Fighting Chance Book 4: Policing the Nation

Somewhere in Maryland, a pair of car jackers are on the run from a police SUV. The driver decides to kill the officer after they pull over and shoot him point blank in the face. However, this is no ordinary cop. Protected by an armored face mask this man isn’t an ordinary cop, but a vigilante calling himself Americop. When the assailants try to get away, Americop gets up, shoots out their ties and then executes the crooks.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Captain America and Diamondback have turned over Louis Dexter, aka Dead Ringer, over to the police. Interrogated by Marcus Stone of the NYPD, they try to find out why he and the Super-Patriot were trying to smear Captain America’s good name.[1] When Stone suggests that Dexter was posing as dead super-villains for legal reasons, the man reveals that its actually his powers. Believing himself to be a mutant, Dead Ringer explains that he has the power of necro-mimicry allowing him to assume the form and powers of the deceased by coming into contact with their dead bodies. To prove this, he briefly assumes the form of Snapdragon. This is the first evidence Diamondback has that she actually killed her old enemy.[2] Barging into the interrogation room, she demands to know where Dead Ringer got access to Snapdragon’s body. The freak tells her that he found her body at a police morgue in New Orleans. With this information, Diamondback pleads with Cap to take her down to Louisiana to confirm once and for all if Snapdragon is dead.

In Kentucky, the Americop pulls into a roadside diner for a bite to eat as well as get leads on a missing children’s case he is investigating. Despite a full parking lot, the place is deserted inside. When a waitress comes out of the kitchen she tells him that the diner is closed and he has to leave. Seeing that she is nervous about something, Americop barges into the back room and finds a gang of thieves holding the other staff and patrons hostage as part of a robbery. At first, Americop surrenders but this is only to lull the crooks into a sense of false security. Tossing his serrated partrolman’s cap at one of the men, he then lunges at the others and quickly takes them out. With the hostages now free, he begins passing pictures around asking them if they have seen the missing children.

By this time, Captain America has returned to the scene of his previous battle with the Super-Patriot in Brooklyn Heights. There, fire crews are searching the remains of the burned down building and inform him that no bodies were found, suggesting that Super-Patriot managed to get out alive.[3] Cap returns to his headquarters where he is delighted to see that his friend Arnie Roth has returned from his extended stay in Florida. Happy to see his old childhood friend, Steve instantly offers him a job working the costume shop that operates as a front for his operations, a job that Arnie accepts.[4] That’s when a call comes in from the Stars and Stripes Hotline about another Americop incident. Suspecting that this is the Super-Patriot, Cap hops on his new sky-cycle and heads out to investigate.

Meanwhile, Diamondback and Cap’s pilot Moonhunter arrive in New Orleans to try and solve the mystery surrounding Snapdragon. Going into the local bar, Rachel asks the bartender if he’s heard of a woman named Sheoke Sanada. He tells her that he doesn’t and suggest they wait around for a regular who comes in every night at 9 pm, as they know everyone in town. The barkeep then quickly goes to the phone to call a woman named Angela Golden — aka Gold Digger — to tip her off that people are asking around about Sanada. When Golden arrives moments later, she meets with Rachel and Moonhunter and tells them that she can take them to see Sheoke. They climb into a limo waiting outside. Once inside the vehicle, Angela presses a button that fills the back seat with knock out gas, incapacitating the other two occupants.

At that same moment, Americop happens upon an illegal arms deal going on a stretch of backroad and starts a fire fight with the crooks. The gunfire and explosions are heard by Captain America who is passing by and he heads over to investigate. When he arrives on the scene, Americop has defeated the gun runners and is about to execute them. This, of course, doesn’t sit with Captain America who lunges in to save lives. Unfortunately, Captain America is struck by another bout of muscle spasms that allow Americop to knock him down.[5] With police sirens on the horizon, the vigilante makes a quick getaway. As Captain America gets his mobility back, the local police arrive, realizing that he’s going to have a lot of explaining to do Cap raises his hands in surrender.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Americop, Diamonback, Fabian Stankowicz, Moonhunter, Arnie Roth, Gold Digger, Kono, Dead Ringer, Marcus Stone

Continuity Notes

1. Super-Patriot and Dead Ringer have been trying to smear Cap’s name since Captain America #425. The reason is because the Patriot is secretly Cap’s former neighbor Mike Farrel who blames the hero for ruining his life due to his involvement with the Watchdogs terrorist organization. See Captain America #385-386 and 439 for details.

2. After Snapdragon nearly took her life in Captain America #388, Diamondback tracked her down and attempted to drown her in issue #413. She has been haunted by it ever since and hasn’t been entirely sure if Snapdragon actually died. Snapdragon will turn up alive again in Moon Knight (vol. 6) #2. Profiles for both Snapdragon and Dead Ringer in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 explain that Snapdragon faked her death and that Ringer doesn’t necessarily need to touch a dead body, any decaying matter would work — things such as a DNA sample, or a severed limb for example — are enough to make his powers work.

3. Cap fought Super-Patriot last issue and he seemingly perished in a building fire. We get confirmation that he is still alive in issue #439.

4. As revealed in Captain America #270, Arnie Roth is an old childhood friend of Steve Rogers. After being captured and tortured by the Red Skull from issue #295-302, he decided to relocate to Florida to recuperate. Arnie being alive in the Modern Age has become problematic due to the Sliding Timescale and as of this writing (July, 2022) Marvel has yet to explain things. My theory is that this isn’t really Arnie but some kind of clone or construct that was created by Baron Zemo (explanations for this are in my summary for issue #270)

5. Captain America’s muscle seize up is due to the fact that the Super Soldier Serum in his body is starting to wear down, putting him at risk of complete disability the more he strains his body, as explained in issue #425. Cap will eventually be cured of this affliction in Captain America #445.

Topical References

• The bar visited by Diamondback and Moonhunter is called St. Elmo’s Firehouse. This might be a reference to the 1985 film St. Elmo’s Fire, where a defining moment of the film happens in a bar with the same name. This wouldn’t necessarily be a topical reference since nobody in the story acknowledges this.