Fantastic Force #4
Adapt or Die!
A new experimental Super-Adaptoid has broken out of its testing facility on Boca Caliente, the island owned by Advanced Idea Mechanics. As AIM staff try to track the creature, Leader Brannax orders his men to stand down and wait to see what happens next, explaining that eventually they will be able to track and recover the Adaptoid and failing that, others will be able to correct their mistake. About a half hour later, the Adaptoid in question smashes its way onto New York Harbor. As it fights its way onto the pier it is able to adapt thea abilities of those around it and defend itself when some dock workers try to stop it.
Elsewhere in the city Franklin Richards has taken his aunt Huntara out to buy some normal clothing. She grudgingly accepts this task to find less conspicuious clothing even though she finds the outfits she selected as unbefitting of a warrior. Their conversation is quickly changed when Franklin spies a newspaper article about Doctor Doom's apparent return to Latveria soon after his reported demise. The recognize the columnist as Paul Alvarez the man who was on the scene when they battled Zarathustra. Although Huntara has no like for the reporter, Franklin decides to follow up on the report. He switches on his Psi-Armor and flies off to look into it further.
Elsewhere, Professor Isaac Sandor is running tests on Captain America whose body is wearing down thanks to the degrading of the Super Soldier Serum in his body. Cap hopes that Sandor can use his Omnivirus to cure his condition but Sandor explains that the only sample of his invention was recently stolen. Suddenly when reports about the Super-Adaptoids rampage reaches Cap he puts on his specially constructed armor and races off to face the danger despite his condition. Fearing that Captain America is out of his league, Sandor decides to call in Fantastic Force to lend him a hand. However his calls to the Soho loft of the group goes unanswered as there is nobody there and an automated call forwarding system kicks in.
At a nearby Asian market in the city, Vibraxas is out shopping for the rest of the team when suddenly a pair of hoods try to rob the store. Vibraxas quickly uses his vibrational powers and fighting skill to incapacitate the hoods. However the shop keeper is less than happy about the damage that Vibraxas has done in order to do so. When Vibraxas tries to argue with the shop owner his signal goes off and he abruptly leaves the shop keeper to deal with the crisis at hand. At P.S. 32, Devlor is in Ms. Wu's class when his signal goes off, startling him enough to send him crashing out of his desk causing a scene in class. Devlor excsuses himself amid laughter from his peers, leaving him to feel like he doesn't belong among normal humans. While at that moment in Wakanda, the Black Panther has returned home to hear that his parliment has decided to continue on a project that has already cost Vibraxas dearly. T'Challa finds this decision ill-considered and hopes that the primal forces they hope to tap don't prove too uncontrollable for conventional science.
Back in New York City, Captain America comes to face-to-face with the rampaging Adaptoid. Leaping into battle he has his work cut out for him as the Adaptoid begins adopting his shape and powers. Attempting to use the various devices in his armor to try and incapacitate his foe also fails. However before the Adaptoid can gain a victory, Fantastic Force arrives on the scene to lend Captain America a hand. Cap is shocked to see Franklin as a teenager, but is thankful for the help. The team begins to pile onto the Adaptoid, but it begins to adapt their abilities as well. The Adaptoid itself continues to fight back, but also makes a vein attempt to reach out to his attackers as well. Having improperly adapted Franklin's Psycho-Armor, the creature begins lashing out telepathically to everyone in the city. With the energies reaching critical mass, Franklin orders his team to attack the Adaptoid en mass. With no other choice they are forced to push the adaptoid into a void of non-existence opened by Huntara's Psi-Scythe.
While the people around celebrate Fantastic Force for saving them, Captain America congratulates Franklin and his team, telling the boy that even though it was a tough call they saved millions of lives. However Franklin isn't so sure, and thinks that if he father was at the scene he would have found a better way.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Force (Psi-Lord, Huntara, Vibraxas, Devlor, Black Panther), Professor Isaac Sandor, Captain America, Sonia Wu, AIM, Super-Adaptoid
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.
Franklin and Huntara remark about the recent reports that Doctor Doom is active in Latveria after his and Mister Fantastic's supposed deaths in Fantastic Four #381. As revealed in that same issue, this is not the real Doctor Doom, but Franklin's grandfather Nathaniel Richards posing as Doom. In reality Doom and Richards are revealed to be a prisoner of Hyperstorm in Fantastic Four #406-407.
Huntara points out an article written by Paul Alvarez. She met the reporter in Fantastic Force #2 during the team's battle against Zarathustra.
Captain America's Super Soldier Serum was wearing off from Captain America #425 to 443. He is eventually revived thanks to a blood transfusion from his foe the Red Skull in Captain America #444.
The project that Black Panther is concerned about involves harnessing the power of Vibranium, its previous test-run caused an accident that seemingly killed Vibraxas' parents and endowed him with his powers, as explained in Fantastic Force #14.
