Appearing in "... the Harder They Fall!"
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Synopsis for "... the Harder They Fall!"
Psycho-Man shut off his Psychotron when a gigantic Human Torch appeared on his worldship. The Microns and the Fantastic Four feel faint. Rann realizes that the gigantic flames are using up the limited oxygen on the ship, so he closes his visor and glides up to tell Johnny to stop. He does—just as he passes out too. Psycho-Man slaps Rann out of the air, leaving only Biotron conscious. Magnets rise out of the floor around him and pull him apart!
The Microns and the Fantastic Four awake in transparent tubes atop Psycho-Man's Psycho-Manipulator, except for Johnny, who's been lashed to the floor by drones. Each tube resists the occupant's particular ability, but Acroyear and the Thing attack each other's tubes and break loose. Acroyear goes after Psycho-Man while the Thing frees the others. Bug crosses the Psycho-Manipulator's keyboard but comes under attack from Reptos; the Invisible Woman makes him invisible until he gets inside the device. "The frammistat's connected to the dingbat," Bug thinks, "but >tik< this cable looks like the dingus that makes the whole thing work! Sooo ..." KSHROW! The Psycho-Manipulator now drains energy from Psycho-Man instead of feeding it to him; he transfers to another set of armor.
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Jasmine goes out a hero
Bug leaves the Psycho-Manipulator, thinking he's still invisible. Jasmine sees a Repto about to attack him and intercepts it. The Repto attacks her instead and kills her.
Rann and Reed Richards free Johnny from his bindings. Marionette follows one of the drones to a repair bay and finds Microtron and Biotron, good as new! Both teams head back to their respective vessels. In a final gesture of defiance, Psycho-Man holds Jasmine's body aloft and taunts the Microns; Rann snatches the body from his hands. Johnny burns a hole in the hull and sets the Reducta-Craft outside. The Endeavor lifts off and follows it through the Spacewall. The Fantastic Four head back to Earth, while the Microns sail into the unknown ....
Notes
- The "drones" are based on Micronaut toys called Alphatron, Betatron, and Gammatron.
- Jasmine's death occurs "off-camera," so it's not clear exactly how she dies. The Repto is a natural predator of insectivorids like Jasmine, though, so it may have penetrated her exoskeleton and siphoned out her vital organs, leaving the shell intact. The Comics Code Authority would not have allowed such a scene in those days.