Capes #3 (2003)

The issue begins with Kid Thor and Knockout out on a dinner date. Knockout is excited to hear that Kid Thor's grandfather was Thor Man. She tells him a story about The Boxer. Her grandfather was a security guard at a bank when The Boxer tried to rob it. The Boxer beat up her grandfather but then Thor Man arrived. The Boxer's gloves generated some kind of field that gave him super strength and invulnerability. During the fight, one of The Boxer's gloves came off so when Thor Man hit him with his hammer it killed him. Her grandfather ended up taking the magic gloves before the cops arrived. He was a superhero for awhile but wasn't really cut out for it and gave it up. He stored the gloves in the attic and many years later Knockout found them. She got her grandfather to tell her the story and then put them on and decided to become a superhero. Kid Thor is interested in her story but he also wonders why her breasts are so much smaller then they have been when they were out patrolling in costume. Knockout explains that the breasts are fake, the PR guy suggested them and she quickly ended up getting some endorsement deals. Kid Thor assures her that he doesn't care, he just had to ask because it was strange. Across town, Commander Capitalism heads over to Holly Winter's place to check on her and make sure she is okay. She tells him it will be awhile before she is okay, but time is something that she has plenty of. He offers to arrange for her to have a different place to stay since her apartment is still a wreck from the fight between Bolt and her husband. She tells him that she doesn't actually want to be alone and asks him to stay. He puts his arm around her and tells her that is not a problem. Over at Claire Voyant's house, she and Captain Cosmic are laying in bed after spending the night having sex. Captain Cosmic hears a noise and Claire Voyant tells him that it's just her husband American Champion. Captain Cosmic panics but American Champion just walks in and greets them and tells him to scoot over so he can get some sleep. Meanwhile, The Nazi suddenly stands up and leaves the basement that he's been sitting in. He smashes into the Capes, Inc. headquarters just as Bolt is getting to work and starts to attack Bolt. Commander Capitalism jumps in to help and buys enough time for the rest of the Capes crew to arrive. Commander Capitalism pulls Bolt away to give him a chance to recover while the rest of the team attacks. The Nazi immediately kills The Z and then punches Sparrow into a wall and kills her as well. One of the Meteor Twins, Ed, flies in to help and punches The Nazi in the head. But The Nazi is able to grab him by an arm and a leg and tears him in half. The other Meteor Twin, Marshall, screams no in grief and flies in to attack The Nazi. The rest of the team follows to help out. The Nazi knocks Marshall away and then punches Batwing in half. Knockout heads inside to evacuate everyone before the building collapses. When she arrives to warn Big Brain she finds him in his office using his powers. She is surprised by this because his powers had supposedly been waning for years. The other heroes are still outside fighting when Big Brain comes floating out of his office with an unconscious Knockout. He explains that he stumbled upon The Nazi back during the World War. Capes, Inc. had a bumpy start, he had to do something or they would have gone out of business. Big Brain used his mental powers to have The Nazi attack. The publicity from that first fight with The Nazi got them their initial government funding. To sway suspicion, Big Brain pretended that his powers were beginning to fade until eventually everyone thought he was completely powerless. But his powers have actually been increasing and he is now more powerful than ever. He explains that the deaths today were unfortunate. But they were necessary. After this disaster, the government will realize that Capes is a necessary part of their budget. He knows that many of them will now consider him their enemy. But he's just doing what he always does; looking out for the future of the company. Big Brain merges with the machinery from The Nazi's cyborg body. He advises them not to come after him because they would not stand a chance and then he flies off. One month later, Bolt gets back to work. Headquarters is almost completely rebuilt. Commander Capitalism tells him that they actually have funding left over even after the repairs. It seems that Big Brain was right. But they agree that the cost was too high and that there had to have been a better way. Kid Thor and Knockout arrive. They are not back to work yet because they are still healing, they are just back for the meeting with the new boss. In his office, Marshall puts the urn with Ed's ashes in it up on his bookshelf. He says that he'll miss him.