Captain America and Sharon Carter watch as their real-world bodies (controlled by Nightmare) take out numerous soldiers on their way to the launch room. The secure room can only be accessed by a retinal match. Nightmare's control over humanity affects the eyes and the pair are denied access.
While Nightmare is distracted by this wrinkle in his plan, Cap and Sharon leave his castle. They find as many dreamers that have become trapped in his domain and try to awaken them. Their attempts are short-lived as Nightmare's minions bring Captain America back to their master. Cap finally realizes that he is capable of drawing strength from the dreams of Nightmare's prisoners and fights back against their captor.
In his absence Sharon continues to reach out for the dreamers. Cap's efforts weaken Nightmare's hold on the prisoners. Once Nightmare's illusions have been shattered, Sharon leads an army to storm his castle. Their collective belief in the American Dream empowers Cap and allows him to finally defeat Nightmare. He forces the dream lord to send them back to reality. However they are too late to stop their bodies from launching the missile.
Cap races toward the missile silo and begins to manually closes the silo door to prevent the missile from activating the nuclear payload. He succeeds, but can't escape the silo in time to avoid the imminent explosion. As the countdown reaches zero, he slides down the side of the missile and stands in the heart of the launch flame with his energy shield protecting him. Once again the shield holds. Cap then makes a hasty escape from the silo to avoid the falling debris.
Later on Dum Dum Dugan clears up the situation with the army and begins the legal process to absolve all those trapped by Nightmare from any legal ramifications for their actions.
When they are alone, Cap teases Sharon about her renewed belief in the "Dream". She pretends she has no idea what he's talking about.