If Steve could seemingly breathe easier as a person, it seemed apparent that his role of cap would always put him in trouble – such is the life of a hero, though and it’s a role he willingly takes.
Its different though, when the lives of others are hurt by association to yours – and this was how Steve probably felt when Baron Helmut Zemo – son of Baron Heinrich Zemo, gathered together a band of villains – each in their own way, deadly or difficult to battle, but as the newly formed Masters of Evil, formidable enough as a team relying on pure strength.
But Strength was not Zemo’s main strength… he had cunning as well. Gathering together the Beetle, the Wrecker, Pile Driver, Bulldozer, Thunder ball, Blackout, Absorbing Man, Moonstone, Yellow Jacket, Mr. Hyde, the Fixer, Goliath and others I possibly missed, Zemo plotted to insert themselves into the Avengers Mansion and attack the unsuspecting Avengers - possibly taking them down individually… but his most prized conquest would be to show all these plans and actions to Steve Rogers – Captain America.
Would Zemo have attacked the Avengers if Steve were not with them? Maybe, as tribute to his father… or trying to show that he was better by defeating a team that his father could not, but this would just have been a single conquest to prove just that. With Captain America, however – it was more personal… not just as revenge for his father’s death while fighting Captain America, but because Steve, too, was seemingly responsible for his facial disfigurement, when he fell into a vat of very hot Adhesive X – forcing him to wear a head veil like his father.
Eventually, Zemo’s plan fell like clockwork – Captain America, the Black Knight and Jarvis were captured, with the Wasp trying to round up Avengers – though a very drunk Hercules charged in with near fatal results to him. Helmut relished letting Steve suffer – but he knew the man was resilient, so after he toyed with Cap by breaking things found in the footlocker – which Cap had obviously brought to the mansion from after his finding it with Fury and Dum Dum, Zemo let the Masters’ more savage members beat Jarvis up in front of Steve and Dane – and they watched to their horror.
The Avengers would eventually win the mansion back and defeat the Masters of Evil, but after ensuring that Jarvis got medical attention, Steve would gather his personal belongings and upon finding the lone surviving copy of his mother’s picture torn – courtesy of Zemo, he would let go of his resolve and shed a tear. This was a very human Steve Rogers indeed – tough when the situation demanded it, but definitely hurting with what damage to Jarvis, the mansion and to his things that Zemo and company did.
Bad as it seemed, Steve would have some things to look up to… a possible love interest in the most unlikely places – a member of the Serpent Society… another group of villains that Cap had on several occasions ran into, specifically, Rachel Leighton a.k.a. Diamondback. She fist met Captain America when her team – the Serpent Society had battled him. Recruited by the Side-winder, she had at least two possible instances where she could have killed Captain America, but for some reason, she could not do so. Apparently, she became attracted to Captain America, and even left the Serpent Society to try and show him that she was turning over a new leaf.
She was seemingly a “good girl” caught up in a “bad world” and she wanted to prove that she had what it takes to be good, just to prove herself to Captain America. Steve wanted to trust her – and its not as if this were the first time he had the chance to help former criminals go through the path of reform – so there was a time when she would seemingly be an unofficial sidekick to Cap as she joined him in his missions – though he drew the line when it was Avengers-related missions, telling her that she had not yet earned that level of trust.
One wonders if he was protecting the Avengers from Diamondback, and all the possible access to security clearance-related secrets the group had, or protecting her from the type of dangers that Avengers-level threats normally came with. My thinking is, probably both. Diamondback even made an agreement with Cap for a date – in their civilian clothes – just a normal date… and to ensure that this was going to happen without a hitch, Rachel’s two Serpent Society girlfriends, realizing that she saw something special in her date, made sure nothing untoward happens during date night.
It was hilarious to see three villainesses actually keeping the peace, as they watched over Rachel and her date – Steve Rogers, who of course was a complete stranger to Rachel’s friends the Asp, Black Mamba and Anaconda. Eventually the Society found out who she was constantly going out with and assumed that she betrayed their secrets to Cap. With the help of the Paladin, Cap busted Rachel out of the society’s lair.
Sometime later, after the events known as ‘Acts of Vengeance’, Magneto would kidnap the Skull and bury him alive – and though the Skull’s people – namely Crossbones and Mother Superior would find him, the Skull would be in a highly weakened and dehydrated state – ready to give up life, for all the failings he had experience. But one look at the face of Steve Rogers was all it took to reignite the hate in him – and the will to live, so he could fight Captain America again and wipe the ‘look of pity’ in Cap’s face.Diamondback would be involved in a trial for the murder of the Snapdragon, and she would be defended by Bernie Rosenthal, now attorney and willing to help Steve’s new girlfriend.
Captain America and Diamondback would have a falling out of sorts when in a bid to help Steve, who due to exposure from a particular gas from a methamphetamine lab that affected the Super Soldier Serum in his blood, was suffering from a slow poisoning of the body. Steve then had the serum removed from his body, but it brings a different reaction – since his body started deteriorating due to the over-use of the serum that his altered body chemistry was still supplying.
Steve was slowly finding it harder to move and had to have an exoskeleton suit built, just to be able to continue moving – but this was not a cure, so Cap was still getting worse. Diamondback – using her underworld connections, made a deal with Superia to come up with an antidote for said poison in Captain America’s system. However, once the serum was made, Superia wanted more concessions with Steve.
Being the highly moral person that he is, Steve Rogers refused to do this and told Diamondback that he was disappointed with her still using underworld connections, and it seemed he was wrong in thinking her to be reformed. This was a more painful blow to her than any physical attack, so she left Captain America.
The Red Skull, hearing about Captain America’s state – that he was paralyzed and the Avengers and his other friends were helpless in trying to help his degenerative state, realizes that there was a strong chance that he now could face the same fate that Steve was currently experiencing – since he also had the same serum in his blood. Schmidt learns that Superia offered Cap a cure, one that Diamondback tried to help get… but Steve refused the cure, since accepting it would put him in her debt. Steve showed he was willing to die out of principle – rather than owe a villain anything that can be used as a leverage against him – his experience with Tony trying to bribe him, might also still be fresh in mind.
The Skull, of course, did not have such compunctions and forcibly takes the cure from Superia, then kills her. He applies the cure on himself and his next act is one that was unexpected, as he orchestrated the kidnapping of a now bed-ridden Cap, seemingly paralyzed and near death as possible. Schmidt then orders Arnim Zola to do a blood transfusion between him and Steve, thus effectively sharing the cure with Steve.Steve then learns of how his life was saved by his arch-enemy – and not a moment too soon it would seem… as the Skull would later resurface when he learns that a band of Neo-Nazis have taken hold of a Cosmic Cube infused with Hitler’s persona (Schmidt’s doing some time in the past) It is the hopes of this cult to empower this inert cube, and once this was done, the cult hoped to make Hitler’s persona power the cube and become a god – a feat once successfully done by Thanos.
Not appreciating the prospect of once again becoming subservient to anyone – specially a Hitler that remembers how the Skull had betrayed him and imprisoned him in the cube, the Skull sets plans to stop this group – but he realizes that he could not do this alone – fortunately there is another person who equally would not want this scenario from happening… Steve Rogers, and to ensure Steve Rogers was convinced of his intent, he recruited someone from Steve’s past to do the convincing to Steve… the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter.
Apparently, Sharon has been alive all this time, held a captive – but later escaped the dictator Tap-Kwai. Sharon then operates with and helps organize an underground guerilla movement – continuing the efforts she had been doing prior to her alleged death (as per Fury’s knowledge), her assignment being too sensitive that had Fury, and S.H.I.E.L.D. known, it might compromise her, Sharon opted to go underground with no contacts to anyone she used to know.
She then discovered the same group – the Kubecult and their plans, and having seen the effect of the cube first-hand, she was very much aware of tis capabilities in the wrong hands. Ironically, the one man she knew to be said wrong hand approached her to ask for Steve’s help. Knowing that times were desperate, Sharon reluctantly teams up with the Skull and they proceed to recruit Steve Rogers into this adventure.
In the process of stopping the cult, the Skull actually sends Cap into the cube with the plan to kill Hitler, while he tried using said cube to rule humanity – Cap foils the plan, escapes the cube and hurtles his shield hard to severe the Skull’s arm – this causes the cube to drop, become unstable and explode, taking the Skull along in the explosion… leaving nothing but a silhouette where the Skull used to be.
To say the least, Steve Rogers was shocked to find out that Sharon was alive – albeit, radically different in personality, but understandable - due to her experience. This new Sharon exhibited a meaner, harder, more ruthless personality, and did not appreciate any condescension from Steve.
They did not renew their relationship, though there was a romantic tension between them, though Sharon temporarily stayed in Steve’s apartment – until she could get settled again, thus knew of how special agents barged into Steve’s pad to arrest Steve as a traitor. Steve find the special agents searching his place and asks for an explanation – when they say he’s arrested for being a traitor he tells them they’re mistaken and they tell him they don’t think so – that is, until one special agent shows his companions a costume obviously belonging to Captain America. Sharon tracks Steve to see how things pan out.
Captain America is ushered into the office of the President (Clinton) who then shows Steve a tape of a supposed top secret American weapon being used by some Balkan state guerilla – shooting down an American plane. Apparently, there had been a breach in having this certain state secrets remain secret – and since only two people, outside of the science design team had access to this secret – one being President Clinton and the other being Steve Rogers / Captain America, that narrowed things down, and since Clinton’s presence was naturally accounted for, it seemed like Captain America, as hard and unlikely as it seemed – leaked these secrets.
To make matters worse, footages of Cap working side by side with the Skull surfaced – thus strengthening the theory that Cap had sold out… lastly, when asked why the Skull had indeed revived him, Cap could not give an answer that was convincing enough to the President. Difficult as it was – the President had to weigh and think of what to do.
In light of Cap’s exemplary record, the President did not consider imprisoning Steve Rogers, having considered the possible political implications and backlash it would give to the public and Washington, had news leaked out – instead his actions were to strip Steve of the right to use the costume, and considered him an enemy of the country – so Steve likewise lost his American citizenship and had to leave the country. London had agreed… through back channels operations, to allow Steve to live out the rest of his days with them as exile.
As a still seemingly shocked Steve leaves the President, and is being escorted to the airport, Sharon attacks his escorts and pulls Steve away convincing him to escape – while covering their tracks. With her S.H.I.E.L.D. training and his capabilities, they eventually realize that Steve was set up by the Machinesmith – who now apparently had the power to transfer his persona, not just with dormant mechanical bodies, but with people as well… and in the process, gain access to all their secrets. A feat he did while Cap was unconscious and with the Skull during the Super Soldier blood transfusion time.
Machinesmith leads Cap into a merry chase – even crippling the S.H.I.E.L.D. heli-carrier to distract Steve while he plans to steal the secrets of the “football” - the attaché case that always follows the President of the United States, and through it, have control of America’s nuclear armaments.
Machinesmith, then transferred his persona to Clinton thus almost getting all the secrets he can read – but Cap gets to stop him. Realizing Cap’s innocence after his own encounter with Machinesmith, Clinton, offers Cap his apologies and reinstates the privilege and citizenship of Steve Rogers, plus naturally returning the uniform and shield of Cap.
Next: Galactic Storm, Heroes Return and Kang’s War
Its different though, when the lives of others are hurt by association to yours – and this was how Steve probably felt when Baron Helmut Zemo – son of Baron Heinrich Zemo, gathered together a band of villains – each in their own way, deadly or difficult to battle, but as the newly formed Masters of Evil, formidable enough as a team relying on pure strength.
But Strength was not Zemo’s main strength… he had cunning as well. Gathering together the Beetle, the Wrecker, Pile Driver, Bulldozer, Thunder ball, Blackout, Absorbing Man, Moonstone, Yellow Jacket, Mr. Hyde, the Fixer, Goliath and others I possibly missed, Zemo plotted to insert themselves into the Avengers Mansion and attack the unsuspecting Avengers - possibly taking them down individually… but his most prized conquest would be to show all these plans and actions to Steve Rogers – Captain America.
Would Zemo have attacked the Avengers if Steve were not with them? Maybe, as tribute to his father… or trying to show that he was better by defeating a team that his father could not, but this would just have been a single conquest to prove just that. With Captain America, however – it was more personal… not just as revenge for his father’s death while fighting Captain America, but because Steve, too, was seemingly responsible for his facial disfigurement, when he fell into a vat of very hot Adhesive X – forcing him to wear a head veil like his father.
Eventually, Zemo’s plan fell like clockwork – Captain America, the Black Knight and Jarvis were captured, with the Wasp trying to round up Avengers – though a very drunk Hercules charged in with near fatal results to him. Helmut relished letting Steve suffer – but he knew the man was resilient, so after he toyed with Cap by breaking things found in the footlocker – which Cap had obviously brought to the mansion from after his finding it with Fury and Dum Dum, Zemo let the Masters’ more savage members beat Jarvis up in front of Steve and Dane – and they watched to their horror.
The Avengers would eventually win the mansion back and defeat the Masters of Evil, but after ensuring that Jarvis got medical attention, Steve would gather his personal belongings and upon finding the lone surviving copy of his mother’s picture torn – courtesy of Zemo, he would let go of his resolve and shed a tear. This was a very human Steve Rogers indeed – tough when the situation demanded it, but definitely hurting with what damage to Jarvis, the mansion and to his things that Zemo and company did.
Bad as it seemed, Steve would have some things to look up to… a possible love interest in the most unlikely places – a member of the Serpent Society… another group of villains that Cap had on several occasions ran into, specifically, Rachel Leighton a.k.a. Diamondback. She fist met Captain America when her team – the Serpent Society had battled him. Recruited by the Side-winder, she had at least two possible instances where she could have killed Captain America, but for some reason, she could not do so. Apparently, she became attracted to Captain America, and even left the Serpent Society to try and show him that she was turning over a new leaf.
She was seemingly a “good girl” caught up in a “bad world” and she wanted to prove that she had what it takes to be good, just to prove herself to Captain America. Steve wanted to trust her – and its not as if this were the first time he had the chance to help former criminals go through the path of reform – so there was a time when she would seemingly be an unofficial sidekick to Cap as she joined him in his missions – though he drew the line when it was Avengers-related missions, telling her that she had not yet earned that level of trust.
One wonders if he was protecting the Avengers from Diamondback, and all the possible access to security clearance-related secrets the group had, or protecting her from the type of dangers that Avengers-level threats normally came with. My thinking is, probably both. Diamondback even made an agreement with Cap for a date – in their civilian clothes – just a normal date… and to ensure that this was going to happen without a hitch, Rachel’s two Serpent Society girlfriends, realizing that she saw something special in her date, made sure nothing untoward happens during date night.
It was hilarious to see three villainesses actually keeping the peace, as they watched over Rachel and her date – Steve Rogers, who of course was a complete stranger to Rachel’s friends the Asp, Black Mamba and Anaconda. Eventually the Society found out who she was constantly going out with and assumed that she betrayed their secrets to Cap. With the help of the Paladin, Cap busted Rachel out of the society’s lair.
Sometime later, after the events known as ‘Acts of Vengeance’, Magneto would kidnap the Skull and bury him alive – and though the Skull’s people – namely Crossbones and Mother Superior would find him, the Skull would be in a highly weakened and dehydrated state – ready to give up life, for all the failings he had experience. But one look at the face of Steve Rogers was all it took to reignite the hate in him – and the will to live, so he could fight Captain America again and wipe the ‘look of pity’ in Cap’s face.Diamondback would be involved in a trial for the murder of the Snapdragon, and she would be defended by Bernie Rosenthal, now attorney and willing to help Steve’s new girlfriend.
Captain America and Diamondback would have a falling out of sorts when in a bid to help Steve, who due to exposure from a particular gas from a methamphetamine lab that affected the Super Soldier Serum in his blood, was suffering from a slow poisoning of the body. Steve then had the serum removed from his body, but it brings a different reaction – since his body started deteriorating due to the over-use of the serum that his altered body chemistry was still supplying.
Steve was slowly finding it harder to move and had to have an exoskeleton suit built, just to be able to continue moving – but this was not a cure, so Cap was still getting worse. Diamondback – using her underworld connections, made a deal with Superia to come up with an antidote for said poison in Captain America’s system. However, once the serum was made, Superia wanted more concessions with Steve.
Being the highly moral person that he is, Steve Rogers refused to do this and told Diamondback that he was disappointed with her still using underworld connections, and it seemed he was wrong in thinking her to be reformed. This was a more painful blow to her than any physical attack, so she left Captain America.
The Red Skull, hearing about Captain America’s state – that he was paralyzed and the Avengers and his other friends were helpless in trying to help his degenerative state, realizes that there was a strong chance that he now could face the same fate that Steve was currently experiencing – since he also had the same serum in his blood. Schmidt learns that Superia offered Cap a cure, one that Diamondback tried to help get… but Steve refused the cure, since accepting it would put him in her debt. Steve showed he was willing to die out of principle – rather than owe a villain anything that can be used as a leverage against him – his experience with Tony trying to bribe him, might also still be fresh in mind.
The Skull, of course, did not have such compunctions and forcibly takes the cure from Superia, then kills her. He applies the cure on himself and his next act is one that was unexpected, as he orchestrated the kidnapping of a now bed-ridden Cap, seemingly paralyzed and near death as possible. Schmidt then orders Arnim Zola to do a blood transfusion between him and Steve, thus effectively sharing the cure with Steve.Steve then learns of how his life was saved by his arch-enemy – and not a moment too soon it would seem… as the Skull would later resurface when he learns that a band of Neo-Nazis have taken hold of a Cosmic Cube infused with Hitler’s persona (Schmidt’s doing some time in the past) It is the hopes of this cult to empower this inert cube, and once this was done, the cult hoped to make Hitler’s persona power the cube and become a god – a feat once successfully done by Thanos.
Not appreciating the prospect of once again becoming subservient to anyone – specially a Hitler that remembers how the Skull had betrayed him and imprisoned him in the cube, the Skull sets plans to stop this group – but he realizes that he could not do this alone – fortunately there is another person who equally would not want this scenario from happening… Steve Rogers, and to ensure Steve Rogers was convinced of his intent, he recruited someone from Steve’s past to do the convincing to Steve… the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter.
Apparently, Sharon has been alive all this time, held a captive – but later escaped the dictator Tap-Kwai. Sharon then operates with and helps organize an underground guerilla movement – continuing the efforts she had been doing prior to her alleged death (as per Fury’s knowledge), her assignment being too sensitive that had Fury, and S.H.I.E.L.D. known, it might compromise her, Sharon opted to go underground with no contacts to anyone she used to know.
She then discovered the same group – the Kubecult and their plans, and having seen the effect of the cube first-hand, she was very much aware of tis capabilities in the wrong hands. Ironically, the one man she knew to be said wrong hand approached her to ask for Steve’s help. Knowing that times were desperate, Sharon reluctantly teams up with the Skull and they proceed to recruit Steve Rogers into this adventure.
In the process of stopping the cult, the Skull actually sends Cap into the cube with the plan to kill Hitler, while he tried using said cube to rule humanity – Cap foils the plan, escapes the cube and hurtles his shield hard to severe the Skull’s arm – this causes the cube to drop, become unstable and explode, taking the Skull along in the explosion… leaving nothing but a silhouette where the Skull used to be.
To say the least, Steve Rogers was shocked to find out that Sharon was alive – albeit, radically different in personality, but understandable - due to her experience. This new Sharon exhibited a meaner, harder, more ruthless personality, and did not appreciate any condescension from Steve.
They did not renew their relationship, though there was a romantic tension between them, though Sharon temporarily stayed in Steve’s apartment – until she could get settled again, thus knew of how special agents barged into Steve’s pad to arrest Steve as a traitor. Steve find the special agents searching his place and asks for an explanation – when they say he’s arrested for being a traitor he tells them they’re mistaken and they tell him they don’t think so – that is, until one special agent shows his companions a costume obviously belonging to Captain America. Sharon tracks Steve to see how things pan out.
Captain America is ushered into the office of the President (Clinton) who then shows Steve a tape of a supposed top secret American weapon being used by some Balkan state guerilla – shooting down an American plane. Apparently, there had been a breach in having this certain state secrets remain secret – and since only two people, outside of the science design team had access to this secret – one being President Clinton and the other being Steve Rogers / Captain America, that narrowed things down, and since Clinton’s presence was naturally accounted for, it seemed like Captain America, as hard and unlikely as it seemed – leaked these secrets.
To make matters worse, footages of Cap working side by side with the Skull surfaced – thus strengthening the theory that Cap had sold out… lastly, when asked why the Skull had indeed revived him, Cap could not give an answer that was convincing enough to the President. Difficult as it was – the President had to weigh and think of what to do.
In light of Cap’s exemplary record, the President did not consider imprisoning Steve Rogers, having considered the possible political implications and backlash it would give to the public and Washington, had news leaked out – instead his actions were to strip Steve of the right to use the costume, and considered him an enemy of the country – so Steve likewise lost his American citizenship and had to leave the country. London had agreed… through back channels operations, to allow Steve to live out the rest of his days with them as exile.
As a still seemingly shocked Steve leaves the President, and is being escorted to the airport, Sharon attacks his escorts and pulls Steve away convincing him to escape – while covering their tracks. With her S.H.I.E.L.D. training and his capabilities, they eventually realize that Steve was set up by the Machinesmith – who now apparently had the power to transfer his persona, not just with dormant mechanical bodies, but with people as well… and in the process, gain access to all their secrets. A feat he did while Cap was unconscious and with the Skull during the Super Soldier blood transfusion time.
Machinesmith leads Cap into a merry chase – even crippling the S.H.I.E.L.D. heli-carrier to distract Steve while he plans to steal the secrets of the “football” - the attaché case that always follows the President of the United States, and through it, have control of America’s nuclear armaments.
Machinesmith, then transferred his persona to Clinton thus almost getting all the secrets he can read – but Cap gets to stop him. Realizing Cap’s innocence after his own encounter with Machinesmith, Clinton, offers Cap his apologies and reinstates the privilege and citizenship of Steve Rogers, plus naturally returning the uniform and shield of Cap.
Next: Galactic Storm, Heroes Return and Kang’s War
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