Walker in Dreams has spent several days training with Damien Hellstrom, the so-called Son of Satan, in mystical ways to protect his mind from intrusion, when his retreat is disrupted by a call to duty. The Avengers are called to Liberty Park where a glowing portal has appeared in the air. Just as they arrive, a withered old man comes tumbling through. He claims to be Rick Jones, an ally of the Avengers, come back from the distant future to save the Hulk. He gives the Avengers his time travel device, a small crystal-filled box, just before finally dying of extreme old age.

The heroes seek out Bruce Banner and find him just in time to see him drawn away by a powerful chronal distortion. They follow Dr. Banner and find themselves in ancient Egypt, facing down soldiers serving a tyrannical pharaoh called Rama-Tut. The Avengers discover that the “green goliath” has been captured by the pharaoh, who has many wondrous powers and “magic artifacts” that the heroes recognize as weapons from the distant future.

The Avengers make contact with the resistance, led by a powerful blue-skinned outcast named En Sabah Nur. Together, they storm the pharaoh’s secret lair and find another captured group of superheroes, the Fantastic Four—but a Fantastic Four from a time before the heroes’ own year of 1984. They free the family of the future and fight Rama-Tut, discovering that he is actually a time traveler named Nathaniel Richards, a distant descendant of Reed Richards from the 30th century. Rama-Tut escapes, leaving Egypt in the hands of En Sabah Nur and freeing the Hulk—only for him to disappear into the time stream once more!