Wolf at the Door: Part 2

With their vast fortune gone and having just been evicted from the Baxter Building by the City of New York, the Fantastic Four are forced to skrimp together their money and rent an apartment. With limited funds, they are stuck looking at buildings that are well below their usual standard. However, they find that due to their reputation every landlord rejects them for fear that their buildings could be demolished in a super-villain attack. They finally find luck at the Hotel Cheshire in Washington Heights. The owner rents to them because he firmly believes that everyone deserves a place to live even during the worst of times, something Sue greatly appreciates the gesture. Outside, Johnny and Ben are coming to terms with their situation when Sue comes out. She informs them that the two of them will share their room with Franklin. This upsets Johnny because he has lost all sense of privacy and this is the last straw for him. Deciding that he can make it through this transition by couch surfing the flames on and flies away. Meanwhile, Reed is at the Baxter Building packing up their personal belongings. Lost in thought he recites chemical formulas while trying to find a way to restore their lost wealth. When he comes across a photo of the family just after Valeria was bored, Reed realizes that he has no idea how to resolve the problem at this time.

Later, Sue begins her first day as an English teacher at Pembrooke Academy. While she is trying to introduce herself one of the students tries to shoot spit-balls at her while she is writing on the chalkboard. When diplomacy fails, Sue threatens to make the student’s clothes invisible if another one is lobbed at her, making the entire class embarrassed enough to behave themselves. While at the apartment of his girlfriend Kourtney Keating, Johnny learns that not only is she not letting him move in, but she is also breaking up with him so she can date another actor. Johnny's protests over this are interrupted when a window washer is at risk of falling to his death. As Johnny flames on and rushes out to rescue him, Kourtney tells him to lose her number. While at his school Franklin is waiting for one of his family members to pick him up. As he wonders what is keeping them so long he thinks about all the changes they have had to endure since they moved out of the Baxter Building and decides that he needs to be brave like his Uncle Ben.

Ben's first day on the construction job has him doing the mundane task of going on a coffee run. On his way back to the site he happens to spot a police chase. Seeing one of the crooks firing on police, the thing incapacitates their car. Even though he prevented a robbery from succeeded all Ben can think is about his break being over and if he is going to get docked pay for this. It's then that he realizes the coffee order was smashed and has to go back and refill it. Back at the Pembrooke Academy, Alicia Masters pays a visit to Sue and informs her that Reed failed to pick up Franklin from school. This is because Reed has been going over equations, he's still going over it when Sue returns home and scolds him for forgetting about their son. She reminds him that anyone could attack Franklin if they found out where he was. Reed apologizes and then explains that he is trying to come up with a formula that will assist them in earning back their lost revenue by manipulating the stock market. Sue points out that it could take years to figure it out and tells her husband that he needs to focus on the here and now in order to solve the family's problem. With all the stress Sue is under, Reed promises everything will be better and that they will find a way out of this. Sue can only think about how her husband let her down this day.

That evening is a downpour and the Thing finds Johnny standing out in the rain. The two begin talking about the days events and Johnny admits that he was acting like a jerk earlier at the hotel and that he has been going about the situation all wrong. Johnny confides in the fact that outside of the super-hero community he doesn't have any real friends that he can rely on. Ben tells Johnny not to mope, saying that's something that the X-Men do, and assures him that no matter what Reed will find a solution to their problem. As they walk into the building they are unaware that Reed is wracking his brain to find a way to solve their problems and finds nothing comes to mind.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Kourtney Keaton, Franklin Richards, Alicia Masters

Continuity Notes

• The events of Marvel Knights: 4 #1-12 occur between Fantastic Four #516 and 517.

• Johnny states that in this story he is twenty-five years old. He was sixteen when he first became the Human Torch circa Fantastic Four #1. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, at the time of this story, the Modern Age was ongoing for eleven years. This would actually make Johnny twenty-seven years old. Given that he’s dating a celebrity in this story, he’s probably lying about his age.

• In this story, Kourtney implies that she is dating actor Keanu Reeves. This should be considered a topical reference as it will soon become dated.