Fantastic Four (Vol. 4) #13
The Scorched Earth
About a year ago the Fantastic Four departed for their mission in time and space, leaving Ant-Man, the She-Hulk, Darla Deering and Medusa in charge of the Future Foundation in their absence. The mission was only supposed to take about four minutes of real-time, and so the replacement Fantastic Four wait for the true team to eventually return. However, instead of the Fantastic Four, the forces of Doctor Doom, Annihilus and Kang the Conqueror emerge from the time portal.
Presently, the planet Earth has been decimated by the armies of the three villains but the Future Foundation continues to battle against the invaders. While fleeing some of the invaders, Bentley-23 is rescued by the Human Torch who has just returned with the Fantastic Four after their mission. However, this is a vastly different Fantastic Four, Mister Fantastic is actually a bald man named Stevenson Storm, the Human Torch is his brother, the Invisible Woman is African-American, and the Thing has a black rocky body.
Regrouping with the replacement Fantastic Four in an old SHIELD facility, Mister Fantastic learns how Doctor Doom has erected a network around Earth to prevent it from being accessed by inter-dimensional travel. They also have an edge thanks to the time-displaced Marvel Girl, who they use to render themselves invisible to Doctor Doom's detection thanks to a specially designed device. Soon they plan an invasion of the villain's headquarters, the captured Baxter Building. Inside, Doctor Doom, Kang and Annihilus are arguing their next course of action as Kang cannot zero in on their foes. When it is suggested that they finally merge together, Doom warns that it is not time. Soon they are brought what appears to be a captured member of the Fantastic Four but it is really Ant-Man who uses his size-changing powers to grow to massive size and assist the others in breaking into the facility.
While the replacement Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation keep the enemies busy, the true Fantastic Four go into the control room. After Johnny blasts the device that powers the cloaking web around the Earth. They then use a device that projects their powers out into space, stripping them of their abilities. They are then confronted by Doctor Doom who gloats over his eventual victory -- particularly when he merges with Kang and Annihilus. When Mister Fantastic suggests that they might betray him, Doom doesn't believe this will be an issue and to show his supremacy he shoots Johnny point-blank in the face.
Aboard the Fantastic Four's time-space ship, Old John Storm awakens from his nightmare screaming. Not long after he is awoken, he hears another scream. He joins the rest of the Fantastic Four who are shocked to find that the Thing's body is now beginning to liquefy. Reed tells Valeria that they need to focus on finding a cure when he discovers that his own powers are starting to fail him as well. Soon the rest of the team discover that they are suffering the same power failure. That's when Old John Storm enters the room and tells them that he knows what is causing the failure of their powers and how to fix it. John explains to them that the road ahead is dangerous and if they fail they will all die and everything as they know it will be doomed.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria, Old John Storm
Continuity Notes
The Ant-Man of Earth-13266's daughter Cassie Lang died at the hands of Doctor Doom just as her Earth-616 counterpart had in Avengers: The Children's Crusade #8.
