It’s early morning in Manhattan and the Beyonder fell asleep on the street until a cop rudely awakes him and prods him with his stick. Why do so many encounters with others begin with an intense experience? the Beyonder complains. The cop demands some ID. When the Beyonder doesn’t understand, he asks where he is from. He is from beyond, comes the reply. That better be the name of a town, the cop replies angrily. The Beyonder offers to show him and opens a gateway there, adding there is nothing to see there because he is all in his realm and he is here. Dazed, the cop walks away.
At the next corner, a prostitute calls out to the Beyonder. Is she addressing him? No, she is just standing here, holding up the wall, she quips. Does he want to go out? He desires to understand. Figuring he is a foreigner, the young woman explains she is a “public servant.” One of New York’s finest. And who is he? He yawns when he introduces himself. She chides his manners then suggests he get a hotel room and she’ll tuck him in. He agrees. Drawing him closer, she demands to see some cash first.
This is something he knows. Cash stands for gold; he learned that earlier. He manifests a gold bar out of thin air. The girl becomes scared and hostile and orders him to stay away. He points out she is no longer holding up the wall. So he do it! she snaps. He complies and creates a system of girders to hold it up, causing the girl to panic even more. He teleports away and she calls her pimp Chulo for help.
The Beyonder reappears in the lobby of the sleazy Columbia Hotel, announcing he is weary and desires to remedy that. The porter didn’t see the manner in which he arrived and gives him a room, figuring he looks rich and to rob him later when he sleeps.
The Beyonder walks upwards not using the stairs, walking on air instead. Unaware of how keys work, he simply phases into the room through the doorway. His body’s instincts assert themselves and he falls asleep on the ground. Several hours later, he is abruptly awakened by a group of people. Their leader, a middle-aged man introduces himself as Vinnie, the African-American strong man is Laverne Lacy aka Smurfette, his bodyguards. The mousy woman is his bookkeeper Millie ‘the purse’ Shuriff. The scared prostitute he already knows is Toots and the guy in the mink coat holding her is Chulo.
Vinnie shows the Beyonder the gold brick he made before asking if he made this. The Beyonder agrees and Vinnie asks him to tell them about himself:
The Beyonder’s narration:
In his realm, he was all he knew, until an event of great magnitude opened a small hole into their universe. Through the pinhole, he observed Earth for years. He learned of incompleteness and desire and decided to study it.
He collected beings of great power, offered them a prize and set them upon each other, to see what desire would cause them to do.
They fought. One among them, Doctor Doom, desired more than the prize and fought the Beyonder himself. A mote against the universe. And yet he attained his desire. He succeeded in drawing away the greater part of the Beyonder’s energy. Falsely believing the Beyonder had ceased to exist, Doom turned his attention to his enemies from their realm and destroyed them.
The Beyonder was incomplete for the first time and finally knew desire, the desire to be whole again. However, he was not strong enough to regain his power. He inhabited the body of Doom’s companion Klaw and caused him to use all his faculties in the Beyonder’s service. He attacked Doom in a manner the Beyonder does not comprehend, subtly, psychologically, preying on things humans call fear and doubt.
Meanwhile, Doom’s foes were restoring themselves, aided by an alien healer and renewed their struggle against Doom. In a moment of great confusion and doubt, Doom’s grasp of the Beyonder’s power weakened and the Beyonder regained it.
Then he sent Doom and Klaw away and returned to his realm to ponder events. Even more than before, he desires to understand. Days ago, he came to Earth. He encountered the greatest of them, the Molecule Man, who helped him begin his quest for understanding.
At first he merely watched, then sought the counsel of many. But their counsel wasn’t helpful. Finally one – Luke Cage – spoke clearly, giving him clear advice: namely that he needed money. He paid him for his services with gold, then left, and now he is here.
End of narration
Vinnie asks for his name and is told he is from beyond. Vinnie christens him Frank. When he sees Frank is tired, he orders everyone out except for Toots, who is to keep him company.
Toots tries not to show her fear, as she instructs the Beyonder how to sleep on a bed.
Outside, Vinnie order his people to get some guards and make sure their new friend is undisturbed. He has big plans for him…
Seven hours later, the Beyonder awakes. Instead of the hotdog wagon the Beyonder recognizes, Vinnie takes him and Toots to a good restaurant where Toots patiently teaches him what and how to eat (which makes the experience more pleasurable). Later at the ice cream parlor, he enjoys the sweets like a child. In the evening, he is surrounded by many ladies whom Vinnie hired, causing Toots to become jealous.
The next day, Vinnie and Toots get him dressed in cutting edge (80ies style) fashion such as purple overalls.
The next day, it’s time for “Frank” to go to work, in this case scaring away some gangsters who were trying to muscle in on Vinnie’s territory with his powers. Later he makes sure Vinnie’s girls are healthy and then he creates some gold for him.
Later that evening, he cures Vinnie Jr.’s dyslexia. Seeing his somewhat overweight wife standing next to the boy, Vinnie whispers something into the Beyonder’s ear and, moments later, Gina looks younger and slimmer. Happily, Vinnie promises they’ll take the next day off for some shopping. He can have anything he wants.
The Beyonder turns out to be fascinated by gadgets such as a motorbike, which Vinnie buys for him.
Vinnie orders his people around and lectures “Frank” that having guys who work for you shows how big you are.
He takes him to the races. When Vinnie complains that his horse is losing, the Beyonder manipulates the outcome. Vinnie is not pleased, however, because if you take the sport out of it, it’s no fun. He takes him gambling next.
Days later, the Beyonder has been set up in an expensive East Side penthouse. Vinnie praises his new hairstyle, black Jheri curls. Several beautiful girls help him get dressed. Then he goes to make the rounds. Vinnie tells him to stop by his house later.The Beyonder gets into his limousine, telling his driver to stop by Radio Shack before his route. He needs some more discs and tapes. He plays with his gadgets, such as his Cuisinart. Later, he gathers the money and jokes with the customers.
Later still, he helps some other of Vinnie’s people to transport some Cocaine with his powers.
The evening his limo passes the street corner of twenty-sixth and Park Avenue, where he sees Chulo and Toots. Toots greets him happily, if shyly. She asks if he ever thinks of her now that he sees a better class of girls. What better class? he shrugs. People are just people to him. She stares after him lovelorn as he leaves to meet Vinnie.
Soon at Vinnie Corbo’s Saddle River estate:
After some small talk, Vinnie tells “Frank” that he has learned all he can teach him. He is too big to be cooped up in his small turf. It’s time he struck out on his own. He was made for bigger things. Vinnie is happy here. But a man ought to know what’s in him and use that to the fullest. A man also got to know his limits. Vinnie knows his but Frank doesn’t have any. It’s time for him to move on. If he ever needs advice… Not caring, the Beyonder tells him bye and leaves.
A few days later at King’s Point, Long Island, the most luxurious residence on the East Coast, one of many luxury mansions purchased by the Beyonder:
Several beauties fawn over him as he decides to fly out to his yacht, the third biggest hydrofoil craft in the Atlantic (he also owns the first and second biggest).
More girls fawn over him on the yacht and one teases him (as he has grown quite overweight) over his “cute little tummy”. He realizes that they actually find this accumulation of body fat repulsive and restores his body’s previous ideal form, garnering even more admiration.
Later he decides it’s time for business as he steers the yacht towards New York. He explains to the ladies who the Kingpin of Crime is and that other smaller crime lords like Vinnie Corbo have to pay a percentage to him. Today he is going to muscle in the Kingpin’s operations.
Soon he mentally takes over the Kingpin and his henchmen. Generously, he decides to keep the Kingpin on as a lieutenant, but he’ll give him 90 percent of his intake.
Too easy, he decides and soon he takes over the USA. But why stop with one country? he wonders. With a thought, he can subject all who live under his will with no exception. One exception he realizes a moment later, but he isn’t a problem. He can always deal with him later if he wishes.
But it’s still not enough. Why limit his control to humans and other higher lifeforms? He brings the viruses and bacteria under his control then inanimate matter. Now everything is his. He plays around with his control, having all things living and inanimate pay homage to him as he passes them by.
Meanwhile in a modest apartment in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, the second most powerful being in the universe sits watching Three’s Company with his girlfriend, Marsha Rosenberg. The Molecule Man, Owen Reece, asks Marsha if she is okay, since her molecules are controlled by an outside force. He soon realizes this goes for the molecules of everything and everyone, except for his own. He figures the Beyonder is behind this. He decides he is probably just going through a phase but nevertheless liberates Marsha’s molecules and the two return to their TV shows.
Meanwhile, the one from beyond revels in his supremacy. He appears simultaneously to many men and women of power, all of whom humble themselves before him. Finally, one of the mighty who pay him homage gives him pause, the hybrid woman Circuit Breaker. He senses she is an extraordinary woman, driven by extraordinary desires.
She recounts how she was crippled by a robot and needs this exo-skeleton to move and get her revenge. She hates robots, especially those who seem to be alive. They are just a mockery of men. For all their programming, they lack the spark of life. She has given the Beyonder something to think about.
Later, he relaxes at a luxury mansion in Brazil, surrounded by beautiful women. Still, he is not content, so he returns to New York to ask Vinnie Corbo. He has followed his instructions to their logical end, yet he is discontent. Vinnie cannot help him.
The Beyonder finds Toots now wearing a waitress uniform and asks her why he is discontent. She tells him how she worships him and he figures that maybe in controlling everyone he has extinguished the spark Circuit Breaker spoke about. He releases Toots. Happily. she gushes she gave up her old job and is a waitress now and she has him to thank for it. She never had much and nobody believed in her but, when he told her people are just people, she realized she could be like other people… decent people. She tells him she loves him and kisses him, then adds they could never be together. He has a whole life of catching up to do, and so does she now.
The Beyonder ponders her words and releases everybody else, making them forget what happened.
Soon he materializes at Avengers Mansion and tells their butler Jarvis he wishes to speak to the Avengers. Jarvis invites him in but explains the Avengers aren’t there. Can he help him with anything? The Beyonder mentions his experiences and how he found that power and possession bring no fulfilment but the gratitude of another human being did. He would like to know more of this. It would explain previously believed inexplicable behavior like that of the Avengers who have greater power than most but do not it to acquire wealth. Jarvis agrees that they are indeed selfless. He believes that virtue is its own reward.
The Beyonder wants to work with the Avengers. Jarvis tells him that is not possible while he pours him tea. They are in the Skrull Galaxy right now.
The Beyonder teleports after them, only to return hours later to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, feeling dejected. He really made a mess of that, he sighs. But something else occurs to him. He recalls Vinnie’s lecture about gambling. Perhaps it’s the trying not the doing in which fulfilment lies. He has a plan. A game to play. First, he needs a lawyer – one used to unusual legal work. One with no fear of anything.
The Avengers’ lawyer, Matt Murdock, is perfect! He’ll go see him right now…
