Fantastic Four (Vol 2) #8
The Ties That Bind!
Morning in the Baxter Building, Sue Storm wakes up to find the little boy she saw in her vision in the Negative Zone, frightening her and waking Reed. Reed comforts her and the two agree that perhaps a vacation is in order. The morning starts off with a training exercise between the Thing and the Human Torch monitored by the Invisible Woman. Despite their childish bantering the Torch and Thing manage to work together to defeat every trap that Sue throws at them.
Later that evening, the Fantastic Four are guests at the American Museum of Natural History. There, one of Reed's colleagues, Dr. Harry Johnston has returned from the Himalayan to unveil his latest find: The Makalu Tablet. Reed recognizes the patterns being similar to those of the engravings he found in the Mole Man's cavern. As the other FF members go about the party, Johnny attempts to pick up a girl named Frankie who just happens to be the date of Tony Stark. After an embarrassing show, Johnny decides that he's going to call it a night and leave. Before Johnny can, a woman in exotic looking armor suddenly smashes through the skylight into the middle of the room.
She explains that the table is a sacred artifact of her people and that she has come to get it back. The Thing tries to attack her but her psionic powers incapacitate him. Escaping to the roof with the tablet she is attacked by the Human Torch, knocking off the mystery woman's mask. Taken by the girl’s beauty, Johnny is willing to listen that she only sought to collect the tablet when he's attacked by behind. These beings are the Inhumans, the woman named Crystal and her two companions are Gorgon and Karnak. Crystal reams out Gorgon for attacking the outside unnecessarily and tells him that the boy is in her protection. The rest of the FF arrive just as Lockjaw appears and teleports the Inhumans away with Johnny in their grasps.
Believing Johnny to have been kidnapped against his will the rest of the Fantastic Four rush back to the Baxter Building and trace Johnny to the Himalayan mountain range. There they fly into a dampening field that causes the Fantasticar to crash. As they pull themselves out of the wreckage, the Fantastic Four are unaware that they are being watched by the Inhumans Black Bolt, Medusa, Triton, Gorgon and Karnak. Between the cold and injuries sustained in the crash, the three FF members blackout and the Inhumans stand before them to decide what to do with them next.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Lockjaw), Tony Stark
Continuity Notes
As becomes evident in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 this world exists in a pocket universe created by Franklin Richards to save the lives of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers after they sacrificed their lives to stop Onslaught during Onslaught Marvel Universe #1. While the members of the Fantastic Four, Tony Stark and Crystal come from Earth-616, all the other characters in this story are creations of Franklin's imagination.
Reed Richards recognizes the inscriptions on the Makalu Tablet as being similar to those he saw in the lair of the Mole Man back in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #1.
The redhead that Johnny tries to hit on at the museum calls herself Frankie. This could be the Counter-Earth version of Frankie Raye who dated Johnny from Fantastic Four #164-191 and 232-244. Although her identity has never been confirmed.
Johnny and Crystal's mutual attraction here is not a surprise given that the pair previously dated from Fantastic Four #65-104, although they don't remember that at this time.
