Reed Richards stands alone in the Negative Zone! But his isolation is soon broken by the mighty Blastaar! In the Baxter Building, the Inhumans scramble with the FF to recover their missing leader.
At the end of the previous issue, Reed was sucked into the Negative Zone as a result of an attempt to stop Sandman, and is seemingly trapped there forever. The rest of the Fantastic Four are watching him drift away on a video monitor when Ben suddenly remembers that there's a "phone" Reed invented to contact people in the Negative Zone, and uses it to talk to Reed. However, Reed says that he's already almost out of the communication range for the phone, and says goodbye to everyone.
As they all stand there, distraught, Crystal and Lockjaw suddenly appear, having finally found Johnny for the first time in months. Although pleased to see her, Johnny is still saddened over Reed's fate, until Crystal says that she can help. She then teleports away with Lockjaw, planning to get Black Bolt's help for saving Reed.
Meanwhile, as Reed floats through the Negative Zone space, he clings to a rock for a bit. Unknown to him, a spaceship dropped off a prisoner to that very same rock moments ago. Although the prisoner is currently sedated and kept inside a special suit, it won't stay that way forever...
Back in Europe, the Inhumans fight off an army planning to overtake the island they currently occupy and use it for death threats to the West. After they've defeated the army, Crystal appears and explains to Black Bolt what's happening. Black Bolt agrees to help Reed, and nominates one of the Inhumans to help save Reed.
Crystal and Lockjaw then reappear at the Baxter Building with the selected Inhuman, revealed to be Triton. Triton was chosen because in some aspects, Negative Zone space is just like a vastless ocean. Triton then goes off into the Negative Zone to save Reed, who by now is approaching the exploding Earth in the Negative Zone, but unfortunately Ben destroyed the video scanner in anger and the Fantastic Four can't see how Triton's progress is going. Triton manages to reach Reed in time and take him back, but unknown to them, the prisoner on Reed's rock awakens and follows them. After Reed and Triton have come through the Negative Zone portal, the prisoner, now revealed to be Blastaar, escapes when no one is watching. He finds Sandman outside the Baxter Building, who proposes an alliance...
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