Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #69
Unthinkable: Part Two
Sue and Ben are horrified after hearing Valeria's first word, instead of "dada" like they expected she said "Doom". They are almost in disbelief but both agree to tell Reed about this.
Little do they know that Reed has problems as his own as he and Johnny are trying to stop demons from pulling Franklin into Hell through Reed's own transporter. Johnny flames on and flies through the portal to try and pull the boy out of the infernal realm, but is burned with demonic hellfire, forcing him to flee the portal as Franklin gets pulled deeper into Hell. Before Reed can go after his son the portal device suddenly explodes. Seeing that Johnny's leg is horrifically burned, he checks on the Torch as Ben and Sue enter the room. As Reed begins explaining what happened, the various devices in his lab begin to melt at the touch. When Reed tells Sue that Franklin is trapped in Hell, she demands that he do something about it. This causes Ben to realize that Doctor Doom must be up to this, explaining to Ben that Valeria uttered his name just moments earlier. Taking a closer look at his child, Reed is shocked to find that Valeria's blue eyes have suddenly turned red. This causes Reed to begin to lose it, he shouts for Victor to let his daughter go and face him. Doom, speaking through Valeria's body, tells Richards that they shall face each other soon.
Cutting off his connection to the Fantastic Four, Doom uses his mystical powers to contact the Haazareth Three, the demons responsible for his newly acquired mystical powers to report that these abilities are to his satisfaction. The demons are pleased to hear this and are grateful for the sacrifice he has offered them in exchange for this power. They explain that it is good to have an agent acting on Earth. Despite this, Doom warns them that Doom bows to no one. He then turns his attention to outside his castle as his mystical energies begin to swirl around the nation of Latveria. As mystical beams begin to strike the Baxter Building in New York, the Fantastic Four mobilize into one of their ships to face Doctor Doom in his homeland. Unwilling to leave Valeria alone, Sue insists on coming along and bringing the baby along. After patching up Johnny's burned leg the Fantastic Four prepare to make their trip.
Meanwhile in Hell, Franklin pulled along by his demonic captors until he is brought before the Haazareth Three. As they grab at the boy he screams in utter terror. At that very moment, the Fantastic Four are racing across the ocean to Europe and trying to figure out what to do next. The Thing decides to put in a call to Doctor Strange and ask him for help. Strange uncharacteristically brushes them off. Unaware that Strange is being possessed by demons in league with Doom, his dismissal leaves a bad impression with the Thing. When the discussion comes to magic, Reed reiterates that he doesn't believe in magic. Ben finds this preposterous given the number of times Reed has seen magic at work, pointing out all their encounters with Doctor Strange and the fact that Franklin's first nanny was a witch. Their conversation is cut short when the mystical defenses around Latveria attack their ship, causing it to crash on the countryside. Surviving the explosion thanks to Sue's invisible force fields, the Fantastic Four emerge from the burning wreckage to find Doctor Doom waiting for them.
The Fantastic Four attack their foe in earnest, but he has mystical counters for each of their scientifically based powers and weapons. As Doom stands before them unscathed he challenges Reed to defeat him with all the scientific devices at his disposal. Completely shaken by this entire ordeal Reed is frozen into place, while Ben implores Reed to think of something.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange
Continuity Notes
Doctor Doom made Valeria his familiar after he assisted Sue in giving birth to the child in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #54.
Ben mentions that Doctor Doom's mother was a gypsy mystic. This fact was first revealed in Fantastic Four Annual #2.
Ben points out all the times that Reed has seen magic being performed and cites at least two specific instances:
All the times Reed has seen Doctor Strange in action. Reed first met Strange back in Fantastic Four #27
Ben also mentions that Franklin's first nanny was a witch. This is a reference to Agatha Harkness a powerful witch who babysat Franklin from Fantastic Four #94-150 and a second time briefly in Fantastic Four #187-Annual #13.
