Story #2The Great Pretender
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan. Plot: Mark Waid. Penciler: Dougie Braithwaite. Inker: Mark Farmer. Colorist: Shannon Blanchard.
Synopsis
A gray-haired man named
Buck Jones is locked in a cell in an asylum, claiming to be
Captain America and shouting government secrets to prove his identity. The surprise is—he really is Captain America, undercover on a
SHIELD mission. Cap recalls the events that brought him there…
Nick Fury told him about the case of
Randall Jefferson, an ordinary shoe salesman who suddenly started spouting classified government intel and was subsequently committed to the asylum. Fury had sent in esper agents and they ended up similarly afflicted from exposure to Jefferson. He decided the strong-willed Cap should be sent in incognito to unravel the mystery before enemy agents can abduct the patient, and also serve as additional bait. Talking to Jefferson, Cap discovers that the patient knows even the secret details of Cap’s origin. A woman doctor draws an energy weapon and shoots "Jones" in the back, seizes Jefferson and escapes. Cap, saved by his shield on his back under the straightjacket, dons his costume and sets off in pursuit. Cap meets up with the doctor and apprehends her and she is totally surprised. Cap then spots an orderly sneaking away, giving Cap a clue as to who he is up against. Following the orderly Cap comes upon a doctor who has been assaulted but as soon as the hero’s back is turned the "doctor" tries to shoot him, but Cap seizes the weapon causing it to explode in the villain’s face. To Cap’s horror, the face burns off, exposing his foe as…the
Chameleon. Cap pursues his foe to Corridor Six where he receives a shock: it is the violent ward of the insane asylum...and the villain has released all the dangerous inmates….