Captain America (vol. 3) #22
Sacrifice Play
A Vibranium Cancer is spreading across the Earth causing all samples of the rare metal to violently explode. The wave is now making its way to the nation of Wakanda — home of a large mount of the material. Should the cancer infect the Vibranium Mound it will cause a catastrophic explosion that will destroy the planet Earth.
Captain America is now in a race against time. He has been armed with a device created by Tony Stark that will change the cancer wave’s harmonics rendering it useless however the process will result in the destruction of what’s left of Cap’s shattered shield.[1]
As Captain America’s Quinjet arrives in Wakandan airspace, he narrowly avoids getting struck by Klaw — the self-styled master of sound — who has been drawn to this location by the Vibranium Cancer wave and is seeking ultimate power. As Cap flies over the city, he sees that the nation of Wakanda is in the middle of a war and wants to help but stopping the Vibranium Mound from exploding is more important.[2]
Upon landing on the ground, Captain America sets up the device to stop the carrier wave but he is attacked by Klaw and his solid sound constructs. Unfortunately, the hero is unable to stop Klaw from wrecking the machine. Klaw then joins with the carrier wave and begins making a b-line to the Vibranium Mound. Trying to stop him, Captain America grabs his shield — tapped together after getting shattered — and tries to block Klaw’s path. Upon impacting with the shattered weapon, Klaw loses his newfound power and the shield itself is repaired.
Theorizing that Klaw’s merger with the carrier wave changed its harmonics, Captain America realizes that the villain inadvertedly stopped the catastrophe from happening. Attacking Klaw with his restored shield, Cap shatters the villain into pieces so small it will take time for Klaw to reform himself. Glad to have his trademark weapon back after so long, Captain America tosses his shield and is pleased when it returns to his hand as it should and deems this mission accomplished.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Klaw, Tony Stark
Continuity Notes
The situation with the Vibranium Cancer is a complex one:
The reason why Wakanda is the largest supply of Vibranium on the planet is because a meteor carrying the rare material crash landed in that region 1 million years ago. See Black Panther #7 and Avengers (vol. 8) #4.
Captain America’s shield was crafted using a fusion of Vibranium and Adamantium rendering it virtually indestructible, as told in Captain America #303.
In recent times, the shield was damaged by the power of the Beyonder and later repaired through sheer will power as seen in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #11-12.
As explained last issue, this process was flawed causing the shield to become brittle over time. It shattered in Captain America (vol. 3) #13. This caused the Vibranium Cancer to spread to other source of Vibranium as well.
At the time of this story, Wakanda has been destabilized by a dissident named Achebe. See the first 12 issues of Black Panther volume 3.
