Synopsis / Summary / Plot
On a hot June day in Harlem, Captain America and the Falcon stop an assassination attempt on a Mayoral candidate; this would-be killer is the latest in a series of urban terrorists captured by Cap and the Falcon. The only thing they have in common: they are all black men, raising racial tensions in the neighborhood as it looks like the heroes are only targeting minority criminals. Adding to the pressure is the reappearance of the white supremacist group Sons of the Serpent, who under their new leader John Mason, have changed their name to "Sons of the Shield" and are claiming the support and sponsorship of Captain America. Knowing that no one will believe the Sons’ assertion that Cap is connected with them, Steve Rogers (at this time a police officer) accompanies Sam Wilson to a meeting of community leaders to organize a peaceful response to the presence of this hate group in Harlem. (While there, Steve discovers in the trash a letter asking Sam to reconsider a higher-paying job in another state.)
Elsewhere, at the headquarters of the Sons of the Shield, the Wizard, hired by the group to design some special weapons for them, delivers the goods. Ajanii Jackson, a black man in the pay of the organization, is given a small firebomb which he plants in a church. After the explosion, Steve and Sam help with the rescue effort and try to dampen the panic in the neighborhood. Suddenly Ajanii Jackson appears with "proof" that the Sons of the Shield were behind the bombing and whipping the crowd into a frenzy, exhorts them to take violent revenge against their enemies. As the mob marches on the Sons Harlem headquarters, Steve and Sam don their costumes and thy to talk sense into the crowd but the African American mob is too full of hate and anger to listen to a white hero. As Falcon tries to stop the assault outside—and smells a rat when he sees that TV cameras were there before the confrontation started—Cap heads inside to move the Sons to safety. As they leave, Mason orders Jackson to give the Wizard’s weapons to the rioters. When the Harlemites start firing laser weapons at the building, Falcon knows for sure they are being played. Mason uses a remote to shut down the weapons—and Cap hurls his shield to crack a water tank, dousing the overheated mob. Then Mason switches on one of the weapons and it fires, striking—and disintegrating—Captain America. Mason steps toward the cameras and makes an emotional speech, lauding Cap as a hero who gave his life for their noble cause—and convincing the Falcon that the Sons were manipulating the entire travesty.
That night the Sons of the Shield patrol Harlem with their message of hate in the name of the "martyr" Captain America. Realizing he must keep his friend’s legacy from being tarnished, the Falcon dons Cap’s costume and steps onto the streets of the city….