Fantastic Four #359
Devos the Devastator!
With their hyperdrive damaged while rescuing Alicia Masters from the Skrulls, the Fantastic Four now find themselves stranded in space. Reed begins assessing the damage and has some grim news: the hyperdrive is damaged and it could take months or even years to even attempt to repair it. He tells his teammates that unless they are rescued, it will take them many lifetimes to return to Earth. Alicia confronts Ben with the fact that he has been avoiding her since her rescue from the Skrulls and demands to know why. Ben says that now isn't the time to talk about it as his scanners have picked up something big coming their way.
Not far away, aboard a massive starship is Devos the Devastator whose sole mission in life is to create peace in the universe by destroying any race that is capable of war. To hone his abilities and test out the weapons of his sophisticated armor, he hunts a number of winged creatures that he views as a threat to galactic peace. The battle is no contests and the birds are slain with his weapons, their corpses swept up and disposed of by the ship's robots. He walks through his various trophies until he comes upon a specimen that he has contained in a cube as he has yet to find a way to properly eliminate its threat. Suddenly his ships alarm alerts Devos of a ship in his vicinity. Deciding that a space-faring race could be a threat to peace, Devos decides to investigate and -- if necessary -- exterminate all aboard with extreme prejudice. Soon the Fantastic Four's ship is caught in a tractor beam and pulled aboard the larger craft.
Once safely aboard, the Fantastic Four and Alicia disembark from their vessel and begin searching for whoever is piloting the ship. As they are being observed by Devos, they walk through a series of scanners that let their apparent rescuer know all about them. Suddenly trap doors open beneath the group's feet, dropping each member in a separate containment sphere. Each member of the Fantastic Four are able to break themselves free using their powers and then they free Alicia. They find themselves in some kind of room with various creatures from other worlds that have also been contained. Suddenly they are confronted by a robot that tries to subdue them, but when Ben tries to fight it off it only succeeds in smashing the containment spheres unleashing the creatures held within. The Fantastic Four then have to fend off the various aliens that are now instinctively attacking them. While Sue uses her force field to defend herself from a plant that spits acid, Johnny's ability to fly at high velocities fight off a group of arachnids, while Reed is attacked by a creature that attaches itself to his back. He manages to get the creature off by turning himself into a sphere and bounding around the room.
When a group of the alien monsters try to attack Alicia, Johnny swoops in -- forgetting himself and calling her sweetheart in the process -- using his flames to drive the creatures back. He is hurt when Alicia asks Johnny where Ben is after he saved her life. Ben is still fighting with the robot, but manages to destroy it with his superior strength. With the battle over, the Fantastic Four regroup but are suddenly attacked by Devos, that makes his presence, and his intentions, known to them. He has decreed that they are a threat to galactic peace, and therefore, the Fantastic Four must be destroyed. Although he had the advantage of surprise and manages to incapacitate Johnny, Devos is no match for the combined powers of the Fantastic Four, who easily disarm him. Finding himself outmatched, Devos flees the area to an adjacent room where he can tap into his ships power grid and recharge his armor. Before he can fully charge himself, the FF break into the room and Reed knocks Devos directly into the power grid, overloading and heavily damaging his armor in an explosion. This explosion also sets off the ship's self-destruct systems.
Devos then flees as his specimens are released, giving him cover to make it to the only escape pod, allowing him to flee. Before going, he activates a deadly gas that causes the alien creatures to dissolve. The Fantastic Four save themselves thanks to Sue's invisible force fields. Getting to the main controls, Sue holds her force field while Reed deciphers the controls and shuts off the deadly gas and disengages the self-destruct. Sue is upset that all the creatures were so mercilessly killed by Devos, but Reed points out that it is all for the better as they need the ship to return to Earth and he is unsure what effect the creatures on board could have on Earth's environment. As he says this, the Fantastic Four are unaware that the one creature that Devos was unable to find a means to destroy has been released from the cube containing it, revealing an egg within that is slowly beginning to crack...
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Alicia Masters, Devos, Dreadface
Continuity Notes
Alicia's presence with the Fantastic Four is one with complex difficulties for both Ben and Johnny. They are:
Ben used to date Alicia going back as early as Fantastic Four #9.
Unknown to the Fantastic Four, while Ben, Johnny, and Reed were kidnapped by the Beyonder in Thing #10, Alicia was captured and replaced by the Skrull spy known as Lyja. This happened around Fantastic Four #265 when the Fantastic Four returned from the Secret Wars sans the Thing. As revealed in Fantastic Four #358, because the Thing remained on Battleworld, Lyja pursued a relationship with Johnny in order to maintain close ties to the Fantastic Four. During her mission, Lyja legitimately fell in love with Johnny while posing as Alicia.
"Alicia" and Johnny got married in Fantastic Four #300.
Lyja was later exposed in Fantastic Four #357 and seemingly died last issue on the mission to rescue Alicia.
The creature contained on the ship that Devos cannot destroy is later named Dreadface next issue.
