As Captain America stands over the body of John Robert Keane, alias the Tumbler, Quentin Harderman accuses the hero of murder. Cap suspects a set-up engineered by the slick executive but must flee the police so he can clear his name. Conflicted over the betrayal of his principles, he stops in the street to rest…where he is attacked by the armored Moonstone, Keane’s real killer. The two fight and Cap is surprised by his opponent’s strength, speed and ability to vanish and reappear at will. But it is the villain’s lasers, shot from his hand that fells the Avenger. As arranged, Harderman arrives to herald Moonstone as the new type of hero the people can trust. Meanwhile, in Wakanda, as the Falcon and Black Panther talk over the matter of enhancing Falcon’s powers, Leila immediately starts clashing with the palace staff by her in-your-face attitude. To deal with her boredom, the Panther sends her on a shopping trip to Lagos, Nigeria where she runs into exiled American gangster Stoneface. The thug orders his men to murder her attendants and he carries her off. When the report gets back to Wakanda, Black Panther prepares a rescue, with Falcon, who has been outfitted with high-tech glider wings. Back in New York, Captain America wakes up in jail where he looks on as Moonstone gives an account of his origin to the press, painting himself as a humble janitor who gained his powers though exposure to a moon rock in a lab (he was actually a burglar attempting to steal the rock), who offered his services to the Committee to Re-gain America’s Principles (not mentioning the organization was formed by the villainous Viper for the express purpose of discrediting Captain America). That night, a costumed gang blows a hole in the prison wall to rescue Cap, presenting the Star-Spangled Avenger with a dilemma: escape and confirm everyone’s worst suspicions or stay put and run the risk that Moonstone will never be exposed.

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