During
the Superhero Civil War, a detachment of armored SHIELD Agents comes to Toledo,
Ohio, to hunt down and capture a superhuman who calls himself “The Helper,” despite
the local people coming to his defense. The boy is tased and carried off to detention….
One
of the Agents, a portly middle-aged man named Clyde Dobronski takes up the
narration. He tells us how when he was a kid the one thing he disliked most was
unfairness and when the superheroes came along, he resented their powers and
disdain for the common people. So, to even the odds he joined SHIELD and was
given an assignment guarding a warehouse; he stayed there for many years,
marrying, becoming a father, and divorcing. Then the Stanford incident took
place and the passing of the Superhuman Registration Act. He went to the
Director, Maria Hill, and volunteered for the team enforcing the Act. What Clyde
didn’t expect was that the first hero they went after would be Captain America.
In the battle in the Helicarrier, Clyde froze up, unable to take action against
the hero. This was noticed and he was rebuked by Maria Hill; Clyde assured her
that he would carry out his duties faithfully….
Now,
Clyde is the guard at the holding cells in Toledo and he talks to the prisoner,
Helper a/k/a teenager Yusuf Abbas who has basic elemental powers and used them
only to help people in trouble, fixing potholes, etc. Clyde tells him about
going along with “The Program” which is only to keep the peace in the country.
Yusuf tells his story: how he first discovered his powers, how he decided to
use them for good, how he had to keep a low profile after the Stanford
incident. He considered going along with The Program until there was a
dangerous chemical spill at a local factory. He went in and tried to stop the
leak but he wasn’t strong enough—then Captain America arrived and together they
halted the danger. Cap told him “When the law is unjust, good is more important
than any program.” Clyde sympathizes but Yusuf doesn’t buy it, having seen how
SHIELD released the Thor Clone to kill Goliath (Bill Foster). Clyde asks Maria
Hill about it and she doubts his commitment to The Program and tells him he
will be reassigned. Clyde returns to the holding cells where his hardline
partner Bartles is bringing in Olga, a young girl who has flight powers. Yusuf
tries to comfort Olga as they wait to be taken to the Regional Detention
Center; she thought they were only going after the vigilantes….
Clyde
dozes off and is awakened by Yusuf overloading the power dampeners with his
powers. Clyde tries to get him to stop as he is putting his life in danger;
Bartles enters and draws his gun to shoot Yusuf but Clyde hits him over the
head. Clyde then helps the two youngsters to escape and stand there wondering if
he will ever understand why he did what he did….