File:Fantastic Four Vol 1 164 001.jpg

Description
At the Baxter Building, as Reed is testing Sue's force field by having Ben slam into it, one particularly powerful blow sends Ben rebounding into the air. Alicia Masters, who is taking care of Franklin, hears Ben hit the floor and asks whether he is all right. It is nothing he cannot handle, he says as he picks himself up, and he launches himself at Sue once more. But Sue is frightened, and she drops her fore field and ducks, leaving Ben to shatter the wall behind her. Reed chides her, saying that Ben could have been hurt, but she replies that she knows Ben's capabilities. It was either dodge him or get "clobbered," she says, and at least she made sure she was standing in front of an empty wall without electronic equipment on it. Franklin starts to chuckle as Ben brushes himself off, so Ben tries to take Sue over his knee to teach her a lesson. Sue, of course, has other plans, and she turns herself invisible and then turns parts of Ben invisible as well. Disconcerted, Ben gives up the horseplay. Reed is pleased that his experiments have proved that Sue's experience with Xemu's Thunder Horn has permanently increased both the range of her invisibility and the strength of her invisible force field. Just then Johnny Storm enters. He is wearing a new western outfit and he announces that he is going out on a date. Then he flames on and streaks out the window. Ben is glad that Johnny seems to be forgetting his old romance with Crystal. Reed hopes that Johnny remembered to spray his new clothes with flame-proofing solution. Johnny soon arrives at his date's Washington Square Park apartment building. As he lands on the roof, extinguishes his flame and heads downstairs to knock on the door of apartment C-20, he muses that the one good thing about this girl is that she does not know he is the Human Torch. Johnny wants to have a relationship with a normal woman for a change, which is why he is not very interested in seeing Valeria of the Fifth Dimension anymore. Frankie Raye answers Johnny's knock, and soon they are walking through Washington Square Park near Greenwich Village, enjoying an outdoor art fair. Frankie asks Johnny what he does for a living, mentioning that she works as a United Nations translator and that they met in a Second Avenue singles bar. But before Johnny can answer, a brilliant light illuminates the sky above them. Frankie is temporarily blinded, but Johnny follows the stares and pointing fingers of the bystanders and sees a caped figure standing atop Washington Square Arch. The figure, who calls himself the Crusader, proclaims himself on the side of "the angels" and states that he has sworn a "holy war" against all that is evil and corrupt in society. He will not rest until he has laid low the forces of greed and injustice, he continues. As Frankie and Johnny watch, the Crusader flies off the arch and shatters a nearby building with a single punch. His target is the apartment of Calvin McClary, whom the Crusader grabs out of his chair before the horrified eyes of McClary's wife. McClary's apartment is a total shambles as the Crusader hurls him into the street far below. Frankie says that they must call the police, but Johnny would rather tackle the Crusader himself, except that to do so would reveal who he is. When Johnny sees McClary falling, however, he realizes he has no choice, so he flames on and streaks into the air. Frankie is speechless as she watches Johnny catch McClary in mid-air and set him down on the sidewalk next to her. When the Crusader recognizes Johnny as the Human Torch, he is furious that the Torch saved that "rotten scum," but Johnny keeps him distracted and then hits him with a firebolt. The Crusader easily dodges and then hurls a chunk of concrete at Johnny. Johnny melts it with his flame and then attacks, but the Crusader stuns him with one punch. Johnny realizes that the Crusader is not an android, and he is puzzled that his flame has so little effect. Johnny attacks again, but the Crusader turns on the powerful light on his wristband and temporarily blinds him. Unable to see where he is going, and wishing to avoid damaging any buildings, Johnny has to fly straight up into the sky. Then the Crusader turns once more to Calvin McClary. Frightened out of his wits, McClary asks why the Crusader is after him, declaring that he has never seen him before. In response, the Crusader hurls a chunk of masonry at him. As McClary's wife screams in horror, her husband falls to the ground, apparently lifeless. There are others like McClary who still walk free, says the Crusader, and they too shall feel his unfettered wrath. Then there is a blinding flash and the Crusader vanishes. As Frankie Raye and the bystanders gather around Mrs. McClary, the Human Torch, still high overhead, uses the last of his flame to write a "4" in the sky. Then he starts to fall, but Ben spots the signal. Reed quickly stretches himself to the limit and just manages to catch Johnny in time. Reed and Johnny fall onto a roof, but their fall is cushioned by Sue's force field and they bounce down onto the sidewalk. Reed pulls Ben and Sue out of the Baxter Building onto the sidewalk. Then, sheltered from the gawking tourists and sightseers by Sue's force field, the four teammates discuss what happened. Reed soon tells the others to await him at the Baxter Building, and then he stretches his legs and strides toward Greenwich Village to investigate the scene of the battle firsthand.