Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #31
Doomsday!
With Reed's personality being changed from spending days trapped in Doctor Doom's armor, Sue had no choice but to use a teleportation device to return Doctor Doom to Latveria from Counter-Earth in order to stop her husband before he becomes a complete despot. Unaware that Reed is slowly becoming like Doctor Doom, both Johnny and Ben are convinced by Reed that Sue is under Doom's control. However, they stand back when Doom and Reed begin to duke it out until Victor begins gaining the upper hand. When they try to intervene, Sue stops them with an invisible force field. However when Reed tries to use one of the armor's weapons to destroy Victor, von Doom is able to counteract it and with the blinding flash of light from the weapon both he and Sue manage to slip away. When Reed tries to scan for Sue's life signs he finds no trace of her. The entire exchange begins to make Ben uneasy with how Reed can slip in and out of his "Doctor Doom" act. Furious at being defeated, Reed destroys the transported device in order to prevent Doom from teleporting anyone else from Counter-Earth to fight them. Reed vows to find some way of getting past Victor's cloaking device and finish their confrontation.
Meanwhile, in a secret tunnel within the castle known only by Victor himself, both he and Sue flee from their attackers. Doom reiterates that Reed will not be above killing them now that he is being influenced by the armor. Sue refuses to believe that Reed will kill but Doom warns her just the same. This makes Sue even more determined to stop her husband from becoming just like their greatest foe and Doom is impressed by her spirit. Elsewhere in the castle, Reed has programmed the Servo-Guards to scan the castle to try and find his wife and Doom. Johnny doesn't like how Reed keeps ordering them around like simple lackies and takes off. Ben is also quite disturbed by Reed's change in character and decides to try and find Sue himself. This scanning does not go unnoticed by Sue who can sense it. Doom quickly deduces what Reed is trying to key into her powers to try and locate them. When Sue suggests they split up, Doom rules against it, telling her that they must face Reed eventually but it will be on their own terms. As Johnny and Ben conduct their own searches for Sue, Doom manages to hack into the computers and turn the Servo-Guards against Reed and the others, keeping them busy. However, this allows both Johnny and Ben to find them while Reed shuts down the robots.
When confronted by both Johnny and Ben, Sue tries to convince them of what is going on but they find the idea of Reed being brainwashed into becoming like Doctor Doom hard to believe. They then take Doom and Sue to Reed in the throne room. There Reed orders Johnny to incinerate Doctor Doom to rid them of him once and for all. Much to Sue's surprise it Johnny complies and Doom is apparently incinerated. With Doom seemingly dead, Reed reveals his plans to take over the entire world and put it under the control of the Fantastic Four who will lead the human race into the stars to conquer the universe. Horrified by this, Johnny and Ben are finally convinced that Doom's warnings were correct. As it turns out, Doom wasn't incinerated by Johnny. Sue shielded him with her powers and rendered him invisible while his costume was burned. Doom attacks Reed and while his mortal foe is off guard, Victor casts a spell that causes the armor to jump off Reed and attach itself to him. With Reed now free, Doctor Doom tells the Fantastic Four that while he intends to return to Counter-Earth, they have overstayed their welcome in Latveria and orders them to return home. As he teleports away, Doctor Doom warns his greatest foes that they will meet again.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Doctor Doom
Continuity Notes
Reed has been trapped in Doctor Doom's armor since Fantastic Four Vol 3 #25 due to the machinations of the Dreaming Celestial, who also banished Doom to Counter-Earth as seen in Doom #1.
