The Skrull Empire—longtime enemies of the Fantastic Four—embarked on a plan to infiltrate the team by impersonating Alicia Masters—blind sculptor and love interest of Ben Grimm (the Thing). The author of the plan, Paibok the Power Skrull, selected the warrior Lyja to be the spy and espionage agent—possibly as retribution because they had once had a failed affair. Nevertheless, Lyja trained extensively to pull off the disguise, even using contact lenses to make herself blind in human form to learn how to navigate the world as Alicia did. Lyja instead seduced Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. When the Thing learned that Johnny and "Alicia" were lovers, they became estranged. Lyja fell in love with Johnny and eventually they were married under the false pretense of her as Alicia Masters.
Eventually Alicia's stepfather, the villain known as the Puppet Master, realized that the woman claiming to be his stepdaughter was an imposter, and took his suspicions to the Thing. Lyja was forced by the Thing to transform back to her true Skrull appearance. She disclosed her true identity, as well as the fact that the real Alicia was a captive of the Skrulls. She aided the Fantastic Four in finding the real Alicia Masters in the Skrull Empire. After a brief coma, Paibok, with the assistance of Devos, awoke Lyja from her comatose state, and bestowed her with the power to fly and fire energy blasts from her hands becoming "Lyja the Lazerfist". These powers were later revealed to come from a special device implanted into her. She went on to join the Fantastic Four briefly in the period before Onslaught and Heroes Reborn.
