Story continued from AVENGERS #387.
On A.I.M. Boca Caliente base, Captain
America and the strangely alive Bucky Barnes watch as the resurrected
MODOK rises into view. The villain uses a power beam to literally
blow a hole through Bucky's chest, but the hero is not injured and
attacks the foe. MODOK hurls Bucky at Cap sending them both tumbling
over the cliff. Falcon swoops down and catches Cap but he hasn't seen
Bucky. Cap fills him in on Superia and the cure for his malady....
Free Spirit and Jack Flag, feigning
unconsciousness, allow the two Adaptoid guard to carry them to the
A.I.M. command center where boss Brannex orders them eliminated.
Nearby, Superia and Snapdragon (actually Diamondback) also encounter
Adaptoid guards and overcome them with the former's damping discs....
MODOK returns to the job he was
resurrected for: stopping the energy force flares; he descends into
the pit to try to reinforce the containment cylinder....
Black Widow and Hercules, searching for
Cap, encounter her late husband, Red Guardian, like Bucky created
from an image in her brain. The Guardian appeals to her but she knows
it is an illusion. Then Herc's lost love, Taylor Madison, appears....
The Red Skull arrives at the command
center and announces to Brannex that he is taking over; Brannex
reveals himself to be the Super-Adaptoid, noting that the Skull's
victory will not be easy. A kilometer away in the complex, Cap seizes
up, the small dose of antidote administered by Superia wearing off.
Falcon carries him out. Elsewhere, Free and Jack overpower their
guards and set out to sabotage the security operations. At this point
deadly energy flares start bursting up through the floors, one
destroying the Super-Adaptoid....
The illusion of the Red Guardian pushes
Natasha out of the way of a flare, sacrificing his own life. Free and
Jack see Falcon shot down by two flying Adaptoids; Jack goes to check
on Falcon and Free is knocked out by Superia and Snapdragon who
abduct Cap. Cap recognizes Diamond but then energy beams shoot up
around them, one piercing Cap....who suddenly finds himself back in
his armor and heading toward the main energy source. He flies into
the pit to discover the trapped MODOK....
Story continues in AVENGERS #388.