The figure believing himself to be Steve Rogers talks to Kobik, who apologizes for everything she's done. Rogers asks where they are and Kobik takes him to a destroyed suburb, saying she tried to fix things but just made things worst. She then urges Rogers to remember.
Back in Washington DC, Zemo returns and embraces the Steve Rogers who is HYDRA's Supreme Leader. Rogers is overjoyed to see Zemo, who tells him that Elisa Sinclair would be proud of what he's done. Zemo then has a handcuffed T'Challa brought to them. T'Challa calls Rogers by his first name but is decked by Zemo for his disrespect. Nonetheless, T'Challa vows to escape and destroy Zemo. Zemo tells Rogers that Arnim Zola has T'Challa's shard of the Cosmic Cube so they can execute T'Challa immediately, but Rogers wants it to be public. He directs T'Challa to be taken to prison, and also asks Zemo to wake up 'The Army That Sleeps.'
The delegation of mutants from New Tian then arrives in Washington DC; it includes Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, and Hank McCoy. Some of Rogers' advisors recommend that he and his flagship leave due to the recent superhero uprising against his rule, but Rogers refuses.
A huge army of superheroes battle HYDRA on the National Mall. It includes heroes that were previously trapped in Manhattan (such as the Uncanny X-Men and Defenders), heroes that were previously trapped in space (such as the Ultimate Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy), and others such as the Underground and the Secret Warriors. Sam "Captain America" Wilson directs the heroes in battle, but Luke Cage quickly notes that they're outnumbered and outgunned, especially due to Rogers' battleship. Monica "Spectrum" Rambeaux tells him not to worry as reinforcements are being brought in by Kevin "Star Brand" Connor and Marcus "Hyperion" Milton. These reinforcements include Peter "Spider-Man" Parker as well as the U.S.Avengers and foreign teams like Euroforce. However, the HYDRA Council and the HYDRA Avengers then enter the battle.
In Rogers' flagship, Frost and Rogers argue over whether New Tian broke its treaty obligations by hiding a fragment of the Cosmic Cube from Rogers. Frost turns over her shard and asks to negotiate a ceasefire, but Rogers declines and says that he was never going to let New Tian remain free indefinitely. He demands surrender. Frost refuses, however, and at that moment Erik "Magneto" Lenshir attacks the flagship. The New Tian delegation begins to take out Rogers' security as Arnim Zola helps Rogers to retreat. Rogers doesn't want to back down but Zola tells him that they now have enough of the Cosmic Cube pieces to wield the Cube directly, as long as they first combine it with one of Tony Stark's inventions.
The X-Men join the battle against HYDRA, but HYDRA still has overwhelming numbers. However, Thor Odinson then decides he will no longer compromise with HYDRA. He grabs his ax Jarnbjorn and summons a massive blast of lightning. This scares Tony "Taskmaster" Masters and Eric "Black Ant" O'Grady, both of whom conclude the heroes will win and thus decide to defect. They free the Champions (Miles "Spider-Man" Morales, Riri "Ironheart" Williams, Viv Vision, Nadia "Wasp" Pym, Amadeus "Totally Awesome Hulk" Cho, and Joaquin "Falcon" Torres) in exchange for the Champions promising not to hurt them. The Champions then run to join the battle. Morales also webs up Masters and O'Grady so they can't change their minds.
The battle continues as the Champions join the fight. Viv finds her father and is able to weaken HYDRA's control of him by spreading the virus controlling him to HYDRA dreadnoughts in the area. Meanwhile, the Chthon-possessed Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff battles Stephen "Doctor" Strange, but Strange is able to summon back Jane Foster, who attacks and knocks out Maximoff. Foster then loses her powers and collapses on account of her illness. Wilson flies her away while Strange begins exorcising Chthon from Maximoff.
Zemo has T'Challa taken to a large holding facility which contains the cyrogenically-frozen Masters of Evil (including the Wrecking Crew, the Blood Brothers, and Franklin "Graviton" Hall.) Zemo exposits that Johann "Doctor Faustus" Fennhoff has been brainwashing the Masters of Evil to make them more compliant; this is 'The Army That Sleeps' that Rogers mentioned earlier. At that moment, though Bucky "Winter Soldier" Barnes bursts in and attacks Zemo. Zemo shoots Barnes in the shoulder, but this gives T'Challa the opportunity to defeat the other HYDRA thugs in the room and attack Zemo. T'Challa drags Zemo to a concealed point as Rogers, oblivious, walks into the room. T'Challa threatens to kill Rogers and then knocks Zemo out. He decides not to kill Zemo so Zemo can suffer when he wakes and learns that Rogers is indeed dead. Barnes volunteers to look after Zemo while T'Challa deals with Rogers.
Elsewhere, Fennhoff has been brainwashing Sharon Carter. Satisfied as to her progress he directs her to bring him some tea while he boasts about having previously brainwashed her to kill Rogers. He muses as to how he may outdo himself by brainwashing her to love Rogers again, but then realizes that she has poisoned his tea. She tells him that the poison is a non-lethal toxin, and also that she had previously forced herself to listen to recordings of Fennhoff so as to build up an immunity to his voice. She punches him out, then concludes that if Rogers is still himself he probably hasn't changed any of his passwords, and so begins hacking into the HYDRA warships to make them crash.
T'Challa watches as Zola helps Rogers put on a suit of battle armor. Zola then inserts the incomplete Cosmic Cube into the armor so he can wield it in battle, making Rogers scream in pain.
Back in the forest, Rogers tells Kobik what he knows—that he was a soldier who was about to be killed by the Red Skull when he woke up in the forest, and that he's been encountering both friends and enemies from his past. Kobik brings him to a replica of the pool that he supposedly hid in to evade the effects of the Allies' Cosmic Cube, and Rogers sees himself killing Jack Flag, Red Skull, and Black Widow. Rogers then understands: he's not real, but rather is just Kobik's memory of what he should be. Rogers asks Kobik to make him real again but Kobik refuses, saying someone is 'too scary.' The ground shakes as she runs away in terror.
In Washington, the heroes manage to defeat the remainder of Rogers' army. However, T'Challa then arrives and yells at the heroes to run. Behind him marches Steve Rogers, dressed in the Cosmic Cube armor.
Tropes:
- Hope Spot: The heroes destroy the HYDRA forces... and then Rogers shows up.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Taskmaster and Black Ant quickly realize that the tide of the battle is starting to change, and Taskmaster advises Black Ant that since they technically are mercenaries, this would be the perfect opportunity to switch sides.
- The Reveal: The 'forest' Rogers is a memory trapped in Kobik's head.
