Captain America's allies in battle had all been injured in some way. Undying was in what seemed to be a coma, Maggott had a bad concussion, Herth had two broken arms and Brian had a severe burn on his leg from Molten Man. Oh, and not to mention the fact that Sharon Carter had suddenly vanished off the Earth without a trace. What else could go wrong for him?

"Captain America you have a call from someone I think you might want to talk to," the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent told Steve urgently. Captain America got up quickly and followed the young man to Nick Fury's office. On the screen was Black Tarantula.

"Captain America it is so nice to see you at long last. Oh I'm sorry for the way my troops mangled your allies," Black Tarantula apologized.

"Why you scumbag?! You have the nerve..."

"Cap, don't be so aggressive. It really makes you look bad,"

"What do you want Black Tarantula?"

"I want to fight you, Captain America,"

"Give me a place and a time because I promise you I won't miss it,"

"Then meet me in Madripoor at midnight your time and we will resolve our differences. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Cap said and turned off the screen.

"You are actually going to fight that madman?" Nick Fury asked.

"Yeah because I have this strange feeling he is going to lead me to Sharon," Cap replied as he walked out of the door.

Madripoor

"Black Tarantula, come out and fight!" Captain America shouted.

"Captain America, do you really have to be so loud? This is only a fight after all," Black Tarantula said as he came out of the shadows drinking a glass of wine.

"Lets just get this over with," Cap said, gritting his teeth.

"As you wish," Black Tarantula said dropping his wine glass and letting it crash to the ground.

Black Tarantula charged at Captain America connecting four punches before Cap had a chance to react. Cap in turn jabbed Black Tarantula in the stomach with his shield. Black Tarantula winced and flipped high into the air. He came down aiming for Cap's head. Cap jumped up into the air, grabbed Black Tarantula's legs and slammed him into the ground. Black Tarantula looked to be knocked out cold. Cap went to make sure, only to have Black Tarantula forcefully throw his shoulder into Cap's face. Captain America went flying into the air and Black Tarantula dive-rolled catching Captain America in the back with his knee. Cap yelled out in pain as he hit the ground.

"That's your problem Cap. You're too much of a boy scout, but that is a problem I will soon eliminate," Black Tarantula said as he picked up the unmoving body of Captain America.

Columbia

"I see you are awake Cap. Glad to see it. I wouldn't want you to miss this most extraordinary event that is about to take place," Black Tarantula said with a smile.

"Whatever it is, I think I can do without seeing it," Cap grunted. He looked at his surroundings and found that he was chained to a giant obelisk. Cap wondered why Black Tarantula would leave his shield strapped to his back though. Cap guessed the Black Tarantula didn't know too much about Cap's famous shield.

"I bet you are wondering what I desire of you? Why have I made your life a living hell with my henchmen? Well, it is because I want.... no I need you in my army. With you under my control I will soon gain control of every super being on Earth," Black Tarantula said as he typed in some orders into a machine.

"How do you intend to do that?" Cap asked, hoping to distract Black Tarantula long enough to find a way out of his situation.

"With the Controller's technology. That is how I controlled Big Man, Man-Wolf, and Molten Man. You will spread this technology because all the heroes trust and believe in the all-mighty Captain America and in time all the heroes of Earth will belong to me," Black Tarantula guffawed.

Just then Molten Man, Big Man and Man-Wolf came into the room. Black Tarantula nodded and all the villians went to their stations. Cap felt this energy flowing through him all of a sudden. He could feel this massive power surging in him. Black Tarantula wasn't just going to control him. He was going to make him more powerful than ever. Just as Cap felt like he could take no more energy it suddenly stopped flowing into him. He looked around and saw an old hero from World War Two fighting off the three villains. The man's name was Captain Kerosene and his powers were similar to that of the Human Torch.

Cap had no idea though how Captain Kerosene had remained young for so long. He had heard of a youth formula being developed before World War Two had ended. Maybe that was the source of his youth. Captain America was just glad to have Cap Kerosene here. Captain Kerosene with his flames turned Molten Man to glass. He trapped Big Man under a load of steel beams by melting one of the main screws that maintained balance amongst the beams. He then took out Man-Wolf with a condensed fireball. Captain Kerosene unknowing of Black Tarantula who was hiding in a corner came down and melted Cap's chains.

"Watch out!" Cap yelled as Black Tarantula leaped at Captain Kerosene. Captain Kerosene had turned around too late, but Black Tarantula was already on the ground because of another blast. It had come from Bloody Bess, who was flanked by her fellow Crimson Pirates.

"The Crimson Pirates," Captain Kerosene murmured under his breath.

"Long time no see, Kerosene. You never return our calls," Killian said with a large grin forming on his face.

"This is just too perfect. We get the Axis Key and Kerosene," Bloody Bess exclaimed with glee.

"What do they mean by Axis Key?" Cap asked.

"You'll find out," a large group of Sea Dogs said as they blasted Captain America and Captain Kerosene from the back.

Peru

Captain America came to only to find Cap Kerosene and himself strapped to a huge disc. He looked around him and saw people chained to miniature black monoliths. Then he saw one person of particular importance to him.

"Sharon! Can you hear me? Sharon! Please say something," Captain America pleaded.

"Don't worry Captain America she is alive and well...at least for now," Killian said as he came up from a flight of stairs that led to a large basement.

"Why don't you let her go? You have me, isn't that enough?!" Cap asked of Killian. "No, if we were to let her go we would lose a key component to the puzzle. I guess I should explain. See in each one of these person's souls is a cosmic key of sorts that holds immense power. You yourself have one of these keys within your soul, except your key is the Axis Key. It holds all the other keys together and keeps their energies stable. We plan on harnessing the powers of these keys to make ourselves into gods, and trust me we will suceed," Killian told Cap with a grin.

"How did we get these keys inside of us? Have we had them since birth?" Sharon asked as she awakened from her unconscious state.

"No Sharon, you have only received them recently. See, we Crimson Pirates hail from another dimension. We travel the Multiverse searching for ways to gain power, fame and glory. When we stumbled upon this universe we happened to arrive right as a being named Supreme Evolutionary destroyed a planet with an immense blast.* This blast for some unknown reason caused many things to happen in the universe. It bought back to life the Externals, trapped us in this dimension and gave you all those cosmic keys. It has probably had other affects we have not yet seen, but I assure you we will find them," Killian explained.

(* See M2K's Fantastic Four #8 -- Russ)

"Then why the hell am I here?" Captain Kerosene asked.

"See, the monoliths and the discus all channel energy... any type of energy. Once the Crimson Pirates become gods we will want to build an empire starting with Earth. So we will channel your flames into giant, asteroid-size fireballs that will collide with the Earth and cause massive damage," Killian clarified.

"You sick cyber punk. You won't win and I pray that you suffer a horrible death by the hands of someone just as evil as you," Captain Kerosene cursed as he spat on Killian's suit.

Killian had a disgusted look on his face and said "Start up the machines." Captain Kerosene tried to burn his way out of his bonds, but it was useless. Everything was becoming useless. Captain America knew that the end was probably soon approaching so he uttered his final words to Sharon. "Sharon even through our ups and downs, the hurts and joys I will always hold your love within my soul," Captain America said hoping that what he had said were the right words to comfort Sharon in what would be their final hour.

"Cap, I have always felt the same way about you, but I don't think we are going to die anytime soon," Sharon said. Cap was perplexed by Sharon's response, but understood what she meant when he heard a large explosion.

"I think Black Tarantula has come back for a little revenge," Captain Kerosene said as the power went out. Captain Kerosene seeing this as his opportunity burned away his and all the prisoners bonds. They all managed to escape the building without even a scar to show for it.

Meanwhile in Outer Space

"The Crimson Pirates were unsuccessful in unlocking the power of the keys," Gullin the Boar God reported.

"Good my friend. That is the best news I have heard all day. Now shall begin the ascension of a new pantheon. Our allies and ourselves shall reign supreme!" Count Abyss shouted.

"Hopefully it will come sooner rather than later," Nebulon said, walking into the throne room.

"Oh, it will be soon Nebulon and that is a promise. By tomorrow we shall have more allies under our belt and the keys will be ours quicker than you can say Adam Warlock," Count Abyss said, drinking whole-heartedly of his wine.

The Next Day at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier

"Captain Kerosene here used to run missions for the allies during World War II. He was pretty good at it too, but he suddenly just disappeared off the face of the Earth. Luckily he showed up and saved me," Captain America said.

"Why did you just disappear and how did you know Cap was being held by Black Tarantula?" Maggott asked.

"Well, after the war was over with I found myself with no purpose in life. I wandered the world until I met a group of monks. I stayed with them for a few years and I as I was leaving they gave me an elixir to drink from that gave me eternal youth. Knowing I could never return home I wandered the Earth doing what little I could without revealing myself too much. To be honest I didn't know that Cap was being held by Black Tarantula. I was only there because I was trying to find my adopted daughter who was kidnapped by him. I got no leads as to where she was at in his computer databases so I figured I'd ask him in a head-to-head conflict. That was when I saw Captain America chained to that obelisk," Captain Kerosene explained.

"I'll help you find your daughter," Maggott volunteered. Undying said she would also and so did Herth.

"Gosh I don't what to say. All this help is kinda... I don't know what to say," Captain Kerosene said a lump forming in his throat.

"Kerosene before you leave I want to ask you what your connection is with those Crimson Pirates," Captain America asked.

"It is a long story that would tear my heart to tell you. When I am ready though I promise I'll tell you," Cap Kerosene said, giving a wave to Captain America and flying off through a large open window. Maggott and Herth carried by Undying's telekinesis followed.

Meanwhile in Tanazia

"Fine Gullin, you have convinced me. I will join your cause," Dr. Demonicus said.

Halfway across the world in Australia, Khimera was sharing the doctor's exact same words with Count Abyss.