On a deserted New York dock, the Red Ghost has brought Nico Stanovich, handler of the first of the Soviet sleepers, to be executed by his own charge, Dmitri. The reason: by killing his wife and children, which he was not supposed to have had (issue #1), he has brought the attention of the authorities on them. Dmitri pulls the trigger and the careless agent falls into the river. The assassin wonders whether Stanovich’s comment about the Cold War being over is true; the Red Ghost assures him that it isn’t and this time the East will win….
At a SHIELD facility, Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, and the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, meet with Nick Fury and their liaison Jasper Sitwell to discuss the current crisis. The assassination attempt on Doctor Doom, which was clearly intended to fail, was designed to provoke a violent reaction, now the Red Ghost will unleash his Doombot on a path of destruction and the real Doom will get the blame, thus leading to war between the United States and Latveria. The only possible mastermind for this plot is Lucia Von Bardas, the US-backed former Prime Minister of Latveria who turned out to be funding supervillains, and who was overthrown by a covert operation of heroes led by Fury; she subsequently returned as a cyborg for revenge, critically injuring Luke Cage. Now Jasper will try to track her down while Bucky and the Widow must prevent a war….
In her lair, Von Bardas activates the Doombot, which believes itself to be the real Doom and is puzzled at why it is taking her orders. The device is then shipped off to where it will be used….
Using technology borrowed from Reed Richards, Bucky and Natasha leap from a SHIELD jet and teleport into the Latverian Embassy. They sneak past the various guards and surveillance systems until they come face-to-face with Doom himself. Believing them to be assassins, Doom attacks with the deadly weapons in his armor. The supervillain easily overpowers Bucky and prepares to deliver a killing blow when the hero manages to warn Doom that he is about to be framed….
Meanwhile, we see Arkady and the Doombot waiting for their order to go into action, seated in a van—outside the United Nations Building….