Fantastic Four (Vol 3) #5
Broken Reed
The Thing and Mister Fantastic are taking a commercial flight to Stockholm, Sweden, where Reed is expected to make a keynote speech among a gala of famous scientists. As they deal with the starstruck passengers they are suddenly on alert when some terrorists try to hijack the plane. Thanks to the two members of the Fantastic Four they managed to subdue the terrorists without anyone getting hurt. Because Reed saved the life of a beautiful woman who was being taken as a hostage, she thanks him with a kiss on the lips. This embarasses Reed who tells her that she need not do anything to repay him. Meanwhile, Crucible is waiting for Richards to arrive in Stockholm. Watching from the top of a building he is informed by one of his minions that the two members of the Fantastic Four have safely landed in the country. Suddenly the heads of the gargoyles at either side of Crucible crumble revealing that reporters Isobel Aguirre and Gordon Clay are trapped in the states to bare witness to the next phase of Crucible's plans.
At the airport, Reed and Ben disembark from their plane and Ben is surprised when the woman who is to cheauferr them suddenly rushes and kisses Reed on the lips. Reed explains that the woman is an old friend, Alissa Moy. Outside they find Alissa's old 30s model car. Reed recalls how they once used it in a road rally from London to Cape Town. The story is more harrowing than Reed lets on, but he tells Ben to remind him to tell the tale some other time. As they speed through the street Reed takes the moment to call Sue and see how everything is doing back in Manhattan. She tells them things are fine until Johnny uses his flame powers indoors accidentally setting off the sprinker systems. As they arrive at the gala, they are unaware that they are being observed by Aguirre and Clay.
After getting ready for the gala, Reed goes down ahead of Ben and Alyssa hoping that he can learn more about how recent transdimensional happenings are having a strain on the fabric of reality. When he rounds the corner he finds all the guests have been rendered unconcious by Crucible. Seeing that Crucible has some kind of bomb, Reed slips into costume and attacks. He quickly summons Ben who comes crashing through the wall with Alyssa in tow. When the Thing gets hold of Crucible's weapon he tosses it out a window. Suspecting that there might be danger to the public, he tells Ben to go and get it recover it. Alyssa speeds after Ben telling him that they can use her car. Outside Ben is surprised to learn that Alyssa has converted her classic roadster to conver for flight. As Reed battles it out with Crucible, Ben and Alyssa find the device and realize that it is a dud. As they rush back, Alyssa notes that it is a powerful piece of technology that is apparently used for some kind of technological telepathy and that it was used to transmit something. When they arrive back at the gala, Crucible appears to have fled. Finding Reed among the rouble Ben asks what happened. Reed wakes up and uses an uncharateristic way of explaining how the battle went, saying that he beat their foe "real good".
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Alyssa Moy, Isabel Aguirre, Crucible, Franklin Richards
Continuity Notes
Mention is made again to how the Fantastic Four were recently believed to have been killed in action. The Fantastic Four were presumed dead when they sacrificed their lives to stop Onslaught in Onslaught Marvel Universe #1. However they were actually shunted into the Counter-Earth dimension created by Franklin to live reborn lives as seen in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #1-13. They returned to Earth in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.
Reed glosses over his relationship with Alyssa here. However as revealed in Fantastic Four #513, Reed and Alyssa actually had a very serious relationship to the point where Reed considered marrying her. She broke off their relationship years prior to the formation of the Fantastic Four as seen in a flashback in Fantastic Four #555. To date story behind the flashback in this story have yet to be revealed.
Reed is concerned that recent transdimensional events have weakened the fabric of reality. This story specifically cites the Heroes Reborn/Return events (as described above) it also mentions the Age of Apocalypse event. As seen in X-Men (vol. 2) #41 when Legion went back in time on a botched attempt to assassinate Magneto in the past he accidentally killed his father instead. This caused the M'Kraan Crystal to replace Earth-616 with Earth-295. Eventually Earth-616 was restored thanks to Earth-295's X-Men as seen in X-Men Omega #1. Reed's concerns are very real here although they are not realized until many years later when reality is shattered in Age of Ultron #1-Age of Ultron #10A.I. and later when the multiverse is virtually destroyed in the Time Runs Out event as seen in Avengers (vol. 5) #35-44, New Avengers (vol. 3) #24-33 and Avengers World #17-21.
