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| Publisher |
Marvel |
| Published | October 1997 |
Franklin Richards has visions of being in a life raft as New York floods, while accompanied by a woman who ominously tells him of choices he must make. He wakes up in the Everglades where the Man-Thing has been watching over him. He inadvertently knocks his ball into the water, and it is snapped up by a hungry alligator. Franklin becomes angry, and using his powers destroys the reptile to retrieve the ball that is so important to him. Elsewhere, Peter Parker views a television retrospective about the anniversary of the "deaths" of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. In New York City, the Hulk screams in pain. And, yet somewhere else, something crashes to earth, obliterating an observatory, then taking the form of a woman. As Franklin holds his ball, images of the Hulk, the Thing and Thor form within the globe, and the mystrious woman then appears. She confronts the Man-Thing, who is stricken with fear, and self-immolates, then collapses in the water. In the New York of another universe, the members of the Fantastic Four become uneasy as Sue Storm Richards breaks down in tears. Back in the swamp, the woman, Ashema, explains to Franklin that she is one of the Celestials, and he is the end result of an eons-long experiment. The experiment complete, Franklin must now decide which universe, the world he lives in or the world he's created for the 'dead' heroes, will be the one to continue. She transports the two of them into the pocket universe, where he sees the world he made. Ashema then teleports him into the bedroom of Reed and Sue Richards, who are shocked to meet the son they are unaware they had.
