Serpents and Eagles Part IV: Into the Snake Pit

Suspecting that SHIELD director Nick Fury might somehow be involved with the racist organization known as the Sons of the Serpent, Captain America faked his death in order to spy on Fury.[1] Peering into the window of Nick’s mansion, Cap makes the shocking discovery that Fury is the leader of the Serpents! Worse, they have captured his friend the Falcon and have him strung up like some grotesque prize. Fury, addressing his loyal followers, that tonight he will be sending out the word to the other cell of the Serpents to initiate their master plan to bring down America.

Meanwhile, Bucky is aboard the SHIELD helicarrier acting as Captain America’s eyes and ears. She has become aware of a specific room on the ship that is completely off limits. Suspecting that it might have something to do with the Sons of the Serpent, she ambushes the guards in order to see what is inside. Opening the door, she finds someone imprisoned inside in the dark. Bucky is surprised to see who it is once she is able to get a good look at the prisoner.

Back at the Serpents’ hideout, Captain America reveals himself to Fury and questions why he would lead a racist organization bent on destroying their country. He cannot believe that an old war hero like Nick could become something so unquestionably evil. Captain America then issues a challenge to Fury — a one-on-one duel between the two of them. If Captain America wins the Serpents surrender to the authorities, if he loses they can do whatever they wish. Captain America tries his best to hold his own, but Fury proves to be the superior fighter. He then reveals that Captain America couldn’t have stopped him anyway because he gave the actual order for the Serpents to attack 10 minutes earlier. He then turns on a bank of screens to show all the carnage being caused by the organization across the country. Nick then orders the Serpents to finish off their intruder.

Refusing to give up, Captain America tosses his shield across the room, cutting through the Falcon’s bonds and freeing him. The two men then fight their way through the enemy forces. As the tide of battle begins to turn, Fury picks up a rocket launcher and is about to shoot Cap and Falcon when someone shoots him in the head from behind. Fury’s head bursts open in a torrent of mechanical parts and fluids because, as it turns out, this was actually a Life Model Decoy. The shooter turns out to be the real Nick Fury who has arrived with Bucky to lend a hand. Soon, the Sons of the Serpent are mopped up, with SHIELD operatives taking down cells all across the country.

In the aftermath of the battle, Nick Fury explains that the rogue Life Model Decoy took his place shortly before Captain America was reactivated by Abraham Wilson and that he had been conspiring against America this entire time.[2] When Steve asks who was responsible for the LMD and the Sons of the Serpent to begin with, all Fury can say is that it was orchestrated by a shadowy organization that operates within the government who answer to nobody, not even the President.[3] That’s when a SHIELD agent arrives to tell Fury that there is a situation going on back in New York that needs his immediate attention.

This new threat is the cosmic entity known as Galactus who has come to Earth to consume the planet.[4]

… This story continues in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #12.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Bucky, Sons of the Serpent (Nick Fury LMD), Nick Fury, Galactus

Continuity Notes

1. With the exception of Captain America and the Falcon, all of the characters in this story are constructs created by Franklin Richards to populate the Heroes Reborn pocket dimension. See Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 for all the details.

2. In the Heroes Reborn reality, Captain America was made to forget his past and was given a ordinary life until he was made to remember who he was in Captain America (vol. 2) #1. Here, Fury also mentions how Cap served in the Vietnam War. This false memory was shown in Captain America (vol. 2) #7.

3. As of this writing (August, 2022) the identity of this shadow organization has yet to be revealed.

4. For more on Galactus’ attack on Earth see Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #12, Avengers (vol. 2) #12, Iron Man (vol. 2) #12, and Captain America (vol. 2) #12.