Complete Fantastic Four Vol 1 34

The Fantastic Four and the military are shocked when in attempting to change the Hulk back into Bruce Banner, the Thing freed the Hulk and decided that he would team up with the Hulk due to the inhuman treatment the green goliath had received from the military. When the FF and the military try to stop the two man-monsters from escaping, they easily smash through them.

Breaking into the hangar, Hulk and the Thing smash all the planes except for the one in which they escape. While in the air, the Thing suggests that they head back to the desert where the Hulk usually hangs out and asks him where they should go. Hulk dimly recalls a rock formation that he can sit on and think. As they fly by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, the Hulk confuses it for his favorite sitting spot and demands that the Thing bring him there. Ben experiences a momentary dizziness and agrees to take them down.

With Colonel Sellers about to attack, Mr. Fantastic manages to convince him to let the Fantastic Four go out and try to capture the Hulk and their errant teammate first. The four leave in another ship, and when they are in the air, Reed tells the others that Thing's constant proximity to the Hulk for an extended period of time may have an effect on him due to the Hulk's gamma radiation and stresses that they need to get to Ben before it's too late.

They end up in St. Louis, where they spot the Hulk and Ben on a rooftop. The Hulk is furious that they didn't land directly on the Gateway Arch (being unable to safely land on it escapes the Hulk's understanding). When the Hulk is about to toss a chunk of concrete on the soldiers that have gathered below, the Thing realizes the folly of allying with the Hulk and smashes the chunk of concrete before the Hulk can throw it. Not understanding what happened, the Hulk jumps down to attack the soldiers directly. Ben decides to try to go down and stop the Hulk when he is struck by yet another dizzy spell. Before anything can happen, the Hulk is distracted by Reed Richards, who orders the Hulk to stand down and allow them to take him into custody. He explains the danger Ben faces being in prolonged proximity to the Hulk; this angers the Hulk, who attacks them for trying to separate him from his new friend.

A battle ensues, with the Thing and Hulk against the remaining members of the Fantastic Four. The Human Torch tackles the Thing, who easily knocks out his young comrade, sending him flying into Reed. With Reed stunned on the Gateway Arch, he is an easy target for the Hulk, but he is saved from a thrashing by Sue's invisible force field. Realizing the mistake he has made, Ben begins fighting the Hulk. During their battle, he suddenly realizes he's changing back into Ben Grimm. He is easily knocked off the Arch and sent falling to the ground. Now completely in human form, Ben falls to a certain death but is saved by the Human Torch.

Witnessing his former friend changed back into human form, the Hulk realizes that the "puny humans" have made him alone again and bounds off to seek solitude elsewhere. In the aftermath of the battle, everyone is surprised that Ben has been reverted back to normal due to constant exposure to the Hulk's gamma rays. However, Reed grimly asks the question: What will happen to the Fantastic Four?

The Invaders return to London to find it in the midst of an attack. As they rush in to help, they're beaten to the punch by a new group of British superheroes (with one American) called the Crusaders. When Lord Falsworth hears about them later, he reacts with shock at the familiar description of Dyna-Mite. Later that day, the Invaders head towards Buckingham Palace to meet about an assignment to be the King's Honour Guard, but are distracted along the way by an exploding car and the misleading witness account of a cabbie named Alfie. While the Invaders are on a wild goose chase, the Crusaders foil an assassination attempt on the King, earning them the position of Honour Guard and making the Invaders suspicious that it's all part of a plot to make them look bad and get impostor superheroes close to the King.

The Human Torch returns to the Baxter Building to find his teammates have been mysteriously shrunk down in size and narrowly saves them from being sucked into an air vent. Reed, Sue, and Ben suddenly return to their original size just as they are being taunted by a disembodied voice who warns them that this is only the beginning. Comparing notes, the quartet soon realizes that they have all experienced moments where they were suddenly shrunk down in size only to be restored to normal only moments after. Seeking to solve this mystery, Mister Fantastic decides to call in an expert on size changing and calls in the diminutive hero known as Ant-Man for help. Contacted via his network of ants, Ant-Man leaves his partner the Wasp behind to answer the Fantastic Four's summons. Hearing of the Fantastic Four's plight, Ant-Man agrees to provide them with a sample of his shrinking formula before departing.

During some downtime, Reed tests out a new formula in the hopes of curing the Thing, only he chose to test it out while Ben was lifting a heavy piano, causing Grimm to drop it as he reverted back to human form. Ben and Alicia's celebrations are cut short after another voice warning them to beware of Doctor Doom before the transmission is cut off. After the Human Torch shows off his powers to some local teens and Sue attempts to mask her scent to make herself invisible to dogs, the Fantastic Four are called together after another ominous warning. Deciding to finally investigate, Reed gives his teammates a concentrated version of Ant-Man's shrinking formula that causes them to shrink down to a microscopic size.^{[Continuity 1]} They soon transverse into a micro-world and appear in a castle surrounded by guards under the command of Doctor Doom.^{[Continuity 2]}

Before the FF can respond, Doom shrinks them down to size and then explains that after his last defeat at their hands he found himself shrunk to the microscopic world of Sub-Atomica.^{[Continuity 3]} There he impressed Sub-Atomica's king with his inventive genius earning his trust until he could construct a new shrink ray and use it to shrink the king and his daughter Pearla. With Sub-Atomica under his control he began plotting his revenge against the Fantastic Four. When Doom orders the group captured, they fight back, only for Doom to capture Sue and use her as a hostage to force the others to surrender. Incapacitated by knock-out gas, the FF awake to find themselves in a dungeon along with the king and his daughter. Learning that their prison is below a sea of acid, escape appears to be impossible. Pearla explains that she and her father were imprisoned after she refused to be Doom's bride and that the Doctor had formed an alliance with her people's dreaded enemies the Lizard Men of Tok.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Ant-Man returns to the Baxter Building to investigate when the Fantastic Four failed to return. Suspecting they are in trouble, Ant-Man also shrinks himself down to size until he enters Sub-Atomica. There he battles the guards but is subdued and brought before Doom as a prisoner. As this is happening, the FF use their powers to construct a crude submersible from the walls of their prison to protect them from the acid outside. Arriving in the castle, the group restores themselves to normal and fight off the guards. Seeing this as a losing battle, Doom uses his device to restore himself to his normal size and escape to Earth. With Doom's coupe smashed, the Fantastic Four then use the device to return to their native universe as well.