Searching the Power Broker’s lab facility, Captain America
and his new ally D-Man (with the captive Dr Karl Malus in tow) uncover the huge
boiler room. Thinking they would be there a while, D-Man went out to get food;
while he is gone, a team of moving men dispatched by the Power Broker arrives
to clean up the mess. Knocking Malus unconscious with a pinch to an artery, Cap
hides him and swiftly attacks the two soldiers who have entered the room. Realizing
these men also have augmented strength, Cap uses his agility to get the better
of them. Then the rest of the gang arrives, summoned by the guys Cap is
fighting….
Interlude: FBI agents Farber and McNulty, looking for
Captain America,
come to Avengers Mansion
(largely deserted since AVENGERS #273-277). With no answer at the door, they
sneak in—and are seized by mechanical tentacles and held fast for hours.
Eventually Captain Marvel (Photon) arrives and, once she verifies their
identities, releases them. But they won’t tell her why they want Cap….
D-Man returns to the lab and discovers that the place has
been invaded. Taking down the lookout he crashes their truck into the entrance
which brings half the guys fighting Cap upstairs to investigate. Tiring of trying
to best Cap, the rest of the thugs leave and move a heavy piece of machinery
against the door, trapping Cap inside the boiler room. Upstairs the gang
overpowers D-Man and resumes removing all the equipment for the lab; when they
are finished, they depart, taking the unconscious D-Man with them. Downstairs, Cap
and Malus search for a way out, eventually discovering the entrance to a sewer;
Malus balks because that’s where they disposed of all the failed subjects of
the augmentation process and the place will be full of monsters, but it’s their
only hope. Elsewhere, D-Man is turned over to the Power Broker for
experimentation; Cap is attacked by a band of failed augments….