Fantastic Four #604

Forever: Part 5

Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman watch in awe as the future versions of their children face off against the Mad Celestials. Suddenly the Celestials are seemingly vanquished. The adult Franklin and Valeria land on the surface and have a reunion with Nathaniel Richards. However, Franklin explains that he only displaced the Celestials and that they will be back momentarily. The adult Franklin then goes to his younger self and he gets the energy that his younger self has been saving up. Suddenly the two are in sync with each other, and they both detect that the Celestials are coming back.

As Franklin goes off to fight the Celestials, Reed asks his father if he is able to stop them. Nathaniel says he doesn't, but the has come to fight this battle anyway because this is the day that his father dies and he is trying to prevent it from happening so that his younger self does not have to grow up with him. When Reed asks how this happened, Nathaniel explains that in every universe it all starts when Reed walks through the Bridge. It all starts when he joins the Council of Reeds and they start tampering with the multiverse, thus attracting the attention of the Mad Celestials.

In the heat of the battle, the adult Franklin pulls out the energy he has taken from his younger self and uses it to revive Galactus. Valeria is shocked by this recent development, thinking that they or a weapon would save the day, not knowing it was Franklin. Her older shelf tells Valeria that they didn't tell her the truth because she couldn't be trusted at this time. Nathaniel continues to explain that the problem with the Interdimensional Council of Reeds is that they attempted to fix everything using machines, but failed to do the one thing that the Reed Richards of this reality was able to do -- create life, create a son -- and in that moment, the adult Franklin destroys the Mad Celestials, saving the Earth.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Future Foundation is back at home with the children. Reed is having Franklin complete a trust exercise where he jumps from a high place and promises he will catch him. Although Franklin is apprehensive to begin, Reed convinces him to trust in his father and fly.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Future Foundation (Spider-Man, Nathaniel Richards, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Alex Power, Dragon Man, Bentley-23, Vil, Wu, Mik, Korr, Tong, Turg, Leech), Future Franklin and Valeria Richards, Galactus, Mad Celestials, Captain America, Iron Man, Luke Cage, She-Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Universal Inhumans Light Brigade (Midnight Blade, All-Knowing, Metallic Titan, Stonethrower, Sun), Crystal, Ronan the Accuser, Kristoff Vernard