FF (Vol. 2) #14
Bath House of the August Moon
As Alex Power apologizes to the rest of the Future Foundation for betraying them to Doctor Doom, Ant-Man continues his plans to stop Doom once and for all. However, in the memory of his daughter Cassie Lang, Ant-Man vows that no children will die in the coming battle. Meanwhile, in Latveria, Doctor Doom tries to figure out what happened to the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation after they disappeared through the portal that they built. He tries to get answers out of Alex's parents but they know nothing. In the other cell, Ravonna conjures and image of Earth's heroes investigating the portal on the roof of the Baxter Building and reminds him that Black Bolt has constant telepathic contact with his son Ahura, and points out that Black Bolt seems to be the only one unconcerned with the sudden disappearance. She then warns Doom that Ant-Man is coming to kill him for revenge over murdering his daughter and tells him that he must form Doom the Annihilating Conqueror.
Entering a secret cavern, Doom is informed by Kid Immortus that he has detected some strange anomalies, but Doom refuses to listen. When Annihilus points out that they are hiding in his blind spot, Doom refuses to acknowledge that he has one. He then asks Kid Immortus what use Annihilus is, and learns he has none without his Cosmic Control Rod. When Kid Immortus goes on about merging, Doom dismisses this idea again, finding it beneath him.
While at the Watcher's Citadel on the Moon, Ant-Man gathers his young charges and begins planning their assault on Doctor Doom. With Doom's various mystical and technological defenses he has brought the aliens posing as Julius Caesar and Sun Tzu to assist in coming up with a strategy for the coming battle. When Old Man John suggests they kill Annihilus, Ant-Man points out that it is a temporary solution as Annihilus would just be reborn in the Negative Zone. Ant-Men then sends Bentley to gather some of the Mad Thinker's androids, She-Hulk to recover an Awesome Android from the Gideon Trust, and the other children to recover a Kee Sentry stored on the moon. He also sends Medusa back in time to get the aid of Dakor the Magician, who disappeared in 1942, as such Doom would not be expecting attacks from him. Lastly, he gets Dragon Man to work building duplicates of the Thing exo-suit that can be piloted remotely. When Dragon Man offers to let them clone him to make a larger army, the Future Foundation decides that it is morally wrong and turns down the offer.
While the others get to work, Ant-Man uses the Watcher's archives to research a connection between the original Ant-Man, Ultron, Wonder Man, the Vision and Power Man. He is interrupted by the Watcher who offers the use of a Japanese spa that was constructed during the honeymoon of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman years earlier. Ant-Man takes the opportunity to vocalize his dislike for the Watcher due to his vow of non-interference. When the Watcher says that he does not get involved for the greater good, Lang asks if his daughter’s death was for the greater good. Surprisingly, this question renders the Watcher speechless.
Later, the female members of the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation are enjoying the spa. Ulana uses the opportunity to educate them on the pregnancies of Watchers. Medusa, She-Hulk, and Darla also discuss their concerns about the coming battle. Meanwhile, Bentley tries to earn some quick money by drilling a hole in the fence blocking the children off from the women, who are bathing nude and charging a dollar a peep. However, nobody is interested and when Dragon Man points out how wrong it is, he stumbles into the fence, knocking it down, leaving the android to take the blame for peeping.
Later, Darla and Scott spend some time alone and he asks her if she ever worries about murdering someone. He then relates to his time in prison when he was forced to kill a fellow inmate in self-defense and how ashamed he feels about enjoying killing his attacker. He worries that in the heat of the battle he might become like that again. When Darla tries to comfort him he pushes her away, telling her that they can try again after the battle is over. Elsewhere, Medusa wakes her son Ahura and presents him with clothes that signify him as an adult of the House of Boltagon and asks if he wishes to enter this battle from the sidelines with the children or beside his mother like a man. Ahura accepts the clothes and vows to fight alongside his queen.
Back in Latveria, the Parliament of Doom are frustrated that the Prime Doctor Doom refuses to allow them passage into his reality. They fear that he will not be able to defeat the Fantastic Four in this reality because he is not using the Prime Kang or the Prime Annihilus. Still, they wait and watch. Meanwhile, Doctor Doom has recovered a Cosmic Control Rod from another reality. However, Annihilus points out that there is but one Negative Zone. This makes Doom realize that Mister Fantastic has been hiding the fact that the Zone encompasses the space between all other realities. While Annihilus is distracted, Doom uses his Cosmic Power Siphon to drain the power away from Annihilus and takes his Cosmic Control Rod for himself, refusing to merge himself with two beings he finds inferior and doesn't need them to defeat children.
On the Moon, Ant-Man tells the children to be brave in the battle ahead and leaves Bentley in charge in case the Fantastic Four don't survive the battle. After a heartfelt goodbye, the Fantastic Four are teleported to Earth, leaving the Future Foundation in the care of the Watcher.
Continuity Notes
The Watcher mentions that Reed and Sue had their honeymoon at the Watcher's citadel. The couple got married back in Fantastic Four Annual #3, and their honeymoon on the moon was revealed in Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special #1.
The Parliament of Doom mentions a "Nativity", they are referring to the accident that led to the birth of Doctor Doom which the Parliament visit in each reality. This was first seen in Fantastic Four Vol 4 #9. Victor Von Doom suffered scarring to his face after an experiment exploded on him, as originally depicted in Fantastic Four #5.
Doctor Doom mentions Richard Janus being "onto something". Janus was a classmate with Reed and Victor in University and was obsessed with the Negative Zone, as first seen in Fantastic Four #107.
