THE FOLLOWING DAY THE FANTASTIC FOUR SOMBERLY gathered in Reed’s lab, their collective minds clouded and concerned. The events of the previous day — the ruined wedding, their encounter with the Silver Surfer, and the unexpected switching of their special abilities on the street — made for a sorrowful mood. Sue kept to the corners, watching Reed at work and still trying to avoid the sight of the wedding mess outside. Ben stood solidly by Reed’s side, the way he always did, feeling a bit better having spent some time last night with Alicia, who’d finally convinced him she was fine. Johnny was fidgety and restless, more than freaked out after yesterday’s fight with the Surfer and his time spent invisible. No one would say it out loud, but everyone was keeping a safe distance from him, fearful of another unexpected transformation, and that compounded Johnny’s lingering feelings of isolation.

Reed was too busy looking for an explanation for yesterday’s power switch to notice the brooding, moody demeanor of his group. He placed his faith in science, not in feeling, and he knew there had to be a plausible explanation as to what had happened. He felt it had to have something to do with the Surfer, since that was the only new element in the mix. But, as he hated to admit, he knew painfully little about the real makeup of their powers. He could trace and isolate their DNA and prove beyond a doubt that it was the cosmic space storm that had altered them on a basic molecular level, thereby giving them their special abilities. But, he wondered, could those alterations somehow be temporary? Could the body, seeking to right itself, somehow find a way around to switching the DNA back to its original state? He’d never thought about the long-term effects and ramifications of their powers before; he was always too busy with the here and now to think much about the future. Suddenly, that seemed like just another one of his mistakes.

Reed peered into the electromagnetic telescope. He had been comparing samples from Sue and Johnny, looking for clues. He pulled back from the scope, rubbing his eyes. “All of Sue’s results are normal,” he said finally, casting a glance in her direction. “But Johnny’s…”

“But Johnny’s what?” Johnny asked, his voice laced with panic.

Reed swallowed hard and looked at the impetuous young man, whom he already thought of as a brother. “Your encounter with the Surfer must have affected you somehow. Your molecules seem to be in a constant state of flux.”

Johnny took a moment to digest the information, not that he seemed to understand what most of it meant. “Is that bad?” he asked.

Reed wasn’t sure. “It caused you to temporarily switch powers with Sue. We should do a test and see if it happens again.”

Sue was already shaking her head when Ben stepped up. “You need a volunteer?”

“No, no. Stay back,” Johnny protested.

“C’mere,” Ben said playfully. “I just want to give you a hug.”

“Get back!” Johnny said, putting his arms in front of him. “Somebody stop him.”

Johnny’s pleas went unheeded, as Ben reached out for him. As soon as they touched, a wave of cosmic energy leapt out of Johnny and covered Ben in its furious glow. The powerful energy bombarded Ben and was soon refracted back at Johnny, as with Sue the day before. Ben’s rocky hide diminished and he once again took on the appearance of being human, like he had been before the storm. His human form then began to ignite, turning him into a living flame.

“Not bad,” he said, admiring the fire.

But Johnny didn’t fare so well. He ran over to a mirror to see his features shifting and changing into the rocky visage of what he’d once mockingly called the Thing. He was heavy and slow; the density of his new shape weighing him down. “I’m in hell,” he said, putting his fist through a wall.

“Welcome to my world,” Ben said, making small rings of fire in the air around him.

Reed watched the interchange, a bit fascinated by the impressive display of cosmic energy if not by their rapid transformations. It occurred exactly as he’d thought it would. “I’m sorry, Johnny,” he said. “You’ll just have to wait until I can find a cure.”

But Johnny wasn’t having any of it. “I can’t keep switching my powers with you guys,” he protested. “I like my powers. And your powers suck.” Suddenly, a fireball smashed into his rocky hide. Even with his newly thick skin, the burst of fire hurt. “Ouch!”

Ben stood behind him, laughing through his flames. “I’m starting to see why you think that’s so funny.”

Before Ben could utter another word, Johnny reached out and grabbed his flaming arm. The physical contact once again triggered the transformation of powers, the illuminating switch lighting up the lab. Johnny reverted to his normal form as Ben once again took on the rocky appearance of the Thing.

Satisfied that his features were as they should be, Johnny turned back to Reed. “What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

“Just try to keep your distance from us,” Reed responded.

Ben spoke up. “You and me are going to be spending a lot of time together, pal!”

Johnny grimaced at the remark and took a few steps back from the laughing pile of rock.

Sue had quietly left the laboratory, not wanting to watch her brother and Ben goad each other over the switching of their powers. She felt tired of their constant teasing and games. Her head hurt, and she still couldn’t bring herself to go out to the rooftop deck, though she figured someone should start to clean up the mess. A few helicopters had passed by this morning, now that the weather had cleared and returned to normal, to photograph the wreckage. She didn’t want any more of their dirty laundry aired on national TV. And yet the mess seemed to serve as justification for everything she was feeling: She could never be normal. She could never be truly invisible, fading from the limelight.

She absentmindedly flipped on the television, hoping to find out if there was any news of the Surfer. Instead, she saw a photo of her own roof, the damage looking far worse from above. An entertainment reporter was expounding on the mayhem and destruction caused by yet another failed wedding attempt, and the panic that the storms had caused on the streets. She saw bloodied figures, many of them her own wedding guests, being helped by police and paramedics. She saw the terrified faces of normal people running away from the Baxter Building as the skies turned black, as the helicopter pitched itself onto the roof.

Oblivious to the grave images, the reporter continued to speak: “That’s right. It was another ‘Fantastic Flop’ of a wedding! Inside sources say the unlucky, would-be bride Sue Storm turned invisible and she’s staying that way after yesterday’s embarrassing fiasco. Coming up next, the Invisible Woman’s greatest fashion blunders…”

Tears formed in the corners of Sue’s eyes as the anger swelled in her stomach. Reed, who had been standing behind her, walked over to the set and turned it off. “It’s garbage,” he said softly. “Just ignore it.”

But Sue was beyond comforting. “I can’t just ignore it! This is what our lives are now. There’s no getting away from it!” Her raised voice cracked with her feelings of frustration and hurt.

She knew broke Reed’s heart to see her like this. For all the media attention that their powers brought them, Reed never thought much about the lasting effects. He could always slink away and return to his lab, oblivious to the outside world. He dismissed the media the same way he dismissed Johnny’s obvious love of it — as a toy that could be played with and then put away whenever one wanted. He had never really thought about how much Sue struggled with it. Her obvious beauty made her the most public face of the group, even with Johnny’s insatiable need for attention. But she was the only woman here, and he’d probably never before realized how much of a target that made her.

“Yes, there is,” he said.

He reached out for her. She struggled a bit, but he held her fast. Could he make it different for her?

“After this crisis is over,” he began, looking deep into her pained eyes, “we’ll leave it all behind. We will move out of the Baxter Building. I’ll take a teaching position somewhere, get back to doing serious research. And the two of us will live our lives and raise a family like normal people.” He touched her cheek.

Sue looked up. “You’d do that?”

He played with a lock of her long blond hair. “We don’t have a choice,” he said.

Sue held him, not quite believing her ears. Tears slid down her cheeks. It was everything she wanted him to say. For once. So why did it hurt so much? “It’s going to hit Johnny and Ben hard,” she said.

“They’ll understand,” Reed said. “Besides, Johnny’s always been more of a solo act.”

Sue let out a small laugh, still not believing they were actually having this conversation. She wiped the tears from her face. If she’d ever needed proof of Reed’s love for her, she had it now. She felt it. “Let’s not mention it to them now,” she said. “Johnny’s got enough to worry about as it is.”

“I think we all do,” he said in reply. They held each other in their embrace, lost in their own thoughts, silently confirming that it was time to bring about the end of the Fantastic Four.