In a diner in Washington State, a televised news report recounts the adventures of Captain America battling the right-wing vigilante Watchdogs in the South, then moves on to the story the manhunt for a local eco-terrorist known as Brother Nature. The diner patrons, workers in the sabotaged timber industry, prepare to form a posse to hunt down and lynch the villain but Steve Rogers, bearded and incognito since resigning as Captain America, intervenes to talk them out of it. The mob turns ugly leading Steve to clobber a couple of them and leave with a warning. Steve takes off in his van, meditating on the events leading up to his momentous decision and how he broke the news to girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal. She told him to fight the court order with all of his resources but he was reluctant to act the part of victim or oppose his own government. His pals, Falcon, Nomad, and D-Man also had advice for fighting back but he took off for eight weeks to think matters over while traveling around the country. While he is tooling along a forest road, a massive crevice opens in the highway and swallows his van….
Meanwhile in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Nomad (Jack Monroe) and Vagabond arrive at D-Man’s home. Falcon arrives soon after and D-Man, who has been monitoring Cap’s hotline, explains why he called them together. The real Cap hasn’t been heard from in months and thinks they should try to find him….
Up north, Steve rides his motorcycle out of the pit and wonders what caused the earth to split open like that. He is found by Brother Nature, the wanted eco-terrorist, a shaggy-haired, bare-chested young man; he explains that his mission is to save the trees and orders Steve and his motorcycle out of the area. The ex-Cap determines to stop him but Brother Nature calls up a heavy wind to blow Steve away. The hero pursues and finds himself attacked by charging deer and another earth tremor; the villain, amazed by Steve’s athletic prowess, panics and sends crashing trees, birds, a bear, and lightning to stop him. Finally the desperate Brother Nature causes the ground to split open in a massive trench that engulfs the both of them. Steve cares for the injured man, who tells him his story: he was once a park ranger who discovered that timberland was about to be sold to private developers for exploitation. He tried to fight the move in court but was helpless against the corporate lawyers, so he turned to sabotaging the developers’ operation. He was caught and beaten by workers who left him for dead in a ditch; there he had a vision of the Earth Goddess, who appointed him her guardian warrior and endowed him with power over all natural forces. When they exit the trench, Brother Nature sees that his battle against Steve has leveled the forest he was trying to protect. As he leaves, Steve sees the parallels between himself and the eco-terrorist and determines that he will not go to war against his government lest he harm the ideals he serves.