Mind-Stains on the Virgin Snow!

Captain America has traveled to Dovecote, a top secret safehouse to save Snowfall, a telepath who is being held there against her will. Reaching the facility, Cap has to fight a man named Widowmaker, who has perfecting his fighting skills for over 30 years. Watching from a control room is Widowmaker’s employer who tells the brute to stop toying with Captain America and destroy him. Unfortunately, this distracts Widowmaker enough for Cap to knock him out with a single blow. Using a SHIELD made explosive to blast open the front gate, Captain America then enters the Dovecote facility.

Inside, Captain America faces off against a whole army of mercenaries. However, they are easily defeated by the Avenger. Watching from the monitor, the man in charge accuses Snowfall — who is trapped in a metal sarcophagus — of using her mental powers to dull the minds of his men. Fighting his way through the guards and various defenses, Captain America soon finds himself being attacked mentally. First he’s forced to relive the moment that Nick Fury asked him to go on this mission until he realizes that it is all an illusion. Next he is forced to relive the moment where he was frozen in ice being worshiped by a tribe of Inuits until his body was found by the Sub-Mariner.[1] However, in this illusion, Namor breaks Steve out of the ice instead of tossing him back into the ocean.

Fighting through this an other mental tricks, Cap manages to get to the control room of the facility. There he finds the mastermind behind all the attacks, a wheelchair bound mentalist calling himself Mind-Master. Revealing that Snowfall is sealed in a metal sarcophagus, Mind-Master explains how he got involved with the Dovecote facility after he was defeated by the Sub-Mariner.[2] He then used his powers to locate and kidnap Snowfall who was sealed in her metal prison so they could exploit her mental talents. However, she was too powerful control and even resisted Mind-Master’s attempts to force her to kill SHIELD agents. With all this explained, Widowmaker suddenly appears on the communication system to announce that the facility had been compromised and for all staff to evacuate.

Mind-Master tells Captain America that the facility is going to be destroyed and vanished, leaving Cap to wonder if his foe was ever physically there. With time running out, Cap uses all his strength to pry open Snowfall’s metal prison. When he gets the sarcophagus open he is shocked to discover that Snowfall is actually a little girl named Ginny Snow. She once heard her father speak of how great a hero he was and used her powers to call out to him for help, apologizing about lying about her age. With no time to lose, Cap grabs the little girl and races outside just moments before the facility explodes.

When they are outside, Ginny explains that not only is she a telepath but a clairvoyant who can see the future. She knows that she will always be in danger and tells Captain America that in the future will be beautiful because of everything that happens. Suddenly, a powerful wind begins to blow, kicking up enough snow to blind Captain America. Ginny then runs off and when the snow clears he fears that she leaped off the mountain. However, he then hears a weak telepathic message from Ginny, assuring him that everything that is supposed to happen will happen.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Mind-Master, Widowmaker

Continuity Notes

1. The frozen-in-ice scene that Captain America is reliving was originally told in Avengers #4.

2. Mind-Master fought Namor in Sub-Mariner #43.

Topical References

• The Natives in this story are called Eskimos here. This should be considered a topical reference because this is not longer the proper term and is considered offensive by some. The correct term today is Inuit.