Fantastic Force #17
Agendas Diabolik
With the Wakandan government pulling their funding from Fantastic Force the group are forced to give up their loft in SoHo and turn over all the equipment to the Wakandan Embassy. Psi-Lord and She-Hulk watch from outside in the rain as crews remove all the equipment. This leads Franklin to believe that Fantastic Force is finished, but She-Hulk offers the remaining members of the team to move into her apartment and use that as a base of operations. Even though he has been given this offer, Franklin wonders if he should have stayed behind in Elsewhen when his aunt Huntara stayed behind.
Meanwhile, at the nearby hospital, Vibraxas waits for Devlor to be released after his near death experience thank to being exposed by the Omnivirus. Leaving the hospital, the pair get a taxi. En route to home Devlor confides in Vibraxas, telling him that after his "rebirth", he has to take it easy and he may never be able to transform into his bestial form ever again. Son they arrive at She-Hulk's apartment where they are greeting by its own and Psi-Lord. They are warmly greeted and they begin discussing the future of Fantastic Force. When She-Hulk lights a candle soon each member of the group is plagued with vivid hallucinations. First it is Devlor who begins to think that the others are mocking him and calling him a freak when suddenly his beast form rips out of his humanoid body causing him to collapse in pain. As Franklin and N'Kano check on their teammate, She-Hulk goes to call an ambulance. As Vibraxas fears for his teammates life, he is struck with a hallucination as well wherein his powers flare out of control appearing to kill his friends and then vibrating out of existence. In reality, Vibraxas lashes out with his powers and passes out as well.
As She-Hulk tries to figure out what's going on, Franklin's hound scars appear on his face warning them that they are being attacked by an outside force. Suddenly She-Hulk is struck by a hallucination where she is attacked by a savage She-Hulk form that emerges from her mirror. Franklin manages to snap her out of it, but She-Hulk becomes mentally unhinged, telling him that she can see beyond the "Fourth Wall" and that there are people watching them. Trying to get to the bottom of things, Psi-Lord begins scanning She-Hulk's mind and finds himself caught in a hallucination as well. In his, Franklin finds him in the apocalyptic future of his nightmares being attacked by Machanauts. Using his Psi-Powers to destroy them, Franklin finds himself in an empty void. There he is visited by his other aspects, the Avatar, Ego-Spawn, and Tattletale who all warn him the risks of unleashing his full powers. Before Franklin can answer them they vanish and he is attacked by what appears to be Huntara coming to kill him. In the real world Franklin passes out along with the other members of the team.
Watching these events from his hideout, the alchemist known as Diablo is pleased that the final phase of his plans are coming to fruition. He explains to his demon assistant that he still had She-Hulk under his thrall since he first took possession of her. Diablo gloats that with these captive heroes he will be able take over the realm of Hell. As he departs to collect the members of Fantastic Force, he is unaware that the demon he has allied himself with is the ruler of hell himself, the demon Mephisto.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Force (Psi-Lord, Vibraxas, Devlor, She-Hulk), Diablo, Mephisto
Continuity Notes
The teenage Franklin seen here was delivered to the modern age by Nathaniel Richards from Earth-6311 to replace his Earth-616 counterpart. This occurred in Fantastic Four #376. Although everyone reacts as though this is Earth-616's Franklin all grown up, the young Franklin is returned in Fantastic Four #413. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #14 confirms that they are separate entities. Franklin believes that his mission was to stop the Dark Raider from destroying the Fantastic Four as explained in Fantastic Four #387, however this is part of a larger scheme to stop Hyperstorm that is not realized until Fantastic Four #414.
Fanastic Force is being evicted from their SoHo loft and having their equipment taken away because the Wakandan government pulled their funding in the team, as seen in Fantastic Force #15.
Devlor has recently been "reborn" during the events of last issue, he appeared to become terminally ill after being exposed to the Omnivirus in Fantastic Force #11.
She-Hulk's reference to being able to see beyond the Fourth Wall and see the readers is a nod to Sensational She-Hulk #1-60. During this run She-Hulk was aware that she was a fictional character and regularly broke the fourth wall.
The hallucination that Franklin experiences is based off the nightmare he had in Fantastic Force #5.
Tattletale, Ego-Spawn and Avatar are aspects of Franklin's personality that appeared as physical manifestations from Fantastic Force #9-11.
Huntara used to be a founding member of Fantastic Force back in Fantastic Force #1, She remained in Elsewhen when the Fantastic Force completed a mission there in Fantastic Force #12. In Franklin's illusion, she tried to kill him, this is a reference to the fact that part of her mission on Earth was to kill Franklin in the event his powers went out of control a fact she revealed in Fantastic Force #5.
Diablo enthralled She-Hulk back in Fantastic Force #12.
