Captain America #124

Jun 1

Jun 1 Captain America #124

Stop the Cyborg!

Distracted by thoughts of Sharon Carter, Captain America is ambushed in an alley by two AIM assassins. He manages to fight them off and they flee, dropping their weapons behind. However, when Cap tries to collect them to hand over to SHIELD the devices dissolve into dust.

At AIM headquarters, MODOK — their leader — is unhappy over his assassin’s failure and gives him an option: death, or agree to become a cyborg. Fearing for his life, the assassin agrees to undergo the process to transform him into a cyborg. The process goes off without a hitch and the AIM assassin is reborn as the blandly named Cyborg.

Meanwhile, Captain America goes to SHIELD headquarters to once again petition Nick Fury to pull Sharon Carter off active duty and put her behind a desk, threatening to stop working for the spy agency unless he doesn’t get what he wants. Fury acquiesces and calls in Sharon to tell her about her reassignment. Sharon is pleased with the news as Cap will no longer have to worry about her safety. It’s then that Fury’s sensors pick up the Cyborg as the AIM operative robs a bank with his newfound cybernetic enhancements. Watching the robbery, Sharon tells Nick that she can get to the scene right away, prompting Cap to remind her of her promise to him to stay out of danger. While the men are busy being chauvinists, the Cyborg manages to escape from the bank unimpeded.

When the Cyborg returns to AIM, MODOK has the money destroyed as he has no use for it and the robbery was merely to test the Cyborg’s power. With the mission a success, MODOK then begins the next phase of his plan.

Later that day, Sharon gets a call from Nick Fury telling her to ask Captain America to meet him at a brownstone on Carter Street. However, after she sends out the call the real Nick Fury returns to the office making Sharon realize that she was talking to an impostor. With no way to contact Captain America now that he is gone, Sharon then races to the scene to warn him that he is walking into a trap. She manages to arrive at the brownstone ahead of Cap where she is quickly incapacitated by the Cyborg. When Captain America comes crashing in through the window he sees Sharon in the Cyborg’s hand and becomes angry.

In the ensuing battle, Captain America discovers that AIM boobytrapped the entire house. However, he manages to get the upper hand against the Cyborg by deducing its weakness. Smashing a water pipe, Cap rips down an electrical wire and tosses it at his foe. The combination of water and electricity turn out to be a bad combination for the Cyborg who has his mechanical parts shorted out by the sudden surge of electricity. As he lays dying, the Cyborg warns Cap that MODOK is watching and will strike again.

In the aftermath of the battle, Nick Fury reaches Captain America through one of the brownstone’s communication screens to inform him that they managed to round up a team of AIM operatives. Sharon is also pleased to see that Cap succeeded as she was worried for his safety. Unfortunately, Cap is unhappy that Sharon put her life at risk after making a promise to stop. Upset that his trust was violated so casually, Cap ends their relationship and walks away leaving Sharon in tears because she only wanted to protect him from an ambush.