Little Help?

I just realized it isn't a good time to be a symbol of America. Cap just got finished having his head punched in by Iron Man (which is exactly how that fight should go, like it or not), and Uncle Sam's got the new Freedom Fighters and this Father Time dipwad coming after him over at DC. Or is Uncle Sam coming after them? Well, he's outnumbered so I'm going to say he's being chased. But that's neither here nor there.

Captain America needs help. His team is pretty clearly outmatched, and they need some equalizers. Where might he find some? Let's take a look around, and keep in mind, I don't read Newsarama, so I have no clue what they've already told us about what's coming.

The Sentry: I know, you're stunned that I'm actually suggesting this doofus, but until the real Thor shows up, he'll have to do. Then Cap can tell Marvel's very own Silver Age Superman that it's vitally important that he fly to the center of the Sun and stay there, to, I don't know, power the core or something, so it doesn't die. Or maybe Nova could let someone know that they've got Annihilus trouble out in space, and could use a hand.

She-Hulk: This week's issue had Jennifer finding out no one has seen or heard from the Hulk in weeks. How strange. It's only a matter of time until she finds out what happened to him, and somehow I think Stark and Richards are going to need to run for their lives when that happens.

Maybe not. Maybe Jen would agree that it was the right idea, but I doubt she'd agree with their tricking him, rather than being upfront about it, so whatever hospital Starfox is recovering in from that kick to the junk she gave him, might want to clear some beds.

Invisible Woman: She keeps saying she's not in favor of hunting down her friends. Of course, there she was in Civil War #3. . . hunting down her friends. Sigh. Marvel, would you get your stuff straight? I don't think that with a brother in the hospital, it would be out of line for Sue to ask out of the mission to stay with him. Anyway, I expect her to get disgruntled at some point, and then Cap's got the most powerful member of the FF on his side, not to mention. . .

The Human Torch: I mean seriously, who is Johnny going to side with, his sister, or his jerky (as portrayed by Millar, and JMS to an extent) brother-in-law? Sue is going from the heart, Reed's working from whatever part of his brain makes him a futurist. What's Johnny going to relate to more?

Spider-Man: Because at some point, Peter Parker will recognize that following Stark has him doing quite a few things he really doesn't want to do. I can't imagine he enjoyed smacking Captain America with his own shield (psst, Spidey. That's a sign that you're evil), or revealing his identity and putting May and MJ at more risk. So, it'll happen eventually, just not any time soon.

The Inhumans: This is contingent on a point from Son of M #6. I'm not sure whether the U.S. government people actually escaped with any of the Terrigen Mist Crystals they'd confiscated before Black Bolt. . . spoke. If they did, I could see Cap agreeing to steal and return them to the Inhumans in exchange for a little support. And Black Bolt would be a huge help. The kink in this is the Fantastic Four are closer to The Inhumans than Captain America, so they might convince the goverment to give the crystals up so as to avoid extra conflict.

Nova: This is just one I'd love to see personally. Annihilation's going to end, and Nova's going to want to come home and check on his family. I can just see him entering the atmosphere, only to see Iron Man, Warbird, and the Thor robot telling him he needs to register before he can visit his parents. At which point (assuming he hasn't released the Worldmind and the majority of the Nova Force) Rich opens a gigantic can of whupass on all of them. Dude is going to save the freaking universe from Annihilus and come home to see people spitting on the memories of his friends (including a past girlfriend)? Throw in that by then, Drax will have taught him more about how to fight, and hooboy.

Namor: I know he said he'd let the surface worlders destroy themselves over this and he'd just ignore it. But then Nitro killed his cousin (Quesadaaaa!) and the only person who seems to give a crap is Wolverine (and Iron Man, but SHIELD has him too busy catching other heroes to worry about the guy who actually killed 600 people). And once Namor's on the surface, who is he going to help? His old World War 2 buddy, or the dude he was smacking around for deciding to shoot the Hulk into space?

Ghost Rider: He's leaving Hell, and do you really thinka Spirit of Vengeance is going to care one whit about registration? He's been dead; there's nothing SHIELD can do that's any worse, so screw 'em.

Dr. Doom: Just to stick it to the accursed Richards. Probably just give Cap some nifty piece of technology and go back home to watch.

Aegis: What, he said he was going to try and hook up with Captain America. Is the Sentinel of Liberty really in any position to refuse help?

A Madrox duplicate: There was one working for SHIELD, so why not a total renegade?

Darkhawk, Arana, Terror Inc., Gravity, Sleepwalker: Call it the Legion of Losers 2.0, X-23 is otherwise occupied, Speedball's incarcerated, and Dagger is already working with Cap.

Iron Man: Because the current one is really Iron Maniac (from Marvel Team-Up). Or being controlled by Kang. Or it's Arno Stark, Iron Man of 2020! Take your pick.

The Exiles: Because this whole thing is the fault of those little bug guys in the crystal tower, and so the Exiles have to show up to fix things.

Norman Osborn: Because he wants to fight with Spider-Man that bad (removed from the list upon Spider-Man's switching sides).

Dr. Strange: Because just putting your head in the sand never solved anything, except for that time in the desert that my head was on fire. But that's not really applicable here.

So who else do you think we can expect to see lending Captain America a helping hand? I don't think Zemo should count, since he's apparently working towards his own ends.