Fantastic Four #282
Inwards to Infinity!
This story continues from Secret Wars II #2..
Franklin Richards is having a dream where he is in the ruins of New York City, and his parents are nowhere to be found. As he heads toward the riverside he witnesses as an alien ship is shot out of the sky and crash lands to the ground. From the wreckage emerges one of the Snarks which tries to kill him. The frightened boy is saved by some mysterious super-powered beings who carry him to safety to a forest. There he comes across an injured humanoid with the head of a horse. He helps the alien up and helps it along to the side of a cliff where he sees his saviors: The Power Pack. Their leader Alex tells Franklin that they are friend and that they can help him. As they are being strafed by alien ships Alex reaches out telling Franklin that he has to come and find them. As alien ray blasts strike where they are standing Franklin wakes up as he falls out of bed and realizes it was all a dream.
Getting dressed, Franklin rushes to the lab within Avengers Mansion to tell his parents about the dream he has had. There Reed Richards is putting together the finishing touches on a new Reducto-Craft while in the presence of the Human Torch and She-Hulk. Reed explains that the being responsible for sending the Hate-Monger against Sue was likely their old foe Psycho-Man, however, he wonders if they should be focusing their time on trying to learn what the Beyonder is up to. Sue walks in on them, having overheard everything and demands that they go after the Psycho-Man. When Reed insists that they go after Psycho-Man, Reed stresses his feelings that they need to focus on the Beyonder. Sue is upset and tells Reed that the Avengers or some other group of heroes can deal with the Beyonder, that she wants to go after the Psycho-Man. Before she can explain, Franklin rushes in and tries to tell his father about the dream he had. This pushes Sue to the brink of her patience, angered by the fact that her needs are being put on the side-lines once again she orders Franklin to go back to bed. Jarvis, overhearing them, takes the young Richards boy back to his room. Sue stresses that she is sick of having her needs taking a back-seat to whatever menace Reed deems more important. She explains that when the Psycho-Man and his minion warped her into Malice they not only made her evil but violated her down to her very soul and she wants to pay them back for what they had done. When Reed finally realizes that Sue wants vengeance against those who raped her very being he agrees to follow his wife’s wishes and travel into the Microverse to seek out the Psycho-Man.
Before loading up into the Reducto-Car, Johnny pulls Reed aside and expresses his worry about Sue and wonders if her mental state has been effected since she had her miscarriage. Reed points out that while Sue is distressed this is different from when she lost their second child and suggests that they should all support Sue to the end with this current concern. They all get into the Reducto-Car and Reed activates its control. Soon they shrink in size and end up in the Microverse however, the transport is rough and the energies they travel through forcing them to land on a planetoid.
As they disembark from their Reducto-Car, Johnny pulls Reed aside once again as he notices that Reed is concerned. Reed agrees and tells Johnny that he is still worried about the Beyonder and what he is doing at this very moment. As the Fantastic Four explore their surroundings, the Beyonder is currently in the company of a mobster who has called him Frank, having dinner at a fancy restaurant. The man tells the Beyonder not to worry he'll show him how to become a real winner.
As they begin exploring the area, Reed Richards explains to She-Hulk that they have learned a lot about the Microverse since they originally traveled to it, and that it is not a microscopic world, but another universe that can only be accessed by shrinking to the smallest possible size in their dimension. Johnny flames on and flies ahead to scout the area, however, he is soon captured by a giant pair of tweezers and placed in a strange canister. However, before he can be sealed inside he manages to send off a Fantastic Four signal flare alerting the others. As Sue, Reed, and She-Hulk rush to Johnny's aid, they too are soon encased in similar cylinders. They soon find that they are prisoners of the gigantic form of the foe they came to hunt down: The Psycho-Man!
Secret Wars II continues in Secret Wars II #3…
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, She-Hulk), Franklin Richards, Edwin Jarvis, Beyonder, Vinnie Corbo
Continuity Notes
Franklin's dream predicts his future association with the youths known as the Power Pack. Both Franklin and Jarvis cross paths with them in Power Pack #15-17 resulting in Franklin joining that group.
The Fantastic Four are staying at Avengers Mansion after their headquarters was destroyed by Kristoff Vernard in Fantastic Four #278.
Sue suggests that the Fantastic Four should let other heroes battle the Beyonder. Some of those she mentions have already encountered him since he returned to Earth.
Of the Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man, as well as members of the X-Men, already encountered the Beyonder in Secret Wars II #1.
Spider-Man encountered the Beyonder in Secret Wars II #2
Alpha Flight wont encounter the Beyonder until Secret Wars II #4/Alpha Flight #28.
Franklin mentions his other dreams that almost came true. These were Fantastic Four #276 when he predicted his family was going to be attacked by Mephisto and Fantastic Four #280 where he predicted that his mother -- as Malice -- was going to kill his father. This is the latest manifestation of Franklin's powers since they last went dormant in Fantastic Four #245.
The last time the Fantastic Four used the Reducto-Craft was in Micronauts #15-17 when they ventured into the Microverse to stop the Psycho-Man with the aid of the Micronauts. Reed first constructed the Reducto-Craft in Fantastic Four #75.
Johnny expresses concern for his sister due to recent events, namely having a miscarriage in Fantastic Four #267. She and Reed conceived their second child in Fantastic Four #254 and discovered she was pregnant in Fantastic Four #257. Although she lost the baby in FF #267, years later Franklin uses his powers to resurrect the baby in Fantastic Four (vol 3) #49, the baby was then born in Fantastic Four (Vol 3) #54.
The brief cut-away featuring the Beyonder takes place during the events of Secret Wars II #3 where the Beyonder is taken under the wing of mobster Vinnie Corbo.
When the Fantastic Four first ventured into the Microverse -- back in Fantastic Four #16 --- Reed stated that it existed in within the molecules of their world. This issue corrects that theory by stating that the Microverse is actually a parallel universe that one accesses by shrinking small enough to breach the barrier to get there.
Secret Wars II Reading Order
Secret Wars II #1, New Mutants #30, Captain America, #308, Uncanny X-Men #196, Iron Man #197, Secret Wars II #2, Web of Spider-Man #6, Amazing Spider-Man #268, Fantastic Four #282, Secret Wars II #3, Daredevil #223, Incredible Hulk #312, Avengers #260, Secret Wars II #4, Dazzler #40, Alpha Flight #28, Rom #72, Avengers #261, Secret Wars II #5, Thing #30, Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #74, Fantastic Four #285, Secret Wars II #6, Cloak and Dagger (vol. 2) #4, Power Pack #18, Micronauts (vol. 2) #16, Thor #363, Power Man and Iron Fist #121, Secret Wars II #7, New Mutants #36, Amazing Spider-Man #273, Spectacular Spider-Man #111, Uncanny X-Men #202, Defenders #152, Secret Wars II #8, New Mutants #37, Amazing Spider-Man #274, Avengers #265, Uncanny X-Men #203, Fantastic Four #288, Secret Wars II #9, Avengers #266
