Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #54
A Choice of Dooms!
Reed Richards has stumbled upon a plot by the Hidden Ones to eliminate the Inhumans and any other alien invaders. Falling prey to Senso's mind warping powers, Reed listens as she explains her plan to take over the world after she eliminates the two forces capable of stopping her and her people: the Fantastic Four and the Inhuman royal family. She mocks Reed over the fact that she was able to easily defeat and capture the smartest and the strongest members of the Fantastic Four. Down in an isolation cell, Ben Grimm struggles to transform back into the Thing, but thanks to the mental blocks put in place by Senso, he is incapable of doing so.
While back at the Baxter Building, the Inhumans continues to fight off the Guardsmen sent from the Vault to eliminate them. They do so to protect the Invisible Woman who has just entered a very painful labour. Between flashes of negative energy, she explains how her child was conceived in the Negative Zone and how both she and the child will die if Reed is not brought to help her at once. When the energies flare out of control, Sue puts up a force field to protect the others. Crystal grimly wishes that there was somewhere Lockjaw could teleport Sue to get the help she needs as Black Bolt grimly gazes on. While at the Latverian Embassy, Doctor Doom waits for the Inhumans to agree to taking sanctuary in his nation, musing about the portion of another country he will annex to give them a place to live. Suddenly the perimeter alarms go off and Doom is alerted to the fact that the Human Torch coming his way. Doom activates his security robots. With Sue's life hanging in the balance and no time to waste, Johnny quickly melts these robots to slag. This impresses Doom enough to emerge from his embassy. Detecting that Johnny's flames are more powerful than ever, Doom presumes to think that Johnny has come to him seeking a cure for himself. When Johnny explains that he is actually here to save the life of his sister and her unborn child, Doom mockingly offers his condolences. Johnny pleads to Doctor Doom to help, explaining that Reed is missing and Doom is the only person with the skills to help.
Back at the Vault, Reed continues to try to shake off Senso's mental controls. Somewhere he dimly hears a distress call from his removed 4-Communicator, it's Crystal begging for Reed to answer before it's too late. Meanwhile, Ben Grimm centers his focus and manages to summon the will power to trigger his transformation into the Thing. He then smashes through his cell and takes out the two Guardsmen put on watch over him and Reed. Meanwhile, at the Baxter Building, Doctor Doom has arrived to assist in the birth of Sue's second child. While scanning Sue's body, Doom asks the Inhumans if they will be returning with him to Latveria after. Medusa tells Doom that she and her husband are still considering his offer. Johnny then informs Doom that the preparations have all been made, so the ruler of Latveria enters Sue's room to help her deliver her baby. Wracked with pain and throwing off negative energy, Sue refuses to let Doom near her or her child. Doom assures her that the only chance for survival for her and her baby is to trust him. At that moment at the Vault, Ben finds Reed and revives him. Recalling how he faintly heard Crystal's distress call, Reed recovers his communicator. But before they can do anything, Senso arrives on the scene with an army of Guardsmen.
Having had enough, Reed strikes Senso before she can use her powers on him and upon hitting her she transforms from the raven-haired seductress into a blonde-haired military officer. Reed subdues her after realizing that Senso's powers include clouding the perceptions of others. Revealing her true form, Senso explains that she and her people are called the Hidden Ones. That they were an offshoot of the Inhumans but their powers of persuasion made the regular Inhumans mistrustful of them. Fleeing Attilan, the Hidden Ones lived in the mountains of Tibet where they cross-bred with baseline humanity. Her people were later captured and enslaved by the Nazis during World War II but managed to break free during the fall of the Nazi regime. Vowing never to be enslaved again, the Hidden Ones then began spreading across the world and taking positions that would allow them to influence those in positions of power, from political leaders to religious figures. She finishes her explanation by stating that she and her people must remain hidden no matter the cost. It's then that Reed reveals that his communicator was on the whole time and that Senso's exposition was transferred to the computer banks of the Baxter Building to be disseminated to leaders all over the world. With her plot ruined, Senso uses her powers to make it appear as though she has faded away and manages to escape before Mister Fantastic or the Thing could stop her.
The pair then rush back to the Baxter Building where they find the Inhumans waiting for the results of Sue's childbirth. When Reed rushes into his bedroom to check on his wife he is shocked to see his greatest enemy has succeeded in using a combination of science and magic to help Sue give birth to a healthy baby girl. Moreover, Sue is alive and well as well. Sue explains that Doom used his mastery of science and sorcery to drain the negative energy from Johnny's body and flow it into Sue. Not only did this save Sue and the baby, but it also cured Johnny of his increased powers. Doom then tells Reed that he will name the child, when Reed protests to this, Sue informs him that she agreed to allow him to do so after saving her life. Doom decides to name the child Valeria. Doom then decrees that the child is under his royal protection. As he leaves, Doom mockingly tells Reed to enjoy his family but to remember that his greatest enemy was able to save his wife and child where he could not. As Doctor Doom prepares to leave he pauses long enough to ask Black Bolt if he's made his decision yet...
... Later at the Latverian embassy, Doctor Doom watches a new report about how the United Nations has suddenly pulled its Alien Defense Shield and end its xenophobic policies about alien visitors to their world. Meanwhile, it is reported that the Inhumans have found a place of sanctuary, declining Doctor Doom's offer to find refuge in Latveria. Instead, they have chosen to return to the Blue Area of the Moon and rebuild the vast city they once held there. Back at the Baxter Building, Johnny throws a tantrum after a phone call telling him that his movie career is over. He also confides in the fact that he is upset that it was Doctor Doom who had to save the life of Sue and get his powers under control. Reed tells Johnny that he is grateful that he was able to find someone who could save the life of his wife and child and asks him to be Valeria's godfather. Johnny gladly accepts the offer and the two go. As the Fantastic Four happily look over Sue and her new baby, on the moon Crystal tells her daughter Luna a story. This story is about the Fantastic Four and how they were loved by millions after their accident because they never reached the moon.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Luna, Lockjaw), Doctor Doom, Hidden Ones
Continuity Notes
Ben Grimm gained the ability to change back and forth between his human and Thing forms in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #39. He will eventually lose this ability in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #58.
Sue mentions the reason why her pregnancy is slowly killing her is that her child was conceived in the Negative Zone. Some facts about this:
Sue's pregnancies have always been dangerous for her and her child due to her cosmically enhanced body. This was first identified in Fantastic Four #78 when she was pregnant with Franklin.
Sue's second child was conceived in Fantastic Four #254 while the team was exploring the Negative Zone. Sue later had a miscarriage while trying to give birth in Fantastic Four #267 due to the child's unique nature.
Recently, in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #49, Franklin used his powers to resurrect his stillborn sister and restart Sue's pregnancy.
The Inhumans are seeking asylum on Earth after they were enslaved by the Kree and used as pawns to try to assassinate Shi'ar magistrix Lilandra in Inhumans Vol 3 #1-4.
Johnny's flame powers have been out of control since Fantastic Four Vol 3 #44 when his body was charged with energies from the Negative Zone.
Senso suggests that her people influenced the impeachment of former United States President Bill Clinton due to his involvement in the Lewinsky scandal. It also states that they were also responsible for the schisms in the Catholic church during the reign of Pope John Paul the II. This could be a reference to any number of controversies during this period from the Pope's views on sex, women, contraception and the AIDS virus. In the context of this story, they are presented as recent manipulations of the Hidden Ones as these items were topical at the time. However, they can still be considered factual references given the fact that the Hidden Ones have been on the loose since 1945.
Senso makes reference to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy who was assassinated in 1963. Official accounts in the Marvel Universe state that Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald much like in the real world. However, like in the real world, there are a number of conspiracy theories that surround this event. Senso's claims that the Hidden Ones were responsible for the assassination are just one of many.
Doctor Doom names the child Valeria after his childhood love, who was first seen in Marvel Super-Heroes #20. Originally, as revealed in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #22 Reed and Sue originally planned on naming the girl Valerie.
The Inhumans are returning to the moon where they have lived in the past. They originally moved their kingdom Attilan there to escape Earth's pollution in Fantastic Four #240 but it was forcibly returned to Earth in Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising #1-2 and ultimately moved back to the Himalayas in Inhumans Vol 2 #12 until it was converted into a slave ship by the Kree in Inhumans Vol 3 #2.
Johnny's career in Hollywood is over as of this issue as he was replaced by Lon Zelig who is secretly the Super-Skrull as revealed in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #37.
