Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #2

Mar 10

Mar 10 Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #2

The Bridge, Chapter Two

Franklin and Valeria Richards have returned home to find HAMMER agents have forced their way inside and shut off the power to the Baxter Building. As Franklin keeps the soldiers distracted, Valeria is able to construct a weapon to defend themselves. The soldiers back off and tell the two children that they are only serving papers to their parents in the Fantastic Four. After the HAMMER agents leave, Franklin wonders where their family has gone, but Valeria assures him that where ever they went, they're probably fine...

The Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing have found themselves transported to prehistoric Earth during the time of the First Host of the Celestials, thanks to Reed's newest invasion the Bridge and an impromptu power surge created by the HAMMER agents. There they are forced to battle Celestials, Dinosaurs, Deviants, and Eternals. At that moment, in the present, Franklin and Valeria have discovered that the power is cut and the young girl begins working on restoring the power to normal.

Meanwhile, Mister Fantastic is deep in the bridge trying to find out where he has gone wrong in recent history so that he might be able to solve problems in the future. His first point of focus is the Super-Hero Civil War. At the moment Reed engages a visualizer that will allow him to peer into other dimensions, Valeria begins her repair work. The combination between the two causes time in the past era that the rest of the Fantastic Four are stuck in begins to compress in a white flash of light. With the scan complete, Reed learns that there are over 3 million realities where the Civil War took place but only 418 had a peaceful resolution. Reed begins scanning them to see what happened differently. On Earth-155 it was Hank Pym who assisted in drafting the Registration Act, and as such a prolonged war did not happen.

At that moment, in a compressed reality, a version of the Civil War is playing out in a world that is still in a medieval point in history. Queen Storm is informed by Captain Rogers that the Iron Man is mounting a rebellion against her rule. Outside, Iron Man has rallied his forces and plans to fight against the Queen and form a new republic. With the rebellion heading toward the castle, Queen Storm learns from Chamberlain Grimm that it is time they fight back. Meanwhile, Reed continues his research. He views Earth-3490 where a wedding between Captain America and Iron Woman was married, allowing Richards to enact the Act peacefully due to a lack of aggression. On Earth-1789002, Mister Fantastic developed a serum that granted powers to anyone who wanted them, in contrast, there is Earth-26 where Reed created a device that stripped super-humans of their powers. Lastly, Reed views Earth-1735 a world where Captain America was still in suspended animation and Iron Man still struggled with alcoholism. Reed determines that in all realities where the SHRA crisis ended peacefully was on worlds where Reed Richards acts alone. Deciding that it couldn't be that simple, Reed decides to investigate further. By activating his scanning device, he causes the medieval reality to condense and replaced it with a new reality. Chamberlain Grimm finds himself on a pirate ship commanded by Captain Storm and his two compatriots who are just about to be attacked by an opposing party.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, HAMMER, Ziran the Tester