Rocky Grimm Space Ranger Part VII (of XII): Blind Ambition!

With Tarianna having gone missing without a trace, Ben Grimm blames himself, believing that any woman that gets close to him eventually gets hurt -- just like Alicia Masters when she was attacked by Annihilus back home. His thoughts are suddenly cut off by the sound of manacle laughter while trying to find its source, Ben is suddenly visited by the image of the sorcerer he saw earlier. He explains that he has kidnapped Tarianna as a challenge to Ben to see if he is willing to find her or if he will give up and use the device left to him by Reed to return home. Ben considers this briefly and decides not to go. The Sorcerer sees this and tells Ben that had he given up he would have released her unharmed. Goaded into anger, Ben tries to strike the apparition but ends up striking the wall behind him. As he disappears, the Sorcerer warns Ben that her fate is now in his hands. Anger welling up, Ben begins striking at the wall even more until he turns into the Thing and punches straight through it. On the other side, the image of the Sorcerer is waiting for him along with his minion, a towering warrior calling himself the Reckoner. The Reckoner then tries to attack the Thing who defends himself. However, his foe surprises him by blasting blinding light out of his mace, striking Ben blind.

The Reckoner then begins to mock Ben for not being able to find what he is looking for, instead of that the longer he stays on Battleworld the longer he picks up new things on his quest, including women. This angers Ben who charges at his foe, but without his vision ends up plowing through a wall. Needing to get out of the tunnels, the Thing begins pounding his way to the surface where the air is fresh. There he allows himself to revert back into Ben Grimm and discovers that he is blind even in human form. It suddenly dawns on Ben what it must be like for Alicia to live like this and decides that he cannot give up on Tarianna because she needs his help. Grabbing a stick to help himself maneuver through the ever-changing landscape of Battleworld. Each step is fraught with various obstacles that constantly change on the patchwork world.

Eventually Ben runs into the Sorcerer, but unable to tell who the person in front of him is, he is easily fooled into stumbling into a patch of cactus-like plants. While trying to make his way through he quickly realizes the potential danger from the cacti. Suddenly the Reckoner appears and unleashes some dogs upon Ben. In a panic, Grimm makes a break for it through the forest of thorns, getting badly cut. Realizing that he must change into the Thing to defend himself, Ben almost passes out but manages to transform into the Thing just as the dogs descend upon him. Smashing his way through the dogs and the thorns, the Thing confronts the Reckoner. He suddenly hears Tarianna's voice calling out to him, telling him the only way she can be free is if he stops their foe. Ben pummels the Reckoner into submission when suddenly the Sorcerer appears again. He tells Ben that his foe is defeated and he has won his prize. Using his magic, the Sorcerer restores Ben's vision and lets him finally see Tarianna. As it turns out the entire battle was merely an illusion and the Sorcerer has tricked Ben into beating up Tarianna who now lays unconscious at his feet.

Recurring Characters

Thing, Tarianna, Grimm the Sorcerer

Continuity Notes

• This story takes place after the events of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12. In the second issue of that series, Ben discovered that he could change back to human form. By the end of the series he believed it was something to do with Battleworld and decided to stay behind. In reality, as Mister Fantastic deduced in Fantastic Four #245, a mental block in Ben's mind associated with his relationship with Alicia Masters has prevented Ben from willingly being able to change back and forth. A fact that Reed keeps secret from Ben until Thing #23.

• Ben believes that his surroundings were the product of the Beyonder creating Battleworld in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1. However, his surroundings are actually being shaped by his subconscious mind, as revealed in Thing #22.

• Also discovered in Thing #22, Tarianna is the image of Ben's ideal woman. It's later revealed in Thing #27 that Tarianna's appearance is based on a female adventurer named Sharon Ventura.

• Ben blames himself for Tarianna's disappearance likening it to when Alicia Masters was tortured by Annihilus in Fantastic Four #251-256.