A helicopter flew over the ruins of the secret S.H.I.E.L.D. military base, once a hub of classified research where scientists harvested energy from the Tesseract to develop weapons they believed were Earth's only defense against external threats.
At least that was the plan, before the base sunk down to the ground, leaving nothing behind but rubble. Dreams and future plans lay buried beneath the debris.
If they were lucky, some of the research data might still exist in the main database back at headquarters. But the figure inside the helicopter, watching the devastation below, didn't have much hope for it.
This figure looking down at what was left from the base was Nick Fury. After using a stimulant serum, he had managed to reach the base's rooftop just in time to escape by helicopter.
He knew that for most of the classified projects, there was no chance of retrieval. Much of the research at this base was so highly classified that it wasn't even recorded in their central databases—it was all only stored locally, and now it was all destroyed and buried under tons of rubble.
Watching years of work being destroyed before his one eye, Fury felt anger burning in his chest. But he didn't let the feeling consume him. He knew this was only the beginning. Loki wouldn't stop after destroying just one base.
No... Loki's plans, while sounding like the delusions of a child, were frighteningly real because he had the means to achieve them.
With that scepter capable of controlling minds and the Tesseract's boundless power, Loki would be unstoppable if left unchecked. It was only a matter of time before he would attempt to dominate the Earth.
Bam!
Fury punched the helicopter's armored window hard, his knuckles bleeding from the impact, but he didn't care.
"Just you wait, Loki. I will stop you, no matter what it takes!" Fury vowed, clenching his fist as a flame of resolve burned in his eye.
Thruumm! Thruumm!
A flip phone in one of his coat pockets began to ring, interrupting his whirlwind of emotions. Fury knew this particular phone was only for the most critical calls—something of utmost importance had to be happening.
He took the phone from his coat, accepted the call, and held it to his ear.
An excited voice crackled through the speaker. It was Phil Coulson, one of Fury's most trusted agents.
"Sir! Sir! You won't believe it! We found him! We found him! We finally found him!!"
Coulson's excitement was so intense that he was practically shouting, and Fury winced as the loud voice rang in his ear.
"Calm down, Coulson! You're about to make me deaf! Do you want me to have one damaged ear to match my damaged eye?" Fury yelled back, scolding him.
"Sorry, sir… I let my emotions get the better of me. It won't happen again," Coulson replied, his voice now more controlled but still tinged with excitement.
"You'd better keep it together. You're a special agent—act like one!"
After putting Coulson in check, Fury got straight to the point. He hadn't yet told anyone about Loki, so he knew this call had to be about something else.
"Now that you've calmed down, what did you find? More specifically, who did you find?"
Coulson replied, his tone more measured, though his excitement still lingered.
"Sir, an affiliated S.H.I.E.L.D. team has found the body of Captain America."
"He was preserved in a large section of ice, along with the remains of the Valkyrie plane that he crashed in the Arctic."
Fury was momentarily stunned. He'd known Captain America had crashed the Valkyrie into the Arctic, and his team had searched for him for years. All they had managed to recover back then was the plane itself and the Tesseract.
Captain America's body had never been found—likely ejected during the crash. They had assumed it was lost forever… until now.
"Good work, Coulson. We can finally give him a proper funeral. He deserves to rest knowing that we won the war he helped end."
Fury's mood lightened slightly. He had great respect for Captain America, and the thought of giving him a proper ceremony felt like a fitting tribute.
At least, that was what he thought—until Coulson's next words changed everything.
"Sir… the recovery team detected weak signs of activity in Captain America's frozen body."
"The medical team that retrieved him said there's a good chance he might wake up if we defrost him properly."
"They believe the super-soldier serum kept his body functions in a hibernation state. His cells weren't damaged by the ice at all."
"Captain… Captain America is alive!" Coulson shout with excitement at the phone, wich Fury ignored it as he focused only in the news gives by him.
Fury's mind went blank for a moment, processing the news. The strongest soldier, America's hero, was alive. And he couldn't have been found at a better time, not when they faced such a monumental threat.
"That's incredible, Coulson! Where is he? Give me his location—I'm coming there right now!"
"We'll need to prepare for his awakening. After all, the last thing he remembers is fighting in World War II."
"If he wakes up to a world he doesn't recognize, it could be a shock. We'll need a controlled environment to help him adjust to the present time."
Fury's excitement was palpable. With Captain America's strength and charisma, he could finally put his plan into motion.
With him, Fury would be able to assemble the strongest team the world had ever seen—a team that would protect Earth from any threat. And if they couldn't protect it, they'd be there to Avenge it!.
While en route to the location where Captain America was beeing maintained, Fury also contacted Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow—another one of his top agents.
She was currently on a mission, but that mission could wait. They had more urgent problems to resolve.
They needed to act fast and gather the rest of the people he had in mind to form his team, or it might be too late.
There was no time to waste. After all, the future of Earth was at stake.