Story arc continues from AVENGERS #312.
Captain America brings the comatose Sub-Mariner to Hank Pym to examine the Controller’s disc on the back of his neck. Pym speculates that Namor will be okay once the disc is removed but can’t be certain, so Cap determines to find the Controller to force him to remove the disc safely. He asks Fabian Stankowicz to work with Hank to see if the signal from the disc can be traced back to its source….
Elsewhere, the first meeting of the supervillains’ summit is coming to a close. As the participants—Red Skull, Doctor Doom, the Mandarin, the Wizard, the Kingpin—go their separate ways, Magneto asks their mysterious host
(spoiler alert: Loki) if that is the original Red Skull…. Meanwhile, the Nazi villain returns to his office to find Crossbones waiting for him. The annoyed Skull reminds him he should be keeping an eye on the Controller and sends his massive minion out. Later, Thor is battling Juggernaut on a New York street. The disguised Controller is watching, waiting for a chance to place a control disc on the God of Thunder. He is approached by the disguised Crossbones who orders him back to Washington. When Controller refuses, Crossbones attaches the control disc to an arrow and fires it at Thor—and misses. The enraged Controller stalks off—only to be brought to a halt by a command from The Voice….
Using the tracer Hank and Fabian rigged for him, Captain America traces the Controller to New York where he spies their ship taking off. Cap leaps aboard and engages Controller in combat. The violent villain’s attacks threaten to destroy the ship and the rush of wind through the open hatch prevents them from hearing The Voice’s orders to stop. Ultimately, Controller lunges at Cap and flies through the open hatch, so Cap follows him out the door….
Meanwhile, Diamondback, agonizing over her attraction to Cap, spies a nice outfit in a store window, the perfect substitute for the tattered outfit she’s been wearing since the Bloodstone Hunt. Since the store is closed and she has no money, her first instinct is to smash and grab but she realizes she doesn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize her relationship with Cap….
Cap rides the Controller to a soft landing on the ground, thanks to the villain’s cybernetic suit. On reaching terra firma, Controller slaps a control disc on the back of Caps’ neck and returns to the ship. Cap, who was wearing an armored plate under his uniform in back, now has a control disc to study….
Arriving at the Red Skull’s office in Washington, the Controller is told by his new master to use a control disc to enslave the Mystery Man. Unfortunately, Controller is unable to follow the Skull through the transdimensional doorway. The Red Skull invents an urgent matter for discussion in the next room and leads his intended victim back there. From the shadows, the Controller places a disc on the back of the Mystery Man’s neck. As the Red Skull gloats, the sly fellow calmly plucks the disc from its place and fades to invisibility, leaving his sinister smile for last….
Story arc continues in IRON MAN #251