Biography - Part 2
Captain America and D-Man did a thorough sweep of the facility and found little of value. Cap expected the Power Broker would send someone to investigate eventually, and planned to lie in wait. D-Man was out on a coffee run when ten augmented thugs called the Sweat Shop arrived. Dennis drew half of them back upstairs while Cap fought the remaining five in the boiler room, but eventually Cap’s sparring partners just blocked him in with heavy machinery and joined the others fighting D-Man. Dennis took down half of his opponents, but eventually 10-to-1 odds proved to be too much and he was knocked unconscious. The Sweat Shop gathered their wounded and their prisoner to return to the Power Broker. [Captain America (1st series) #329]
Demolition Man became a test subject at the Power Broker’s estate and private laboratory alongside Sharon “Ms. Marvel” Ventura, who had become a captive after her own investigations. As guinea pigs, the Power Broker attempted to reverse the augmentation process on Sharon while re-applying the process to Dunphy to see how much strength a human body could take. Captain America managed to track them down with the help of the Night Shift, and confronted Curtiss Jackson of the criminal Corporation, the Power Broker’s true identity. Cap tried to break Dennis free of the process, but a combination of pain and stimulants pumped into his system drove D-Man berserk. Jackson locked Captain America in a cell with D-Man, and Cap spent thirty minutes dodging his friend’s wild and frenzied attacks, hoping he would tire himself out. In the end, the over-exertion on his accelerated muscle mass caused D-Man’s heart to give out, making him collapse. [Captain America (1st series) #330]
Cap managed to resuscitate D-Man and took advantage of the medical facilities in the lab to stabilize him for the moment. He forced Dr. Malus to use the de-augmentation process to bring Dennis back down to a more manageable size and mass. The Power Broker proved to have friends in the Armed Forces sponsoring Project: Augment to produce a new breed of super-soldier. Despite all their efforts, Jackson remained in business. [Captain America (1st series) #331]
While Dennis was convalescing, Captain America was summoned before the Commission on Superhuman Activities. On behalf of the U.S. government, they staked a legal claim on the name, costume and shield of “Captain America” and tried to order him back into direct government service. Steve Rogers had come to believe he represented “the American Dream” more than the policies of any one administration and balked at the idea. He asked several friends for advice on how to proceed, including D-Man. Dennis was honored but hardly comfortable telling a living legend what to do. Steve ultimately decided to resign as Captain America rather than allow the Commission to direct his actions. [Captain America (1st series) #332] Over the next few months, the Commission chose a new man to serve as their Captain America (ironically, the very Super-Patriot whom Rogers had been investigating). With a court order preventing him from acting as Captain America, Steve Rogers disappeared from the public eye. Before this sabbatical, he turned over operations of his national hotline to D-Man to ensure his network of informants remained active. Dennis had lost interest in his wrestling career and felt the calling to use his strength to make a difference like Cap taught him. Still, Dennis knew he was a rookie super-hero and Cap’s junior most partner. After a few months with no word from Steve, he reached out to Captain America’s old allies, Sam “Falcon” Wilson and Jack “Nomad” Monroe. The three of them agreed Cap might need their help to get back on the right path. [Captain America (1st series) #336]
With Falcon, Nomad and Jack’s girlfriend Vagabond, D-Man used the hotline to pinpoint sightings of Steve’s van out in the Pacific Northwest. They found Steve, who was willing to admit he had spent enough time sulking and was ready to get back into action as a costumed hero.
However, he was adamantly against Falcon’s advice to fight the U.S. government in court for the right to remain Captain America. Having expected an argument along these lines, D-Man produced a new costume his tailor had prepared in advance, giving Steve a new look as simply “the Captain” until and unless he changed his mind. This ad hoc team soon stretched their legs, defeating a new Serpent Squad in Las Vegas, but they didn’t exactly mesh well. Nomad took an instant dislike to Dennis, thinking he was too earnest and throwing his money around to impress Steve. D-Man also concealed his health problems from his allies. His heart never fully recovered from the double augmentation, leaving him constantly at risk of another cardiac arrest if he pushed his limits. [Captain America (1st series) #337]
Without Captain America’s official reputation to smooth things over with the authorities, Steve, Dennis, Nomad and Falcon were arrested as vigilantes along with the Serpent Squad. Cap told them to sit tight and trust the justice system. However, Steve’s old foe Sidewinder teleported into the jail to recruit the Squad into the larger Serpent Society. Cap asked D-Man to pry open their bars only when it became necessary to prevent the Serpents from escaping. Even then, Sidewinder got all the villains out and the heroes were left with more to explain to the Las Vegas Police Department. [Captain America (1st series) #338]
D-Man got a taste of Captain America’s hectic lifestyle as their team tooled around the country. They responded to the Horseman of Apocalypse called Famine, destroying crops in the heart of Kansas. Dennis got to do a HALO drop with Cap and Nomad from their privately-rented plane, and fought to take control of Famine’s mechanical steed. When Iron Man recklessly caused a breakout at the Vault, Cap’s team worked with him in Colorado to catch the escapees. D-Man did his best but his Class 15 strength paled in comparison to the Class 85 Titania, who regularly fought She-Hulk. She threw him a thousand feet into the air over the Colorado Rockies, and Dennis only survived thanks to a passing Falcon. As the shaken Dennis stumbled back up the mountain road to the fighting, he hid in fear when Titania came around the corner, too scared to face her again. [Captain America (1st series) #339-340]
D-Man and Nomad’s working relationship deteriorated even further when Vagabond asked Dennis to show her a few wrestling moves. Nomad promised to teach her how to fight when they first hooked up but Jack never got around to it, so she went looking for someone willing to give her some attention. Dennis had no interest in Priscilla, but Jack had no interest in listening. Before they could resolve their differences, Steve’s one-time acquaintance Diamondback called his hotline for help. The terrorist and nihilist Viper staged a hostile takeover of the Serpent Society with her Serpent Squad infiltrators, threatening Diamondback’s leader Sidewinder and the other loyal Serpents. Cap left Vagabond to care for the poisoned Sidewinder while he, D-Man, Falcon, Nomad and Diamondback returned to the Serpent Citadel.
Serpent loyalists and turncoats flooded the Citadel, making plenty of targets for everyone. Viper escaped aboard a Serpent Saucer, and the Captain hopped aboard. D-Man and the others took command of a second Saucer, with Diamondback at the controls. Because they didn’t know for sure that Cap was on board, Nomad and Diamondback decided to use heat-seeking missiles on the other Saucer, over D-Man’s objections. It was only through his own ingenuity that Cap survived the crashing Saucer and captured Viper himself. Cap left Nomad and D-Man to guard the Viper, while he investigated her efforts to poison the Washington D.C. water supply. Cobra of the Society entered their Saucer without realizing it was occupied. He managed to escape, which infuriated Nomad enough to abandon his post and leave D-Man behind. The preoccupied Dennis didn’t realize Viper freed herself, and a bite from her venomous hollow fangs left him in dire straits.
Cap and Diamondback returned from rounding up some Serpents to find Viper missing and Dennis in bad condition. Diamondbac
k located the Saucer’s supply of antitoxin for D-Man, and Cap asked her to watch over his friend while he hunted down Viper. Diamondback couldn’t sit still and left Dennis behind once she was sure he stabilized. A feverish D-Man came to when the new Captain America’s partner Battlestar arrived and started casing the Saucer. Dennis could hardly think straight and considered playing possum, but his guilt over letting Titania escape forced him to his feet. D-Man and Battlestar fought briefly, but Dennis was in no condition for a prolonged fight. He was taken into custody for questioning by the Commission on Superhuman Activities, along with Nomad and Diamondback when they were apprehended. [Captain America (1st series) #342-344]