Prologue: China, 209 B.C.: Xu Fu, court sorcerer of the Qin Dynasty, achieves the end of his quest for the Elixir of Life when he meets the powerful immortal Anqi Sheng. Xu Fu brings a gift of 3000 children and Anqi Sheng turns over to him a small vial. The immortal explains that this is but one component of the Elixir. In response to Xu Fu’s outrage, he explains that the gods want man to learn and to strive for eternal life—as his true form begins to prey upon the children….
In Wakanda, the Falcon is being fitted with high-tech wings by T’Challa, the Black Panther. Captain America estimates that the ability to fly will increase his combat efficiency by a couple hundred percent. T’Challa explains that the wings are a cybernetic system, controlled by the wearer’s will—so Sam leaps out of a window and has to be rescued by the other two heroes. Some time later, as the Falcon is practicing his new ability at the national airport, T’Challa gets a call that there is a crisis at Solomon’s Grotto, one of Wakanda’s sacred sites. This shrine is under attack—by zombies….
Interlude: Florida, A.D. 1522: the explorer Ponce de Leon is captured by his cousin Count Duende who wants the secret of the Fountain of Youth. When Ponce tells him there is no such thing, the villain kills him and orders his men to make it look like the work of the natives….
On their way to the Grotto, T’Challa, now in his Black Panther costume, explains that according to legend the shrine was a repository for the secret of immortality as discovered by the Biblical King Solomon. The three heroes arrive to find that the site has been overrun by zombies, a monster native to Haiti, not Africa. The heroes swoop down and rescue the guards, battling the monsters in a mad melee. It takes twenty minutes of furious fighting to overcome all of the zombies. Inside the chest of one of the creatures is a small disc containing a tiny sea creature—a hydra. Cap now knows who is behind this insane attack….
Interlude: Spain, A.D. 1537: a Dr. Garibaldi is brought before the Inquisition and accused of practicing alchemy. The scientist defends his work as the service of God and spits his defiance at the Inquisitors. The Chief Inquisitor, however, confirming Garibaldi’s true nature, offers him a job….
At Hydra Lab 133, Dr. Geist explains to his followers the significance of the hydra—this small creature is effectively immortal, and Hydra seeks to unlock that secret in order to become gods….
Captain America, Falcon, and the Black Panther meet with their fellow Avengers—Iron Man, Thor, and the Scarlet Witch—at the Mansion. As Cap fills them in on the details of the events in Wakanda, they begin to form a dim idea of Hydra’s quest for immortality, with Thor realizing they took a sample of his blood (issue #2). Their one lead is the pouch of coupe poudre recovered in Wakanda—the magic formula used by Haitian bokors to create zombies….
Cap and the Falcon fly to Haiti to meet with scientist Dr. Cyril Lewis, an expert in the zombie formula. Suddenly his office is invaded by zombies and the heroes overwhelmed. Cap is confronted by the resurrected Nazi Erlking; as the two enhanced fighters tangle, Erlking informs Cap that they are both super-soldiers and he exhorts Cap to join Hydra not fight against it…after all, why hasn’t Cap aged since he was pulled from the ice? He was injected with the Lazarus Pathogen by Dr. Geist (issue #1). As Cap is overwhelmed by the zombie horde, Erlking makes off with Dr. Lewis’ notes on coupe poudre. The Falcon takes to the air to pursue him to the edge of a waterfall where he manages to snatch back the pouch while the villain plunges over the falls. Falcon is delighted that he has finally mastered the use of his new wings…but Cap is still shaken by Erlking’s last words….