This mysterious menace found the Griffin roaming the Adirondack Mountains, and used his mental powers to enslave the Griffin. Headlok tricked the West Coast Avengers by claiming to have spotted Ben Grimm whom the team was looking for. Headlok ambushed them with the Griffin and attempted to take over their minds one by one. The Avenger Tigra was able to calm the Griffin's rage. It turns out the Thing had indeed been nearby and he joined the battle. Headlok, not knowing this, had not been using his powers to hide himself from sight or mentally influence Ben Grimm and thus was taken by surprise and Headlok was swiftly defeated.