Fantastic Four (Vol 3) #22
Lost Hope!
Mister Fantastic has been running tests to verify if there is any truth to Valeria von Doom's assertions that she is indeed the daughter of the Invisible Woman and Doctor Doom in some possible future. Sue comes in an asks Reed what he is doing. When he tells his wife that he is trying to learn the truth, Sue is less than happy with the idea of possibly marrying the Fantastic Four's greatest enemy and having a child. Reed's DNA tests show that there is a strong possibility that Valeria shares similar DNA with Sue, but the cosmic radiation in both of their bodies are making an accurate match illusive. This only upsets Sue even more who tells Reed that the only daughter she had died during child birth and that this Marvel Girl is nothing more than an impostor. Sue says this just as Valeria enters the lab and hearing those words hurt her deeply that she apologizes in tears before runs out of the room. Reed tries to follow after her but she manages to slip away.
Later at Roglan's Coffee House, She-Hulk is reading over legal text books when she is suddenly attacked by her old foe Titania. Knocked out into the street She-Hulk is also attacked by Titania's partner, the Absorbing Man. The ambush is too much for She-Hulk and she is quickly knocked out by her two foes. While at a bar on the Lower East Side, the Thing and Bounty are out having a drink together. The Thing is unimpressed with how Bounty is smitten by him. While trying to talk her out of infatuation the bar is suddenly the stage for a hold-up. However the would-be thieves instantly give up when they realize they are up against the Thing and the heavily armed Bounty. Just then the Thing gets a phone call from Reed telling asking him to help find Valeria.
While Valeria travels across New York City her thoughts turn to her childhood growing up and the love she felt from her mother and brother, how her birth was seen as a miracle, making Sue's rejection of her hurt even more. Meanwhile, Sue is thinking about the fact that Doctor Doom is their greatest enemy. Sue finds the idea of marrying and having ac child with her greatest enemy repulsive. She then retreats to a storage area of Pier Four and inside a box finds the death certificate for her daughter, Valeria Meghan Richards, who died during childbirth years earlier. At that moment Valeria has arrived at the Latverian Embassy. Knocking at the door she demands a room to be set up for her. However the butler answering the door thinks she is joking and tells her that this isn't a laughing matter since Doctor Doom has been missing for some time and how the sovereignty of Latveria itself is under siege by the mutant terrorist known as Stryfe. Valeria decides to liberate her homeland and runs off. However, around the corner, she bumps into Titania and the Absorbing Man who also have She-Hulk under their control.
Valeria then confronts the three powerhouses and Titania unleashes She-Hulk upon her. However, none are prepared for Valeria's superior strength as she knocks She-Hulk aside. Summoning her Marvel Girl costume, Valeria holds her own against her opponents until the Thing and Bounty arrive on the scene. Restrained by the Absorbing Man, the Thing learns that the two crooks managed to get She-Hulk under their control with a drug. Before he can break free, Ben is forced to consume the drug as well becoming Absorbing Man's slave. Bounty is felled new leaving Marvel girl alone to fend off her attackers. Distracted by a person in trouble, Marvel Girl is saved at the last moment by the arrival of the Invisible Woman and the rest of the Fantastic Four. Spider-Man also arrives on the scene to lend a hand, but everyone ends up staying on the sidelines watching in absolute shock as the Invisible Woman trounces their foes all by herself. At the end of the battle Spider-Man asks who this new Marvel Girl is and Sue tells him that she is her daughter. Hearing this makes Valeria very happy and she is welcomed back home by Sue and Reed.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Marvel Girl, Bounty, Spider-Man, She-Hulk, Absorbing Man, Titania
Continuity Notes
Valeria von Doom is actually an adult version of Valeria Richards the stillborn second child of Reed and Sue. Valeria didn't survive the child birthing process as depicted in Fantastic Four #267. This is revealed in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #49. Franklin ultimately uses his powers to restore Valeria to her newborn state so Sue can give birth to her again in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #50. The Fantastic Four caught a glimpse of Valeria's world in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #15. At the time of this story, it has been four years since Sue had her miscarriage, per the Sliding Timescale.
On Reed's monitors are the various foes that the Fantastic Four recently fought:
Ronan the Accuser in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #13-14/Iron Man (vol. 3) #14.
The Ruined in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #19.
The insectoid aliens from Earth-99315 in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #15.
Annihilus in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #19.
The coffee shop that She-Hulk is frequenting is the same one she studied in during the events of Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men #1.
Sue recounts the Fantastic Four's first battle against Doctor Doom which occurred way back in Fantastic Four #5.
The man at the Latverian embassy states that Doctor Doom has "gone missing", like the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, Doctor Doom was forced to sacrifice himself to stop Onslaught in Onslaught Marvel Universe #1. He also ended up on Counter-Earth as first seen in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #1. When the heroes return to Earth in Heroes Reborn: The Return #4, Doctor Doom was lost in the dimensional void in a failed attempt to kidnap Franklin Richards. At the time of this story, Doom is trying to conquer Counter-Earth for himself as seen in Heroes Reborn Doomsday #1/Heroes Reborn Ashema #1/Heroes Reborn Doom #1.
He also states that the mutant terrorist known as Stryfe is trying to claim Latveria for himself. This was chronicled in X-Man #46-47 and Cable #63. Stryfe's attempt to conquer Latveria was foiled by the X-Man and Cable.
