1943: The Young Allies, hypnotized by Lady Lotus and sent to bomb Muroc Army Air Field, have recovered from the trance and are trying to formulate a plan to stop her evil scheme….
Now, many decades later, Captain America, the former Bucky Barnes, is still looking for a way to stop Lady Lotus. His ally Texas Jack Muldoon has refueled his plane for pursuit of the foe and contacted Black Widow. The Widow has researched Avengers’ files and believes that Lotus’ gem is an artifact of the Celestials who visited Earth millions of years ago. The tracking device hidden in the villainess’ plane leads Cap to the Andes where Lady Lotus has found the Celestial Temple, location of the matching gem which will give her unstoppable power. As Cap flies overhead, she causes his plane to break apart in midair and gently levitates him to the ground. She takes control of his mind and orders him to follow her into the temple to achieve her destiny….
In 1943, the Young Allies return to Lotus and, pretending they are still under her spell, report that their mission was a success. Toro’s absence is explained by claiming he was killed in the attack. A messenger arrives by motorbike with an urgent communiqué; he is really Toro in disguise and seizes on the distraction of the message to flame on. A struggle to seize the gem from Lotus results in her triggering an earthquake to destroy her enemies. Toro fires a flame bolt, knocking the gem out of her hand and it is lost down a crevice….
Inside the temple, Lotus orders the enthralled Cap to remove the gem from the wall; he does so, nimbly evading the booby traps. As he presents the gem to the villainess, he suddenly crushes it in his cyber-hand, revealing he was never hypnotized. Her original gem floats away from her and lodges itself in the second gem’s setting on the wall. As the entire temple starts to collapse, Cap seizes his foe and carries her to safety, protected by his shield. She manages to slug Cap and escape—into the arms of the Falcon, who has arrived with the Black Widow and Texas Jack.
In the aftermath of the 1943 battle, Lotus gets away but her gem is lost to her. Bucky vows that if she shows up again, they will stop her….
Decades later, Cap explains to the Widow how, before he accepted the mantle of Captain America, he asked Tony Stark and SHIELD to rewire his brain, to prevent anyone from ever controlling him again. He—and the spirits of the Young Allies—can now rest easier, knowing that he has finally closed their last open case.