Bizarre Love Triangle

The Fantastic Four and the New Fantastic Four have just turned D'Lila over to the Skrulls when they are suddenly interrupted by the Mole Man who has decided to renew his fight against them all for intruding upon his domain. The Invisible Woman explains this all happened when D'Lila attempted to claim the Inorganic Technotroid by faking the death of the Fantastic Four and manipulating Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider into helping her find it. Now that the Technotroid has imprinted itself on Giganto, the threat of D'Lila using it as a weapon is now over. They convince the Mole Man to cease conflict and he agrees to retreat but warns them against attacking his kingdom again.

Aboard the Skrull ship, the mysterious time traveler that has been collecting items of power through time appears aboard the Skrull ship. There he disables the psychic blockers that keep De'Lila incapacitated. However, when she murders the Skrull crewmen, Ghost Rider detects that innocent blood has been spilled. When De'Lila emerges from the ship she tries to use her telepathic powers to enthrall both Fantastic Four teams. It doesn't work on the Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel, Ghost Rider, or Spider-Man - the women and Ghost Rider were naturally immune and Spider-Man's spider-sense warned him to look away - but affects the others. Needing a way to snap the others out of De'Lila's control, Spider-Man helps the Thing snap free by kissing Ms. Marvel. This makes the Thing jealous enough to snap Ben out of the Skrull's mind control. He then kisses the Invisible Woman making both Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch out of this control as well. While the two Things contain the Hulk, Ghost Rider frees Wolverine with his Penance Stare, releasing Wolverine of De'Lila's control by making him relive the pain he inflicted on others during a single day in the First World War.

By this point, De'Lila has recovered from the attack and tries to renew her attack, but when he notices that she is outgunned and agrees to surrender to the Skrulls. After the aliens leave, most of the New Fantastic Four depart on their own business. Spider-Man lingers behind to talk to Sue about how uncomfortable it was kissing her and makes sure that they are cool. While down below, the Mole Man observes the invaders on the surface and sees that they are on their way. He is unaware that the mysterious time traveler has returned and taken a sample of the Technotroid's armor before returning to his own time. With everything he needs, this villain is prepared to finalize his attack on the Fantastic Four.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), New Fantastic Four (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Ghost Rider), Skrulls (De’Lila), Mole Man, Kristoff Vernard, Giganto, Inorganic Technotroid

Continuity Notes

• This story takes place immediately after the events of Fantastic Four #349 where the Fantastic Four and the New Fantastic Four stopped the Skrulls from obtaining the Technotroid.

• Spider-Man mentions that "one time" he hit on Sue, he's referring to the events of Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual 1996 when he asked Sue out on a date to get under the Torch's skin.