Captain America (vol. 2) #5
Victory
Having learned that the World Party — a Neo-Nazi group run by the Red Skull and Master Man — has acquired a stockpile of nuclear weapons, SHIELD deploys their helicarrier to the Philadelphia church where they have set up operations. Nick Fury decides to hold off on deploying because Captain America is inside as his ace in the hole to avert total disaster.[1]
Inside, Sam “Falcon” Wilson has just been gunned down by Master Man’s troops. This has thrown Captain America in to a rage. As the hero fights through Master Man’s forces, the Red Skull decides not to repeat the same mistakes as in the past and makes a hasty retreat. Master Man soon joins the fray himself as he was created to destroy Captain America. Unfortunately for him, Cap proves the better fighter and he easily trounces Master Man in battle.
Rushing to Sam’s side, Steve takes a gamble by cutting open his hand and making Sam drink some of his Super-Soldier Serum infused blood. Sure enough, this has a restorative effect on Sam who begins to quickly start healing. Captain America tells Sam to rest while he goes off to stop the Red Skull.[2]
Elsewhere in the facility Rikki Barnes has been strapped to one of the nuclear missiles by her own brother John. She is pleading with him to let her free but John — who has been completely indoctrinated by the World Party’s xenophobic rhetoric — refuses. That’s when the launching sequence is activated. John explains that the nukes are going to be launched at Los Angeles to wipe the entire city out, as its culturally diverse population is seen as a stain on America. Rikki tries to reason with her brother, reminding him that there are actual people who live there whose lives will be snuffed out, not to mention the environmental impact of a nuclear strike.
In the control room, Hauptman — Master Man’s right-hand-man — mutes the security monitors as he is tired of listening to Rikki’s prattling. He is about to shut down the nuclear launch as he believes that Alexander has probably eliminated both Captain America and the Red Skull by now. However, the Skull soon enters the room and reveals that he is still alive and swats Hauptman away. As he watches the monitors, the Red Skull can’t help but notice that there is something familiar about Rikki Barnes.[3]
By this time, Rikki is starting to get through to her brother when Master Man arrives and reveals that he has the override controls to shut down the nuclear launch. That’s when Captain America enters the room and tosses his shield against the side of the missile, cutting through the ropes and freeing Rikki. She then lends Captain America a hand in fighting off the enemy soldiers and Master Man. However, the battle finally turns in their favor when they are joined by a fully recovered Sam Wilson. He and Cap then knock out Master Man with a single blow, making him drop the override device, which Rikki recovers. That’s when Nick Fury and SHIELD arrive to secure the situation. Unfortunately, the Red Skull did manage to escape. With the crisis averted, Fury commends Cap and the others for a job well done. Rikki on the other hand is freaked out that she has control of a nuclear arsenal in her hands and pleads with somebody to take the device from her.[4]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Sharon Carter), Sam Wilson, Rikki Barnes, World Party (Red Skull, Master Man)
Continuity Notes
With the exception of Captain America and the Falcon, every other character are constructs created by Franklin Richards, as explained in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. Nick Fury is doubly not the real deal as this is a rogue LMD who has took his place, as we’ll learn in Captain America (vol. 2) #10.
It’s never really explained why Steve’s blood is fucking green in this scene, nor how drinking his blood would cause Sam to heal from multiple gunshot wounds since Cap never displayed this ability before. I have some ideas on that, see below. At any rate, does this mean that Sam now benefits from the Super-Soldier Serum? Nope. All profiles regarding his abilities after this, starting with Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers 2004 #1, do not reference the Super-Soldier Serum still being in his body. I’ll explain this more below as well.
The intention is that Rikki is the granddaughter of Bucky Barnes, Captain America’s wartime sidekick. This was hinted at further in Captain America (vol. 2) #12 as well. However, due to abrupt changes in the creative team and nobody really giving a fuck about Heroes Reborn after the fact, this has never been officially confirmed in the fiction.
From here, we never see the Red Skull again as of this writing. Master Man will go on to become a religious zealot that will rule over the western United States as seen in Heroes Reborn: Rebel #1.
Topical References
This story states that World War II ended 50 years prior to this story. This should be considered a topical reference due to the Sliding Timescale. As the Modern Age is pushed forward in time, the gulf of years between the end of World War II and the start of the Age of Heroes will continue to grow.
Theory: Issues With the Super-Soldier Serum
As stated above, Captain America’s Super-Soldier Serum displays properties here that have not pre-existed or have ever been seen since. Namely the fact that someone else can gain its properties just by drinking the blood (gross). It also, apparently allows for rapid healing. Also the blood is depicted as being green here. After Sam drinks it, we’re led to assume he gained the properties of the Serum.
So what’s going on exactly? I think these creative liberties can be explained away by the virtue that the Heroes Reborn pocket universe was created by Franklin Richards. Everyone was reborn into new lives with basically the same powers. Some characters got their powers in very different ways than they did in the Prime Marvel Universe. Perhaps Steve has all of these additional powers because Franklin thinks he did. According to the Sliding Timescale, Franklin would be about 8 years old and very untrained with his reality altering powers. As such, he might not have a great understanding of how Captain America’s powers actually work as such Steve’s abilities here are represented by how Franklin perceives them to work.
As for Falcon not having the Super-Soldier Serum after Heroes Reborn and Cap’s own serum going back to the status quo, I think the answer to this one is fairly simple. In Avengers Annual 2001, it is stated that when Franklin brought the Avengers and Fantastic Four back in Heroes Reborn: The Return #4, he “corrected” things: He restored Iron Man to an adult Tony Stark, the Wasp was no longer insectile, and Hawkeye had his hearing restored. The same could be said about Captain America and the Falcon. Steve’s serum was restored to its status quo and Falcon’s serum was purged from his system restoring him to normal.
