Susan Storm-Richards floated in the Negative Zone, her communicator was totally busted. "Why did I not listen to Reed, I shouldn't have come here alone." She had responded to a signal from Rosetta Stone, a high ranking political figure in Shadow City, one of the many places in the Negative Zone that the Fantastic Four had visited. Now here she was floating aimlessly, as her comm system was busted on a floating asteroid when she came through the distortion area. There would be no signalling home right now.

"So I'm alone and without the potential for help at the moment." She started to breathe deeply to calm herself. Keeping a cool head in such situations was key. The blonde beauty looked at her wrist computer. Most of the functionality on her suit remained, just not comms equipment. She did a quick vitals scan of her suit. She had on a space travelling uniform that protected her from the harsh radiation and vacuum of the empty Negative Zone. Reed had designed uniforms for every environment, and had several for the Negative Zone. It was black, and had the "4" on her chest, but this could easily be changed to the Future Foundation insignia with the click of a button. This particular garb could change color, and form within seconds. The uniform was tight, and clung to her ample form. The only real portions that spoke to this being a "space" suit was the small helmet she wore which provided air, and the jet-propulsion pack on her back that allowed her to move through space.

All systems were operational, and her vitals were good. She had been here before, and many times. So why was she suddenly afraid. Like a unavoidable wave in the ocean, it washed over her. In the back of her mind, she knew why the fear was building. It was all about time.

Sue's mind went to the vast difference in time between the two universes. In the space-time continuum of the Negative Zone, time passes at the same rate as it does here: one second per second. When compared to each other, though, the rates differ. It usually equated to ones location in the Zone. The closer one got to the center of the Zone, known as the Crossroads of Infinity, the less difference in time between the two universes. The problem lied in being away from he center of the Zone. Further away from the Crossroads of Infinity one day in the Negative Zone could equate to only 25.7 seconds on Earth. This made Sue begin to panic.

“Keep it together Susan,” she reasoned with herself. She knew that the Negative Zone had an adverse affect on ones emotion. People had reported utter despair and hopelessness while traveling through the Zone. Each trip affected people differently, and each person was affected differently. “I can't let this place get to me.” She told herself.

The self pep-talk didn't help much, and even on Earth, she would be worried. The time difference was directly linked to her rescue. It all hinged on WHEN someone from her team, or anyone for that matter would discover that she was trapped here.

Calculations began to swim in her head. “Ok,” she thought, “Think Susan”.The distortion area in Reed's lab deposited someone at the outskirts of the Debris Field near Arthros. Sue remembered being told by Reed that the time differential in this area was closer to to five and a half hours for every minuted on Earth. Basically it would mean a two week stay in the Negative Zone for every hour that passed on Earth.

Reed was off with Hank Pym and several scientists exploring a newly discovered planet right outside the Milky Way in their own universe. The blonde's best estimate put her husband's return to Earth at no less than four days, and knowing Reed it could be longer. This meant if she were to rely on Reed, she'd potentially be in the Negative Zone for close to four years. “Shit.” She shouted into the blank space of the Zone. Every day that past on Earth was close to eleven months here.

She thought of Ben Grimm, who was on a two week vacation traveling Europe with Alicia. They had recently gotten back together, and this was there first chance to be alone. Her mind didn't even want to go there, as it would mean fifteen years would pass here. Ben would not and could not help.

“Johnny,” She sighed. He was spending the day with Crystal of the Inhumans. By her best estimate, that would put him back home in the Baxter Building around midnight. “Yeah right,” Sue grumbled, “more like 2 in the morning”. Either way, she knew that Johnny wouldn't pass by the Negative Zone Distortion Area lab. He would go right to sleep, and not wake up until at least 9am. This was again being generous for Johnny.

The sense of dread wouldn't leave her. She had entered the Zone at noon by Earth's time. Even if Johnny woke up at 9am, what would be the chances he noticed the blinking lights on any of the consoles that alerted someone of the distortion areas use. He'd no doubt, make breakfast, watch TV and workout as he usually did on a Saturday.

Why hadn't she told anyone she was coming here. Reed had chastised her before about going on missions alone. She was the only one in the building to respond, however, and this was merely to make contact with Shadow City, and Rosetta Stone (an ally), not really a dire distress signal, more to discuss a trade agreement. The trip shouldn't have lasted much more than a few hours. Mere seconds on Earth. No one would even know she had left. She didn't think she needed to contact anyone. Only H.E.R.B.I.E, the Baxter Buildings artificial intelligence knew of her current whereabouts. The computer system was logging the time, but Sue had never put in a return schedule to cause alarms to set off. HERBIE wouldn't get worried, as he was simply a robot. Without hitting her own distress beacon on her communicator, which wasn't working, HERBIE wouldn't do a thing.

The realization of her predicament hit her like a ton of bricks. Johnny was her only hope, and even IF he discovered the problem, it probably wouldn't be until the next afternoon. This meant that Sue was trapped here for at minimum a full year. She dared not think of any worse scenario. “COME ON JOHNNY!” She breathed heavily, “I'm counting on you.”

The Invisible Woman know knew that her best chance of getting out of here anytime soon relied on finding a trans-dimensional communication device. There were plenty in the Zone. She could find Shadow City, or Hellscout's camp. Reed had given both a device to contact the Fantastic Four. There were others like the Kestorians and the planet Tarsuu who had such technology. She just had to get to one of these places. Unfortunately, the Negative Zone was vast, and merely floating to one of these locations was not possible.

Still, there were other entities, and beings that could communicate with Earth. In fact, she wasn't far from Arthros now. This would offer her no respite. It was home to the tyrant Annihilus. She dared not go there. The bug king was one of the oldest foes of Fantastic Four. The more she thought about her proximity to Annihilus's homeworld, the more the despair grew. In the Negative Zone the Fantastic Four weren't the adored and admired heroes they were on Earth. To many of the Zone denizens, the Fantastic Four were outlaws and villains, as backwards as that seemed.

She knew she had to leave this area, but didn't want to stray further away from the center of the Zone. At least the computer systems on her suit still worked. She'd have a sense of direction. This gave her some relief. She typed in coordinates to he desired destination. “Shadow City” would give her the best chances. The computer informed her it would be a two week travel without a ship to transport her.

“Uggh,” she grumbled and pushed herself in the direction that the computer suggested. If she could get there, then she could use the communicator. “Damn,” her emotions got the best of her, “even if I send a message to HERBIE, he'd have to contact someone else to enter the distortion area.” That could take hours on Earth, making her time here longer. She could send a message to the Avengers. Janet Van Dyne would come to her rescue. Maybe even Jennifer Walters, the She-Hulk, her best friend.

“A year in the Negative Zone,” Sue rolled her eyes. It was the best she could hope for. She couldn't let the dread take hold. She had to fight the negativity of this place. “Maybe I could get a nice penthouse suite for a while in Shadow City.” The Fantastic Four had friends there. Rosetta Stone and Lockdown. How bad could that be. It was free time off from the stress and tumultuous life of being in the Fantastic Four. No world ending scenarios to handle, no Earth eating monsters to vanquish. “That's the spirit,” Sue nodded to herself. She realized that even if she spent a full year here, when she returned to Earth, only about one day would have passed. “As if I never left,” she laughed.

She saw a ship approaching. "Shit." She knew that few denizens of this place with such ships were kind and good. The likes of Annihilus, Blastaar, Stygor all had fleets.

Off to her right she saw a lush planet. She scanned the planet with the wrist-band computer on her suit. "It looks like its uninhabited," she muttered as she checked for sentient life.

Should she wait for the ship, or go to the planet.