Fantastic Four #7

Issue Details

Synopsis

The Thing is in the hospital following the Fantastic Four's clash with the Hulk on Avengers Island, and as the group see how their friend is doing, Johnny makes fun of Ben's condition before giving him a gift and hoping he gets well soon: His first gift is a hand held gaming console which is a gag since Ben's hands are bandaged up, however Johnny gives him a real gift: a real honest to goodness Cuban cigar. The rest of the FF decide to give Ben some privacy when Alicia Masters comes to visit him. Ben apologizes for skipping out on their date, but Alicia tells him it's okay because she heard how he saved the world twice over, once in Latveria and later on Avengers Island. As the others fly back to the Baxter Building in the Fantasticar, Johnny pours over the latest bit of tabloid trash about the FF when suddenly an alarm goes off alerting Reed that his latest experiment is ready to go. When they arrive, Reed explains to them that he believed that there was some method of worm-hole travel that the Silver Surfer used to get across the vast regions of space. He had discovered this wormhole into what he dubbed the Negative Zone and that the alignment is getting just right for them to travel into that realm to explore. Unwilling to let Reed explore it alone Sue and Johnny both convince Reed to let them travel along with him. They put on special suits to travel into the Negative Zone and take the Fantasticar through the portal to explore this strange region of space. Their arrival captures the attention of Blastaar the ruler of the Negative Zone who blasts apart their ship, leaving the FF in an airless void. Before Blastaar can attack them further he is cast away by the Watcher. As the three members of the FF begin to suffocate the Watcher approaches them and gives them glimpses of their past lives before the Onslaught incident that led to their being reborn into new lives: Reed is transported to a time when the Fantstic Four were at odds with the X-Men[1] and witness his past self try to fend off the angry attack of Wolverine. Reed properly deduces that this is an event that happened in the past and begins to understand that it happened in an alternate dimension. Seeing that Reed has gotten the point, the Watcher then takes him away from the scene. Johnny is transported to a time that he thinks is the future and witnesses what he thinks is the wedding between Ben and Alicia Masters and realizes that he is the one marrying her[2]. Sue is given the most heart breaking vision of all: She is shown a time when she is out in the park with her son Franklin and his minder Agatha Harkness. This upsets Sue because she has been told that she is infertile and incapable of having children. Having shown the three memebers of the Fantastic Four enough the Watcher transports them back to the Baxter Building. There the Watcher explains to them that he revealed them nothing but what they already know and that if they do not remember quickly it will have an impact on the universe and departs. Reed then begins to immerse himself in the readings from the Negative Zone to find out what happened when Johnny turns his attention back to Sue who is still in tears after her experience. Reed drops his work immediately to go and comfort his wife. While across the universe the Silver Surfer arrives at his masters space ship. Galactus asks him if the Earth is ready for consumption. Although the Surfer hesitates he tells his master that it is so, and Galactus sets a course for Earth. Watching this, the Watcher expresses that his duty is only to watch, however this one time is the only time in which he has felt compelled to act.