Synopsis / Summary / Plot
It's Nueva York 2099. Roberta Mendez is asleep with her husband Harry when she wakes to see a samurai swordsman attacking. Both dive out of bed to avoid the slashing sword. Harry tries to defend himself but is quickly knocked out. But now Roberta has muscled-up into her Captain America body and soon disarms their foe. He will only say that he is an assassin called the Specialist. To avoid being forced to name his employer he commits suicide on his blade that Cap is still holding.
Cap contacts Alchemax, the company she works for, to report what happened and arrange for the body to be picked up. She throws it out of the window of the skyscraper apartment block to avoid questions from the neighbours. Then she reverts to Roberta, who doesn't remember her actions as Cap - she doesn't know where the swordsman disappeared to. As she goes to check on their kids we discover that Harry is also an Alchemax operative, and he reports in to confirm that Roberta is still unaware of her dual identity.
Next day Captain America in costume reports the events personally to Alchemax boss Miguel Stone. He believes her when she says the Specialist killed himself - he knows she wouldn't kill. But Stone knows that the assassin worked for rival corporation Stark-Fujikawa. He doesn't know why S-F would want Cap dead, and more importantly how they knew she was Roberta. He'll get Iron Man 2099 (Sonny Frisco) to check their computer system for leaks, and he'll put a 24-hour watch on Roberta's home. Then he uses the codeword that causes Cap in a trance to go away to change back to Roberta in body and dress.
Meanwhile 2 more of Alchemax's Avengers 2099, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are playing chess. As usual BW is winning hands-down until Max wrecks the board. Miguel arrives and sends him away so he can have a private word with Tania. Max is insubordinate until Stone threatens to have him put back into the machine which gave him his talons and wings - maybe crossing him with a weasel this time will produce a more amenable result.
Miguel asks Tania if she knows a Francis Novak who murdered his wife and later his girlfriend, but the police couldn't pin either crime on him. He himself was murdered last night and partially eaten. Widow denies all knowledge, but Stone bets her DNA would be found on the victim. He warns her to stop the killings, or at least hide the bodies.
Hercules is sparring with an armoured opponent. But he loses control and brutally beats the man until Sonny Frisco tells him to stop. On his way out Herc passes Roberta and absent-mindedly calls her Captain. The confused receptionist gets a call from Stone - "Avengers assemble" triggers her back into her Cap persona.
The 5 Avengers, including dwarf Sonny Frisco inside his extra-large Iron Man suit, gather in Stone's office. He tells them that the Specialist had the business card of Martin Hargood, a criminal specialising in gun running. The team take a quinjet to persuade Hargood to explain his involvement.
But in a Latverian cuisine restaurant Hargood is having to explain himself to someone else - John Eisenhart. But the Avengers turn up before we learn what Eisenhart's beef is with the weaponeer. Afficionados of the 2099 titles won't be surprised when John turns into Hulk 2099.
Hulk punches out Hercules, and is unfazed by Iron Man's eye-beam. Cap holds her own for a while until the battle is stopped by 2 new arrivals, Silver Surfer and Strange 2099. They are Hulk's allies in the Defenders.