Fantastic Four (Vol 2) #3
Revelations
With Giganto on the loose in New York City, SHIELD calls in the Avengers Captain America and Thor to aid the Fantastic Four in the battle. The two Avengers find themselves easily battered around by the creature’s atomic breath, while the FF try in vain to stop Namor directly. Namor gains the upper hand when he is exposed to water which boosts his strength, knocking the thing clear thought a series of buildings. The Avengers then set in to stop Namor, and Captain America, recognizing Namor as an ally during World War II manages to talk the prince of Atlantis to stand down from fighting. Overhearing this conversation, Warlord Krang, who hoped Namor would perish in combat decides to convince the other Atlantean warriors that Namor has betrayed them.
Ben meanwhile has been knocked unconscious and is dreaming of the night that Sue Storm came to him and asked him to pilot the Excelsior. He declines because he secretly has fallen in love with her, however, she decides to go along with the flight when she calls him a coward. As his dream ends he finds himself crashed in the private studio of Alicia Masters, a blind sculptor who has converted her studio into a makeshift hospital for those wounded in the Atlantean attack. Ben is taken back by Alicia's beauty and is concerned about his appearance to her when he learns that she is blind. He goes back out into the fray and comes up with an idea on how to deal with the threat of Giganto.
The other heroes have manages to talk Namor into calling off the battle to deal with things diplomatically when Namor is suddenly struck down with what appears to be the virus that has been plaguing the Atlanteans. Before he can call anything off he is struck down by a laser blast fired by Krang who attacks the heroes. With Namor needing immediate medical attention, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman and Dorma take him off to a nearby hospital.
As Ben has Nick Fury bring him a SHIELD shuttle loaded with the quantum core from the Excelsior he flies off in order to use it to destroy Giganto, intending to sacrifices himself in the progress. While at the hospital, Reed learns that Namor wasn't made ill by human-made pollutants but a toxin created by a deadly sea wasp. Realizing Krang's ruse to prompt a war between Atlantis and the surface world, Namor becomes furious. Ben meanwhile makes the quantum core go critical and pilots the ship into Giganto's mouth, bailing out at the last minute and being saved from a fatal fall by the Human Torch. The ship explodes within Giganto incinerating the beast completely.
Fully revived Namor then calls off his soldiers and orders the immediate arrest of Warlord Krang and his fellow usurpers. They are quickly rounded up and before departure, Namor promises Captain America that he will go through more diplomatic channels in dealing with the surface world in the future. Before departing back into the ocean, Namor pays his respects to the Fantastic Four before leaving. Just then, the Fantastic Four are swarmed by the press and hailed as heroes.
A week later, the Fantastic Four become instant celebrities, SHIELD begins investigating the Storm Foundation, and Sue and Johnny cut all ties with their family company and join Reed and Ben in founding Fantastic Four Inc. and set up shop in the Baxter Building in New York City as their regular base of operations.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Captain America, Thor, Sub-Mariner, Lady Dorma, Alicia Masters, Warlord Krang, Giganto, SHIELD (Nick Fury)
Continuity Notes
As becomes evident in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 the events of this story take place in a pocket dimension created by Franklin Richards to save the Fantastic Four and the Avengers after they sacrificed their lives to stop Onslaught at the end of Onslaught Marvel Universe #1. As such, with the exception of the members of the Fantastic Four, Namor, and Captain America, all other characters seen here are products of Franklin's imagination.
This story is a re-imagining of the Fantastic Four's first encounters with the Namor from Fantastic Four #4.
As revealed in Captain America (vol. 2) #11 this is not really Nick Fury, but a Life Model Decoy that took the real Nick Fury's place as part of a plot to subvert the United States on behalf of the Son of the Serpent.
Likewise, the Thor seen here is not the one from Earth-616, it is a construct created by Franklin Richards. The real Thor finally arrives on Counter-Earth in Avengers (vol. 2) #9. Why a construct was needed initially remains unexplained.
