Captain America (vol. 2) #6
Soldiers
The time-travelling mutant mercenary known as Cable was searching for his mentor, Blaquesmith, when he accidentally a temporal displacement unit.[1] This sends him to another world where Captain America is defending the SHIELD helicarrier from the forces of Advanced Idea Mechanics.
Cable is shocked to see that Captain America is still alive, but Cap doesn’t recognize him.[2] Joining the fight is a young woman dressed like Captain America’s old wartime sidekick Bucky.[3] This leads Cable to believe that he is in an alternate reality. Still, he knows which side to fight for and he assists Cap and Bucky in taking down the AIM soldiers and their cybernetic war machine MODOK.
That’s when Cap is ambushed by Baron Zemo, another Nazi war criminal who is seeking to start a new Reich. It’s during this fight that Cable uses his mental powers to probe Captain America’s mind. He is surprised to discover that this really is the Captain America from his reality, only Cap doesn’t know this because the truth is buried deep within his mind. Eventually, Cap defeats Baron Zemo and he and AIM are taken into SHIELD custody.[4] In the aftermath of the battle, Cap thanks Cable for his help. When Cable asks to speak in private (in order to reveal the truth), Cap says it’ll have to wait until after the wounded are tended to. He then offers to introduce Cable to the Avengers.
However, before Cable can get him to stop, the device that sent him to this reality kicks him back to his own reality. Regardless of this, Cable now knows that the heroes who died during Onslaught are still alive somewhere in the multiverse and he vows to never rest until he finds them and brings them back home.[5]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Cable, Bucky, AIM (MODOK, Baron Zemo), SHIELD (Dum Dum Dugan)
Continuity Notes
Cable appears here between the events of Cable #42 and 43. It should also be noted that other than Cable and Captain America, all the other characters seen in this story are constructs created by Franklin Richards to populate the Heroes Reborn pocket universe. See Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 for more details.
Prior to this point, Cable believed that Captain America, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four all died sacrificing their lives to stop Onslaught in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1.
Cable is of course referring to James Barnes, who was Bucky during World War II in the Prime Marvel Universe from Captain America Comics #1 until he was presumed to have died on a mission in 1945, as seen in Avengers #4. Buck survived, and will turn up again in Captain America (vol. 5) #1.
From here, Zemo and MODOK will be absorbed by Loki and effectively killed off in Avengers (vol. 2) #8.
The heroes who "perished” during Onslaught to eventually get rescued, but Cable was uninvolved. See Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.
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.
Industrial Evolution: Epilogue
This story continues from Iron Man (vol. 2) #6…
The world has just been narrowly destroyed when the gamma core on Avengers Island was damaged by the Hulk, nearly annihilating the entire planet. Luckily, the combined efforts of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four were able to avert total disaster.[1] With the immediate crisis over, Nick Fury decides to head back to his quarters for some much needed shuteye, telling the others that he is not to be disturbed.[2]
Waiting in his room are three of the Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. They have come to announce that they are breaking loose from SHIELD, blaming the whole gamma core crisis on their poor leadership. Now the Avengers are going solo and are going to operate independently from now on regardless if Nick Fury likes it or not.[3][4]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor), Nick Fury
Continuity Notes
Loki tricked the Hulk into going on a rampage on Avengers Island, damaging the gamma core the powered it, in Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5. This crisis was averted by our heroes in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #6, Avengers (vol. 2) #6, and Iron Man (vol. 2) #6.
This isn’t the real Nick Fury, but a Life Model Decoy that went rogue and took the real Fury’s place, as we’ll learn in Captain America (vol. 2) #10.
It should also be noted that this is also not the real Thor, but another Franklin Richards construct. The real Thor will finally arrive in the Heroes Reborn universe in Avengers (vol. 2) #9.
This story plugs a battle between Bucky and Crossbones at the end of this issue. However, that story never came to be as Rob Liefeld was released from the Heroes Reborn contract. The new creative team then scrapped all the intended stories and take the book in an entirely different direction.
