Trial by Fire

Somewhere in time and space, the Fantastic Four have suited up in containment suits to keep their failing powers in check. They learn from Old John Storm that he is not from their timeline but an alternate reality and that in order to save the Fantastic Four they need to go to his world and stop it from being invaded by Doctor Doom, Kang, and Annihilus. The trip will be dangerous thanks to an array of the time displacement field and weapons systems around his Earth. This will need precision piloting, something Ben Grimm -- having reverted back to human form -- says he can do despite the fact that the others are concerned about his health. John explains that they have to travel to the past of his world at the very moment the system is down, explaining that this is the way it always goes across the multiverse and that the worst is yet to come.

As they prepare to breach the barrier, the alternate Fantastic Four of the past have just sacrificed their powers to send out a signal, but John Storm has been wounded by Doctor Doom. This Fantastic Four vows to stop Doctor Doom, but he is far from done with his old foes. While above the planets surface, the Fantastic Four have to rely on Sue's force fields and Ben's piloting skills to get past the planetary defenses. While Old John Storm flies out to disable the sentries, the Fantastic Four are bombarded with an electromagnetic barrage that renders their ship powerless. With Sue unable to maintain their force field, Reed orders everyone to the escape pods and suddenly the ship explodes.

This is witnessed by Doom, Kang and Annihilus who then note that Old John Storm is still alive. Annihilus demands Storm's death. Doom decides to banish Old John Storm somewhere far away and he is blasted with a device that causes him to vanish. Kang then questions why they need Annihilus and points out that due to his mastery of time he knows that nobody aboard that ship was killed. As it turns out, Kang was right as five minutes earlier aboard the ship, Sue reveals that while they were still on Earth, Medusa gave her a whistle device that could summon Lockjaw in the event they were in trouble and needed a fast rescue. Thanks to the quick timing of the teleporting Inhuman dog, the Fantastic Four survived the ship explosion and were teleported to the planet's surface. However, Johnny is wounded and his powers flame on, preventing them from trying to seal the wound. Needing Sue's force fields to help stitch Johnny's wound with a strand of Unstable Molecules but time is running out. With the situation being more dangerous, Sue has Lockjaw teleport the children back to Earth and she then begins to work on saving Johnny's life. After hours of work, Sue is able to save Johnny's life but it comes at a price: she is now totally invisible and unable to change back. When things look their worst, the Fantastic Four are greeted by this realities version of the team.

Back at the Baxter Building, Kang informs Doom on his theories regarding the Negative Zone: That it is unique in the multiverse and that someone who rules that and time can rule everything -- time, space and reality. Deciding that Kang has become too powerful, Doom tries to kill him only to discover that he was talking to a hologram the whole time. Rushing into his lab, Doom is horrified to see that Kang has used his Cosmic Power Siphon device to absorb the power of Annihilus, making him Kang the Annihilating Conqueror.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Lockjaw, Old John Storm, Alternate Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Doctor Doom, Kang the Annihilating Conqueror, Annihilus

Continuity Notes

• Old John Storm finds himself time-displaced and sent to Earth-616 about a day after the Fantastic Four left, as seen in FF Vol 2 #2, while Franklin and Valeria find themselves teleported to Earth-616 circa FF Vol 2 #15.

• The Cosmic Energy Siphon used here is similar to the one used by Doctor Doom of Earth-616 in Fantastic Four #57.