Onboard Alpha Flight's space station, Monica "Spectrum" Rambeau gives an update to Carol "Captain Marvel" Danvers. Rambeau says that the station is falling apart due to the relentless Chitauri attacks. Moreover, while their analysts have pinpointed the location of the queen eggs that the Chitauri are searching for, the eggs are back on Earth and thus are unreachable behind Earth's planetary defense shield. Rambeau does note that America Chavez can get them supplies from other dimensions and says that even though no other planets in their dimension are willing to help them, Chavez can still evacuate the station's personnel to other dimensions. Danvers refuses, saying the shield might conceivably come down and if it does they need to be ready to stop the Chitauri from devastating Earth. She authorizes the others to leave if they wish but says she won't abandon her post.
Danvers then goes to talk at Avril "Quasar" Kincaid's comatose form, sighing that their situation is doomed and her crew is about ready to mutiny, and wishing that Kincaid would wake up. Danvers tells Kincaid's form that she, Danvers, is responsible for all of the disasters that have happened and all of the people that HYDRA kills; she started the second superhero Civil War, tore the heroes apart, provided an opening for Steve "Captain America" Rogers to seize control, and even built the planetary shield which has sealed Earth's strongest heroes in space. She muses that she spent so much time and effort trying to be perfect that she wound up just like Tony "Iron Man" Stark, chasing one impossible scheme after another to save the world and prove her own virtue, and ultimately doing nothing but breaking everything she touched. She notes that she tried to earn the world's love and instead only earned its hate, and now all she can do is sit in her crumbling station and hope that Kincaid wakes up to save them all. Bowing her head, she begs Kincaid to awaken, but Kincaid remains comatose.
In the mysterious forest, the figure claiming to be Steve Rogers screams as Johann "Red Skull" Shmidt beats him with a burning spiked club. Back in America, the Rogers that leads HYDRA is pulled out of the rubble of the destroyed Underground base, distraught over the sacrifice and apparent death of Elisa "Madame HYDRA" Sinclair. He's taken back to Washington D.C. to deliver an address at the rebuilding ceremony at the Capitol Building. A newscaster notes that HYDRA has instituted a new wave of media restrictions and curfews following the apparent destruction of the Underground resistance.
Natasha "Black Widow" Romanoff gets a report from Amadeus "Totally Awesome Hulk" Cho saying he's in position and on stage as part of the HYDRA Youth Choir. Romanoff says everyone is ready, but Cho notes that Miles "Spider-Man" Morales is missing. A flashback shows that Morales had been with Romanoff earlier, fretting about the vision from the Inhuman Ulysses Cain in which he killed Steve Rogers, and wondering if he really is a murderer. Romanoff plays off his concerns with some jokes and then sends him to the back of her van to pick up some supplies; once he's inside, she seals the van. She tells him that he is not a killer and she will be handling the assassination of Rogers personally.
Back in the present, Romanoff tells the other Champions (Joaquin "Falcon" Torres, Viv Vision, Riri "Ironheart" Williams, Nadia "Wasp" Pym, and Cho) that their mission will be to rescue several Congresspeople whom HYDRA is holding on the stage and who will be forced to declare support for HYDRA during the speeches. Romanoff says they should move during 'the attack,' and when Pym asks what attack Romanoff expects, Romanoff says she has an ally. Another flashback reveals that the old man Romanoff had the champions rescue from HYDRA was the Inhuman Morris "Mosaic" Sackett, who was trapped in the body of an aged man with a neurodegenerative condition so he could not hurt HYDRA. She told Sackett how HYDRA was oppressing Inhumans, then held his hand and let him free himself from his decaying body.
Again in the present, Sackett uses his powers to brainwash the HYDRA soldiers into killing each other. As the guards shoot each other, Ophelia "Viper" Sarkissian sends Romanoff a message that all the guards have been dispatched to deal with the chaos, leaving Romanoff an opening. Romanoff prepares to shoot but is surprised by Frank "Punisher" Castle, now working for HYDRA. The two fight, with the two complimenting each other's skills and Castle telling Romanoff he doesn't like these orders but will follow them. Romanoff asks Castle why he's helping Rogers and Castle says Rogers promised him an army to finally exterminate all the criminals and win the war on crime he's been fighting for years.
In the van, Morales tries to think of a way out of the van. He settles on starting a fire with his powers, hoping that will disengage the locks so anyone in the van can get out, but the system still requires a password. This stops him for a moment, but he then realizes that if he's really going to kill Rogers as per Cain's vision, it's inevitable that he will get out of the van—so whatever he guesses for the password, he's bound to be right. His theory proves correct and he escapes the van.
Castle and Romanoff continue to fight. Castle tells Romanoff that she was too weak to do what had to be done to cleanse the world of evil and criminals. Romanoff, however, rebuts him. The two knock each others' guns away, and when Castle pulls twin knives, Romanoff disarms him. She then steals the knives and stabs Castle in both his legs, taking him out. Castle drops but tells Romanoff that Rogers has sworn he'll resurrect everyone that died once he rebuilds the Cosmic Cube, so they won't have lost anyone. Romanoff tells him that's not possible and lines up her shot again. However, she sees Morales charging Rogers, and instead of shooting Rogers she rushes to intercept Morales.
Morales and Rogers confront each other, with Rogers walking down the steps of the Capitol building. Rogers says they both know how the scene ends, so Morales should come at him and show what he's made of. They swing at each other, but Romanoff jumps in front of Rogers and he bashes her in the jaw and neck with his shield. She collapses, apparently dead. Morales, enraged, punches through Rogers' shield and beats him unconscious. He yells that he knows not just that he's supposed to kill Rogers, but also why he's supposed to kill Rogers. He lifts Rogers to impale him on a sharp rock jutting out of the rubble but is stopped by Pym, who begs him not to kill Rogers if only to honor Romanoff's sacrifice. She explains that Romanoff did everything to stop him from becoming a monstrous killer like her, and notes that while both she (Pym) and Romanoff were warped by Red Room training, Morales still has a chance to turn from that path. After a moment, Morales decides that he's not a killer, and he spares Rogers. HYDRA troops then arrive to arrest all the Champions and evacuate Rogers.
Rogers is taken to a base and left in a room with Sharon Carter while the area is secured. Stunned, he says that thinks weren't supposed to happen like they did, and every time he tries to fix things, the situation deteriorates further. He says he was prepared to make sacrifices in order to win, but he's still staggered by all the deaths that have resulted from his plans, most of all Sinclair's but also Bucky "Winter Soldier" Barnes', Jack Flag's, Rick Jones', and now Romanoff's. He says he wanted to build a better world but now feels completely alone. He begs Carter for support, saying he needs her more than ever. She groans and he approaches her to see if she's hurt, but she then attempts to shiv him. He grabs the weapon away, though she manages to cut him deep enough to draw blood first. Rogers calls for guards and has Carter arrested, then tells his minions to alert the High Council that he will be giving another speech the next day in which he will declare war.
In the forest, Rogers endures Shmidts' beatings until he sees a vision of the mysterious woman who had earlier died of poison. The sight of her gives him the strength to dodge Shmidts' attacks and then tackle him off a cliff into a large lake or ocean.
The remaining Underground heroes and civilians are regrouping in Arizona when they hear of Romanoff's death. Clint "Hawkeye" Barton screams Romanoff's name and the heroes can only wander around in stunned disarray. However, then Sam Wilson—wearing the Captain America uniform and holding his shield—tells them the fight isn't lost yet.
Tropes:
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Wilson puts on his Captain America costume for the first time since abandoning the role.
