Twilight’s Last Gleaming

With his body starting to fail him, Captain America has been forced to wear a suit of armor just to keep moving.[1] Unfortunately, there is only so much the armor can do and he has finally collapsed to the ground in an alleyway. However, Steve Rogers refuses to lay down and die as long as he still has the will to go on. It’s then that he is visited by the Black Crow who helps him to his feet. The Native American mystic tells Cap that he had a vision and it told him that he only has 24 hours to live and he came to tell his friend to make the best of his time. Black Crow then changes into his name sake and flies away, leaving Steve to wonder if the encounter really happened.

Flying back to his headquarters, he spots his foe Nefarious flying by. He tries to stop the villain but when he easily gets away. He contemplates going after him, but decides it would be a waste of his time if he only has a day left to live.

Instead, he heads back to his headquarters and tells Free Spirit, Jack Flagg, Fabian Stankewicz and Moonhunter to meet him in the situation room in five minutes. Steve then goes up to his room to go through his old army trunk to get some important paperwork.[2] Inside the trunk he finds an picture of his old girlfriend Sharon Carter. He remembers how she was killed in the line of duty in a very horrific way.[3] Steve realizes how much he really missed her but figures he’ll see her again in another 23 hours. After finding what he is looking for, he meets up with the others. He tells them the news that he got from Black Crow. The paperwork he got was the ownership papers for the Stars and Stripes Hotline. He hands it over to Jack Flagg and Free Spirit so they can continue answering people’s calls for help. He then tells them that he has other people to see before his time runs out, saying he’ll be back at 10 pm and they can all have a vigil to see if death finally comes for him.

As Captain America takes off with his jet boots, he contemplates going after one of his old enemies, or to look for his missing girlfriend Diamondback. He realizes that he doesn’t know where many of them are.[4] He does know where to find one in particular and decides to pay him a visit. He pays a visit to Crossbones, who is very amused to hear about Captain America’s plight. However, Cap hasn’t come to find out where he can find the Red Skull for some final battle. Instead, he wants to know if there is something that Crossbones loves more than anything else. Rumlow is happy to oblige and tells Cap that what he loves more than anything else is the ability to hate.

With 18 hours left to go, Steve realizes he won’t have time to visit everyone who mattered to him. He decides to look in on his ex-girlfriend, Bernie Rosenthal and sees that she is in the middle of a court case. He is proud of her accomplishments and wonders if she’d have ever gone into law school had they not met.[5] He also calls Sam Wilson, who is not in a very good mood, telling Steve that while he was off helping shut down AIM his nephew got shot.[6] Seeing that his friend is in no mood to talk, Steve tells him to take care. He then goes to say goodbye to Arnie Rosenthal, who is dying of bone cancer.[7] He tells Arnie that they’ll be reunited soon and kisses him on the forehead. Moments after Steve leaves, Arnie Roth passes away.

Next, Steve visits Hiram Riddley at his home in Montclair, New Jersey.[8] Something is bothering the boy during his visit and Cap asks him what’s wrong. As it turns out, Hiram’s mother was going to church one day when she was the victim of a car jacking that turned violent. She got shot in the head and is now in the hospital in a coma and nobody is sure if she’ll ever come out of it. Steve is devastated by the news and tries to comfort him by telling him to be strong, saying how he’s managed to move on despite all the people he has lost along the way. Seeing that he’s not helping any, Steve apologizes and wishes there was something more he could say and leaves.

Cap then goes to Avengers Mansion one last time. While he’s there the front alarm goes off. He goes outside and finds Batroc the Leaper caught up in the containment coils. He had come to warn Cap about Zeigeist’s murder spree but is too late since Cap already dealt with that threat.[8] Batroc thanks him as his partner Machete was murdered by the killer. When asking to mourn his friend together as honorable rivals, Cap resigns to the idea and invites him inside. There, the pair have tea and reflect on old times. It is then that Cap reveals to Batroc that he is dying. Batroc is shocked to hear this as he has always respected Captain America as he was never able to defeat his old foe. Asking what he can do, Cap asks him to reform as the world always needs more heroes. As he says this, a crow lands on the window ledge outside. Steve suddenly feels very tired and asks Batroc to see himself out as he wants to go upstairs to rest.

A few hours later, Jarvis goes upstairs to check on Cap. What he sees sends him downstairs to gather the rest of the Avengers. When they arrive in Captain America’s room they are shocked to find his empty suit of armor laying in bed. They can’t understand how Cap could have been taken since the security system would have detected something. That’s when Quicksilver notices the bedroom window is open. As he goes to close it the crow takes wings and flies off in the sky. Pietro wonders if this might mark the end of an era.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Jack Flag, Free Spirit, Arnie Roth, Bernie Rosenthal, Hiram Ridley, Sharon Carter, Fabian Stankowicz, Peggy Carter, Moonhunter, Avengers (Black Widow, Giant-Man, Quicksilver, Hercules, Crystal), Edwin Jarvis, Nefarius, Black Crow, Crossbones, Batroc the Leaper

Continuity Notes

1. Captain America’s health has been in decline since Captain America #425, forcing him to wear a suit of armor to keep himself alive since Iron Man #313. He won’t get cured until getting a full blood and bone marrow transfusion from the Red Skull in Captain America #445.

2. This trunk is one of the few possessions from Steve’s time in the military during World War II. He recovered it in Captain America #247.

3. Sharon was believed to have died in Captain America #237 when she seemingly immolated herself while apparently under the mental control of Doctor Faustus. She actually didn’t die, but faked her death in order to go on a deep cover mission for SHIELD. She turns up again in Captain America #445.

4. Superia convinced Rachel to work for her back in Captain America #433. This was to atone for the alleged murder of Superia’s bodguard, Snapdragon, whom Rachel seemingly drowned in issue #413. Snapdragon actually survived and will turn up again in Moon Knight (vol. 6) #4. Her profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that she faked her death.

5. Steve Rogers’ relationship with Bernie Rosenthal grew to be quite serious. Steve and Bernie began dating shortly thereafter in issue #251. Bern figured out his double-identity in Captain America #275-276. Although Bernie proposed to him in issue #292, his duties as Captain America drove a wedge and Bernie ultimately decided to leave New York to pursue her legal career in issue #317. The two drifted apart shortly thereafter. Bernie returned to New York issue #380.

6. Falcon participated in the Taking AIM story arc which took place in Avengers #386-388 and Captain America #440-441.

7. Arnie Roth revealed that he had terminal cancer in issue #438 and was hospitalized in the following issue.

8. Hiram helped Cap set up his Stars and Stripes Hotline back in Captain America #313.

9. Zeitgeist has been murdering superheroes since Alpha Flight #79. Cap put a stop to him last issue.