Here Comes the Wild Blood!

Sue has walked in on Reed performing an experiment with a new invention that allows him to reach INTO a door, much to her surprise. Reed explains that he has discovered a new dimension he called the Inniverse which exists in the distances between atoms and molecules that make up matter in their universe. His latest invention allows Reed to create the proper oscillation frequency, allowing him to pierce through mater in this world to reach the Inniverse.

At that very moment in the same dimension, gem thief Wildblood has succeeded in stealing a gem from the kingdom of Occulus. As he marvels over the gem he is suddenly shocked when he witnesses Reed's hand emerge from a rock near by. Thinking it might be some kind of trap created by the Gem Guild, Wildblood pulls out his Kalis, club like weapons, and is about to strike the strange hand when it suddenly pulls itself back through the rock from whence it came. Back on Earth, Sue is not too thrilled to see her husband sticking his hand into an unknown dimension, but Reed assures her that he has been experimenting for months before he got to this level. She then turns his attention to a newspaper article announcing the news of Johnny and Alicia's divorce. A necessity after the Fantastic Four rescued her from the Skrulls after discovering the woman that Johnny had married was a Skrull spy named Lyja who had been posing as Alicia. She comments on how lurid it sounds, making it seem like Alicia was divorcing Johnny to go running back to the Thing. Reed tells Sue that they can never reveal the truth of the matter to the public. When he asks what Johnny has been up to, Sue tells him that he has enrolled at Empire State University to continue his education.

Elsewhere in the city, the Amazing Spider-Man is reading the same newspaper article and cannot believe what he is reading. Thinking that Johnny must be devastated, thinking that he would be a total basket case if his wife Mary Jane ever left him. Spider-Man considers stopping in on the Torch later, but has to head to Empire State University since he has to go and enroll for the spring semester in his civilian identity of Peter Parker. When Spidey arrives on campus he is surprised to see a section of the Fantasti-Car parked out front of the administration building and bets that the Human Torch is here. Inside, Johnny is finishing his interview with Dean Rathscore who is delighted to have Johnny as a student at the university. Outside, Johnny finds a legion of adoring female fans all asking for autographs. This delights him once he realizes the fringe benefits of having his divorce highly publicized. However one of his fans tell him something landed on his Fantasti-Car. It appears to be a large bat-like creature, but when Johnny goes to swat at it, he gets caught up in webbing and quickly realizes who is behind this prank.

Right on cue, Spider-Man announces his presence and mocks Johnny to the point where the Torch is so fired out he is ready to give Spider-Man chase. Spider-Man races off and as they chase each other through the street, Spider-Man catches Johnny in a web bolo. As the Torch is burning this off, Spider-Man whips a sack of garbage at him as well. Their fight takes them to a roof top where Spider-Man explains that he is trying to get Johnny to blow off steam after his recent divorce. When Johnny tries to explain that his wife was an alien from outer-space, Spider-Man thinks he is telling a joke. Before Johnny can explain himself further, Spider-Man pretends like he has been struck by one of Johnny's flames and is falling off the roof. When the Torch chases after him, he gets caught up in a web snare made by Spider-Man, who is safe and sound, clinging to the side of the building.

Meanwhile, back at the Four Freedoms Plaza, Reed has called Sue, Ben and Franklin to watch his latest experiment in breaching the barrier between Earth and the Inniverse. As Reed reaches back into that dimension to get some readings, on the other side in the Inniverse, Wildblood is battling it out with members of the Gem Guild who are trying to recover the gem that he has stolen. Spotting Reed's arm jutting out of the rock again, Wildblood dives toward it and grabs hold tight. Feeling something grabbing hold of him, Reed pulls his arm back inadvertently bringing Wildblood to Earth's dimension along with it. Wildblood thinks that the gathered members of the Fantastic Four are members of the Gem Guild and defends himself against them. Looking at Franklin, he realizes the boy is something he called "Gem-Talented", and begins battling even fiercer than before.

At that moment outside, Johnny and Spider-Man continue their game of cat and mouse across the city. Until ultimately, Johnny accidentally bursts open a water tower, drenching them both in water. They have a good laugh and Johnny thanks Spider-Man for helping him let off some steam as it was just what he needed. Meanwhile, back at the Four Freedoms Plaza, the Fantastic Four manage to stop Wildblood before he can escape when Sue erects an invisible force bubble around him which cuts off his air supply until he passes out. While in the Inniverse, the warriors of the Gem Guild have been scanning the rock which Wildblood has disappeared in and developed a device that will allow them to follow their query to wherever he went. The begin travelling through the barrier as Reed, Sue and Ben try to make sense of their intruder. A short time later, Johnny is returning home when he hears the alarm going off. Rushing inside, he finds Ben and Reed, who have just revived after another attack. When he asks where Sue and Franklin are, Reed explains that warriors crossed over from Inniverse and kidnapped them and took their prisoner. Reed then tells Johnny and Ben to get ready because he intends to invade the Inniverse in order to get them back.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Spider-Man, Wildblood

Continuity Notes

• Alicia Masters getting a divorce from Johnny is a necessity. Although Reed keeps the real reasons a secret from the public, the details are as follows:

  • 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 in Fantastic Four #358 while on the mission to rescue Alicia.

• Spider-Man mentions how he would feel if his wife divorced him. He is referring to his then wife Mary Jane. The pair got married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, years after this story in Amazing Spider-Man #545 the demon Mephisto altered reality so that Peter and Mary Jane were never married. Because reality was altered so that Peter and Mary Jane were only in a long term relationship in this story, one can assume in the new version of reality, Peter refers to MJ as his girlfriend instead of as his wife.

• This is the second time that Johnny has tried to enrolled at Empire State University. The last time he tried was in Fantastic Four #204, however he decided to attend Security University at the time instead.

• Spider-Man putting a web of a massive bat-like creature on the Fantasti-Car is a similar prank that Spider-Man pulled on Johnny back in Amazing Spider-Man #8.