A disguised Nomad (Ian Rogers) and
Ellie attend a public announcement by the Avengers headed by Iron
Baron (Strucker) with Captain Hydra being given the credit for
destroying the rebel base (being the boss's son and all). Returning
to their safe house, both Ian and Ellie struggle with despair over
not being able to do anything to change this world. They decide to go
ahead with the resistance plan. Before he died, Tony Stark gave Nomad
a device that could lock Arnim Zola's consciousness into a single
body long enough to kill him and Ian thinks they have a chance. When
Ellie asks why he is doing this, he replies that Steve Rogers saved
his world and now he has the chance to pay it forward....
Ian thinks he can pass the Hydra
checkpoints to Zola's headquarters because he shares Captain Hydra's
DNA. He is wrong: Zola's consciousness recognizes him at once and
commands the guards to let Ian and Ellie into the inner chamber,
Zola's home. It is a massive control center with Zola's face on a
gigantic screen. Zola welcomes Ian because his body contains the
secrets of regeneration, something the Zola of this world could not
discover that he covets desperately. Zola brings out Steve Rogers,
who begs the two to surrender and join Zola's cause. Knowing that
their father would never tell them to give up, Ellie leaps forward
and stabs him. “Steve” turns out to be a corpse animated by Zola
and he and Nomad fight. Ian uses Tony Stark's device to trap Zola in
Steve's body. As Ian steps forward for the killing stroke, he sees
that Ellie is being taken over by the symbiote, giving Zola the time
to recover and attack Ian. The two combatants crash through a window
onto a high ledge—then Ian is hit by a shield, throwing him over
the edge where he barely hangs on. He looks up to see that Captain
Hydra and the rest of the evil Avengers have arrived....