Thing #21
Rocky Grimm Space Ranger Part XI (of XII): Revelations!
With Tarianna as his prisoner Grimm the Sorcerer gloats as his end game is coming to a close: His monitor shows Ben Grimm at the doors of a fake Baxter Building accusing his best friend Reed Richards of putting him through his recent troubles on Battleworld, unaware that the real creator of his current miseries is apparently himself. The Sorcerer then raves about how he will finally be free and Ben Grimm will be destroyed and that he will have Tarianna for himself. When Tarianna denies him this, the Sorcerer becomes angry and begins hitting his prisoner. Suddenly the Sorcerer stops his attack when suddenly his hand begins turning into rock. Outraged by this, Grimm insists that he must be human no matter what, stripping off his cloak and revealing a Fantastic Four uniform underneath. Witnessing this insanity, Tarianna begins trying to struggle free.
Outside the phony Baxter Building, Ben Grimm is still trying to call out Reed Richards, thinking that his old friend has been behind this entire episode on Battleworld. With the door no opening, Ben decides to test out his theory that his environment seems to mold to his thoughts. Thinking about a button to open the door, on suddenly appears allowing him to open them. There he is greeted by a construct resembling Sergius O'Houlihan, the doorman at the Baxter Building. Sergius is friendly enough to start, but when Ben realizes that he doesn't have his special belt buckle that activates the elevator to the Fantastic Four's headquarters, the doorman suspects that Ben might be an impostor and pulls a gun on him. With no other choice, Ben knocks O'Houlihan out with a single punch then pries open the doors to the elevator. With the car nowhere to be found, Ben then begins the long climb up the elevator shaft. As he makes his way up, he misses the sight of the walls in the outside lobby starting to bleed.
Elsewhere on Battleworld, Llrrllllnnllyyrrl and her master Ultron have enslaved her people and put them to work constructing a new body for the robot's head. When the body is completed, Llrrllllnnllyyrrl then places Ulton's head upon it, allowing the robot to come completely to life. In thanks for her help, Ultron uses his weapons to disintegrate Llrrllllnnllyyrrl. Ultron then declares that all life will be forfeit. Back at the phony Baxter Building, Ben continues his climb, mulling over his current situation and his fading relationship with Alicia Masters all over again. Ben comes to the realization that while he still loves Alicia he is no longer in love with her. While up at the top of the building, Grimm the Sorcerer struggles to maintain his human form, fighting off a transformation into the Thing. He soon begins to suspect that somehow Tarianna is responsible for this transformation. When she scoffs at this, the Sorcerer drops yet another bombshell on Tarianna: That she is not a fully developed human being, but only the product of his and Ben Grimm's shared imagination. Hearing this Tarianna suddenly realizes it is true and struggles to maintain her sanity. Meanwhile, Grimm the Sorcerer fights off his transformation into the Thing and succeeds, however down in the elevator shaft, Ben Grimm suddenly transforms into the Thing, allowing him to climb up to the top much faster. Ben rips through the elevator door on the top floor only to find himself in a strange green room. Suddenly, massive fists come out of the walls and begin pummeling him about. He is soon overwhelmed by the assault. The hands then toss him back through the elevator shaft where Ben falls to the very bottom, landing in the Sorcerer's laboratory. With the Thing now unconscious, Grimm the Sorcerer vows to destroy the Thing once and for all.
Recurring Characters
Thing, Tarianna, Grimm the Sorcerer, Ultron, Llrrlllnnllyyrrl
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.
Ultron's body is rebuilt here, it was destroyed during the events of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12, stranding him on Battleworld.
Ben comments on his drifting relationship with Alicia Masters. The pair have been dating since Fantastic Four #9. After Alicia was tortured by Annihilus in Fantastic Four #251-256. This caused Ben to begin re-evaluating their relationship from Thing #2-10.
