Captain America, paralyzed by the
effects of his Super-Soldier serum, now wears an armored suit devised
by Tony Stark and Hank Pym. He trains with it, aided by Iron Man and
Giant-Man, testing the armor's capabilities. When Shellhead suggests
a full inspection, Cap declines and immediately jets off to what may
be the last mission of his life....
In Washington D.C., Flag-Smasher
outlines to his ULTIMATUM agents about his new plan, Operation Do or
Die. He has kidnapped one of Cap's network of computer hackers,
Gavin, and wants the kid to notify Cap and lead him into a trap....
Free Spirit and Jack Flag are picked up
in Arizona by Zack Moonhunter in a Quinjet where they see the phony
warning from Gavin. Unable to contact Cap, they decide to investigate
on their own....
Interlude: Bernie Rosenthal visits a
decrepit house and as she knocks at the door, she is suddenly seized
by someone inside....
As the Quinjet approaches their
hideout, Flag-Smasher sends agents on ski jets to attack the craft.
The baddies install an override device on the jet which sends it
speeding out of control toward the Washington Monument. Moonhunter
hits the eject button, launching Free Spirit and Jack Flag to
relative safety, and manages to miss the monument, crashing the jet
into the Potomac River. Now the newly armored Captain America arrives
on the scene and duels in the sky with the ULTIMATUM agents.
Employing the gadget-type weapons of the armor, wrapping baddies in
shrouds, wrecking their balance with a distortion beam, and using his
guided shield, he takes down all but two of the ski jet villains. The
last two, however, fire rockets directly at the White House; Cap
launches anti-missile missiles and the disaster is averted. He
pursues the agents through the air to their hideout and confronts
Flag-Smasher who is using Gavin as a hostage. The boy kicks the
baddie, allowing Cap to take him down. F-S then detonates a bomb and
Cap is able to protect Gavin with his body and they escape safely,
linking up with Free and Jack....
Cap calls all of his friends and allies
(though not all of them—see next issue), and reveals the secret of
his health problems. He informs them that he could die at any minute
and wants to make the most of his limited time left. And he doesn't
want pity.... He leaves and only his childhood friend Arnie Roth
follows. Arnie then reveals that he has terminal cancer. The two
embrace....