This comic includes three short stories: "Sanctuary", "Mile HYDRA", and "Propagandamonium".
Sanctuary (Part 1)
Namor fights off some assassins who attacks him in Atlantis. He boasts of his titles and says he would do anything to protect his people, including kill. One assassin protests that he is in fact one of Namor's people, but Namor says he isn't anymore and defeats him. He has his guards take the men away, and one tells him that the opposition to his rule isn't abating. Namor orders that more checkpoints be set up inside Atlantis and that anti-government art, religion, and speech be censored. When asked how long those rules will stay in effect, Namor says until HDYRA is no longer a threat. The conversation is then interrupted with a messenger telling Namor that two men have arrived in Atlantis searching for Namor.
The men turn out to be SHIELD agent Jim Hammond (the android Human Torch) and an Inhuman with fire-based powers named Thomas "Toro" Raymond. They tell the guards watching them that they fought by Namor's side in World War II while they were all members of The Invaders, though the guards are not impressed. The guards identify their powers, though Toro says that Hammond lost most of his pyrokinetic abilities a while back and he (Toro) can't use his skills underwater. Namor arrives and takes them through the city, noting that he's surprised to see them. Hammond says that he was immune to the brainwashing Doctor Faustus used on the rest of SHIELD thanks to his android components, and Toro is an unregistered Inhuman, so HYDRA is actively hunting both of them and they need a place to hide. Hammond notes that Atlantis is weirdly quiet, but Namor blows off his questions and guides him and Toro to the Temple of Ophion. He says the followers in the Temple keep their faces hidden in shame that Atlantis does not rule the entire planet yet, and that they believe mankind will one day destroy itself at which point Atlantis can take over. Toro thinks the followers are radicals, but Hammond says they're just loyalists to Namor and cautions him to watch himself since they're guests. Namor, however, insists that they are not guests; Atlantis is officially neutral with respect to HYDRA and will not be joining any kind of resistance or harboring resistance fighters.
Toro calls Namor out for collaborating with evil, but Namor says he's just protecting his people. Toro says that if nothing else Namor should want to help free Steve Rogers from whatever's been done to him, and Namor says that he acknowledges that and he thinks that Rogers (as well as Hammond and Toro) are among his oldest friends and allies, but he still can't risk his people by going into an unwinnable war against HYDRA. Hammond says that sometimes you have to fight a doomed battle because not fighting is morally wrong, but Namor says that only someone with nobody depending on him would say that. Hammond and Toro turn to go, but Namor orders they be seized, and Namor's guards quickly bind them both with nets. Toro manages to burn through his, but Namor beats him down, saying that HYDRA would become hostile if they learned that Namor had let wanted men go.
Namor orders Hammond and Toro held with the other dissidents. Hammond shouts that Namor will be the villain if he does that, and Namor responds that Hammond should have realized Namor was a villain long ago.
Mile HYDRA
Raz Malhotra, the current Giant-Man, reflects on his life. He used to have a steady job as a tech support guy, a steady boyfriend, and a decent apartment in San Francisco. However, Scott Lang gave him the old Giant-Man suit and Malhotra opted to serve as tech support for The Ultimates for a while. When he was done was that, he tried to go home, but the company that had used to hire him as a tech support agent had closed, his boyfriend had moved to Portland and was dating somebody else, and his apartment is no longer available. Malhotra wound up crashing on the couch of two Florida friends, Samuel "Machinesmith" Saxon (who now uses a robotic body to house his human mind) and Maxwell "Grizzly" Markham (a supervillain who wears a grizzly suit). Soon enough, though, they tell him they're moving north to work for Baron Zemo. Malhotra protests that he thought Saxon and Markham had gone straight, but Saxon says they need the money. Furthermore, although Malhotra has been chipping in for rent, Saxon and Markham reveal they used that money for other things and the landlord is within a couple of weeks of kicking all of them out. Malhotra says he doesn't even have enough money to pay for a cell phone anymore, much less the rent for the entire apartment by himself, and asks what he's supposed to do. Markham advises him to go back to his wealthy family.
Malhotra is reluctant to return to his family, but HYDRA takes over America a couple of days later and Malhotra decides he can at least protect them if he's home with them. He takes a cheap, slow bus to Denver and is hopeful that HYDRA will be defeated by the time he gets there, but when he arrives he sees that HYDRA is everywhere and people are just giving in. He knows his family will resist, however, and so after quickly calling Lang on a pay phone to let him know where he is, he hurries home. He arrives in time to see three HYDRA agents holding his parents and his two sisters at gunpoint on the lawn and demanding that his father say "Hail HYDRA". His father refuses, and the HYDRA agents threaten to kill the sisters, but Maholtra puts on his Giant-Man suit and attacks.
Malhotra defeats one HYDRA agent quickly. A second grabs one of his sisters, but the sister pulls away and Giant-Man deals with that agent. He then takes down the third and asks his parents for a phone so he can have them evacuated. His mother says they're waiting for their son (as they don't know Giant-Man is Malhotra), but Malhotra says their son is fine and he can get them all to safety. He thinks to himself that he's not sure why he doesn't just tell them who he is, but notes that it was a lot of work to come out to his parents as gay and he doesn't want to have to come out as a superhero as well. Lang and his assistant Wasp arrive shortly thereafter and they all leave, with the sisters asking Wasp to teach them some superhero fighting moves (which she agrees to) and Lang joking that Malhotra will end up with sidekicks.
Propagandamonium
A badly battered news anchor named Peter Pena opens a propaganda broadcast in support of HYDRA. He's joined by his 'co-host', a HYDRA agent holding him at the point of a taser, and the co-host makes him say that HYDRA is fantastic while the chyrons agree. He also has two guests on his show: Gwenpool and a bat-like monster in a knockoff Spiderman costume claiming to be Spiderman. Pena asks what the two superheroes think of HYDRA and the monster says that it's awesome. Gwenpool, clearly disturbed, says she's hawking her new book about a girl who's been abducted by HYDRA and is forced to spread propaganda.
Pena then puts on a satellite broadcast from some resistance fighters who want to overthrow HYDRA. The fighters, the co-host, and the bat monster all begin talking over each other as they argue whether HYDRA is good or not. Their discussion quickly degrades into them all calling each other stupid liars. The co-host then has Pena ask where exactly the resistance fighters are broadcasting from. The fighters say they trust Pena and so give their latitude and longitude coordinates, at which point a missile destroys their base and kills them all. Gwenpool says it's time for their plan, and Pena agrees. Pena beats up the co-host and the bat monster while Gwenpool shouts "Bababooey" into the camera. She then realizes that she didn't understand what the plan was.
With the station temporarily free of HDYRA control, Pena says that after the break they will discuss a celebrity chef that got a stupid haircut. Gwenpool continues to hawk her book and say "Bababooey."
Tropes:
- Kent Brockman News: The 'news broadcast' which is blatant propaganda.
