File:Fantastic Four Vol 1 170 001.jpg

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At first, Ben thinks that the Thing who will replace him in the Fantastic Four is the Reed Richards of Earth-A, but when Reed calmly removes the head from the Thing figure, it becomes clear to Ben that the new "Thing" is not alive at all. Reed explains to Ben, Johnny, and Sue that his Project X was to construct a Thing-shaped exoskeleton for Ben, and Johnny adds that this suit will increase the wearer's muscle power several times. As Reed displays a diagram of the suit, he says that he hopes it will restore most of the strength Ben once possessed. Ben apologizes for becoming angry, and Reed explains that he wanted to keep the project secret in case it didn't work out. Then the Fantastic Four turn their attention to locating Luke Cage, who went berserk a few minutes ago at the headquarters. Something had apparently taken over his mind, and Cage battled them, but they held back and he managed to escape in the Fantasticar. Johnny's arm was sprained in the fray, so he will have to stay behind. Reed then asks Ben to put on the exoskeleton, saying that as far as the lawyers are concerned, Ben now fits the definition of a super powered member of the Fantastic Four. At first, Ben finds the suit awkward, but Reed helps him, and Ben soon gets used to it. At Reed's direction, Ben destroys a huge slab of concrete with a single punch, and Reed declares that Ben finally has what he has always wanted—the power to become Ben Grimm at will. But Ben still does not feel like a super hero. That incenses Reed, who starts to berate Ben for feeling sorry for himself. If Ben does not want the suit, Reed continues, then he will find someone who does. At this Ben hurls Reed into a bank of machinery, but he quickly realizes that Reed was probably just baiting him, and the teammates stop quarreling. Meanwhile, Sue is taping up Johnny's arm. She wonders where Alicia is, and when the other teammates realize that Alicia is gone, Sue understands why Luke Cage avoided hurting Alicia even when he was going berserk. Alicia must have deduced who had taken over Cage's mind, says Ben, and he suddenly knows who it was as well. Reed and Ben then rush to a chamber and Ben rips the door out of the wall. Inside is a spare Fantasticar a copy of the original bathtub-shaped version that Johnny modified into the improved model years ago. A few seconds later, Reed and Ben are on their way in the aged vehicle. Reed asserts that the principles on which it was built are still sound, but the newer Fantasticar is quite a bit faster. Ben wonders whether Luke Cage is now off the payroll, and Reed replies that Cage was donating most of his salary to charity anyway. At a maximum-security prison not far distant, Alicia Masters is brought by helicopter to the warden, Darryl Williams. He sent the aircraft in response to her telephone call and as a favor for the art therapy she gave his inmates last month. When Alicia asks Williams how her father has been, he replies that the Puppet Master stopped raving a while ago and became a model prisoner. Alicia thinks he has been up to something from inside the prison, but the warden notes that they have taken many precautions. Soon the warden leads Alicia to her stepfather's special cell, and she embraces him, but she is not there for a friendly visit, and she accuses him of using a puppet to take control of Power Man. He denies this, but Alicia says that although she preferred to think he was not guilty, everything added up. When he tried to take control of the Thing, she continues, he couldn't do it, because he was unaware that the Thing had turned back into his human form and was no longer controllable with the Thing-shaped puppet. Then, when he learned that Power Man had joined the Fantastic Four, he changed the doll accordingly. The warden declares that his men have gone over every square inch of the cell and have not discovered any puppets. But Alicia says that perhaps she will have better luck with her sensitive fingers. Williams then says that they even went over the walls with Geiger counters, but Alicia says that Phillip Masters is far cleverer than they give him credit for. It was pretty easy for him to find a way to conceal the radioactivity from the Geiger counter, she continues. Soon Alicia finds a loose stone in the wall, and when a guard pries it out, they find a glowing doll of Luke Cage. But the Puppet Master shouts that Alicia guessed his secret too late, and he wrenches the puppet out of the guard's hand. Then, under the Puppet Master's mental control, Luke Cage drives the Fantasticar into the wall of the Puppet Master's cell. Warden Williams tells his guard to open fire, but the bullets bounce off Cage's impervious skin, and Cage knocks both warden and guard unconscious. Then the Puppet Master orders Cage to carry himself and Alicia into the Fantasticar, admonishing Cage not to harm her, the only person in the world whom he still loves. Cage cannot understand why, although he thinks and talks the same as always, he is doing what the Puppet Master wants instead of what he wants. The Puppet Master explains that the puppet he made with the last of his radioactive clay represents the ultimate achievement of his intellectual prowess. But just then, Reed and the Thing, in the old Fantasticar, appear overhead, and the Thing leaps down and starts battling Luke Cage. As Cage fights back, Alicia pleads with her father not to let them kill each other, but the Puppet Master says that he must have his revenge against the Fantastic Four. Neither Cage nor the Puppet Master knows how Ben has once more become the Thing. The Puppet Master exhorts Cage to keep fighting, saying that he designed his final puppet to let Cage, retain most of his own personality and thus be a more effective tool. Gripping the puppet tightly, the Puppet Master breaks into a sweat as he exerts his mental control, and Cage, apologetically, continues pummeling the Thing. Ben can feel Luke fighting the Puppet Master's control, but he realizes that he cannot allow himself to hold back, because he is still unused to the exoskeleton and it does not make him as strong as he was. Suddenly Ben and Cage slam into each other, and the impact rocks the Fantasticar and causes the Puppet Master to drop the puppet overboard. Then Alicia falls overboard, too, and the Puppet Master, hesitating momentarily over the choice of which to save, leaps for Alicia. The Luke Cage puppet plunges into the river below, but Reed catches the Puppet Master and Alicia before they can impact, and they climb up Reed to the old Fantasticar. As Ben and Luke grapple on the other Fantasticar, the Puppet Master's doll sinks beneath the surface, and Luke suddenly shouts that he is free. Ben soon figures out what has happened, and as he lets Luke go, Reed tells him that Alicia is safe. Soon the Puppet Master is back in prison, and Ben, Reed, Luke, and Alicia head back to the Baxter Building. Ben sympathizes with Alicia, who is crying because the Puppet Master, evil though he may be, is the only family she has. And Ben starts thinking that, given his new exoskeleton, he might actually make a suitable husband for Alicia.