When Shatters Reality!

The being pretending to be Doctor Strange watches as the various time-displaced members of the Avengers and Fantastic Four attempt to obtain slices of a mystical golden apple from different points in their own histories. Focusing in on the Fantastic Four, in particular, he views the Thing battling the Frightful Four at Whisper Hill; Johnny fighting the Inhuman royal family in Attilan; Reed fighting his own teammates within the Enclave's Beehive; and Sue watching as the past version of Reed fights it out with the Sub-Mariner in Atlantis. In all cases, someone else has taken possession of the golden apple slices. "Strange" orders the Thing to kill the Wizard; Johnny to kill Black Bolt; Reed to kill that era's Thing, and Sue to slay the Sub-Mariner. However, none of the heroes can bring themselves to kill someone no matter what is at stake. Stuck at an impasse, "Doctor Strange" returns to the present and approaches the high tech facility of the woman known as Miss Queen. Inside the aging woman demands the audience of her assistance Lester. She once again demands progress, something that Lester guarantees will soon be hers.

Back in the past, the Thing is thinking of a way to break free from the Frightful Four so he can collect the golden apple slice. To this end, he pushes himself into the Trapster. When the Sandman blasts Ben with sand it hardens the Trapster's paste enough for him to break free from his bonds. While Ben makes short work of both the Trapster and Sandman, Medusa recovers baby Franklin from the clutches of the Wizard. This gives Ben the opening he needs to attack the Wizard directly and recover the slice. As Ben grasps the mystical artifact his spirit is released from his past self. As his soul moves forward into the future, Ben watches as Agatha Harkness arrives on the scene and unleashes her cat Ebony upon the Wizard sending him fleeing into the night.

Elsewhere in time, the Human Torch is still squaring off against Black Bolt, Gorgon and Crystal, who thinks he has been enthralled by the Hypno-Gun created by Maximus. Johnny uses his flying skills to trick Crystal into accidentally blasting Black Bolt. This causes the Inhuman ruler to drop the golden slice long enough for Johnny to recover it. Before his soul can be pulled back into the future, Johnny flames off and manages to get one last kiss from Crystal before being pulled away. When the past Johnny Storm reasserts control of his body, the Inhumans believe him free of the Hypno-Gun and they all rally together to join Reed and Ben in stopping Maximus and his insane scheme.

In yet another time period, Reed is pinned under rocks after his battle with the Thing. Ben recovers Johnny and the two prepare to rescue Alicia from the Enclave and their secret experiment. Reed begs them not to leave him behind and promises that he will make rescuing Alicia his top priority. Reed's pleas are heard and Ben frees him and he quickly decides that Reed should have the apple slice. Knowing this would send his spirit back to the future, Reed declines to take it until after they rescue Alicia from Him in order to keep his promise. With his knowledge of these past events, Reed is quickly able to lead them to the cavern where Alicia has been taken. As Ben is reunited with Alicia he hands the slice over to Reed. Upon grasping the object Reed's spirit is returned to the future leaving his past self to retreat the Beehive with his teammates and Alicia.

Years further in the past the Invisible Woman watches as the Sub-Mariner and Mister Fantastic fight it out. She recalls how the battle is happening almost exactly as she recalls it happening. As she hopes this eras Doctor Strange returns to the Baxter Building to inform the Torch and the Thing where the Sub-Mariner has taken Sue. Sensing that there are other powers at work Doctor Strange teleports Ben and Johnny to Atlantis. When the pair talk about protecting Sue from the danger, she takes offense to this and surprises them by taking command of the situation. Using her invisibility powers Sue fires a number of invisible projectiles at Namor and Reed to get them to stop fighting, much to the surprise of the others. Sue then chastises the two men for fighting over her like a possession to be kept. After giving them a tongue lashing and silencing Namor's guards, she plucks the golden slice out of Namor's shocked hands. Like the others, the moment Sue touches the slice her soul is sent forward into the future.

There she meets the spirits of the other members of the Fantastic Four where they wonder why their spirits have not returned to their bodies and if they have failed in their missions. "Doctor Strange" then appears and shows them a glimpse of the present, and that the massive wooden guardian is still present and that their time is still in danger. He then takes the assembled slices and combines them together to form half of an apple. When the Fantastic Four ask to be returned to their bodies, "Strange" tells them there is no time and he has to collect the slices gathered by the Avengers and departs. The Fantastic Four then decide to re-enter the bodies of their present selves on their own. However, when Ben tries to merge his spirit with his body he suddenly screams out in pain as some force is preventing him from returning to his body. Suddenly reality all around them begins to twist and change. Suddenly all reality changes and the spirits of the Fantastic Four find themselves in a strange version of New York City, and that they have failed in their mission.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Loki, Knorda

Continuity Notes

• This story runs parallel with Domination Factor: Avengers. Ultimately this series ends with history diverging Earth-616 with Earth-8921 as explained in Domination Factor: Avengers #4.8. The glimpses of the Avengers at the beginning of this story are images from that series.

• The members of the Fantastic Four go to a number of points in the past the length of times is dictated by the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. These moments (in chronological order) are:

  • Sue is sent back in time roughly ten years earlier to the events of Fantastic Four #27.

  • Reed was sent to a time about a year after Sue, circa Fantastic Four #66.

  • Johnny is a few months ahead of Reed arriving during the events of Fantastic Four #83.

  • Lastly, Ben is a year ahead of both Reed and Johnny circa Fantastic Four #94.

• "Doctor Strange" states that in the present it is currently the year 1999. This should be considered a topical reference relative to the date of publication per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

• The Wizard refers to Medusa as a traitor. She was a founding member of the Frightful Four in Fantastic Four #36 because she was stricken with amnesia. She left the group after her memory was restored in Fantastic Four #44. In Fantastic Four #94, Medusa feigned loyalty to the Frightful Four to spoil their ambush of the Fantastic Four.

• The reason Johnny states that he can't kiss Crystal in his own time is because the pair stopped dating years earlier in Fantastic Four #105 when Earth's pollution forced her to return to Attilan. There she met and fell in love with Quicksilver in Fantastic Four #131 and the pair were eventually married in Fantastic Four #150. At the time of this story, Johnny's present Crystal and Quicksilver are still married.

• The Fantastic Four are doting over Sue because she was generally regarded as a "harmless woman" for much of her early career with the Fantastic Four. Sue didn't start standing up for herself and acting as an independent woman until around the time she first separated from Reed back in Fantastic Four #130.

• The Fantastic Four are shocked by Sue's ability to cast invisible constructs. That era's version of Sue won't master this ability until Fantastic Four #22.

• The altered reality the Fantastic Four find themselves in was indexed as Earth-1000 in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2.

• The reality warp is caused when Thor accidentally caused his past self to get killed centuries in the past drastically altering the future. This was depicted in Domination Factor: Avengers #3.6.