Marking Time Alicia Masters has finally been released from Mercy General Hospital. Ben and she take a long walk through Central Park. Some children come along and they want to see the Thing do something extraordinary, so he grabs a nearby statue and crushes it into a ball.
The two then return to the Baxter Building where they have a heart-to-heart discussion. Ben has been re-evaluating their relationship lately, and it appears as if he is on the verge of breaking up with her because, although he loves her, he feels that he can't give her the life she deserves.
Ben falls into a reverie and there is an origin flashback to the Fantastic Four's crash-landing after their first fateful space flight. This sequence concentrates on Ben's initial reaction to becoming the Thing and his realization that even his friends consider him to be a monster (although this may rather be his perception than how the other members of the FF actually felt).
Suddenly, Reed Richards bursts into the room and tells Ben that they must investigate strange energy readings he’s picking up from Central Park. The Thing, the Human Torch and Mister Fantastic leave the pregnant Sue Richards behind and take the Fantasti-Car to Central Park. Arriving in Sheep's Meadow, they find a large metallic arena nestled in the middle of the park. They enter the arena portico when suddenly a beam of yellow light surrounds them and they disappear.
