Synopsis
Silver Surfer arrives at the house of Reed and Sue Richards (Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman) where they're playing backyard tennis with their young son Franklin Richards. He tells them he's just (in a backup tale in his Annual #1) had a telepathic message from Nova (their friend Frankie Raye) to say that Galactus is dying and needs the help of himself, Reed and Sue. They point out that they've quit the Fantastic Four for a while to look after Frank (as he prefers to be called now), but Norrin Radd tells them that Galactus specifically asked for them, especially Susan. They say they have to get a babysitter for the kid but Frank insists on going with them. Sue agrees, partly swayed by the fact the Big G asked for *her* especially.
Donning their FF uniforms they all get on Surfer's Cosmic Surfboard and go into space protected by his Power Cosmic. On the way he relates the events of #9 where the Elders Of The Universe tried unsuccessfully to kill Galactus. On the way through hyperspace he describes (from #10) how Galan consumed (some of) the EOTU. But Death had previously (as a consequence of West Coast Avengers Annual #2 & Av An #16) promised them immortality so they're still alive inside him and causing him a *very* severe stomach upset.
They reach G's huge spherical spaceship and find Nova inside with her dying master. He explains that the problem is that Death won't accept the Elders' souls. But if their souls were extracted then his system could absorb their bodies and he'd live. He suggests they go get the 6 Soul Gems. Surfer points out that the Gems have been lost down a black hole, but G says Norrin can find the way through and Reed can follow in a special spaceship he can provide. And Sue's forcefield will be necessary to hold the Gems. They mustn't touch them because 1 of them steals souls and only G can tell which it is.
Silver Surfer offers to go through the black hole alone but Sue Richards reminds him that Galactus says *she* has to go too (while wryly noting how Frankie refers to Norrin very familiarly as 'Silverado'). Reed asks his son if he can foresee anything bad in the immediate future. Frank says No but reminds him that he can't see *everything*. Sue plays on her husband's scientific curiosity to get him to leave Franklin in Frankie's care.
They set out. The black hole will suck them in but they'll need all the speed they can get to come out the other side. And Reed must pilot the ship to follow Surfer's trail exactly. Sue keeps a force field around the ship (and Surfer?). They zig and zag and then SS falls off his Board. But they still exit into a Ditkoesque dimension. Norrin enters the ship and learns that Sue lost consciousness at the last instant, but she's recovered now. Reed comments that the outside looks like the kind of place Dr Strange has described.
No-one's actually mentioned up to this point that 3 Elders fell into the black hole with the Gems. But Sue figures that they and the Gems must have got here too, and Reed asks Surfer to track them down. SS isn't sure the powers he has in their own reality will work properly in this 1 (and the phrase 'this 1' makes him think of his dead love Mantis (as of #9 but he doesn't know that she turned up alive in her own tale in his Annual and is now in the WCA series)). But he recently held a Soul Gem (#8-9) and he sets out to follow its trail. As they follow behind in their spacecraft Sue comments how dark this universe is, but Reed says its very luminous.
Surfer leads them to a building on a planet where he says 2 0f the Gems have been but have gone. However 1 of the Elders remains. The Possessor (known also as Kamo Tharnn) comes out to greet them surrounded by a bunch of aliens he calls Sinalinas. The aliens immediately attack saying that the visitors must not touch the Tale-er. After a bit of a scrap where the 2 males try not to hurt their attackers, Invisible Woman pushes them all away with her force field so they can chat with the Possessor. Reed is concerned that Sue is accidentally squashing some of them against the wall of the building. She comments that she feels constrained by the magic in this dimension.
Kamo Tharn tells them that the Sinalinas call him the Tale-er (not tailor) because he keeps them amused with stories of events from his old reality. He relates that he, Astronomer and Trader fell here alongside the 6 Soul Gems. The Gems were scattered but the 3 Elders decided to find them for the power they bestowed. Astronomer tracked 2 Gems to this world and Trader bargained with the Sinalinas for them. He traded the Possessor's knowledge for the Gems, a spaceship and some weapons. Tharn is quite happy here and is treated well for his stories, and he refuses to tell out heroes where the other 2 Elders have gone. But Surfer is confidant he can find them.
Before they leave Sue frees the Sinalinas from her force fields and warns them she could have killed them. Reed is worried because she looks and sounds like her evil Malice persona (from FF#280-281). He thought he'd cured her of it but he doesn't know if the magic here is affecting her. And she repeats that she thinks it's dark here.
Silver Surfer leads them in their spaceship to the 2 other Elders in *their* ship and they discover that they have collected all 6 Gems. Trader has them in a bodycase attached to him which he tells them can't be removed while he's alive, and as they know he can't die. He says they are the means of escape from this colourless reality. Angry Sue attacks them saying the dark must have blinded them if they can't see the colours. She knocks a gun out of Trader's hand as flexible Mr Fantastic wraps Astronomer up in his coils. Reed is beaten by his foe who suddenly projects spikes into the confining flesh. But Invisible Woman defeats him by making his limbs invisible so he can't see what he's doing. She turns on Trader and suggests a trade. She asks for what he wants for the Gems, and his eye movements indicate Norrin Radd. So she turns round and shoots SS in the head with Trader's gun she's been hiding invisible in her fist. Surfer falls unconscious and Trader releases the Gems into a forcefield bag she creates and encases SS in his bodycase. And then Sue says "Malice flies alone".
Characters:
Plus: Astronomer, Elders Of The Universe, Nova (
Frankie Raye), Possessor (
Kamo Tharnn), Trader.