New York, 1938: Steve Rogers has
his first taste of Nazi ideology when he attends a German American Bund rally
in Central Park; he raises questions about their fascist plans and he is taken
away and beaten up….
One year ago: Travis Lane, founder
of the new A.I.M., and Arianna Walters purchase a Pacific island, telling the
real estate agent, “You’ll get what’s coming to you.” The agent balks as that
is a pop culture cliché, a euphemism for murder. Lane shows him the purchase
money is already in his account. The man gets into his boat and speeds away
–and then the boat blows up….
1938: Steve moves into the
apartment he was promised and it’s nothing more than a cleared-out supply room.
Neighbor Tiffany tries to tell the landlord, Antonelli, about the
malfunctioning toilet but he hurries away. Steve offers to look at it….
Now, Steve Rogers and Seung Kim
are renovating the bathrooms in Steve’s new apartment building. Seung tells him
how his father was a builder in North Korea before escaping to the South and he
taught his son to do the best job he can. Then Spider-Man stops by and asks for
Steve’s help as the Sinister Six are plotting to kill him that night. Steve
cancels a date with Sharon and as Captain America he waits by the villains’
rendezvous for several hours but they don’t show. A call from Black Cat informs
them that Doc Ock had a cousin visiting from out of town so Spidey’s murder was
rescheduled. Cap takes off….
A.I.M. island: a computer tech
studying the code starts to notice that it is magical symbols rather than
mathematics. Then he has a sudden compulsion to go up to the roof and jump
off….
1938: Steve is part of a hostile
crowd watching a Nazi parade. Nearby, there’s a Nazi meeting where Baron Zemo
and Baron Strucker are introduced to one another. They discuss the Nazi
strategy of finding an unpopular minority group, painting them as powerful
enemies then causing a disaster and scapegoating the group so that Americans
will support the Nazi cause. And they are planning such a disaster at Madison
Square Garden….
1938: Steve has a visitor who
tells him of having to escape Germany because he was Jewish. The man is there
to give Steve his father’s wartime medals, which Steve places on the wall by
his bed. That night, he hears a bunch of Nazis outside, harassing and
threatening a pair of Hasidic Jews. Steve goes out to confront them and he is
supported by the women in the other apartments appearing at their windows,
holding buckets. The women dump the buckets, containing the effluvia of the
broken toilets, on the Nazis and tell them the police are on the way….
Six weeks ago: Travis Lane
approached a workman named Henry Cavenaugh and revealed that he knows Hanry is
a serial killer. He wants to recruit Henry for his organization, showing him
that he (Lane) is possessed by the demonic Asmoday. He explains Nexus Points,
turning points in history during which Agents of Change arise to guide the
world to the next stage. A.I.M.’s plan is to stop the next Nexus Point from
happening; they have identified some Agents of Change and it will be Henry’s
job to kill them, including the most dangerous one of all, Captain America….