As the papers are reporting Captain America’s battle with Solarr, Steve Rogers is upset: it is an impostor out to ruin Cap’s reputation by battling supposedly dead villains recklessly. The worst part is that Cap can never reach the scene before the impostor vanishes. Rachel suggests a super-fast ally, like Quicksilver….
Meanwhile at a Pennsylvania restaurant, the phony Cap (actually Super-Patriot) is battling the sinister Cheetah (really Dead Ringer in Cheetah’s form) causing as much damage and mayhem as they can. The counterman dashes an urn of hot coffee on the Cheetah, scalding him, and is surprised when "Cap" threatens him for his troubles….
Rachel Leighton meets with Bernie Rosenthal to discuss a legal problem. She relates how, as Diamondback, she fought Snapdragon and left her unconscious in a pool of water, and asks whether Bernie can help her if her enemy died as a result. Their meeting is interrupted by Bernie’s ex-husband Sammy, who begs her to come back to him; she refuses. After he leaves, Rachel offers to protect Bernie in case Sammy tries something dangerous….
Captain America contacts Quicksilver and asks him to help catch the Cap impostor who is trying to ruin his reputation. Elsewhere, Dead Ringer has taken on the powers of the super-fast Blue Streak to accelerate healing from the burns he received as Cheetah. Super-Patriot, meanwhile, is a bit upset over having met someone from his past, but decides to continue with the next phase in his plan….
Late that evening, as Bernie is walking home, Rachel approaches her and offers to protect her from her ex. Suddenly the two women are encased in solidified black light, courtesy of Dead Ringer, impersonating the original Blackout. He had been sent by Super-Patriot to capture Bernie but nabbed Rachel as well and so delivers them to his hideout. "Blackout" dissolves the black to the captives’ waists. A meek Rachel begs to go to the bathroom and the villain, uncertain, complies. Once in private, Rachel dons her Diamondback costume and bursts out, wailing on the startled mutant baddie. Elsewhere, Super-Patriot has just finished phoning Cap to summon him to rescue the hostage, when he hears the fight in the next room. Knowing that going to his partner’s aid would reveal that the two of them have been working together, he waits helplessly as Quicksilver arrives to beat up Blackout. As the speedster tries to free Bernie, the cube dissolves, as Blackout has transformed into the equally superfast Blue Streak. Dead Ringer then leads Quicksilver on a high speed chase away from the scene. Super-Patriot then enters, pretending he is coming to their rescue. Diamondback is suspicious (and Bernie recognizes his voice as belonging to someone she can’t place) so the phony hero clobbers Diamond with his shield. Captain America crashes through the wall at this point, and subdues his enemy, the copy of his shield belying the baddie’s claims to innocence. So Super-Patriot draws a gun and fires at Cap’s head, deafening him. The room is aflame from Blue Streak’s laser beam as the two patriotic powerhouses clash. Bernie manages to drag the unconscious Rachel to safety as a ceiling beam collapses, trapping the Super-Patriot. Cap exerts all his strength to raise the beam, the effort causing his muscles to seize up. Cap is overcome by the smoke when Quicksilver arrives to carry him out of the building. Dead Ringer is a captive, Bernie thinks she knows who Super-Patriot is, Rachel feels as though she has failed Steve, and worst—no one knows whether Super-Patriot was able to escape the blaze….