Fight Of The Flags!

It HAD to happen! U.S. vs. U.K. in a battle royale!

(Clearly one of these fighters could use a jet pack right about now.)

C.A. had met Captain Britain in an issue of Rom, but not in the kind of brawl that's about to take place over the city of London. As to why Cap is visiting Great Britain in the first place, it's to investigate what could be a very strange S.O.S. sent from those shores:

Following a gut feeling and little else, Cap boards a plane for London, and begins a search for clues. But he isn't exactly greeted by the welcome wagon:

So begins the first battle between these symbolic representatives of two great nations (if you're not counting their brief scuffle from 1977 in the U.K. Captain Britain title). Why is Captain Britain gunning for Cap? Is it because his passport has expired? We don't know yet--but it looks like C.B. is in no mood to hear excuses! It's time for battle, and nothing but!



Cap recovers just in time to avoid another attack--but taking the fight to an airborne foe presents a challenge. Fortunately, Captain America has proven able to meet a challenge time and again:

Oops, maybe we spoke too soon here. How can even a man with an indomitable will to live survive a plunge from this height? It's a good thing Cap has had lots of practice plunging to his apparent death, because he's going to need it--especially when his foe isn't going to trust in gravity to do the job:

With C.B. weathering Cap's blows and still airborne, Cap knows he's the underdog in this fight, unless circumstances change--and they will, though unfortunately not in Cap's favor.

Alright, enough is enough. We need to find out what's going on here. Cap suspects that this man may not actually be Captain Britain, but is he right? Let's hear it from the horse's mouth:

Gyp! Gyp! This wasn't a face off between Captain America and Captain Britain, after all. Shock of shocks--it's Modred who's the villain here. Modred, who keeps making appearances in mainstream titles despite the underwhelmed reaction of readers who would rather watch paint dry. Modred, who always seems to walk the line between villain and sympathetic figure. It looks like Captain Britain was his first target, because of his connection to another mystic whom Modred seems to be obsessed with:

Planning to further make use of the suit's "mystic circuitry" (shouldn't that be a contradiction in terms?), Modred ends this issue by announcing his plan to contact Merlin and subsequently face him in battle. After stepping on both Captain America and Captain Britain like they were bugs, he seems to be on a roll, so my money might be on Modred--but don't count our two captains out yet. Something--like, say, the next issue--tells me they're going to turn the tables on Modred before he even gets near Merlin.