Captain America patrols the Manhattan night on his new Sky-Cycle. He spies Boomslang of the Serpent Society on a rooftop spying on a building across the street. Cap lands silently and confronts the villain who panics and runs. Cap pursues the crook into an alley where he runs into a gang of teenage drug dealers. A couple of the punks open fire, cutting down Boomslang. Cap, enraged, launches himself into them; a couple of gunshots go wild, hitting other gang members. At this point Cap orders the rest to surrender and they do. The hero rushes the wounded Boomslang and two gang members to the hospital where one of the kids dies. A depressed Cap returns to Avengers headquarters where he is met by Michael O’Brien, who tells Cap something is wrong with Fabian. Cap stops by the workroom of Fabian Stankowicz and finds the tech expert thin and nervous, quickly descending into paranoia. Cap questions him about drug use and Fabian confesses that to deal with stress he has taken "Ice" a new street drug that works like a longer-lasting form of crack. Cap insists that Fabian enter rehab not just for his own sake but because the Avengers are role models; Fabian then asks the million-dollar question: "Isn’t the Super-Soldier Serum a drug?" This sets Cap to thinking about the issue as to whether the Serum is in a class with illegal steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs…. But for now he researches Ice on the computer and vows to tackle the drug problem, a more serious threat to America than the ones he usually faces.
Interlude: Two hoods, Lowlife and Ground Chuck, are waiting outside the hangout of Tone-Def and his gang (the ones Cap fought in the beginning of the issue) hoping to score some drugs. They are puzzled by the police lock on the door and even more so by a mysterious woman who orders them away then vanishes while their backs are turned.
Interlude 2: A dangerous prison inmate, kept in solitary confinement and denied even the most harmless objects that can be turned into weapons, batters his face against his cell wall, until his visage is a bloody mess. Two guards enter and the prisoner spits his loose tooth in the eye of one guard, giving him the opening to snatch the man’s gun and shoot the other. He then forces the surviving guard to lead him out…. (Spoiler alert: it’s Bullseye.)
That night, Captain America, disguised as bearded derelict and accompanied by John Jameson, tracks down Fabian’s dealer, Kid Gloves, who jumps to the conclusion that he is facing the Punisher. Cap uses the misunderstanding to also capture Gloves’ supplier Moosemeat and demands the location of the supply center. Led to a warehouse, Cap, in uniform, bursts in through a skylight only to find demolitions expert Napalm, who sets off a massive suicide blast….
Story #2Agent Provocateur
Writer: Mark Gruenwald. Penciler: Mark Bagley. Inker: Don Hudson. Colorist: Nel Yomtov.
Synopsis / Summary / Plot
On a wooded hill overlooking the
West Coast Avengers compound in
Palos Verde, California,
Battle Star waits with a rifle. After days of waiting he suddenly spots his quarry, leaving the compound on a flying cycle. He scoops up the rifle and fires an explosive charge at the rider, who dodges the burst. A massive shield comes toward Battle Star’s face followed by the red-white-and-black-clad hero
USAgent. Battle Star reveals that all he wanted was the Agent’s attention and addresses him as Johnny—the apparently-dead
John Walker, briefly Captain America. USAgent denies being Walker so the Star fills him (and the readers) in on their past:
Lemar Hoskins and John Walker met in the Army and became friends, they received enhanced strength from the
Power Broker (Curtiss Jackson) but instead of going into wrestling, they became the heroes
Super-Patriot and Bucky. Soon afterward, Walker was chosen by the government to replace
Steve Rogers as Captain America and at the ceremony where Walker returned the shield to Rogers, he was shot down by a sniper. After much investigation, Lemar has finally found him—but USAgent still denies he is John Walker and when Battle Star mentions his late parents, the Agent shouts, "My parents are not dead!!!" and slugs him. Battle Star decides it is time to pound some sense into his old pal….