Two Americas, Part 2

Captain America shows up at the gates of the Guantanamo Bay Marine Station in Cuba with two restrained and hooded prisoners. He demands to speak to be let in to get out of the storm. The guards on watch don’t entirely trust that this is the real Captain America, but he is using Naval Intelligence code words. This prompts the Watch Commander and a team of soldiers to come out and investigate the man at the gate. When the guards don’t comply with his requests. The man in the Captain America costume attacks them all. He then races his way to the airfield, avoiding all of the units deployed to stop him. He then manages to steal a plane and get into the air before they can stop him.

As this is happening, the real Captain America (Steve Rogers) has been trying to get to Cuba to search for his friend the Falcon (Sam Wilson). However, a hurricane has left him stranded in Miami and unable to get there. He checks in with Joe Robertson at the Daily Bugle to update him on the situation. Joe also hasn’t been getting much luck trying to learn more about why the Falcon was involved in a jail break from Guantanamo Bay to free his former girlfriend Leila Taylor, who was investigating the Rivas drug cartel. The United States might be interested in stopping Leila’s investigation because the Rivas have been a source of information in the current conflict against terrorist forces abroad. However, Cap has finally managed to get a ride from the US Air Force.

As he boards the radar aircraft that will be trying to pass through the hurricane, Steve is surprised to see the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) posing as part of the crew. She says that she is wearing this disguise at the behest of the Avengers’ UN handler, Henry Gyrich, in order to keep a low profile.[1] Wanda also figures she can use her hex powers to help them get through the storm. As they reach the eye of the hurricane, they nearly have a head on collision with the other Captain America’s plane, damaging both air craft.

The phony Captain America realizes that this was a bad idea and has to go with plan b. As much as he wanted to know what information Leila and Sam got about the US governments connection to the Rivas were, he can’t let them live either. He pulls the restraint hood off the Falcon’s head. He then pulls out a combat knife and is about to slit Sam’s throat. That’s when Leila gets up behind the impostor and smashes him over the head with a fire extinguisher. With their captor knocked out the two get free from their restraints. As it turns out, the two former lovers were both playing possum to learn more about this fake Captain America. With the plane going down, they decide to abandon ship instead. However, before they can jump out, Wilson is attacked from behind by the fake Captain America.

Trying to save Sam, Leila tries to open the cargo bay door, hoping that the other Cap gets sucked out the back. This works, but he also ends up pulling Sam out with him. Leila then grabs her duffle bag and leaps out after them confident that the Falcon will break free from the impostor and use his wings to save them both. Sam Wilson does not let her down.

Meanwhile, Captain America and the Scarlet Witch make it to Cuba thanks to Wanda’s hex powers. However, Steve still doesn’t think it is a good idea to get the Avengers involved until he knows what is going on, so he sends her back to help the soldiers on the plane. Wanda hesitates for a moment before following his orders and leaving. Steve then heads to a church in the town of Redencion. There she meets with a woman who was rescued from human traffickers by his impostor. However, she was no mere helpless woman, but an undercover SHIELD agent named Alisande Morales. She explains how she tried to get Steve’s impostor to stay at the church but couldn’t finagle it. She tells him how this other guy is ruthless and wiped out the entire Rivas Cartel. She hasn’t been able to profile much about him but his use of naval terms suggests that he might be part of Naval Intelligence.

Her handlers in the situation room has come around to calling this impostor the “Anti-Cap” due to his brutality and willingness to take lives to accomplish his mission objectives. He is at least as strong as the real Captain America and is driven and a true believer in his cause. What they don’t know is what that cause is, or who trained him. When they get to the subject of Leila Taylor and what she did to get locked up in Guantanamo, Morales tells Steve that the reporter was caught trying to smuggle something she stole from the Rivas into America. However, she isn’t sure what that could have been, suggesting anything from drugs to bio-weapons. This has to be what the Anti-Cap was after.[2]

As Steve is getting all this information, his impostor tries to parachute to safety, but the fierce winds make that impossible. Cutting himself loose, he opts to dive down into the water below. Meanwhile, Falcon tries to fly himself and Leila to safety as well. Unfortunately, Sam is struck in the back by an explosive that sends both falling into the raging ocean waters below!

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Anti-Cap, Scarlet Witch, Leila Taylor, Alisande Morales, Joe Robertson, Redwing

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, the Avengers became a United Nations organization and Henry Gyrich convinced the team to let him act as their liaison. See Avengers (vol. 3) #61.

2. This “bio-weapon” isn’t a weapon at all, but a DNA sample taken from MODOK, as we’ll learn in Captain America and the Falcon #8.

Topical References

• Much of this story is framed around the American political climate when this comic was first published in 2004. Particularly as it was published during the early years of the “War on Terror”, as well as the infamy of the prison facility run by the US military at Guantanamo Bay.

• The all-terrain vehicle that Anti-Cap is driving is identified as a Hummer, a real world brand of vehicle.

• Agent Morales is depicted using a palm pilot which were portable computers that were quite common in 2004 when this was published. However, they have fallen out of popular use since the advent of smart phones and tablets, putting them on the way to obsolescence.

• When listing off the things that Leila was potentially trying to smuggle into the United States, Agent Morales sarcastically suggests that she found the secret to the Colonel’s herbs and spices. This in reference to the Kentucky Fried Chicken

Translations

There is a bunch of dialogue in this story that is in Spanish and is not translated. They are:

“Esta direccíon! Venga conmigo!” = “This way! Come with me!”

"Gracias a dios usted ha devuelto a nosotros. Nostotros estábamos tan angustiados--" = "Thank God you have returned to us. We were so distressed--"