Appointment Overdue

After an explosion at the secret military base where the United States Army is trying to replicate the rocket flight that created the Fantastic Four, the scientists in charge of the program try to figure out what went wrong. With the space ship irreparable, the scientists are going to miss the window of opportunity to meet the cosmic ray storm. Reed tells them that it's too bad, before secretly planting a bug on Doctor Crane.

Knowing that they suspect that he is responsible, Reed believes it will take the time to get the evidence he needs, giving him time to escape. Having planned for such a contingency, Reed returns to his room and puts together a communication device that he sneaked onto the base in his personal effects. He activates it, which causes the Fantasti-Car to come to life at the Baxter Building, getting Sue's attention. Back at the military installation, Doctors Crane and Love consider the possibility that Mister Fantastic intentionally sabotage the mission and try to figure out why. Just when they decide to get security to arrest Reed, they are suddenly interrupted by soldiers who have tracked an unauthorized transmission coming from the bug Reed planted on Crane. As the base mobilizes to search for and arrest Reed, he manages to ambush some guards and steal their jeep. He manages to escape the facility but the soldiers manage to catch up. However, when they think they have Reed dead to rights, the Fantasti-Car arrives allowing him to escape.

Back at the Baxter Building, the Invisible Woman has another visit with child welfare agent Simone DeBouvier and shows her all the nannies that she has brought in for an interview to look after the children while she is gone. She explains that she is making this move to provide Franklin and Valeria a normal upbringing. When DeBouvier continues to question the safety of the children, suddenly the Baxter Building begins to shake, announcing Reed's return home. When Reed enters the room, Sue pulls him aside to fill him in on everything that has been happening while he was gone. When Reed tries to explain the situation, Simone has seen enough and leaves, telling them that she will be arriving in a few days with her supervisor.

While Reed fills Sue in on what he has been up to, Franklin meets with the nannies and tells them about the monsters that regularly attack their headquarters. When Sue arrives she tells the women that they are to look after Franklin to see who is best suited to look after the boy. The women are shocked when the Thing enters the room. Reed soon calls the Fantastic Four into a meeting. He then explains his theory that their random powers were not an accident, but the product of an alien race trying to make contact with them from a far off-world. He postulates that if they can reach the next cosmic ray storm that is coming to Earth, they might be able to unlock this secret. Of course, when Reed explains the danger involved, none of his teammates back down from this mission. With the military knocking at their door, the Fantastic Four ignore orders to turn over Reed Richards and take off in a ship to confront the cosmic ray storm.

Unsure what this new contact will do to their bodies, the Fantastic Four wish each other luck and brace themselves just as the cosmic ray storm strikes their ship.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Debra Love, Stephen Crane, Simone DeBouvier