1940: at the Keep, the secret Hydra
school, Steve Rogers falls behind every other student in the physical
areas of the training but he never gives up. This leads the Kraken
and Dr Fenhoff (Faustus) to choose him for a particularly difficult
assignment....
The trial of Maria Hill before the
World Security Council to determine whether she should remain
Director of SHIELD. The case for prosecution is presented by Everett
K. Ross while Hill defends herself....
In the Scottish Highlands, Captain
America (Steve) has been called by Minister Dalton to join Union Jack
in doing battle with the Cult of the Darkhold. While Union Jack holds
off the cultists, Cap makes it to their cavern stronghold where he
faces a huge demonic creature....
1940: Steve confides in his pal Helmut
Zemo that he thinks he is failing. Helmut reminds him of the prophecy
that he will lead them all....
At Maria Hill's trial, the prosecution
brings a series of expert witnesses, each testifying to Hill's poor
judgment in the military, during the Registration Act controversy,
and at Pleasant Hill; the witnesses for the defense are all real
people, those whose lives she saved, a mother who lost a child in the
Stamford Incident, culminating in Slyde, a villain who changed his
ways because of his experiences at Pleasant Hill. But Everett points
out that they had the best witness of all: Captain America, who
states that the Pleasant Hill scheme proves she does not have the
judgment to lead SHIELD.....
In Scotland, Cap battled the monster to
the death and recovered the arcane Book of Sins. Returning to
Minister Dalton, telling him that he (Cap) knows what was really
going on: that a government fracking project released the monster and
Cap and Union Jack were tricked into fighting the cultists so that
the monster's existence could be blamed on them. Now Cap walks out,
leaving Dalton to the mercy of the cultists....
In her closing statement, Maria Hill
takes on a disarmingly candid attitude and pulls out her big gun: a
planetary defense shield guaranteed to prevent invasions from space
and even shut down teleporters. She pitches this as their opportunity
to render the world safe and the only price is her acquittal; Everett
K. Ross rightly sees this as a bribe. When the tribunal reconvenes,
the council is about to announce their decision....
1940: Dr Fenhoff and Kraken tell Steve
he has been chosen for a secret mission in America: his target? Dr.
Abraham Erskine....