I've ever seen her at a loss for words, Pete."
"I know, Johnny-boy." Pete said. Prophet arched an eyebrow at Parker's new nickname for him. "You might want to shut your mouth, Jade. It's mid-summer, a fly could get into that thing."
The three of them laughed.
Peter turned concerned eyes on Jade. "Seriously … Leapfrog and the Cat-Man?"
A thunderous knock came on the door to the office suite, nearly sending the three of them out of their skins. "Who's that?" John Prophet asked, "The Incredible Muleboy?"
The door began to open …