The Doom Patrol were descending a deep tunnel leading down to the bowls of Monster Island. In their efforts to find a place to trap Godzilla once the Zeta-Beam returned him to Earth, they tracked down a lead passed to Namorita by Aquaman, about an island of Monsters surrounded by an impenetrable natural force field. Accidentally getting caught inside the force field, they go down into the tunnels, hoping to find the subterranean exit where Aquaman had once escaped from. Accompanying charter members Mr. Terrific, Elasti-Girl, Robotman, Namorita, and Negative-Man, was Halo of the Inhumans.
Namorita was leading the way, using her dolphin-like sonar. "I haven't sensed our escape route yet," she said.
"Let's keep looking," Mr. Terrific said. "We know there's a way out. Aquaman got out, we just need to be persistent and we'll find it eventually."
"Well this is a real fun way ta spend a day," Robotman said, sarcastically.
"Save your breath for walking, Cliff," Elasti-Girl said.
"I ain't got no breath, honey," Robotman replied. "I'm a human robot."
"You're a robot, but I'm not too sure about the human part," Negative-Man said.
"Hey, what's that really annoying sound? Oh, it's just Larry babbling again!" Robotman said.
"Why do you fight?" Halo asked. "The gods we Inhumans worship dictate that we should live in harmony."
"Tell him ta keep his big trap shut and we'll have plenty o' harmony!" Robotman said.
"You want harmony?" Negative-man asked. "Go move into an appliance store. You'll be among your own kind!"
Halo shook her head. "I'm afraid that I do not understand any of this."
Elasti-Girl patted her on the back. "For that, you should thank your gods."
While the group bantered, they didn't notice the periscope-like device that popped up, out from the Earth. However, it wasn't a device for looking, but rather for listening. Down, several hundred feet, someone was listening!
The ruler of this subterranean world was listening. He was a diminutive, homely little man with a large nose. He wore a green jumpsuit, dark glasses and carried a staff. He listened in on the Doom Patrol's conversation.
"Typical aggressive surface men!" he said, disdainfully. "Even to their friends they are hostile. That is why we do not want their kind here. That is why we must destroy them! We don't want them infecting our private little world with their poison. And they will not! I swear it! And the Mole Man always keeps his vows!"
The Doom Patrol moved through the tunnels. Mr. Terrific was still wondering about the mysterious Sentry and its unseen masters called the 'Kree'! Why was that robot here? Who were the Kree and what did they want?
Just then, a loud stomping sound echoed through the caverns. From out of the shadows, a hideous three-headed beast appeared. It growled and snarled menacingly.
"Incoming!" Negative-Man yelled.
"Step aside, little man!" Robotman said. "This one's mine!"
Robotman charged the beast and hooked up, wrestling with it. While the others watched, they didn't know that tiny rock-eating creatures were digging their way upwards, toward the Doom Patrol.
"Come on, Cliffy, put some life into it, will you?" Negative-Man said. "We don't have all day!"
"Don't rush me, bandage boy!" Cliff snapped back.
Before Cliff could finish off the monster, the tiny creatures dug up through the ground. They dug a circular tunnel around Mr. Terrific's feet. The ground crumbled underneath him. He fell into a shadowed pit.
"Michael!" Elasti-Girl yelled, looking down into the pit. It was too dark to see anything. "I've got to go after him! The rest of you stay here."
"Why?" Namorita asked, defensively, feeling that Rita was monopolizing Michael again.
"We can't abandon Cliff!" She said. "He may need help, and he'll never fit down this pit. Stay with him. When he's done, start looking for us!"
"I'm coming with you!" Namorita insisted.
Elasti-Girl was about to argue with her, but she could see that the Atlantean Princess was not going to listen.
"All right, come on!" Rita said.
Elasti-Girl and Namorita dive into the pit, hoping to find Mr. Terrific. Halo hesitated for a minute, and then turned herself into light and followed the other two girls down.
"Hey!" Negative-Man said. "You're leaving me alone with muffler face?"
Robotman finished off the 3-headed beast. He looked around to see that only Negative-Man was still with him.
"I missed sumthin' didn't I?" Cliff asked.
Elast-Girl and Namorita dropped down the pit. Elasti-Girl shrank to her smallest size and used heat updrafts to slow her descent. As for Namorita, her Atlantean body was strong enough to withstand a long fall. But when they reached the bottom, they fell into some sort of web.
"We're caught!" Namorita cried.
"I feel like the Fly!" Elasti-Girl said.
As they tried to wriggle free, an eight-foot spider-like creature appeared, crawling up the web, closing in on them.
"Uh oh!" Rita whispered, nervously.
When Mr. Terrific regained consciousness, he didn't know how long he had been unconscious. Opening his eyes, a blinding, unearthly glow shined over him. If not for the nano-tech circuits in his eyes, he would have been blinded. Focusing his special vision on the source of the bright light, he saw a wide valley of diamonds, each one giving off a glow. Together, they were like a mini-sun. The heat was tremendous. He had to get out before he roasted.
Examining the walls, he found what he was looking for. His optical read-out informed him . . . "One fortieth of an inch opening, forming a six-foot high rectangle. Probability . . . A secret door."
Terrific felt around the area and found the outline of the door. He pushed the center of the triangle and it moved. The door opened. "There's my exit," he muttered.
Once the door closed behind him, Mr. Terrific moved though total darkness. That didn't bother him. With his nano-tech eyes, he could see where he was going. He wondered what else would be lurking in the darkness.
"Come this way," a voice called out.
Terrific saw a door open in the side of the dark tunnel. He debated on going in, and finally concluded that it was the most logical-if not the safest-course of action. He entered the room, wondering what he'd be facing.
Back in the valley of diamonds, the Mole Man entered through a large castle like door that covered a diamond mote. His small, pale, big-eyed servants followed him. They were obedient to the Mole Man's every command.
The Mole Man looked around in surprise. Mr. Terrific was gone. "What? Where is he?"
Elasti-Girl and Namorita were still trapped in the web, while the spider crawled closer and closer. Namorita was frustrated. If not for Elasti-Girl's presence, she could use her Eel-powers to electrocute the web and fry the spider. But if she did, she would kill Rita as well. Not that the thought wasn't tempting to some part of her, deep down. Rita was her rival for Michael's affections, after all. But no! She wouldn't murder her teammate. Not even this teammate.
Elasti-Girl had an idea. She used her growth powers to expand, and to stretch out the strands of the web as far as she could. Once they reached their limit, she suddenly shrank. Now, she had much more slack in the web. She repeated this maneuver several times, until she was able to grow large enough that she could reach out and grab a rock. Using the rock as a cutting tool, she cut herself loose from the web. She dropped to the ground.
"I'll get you out, Nita!" she called to the Atlantean Princess.
Namorita, however, didn't need any help. "Don't bother!" she called back.
Unleashing her electrical power, the web acted as a conductor. The spider got caught in the current. Letting out a shriek, the spider fell from the web, dead. The electricity made the web brittle enough so that she was able to break out, using her Atlantean strength.
Meanwhile, Halo drifted down from the pit in her light-form. Seeing that Rita and Namorita had the situation under control, she drifted off to search for Mr. Terrific. Namorita didn't see her, as she ripped free from the web.
"Good job," Elasti-Girl said.
Namorita didn't like her patronizing attitude. "Of course. I am a warrior of Atlantis! Now, let us go and find Michael!"
Elasti-Girl nodded, hoping that the animosity between herself and Namorita wouldn't end up getting them both dead!
Mr. Terrific found himself in a chamber lit by torches. Sitting cross-legged on a mat was a rather normal looking male. He was thin and lithe. He wore a white bodysuit, green boots, wristbands, a dome helmet with a black band from ear-to-ear, and a black domino mask.
"Hello," the man said. "My name is Karnak."
"Hello, Karnak. I'm Michael," Terrific said, looking around suspiciously.
"There's nothing to be nervous about," Karnak said. "We're alone. I mean you no ill."
"I don't suppose that you're responsible for my little drop from above, are you?" Terrific asked.
"No, that was not my doing," Karnak said. "In fact, I was just going to help you out from that predicament, when you extricated yourself. Well spotted, by the way. Oh, where my manners? Please, sit."
"For a minute," Terrific said, sitting on the mat. "I have friends with me, and I need to make sure they're all right. This place is . . . unpredictable."
"That it is, my friend," Karnak said. "One might say, dangerous!"
"Are you trapped here, as we are?" Terrific asked.
"No. I was, but I found the way out. I can show you where it is."
Mr. Terrific was relieved, assuming that he can trust Karnak. "Thank you. I assume, then, that you remain here by choice."
"I do," Karnak said. "Even if I were of a mind to go, I need to set something right before I go."
"Care to elaborate on that, Karnak?"
Karnak nodded. "If it makes you feel more comfortable, Michael. I came from a place unknown to your modern world. I was a priest. I left my home on a spiritual quest. I traveled on a raft. Stopping here to find some food, I found myself trapped by the invisible wall. It was a struggle to survive on the surface, even with my . . . special talents. So I came underground, and concealed myself in the darkness. I met the indigenous population. Small, simple people, very pliable and easy to take advantage of. I tried to be their friend, to teach them. They don't have a very good capacity to learn, however. They're natural followers. Eventually, I found the path out of here, but decided to stay for a while. This is a good place for a spiritual retreat, and I wanted to help the little natives develop. So, I remained here. And then he came!"
"He whom?"
"I don't recall his real name, if he ever told me what it was," Karnak said. "He calls himself the Mole Man!"
The man who became known as the Mole Man was bitter, and perhaps he had good reason. He was an ugly little man with a huge proboscis, and was ridiculed his entire life. Woman rejected him. Men insulted him. Even finding a job became difficult, in a society obsessed with appearances.
Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer. Stowing away on a ship, he hoped to find a place where he could peacefully live, or peacefully die. The ship hit a rock and sank with all hands. All except the stowaway, who washed up on the shore of legendary Monster Island, with only a small bundle of provisions retrieved from the ship.
Chased underground by some of the beasts of the Island, the little man fell in the darkness, dropping over the edge of a chasm. It wasn't far enough to kill him, but he found that he had lost his sight. Hurt and starving, he was found by Karnak.
The mysterious priest took him in and nursed him back to health. He trained the little man in his unique form of martial arts, and even helped him tap into a part of his brain that allowed him to develop a bat-like radar. The little fellow explored the caverns of Monster Island with his new radar senses, and came to know them better than anyone. He interacted with the simple little people who lived in the cave. He found them accepting of him and eager to serve. It was easy for him to wrap them around his finger. He could make them do anything. He enjoyed his new power over them, and began to get corrupted by it. He had always been the low man on the totem pole of life, but now he was in charge. He also found out that the native population could communicate with the monsters of the island. Using them as translators, he became master of the beasts as well.
Karnak was frustrated by the little man's actions and confronted him. But the small man had the strength of the majority behind him, and chased Karnak out of his domain. Karnak hid deep in the tunnels, hoping to set things right and free the simple indigenous peoples from their servitude.
The man christened himself as the Mole Man. Setting up a throne room, he proclaimed himself master of Monster Island. He made cloths from the provisions he'd saved from the boat and put on dark glasses. Carving out a sturdy staff, he ruled with an iron hand. Anyone who came across his private island paradise was executed. So far, only Aquaman had escaped. The Mole Man didn't intend to let anyone else get out alive!
" . . . And that's the story of the Mole Man," Karnak said.
Mr. Terrific nodded. He could understand the anger and resentment that drove the Mole Man into exile and made him so bitter and hateful. After all, the members of his Doom Patrol were all in similar situations. They were all outcasts of society. None of them were accepted by the civilized world. Under the right circumstances, any of them could have ended up like the Mole Man. In fact, Terrific's father had raised him to be a super-criminal. If things hadn't worked out as they did, Terrific himself could have been like the Mole Man.
"I sympathize with the Mole Man, but I can't let him kill me and my friends," Terrific said. "Nor can I allow him to continue to hunt and kill anyone else who comes to this island, like some twisted version of 'The Most Dangerous Game'!"
"And the local population needs to be freed from his oppression," Karnak added.
"Can you take me to the Mole Man?" Terrific asked.
Karnak nodded. "If that's what you really want. But I sincerely hope that you know what you are doing."
"So do I."
Robotman and Negative Man were moving down the deep tunnels. Negative-Man could barely see. Robotman's mechanical eyes could focus better in the dark. "Stick close, radiation boy," he said.
"I'll just follow the sound of your clanking, squeaking gears, Cliff," Larry replied.
They weren't aware that those same tiny rock-eating creatures were at work again, only this time, from above. The duo heard a rumbling sound. Too late, they realized it was the crumbling roof.
"Heads up!" Robotman yelled.
The roof fell in, burying the two Doom Patrol members.
Next: The Doom Patrol battles the Mole Man and his minions.