No Home For Heroes!

The Sub-Mariner emerges from the Atlantic Ocean and heads for New York City as he needs a break from his royal duties. Arriving in Manhattan, the Prince of Atlantis goes into a shop and demands the most expensive clothing. The shopkeep humors him until Namor has selected an outfit and is about to leave. When the shopkeep demands payment, Namor hands him a handful of pearls that more than cover the cost of the clothing.

Meanwhile, in the SoHo district, the Thing is helping Alicia Masters move into a new apartment after her short stay at the Baxter Building, having realized that it is too dangerous for her to continue living at the Fantastic Four's headquarters. When Ben asks again why she has decided to move out, Alicia reiterates how dangerous it was for her to continue living at the Baxter Building and offers that perhaps they acted too quickly when they decided to move in together. She tries to reinforce to him that she does love him for who he is, but Ben is going through one of his bouts of self-doubt and excuses himself to get some fresh air. As the Thing walks down the street he continues to brood over his appearance and how looking like a monster has affected his chances of finding true love. However, his thoughts are interrupted when he hears someone screaming for help. He finds a homeless man in an alley being attacked by an AIM Synthoid. The artificial creature is able to knock Ben over with a single punch and then knock him out by emitting gas from its fingertips. With the Thing subdued, the Synthoid reports back to its masters to inform them that it has captured a new subject.

At that moment in the Bowery, the Sub-Mariner has returned to the neighborhood where he spent decades with amnesia. He recalls how his memory was awoken by the Human Torch who found him in a Bowery flop-house and helped revive his memory. With the locals watching him with suspicion, the Sub-Mariner approaches on man and asks about a homeless woman he remembers from his past -- Sunshine Mary. The man tells Namor that he can show him to her but it will cost him, Namor informs the man if he helps he will be rewarded. Elsewhere at the Project PEGASUS facility in Upstate New York, Quasar is summoned by alarm where he finds that his colleague Giant-Man has collapsed. Although Giant-Man brushes off the fainting spell, Quasar realizes that this is just a symptom of the rapidly spreading cancer in his system. Back in the Bowery, the man leads Namor into a ruined building where he claims Sunshine Mary is hanging out. However inside, Namor is jumped by a throng of homeless men. Pulling off his disguise, the Sub-Mariner is easily able to fight off his attackers. With the fight quickly quashed, Namor demands answers. He learns that homeless people have been vanishing from the streets recently including Sunshine Mary and the police are doing nothing about it. Suddenly the man who was saved by Ben arrives and tells the others what happened and how he managed to follow the Thing's captor back to a warehouse on the waterfront. Taking command of the situation, Namor demands to be taken to that location.

Not far away, the Thing awakens inside a glass dome next to a bunch of captive homeless and realizes that he is a prisoner of MODOK and his faction of AIM. MODOK explains to Ben that he has set up this operation to test out the effects of his new creation: a biological weapon he calls Virus X. Ben is horrified by the fact that MODOK has been experimenting on innocent people and decides to not let himself become a test subject either. He smashes free from his imprisonment, but MODOK's Synthoids are quickly upon him. With Ben subdued, MODOK has him enveloped in a cloud of Virus X, infecting him with the disease. Just then the Sub-Mariner and his homeless army come crashing through the doors. While they press on the attack, Ben breaks free from his bonds just as MODOK activates his new Super-Synthoids. With the Synthoids being destroyed by the Thing and Namor, MODOK and his minions flee with their sample of Virus X. Once inside their escape ship MODOK is horrified to find that the canister has been ruptured and is leaking the virus into their ship, but they still escape anyway. With AIM defeated, the homeless prisoners are freed. Finally, face to face with Sunshine Mary, Namor is disheartened when she is afraid of him, having heard of all the times he had menaced humanity since getting his memories back. As the homeless people leave, Ben tries to sympathize with Namor but she brushes him off asking Ben what he knows about loneliness. Before Ben can answer, Namor flies off and heads back to Atlantis. As he watches Namor go, Ben suddenly feels dizzy and collapses on the floor. He then remembers that he was infected with Virus X and if he doesn't do something quick, he will die.

Recurring Characters

Thing, Sub-Mariner, Alicia Masters, Invisible Girl, Quasar, Giant-Man, AIM (MODOK)

Continuity Notes

• Alicia Masters is moving back out on her own after impulsively moving in with the Thing back in Marvel Two-In-One #70.

• Namor recalls his time he was a homeless amnesic man wandering the streets until he was found by Johnny Storm. This happened in Fantastic Four #4. As revealed in Sub-Mariner #1, Namor was stricken with amnesia in the 1950s by Destiny.

• Giant-Man previously had contracted cancer. This happened thanks to radiation he was exposed to while battling Atom Smasher in Black Goliath #3. He is eventually cured in Marvel Two-In-One #85.

• The AIM soldiers in this story are wearing blue costumes as opposed to the trademark yellow uniforms. This is because MODOK was disposed as leader of AIM following the events of Iron Man #70-81 and started his own faction in Ms. Marvel #7. This faction endured until MODOK was seemingly slain in Captain America #313.