#9:
“CAUGHT
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE!”
WHAT HAS COME BEFORE: Captured by Dr. Faustus, the Human Torch and Toro broke free, only to
be gassed. Although the gas had no effect on the Torch, Toro is groggy and
unsteady on his feet, which is a problem since the original Moonstone and the
Captain America of the 1950’s have arrived to subdue the two torches!
Meanwhile, “Ann Raymond” has been revealed to be a patient of Dr. Faustus,
suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder, and an unhealthy obsession on
Toro (who has reason to believe that his family may be in jeopardy).
The Human Torch stands on a damp floor, his flames consuming his body, as Toro leans against a wall beside him, trying to stay awake, suffering from the effects of gas supplied to Dr. Faustus by AIM. Dr. Faustus stands, his hands on his hips, watching as Moonstone and 50’s Cap walk towards the Torch and Toro.
“Subdue them!” Dr. Faustus orders. “There is too much to lose if they escape!”
“Don’t worry,” 50’s Cap replies, slamming his fist into his left palm, as he walks towards the Torch menacingly. “This’ll be my pleasure!”
“Not if I can help it!” Moonstone responds, sending out a blast of energy at the Torch, which hits him hard in the pit of the stomach, sending him back against the wall. The Torch looks over at Toro, who slides down the wall, landing on the floor unsteadily.
“They’re using my distraction against me!” the Torch silently considers, getting to his feet once more. “They know I can’t cut loose against them, and defend Toro at the same time...but I have to, or I’ll be dead in the water!”
“Cap” slams his fist into the Torch’s jaw, with a powerful uppercut that sends the Torch staggering. “I’ll have to thank the scientists who came up with these treated gloves,” he remarks. “I didn’t feel anything more than a little heat just then!”
“You’ll feel more now!” the Torch angrily retorts, sending blasts of flame at “Cap”, who raises his shield instinctively, blocking the blasts of flame, and sending fiery sparks in all directions.
“I don’t think so,” “Cap” responds, bringing his shield down against the Torch’s shoulder, causing him to flinch in pain. “This may not be the same shield I used to use, but it’s good enough to block your flames!”
Human Torch rises up, sending out waves of flames and intense heat at “Cap”, who falls back. Although he raised his shield to deflect the flames, the intense heat drives him back like a blow to the face. “Cap” falls to the ground, on his hands and knees, as he tries to regain his breath, his strength momentarily sapped by the intense heat.
“I don’t care what you think, you lunatic!” the Torch replies, getting to his feet. “It seems that Dr. Faustus is living up to his reputation—hiring madmen to do his dirty work!”
“Enough!” Moonstone exclaims, hitting the Torch in the face with his energy-charged fist, driving the Torch back with the sheer force of the blow. Moonstone presses his advantage, as the Torch staggers back. “This feels great!” Moonstone comments, a sinister smile on his face, as he delivers another blow to the Torch’s mid-section, doubling him over. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt my own power*, not someone else’s**, surging through me! I never forgot how much I missed it!”
[*Karla Sofen stole his powers
by tricking him out of his moonstone, as revealed in Incredible Hulk
#229.]
[**He gained the powers of
Count Nefaria, calling himself Nefarius, in Captain America #379.]
“As much as you missed your sanity?” the Torch counters, blasting Moonstone back with a heat blast to the chest. “You haven’t been the same since you lost your moonstone...have you?”
“Silence!” Moonstone is enraged, energy crackling from his body, as his anger grows in intensity. He sends out the energy in a blast at the Human Torch, who puts up a heat and flame shield, blocking it from reaching him. “That }!+(# Sofen did that to me, but I’ve fought my way back. I’m no longer the sick man I was...thanks to her. And, rest assured, she will get what’s coming to her. I won’t be fooled by her tricks again!”
As the Torch is distracted with his battle with Moonstone, he is struck in the back of the head by a flying shield, which jerks his head forward with sudden intensity! The shield then returns to the hand of “Cap”, who holds onto it, feeling its weight in his hand. “Not the same shield I used to use,” he thinks to himself, “but effective, all the same. Apparently, this shield used to belong to some idiot calling himself USAgent. Well, it’s mine now.”
The Torch falls to his knees, his head spinning with the pain of the shield, struck with the power of “Cap’s” incredible strength. Moonstone stands over him, his hands crackling with his lunar energy, as a sinister smile crosses his face.
“You’ll see...everyone will see,” Moonstone comments, as he directs his hands towards the Torch, who is still on his knees. “I’ve been mocked for the final time by the likes of you!”
Suddenly, the walls collapse behind Moonstone, who turns around in surprise at the sight of Flaming Mask, bursting through the wall as if it was melted butter, bricks and mortar falling in all directions, skidding across the floor under his feet. Behind Fiery Mask can be seen the Challenger, Silver Scorpion, Captain Wonder, and Tim, all rushing into the room.
“Get away from the Torch!” Fiery Mask yells out, as he flies into the room.
“What?” Moonstone exclaims. “Who are you?”
“The name’s Fiery Mask!” the hero replies, striking Moonstone in the face with a powerful blow that sends him into the opposite wall, creating cracks in the plaster that run up the length of the wall. “But you don’t listen very well, do you? I said to get away from the Torch!”
“What’s Cap doing?” Tim asks. He sees “Cap” rushing towards them, anger burning on his face.
“I don’t think that’s Cap,” Captain Wonder replies, moving in front of Tim, as “Cap” meets them, striking Captain Wonder in the face, driving him back across the floor.
“Out of my way!” “Cap” demands, as he continues onward.
“That’ll be quite enough,” Challenger responds, falling back on his hands, as he sends out his legs into “Cap’s” mid-section, doubling him over. “I don’t know who you are, but you’re certainly not Cap!”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” “Cap” replies. “I’ve been out of commission for a long time, but I’m the only real Captain America left!”
“How many Captains America have there been since we were put into suspended animation?” Challenger asks himself silently, as he stands once again, facing off against “Cap”. “I don’t understand your comment,” Challenger responds sharply, blocking “Cap”s” blow intended for his face with a forearm. “I only remember one Captain America!”
“Oh yeah?” “Cap” replies angrily, swinging his shield at Challenger, who ducks under it in a quick motion. “There have been some others who tried to wear the costume, but I’m the only one who respected the legacy!”
“That legacy was started by a personal friend of mine!” Challenger replies. “And I know he never associated with criminals!”
As “Cap” lunges at him, Challenger falls back on his back, grabbing “Cap’s” forearms as he does so, and, planting his foot in the pit of “Cap’s” stomach, flips him across the room, where Captain Wonder is waiting.
“I guess it’s been a while since the world saw this one!” Captain Wonder comments, delivering a punishing blow to “Cap’s” face, jerking his head back and sending him crashing to the ground.. “Now, let’s see if we can finish this Johnny-come-lately off!” Captain Wonder rushes over to “Cap”, who is getting up off the grond, onto his hands and knees, his head looking to be reeling from the blow that Captain Wonder’s super strength struck. Captain Wonder rushes at him from the side, and “Cap” moves back with amazing speed, slamming his elbow into Captain Wonder’s chin, jerking his head back with the power of a powerful upper-cut. Captain Wonder falls to the ground, caught completely by surprise by the power and speed of the blow.
“Wait a minute!” “Cap” says, getting to his feet, as he kicks Captain Wonder in the chest, sending him back to the ground once again. “I remember you. And you call me a ‘johnny-come-lately’! Where’d you get the idea for your costume?!”
The dazed Captain Wonder lies on the ground, as “Cap” prepares to kick him into unconsciousness. Captain Wonder is unable to mount a defense to “Cap’s” attack. Silver Scorpion notices this and rushes forward, grabbing “Cap” from behind, her arms circling his neck, as she desperately tries to hold on.
“This may not be the smartest thing I’ve ever done,” she thinks to herself, as she tries to pull “Cap’s” head upward, resisting against his powerful neck muscles, “I couldn’t believe the way he manhandled Captain Wonder!”
“It must be getting bad when you have to send the women after me!” “Cap” responds sharply, throwing his right arm around Silver Scorpion’s shoulder. In one fluid movement, he kneels forward, flipping her across the room. Although she twists in the air, there seems to be no way to avoid a collision with an unforgiving brick wall.
“Oh no you don’t!” Challenger comments, leaping parallel to the wall, grabbing Silver Scorpion around the waist. The momentum from his leap, combined by Silver Scorpion’s momentum, carries them both to the ground, where they land amid a cluster of bricks and mortar, which are scattered across the floor.
“I’ll have to thank you properly for that later,” Silver Scorpion says, looking up into Challenger’s eyes, as they both lie close to one another on the ground, their bodies still recovering from the crash.
“Now that can definitely be arranged,” Challenger’s smile is lost beneath the mask he wears, but she’s known him long enough to visualize the expression on his face. Challenger stops to think for a moment, about how good it is to have another chance at the life he wanted more than 50 years ago. He shakes his head, not allowing himself to comprehend that it has been five decades—and more.
Meanwhile, Moonstone is firing his energy blasts at Fiery Mask, who is knocked back by the force of the blasts, but is otherwise uneffected. “Faustus didn’t tell us we’d be fighting against an army of WWII vets!” Moonstone thinks to himself, as he intensifies the amount of energy he is releasing, striking Fiery Mask hard in the chest, as he continues to move back, as if being buffeted by small waves that are keeping him off-balance.
Human Torch, meanwhile, has taken this opportunity to walk over to Toro. “I haven’t seen these guys since the 40’s, and they don’t seem to have aged a day,” Human Torch thinks to himself, picking up Toro, and supporting him by putting Toro’s arm around his neck and shoulders, as he pulls them both off the ground. “I don’t know how they managed that, but I look forward to finding out. I do know, though, that they couldn’t have come at a better time. If Toro hadn’t been gassed, we would have already had this fight wrapped up.”
“Don’t worry about me, Jim,” Toro says, as he stands more steady on his feet. “I’ll be okay.”
“I don’t believe that,” Human Torch replies. “You’ve been doing your level best to hold up this wall. Your eyes are still glazed.”
“I know I’m not 100% yet,” Toro admits, while leaning back against the wall slightly. “But, I’m getting there. My mutant body just needed some time to fight off the effects of the gas. Gas isn’t going to hit me the same way it would other people, Jim.”
“Well, all I know is that it certainly hit you pretty hard,” the Torch replies, still holding a cautious hand on Toro’s shoulder. “You couldn’t even stand up on your own.”
“It just took a while to fight it off, Jim,” Toro responds. “I’ll be fine in a couple of minutes.”
FLAMING
FIREBALLS
Things are starting to heat up around here now, as some
of the mysteries circulating around the first few issues are starting to come
to fruition. Hopefully, everyone is enjoying what they’re reading here. As
always, your comments are welcome at jx2melton@hotmail.com.
This series has allowed me the opportunity to correct
some of the mistakes made by Marvel and others over the years, and I’m
certainly glad to have this opportunity. I’m also glad to have the opportunity
to develop the Torch, in terms of his personality and his powers. I think Barry did a fine job or paving the
way for both of those things, and look forward to seeing more of the same in
future issues.