Magneto arrives in
Latveria during a festival called by Doctor Doom to celebrate his triumph over
the Red Skull; Magneto strikes against the guards trying to force him to be merry,
ending by toppling a gigantic statue of Doom. He bursts into Doom’s throne room
and suggests they team up to conquer the world. Doom disdains his visitor,
revealing he has already subjugated the world: Doom shows Mags that he has
filled the world with Neuro-Gas which has made everyone on Earth an unwitting
subject of Doom. To demonstrate, he is able to force Magneto to his knees and
then command him to kill himself which Mags does by drawing several sharp
weapons toward himself, saved at the last minute by Doom. But the victory came
too easily and Doom is bored so he gives Mags the antidote to the Neuro-Gas and
challenges him to try to take the world from him….
Magneto arrives at
Avengers Mansion and the assembled Avengers (Captain America, Vision, Thor,
Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Beast, Wonder Man, Wasp, Yellowjacket) immediately
attack him. He easily wards off Cap, Thor, and Shellhead and takes down the
rest of the team in seconds. Cap notices that Magneto has not tried to hurt any
of them, suggesting a different purpose for his visit. Magneto explains the
situation and asks their help. But Doom appears via holographic image to
demonstrate his power and the Avengers kneel before him. Doom allows Magneto to
choose one of the Avengers for an ally, freed from Doom’s control. Magneto chooses
the team’s weakest member, Beast, and carries him off….
Beast awakens,
freed from the mind control, in a Quinjet with Magneto; Mags explains the
situation (again) and Beast is the one most likely to convince other heroes of
the danger. But neither the Fantastic Four nor the X-Man are at home so Beast
suggests trying the Champions in Los Angeles, a team that includes his pals
Angel and Iceman. But when they arrive in LA, the Champions (Hercules, Black Widow,
Iceman, Angel, Ghost Rider, Darkstar), having been warned by the
Avengers, are ready to fight the villain and the “traitorous” Beast….
Story continues in
CHAMPIONS #16.