Switzerland 1929: Dr. Arnim Zola is interrupted by the visit of a villager looking for his missing wife and dog; Zola denies having seen them and sends the man away, then returns to his lab where he resumes work on the dog—with the woman’s head attached. Now in Dimension Z, Zola is preparing his daughter Jet for the trials. Dressed in a special suit to dampen her omnisenses, she is sent against an army of warriors….
In the cavern of the Phrox, Captain America and young Ian are about to be executed—decapitated with Cap’s shield—as they were mistaken for minions of Zola (last issue). Cap breaks free and snatches the boy out from under the shield and battles the Phrox leader Zofjor. As he finally gets his translator working, he hears one of the guards, Ksul, defending him before his liege by citing Cap’s whirlwind action against Zola’s mutates. Zofjor grants Cap a temporary reprieve and the two outsiders go home with Ksul….
Lower East Side, 1930: young Steve Rogers, sketching in a book, attracts the attention of a girl named Deidre Doyle. She is impressed with his drawing but they are interrupted by the local gang led by Hutch who are chasing and beating a kid named Arnie Roth. Steve intervenes and is likewise beaten by the punks. Deidre goes off with Hutch and the two wounded misfits walk home. Arnie and Steve become friends that day….
In Ksul’s home, Steve paints a portrait of Sharon Carter to try to regain use of his broken hand. Cap learns from his host that the Phrox are the only tribe still around, the other having been driven off by Zola’s monsters. Cap suggests that the Phrox should rise up against the tyrant Zofjor but as it turns out, the brute is right behind him; Zofjor shoots Ksul in the face and beats Cap who doesn’t have the strength to match him. Cap, slashed across the stomach, clouts his enemy with a huge rock and hurries off into the wilderness. He rips open his shirt to discover—the face of Arnim Zola glowing in the center of his chest….