When last we saw Nick Fury and Benjamin J. Grimm they were in a confrontation with the telepath Mentallo and the villainous innovator, the Fixer. The location: The Baxter Building. Home of the Fantastic Four and current location of Doctor Doom's fabled Time Platform - the same time machine which the Fixer used to summon Deathlok the Demolisher.
Marvel's Deathlok is the precursor to DC's Cyborg. Albeit a morbid version of the latter. Deathlok is actually a cyborg-zombie, the organic part having died before being revived and fused to the robotic part.
The Fixer's ability to "make anything from anything" is an ability that a writer can do all sorts of things with. Ever since the previous story and into this one the Fixer has been used like a "Puppet Master lite" - able to deploy gadgets that enslave others to the Fixer's will. The latest victim for the Fixer is the hapless Deathlok - here being spirited away by both the Fixer and Mentallo.
At this point, we get some trivia to complete our story. From the last story, Mentallo and the Fixer have been hounding the Thing - their goal: to use Ben to get access to the Baxter Building for some unknown reason. Unknown until now that is. Their goal was Deathlok all along - a futuristic and seemingly unstoppable "living weapon" that these two villains plan to sell to the highest bidder. Highest bidder candidates being the Maggia, Hydra, and all the other shadow organizations of the Marvel universe.
Another interesting bit is how these two found out about Deathlok and Doc Doom's Time Platform in the first place. Remember this little scene from the Thing's Spider-Man adventure?
It turns out that Mentallo was within "thought scanning" range at the time and managed to "hack" Peter Parker's brain for information.
Of course, if the Fixer and Mentallo are going to put Deathlok "on offer" at the astronomic price they're both thinking of, a demonstration is in order: The assassination of an American President during his inauguration. That will do it, alright, but it will be up to the FF and Nick Fury to put a stop to this atrocity.
The story moves from New York to Washington with the environs of the White House as a backdrop. The best panel shows a beautiful White House hall with the FF and Nick Fury.
Considering that Nick is such a G-Man, he looks so right standing there in the White House.
Before long, the inaguaration is underway. Deathlok has been given very specific instructions for the assassination which he must follow to the letter. And there we have something that Deathlok - who is a hero - can work on, as you can see here:
Here, the mind-controlled Deathlok pretty much orders the Thing to take him down.
What is that? You say? The President has already been shot? Nah. Somebody's been shot, but it's not the President, it's this guy.
Kill the Impossible Man? Impossible!
The story gives us an idea of just how tough Deathlok is. If you needed yourself to be stopped, and the Thing has already been pummeling you multiple times do you need to ask for more? Of course not, but evidently, that is not the case for Deathlok who needs Ben to try harder.
Deathlok is doing his part by not fighting back. Now that's tough.
Ultimately, the FF and Nick Fury wrap things up and both Mentallo and the Fixer are taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
Deathlok remains a problem though, because the combined know-how of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Stark and Reed Richards can't take the mind control thingy off his cerebral cortex. Ben, together with Alicia, are sent out to London to contact Dr. Kort, an expert that could help Deathlok.
