The Big Bang!

In the distant future, the People of the End of All Things are sentencing the worst criminal of their times into the distant past so that he will be annihilated during the Big Bang. So that as he witnesses the creation of the universe he will be the first person in that universe to die.

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four are continuing their adventure through time and space. Franklin and Valeria are reiterating to their father about what they learned about the Big Bang the created their universe. Mister Fantastic is impressed by their report and tells them that after lunch they will be able to witness the Big Bang. Elsewhere in the ship, the Thing is trying to cure a headache with some aspirin but his massive hands prevent him from opening the bottles without crushing them. Ben begins to lose his temper, causing his eyes to glow, but when the children come knocking on the bathroom door, Ben manages to get himself back together enough to return to normal. Ben returns to the cockpit just as Johnny and Sue are piloting them on their course to the beginning of time. Ben expresses how he is suffering a headache.

Soon they are in the empty void of prior to the Big Bang and they are shocked to discover a massive body shackled to a rock floating out in the void. After scanning it and learning that the mystery prisoner is alive and from another time, the Fantastic Four decide to bring him aboard. Soon the Thing breaks the prisoner free from the asteroid and brings him aboard the ship. No sooner is the mystery man brought aboard the ship does he blast through his containment suit revealing himself to be none other than their long-time foe Blastaar -- albeit a Blastaar from the distant future. He gloats over having killed the Fantastic Four centuries earlier. The Thing dives into battle and during the fight, his body begins to glow between the cracks of his rocky hide. Meanwhile, Sue gets the children to the panic room for safety.

Soon the Fantastic Four battle their foe, but he is too powerful thanks to the unstable nuclear rods that are powering him now. With Blastaar about to hit critical mass and destroy them all. While Franklin and Valeria keep Blastaar at bay with some HERBIE drones, the Fantastic Four retreat into the panic room. There they decide that the only thing they can do is get Blastaar off their ship and leave him in the distant past. In order to do so, they have Franklin focus his powers, teleporting Blastaar outside of their ship. As they flee from the past, Blastaar explodes, causing the very Big Bang that created the universe.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, HERBIE

Continuity Notes

• Blastaar's exile into the distant past is very similar to his exile from Baluur as seen in Fantastic Four #62.