Sins of the Fathers

It appears that the Invisible Woman, Thing and Human Torch of the Fantastic Four have come to Olympia, home of the Eternals. They are greeted by Ransak and Karkas who regretfully inform them that Ikaris and the other Eternals are in a important meeting. Suddenly the three visitors attack the two reformed Deviants. However as the fight rages on, Ransak deduces that these are not members of the Fantastic Four but impostors. With the truth figured out, Helio, Gronk and Phobius -- minions of Maelstrom -- drop their disguises. Before the two Deviants can fight back, Phobius uses his powers to make them suddenly crippled with fear. When the Eternals are drawn out by the battle, they resume their disguises and then teleport away with Ransak and Karkas as their prisoners. Ikaris is determined to recover his friends and prepares to make the trip to New York City.

In Central Park at that very moment the Eternal Khoryphos and his Deviant lover Yrdisis are spending time seeing the sights. They too are interrupted by what appears to be the Fantastic Four. However this time it turns out to be the Weird Sisters -- Truth, Beauty, and Charm -- in disguise. They attack, managing to sting both Eternal and Deviant with a special device. However their attack is interrupted by the arrival of the real Fantastic Four. While they manage to rescue Khoryphos, the Weird Sisters manage to escape with Yrdisis as their prisoner. In the aftermath of the battle Sue notices that Khoryphos has suddenly aged twenty years since the fight first started moments earlier. Back at the Four Freedoms Plaza, Scott Land is working on at repairing his helmet when suddenly his teammates return with Khoryphos. When they hook Khoryphos into a life support machine they soon learn that his kinetic energy is being drained from him. This causes Ben to recall a villain he fought once named Maelstrom and wonders if he is responsible. Johnny doubts it, mentioning how Quasar reported that Maelstrom had died in battle recently.

As the Fantastic Four continue to puzzle out this situation, suddenly their headquarters is attacked by Ikaris, Thena, Sprite, Arex and Phastos of the Eternals. Thinking that these might be the Weird Sisters in disguise again, Sue orders her team to attack. As the two teams fight, it becomes apparent that neither are impostors which leaves each side to wonder why they are fighting the other. As the battle rages on Phastos stops to examine Khoryphos body. When it becomes obvious that the Fantastic Four are trying to help their comrade, the fight is called to a halt. Ikaris and his people apologize for the unprovoked attack, explaining that hey fell for their foes attack due to that the departures of Makkari and Sersi among the Eternals has caused a great unease among them. The group learns that when Khoryphos was attacked his lover Yrdisis, it adds another link to the possibility Maelstrom is responsible due to his mixed Inhuman and Deviant heritage. Thena suddenly suspects who the next target will be: her twin children Debroah and Donald Ritter who are half Eternal and half Deviant. Meanwhile at the mansion once owned by Malcolm Stromberg, the Weird Sisters materialize with their prisoner Yrdisis. They take her down into a secret laboratory where Melstrom's minions have Karkas and Ransak as their prisoners. After hooking Yrdisis to a machine that will drain her kinetic energies, they finally have enough power to bring back a ghostly image of their fallen leader. Maelstrom recounts his previous defeats at the hands of Black Bolt, the Thing and Quasar and how he needs more energy in order to restore his body to its former glory. When Helio explains they learned the location of Eternal/Deviant hybrids, Maelstrom orders his minions to collect them immediately.

Elsewhere, Debroah and Donald are driving toward San Jose and their first day in university when their car breaks down. Pulling over to the side of the road they begin trying to fix it when suddenly they are approached by a shadowed figure. Moments later the Fantastic Four and the Eternals arrive to find Deb and Donald's abandoned car. While it appears that they were kidnapped and taken off into the desert, Ikaris is not concerned and tells them they should seek out their secondary objective. Sue is shocked by this lack of emotional concern but agrees to follow them along. They soon fly to the arctic where they find the secret Pyramid of the Winds where they find Deborah and Donald safely in the hands of their father, Warlord Kro. Suddenly they are attacked by Mealstrom's minions and while the Fantastic Four and the Etnerals seemingly fight off their foes, Sue realizes something isn't right. Deducing that the childen here are not really Deborah and Donald, she knocks them out revealing them to be Helio and Beauty in disguise. When they try and figure out what to do next, the Human Torch informs them that during their fight, he managed to place a Spider-Tracer he borrowed from Spider-Man on one of their enemies that they can track.

Meanwhile at Maelstrom's hideout, his minions combine the kinetic energies of Yrdisis, Karkas, Ransak and the Ritter twins, succeeding in resurrecting their master. Maelstrom demands more energy and has his minions continue to pump it into him. Suddenly the Eternals and Fantastic Four arrive on the scene. However Maelstrom is growing more and more powerful and increasing in size. Phastos examines the machines and realizes that Maelstrom is now tapping into the powerful kinetic energy coming from Makkari in space while he is attempting to reach the ultimate speed and there is no way for them to contact him to make him stop. Quickly the heroes manage to unspool a cable and trick Maelstrom into grabbing it so they can siphon out the kinetic energy he is absorbing. As he begins shrinking in size, Maelstrom forcing him to draw energy from his prisoners once more. When he detects something strange about Ransak, Maelstrom examines his prisoner and finds traces of Inhuman genetics in him. Recalling that he once mated with a Deviant woman, Maelstrom realizes that Ransak must be his long lost son. Instead of killing his only child, Maelstrom allows the kinetic energies be drained from his body until he fades into non-existence. His final words to his foes the Eternals is to take good care of his son. In the aftermath of the battle, the captives are freed. Ransak takes a moment to reflect on how his mother told him his father was a good man and begins to cry at the realization that what she said had been a lie.

In the aftermath of the battle Don and Deb ask to spend time with their mother before they start classes and depart with the Eternals. In the end Sue is deeply upset, and Ant-Man points out while the Eternals were there for their family, they haven't been with theirs, particularly when it has come to trying to be certain that Mister Fantastic is really dead, or lost somewhere in time and space.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing, Ant-Man), Eternals (Thena, Ikaris, Makkari, Sprite, Phastos, Khoryphos, Arex, Ransak, Karkas, Yrdisis), Kro, Deborah Ritter, Donald Ritter, Maelstrom, Gronk, Helio, Phobius, Weird Sisters (Truth, Beauty, Charm)

Continuity Notes

• Mister Fantastic is not among the members of the Fantastic Four because he is presumed dead following the events of Fantastic Four #381. However in reality he a prisoner of Hyperstorm as seen in Fantastic Four #405. Ant-Man has taken his place on the team since Fantastic Four #384.

• The Thing's face is scarred because he was slashed by Wolverine circa Fantastic Four #374. His face is totally healed in Fantastic Four #409.

• Ben mentions his battle with Maelstrom back in Marvel Two-In-One #72. Johnny mentions how Quasar reported that Maelstrom is dead. This is a reference to his apparent demise in Quasar #25. However as previously established, Maelstrom cheats death by cloning new bodies for himself.

• The Eternals mention how Makkari has been sent to a "distant sphere", this is a reference to Quasar #58 when Makkari agreed to assist Fastforward in getting back to his home dimension. They also mention Seris's departure and that they don't know where she is. At the time of this story she's been in the Ultraverse since Ultraforce #8.

• The birth of Thena's twin children was first revealed in Eternals Herod Factor #1.