FF #12 — Nick Peron

Mar 16

Mar 16 FF #12

Too Many Kids

This story continues from the events of Fantastic Four #600...

Having activated the panic device, the children of the Future Foundation have teleported the top three floors of the Baxter Building onto a mountain top in order to get away from the hordes of Annihilus. With the danger back home, the children all agree that they will need to find help. That's when Valeria informs them that they are not far from Latveria, the home of her "Uncle Doom". With nowhere else to go, the children begin making preparations to travel down the mountain.

However, their arrival has not gone unobserved, as they were seen by the last surviving member of the Interdimensional Council of Reeds. He questions if this is Nathaniel Richards' doing, Nathaniel doesn't deny it and suggests that they have Kristoff send a recovery team to pick them up. They go to Kristoff and Doctor Doom, and when Kristoff demands that Reed removes the shackle that keeps Doctor Doom his slave, Nathaniel tells him to wait, that Doom will be freed when the time is right. In the meantime, Nathaniel asks Kristoff to rescue the children from the mountains.

On the mountain, the children are complaining about the cold and being hungry when they are found by a Doombot which escorts them back to Doom's castle. Valeria and Franklin are happy to see their grandfather and tell him of everything that is happening in New York. Valeria whispers to him that she is putting up a pretense, as she remembers how he told her to bring the children to him...

Months earlier, Nathaniel Richards came to Valeria as she is working on a prototype lightsaber for Franklin and Leech. Val becomes frustrated with her grandfather when he continues to drop hints about the future. She warns him against the possible temporal anomalies, and other hazards his interference might cause. He points out that isn't how it all works, pointing out that if she believed in the risk, she wouldn't have contacted Doctor Doom. When he says 'all hopes lie in Doom', he explains to Valeria that he was the one who sent the future Franklin Richards to her. Reminding her of everything the future Franklin told her, he begins outlying his plans moving forward...

Soon the Future Foundation children are going over plans with Kristoff, Nathaniel and Doctor Doom. Once again, Kristoff demands that they turn off the slave collar that is incapacitating Doctor Doom, but Nathaniel insists that they only will when the time is right. With their plan all figured out, Valeria tells Kristoff to gather all the Doombots can spare. Soon they are back at the ruins of the upper floors of the Baxter Building. There they access Mister Fantastic's secret lab and repair the Bridge. With the device fully functional, the alternate Reed Richards tells Valeria to activate the portal as it is time for him to return home.

Recurring Characters

Future Foundation (Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Alex Power, Dragon Man, Bentley-23, Leech, Artie Maddicks, Turg, Tong, Korr, Mik, Vil, Wu), Nathaniel Richards, Doctor Doom, Kristoff Vernard, Reed Richards-Alpha