BaronĀ Wolfgang von Strucker was one of the leaders of HYDRA and one of the last in Europe during the War on HYDRA. He trained alongside Hale and Jasper Sitwell at the HYDRA Preparatory Academy, passing his tests and becoming a personal student of Daniel Whitehall.
He later played an important part in overseeing the beginning of Project Destroyer of Worlds, which in turn led to the creation of new soldiers for HYDRA including the Absorbing Man. Having become a sleeper agent within S.H.I.E.L.D., von Strucker recruited for HYDRA's cause those who became unsatisfied with the way the agency was led, while also raising his son Werner von Strucker whom he deemed to be a disappointment to their cause and not a suitable leader.
As one of the high-ranking members of HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D., Strucker was in charge of various science projects, including the research of the Tesseract. After the Battle of New York, Strucker desired the Scepter of Loki, so Alexander Pierce had Jasper Sitwell along with Brock Rumlow and his STRIKE unit go to the Stark Tower after the battle's end and Black Widow gave them the Scepter.
However, the Scepter was taken to the S.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.A.T.I.O.N. facility where it was studied. After a HYDRA mole inside that facility informed Strucker that one of the scientists working on the Scepter, Mark Smith, was a potential HYDRA recruit, Strucker decided to recruit Smith personally. Following the successful recruitment of Smith into HYDRA, Strucker ordered him and another HYDRA mole to retrieve the Scepter. Smith and his HYDRA colleague retrieved the Scepter and transported it to the HYDRA Research Base in Sokovia.
Strucker established theĀ research baseĀ inĀ SokoviaĀ and was informed of theĀ destructionĀ of theĀ Triskelion, and the revelation of all ofĀ HYDRA's secrets insideĀ S.H.I.E.L.D.Ā byĀ List. Strucker remained calm asĀ Nick FuryĀ had revealed to the public only the secrets he knew about and HYDRA's work with theĀ ScepterĀ remained unknown. Strucker told List that he would sacrifice a few facilities to keep their enemies off their scent for now.
List, desiring to see what effect the Scepter's power would have on live humans, approached several Sokovian rioters, including the Maximoff twins, and offered them the opportunity to achieve the power needed to free their country from war. While Wanda expressed some doubt over Baron Strucker's claims, Pietro was determined to save Sokovia and convinced his sister to accept. Upon exposure to the Scepter, the other volunteers did not survive but Pietro and Wanda experienced drastic changes, with unlocked latent supernatural powers within them; Pietro was now able to move at superhuman speeds, with enhanced durability and perception, while Wanda developed several mental powers.
There however was another promising subject, Adrain Cross also known as subject X-423. Unlike the other subjects that volunteered Adrian was kidnapped. The reason was that List wanted to know if the Stone would provide greater results when someone with exceptional intelligence was exposed. Not wanting to risk the lives of any of his staff, he had them find someone.Ā
Adrian Cross was born in Harlem, New York, to a single mother who worked as a university professor of quantum physics at Columbia University. Despite growing up in a community filled with love and culture, he felt alienated due to his genius intellect and hyper-awareness from a young age. Adrian excelled in academics, particularly in physics and neuroscience, but his quiet demeanor and constant overthinking made it difficult for him to form close relationships.
During a research fellowship in Germany, Adrian was abducted by Hydra as one of the test subjects for Strucker's experiments with Loki's Scepter. They believed his unique neurobiology, combined with his intellect, would make him the perfect candidate for their experiments.
The air in the dark, subterranean lab was thick with the smell of antiseptic, steel, and the faint, acrid scent of ozone. The hum of machinery reverberated against the cold, metal walls, the flickering lights above casting a dim, sterile glow over the room. At the center of the space sat a chair of cold, unfeeling metal, bolted to the ground, surrounding a circle of wire and electrodes that hummed with quiet power. Adrian Cross, bound to the chair, sat still, his eyes piercing through the dim light with the focus of someone who had already seen the inevitable coming long before it arrived.
He knew what was about to happen. He'd seen it in his mind a thousand times before.
Hydra's "scientists"āa collection of cold, faceless individuals in white lab coatsāwere huddled around a central table, the Mind Stone Scepter resting before them, an unassuming but dangerous object in its pristine case. The Scepter had been extracted from an unknown, alien force, a relic of a bygone age, and now it was their tool for creating the future.
Adrian could feel the slight tension in the air, the low murmur of their voices, though he couldn't make out the words. His mind was already tuning them out, focusing on the experiment ahead. He had no choice but to comply for now. It was the price of survival. But his mind had already begun to unravel the sequence. His intellect was far beyond theirs now. But he didn't know why. Why had his intellect grown at an accelerated rate since being brought to this facility? Why does he feel that there was a gate in his mind behind which was clarity to his growing curiosity about his condition? And answers lie ahead this scepter or better yet the thing that powers it-
They don't realize what they've done.
A sharp click sounded, and a voice broke through the haze of his thoughts. "Prepare the subject," said a deep voiceāDr. Ziegler, the lead scientist after List, his voice clipped and authoritarian. The scientists moved their faces into a mask of detached professionalism, securing the final restraints. Adrian's wrists and ankles were locked down with precision, a tight pressure around his limbs that only added to the oppressive atmosphere.
He didn't resist. Not yet. He needed the Scepter's power. He could feel it, a distant hum vibrating just at the edge of his awareness. The key to unlocking something much greater.
As the lab's doors slid shut with a hiss, sealing him inside the chamber, Adrian's mind was already speeding ahead, calculating, analyzing, processing. His eyes flickered briefly to the Scepter, and something akin to a wry smile tugged at his lips.
The last scientist, a pale woman with silver-rimmed glasses, stepped forward, holding the scepter in a vice-like grip. She flicked her eyes to Dr. Ziegler, who nodded curtly.
"Activate the containment field," Dr. Ziegler ordered.
The hum of electricity surged through the room, and the metal chair began to pulse with a soft, unsettling energy. The psychic dampeners surrounding Adrian's cell came to life, glowing with an eerie blue light, designed to suppress his abilities. They didn't want him tapping into his latent telepathic abilities during the processāat least not yet. Not until they had control over him.
The woman holding the scepter stepped forward, and Adrian's eyes locked with hers for a moment. He could see the fear in her eyes, a fleeting shadow. It was the first sign of weakness he'd seen all day.
"Are you ready, subject X-423?" she asked, her voice laced with a professional coldness that did little to hide the tremor.
Adrian didn't answer right away. His mind was already moving, calculating. He could feel the energy within the Scepterāa raw, untapped power. He knew what it could do. He knew what it would do to him...why did he know?
With a sharp inhale, he spoke, his voice low but unwavering. "You don't understand what you're doing."
The woman hesitated. The pause was almost imperceptible. She swallowed, tightening her grip on the scepter. "Silence."
The Scepter was raised. The surrounding scientists stared in anticipation, waiting for the experiment to unfold. The room seemed to hold its breath as the moment approached.
And then, without warning, it happened.
The Scepter crackled to life, the Mind Stone glowing with an otherworldly light. A surge of raw psychic energy shot through the room, hitting Adrian like a tidal wave. His body jolted against the restraints, but there was no pain. Only a deafening silence in his mind, like the eye of a storm before everything changed.
Adrian could feel it then. The Sage Force. It didn't just touch his mindāit exploded into it. His thoughts fragmented and reformed as a wave of awareness flooded him. The world around him began to bend and distort like he was standing on the edge of reality itself. The raw power of the Sage Force enveloped him, filling him with clarity and insight like he had never known.
Adrian's vision sharpened, and the world around him bloomed with understanding. Time seemed to slow as his mind expanded beyond the limits of his body. He saw everythingāthe flow of electricity, the movement of molecules, the thoughts of the scientists standing behind him.
He could hear their thoughts.
'How did this happen?'
'It shouldn't be this way. He's not supposed to...'
The shock of their thoughts made Adrian's own snap into sharp focus. His intellect, already prodigious, exploded beyond the limits of human comprehension. He could see the structure of the universe itself, the intricate weave of energy and matter. He could feel the cosmic pulse beneath his skin, the very heartbeat of the multiverse.
And then, a voice that wasn't his own flooded his thoughts, echoing through his mind with a power that shook him to his core.
"You have tapped into something far beyond your understanding. This power will change you."
It was the voice of the Sage Force, a presence that transcended time and space. Adrian's body trembled as the force of the words slammed into him. His mind surged, expanding, evolving, rising to meet the challenge of this alien power.
"Stop him! Turn it off!" Dr. Ziegler shouted, panic creeping into his voice.
But it was too late.
Adrian's mind, now a crucible of raw psychic energy, pushed against the dampeners. They began to crack, the containment systems shuddering as Adrian's burgeoning power fought to escape. The power from the Scepter had awakened something deep inside himāa force he couldn't control but was now inexorably bound to.
Adrian's eyes flickered with a fiery intensity, the Sage Force beginning to manifest around him. His body was shrouded in a luminous glow, his form momentarily flickering in and out of visibility. His breath became shallow as the energy surged through him.
At that moment, Adrian knew. This wasn't just about power. This was about evolutionāa transcendent shift in his very being.
And as the world around him blurred, he felt something change deep within. His body, his mindāthey were no longer his own. They had become something more.
The Scepter's glow dimmed, but Adrian's energy did not. It burned brighter, and for the first time, Adrian understood his place in the universe. He was no longer just a man.
He was a force of nature. A conduit to and the avatar of THE SAGE FORCE.