An Enemy Among Us!

This story continues from Avengers #401…

Franklin Richards' new friend Charlie has shown Franklin how to use his powers to alter reality to create a circus right before his eyes. However the strain of maintaining this reality is a bit of a strain for a boy. Suddenly their revelry is interrupted by the image of a woman from Charlies past, a woman called Magda. She warns Charlie not to manipulate an innocent child. However before Franklin can inquire further as to who this mystery woman is, Franklin hears the arrival of his parents ship and turns everything back to normal so he can go and greet them. Franklin wants Charlie to come with him, but the youth tells Franklin that he'll meet up with him later. As Franklin rushes off to meet his parents, the sinister figure known as Charlie vanishes from sight, content with the fact that the boy will be his soon enough. The ship is docked and the Fantastic Four out when Franklin arrives. They check with Scott Lang who informs them things have been quiet, and Franklin doesn't tell his mother the truth of what he has been up to. Exiting the ship, Johnny is approached by his ex-wife Lyja who asks if they can talk and Johnny agrees that the absolutely need to. Nathaniel Richards congratulates the group on their victory over Hyperstorm thanks to the information he provided. This irks Ben who is about to punch out the elder Richards man, when Reed tells the Thing to put his father down.

Suddenly, Roberta calls up to inform Reed that Professor Charles Xavier has come to the Four Freedoms Plaza to see him as well as an incoming priority call from the Avengers. Scott tells Reed that he will field the Avengers call for them while he goes to talk to Xavier. In the comm room, Scott answers the Avengers priority alert from Black Widow who demands to know where Reed Richards is. When Scott says Richards is in a conference, she tries to warn Lang that Charles Xavier is under the control of a powerful entity calling itself Onslaught. Before Lang can do anything with this information, Xavier reaches out telepathically and forces Scott to go to sleep, cancelling the call. At Avengers Mansion, Black Widow relays what happened to Bishop, Iceman, Crystal, Hawkeye, the Wasp and Giant-Man, who all suspect something fishy is going on.

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four meet with Charles Xavier and are shocked to hear that he is requesting the turn Franklin over to him so that he can teach the boy the proper use of his mutant powers. However, Reed and Sue refuse to turn the boy over, intent on raising their son their own way. Nathaniel also pipes in to offer his opinion on the subject, which is to tell Xavier that he has no place to dictate how his son and daughter-in-law should raise their child. While in the hanger, Johnny is waiting for Lyja to say whatever she has to say. Lyja wants to admit that she has been posing as Johnny's current girlfriend, Laura Green, for quite some time, but can't find the words to say it. The Torch begins to grow impatient, but before Lyja can reveal the truth, they are suddenly surprised by someone teleporting in. Johnny quickly recognizes the teleporter as Lockjaw who is bringing Crystal, Hawkeye, Bishop and Iceman into their headquarters, who have come to warn them of a great danger. At that very moment, Xavier has grown tired of trying to negotiate and allows himself to transform into Onslaught. Within a moment of his appearance, Onslaught unleashes a powerful psi-blast that knocks out the Reed, Ben, Sue and Nathaniel. With his primary obstacles out of the way, Onslaught begins searching for Franklin. Moments later, Johnny is leading the new arrivals and brushing off their warning about how much of a threat Onslaught can be when suddenly Reed comes around to corridor and explains what happened. With the com systems down, Reed splits everyone into three groups: One to find Xavier, one to find Franklin, and another to find Scott Lang.

Johnny teams up with Crystal and they find Lang in the comm room. Suspecting that Onslaught might be obscuring their senses, Johnny senses out the heat signatures in the room and detects Onslaught is inside. Johnny charges in headlong only for Onslaught to telepathically force him to fly into the ceiling. He then grabs Crystal, but unwilling to harm her, he instead makes her think she is floating in the void of space. Suddenly Onslaught is ambushed by Nathaniel Richards, but he is far too powerful for Nathaniel, shattering his psi-armor before leaving his defeated enemies behind. Onslaught finds what he thinks is Franklin in the entertainment room, but quickly realizes that it is Lyja in disguise. With the trap already sprung, Hawkeye and the Thing close in for the attack. However, Onslaught distorts the Thin's perceptions so he succeeds only in blindly striking the wall. When Hawkeye tries to use his arrows on their foe, they are blasted out of his hands. In Franklin's room the Invisible Woman searches for her son with the help of the X-Man known as Bishop. Sweeping the room with invisible force fields, Sue detects Onslaught's presence in the room. However, when their individual blasts prove no match for Onslaught, Bishop tells Sue that his powers work by absorbing and rechanneling other energies and suggests she fire her invisible energies directly into him. Bishop screams in pain as he unleashes a powerful blast that seemingly shatters Onslaughts armor and frees Xavier. However, this is merely a ploy to trick Bishop and Sue to get close enough for Onslaught to take them out with a psi-blast.

Across the river in New Jersey are Apocalypse and the Watcher who are watching events as they unfold. Apocalypse muses at how powerful Franklin Richards powers are and their potential, and suspects that their foe is victorious, they could be seeing the beginning of the age of Onslaught. In the Fantastic Four's kitchen, Franklin is drinking coco when he is confronted by Onslaught who is appearing to him in his guise of "Charlie". Seeing that Onslaught almost has his son, Mister Fantastic attacks his enemy alongside Iceman. Although there is a massive battle going on, Onslaught has clouded Franklin's mind to not see the battle and instead is being led to believe that he is playing a card game with Charlie. As the battle rages on, Johnny locates Lyja and when she reveals that she was Laura Green, Johnny explains that he knew that the moment they kissed and tells her that he realizes that he does love her after all. Ben also comes around and remind them that they still have to find Onslaught and save Franklin. Back in the kitchen, Onslaught entices Franklin to come with him. By this point the Fantastic Four and their allies have regrouped and try to attack Onslaught all at once. Annoyed with this latest attack, Onslaught takes them out with a single blast. He then tells Franklin to come with him...

… Onslaught continues in Generation X #18.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Lyja, Nathaniel Richards, Ant-Man, Avengers (Black Widow, Hawkeye, Crystal, Giant-Man, Wasp), Bishop, Iceman, Lockjaw, Watcher, Onslaught, Professor X, Apocalypse, Roberta

Continuity Notes

• Only theorized at this point in time, Onslaught is actually a separate being that is was created when Professor X wiped out Magneto's mind in X-Men (vol. 2) #25. As explained in Wolverine (vol. 2) #104, this caused Magneto's dark side to infiltrate Xavier's mind and grow into its own sentient entity, this goes to explain why the circus is patterned after Magneto's memories and not Xaviers.

• The woman appearing in the circus is based on Magneto's late wife Magda Eisenhardt. As explained in Classic X-Men #12, Magda abandoned Magneto after discovering his mutant powers when he used them to slaughter a mob responsible for their child Anya burning alive in a house fire.

• The tension between Lyja and Johnny is due to the following:

  • Lyja used to pose as Ben's now ex-girlfriend Alicia Masters. As revealed in Fantastic Four #358 she did so during the events of Fantastic Four #265.

  • She pursued a romance with Johnny and they were eventually married in Fantastic Four #300 but Ben eventually exposed her as a Skrull in Fantastic Four #357

  • Meanwhile, as revealed in Fantastic Four #390, Lyja sought revenge against Johnny for abandoning her during the rescue mission that she allowed her fellow Skrull Paibok implant a Sha'Barri egg in her body. Since Fantastic Four #371 she led Johnny to believe she was pregnant with their child.

  • Lyja realized that she still had feelings for Johnny betrayed Paibok to be by his side in Fantastic Four #374. She eventually gave birth to the Sha'Barri egg in Fantastic Four #385. However, she was forced to admit that it wasn't their child in Fantastic Four #390. Horrified by this deception, Johnny rejected her in Fantastic Four #392.

  • What Johnny is not aware of is the fact that Lyja still cares for her ex-husband and has been posing as a woman named Laura Green since Fantastic Four #393 just to be near him.

  • Johnny figured this out after kissing Laura Green last issue.

• As first revealed in X-Men (vol. 2) #54, Onslaught has been interested in obtaining Franklin Richards. The Avengers and X-Men were tipped off after going through Xavier's files in Uncanny X-Men #335.

• Johnny mentions how fighting alongside Crystal again was like when they used to be an item. Johnny Storm and Crystal had been dating since Fantastic Four #64-105 when pollution forced her to return to Attilan due to the pollution in the outside world proving fatal to her after prolonged exposure. On the way she met Quicksilver and the pair fell in love as seen in Fantastic Four #131 and they got married Fantastic Four #150.

• The reason why Onslaught does not attack Crystal is due to the previously stated fact that his personality is based on Magneto. At this point in time, Magneto was led to believe that Quicksilver was his biological son in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4 and as such, believes Crystal to be his daughter-in-law. However, as per Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5, it has since been revealed that Quicksilver is not related to Magneto.

• The appearance of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in this story should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale. The twin towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

Continuity Errors

• The Fantastic Four are seen here just returning home from their battle with Hyperstorm from last issue. However, this contradicts Onslaught X-Men #1 which states that the Fantastic Four were already back home when Onslaught first made his opening attack against the X-Men.

Onslaught Reading Order

Onslaught: X-Men #1, Uncanny X-Men #335, X-Factor #125, Excalibur #99-100, Cable #34, Incredible Hulk #444, Wolverine (vol. 2) #104, X-Men Unlimited #11, Avengers #401, Fantastic Four #415, Generation X #18, X-Men Unlimited #12, X-Men (vol. 2) #55, Green Goblin #12, Amazing Spider-Man #415, Spider-Man #72, X-Man #18, X-Force #57, Excalibur #101, X-Factor #126, Uncanny X-Men #336, Cable #35, X-Force #58, Generation X #19, X-Man #19, Punisher (vol. 3) #11, Incredible Hulk #445, Iron Man #332, Avengers #402, Fantastic Four #416, Wolverine (vol. 2) #105, Thor #502, X-Men (vol. 2) #56, Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1