As the Fantastic Four stops an
armored car hijacking, they talk over the latest troubles with Doctor Doom’s
conquest of Earth. Doom is enjoying great popularity, the schools he is
creating are excellent, and he is making himself a legend. They decide the only
way to defeat him is to make him look ridiculous and the best way to do that is
to fight him in front of an audience. They learn Doom will be addressing the
United Nations the next day, a meeting broadcast to the entire world.
Meanwhile, Valeria contacts her mother and asks permission to visit her friend
Bradley in New York…
…but Valeria really goes to visit
her godfather, Doctor Doom, to ask him what his plan is. So he takes her to a
government building in a small Canadian city and asks her to defend democracy.
She points out that, without government, there would be only anarchy; Doom
agrees and asks how anarchy among nations is any better? Doom only wants to
unify the world to end selfish rivalry and conflict. But Valeria knows that
that is only how Doom would justify his actions to the world. What is his real
goal? Doom seeks glory and he is the only one on Earth qualified to unite the
world. She is skeptical and returns home on that note….
The FF arrive at the UN as Doom is
speaking to the delegates. An army of Doombots materializes outside and the FF
wreck them. Inside Doom announces that no longer will anyone suffer
discrimination by accident of birth and he also opens all borders. The FF burst
in and denounce Doom as a fraud and a villain. Doom responds by asking if they
are ready to attack the innocents they claim to champion. Several aides point
guns at the FF. Doom indicates that they are ordinary citizens who support Doom
and that the guns will explode if they are tampered with—and the men are aware
of this and defending Doom of their own free will. And then Doom announces he
will do what the so-called smartest man in the world, Reed Richards, has failed
to do: he cures Ben Grimm of the affliction that makes him the Thing. And Doom
departs, ordering the guards to arrest the FF if they do not pay for the
damages to the building….
People all over the world are
interviewed for their thoughts on Doom’s control of the world and the reactions
are generally positive. This leads Captain Marvel (Carol D) to announce to the Avengers
that they are losing the battle. So their next plan is to have Scarlet Witch
lead a group of magic users and espionage types to investigate world leaders to
uncover what hold Doom has over them. And while they are doing that, the rest
of them will be providing a distraction and for that she introduces their new
allies–the Masters of Evil….