Diamondback awakens in a dark chamber, her arms and
legs shackled. King Cobra enters to announce that she will be put on trial for
treason against the Serpent Society….
At Avengers Mansion Captain America is working out with his
team when Fabian Stankowicz returns from rehab clean and sober (he checked in
there in issue #372) and they are happy to see him. Jarvis reminds Cap he has a
party to go to that evening….
Diamondback is filled in on the charges by her friend Black
Mamba who asks her about her relationship with Captain America
and what she may have revealed about the Society to him. Rachel protests that
those two parts of her life are separate. At the trial, prosecutor Coachwhip
asks those very questions, painting her relationship with Cap as dangerous
while Black Mamba defends her as best she can. The Society votes and Diamond is
found guilty; King Cobra sentences her to death, offering her the chance to
live if she will betray Captain America.
She refuses. Later Mamba and Asp threaten to quit if Rachel dies; Cobra is steadfast
that she be made an example. Returning to her room, Mamba makes a phone call….
That evening Steve Rogers goes to Mrs. Kappelbaum’s boarding
house for a party and there he is reunited with former fiancée Bernie
Rosenthal. The two go out for a walk under the stars; Bernie tells Steve about
her graduation from law school and her plans. Both are uncomfortable about the
present situation so neither brings it up, leaving an awkward silence at their
parting….
At midnight, Puff
Adder prepares the venom for Diamond’s execution by lethal injection. Suddenly,
Sidewinder teleports into the chamber, snatches up Diamond, and vanishes again
is mere seconds. King Cobra declares war….
“The Unremembered Past” 3.5
Writer: Mark Gruenwald. Pencils: Mark Bagley. Inks: Dan Panosian. Colors: Nel Yomtov.
Synopsis: Having learned from his pal Battle Star that his
memories had been wiped by the military (issue #378), an enraged USAgent bursts
into the office of General Haywerth. Haywerth calms down the mad hero and takes
him to the Psych Lab where his memories can be restored. In the chair he
recalls how his beloved older brother Michael died in Vietnam
and his mother making him promise he would never join the military. Years
later, when he came of age, he joined the army and in boot camp he met the guy
who would become his best friend, Lamar Hoskins.