Namor sits by himself, musing over a threatening letter he once received from Steve Rogers, now the Supreme Leader of HYDRA. Rogers wrote he is being advised to attack Atlantis, but as they have been friends and even fought as members of The Invaders together, Rogers is hopeful of finding another solution. He noted, however, that things have changed and their old friendship might not mean as much as it once did. Thinking on this, Namor looks at a sealed box and frowns.
A news report states that the United Nations has convened. Most of its officials and ambassadors are trapped in New York under the Darkforce dome, but those remaining are ready to hear Rogers speak on HYDRA's foreign policy positions for the first time. Before Rogers arrives, several diplomats vent about how HYDRA is committing human rights violations and disregarding the rule of law while Tomi "Gorgon" Shishido and Elisa "Madame HYDRA" Sinclair watch on a video feed. Shishido is worried that the delegates will resist Rogers, but Sinclair says that she's familiar with men like them and that, while they might talk big privately to each other, they don't have the courage to stand up to Rogers in person. Rogers then arrives and the trio, along with Daniel "Kraken" Whitehall, enters the room with the delegates.
Namor is alerted by a guard that the speech is starting but decides not to watch it, saying they will have their own moment soon enough.
Rogers begins by stating that, contrary to UN custom, he will not be inviting debate or discussion with his speech. He will instead simply tell everyone what the situation is and then leave. He begins by stating that HYDRA will no longer tolerate attacks on its border or agents by other nations, and any nation that does launch such an attack will be subject to a trade embargo, as well as a suspension of all foreign aid, from the HYDRA government. Furthermore, Rogers doesn't care if the delegates or foreign governments don't like it because HYDRA does not consider their opinions to be relevant or important to its interests. Rogers also notes that HYDRA is becoming popular in other parts of the world, with splinter groups forming that are advocating for HYDRA control or HYDRA ideals to be installed in various foreign nations. He admonishes those nations for showing violence to these groups and invites the nations to instead consider giving them a fair hearing.
A delegate yells that Rogers is being a bully. Rogers, however, orders the delegate to sit down and shut up, and the man complies. Rogers continues and says that America under HYDRA no longer relies on other nations for any kind of financial or military support, but it's still willing to help those nations join HYDRA and thus become prosperous. He notes that some nations have preemptively rejected this idea and bemoans their stubborn refusal to maintain their traditional borders and sovereignty. Rogers finishes by saying that his speech shouldn't be seen as a threat but just an explanation of how the world will work from now on; HYDRA is by far its strongest power, and it will expect other nations to hold themselves to standard that HYDRA deems worthy.
Elsewhere while Rogers gives his speech, Ruth "Sabra" Bat-Seraph beats up a HYDRA guard, installs a flash drive in a server cluster, and then reports that she completed her mission. At the same time, a woman falls from the Eiffel Tower but is caught by Adelynn "Swordswoman" Duquesne, who then swoops down and joins a superhero group called Euroforce in battling a pro-HYDRA militia. This group consists of Franco "Silver" Fibbri, Hughes "Tiger" Ait-Kaci, Mikhail "Baby Killer" Zarmorska, Geyr "Key" Kluge, and Tumult. A large HYDRA fleet approaches The Circle, a base used by the Chinese superhero team The Ascendants. The Ascendants, including Grave "Vector" Tam, Saber, Devastator, Weather Witch, and Sun Wukong the Monkey King, gather outside their base and ready for battle. Finally, Brian "Captain Britain" Braddock and Emma Frost (the secret ruler of New Tian, a nation run by mutants) listen to the speech on video feeds, with Frost angrily smashing a wine glass as Rogers declares other nations will now be held to HYDRA's standards.
Rogers tries to move on to describing his plans for the Savage Lands, but is interrupted by the King of Wakanda T'Challa via video feed. T'Challa boasts that his nation has already slaughtered three HYDRA strike teams, and mockingly invites Rogers to see Wakanda for himself. Humiliated, Rogers ends his speech early and storms out with his High Council, but is stopped by Namor. Rogers urges him to turn over his shard of the Cosmic Cube but Namor says he still doesn't know what Rogers is talking about. Rogers calls him a liar, and Namor responds by mocking Rogers for shortening his speech. Rogers threatens Namor but is forced to step back by one of Namor's bodyguards. He tells the bodyguard that Namor doesn't have much of a kingdom and threatens to have HYDRA's Avengers destroy it, then once again demands the shard before leaving.
Later, Namor muses that he ignored Rogers' warning and has now paid the price: the HDYRA Avengers have blown up one of his temples and killed his priests. Reluctantly, he decides to give the shard to Rogers.
Back in the present, Namor looks at the open and now-empty box and sighs that all he can do now is mourn what was lost.
Tropes:
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: T'Challa interrupts Rogers' monologue and tells him that, if he thinks he's so tough, he's more than welcome to visit Wakanda himself anytime instead of sending armies of easily-slaughtered minions to do it.
