Fantastic Four (Vol 2) #6
Retribution
Alicia Masters waits patiently for her date, Ben Grimm, to show up when she gets a call from her publicist Cass. Cass tries to convince Alicia that Ben is no good and just a famous super-hero, however Alicia holds onto the fact that Ben must have a good reason for not showing up for their date, like being out saving the world. However, even after finishing her call with Cass, Alicia can't help but doubt a little.
However, Alicia's initial reasoning couldn't be more to the truth, as Ben is with the rest of the Fantastic Four battling the Super-Skrull, an alien who has just absorbed the power of a strange silver alien being that crashed landed on Earth. Now in within Dr. Doom's castle, the FF, Black Panther and Dr. Doom he tells them of his species natural ability to shape-shift.
When Doom attempts to attack him, the Super-Skrull shows off his ultimate power. Reed asks the Super-Skrull to explain what's going on, and the super-powerful alien is more than happy to provide Reed's request: He explains that the silver alien is known as the Silver Surfer, the herald of a planet devouring creature known as Galactus. The Super-Skrull explains that Galactus had devoured the Skrull home world and that he had sought out the Silver Surfer in order to absorb the Heralds power to use against Galactus.
The explanation is interrupted by the approach of SHIELD aircraft come to collect the Surfer but the Super-Skrull destroys them with a force field. This anger the Thing into attack and the rest of the FF and the Black Panther join the fray. Finding that the Super-Skrull is too powerful, Reed agrees to follow Dr. Doom's plan in stopping the Super-Skrull and instructs Sue to use her invisible force field powers to redirect a blast from the Super-Skrull at the Silver Surfer. Although this is too much for Sue's powers to handle it's a success and she manages to free the Surfer.
The Silver Surfer clashes with the Super-Skrull, the massive power threatening to destroy Doom's entire castle if the energy reaches the fusion reactor that powers his nation. The FF, Wyatt Wingfoot and Black Panther all flee, but Doom stays behind to make sure none of his people are killed as a result of the clash, vowing to blame the Fantastic Four if this happens. THe castle explodes leaving the FF to wonder if Doom succeeded however they decide not to wait around and leave.
From the rubble of Doom's castle comes the Silver Surfer, alive and well, who watches as the Fantastic Four leave. The Surfer remarks how this is the first time in a very long time that any being ever showed him compassion.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Alicia Masters, Wyatt Wingfoot, Silver Surfer, Black Panther, Doctor Doom, Super Skrull, Galactus
Continuity Notes
As becomes evident in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 this world exists in a pocket universe created by Franklin Richards to save the lives of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers after they sacrificed their lives to stop Onslaught during Onslaught Marvel Universe #1. While the members of the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, Black Panther, the Hulk, Tony Stark, and Henry Pym come from Earth-616, all the other characters in both stories this issue are creations of Franklin's imagination.
The destruction of the Skrull homeworld in the Counter-Earth pocket dimension is reminiscent of when the Galactus of Earth-616 did the same thing in Fantastic Four #257.
Industrial Revolution: Prologue
Having escaped the destruction of his castle, Dr. Doom is in a secret lab preparing to rebuild his castle when he is interrupted by one of his Doombots. The Doombot reports of happenings in the United States that require his masters’ attention. He pulls up a television broadcast of the Hulk's battle on Avengers Island. Scanning the Hulk, Dr. Doom is impressed to see a creature that is spawned by gamma radiation that could be as powerful, if not more so, than the Power Cosmic of the Silver Surfer.
Scanning further, Doom is surprised to find that the Hulk is, in reality, his old university colleague Bruce Banner. This prompt Doom to think back to his university days where he and Banner discussed the ethics of creating a gamma bomb. Banner would believe that the creation of a gamma bomb would ensure that it would never be used, an idea that Doom would find idiotic.
Doom finds it amusing that the young man he knew so many years ago would become a slave to the very power that he was trying to harness. When the Doombot inquires on what to do next, Doom tells them to wait and see how his former friends deal with this new threat and laugh to himself about how amusing it is.
This story continues in Avengers (vol. 2) #6…
Recurring Characters
Doctor Doom, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Hulk, Henry Pym, Rebel O’Reilly
Continuity Notes
The events of this story take place after the Hulk's attack on the Avengers' Hydrobase in Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.