Doctor Doom broadcasts to the entire
world that, as Sorcerer Supreme, he now rules the planet. But he claims to be
no dictator: he makes two decrees: One, war between nations is now outlawed and
Two: Everyone shall be treated with respect. He offers free universal health
care and education, claiming these were always possible but never reached
because of greed and moral cowardice. And he reveals that he knows of a
rebellion against him being plotted in Khamiskan—and as he speaks, Doombots
attack and overpower the rebel leaders as a warning to the plotters in other
nations around the world. And so world leaders pledge allegiance to Doom and the
flag of Latveria rises over the White House and other national sites around the
world….
And so various heroes of the
Avengers, Fantastic Four, and others gather to decide on a response. Present
are the Fantastic Four (Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), the
Avengers (Captain Marvel (CD), Captain America (SR), Captain America (SW), Scarlet Witch,
Vision, Thor, Iron Man, Storm) and independents Spider-Man, Doctor Strange,
and Squirrel Girl with her friend Nancy Whitehouse. Various topics are
discussed, including why world leaders have accepted the new state of affairs.
Mind control? Doombots? Magic? Wanda does not detect any magic at work here or
in world capitals. Carol (who is presiding), receives a call from Black Widow
who is in Europe watching Hydra. Natasha patches through a broadcast from
Baron Zemo announcing that Hydra forces will be invading Latveria in a bid to
overthrow Doom. The group decides to travel to Latveria to take care of both
Doom and Zemo then decide what happens next. Sue creates an airliner out of
force fields and they fly to Europe, Spidey and Johnny bantering along the way….
They arrive at the Latverian
border and discover some sort of force field that bars their way, one that not
even Carol or Vision can pass through. As they ponder the situation, they pick
up a broadcast from Baron Zemo, announcing that he now understands that Doom’s
way is the best and so Hydra will devote itself to building schools and
hospitals and clearing landmines. He ends by giving the secret authorization
code, convincing Tony it’s not faked. They trace the broadcast to a Hydra
flying island. They decide to split into two teams, one remaining to try to
pierce the force field and the other to fight Hydra….
Soon the anti-Hydra team is invading
the flying island and battling the hordes of Hydra, leading to the capture of
Baron Zemo. Cap is suspicious and asks what happened on October 1, 1945. When
he can’t answer, Cap knocks his head off, revealing a Doombot who didn’t
recognize the date Hydra was founded. They review the robot’s recordings and
learn Doom killed Zemo on the spot and replaced him with a more obedient
Doombot. Iron Man then makes a broadcast to the world, revealing that the
supposedly benevolent Doom murdered Zemo. The result is that in Europe, Hydra
agents go on a killing spree which is shut down by Doom himself, riding a
flying Doom Tyrannosaurus Rex. Doom responds to Iron Man’s message by admitting
that he killed Zemo—and the Red Skull, too. Both men were unrepentant Nazis and
a problem that the so-called heroes were never able to solve. Doom then paints
the Avengers as a bunch of bitter failures who could not solve the big problems
so all they can do is try to tear down Doom. And they played right into his
hands as Doom further consolidates his power, winning the love of the ordinary
people, including a woman and baby whose lives he saved from Hydra….