"But – by using that data, I realized I could break you down atom by atom, & rebuild you using your original human genetic map! Piece of cake!" Reed exclaimed. His voice reverberated throughout the silent lab.

Ben who had been crossing his arms made two of his fingers into a little circle. "You're gonna take me apart? Into little pieces?" he was enquiring seriously.

I turned to see Alicia ask earnestly as well, "Reed, I'm sure you know what you're doing…but is this dangerous?"

How excited Reed must've been. He stammered, "Of course! Not. I mean, of course not! It's almost perfectly safe."

"Sure it is…that's why they're watching from outside. They got all the confidence in the world," came Ben's artful sarcasm. Looking into the lab through safety glass from the outside were Johnny, Susan & Azula.

"Well, I'm not outside," I reminded him casually. I was next to Alicia, sort of on standby mode lest an accident would result from curing Ben. I took the 'safety precaution' of keeping my Leopard X armour on too, to protect anyone or anything at my best.

"Hardy ha ha, doc. You're in here 'cause you're helping Reed…," Ben's eyes narrowed.

Beside me, Alicia clarified, "Ben, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yeah. I just want to be myself again."

"No matter what you look like, you'll always be Ben Grimm," she added.

It was Reed's turn to get clarification, "Ben, we don't have to --"

"Yeah. I do. Hit it, Stretch," his best friend cut him off. From what I heard as well as from experience, Ben was renowned for being on his guard, standing firm in faith all the time. He often spoke tersely, which some people disliked, yet everything he was on the outside was underscored by an unusual courage.

My scientist friend inhaled deeply & got to the keyboard, "H.E.R.B.I.E., begin the atomic resequencing."

The computer mentioned something hilarious, "YES! I've always wanted to disintegrate something!"

The air around Ben appeared to light up; the same happened to him in the following few seconds. He looked at his fists & sounded puzzled, "What?" But there wasn't any turning back from then on.

More white light built up around him as the lab machinery's sounds increased in volume. This was the climax of the process, & I had to force my helmet shut in time to avoid having my eyesight drastically damaged. That was it: a blasting noise far louder than anything before. The machine had done its part.

"Uhhh…what…what is this for again? The flight?" a meek but low voice asked. Looking up, I admit I was all astonishment to feast my eyes on the human Ben Grimm. I think he would still be stronger than me in physical terms, for his shoulders were unusually broad & square. He did not look much shorter than before, either. His inquisitive blue eyes scanned the room after he regained his focus.

"Ben? Are you okay?" Reed stretched up to meet him & slip a blue blanket onto him.

He answered, "Sure, why wouldn't I – AAHHHHHH! Reed! Your…your body! What…what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Reed…Ben! What's happening?" Alicia asked.

Ben lost his footing & fell from the platform, although Susan could hold him up with her force field. She, Johnny & Azula had entered in perfect timing.

"What the blue blazes is going on?" muttered Ben.

"Blue blazes? Oh! Sorry!" Azula apologized, turning off her flames. Ben had seen her making hand movements with the fire.

Ben was probably on the verge of panicking, hanging upside down in mid-air like that. He made a very uncomfortable grunt as Susan put him back on his feet.

"Oh man, Reed! What did you do? He's HIDEOUS! It was bad before, but now…the horror!" said Johnny.

"Johnny! You're on fire!" gasped poor Ben.

"Boy, am I! Just wait, I've got more!" teased Johnny. Just then, Ben grabbed the same blanket & flew right into him. He was trying to put the flames out, pressing down on Johnny's face. That scene actually made my day!

Johnny was struggling to catch his breath, "Aaah! What are you --"

"It's okay, Johnny! I got ya! It's gonna be alright!" Ben stuttered.

Reed snatched back the blanket & wrapped around Ben's frame, pulling him backward, "Ben…stop! Calm down!"

Ben had yet to cool down, "What the heck happened to you guys? Who's that?" He glanced over at Alicia, whom I saw lost part of her previous smile. "Who are they?" he turned to Azula & I.

"Ben, what's the last thing you remember?" asked Reed.

"We're…we're gonna launch for the Space Station tomorrow. I'm piloting. You wanted to run some tests."

"Ah. Yes. This…may be my fault. You see, the brain actually creates new pathways to store memories," Reed shook his head once.

I failed to resist nodding in agreement. (it's a scientist thing…)

He continued, "When the sequencer reverted Ben back to his pre-Fantastic Four days, it seems to have reverted his memories as well."

"What's a 'Fantastic Four'? & why are my pants so big?" Ben looked down with his brows knitting together.

That's when my daughter laughed.

"So he has amnesia?" Susan questioned.

"Not exactly…those memories, those experiences…they never happened for Ben. The flight, he space station, the FF…nothing," said Reed.

"Amnesia, huh? Cool," Johnny was saying very ominously.

"Ben, you owe me a thousand dollars. & you make my lunch every day. After you finish washing my cars!" he blurted out.

"Johnny!" Susan & I snapped quickly.

Ben wasn't pleased either, "You've all flipped out…or this is some kind of crazy dream! Pre-flight jitters…maybe bad salsa, I don't know. But I…I gotta get outta here!" He whirled around frantically. I just realized he was standing on the floor elevator platform…

"No problem!" chirped H.E.R.B.I.E, activating the elevator. Ben disappeared below us, still in a state of unrest.

We were going to go after him, before (according to Reed) he would wreck any contraptions strewn about the entire penthouse. Johnny & I decided to go down the shaft first. As soon as the elevator came back up, the rest were to hitch a ride to catch up.

"Ben, chill out! You're acting like this is weird or something," Johnny told Ben while leaning against a wall.

"We're here to help, Ben," I reassured him but to no avail. His mind was caught up in being in the wrong timeframe, without him realizing it.

Susan had accidentally gone invisible & had to reappear to him in ill timing. "AAH! Suzy? You too? You've all turned into monsters!" Ben panicked some more. So much so that he had an arm curved out to guard his upper body as he backed away.

"Ben, you have to listen," said Azula, cornering him along with Johnny & his sister.

"Ben, it's okay…we're your friends! Let us explain!" said Susan. Ben escaped the circle formed by the three of them; he couldn't be prevailed on to calm down. However, we couldn't force him into doing so – for that'd bring about more predicaments if you asked me.

Reed had blocked the large door right behind him, body stretched out wide. He tried consoling his friend, "I know all of this may seem…odd…but --"

The poor guy switched direction, spinning around & knocking Johnny over to fall on Azula. In a short time, he took the main elevator all the way down. Reed was on his tail, & could persuade him to come back in & save him from 'attacks' of a number of hungry reporters outside.

We seated ourselves in the living area, Ben in the middle of the sofa. For some reason, Johnny had left for an 'important' matter. Ben had a palm over his forehead, "So let me get this straight. Reed can stretch. The kid goes on fire. & Suzy turns invisible. So what do you three do?"

"I'm your friend," uttered a sad Alicia. Her relationship with Ben would be in tangles if nothing was done.

"I'm Reed's colleague & this is my daughter. I operate a robotic supersuit, & well, she goes on fire too," I explained.

"Oh. Good. So, uh, did I have powers, too?"

H.E.R.B.I.E. had an announcement, "Hi, everyone! Guess what? The Mole Man is attacking a lab outside the city!" The conversation had to be delayed. Luckily I was all strapped up in armour for the emergency.

"'Mole Man?' Who the heck is Mole Man?" said Ben.

"It's a long story," Reed answered.

"You can tell me on the way there," Ben stood up & smiled. The smile faded when Reed stopped him with an elongated arm. "Ben, I – I think you should stay here with Alicia. This will be dangerous," cautioned Reed.

We began marching to the nearby lift, leaving the couple behind us.

"We'll fill in for you, buddy," Azula was telling Ben, tapping him on the shoulder. I read the obvious look of confusion on his face; us leaving for a mission must've been quite a precipitance for him. He was probably hankering for answers that would only come later.

"Dangerous? But what if they need me? I'm their pilot…I was in the air force, I used to clobber people all the time!" were Ben's last words I heard as the elevator doors were shut.