East of Eden: Part Three

Mister Fantastic has been saved from a battle with the Frightful Four with an assist from the Scarlet Witch. As SHIELD is taking them away, Reed thanks the Witch for her help because even on his best days he is not good dealing with magic. When she inquires further, he explains that in recent days he has lost his confidence and he feels like he can't do anything right. The Scarlet Witch can relate but assures him that things will get better. When he asks her if it is intuition or has she seen into his face, however, she only responds with a farewell before teleporting away.

Meanwhile, in the Lower Eastside of Manhattan, Wyatt Wingfoot meets with the She-Hulk to talk about his concerns about Johnny. When they start talking about the troubles that have befallen the Fantastic Four of late, they both start thinking that everything is related. They both agree to start investigating things, but quickly, because Wyatt doesn't want whoever is involved finds out that they are onto this. As they are discussing this, someone is watching them from outside in the shadow of an alleyway.

Back at Ryker's Island, the Thing is taken to the showers where he is pounded on by the other inmates. The Thing knocks out the Man-Bull, Vermin and the Mandrill with some help from the Sandman. When Ben thanks Baker for his help, but the Sandman says he "wasn't there" and quickly disappears into the mist from the showers leaving the Thing alone. Back at New Eden, Mister Fantastic gives in to his anger and starts knocking over things. He is calmed down by his lab assistant Cully Moore, who tells him that he can and will accomplish great things because he has done so much in the past. He then reveals John Eden's next big project: solving the world energy demands by getting power from the kinetic energy expended by humans. Before they can get started, Reed is contacted and asked to go to the flight deck. There he finds his wife the Invisible Woman. She tells him that she went to Latveria to try and convince Valeria to come home and almost killed Doctor Doom in battle. She fears that she has been possessed by her Malice persona again.

In Manhattan, Wyatt Wingfoot is riding a cab and trying to reach Johnny on his cell phone. He gets the voice mail and tries to warn Johnny about the possibility that someone is plotting against the Fantastic Four. However, his call is cut short when a costumed figure in the middle of the road shoots an arrow into his cab rivers eye, killing him and causing the taxi to crash. Wyatt gets out of the wreck unscathed but is shocked to see what appears to be Hawkeye attacking him. Wyatt flees into a nearby ally, but his attacker follows him. Seeing that this mystery man seeks to kill him, Wyatt tells him to get it over with. However, before his attacker can do anything more he is webbed up by Spider-Man who wants to know why this masked man wanted to kill Wyatt.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing), Scarlet Witch, Wyatt Wingfoot, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Sandman, Quiet-Man, Gazelle, Man-Bull, Vermin, Man-Mountain Marko, Mandroll, Hawkeye

Continuity Notes

• The Scarlet Witch mentions her walking down her "own dark path". She is referring to losing her mind and decimating the Avengers in Avengers #500-503 and later decimated the mutant race at the end of House of M #8. She finally redeemed herself by revitalizing mutants in Avengers vs. X-Men #12.

• Sue mentions how her Malice persona was created by the Psycho-Man. This is not entirely accurate, Malice was created by the Hate-Monger in Fantastic Four #280. However the Hate-Monger was created by the Psycho-Man, so it's partially accurate.