A Moving Experience

The Thing has finally decided to approach Alicia Masters and try and makeup with her after breaking things off due to his fear of Alicia constantly being at risk as long as she's associated with the Fantastic Four. After a slight altercation with some boys playing baseball, Ben arrives at Alicia's apartment and learns that she has missed him and that the man that he thought she was dating was someone interested in her sculptures.

With their romance rekindled, Ben asks Alicia to move in with him to the Baxter Building, because it is the place that he believes that she will be the safest if their relationship is to work out. The two head off to the Baxter Building to confirm the arrangements with Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four, however they are unaware that Ben's old rivals Live Wire and Shellshock are stalking them in the hopes of stealing Alicia's priceless sculptures.

Going to the Baxter Building, Ben announces his decision to have Alicia live with him to the rest of the Fantastic Four, who agree with Ben's idea and welcome their longtime friend into their home. Ben then quickly arranges for movers to move Alicia's things from her apartment to the Baxter Building. The movers, however, are knocked out and replaced by Live Wire and Shellshock, who intend on making off with the moving truck full of statues.

There is one slight complication, however: When all of Alicia's items are loaded into the truck, the Thing insists that he rides shotgun to make sure that nothing gets damaged. However, the two villains manage to shake Ben off the truck by taking a sharp turn and speeding off to a pre-arranged warehouse where they have the moving truck repainted.

Upset about the theft, Ben and Alicia try to find it, which takes them to Yancy Street. There Ben spots the moving truck, noticing that it's dripping wet paint. Attacking the truck, he forces Shellshock and Live Wire to stop and engage him in a fight. Ben at first finds himself outmatched against the crooks high tech weapons, however, he is given a helping hand from the Yancy Street gang who believes that nobody should mess with the Thing -- except for them. With the Yancy Street Gangs help, Ben makes short work of the two crooks and turns them over to the police.

When Ben thanks the gang for their help, they spout their usual string of epitaphs about the Thing being a dumb clod and tell him to get out of Yancy Street. Ben, however, believes that the gang is finally warming up to him and he and Alicia leave in their moving truck, unaware of the fact that the Yancy Streeters painted "The Thing is a Butt-Head" on the back of the moving truck.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Thing, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch), Alicia Masters, Yancy Street Gang, Shellshock, Live Wire

Continuity Notes

• The Thing makes up with Alicia in this issue after briefly breaking up with her in Marvel Two-In-One #64. Ben mentions that he saw Alicia with another man in Marvel Two-In-One #67, but she confirms that it was not a romantic relationship. Although she agrees to move in with Ben, they eventually realize that it's not very safe for Alicia to live in the Baxter Building and she moves out again in Marvel Two-In-One #81.

• Livewire and Shellshock are going after the Thing to get revenge against the Fantastic Four for defeating them back in Fantastic Four Annual #5; when they were just hired stooges for Psycho-Man.

• The Yancy Street gang has animosity towards the Thing because he used to be a member of the gang in his youth until he moved away from Yancy Street, as explained in Thing #1. The Yancy Street Gang took this departure as a betrayal and has tormented him ever since.