Mr. Terrific had returned!
Dr. Doom had never been so taken aback in his life. He had disposed of Mr. Terrific - the protégée of his old rival Doc Savage - months ago. He had thought that Terrific was dead. Yet here he stood.
"Aren't you glad to see me, Doom?" Terrific asked.
Inside her prison of accelerated molecules, Rita Farr, the Elasti-Girl, watched with joy as her paramour Michael Holt, a.k.a. Mr. Terrific, faced off with Dr. Doom.
"He's back!" she said, elated.
Her fellow prisoner - Agent Wanda Mason - just nodded, trying to make sense of all this.
Doom managed to compose himself. "I cannot wait to hear the explanation for this one."
"And I can't wait to see you fall!" Terrific countered.
Doom pointed at Terrific. Quickly, Mr. Terrific reached into his jacket and pulled out a small object - a prism. Doom fired an energy ray from his gauntlet. With the super-human precision that only a mind like Terrific's could calculate, Mr. Terrific managed to block the laser ray with the prism. The prism seemed to absorb the ray, reducing it to harmless, colored lights.
"A laser is only light, after all," Terrific said.
"I have a vast arsenal, as you know," Doom said.
"I've prepared for it," Terrific said. "Let's see how you like being on the defensive for a change."
Nearby, Namorita, Robotman, and Adam Strange lurked, hiding. They were watching the fight, waiting for Mr. Terrific's signal to attack.
"You just better stick with the program, pal!" Robotman ordered Adam Strange.
Adam Strange didn't answer. He agreed to help rescue Elasti-Girl, Agent Mason, and Negative Man from Doom's clutches, but the matter of Godzilla was still unsettled. The Doom Patrol wanted his to stay sleeping under the sea, while Adam Strange wanted him to rise!
Mallah regained consciousness. It took him a few moments to get his head together. He remembered where he was. He was on Doom's man-made island. He had just been battling Namorita when that man with the jet-pack appeared and shot him. Who was the guy?
His keen animalistic senses detected the sounds of battle. He got to his feet, took a minute to get his strength back and headed to the fight.
"So, before we fight, tell me," Doom was saying, "how is it that you are here? I left you on Planet X. It exploded. I saw it explode. How did you survive?"
"Thereby hangs a tale," Mr. Terrific said.
Six months ago . . .
Planet X
Mr. Terrific watched Dr. Doom leave in the ship that had been meant to take both of them to the Earth. Doom had abandoned him on the planet, which was breaking up. Terrific gritted his teeth and looked up furiously at the ship as it vanished into the sky. Terrific felt a wave of fear. That may have been his only hope of returning to Earth.
The Gypsy Moon was filling up the night sky. The gravity was causing Planet X to shake violently. It would soon collide with Planet X. Soon, nothing would be left but rubble.
All over the planet, the population was reporting to the sites where the reducing gas would be released. Then the pilots placed them into compartments on the ship. The evacuation was going well. Mr. Terrific was glad that, even if this was his final hour, he had saved Planet X. The only sad part about that is that they would still be under the thumb of the vile Kurrgo.
Meanwhile, Kurrgo himself was clutching a container that held the all-important Enlarging Gas, which would return his subjects to normal size once they reached their new home. Terrific spotted him traveling with his large robot bodyguard. He was amazed when Kurrgo had his powerful robot dump the canister into a fissure. The tyrant and his mechanoid headed toward the rocket. Mr. Terrific cut them off.
"So, that's what you're up to," Terrific said. "Destroy the Enlarging Gas, and so when you get to the new planet, you'll be a giant among me. Except for the pilots of the ships of course."
"The pilots are all droids, designed to serve me," Kurrgo said. "They, and my special robot will remain as they are. I, and I alone, of all the living beings on the planet, will be normal sized. I will then hold my subjects in a grip of fear. They would not dare to resist me, knowing that I could crush them with one finger!"
"It's a clever plan, Kurrgo," Mr. Terrific said. "Except for one thing . . . I'm going to stop you!"
Kurrgo laughed. "Really? You unmitigated fool! You delude yourself! My robot will crush you!"
Kurrgo pointed at Terrific. "Kill!" he ordered his robot. The robot lumbered toward Terrific. Terrific knew how resilient it was, and knew he couldn't fight it. Fortunately, he didn't have to. He pulled out a small vial of the reducing gas and threw it at the robot. In a puff of gaseous fumes, the robot shrank to a size barley large enough to see without a magnifying glass.
Mr. Terrific approached Kurrgo. The Tyrant of Planet X backed up. "Stay away from me!" Kurrgo ordered. Terrific didn't listen. Terrific punched Kurrgo, knocking him unconscious. Terrific tried to get the enlarging gas out of the fissure, but it started to close. He had to leave it. That meant that the people of Planet X would not return to normal size. But ultimately, it didn't matter. Size was relative. As long as they were all the same size, it didn't matter whether they were giants or tinier than an inch.
Terrific flung Kurrgo over his shoulder and tried to reach the ships. The ground was shaking and Kurrgo weighed him down. His progress was slow. He saw the first ship launch. And then the next. Then the next.
He missed them all. The final ship left without him. Mr. Terrific and Kurrgo were the only occupants left on the soon-to-be-destroyed Planet X. Trapped! Stranded!
Terrific racked his formidable brain to think of an escape. For long minutes, nothing occurred, and his attention was fixed on the impending doom coming from the stars. There had to be a way to escape!
Then, an idea came to him. He still had some of the reducing gas left. Doc Savage had long ago postulated a theory of a place called the Pin-Galaxies. This was as good a time as any to prove it.
Terrific let loose the last samples of the reducing gas. He exposed himself and Kurrgo to the largest dose he had used yet. They started to shrink. They kept shrinking and shrinking. They shrank down beyond the bounds of our normal universe. They became smaller than molecules. They kept shrinking . . .
And finally, they stopped. They found themselves in another world. A Micro-World. A universe that could exist inside the head of a pin.
"He was right!" Mr. Terrific said, excited. "Doc Savage was right. Pin-Galaxies Do exist! We're in a Micro-Verse!"
The present . . .
Doom listened as Mr. Terrific concluded his story. "I won't bore you with the details of my time in the Micro-Verse," Terrific said. "I had several adventures during the months I was there. And it was there that I found the means to create the time/space vortex that allowed me to get back to Earth. I also re-created the Enlarging Gas that returned me to normal size! And that's my story!"
Doom was fascinated by the idea of visiting Pin-Galaxies, and made a mental note to do so himself, after he had awoken Godzilla and conquered the Earth. First things first.
"A most interesting tale," Doom said. "Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. And know, according to my watch, it is time for you to die."
"I've had months to prepare for you, Von Doom," Mr. Terrific said. "You won't win!"
Doom couldn't comprehend that anyone could be prepared to match his immense intelligence. He confidently attacked Mr. Terrific. Terrific used the prism to block all of Doom's laser beams. Doom changed tactics and fired several small homing missiles at his foe. But the missiles couldn't detect Terrific's presence or lock in on him. They past him harmlessly and began to circle, as if they were looking for a target. They finally locked in on the nearest humanoid form that they could detect . . . Doom himself!
"Damn it!" Doom hissed, as the little missiles rocketed back at him. He activated his force field. The missiles hit, stunning him, but he withstood the impacts. Before Doom recovered, Terrific lobbed some concussion grenades at Doom. Doom was rocked by the shock waves. Thinking quickly, Doom activated a signal that brought his Doom-Bots out of hiding. They had been kept in reserve in an underground shelter, but now they emerged and closed in on Mr. Terrific. Doom prepared to launch another attack at Terrific while he was distracted.
Terrific knew that it was time to use his ace-in-the-hole. He pulled out a small sphere. He threw it at the ground. "Ever see an EM Pulse bomb, Doom?" Terrific asked.
Doom barely had time to register the danger when the bomb exploded and the Electro-Magnetic Pulse spread out over a fifty-foot area. The Doom-Bot's jerked spasmodically and collapsed. Doom received numerous "Error" warnings in his armor's cyber-monitoring system. And then it all went dead! Doom tried to activate his armor, but none of his systems worked. His armor was no longer and arsenal. Now it was just armor!
Not too far away, Robotman watched, and understood why Terrific didn't want him to come along. If he had been any closer, he would have been neutralized by the EM Pulse. He saw Mr. Terrific giving the signal.
"Let's roll!" Robotman said.
Robotman, Namorita and Adam Strange charged at Doom.
Doom, without his armored weapons, was outnumbered four-to-one. He backed up, trying to find a way to handle the situation.
"Free Rita and Larry!" Terrific ordered Robotman. Robotman acknowledged and set out to rescue his teammates.
Namorita closed in on Doom, when suddenly Mallah popped out of the bushes. "Hello, my dear!" the simian assassin said to her.
Namorita felt an overwhelming rush of fury at the sight of the creature who had killed John Savage, the Sea Devil. She leaped at him, and the two of them battled furiously.
Adam Strange held back, unwilling to participate any further. He wanted Doom to succeed.
"It's just you and I, Von Doom," Terrific said to his armored enemy. "Let's settle this!"
There were no further words. The two brilliant minds, both formidable in combat, locked horns in an inevitable clash. Terrific drew out a small object from his jacket. He pressed a button on it and it extended into a long staff. "This is a warrior's fighting pike, courtesy of the Micro-Verse," Terrific said.
Doom moved in on Terrific, but Terrific was more mobile. Doom couldn't connect. Terrific hit-and-run, battering Doom with his fighting pike. Doom was embarrassed as he got knocked around. So far, his armor had kept him from receiving any serious injury or being knocked unconscious. He couldn't count on that to last, however. Terrific had him on the ropes and Doom knew he needed to come up with something. But what?
Robotman was about to crush the device that was emitting the Accelerated Molecule force field that was holding Rita and Agent Mason. He didn't see the figure behind him.
"Look out!" Rita yelled.
Robotman couldn't evade in time. He was struck by a large, lumbering, faceless creature. Robotman picked himself up. "What the Sam Hill is that?"
"It is an android," another voice said. Robotman saw the source of the voice. It was a man in a green jumpsuit, with wild eyes and hair. "It is my creation."
"Who the Heck Ramsey are you?" Robotman asked.
"I am called the Mad Thinker," he said. "I was summoned here by Dr. Victor Von Doom, to help him stamp out his enemies. I calculate that I shall dispose of you in less than three minutes."
Robotman tried to grab the Mad Thinker, but the Thinker activated a hidden transporter device and vanished. Then the Android grabbed Robotman and tossed him forty feet across the clearing. Robotman got up and tried again. He punched the Android, but it had the ability to absorb any kinetic force used against it. The Android got stronger. It punched Robotman, knocking him further this time.
Elasti-Girl watched, feeling angry and useless. "I've got to get out of here!" she said, "I've got to do something!"
"I wish there was a way," Agent Mason said.
Rita then noticed a fly inside the prison with them. "How did it get in here?" she wondered. Crawling on the ground, she slipped her fingers under the area of Accelerated Molecules. "It doesn't go all the way to the ground. There's about two inches of room underneath."
"How does that help us?" Agent Mason asked.
"You don't know about my other power," Rita said.
Elasti-Girl utilized her other power - shrinking. She reduced herself to half an inch tall. She ran out of the perimeter of the prison, and then grew to fifty feet tall. She stamped towards the Android.
The Android's face opened and flames poured out. Rita stepped back, wary of the fire. Robotman returned and grabbed the Android from behind. The Android wrestled with him, finally throwing Robotman away. This distraction allowed Elasti-Girl to lift the Android up and toss it into the ocean, far away.
"It'll make its back, but hopefully I've bought us some time," Rita said.
Elsewhere, the Mad Thinker, having transported to safety, watched these events on a monitor screen, via satellite. He transmitted some orders to the Android, instructing it to return to the island and finish off the Doom Patrol.
Elasti-Girl stomped on the controls to the force field, releasing Agent Mason.
"Thanks," Mason said.
Robotman was about to free Negative Man, who was still being used as a radiation source to awaken Godzilla. Robotman was about to break the metallic cross that Negative Man hung on, but Adam Strange blocked his way.
"No!" Strange yelled. "Don't do it! I need Godzilla to awaken!"
"Screw you, spaceman!" Robotman said, pulling back his fist to punch Adam Strange. But Strange beat him to the draw and stunned him with his laser blaster. Robotman wasn't seriously hurt, but he was angry. He was about to resume his attack on Adam Strange when a giant hand came between them.
"Hold it!" Elasti-Girl ordered. "Both of you stop this!" She looked at Adam Strange. "Explain yourself! Why should we let Godzilla wake up? He'll ravage the world!"
"Not your world, but mine," Adam Strange said. "I've made arrangements to have him brought to Rann."
"Why?" Rita asked.
"There is a creature on Rann," Adam said. "A colossal three headed beast called King Ghidorrah. It is seemingly indestructible. It's destroying my adopted home world of Rann. We've been desperately seeking a way to fight it."
"Godzilla?" Elasti-Girl asked.
"Exactly!" Adam answered. "I remembered the legends of Godzilla, and as I said earlier, my planet has been monitoring yours. Everyone agrees that Godzilla is the only hope we have of stopping King Ghiddorah. Once we monitored Doom's TV broadcast, we guessed what he was going to do. Please, let Doom succeed, and I'll make arrangements to have the beast brought to Rann! My planet depends on it!"
"We can't just leave Larry trussed up like that!" Robotman said. "Can't ya see he's in pain!"
Rita hesitated, unsure of what to do.
Close by, Mr. Terrific was pummeling Dr. Doom. Doom received some dents in his armor. He was getting so weak that he could barely stand. He was furious. He could not let himself fall to the young lackey of Clark Savage. He needed to delay, just long enough for his plan to work.
Mr. Terrific looked around and saw that Rita and Cliff had not freed Negative Man yet. Did Adam Strange convince them to allow Godzilla to rise? Terrific was unsure about Strange's plan. He didn't want to risk Godzilla rising. But it must be almost time. Larry Trainer had supplied enough unwilling radiation to the beast.
Just as that thought ran through Mr. Terrific's head, he saw the water bubbling. Everyone stared at the sea. Even Namorita and Mallah stopped their battle to see what was happening.
"At last!" Doom said, triumphantly.
The surface of the ocean broke and an immense giant breached, its head rising into the sky. It was 330 feet high, and 66,000 tons. Its fangs were a yard long. Its thick, gray reptilian skin was virtually indestructible. Its heart was a nuclear reactor.
Terrific stared, amazed and afraid. "Angels and Ministers of Grace defend us!"
The beast roared a fearsome roar that could be heard for many miles. This sound was the harbinger of doom!
Godzilla had awoken!
Next issue: Godzilla's awake, and he's not in a friendly mood. He heads for his old stomping ground of Japan. Several other super heroes join the Doom Patrol in trying to stop the unstoppable. Some don't survive. Find out who lives and who doesn't in Doom Patrol #11!