The Price of Victory

The Avengers are taking back their headquarters after it has been taken over by the Masters of Evil. After defeating the Wrecking Crew, Thor and Captain America are ambushed by Goliath. While Thor is occupied by this titanic foe, Captain America finds himself fighting against the Wrecker who has his full strength after Thor stripped the Wrecking Crew of the power he shared with them.[1]

The sound of battle can be down below where the Wasp and Ant-Man are treating the Black Knight and Jarvis of their injuries. The Wasp heads up to lend a hand with the Knight, who refuses to stand on the sidelines despite suffering a concussion. They leave Jarvis with Ant-Man, who worries about the butler’s survival as he needs immediate medical attention. When they arrive upstairs, Thor tells them to aid Captain America as he intends on dealing with Goliath on his own.

With his plan coming apart at the seams, Baron Zemo is plotting his escape. He orders Yellowjacket to prepare the escape craft while he goes back up to the roof and gathers Blackout and Moonstone. There he finds Doctor Druid standing over the knocked out Blackout and Moonstone nowhere to be found. Blasting Druid from behind, and tries to contact Yellowjacket but finds his communicator has been disabled. Realizing that the Avengers are somehow blocking his escape he revives Blackout and orders him to plunge the entire mansion, and everyone in it, into the Dark Force dimension. Recovering from the sneak attack, Doctor Druid establishes a mental link with Blackout and encourages him to fight against Baron Zemo’s mind control to regain his freedom.

As Blackout fights back against Zemo, the Avengers down below defeat Goliath and the Wrecker just as the military storm the mansion to secure it. With her escape ship upended in the battle, Yellowjacket decides that she has had enough and surrenders without further incident.

Meanwhile, out in the New Jersey Palisades, Moonstone has suffered a broken neck trying to escape from Captain Marvel. Paralyzed from her injuries, Moonstone tells Marvel that it is Baron Zemo who has full control of Blackout, prompting Monica to race back to the mansion as quickly as possible. However, when she finally arrives, the mental battle comes to an end when Blackout suffers a fatal cerebral hemorrhage and collapses to the ground.[2] After Captain Marvel destroys Zemo’s guns, the rest of the Avengers surround him. This is when Captain America steps in to battle his old foe.

Zemo can’t understand how Cap hasn’t been broken after everything that has happened that day. Cap points out that he has suffered greater torture at the hands of the Third Reich during World War II and firmly rebukes Zemo’s assertion that Captain America was responsible for the destruction of his family. Cap reminds the Baron that his father chose to serve Adolf Hitler’s Nazis and that he died by his own hands, destroying himself over his obsession with Cap. Zemo refuses to accept this and tries attacking again. Unfortunately, he stumbles over the roofs edge and refuses Captain America’s outstretched hand and falls to the ground.[3]

With Zemo defeated, the rest of the Masters of Evil are taken into custody. As the Avengers send off their wounded and begin the clean-up operation, they realize Cap is nowhere to be found. Captain Marvel finds Steve in his room where he is crying over the destruction of his personal momentos that he kept in a footlocker in his room. Cap admits that in the heat of things, seeing his prized possessions destroyed didn’t affect him because he had a job to do but now he feels a deep personal lost.[5] Captain Marvel tells Cap that mourning his losses will allow him to heal and move on with his life, something that they have to do because people depend on them. When Monica suggests that they focus on rebuilding and moving on, Cap tells her that she’s right.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Wasp, Black Knight, Captain Marvel), Masters of Evil (Baron Zemo, Goliath, Wrecker, Thunderball, Piledriver, Bulldozer, Yellowjacket, Blackout, Moonstone, Fixer), Doctor Druid, Ant-Man

Continuity Notes

1. Thor stripped the Wrecking Crew of their strength last issue. The Wrecker got his power from Karnilla back in Thor #148 and later it split it among the other members of his Crew back in Defenders #17.

2. Although Blackout dies here, Zemo will later use the Kree Lifestone to resurrect him in New Thunderbolts #17-18.

3. There is a lot of Captain America/Zemo drama going on here:

   • Zemo destroyed Captain America’s personal momentos in Avengers #275. However, Zemo will later use the Wellspring of Power to restore these damage done in Thunderbolts #105 in an act of attonement.

   • The original Baron Zemo died trying to kill Captain America in Avengers #15.

   • It is stated that Cap’s wartime partner, Bucky, died in World War II. This was depicted back in Avengers #4. However, Bucky didn’t actually die. He was recovered by the Russians and transformed into the Winter Soldier. Cap won’t learn this until many years later in Captain America (vol. 5) #14.

   • Mention is made of the Avengers who were savagely beaten, this started with Hercules in Avengers #274.

   • It’s not really clear if the fall killed Zemo or knocked him out here. It knocked him out and he suffered an injury to his neck that will keep him out of action until Captain America #357.

   • Captain America recounts how the Avengers saved him from suspended animation “many years ago”, again referring to Avengers #4. Per the Sliding Timescale, Cap was revived about seven years prior to this story.