Rocky Grimm Space Ranger Part IX (of XII): Monster Mash

As Ban Grimm continues his search for Tarianna, who has been kidnapped by the evil Sorcerer, he finds himself in a strange forest thick with fog. He can't help but think that this scenery is almost like the monster movies of his youth and once more thinks back to what he was led to believe about Battleworld when it was first created. His thoughts are broken when Ben suddenly has to dodge out of the way of a horse and buggy. The rider stops his horse and apologizes for almost running him over and offers Ben a ride. However when the man removes his hat revealing he is walking corpse who is carrying a coffin, Ben decides to make a break for it. The ghoul in the wagon follows after him, and Ben makes a run toward a nearby castle. Noticing that the draw bridge has rotted out, Ben makes a leap across the moat and just barely manages to grab hold of the other side. About to fall down into the spikes down below, Ben is saved at the last moment by a man who looks shockingly like Count Dracula. The man apologizes for Ben's brush with death and invites him into his castle as a guest.

Elsewhere this tableau is being observed by the Sorcerer who has Tarianna as his prisoner. When Tarianna chastises the Sorcerer for knowing nothing of her love, the Sorcerer comes back with the same, telling her that Ben loves another woman back on his home world named Alicia Masters. When Tarianna threatens to "deal" with the Sorcerer as the people in her village do, the Sorcerer shocks her by stating her village was imaginary. The Sorcerer then turns his attention away from Ben Grimm and back to the obelisk where the Takers are still trying to locate and return Llrrllllnnllyyrrl's dowry. When they return yet another item that is not what the woman is seeking, the Sorcerer curses them. While back in "Castle Dracula", the Thing has been left by his guest at the dinner table. Grimm is thinking over his decision to stay on Battleworld and his ability to change back and forth between his human and Thing forms. While thinking this over, Ben transforms into the Thing just as Dracula enters the room with his meal. Thinking that Ben is a monster, Dracula attacks. As the Thing fends him off, Dracula then transforms into a humanoid bat and lunges at him. Their fight sends them smashing through a door and down into the dungeon of the castle. There the Thing grabs a broken splinter of the door and jabs it into Dracula's heart causing him to first into flames until the flesh is burnt off his bones, then causes his bones to crumble to dust.

Getting to his feet, the Thing is confused by the fact that the dungeon is Egyptian themed. As he travels down the hallway he is suddenly attacked by a mummy that emerges from one of the sarcophagus. Ben is not only surprised by the mummy's great strength, but also the fact that it can fire beams of energy from its eyes. When the creature tries to bury Ben alive by bringing the roof down, it merely gets Ben angry enough that he strikes the mummy so hard it dissipates into nothingness. Suddenly the Thing is visited again by the Sorcerer and now Ben demands to know who he is. When the Sorcerer explains that he is someone who hates him, Ben doesn't understand, pointing out that everyone who was involved with the Secret Wars was sent home. When Ben tries to charge at the Sorcerer, he is shocked to find that the robe is actually empty. Suddenly a trap door opens beneath him and Ben falls even deeper into the castle where he finds himself face to face with what appears to be the Frankenstein monster.

This story is continued in Fantastic Four #274...

Recurring Characters

Thing, Tarianna, Llrrlllnnllyyrrl, 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's 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 off of a female adventurer named Sharon Ventura.