Marvel Knights: 4 #17
Divine Time: Part 3
Years in the past, a young Reed Richards finishes reading the story of Humpty Dumpty. Confused by the fairy tale, he goes to his parents for advice. He interrupts them while they are working on an experiment. Reed's father and mother explain to him that time flows forward like an arrow and that it cannot run in reverse. This causes Reed to contemplate the reversal symmetry. The fact that Reed somehow knows this comes as a shock to his mother.
These thoughts are what is on the mind of an adult Reed Richards who was trapped in ancient Egypt along with the Thing and Invisible Woman until his father appeared. Nathaniel snaps Reed back to reality to remind him that time is of the essence as Ramades -- the son of Kang the Conqueror -- has conquered the modern age. He explains that the longer Ramades is active the more he alters future timelines. Watching this, Susan cannot bring herself to trust Nathaniel after all the grief he has caused the Fantastic Four in the past and all the years he hasn't been in contact with his family. She also points out that Nathaniel might be Kang's father. This whole situation has Sue worried, even though Reed has assured her that he has put in contingencies to protect their children, she is moments away from losing her temper.
In the present, Franklin is still a prisoner of Ramades and tries to come up with a means to break free. Suddenly, the severed head of HERBIE reactivates and grows spider-like legs. It then frees Franklin, HERBIE then explains that it turned on a beacon to alert their father so he can find them the moment they find a means of returning to the present. While this is great news for Franklin, he worries what has become of his sister Valeria.
In an alternate future, the Human Torch learns that Valeria comes from a future where Ramades attacked the Inhumans colony on the Moon. In order to protect her, the Inhumans sent her into the timestream with a group of Inhumans who found them in this world where Doctor Doom has conquered the world and the Fantastic Four don't exist. Valeria theorizes that this reality exists because of Ramades and that in order to prevent this future from happening they will have to travel back in time, and the only equipment available to do that is in Doctor Doom's castle, in the former Chrysler Building. When they prepare to attack Doom's headquarters, Johnny tells Valeria and the others to get to the time machine and leave him to handle Doom, since the Fantastic Four don't exist in this reality, Doom won't be prepared to deal with him.
While Val and the Inhumans fight their way to the time machine, Johnny confronts Doctor Doom. While Doom doesn't recognize him, Johnny is furious at the state of the world that Doom rules over. Johnny attacks who he thinks is Doom and allows his rage to get the better of him and kill his foe. However, he realizes that he actually deactivated a Doom robot, leaving him to wonder where the real Doom. Elsewhere in the fortress, Valeria is setting the time machine when she is attacked by Doctor Doom. Johnny arrives too late to prevent Victor from fatally wounding Valeria. Scooping up his niece, Johnny dives into the time machine and he and Valeria vanish into the time stream.
Back in Ancient Egypt, Sue pulls her husband aside and expresses her distrust in Nathaniel Richards. Nathaniel pipes in and say that he is trying to make amends and informs them that he has picked up HERBIE's signal allowing them to transport within 30 yards of his location. Despite their misgivings, the three members of the Fantastic Four agree to work with Nathaniel to return to the present. Soon the portal is opened and when they arrive in the modern age they find Ramades and his armies waiting for them. While in the hotel that Ramades is using as his base of operations, Franklin and HERBIE are tracking a strange chronal spike. It leads them to the source: the missing eight minutes of time that has been the root of this entire crisis.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Nathaniel Richards, HERBIE, Ramades
Continuity Notes
Sue glosses over a number of facts about Reed's father Nathaniel:
She mentions Nathaniel left Reed when he was growing up to travel through time. He became the ruler of the future of Earth-6311 as seen in Fantastic Four #272-273.
She mentions that Kang could be Nathaniel's son. However, this is not accurate. Fantastic Four #273 implies that Kang is an ancestor of Nathaniel Richards. Whereas What If? Vol 2 #39 states that Kang could be the descendant of either Reed Richards or Doctor Doom.
Sue mentions the "past trouble" that Nathaniel caused them, she is referring to how Nathaniel engaged in a long-running scheme that manipulated the Fantastic Four in order to prepare them for a battle against Hyperstorm that took place from Fantastic Four #375-414.
Sue states that they haven't heard from Nathaniel in years. The last time they spoke with him was in Fantastic Four #416. Per the Sliding Timescale it has been roughly two years since the Fantastic Four last saw Nathaniel.
