Fantastic Four #404
With Friends Like These
The Sub-Mariner has come to the Four Freedoms Plaza and when Roberta informs him that the Invisible Woman cannot see him at that moment he forces himself into the Fantastic Four's headquarters. As Namor heads up the elevator shaft, Scott Lang orders the man posing as Boris to get his daughter Cassie to safety. When Namor finally forces his way into the FF's living quarters, Scott demands to know what he wants. When Namor demands an audience with Sue, Scott decides that a fight is not worth the trouble and agrees to take him to her. At that moment at an ancient temple in Brazil, the Thing is fighting off Sue, Lyja and Kristoff who have been transformed into things thanks to an ancient device found by Professor Robeson that is being abused by his guide Mico. As the battle rages on his men, who have also been turned into Things, asks to join the fight but Mico will have no such thing wishing to see the Fantastic Four destroy each other. With everyone's attention turned to the battle below, Professor Robeson makes a break for it in the hopes he can somehow help the Thing. Seeing the professor making a break for it, Ben creates a distraction to cover his escape before fleeing from the fight to find Robeson himself.
Back at the Four Freedoms Plaza, Scott explains to Namor that Sue and the others went to Brazil. He takes him to Reed's Time/Space lab where he sends Namor off on the Time-Platform. Before he goes, Namor tells Lang that he intends to petition Sue for membership with the Fantastic Four. Watching from the shadows, the man posing as Boris is surprised by this development and seeks to contact his master and inform him. While at that moment in Brazil, Ben continues to run through the rainforest trying to catch up with Robeson, but soon the others catch up with him. As Ben prepares to fight back, he is suddenly joined by the Sub-Mariner. When Namor tries to appeal to Sue, she ignores his pleas and attacks him. While Namor is fighting, Professor Robseon makes his presence known to Ben. After Ben frees him from his bonds, Kenneth tells him of the device that can change people into Things, and that he believes that the transformations are only temporary.
Meanwhile back in New York, "Boris" contacts his master to inform him of recent developments. This pleases the mystery man who believes things are reaching the critical juncture in which he will enact the final phase of his plan. As the impostor continues his report he suddenly realizes that Cassie has been spying on him and chases after her lest she blow his cover. While back in Brazil, Namor's fight with Sue rages on. Ben and Professor Robeson have sneaked into the temple and examining the writings on the wall, Ben notes how the device works and wonders if this machine could also restore his long lost humanity. They are suddenly surrounded by Mico and his men. Mico then explains to Ben and Robeson that he intends to use the device to create an army of Things in which he will use to take over and plunder the entire world. The Thing will have nothing of this and dives into Mico's army shouting out his trademark battle cry: "It's Clobberin' Time!". Back at the Four Freedoms Plaza, Scott Lang searches for his daughter Cassie when he runs into "Boris". The impostor explains that he has Cassie as his prisoner and tries to blast Scott with a laser, but Lang manages to dive out of the way. This sudden revelation makes Scott realize that Kristoff might also betray their trust as well.
Back in Brazil, as Mico's armies pile onto Ben and pound him, Sue continues her battle with the Sub-Mariner outside. Suddenly, the effects of the strange device wear off and Sue reverts back to human form. Hearing that Ben was fighting alone against Mico's men, Sue and Namor rush back inside. The brutal beating continues until suddenly Mico's men, Kristoff, and Lyja suddenly revert back to normal as well. Mico tries to take control of the situation by holding Kristoff at gunpoint while his men expose themselves to the machine again. However, they are stopped when Sue erects a force field between them and the machine. Bulletproof himself, the Sub-Mariner dives at Mico and easily disarms him. In the aftermath of the battle, Professor Robeson examines Ben and realizes that he has been seriously injured and could die. Realizing his only salvation could be the machine they discovered, the Fantastic Four agree to expose Ben to it. Soon, Ben is placed on the table beneath it and both Professor Robeson and Kristoff activate the controls in the hope they can save the Thing's life.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Invisible Woman, Thing, Lyja, Ant-Man), Sub-Mariner, Cassie Lang, Kenneth Robeson, “Boris”, Hyperstorm, Roberta
Continuity Notes
The man posing as Boris is actually Zarrko the Tomorrow Man as revealed next issue.
The Thing's face is scarred here because he was slashed in the face by Wolverine in Fantastic Four #374. His face is restored in Fantastic Four #409.
Scott refers to the Time-Platform as being the invention of Doctor Doom. While Doctor Doom created the Time-Platform in Fantastic Four #5 and the Fantastic Four did confiscate it, as revealed in Fantastic Four Annual #11, Mister Fantastic was forced to return the Platform to Doom to avoid a diplomatic incident, but not before he could replicate it.
Before being teleported to Brazil, Namor mentions two things:
That Mister Fantastic is dead. Reed seemingly perished alongside Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #381. However, they survived and are prisoners of Hyperstorm as revealed in Fantastic Four #406-407.
He also mentions losing his kingdom. Namor was ousted by his erstwhile son Llyron in Namor the Sub-Mariner #56. Moreover the kingdom of Atlantis was raised from the ocean floor in Namor the Sub-Mariner #62.
Sue mockingly refers to Namor as her "love" in this story because there is a long history here: Namor was constant competition for Sue's affections since the Torch revived him in Fantastic Four #4. Sue eventually decided on Reed over Namor following the events of Fantastic Four Annual #1 (as explained in Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special #1) and Namor eventually moved on when Reed and Sue were married in Fantastic Four Annual #3. She also chastises Namor for taking advantage of her grief following the "death" of her husband. Namor started hanging around the Fantastic Four after learning of Reed's alleged death in Fantastic Four #385.
