Captain America is carried out of a drainage pipe leading from the Serpent Society’s compound and deposited in the Arizona desert. Cobra and Mr. Hyde follow a moment later and Cap strikes quickly, fearing the loss of his abilities that will result from his degenerative disease. His blows stagger his enemies but do not take them out. Cap discovers his new battle vest still in the drain and dons it, giving him a fighting chance. He squirts knockout gas in Hyde’s eyes but the brute is only irritated by it. Then Cobra seizes the hero….
Back at the compound, Free Spirit and Jack Flag stand together against the assembled Serpents. Jack flips Free over their heads onto the pool’s diving board which launches her over the fence; he quickly follows. As they make their way through the streets, they spot an Avengers ship. Directed by Zack Moonhunter, Hank (Giant-Man) Pym and Dr. Kincaid are on their way to save Cap’s life….
In the desert, Hyde delivers a crushing blow but, his vision blurred by Cap’s gas attack, he clobbers Cobra instead. Cap quickly cuffs his serpentine foe and turns to face the more dangerous one, when he has another paralyzing attack. Hyde knocks Cap to the ground and steps in to deliver the killing blow….
In town, Rattler is firing on Free Spirit and Jack Flag with his Rattling Gun. His shots hit Jack in the ankle knocking him down. Giant-Man appears, clobbers Rattler and asks the kids where Captain America is. They direct him to a drainpipe and the humongous hero takes off….
An airbag deploys from Cap’s vest cushioning him from Hyde’s death stroke. The bag bursts enveloping the villain in a cloud of knockout gas, which proves effective in larger quantities. Cobra leaps upon Cap to strangle the life out of him but another defensive device is triggered. Cobra is enwrapped in metal foil, leaving him to whine in self-pity. Giant-Man emerges from the drain but doesn’t see Cap as the fight had moved them some distance away….
As the sun goes down, Cap, suffering chest pains and muscle weakness, forces himself to his feet. He attempts to drag Cobra with him to safety but is unable to muster the strength. Cap wanders back in the direction of the drain opening but loses his way and tumbles into a ditch. Lying helpless, he berates himself for his helplessness. A rattlesnake crawls onto his chest and he hopes that a jolt of venom will jump-start his body but the snake leaves without biting. In his delirium, Cap sees a vision of the Statue of Liberty advising him to die quietly; when Cap balks, arguing that liberty should mean life, the Statue morphs into a grinning skeleton, enticing him into the arms of death. Cap tries bargaining with God—and he receives a vision of Bucky, persuading him that death comes sooner or later to all….
Hank Pym discovers Cap’s still form, the victim of a heart attack. He summons his ship, racing to save Cap’s life, but even if he does, Cap will be permanently paralyzed….