Captain America #359

Nov 5

Nov 5 Captain America #359

The Bloodstone Hunt Part 3: Wheel of Death

Captain America and Diamondback are trying to prevent Baron Zemo from obtaining the fragments of the Bloodstone. Tracking one of the fragments to the Amazon Jungle, the pair find themselves captured by a local Incan tribe who places them on their Wheel of Death alongside Zemo and Batroc’s Brigade. Drugged with curare, Cap strains to metabolize the drug and is able to pull one of his hands free from its shackle before the Incans can rain spears down on them. Grabbing one of the spears in mid-air, Cap swats the others away and frees himself. He then uses the back end of the spear to knock a mask off holding a Bloodstone fragment off the face of the Incan leader.

Cap then leaps out and defeats all the Incans in battle. When he returns to the wheel he discovers that Zemo and his allies have managed to break free and escape with the fragment of the Bloodstone. Freeing Diamondback, Cap carries her outside the temple where they are picked up by his pilot, John Jameson. Then using the tracking device they fashioned out of the skull of Ulysses Bloodstone, they follow Zemo to his next destination.

Zemo and his crew have managed to retreat to their own ship with the help of Tristram Micawber, a clairvoyant in Zemo’s employ. He was unable to warn them that Captain America and Diamondback were following them because he is not a precognitive. Still, they have now secured two fragments of the Bloodstone and set course to collect the third. Along the way, Machete asks why Zemo wants the stone, but the Baron refuses to answer. His emotional outburst, however, convinces Machete that they are dealing with a lunatic.

Three hours later, Captain America’s jet arrives in the waters near the Bermuda Triangle, the location of the next stone fragment. By this time, Diamondback has worked the curare out of her system and insists on joining Cap on the recovery, hoping to make up for how much she has screwed up on this mission so far. While Cap dives into the water to search the ocean floor, Diamondback is sent to search the nearby ships to see if one of them belongs to Baron Zemo. The first ship is piloted by a couple on vacation and Diamondback uses her feminine charms to convince them that she is a diver who lost track of their own boat. The man on board is more than happy to help, much to the chagrin of his female passenger.

Meanwhile, Captain America comes across a sunken airliner and spots Batroc’s Brigade making a hasty retreat from the cabin. He tries to stop them from getting away, but the villains are armed with harpoon guns. As Cap struggles with Machete and Zaran, Batroc tries to get away with the Bloodstone fragment. When a shark swims in his path, Batroc kills it with his harpoon gun. The blood attracts even more sharks prompting Batroc to swim back to his comrades in a panic to warn them of the danger.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Diamondback, Baron Zemo, John Jameson, Batroc’s Brigade (Batroc, Zaran, Machete), Tristram Micawber, Crossbones, Bloodstone (corpse)

Night of the Scourge Part 2: Conflagration

Dispatched to rescue Curtiss Jackson — aka the Power Broker — from an intruder, US Agent arrives outside Jackson’s estate and discovers his guards have been killed and races inside.

Elsewhere in the mansion, the Scourge of the Underworld — disguised as one of Jackson’s men — searches every room for his target. Not far away, Jackson leads his new client — Pricilla Lyons, aka Vagabond — to his bedroom where they escape into his secret lab using an elevator hidden in his bed. They narrowly avoid getting shot by the Scourge’s explosive tipped bullets.

The shots attract the attention of US Agent who races up to the bedroom and spots the elevator shaft. Knowing he’s going in blind, the Agent leaps down the shaft, using his shield to absorb the impact from the fall. The moment he lands in the secret corridor, US Agent has to get on the defensive as Scourge begins opening fire.