A figure in a trenchcoat is watching the front of a Brooklyn Heights Costume Shop. He watches two people who bear a great resemblence to Feds go into the shop. The watcher thinks "Thats the fifth pair of 'faceless men' to go in over the last three hours. And none of them have come out again." The trenchcoat-clad man steps from the alley shadows to cross the street, heading for the door of the shop. Now that we can see his face, we realize that it's Steve Rogers, carrying an artist portfolio.
Steve enters the shop. There is nobody in the store but a clerk, who looks to be an attractive woman in her mid-twenties. She looks up from a paperback book as Steve enters, and says "May I help you, sir?"
"I'd like to speak to Ms. Webster, please. Or Mr. Moonhunter" asks Steve.
"I'm sorry, we don't have any employees by that name." Unknown to Cap, the clerk has pressed a button located on the underside of the counter.
"Then perhaps I might speak to the store manager?" asks Steve again, trying to be polite.
"Perhaps I might help you, sir" comments a gentleman who has come out from the back. He is definitely one of the faceless Fed types. "What kind of costume are you looking for?" he asks, as he reaches inside his jacket for what looks for all the world like a standard SHIELD-issue sidearm. He fires at Cap, who has shed the trenchcoat and pulled his shield up from the portfolio to block the beam.
"I have one already" Cap comments as he disarms the Fed, and hurls him into the clerk, who has pulled a large rifle-sized blaster from underneath the counter. Her blast hits the ceiling, and Cap leaps through the curtain ready for anything. He is surrounded by a half-dozen Feds with blasters. Before Cap and the Feds can mix it up however, a voice off-screen calls out "Everybody Freeze!" The agents obey, and Cap looks over to the speaker, surprised to find that it is Henry Peter Gyrich.
"Gyrich!" Cap spits, quite furious. "What are you doing here? Was the Stars And Stripes Emergency Hotline considered a 'threat to National Security'?"
"No, but it was deemed necessary to National Security." comments Gyrich smugly. "Operation: Zero Tolerence needed a national hotline system quickly, and yours was already up and running. Here's the Executive Order authorizing us to commandeer it." He hands Cap a folder. "We thought it appropriate, since we thought you had been killed by Mutie scum in New York."
Cap looks startled for a minute, as if the implications of Onslaught hadn't penetrated. "What was Operation: Zero Tolerance? What did you need..." he stops, horrified. He's just seen in the documents what Operation: Zero Tolerance was all about. He stands still for a minute, and then leaps forward, enraged. "You bastard!" A half-dozen agents leap forward to hold him away from Gyrich, who has stepped back. "How dare you! Using the hotline..."
"...using the hotline so that patriotic citizens could report mutant threats to National Security. But it doesn't matter anymore," interrupts Gyrich. "We were just about to shut down shop anyway. Operation: Zero Tolerance has been discontinued. [ *As chronicled in X-Men #69 -- Archivin' Dave ] A shame, that - leaving a job half-done."
Cap has now shed himself of the half-dozen agents, and continues to advance on Gyrich, who adds "And assaulting a federal official won't change anything, Captain. Now, you're tresspassing on Federal property. Get out."
Cap is still furious, but (unfortunately) he's now in control of himself. He leaves, slamming the door hard enough to shatter the door window. The sign on the door spins around to "Closed".
Six telephones ring in six different rooms. Six different hands pick up the handsets, six different sets of lips say 'Hello?". Six different faces -- John Jameson, Zack Moonstone, Bernie Rosenthal, Sharon Carter, Fabian Stankowitz, and Peggy Carter -- light up with joy, as they hear from Steve.
All of the six without Sharon Carter are assembled in a room in the Avenger's Mansion. Jarvis is serving tea and refreshments, a serene and "Ahhh....things are back to normal" expression on his face.
"Gyrich showed up with Federal Marshals," explains Peggy, "and...well...we didn't think that you'd have wanted us to fight them."
"Physically, I mean..." she qualifies as Bernie gives her an annoyed look.
"Which didn't stop Jack; he wouldn't let them in, and when they pulled their weapons he and Cathy defended themselves" added Zack. "For all the good it did - they're locked up now, pending trial, except that Bernie can't quite seem to find where they are located."
"I've filed protests, injunctions....just about everything we could do on a legal front," Bernie continues. "But at every point we've been blocked, not granted a fair hearing. At every point we had Gyrich's goons slapping 'national security' on everything we'd filed."
"I'm proud of the way you've carried on in my absence" comments Cap, nodding to each of his team in turn. "I've tried to cut through some of the red tape myself, but I keep getting deflected...perhaps its time I took this to the next level of appeal." Cap turns to Zack. "Zack, prepare a quinjet; we're going to see President Clinton. After all, he owes me a favor... [ *For letting him try on Cap's shield in Cap #453 -- Patriotic Dave ]
However, we know where Cathy and Jack have been sent - the Vault. Jack and Cathy are both seen to be being harrassed by fellow inmates. Jack is seen to be befriended in the mess hall by the Armadillo -still serving his time - and Sidewinder.
An Avengers quinjet flys over the nightime Washington DC skyline, and is joined en route by a fighter escort. "Eagle Three to Avengers Quinjet. You are cleared for landing on flight deck. Aand may I say on behalf of all of us, Sir," adds the fighter pilot "its good to have you back." The pilots of the escort can be seen to be saluting the quinjet. Cap returns the salute, and comments "Good to be back, son. Avengers Quinjet clear".
The quinjet does a quiet VTOL landing near the White House Rose Garden. Secret Service agents and the President come forth to meet him, Clinton shaking hands with him. As they are traveling to the Oval Office, Clinton comments "Captain, I wish that just once we could meet under happier circumstances. These are some pretty serious allegations."
"It gives me no joy to do it, sir, " Cap answers. "These are flagrent violations of the both the law and of the trust you've placed in these men." The agents open the door to the Oval Office. The National Security Advisor and Peter Gyrich are already seated. They stand, and the NSA greets the President. Clinton offers Cap and the other two coffee or anything, Cap declines, and they get down to business.
The scene switches to a pair of Ultimatum agents on a rooftop. One has a radio, and comments "The candy is in the store. Repeat - The candy is in the store".
Back to the White House. "Gentlemen, Captain America has made some very serious charges," he begins. "He claims that the organization he set up, his national Hotline, has been unlawfully seized. He claims his allies Free Spirit and Jack Flag are being held illegally in federal custody. And finally, he claims that agents under your direction, Mr. Gyrich," he points at Henry, "assulted him bodily without properly identifying themselves."
The scene switches to squad of Ultimatum agents and Flag-Smasher in a high-tech-looking aircraft. "Launch!" commands Flag-Smasher
Back to the White House. Clinton stands, leaning over the desk, hands flat. "Gentlemen, I want three things to happen. One - you will arrange for the Hotline to be released from federal control and any entanglements." Behind Clinton and through the window we can see a dot in the distance, with a contrail.
"Two - you will locate and cause to be released Free Spirit and Jack Flag. All pending charges, and I mean all of them, will be dropped" The fire is getting closer.
"Three - I want a full report on this whole affair tomorrow morning, with an outline of all of the responsible parties. I want to know who authorized..." The object is almost to the window. Several SAM missles bounce harmlessly from its hull.
Cap leaps up and drags Mr. Clinton down as the vehicle plows into the side of the White House. A gangplank drops from the side of the vehicle, and Flag-Smasher and Ultimatum Agents decend, armed to the teeth with Big Guns ®. Flag-Smasher declaims "Today is the day America dies!"
Next Issue - "Onslaught in the Oval Office!"