Post by DiscipleofBob on Jul 4, 2014 7:44:30 GMT -5
Agents of SHIELD #1:
The Legend
The Legend
The film reel starts to roll, loudly clicking and whirring as the flickering sepia-toned image came into view. The announcer's voice, strained through the technology of the time the narrative as a small orchestra accompanies him with a bold, patriotic tune. "1941. War rages on in Europe as the world looks on. Germany goes on the warpath with allies Italy and Japan to form the Axis. A world in peril cries for help." The scene shifts to a fleet of Japanese planes flying on formation. "December 7, 1941. A day which will live in infamy." Footage of the Pearl Harbor bombing plays, the carnage and explosions made even more surreal by the grainy filter.
The hallucinations were starting to become more vivid. He'd often wondered if his life would flash before his eyes when this happened, but this wasn't at all how Steve pictured it.
"1942." The moving pictures again. This time cutting between various military and political officials from both sides, including three all too familiar faces. "The United States of America enters the war, bringing forth its full military might. But at the same time, the Nazi sub faction of HYDRA swells in rank. Even other Nazis fear their growing power and influence, led by Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, Baron Heinrich Zemo, and the notorious Red Skull. While Hitler and the Nazi party trick the German citizens into uniting under their banner with slander and false promises, HYDRA demands obedience through intimidation and force."
A right hook slammed across Rogers's jaw. Even as the ship continued to plummet his opponent hadn't given up. His unmistakable black trenchcoat was torn to shreds. His steel-tipped jackboots were dented and worn. The distorted, grotesque face only matched in horror by the mind contained within. Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, was so beaten and bruised it was impossible to tell where the blood ended and the skin began. Every inch of the Red Skull's body was as beaten and worn as Rogers. And yet even with the blood loss, the rapidly increasing pressure, and the quickly depleting oxygen, he was still fighting to his literal last breath.
The portrait of a tired old German man, the weight of the world combined with a lifetime of the pursuit of knowledge being corrupted and overshadowed by the things his masters' collective will. "1943. Abraham Erskine, formerly a top scientist for HYDRA, defects to the Allied Forces. In exchange, he perfects his research to create the ultimate super soldier." The fictional screen switches its display to a short, skinny, pale young man. After all this time, Steve doesn't even recognize the man, despite it being his own reflection a few years ago. "The test subject, one Stephen Rogers. Rejected from military service due to poor physical health, he was nonetheless chosen to become the first of America's army of super soldiers." There he is again, the scrawny kid no military branch would take even in a time of war, only now he's strapped to what looks like an electric chair, and willingly at that. Anything so that he could fight for and defend his country. Steve questioned the boy's rationale in hindsight, even though he knew the outcome.
"The miracle of science combines forces with the heart of the purest of patriots!" The transformation is over in a flash, like magic.
He was sure that's how it was sold in whatever the government printed about hime remembered the reality very differently. He remembered every agonizing second stretched out into an eternity of pain. Fire coursed through his blood. His muscles and bones grinded against each other as every part of his body grew, competing for space on the boy's limited frame. Every hair, every skin cell, every fiber of his being burned with searing pain directly to his central nervous system. It felt as if parts of him would soon melt away, leaving him to probably resemble the Red Skull. Finally the transformations stopped, and just like in the vision before him, in the scrawny weak kid's place stood the tall, muscled, perfect specimen of a human being. Things would be different now. Now he had the strength to fight for his country. To defend the weak and oppressed.
"But tragedy struck." Just as the new Steve Rogers was getting his bearings, and a crowd of satisfied politicians had gathered around to congratulate Dr. Erskine, there's a flash as a dissident in the crowd fires a hidden weapon. Before anyone can understand what just happened, fresh bullet holes in Erskine's chest start pooling blood. He has maybe minutes to live at most. "After testing the only known sample on Rogers, Erskine was assassinated by HYDRA spies, his research destroyed in flames, leaving Steve Rogers the world's only super soldier, the man who would become Captain America!" The vision switches to the new improved Steve Rogers before fading in an a new image of him in full red white and blue costume, complete with his trademark shield. The American flag waves proudly in the background as Allied troops stood at attention, as the patriotic fanfare reaches its climax and the reel fades to black.
He regained consciousness again to see Red Skull doing the same. Despite losing most of his strength, Steve still managed to hold onto the round, red white and blue shield. It was more than just a weapon, it was the symbol for everything he fought to defend.
Anyone else would have died from the crushing pressure alone a long time ago. Anyone but these two. Captain America, the world's only super soldier, and Red Skull, the recipient of the Erskine's unstable prototype. But now both were struggling to remain conscious.
"How does it feel, herr Captain?" Red Skull rasped, despite the air becoming too thin to breathe, "to have succeeded in killing the two greatest specimens mankind will ever have to offer?"
"You're the worst mankind has to offer," Rogers managed to reply.
"Be careful of whom you insult. For we are one and the same. Born on different sides of the world, true. On different sides of a war, true. But that is where our differences end."
"We're... we're nothing alike!" Rogers spat. "You're a monster."
The Red Skull responded with a throaty laugh. "There are many Germans who would say the same of the great Captain America. History shall write one of us as the hero and the other as a villain, but these will be just words designed to paint the victor of this war in a favorable light. At our core though, we are the same. We are both born of Erskine's miracle. Both destined to lead mankind out of its stagnation. Our only differences are superficial. You appear as mankind's past, while I appear as mankind's true destiny."
"There's no destiny left for you," Rogers wearily panted. "Not anymore. Your reign of terror ends here."
"You think you have saved this world, but the truth is you have only prevented its salvation. Mankind will destroy itself whether the Allies win or the Axis win or both sides just keep fighting forever. This war could be endless, yet the inevitable outcome would remain the same."
Rogers tried to refute Red Skull's claim, but he was still fading in and out of consciousness...
"1944." The film again. This time on the front lines. A montage of highlights from Captain America's career. Warding off Nazi scouts in North Africa. Working with the French Resistance to liberate Paris. Storming the beaches of Normandy. Fighting in the trenches. Advancing the front line troops and single-handedly pushing back the enemy line. Sometimes the enemy is the swastika, others it's the tentacled skull of HYDRA. "Captain America leads the Allied troops to push back against HYDRA forces, waging a guerrilla war against the entirety of the Axis forces. One by one, HYDRA strongholds fall as Captain America leads the charge. Destroying HYDRA labs. Raiding their supply depots. Liberating prison camps."
Rogers finally regained enough consciousness to respond. "No. Justice will prevail against tyranny. Your Axis will fall."
"MY Axis? HA!" Red Skull cackled loudly, even though the laugh quickly turned into a bloody cough. "Hitler. Mussolini. Hirohito. They're all fools playing with toy soldiers. Their cause was doomed from the start."
"And HYDRA is any different?"
"HYDRA is the future."
"HYDRA is dead. Without the Red Skull, it's only a matter of time before HYDRA collapses on itself."
"How little you understand. Cut off the head of HYDRA, and two more will take its place. Cut off the head of Captain America, and your nation will mourn but no one will rise to replace you. Erskine broke the mold with the two of us, but HYDRA does not need the Red Skull in order to continue to grow and thrive. While your precious America will shrivel and die without its Captain. There will never be men like us again!"
"1945. The enemy is on the run! The end of the war is in sight! The capture of HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola reveals crucial information on HYDRA's remaining hidden bases. Now Captain America sallies forth to take down the HYDRA command once and for all! This is the final battle!"
Captain America propped himself up by his shield, forcing himself to his feet. Sometime ago, he wasn't sure when, the plane had crashed into the ocean. Only the dim red emergency lighting illuminated the cabin, as if the Red Skull's influence permeated the ship. They were still descending, albeit slower, into the depths of the ocean. The glass of the windows started to slowly crack under the increasing pressure.
"What do you think you are doing, herr Captain?" the Red Skull asked wearily.
"There will ALWAYS be men like me to stand up to men like you!"
"The battle is over. Our lives are both lost. Any moment now the crushing depths of the ocean will crack this vessel like an egg. There is no hope of escape or survival for either of us. What do you hope to accomplish with this useless show of bravado?"
"Because that's what men like us do," Captain America said through bared, gritted teeth. "We fight to the bitter end."
A slow grin crept onto Red Skull's face, revealing bloody red gums and deformed teeth. Illuminated only by the red tint of the cabin lighting, the Red Skull slowly rose up like a zombie rising from the grave. "Thank you, herr Captain." Rogers didn't respond, only struggled to maintain his footing as well as his consciousness. "For all of our battles, for all of my plans you've laid waste, today you have given me the greatest gift I could ever desire. Truly, I thank you, for I cannot imagine a better death."
Mustering one last boost of adrenaline, both super soldiers lunged at one another. Captain America with his shield ready. Red Skull with his bare hands meeting the armed opponent regardless.
Just as they clashed, the windows and hull of the ship finally gave in. Icy seawater instantly flooded the entire plane. What little air remained promptly escaped as the plane descended even further into the frigid depths of the ocean.
December 2013
[CLASSIFIED], Arctic Circle
SHIELD Remote Site
The sun hadn't risen for eight weeks. On a good night, the aurora borealis illuminated the night sky. Ribbons of multicolored pink and blue streaked across the northern sky. Most nights, like this one, were instead whited out by a seemingly never ending blizzard. The small SHIELD truck remained warm enough for the people inside, maintaining 10 degrees Celsius despite being 40 below outside.
Even in these conditions the scientists present had to make the short yet still unbearable trek from the base to the actual dig site. Even though it was less than 90 meters, the white out conditions turned every walk into an arctic expedition.
Three heavy human-shaped bundles slowly trudged through the snow back to the base camp, where the fourth member of their team waited, grateful she didn't need to take the same amount of trips outside the small portable bunker as the rest of the team.
When the hatch opened and let the blizzard in, Jemma Simmons hurriedly threw her coat on. Her precious few hours alone seemed to be over for the day. After over two months of being stuck together with three people in what amounted to little more than a studio apartment, privacy had become a rare, valuable commodity.
The three who returned quickly shut the hatch and got undressed to the normal clothing underneath.
"Bloody hell, I actually think it got colder out there!" Leo Fitz cursed as he rubbed his hands together for warmth. "How much longer are we going to be out here digging for space rocks anyway?"
"That all depends on what we find," the older of the two men, Walter Marvel, answered as he was helped out of his protective gear. "If we don't collect too many more meteorite samples in the next two weeks, then we pack up and I start researching the new location. I'd like to be prepared to move to Antarctica before July if possible."
"You've got to be kidding me! You want to spend summer in eternal night and never ending blizzards?!"
Marvel shrugged. "The blizzards admittedly I could do without, but working with never ending daylight presents its own set of problems that I'd rather not have to spend what little budget we have trying to overcome. Plus when the blizzard actually lets up having the stars in view makes my job somewhat easier."
"Well... why don't we go digging somewhere warmer for a bit? How about Tahiti? I hear it's a magical place," Fitz offered.
Simmons chimed in before Marvel could respond. "The whole point of this expedition is to find any meteorites that would have hit the ice, melted through, and been frozen over afterward. Any other part of the world the meteorites would either have already been found or be buried under a rainforest or a shopping mall that we'd somehow have to get permission to dig up."
Fitz scoffed. "I know that, Jemma. You don't have to explain it to me like I'm a child."
"I wouldn't have to if you didn't act like one, Leopold." Simmons responded using his full first name, something that never failed to irritate the scowling scientist. "You're always going on and on about how cold it is as if it's news to the rest of us. Try a different tune for once."
"You'd be singing the same song if you were out there half as much as I was. You've got it easy, sitting here with the whole place to yourself while the rest of are miserable out in the cold."
"I'm fine," Marvel interrupted as he helped the last of their number out of the protective gear. "Any complaints, hon?"
Carol Danvers shook her long blonde hair free from the heavy hood. "The only complaint I have is this one annoying kid who keeps complaining about how cold it is."
Marvel sighed as Danvers's words only incensed Fitz further, as the two young scientists continued bickering. It seemed the only privacy the two could get was when Fitz and Simmons distracted each other, which left very little room left for romance for the soon-to-be-married Walter and Carol. She leaned in close while they were distracted. "Things would be so much easier if those two would just make like most kids their age and jump each other like rabbits."
"You think that would make our living situation any less awkward, how exactly?"
"Well for one thing we could drop the whole boys' cabin, girls' cabin routine, and I could actually sleep in the same room as my fiancé," she smiled as the word fiancé rolld off her tongue. A word she grown very fond of in the months since the proposal. "Which reminds me. You are not going to Antarctica for the summer."
Marvel shrugged. "If that's where the research goes, then..."
"Then someone else will go do the research," Danvers interrupted. "Pretty soon you're going to have a wife who's not going to put up with these months-long expeditions to the middle of nowhere."
"Wasn't it your idea for me to do contract work for SHIELD? Something about us working more closely together?" Marvel said softly, pulling his smiling fiancé closer.
"Sharing a bunker at the North Pole with Beaker and Honeydew over there doesn't count."
"This isn't just busywork with a paycheck, you know. This research is vital to SHIELD," he explained seriously.
"And yet I'm sure there's someone in SHIELD qualified to take over for you. If you wanted to dig for meteor rocks in the cold for the rest of your life as a hermit, you shouldn't have asked me to marry you," she punctuated her words with a kiss.
"A mistake I can only hope to pay for, for the rest of my life," Marvel said, happily returning the kiss several times over. "Very well. Next dig site I map out, I'll send Fitz and Simmons and I'll make sure SHIELD can only budget them one bed."
"I'm sure they'll manage," Danvers laughed.
"Oh come on, can we quit with the snogging in the common room please? There are ladies with sensibilities present!" Fitz complained to the senior members of the expedition, signaling the end of their moment.
Simmons interjected. "I see nothing wrong with it. You're the immature prude that keeps whining about it."
"Are not!"
"Ladies and gentlemen the greatest minds SHIELD has to offer with the collective wit of fifth graders," Carol sighed.
Marvel shook his head in agreement. "Kids these days. They have the nerve to make me feel old AND stupid compared to them."
"Oh? And where does that put me?"
"With you around I can't help but feel weak and ugly by comparison," Marvel said without missing a beat.
"I'll ignore that you just indirectly called me an idiot, but only because I love you," the two shared another deep kiss before finally forcing themselves to break apart. "Dinner and a movie?"
"Our adventurous date nights," Danvers said before loudly commanding the attention of the others, "All right everyone. Our menu has the exact same variety of flavorless ration bricks as we've had every night."
"Ooh, do we have any more green stuff?" Fitz asked excitedly.
"Afraid not, we're down to brown stuff and bluish-gray stuff," Danvers shrugged as Fitz was noticeably disappointed.
"Well as for tonight's entertainment, we've got a real treat," Simmons said proudly as she started breaking down some of the testing equipment into a crude but effective HD projector. "This doesn't even hit major theaters for a few weeks, but we get an early screening! Credit goes to SHIELD's state of the art communications network as well as our independent intelligence operative..."
"You mean hacker. Why do we let her use our networks again?" Danvers asked, mostly to playfully heckle Simmons and throw off her speech. She had nothing against whoever was on the other end of the network, but she did find it sweet how Simmons would rush to defend her friend.
"Because Skye would be in them regardless and she makes a far better friend than an enemy. Anyway without any further interruptions, tonight's production will not debut in theaters for several weeks, yet thanks to Skye we get an early screening."
"As a SHIELD agent shouldn't you be objecting to pirating movies?" Marvel jabbed at Danvers.
"Dr. Marvel, this is SHIELD," Danvers said as she covered one eye and did a passable Nick Fury impression. "If we deem that downloading a goddamn movie is necessary for the safety of the goddamn world then no goddamn copyright law is going to stand in our way!"
The four laughed as the movie started to play. As the logo appeared and the opening credits started, Fitz groaned.
"Really? Of all the movies in all of cinematic history, we get the one about ice? I know it's topical and all, but this is ridiculous!"
"Shush, it's supposed to be as good as Lion King."
"You know what else is as good as Lion King? Lion King. And it has the bonus of being set in a warm sunny tropical safari instead of apparently right outside."
"If you both don't quit the commentary you'll both be standing outside until the movie's over," Danvers hushed them,
"Yes ma'am," Fitz and Simmons said apologetically.
The family friendly musical continued as Fitz occasionally sighed with displeasure. It was nearing another musical number, where the main character, a little girl, tapped playfully on a bedroom door.
"Do you want to build a snowman?"
Suddenly, a very out of place buzzing interrupted the song, coming from one of the still active terminals.
"Oh bollocks!" Fitz cursed, knowing full well what this could mean for him.
"I thought I told you to make sure all of your toys were taken care of before we left the dig site." Danvers glared at him. If Fitz had to go fix one of his toys at the dig site, she'd be obligated to follow him.to make sure he didn't go unconscious from the cold.
"I did! I double checked everything! Promise!"
"It's probably just Merryweather acting up again," Simmons commented.
"Hold on, I'm checking all of them," Fitz said angrily as he typed furiously, running through remote diagnostics. "Grumpy, check. Happy, check. Doc check. All excavation drones functioning normally." The small robots showing up on Fitz's screen were small, spider-like drones with precision drills on most of its limbs and cutting torches attached to the main body. Perfext excavation tools, but in this extreme cold they needed regular maintenance to ensure they wouldn't simply crack apart.
Marvel leaned over to Danvers, "So does he name everything he builds after Disney characters or does he switch themes every now and then?"
"Not sure, but I'm betting in three months we'll have a working freeze ray named Elsa."
"Now for the scout drones," Fitz said, remaining focused on the task at hand and completely oblivious to the chatter around him. The three scout drones on hand were of similar design, but instead of digging equipment, they were equipped with multiple adjustable rotors to hover in midair even in high winds and a network of small claws for attaching to any surface imaginable, with the best fiber optic cameras a spy organization could have on hand. "Flora, check. Fauna check. Merryweather... Unknown object found. It's probably just another glitch," Fitz growled at Simmons seemingly guessing the problem from the start.
"Double check anyway," Danvers ordered.
"Hold on a sec I'm pulling up the image now." Multiple displays pulled up, some of them holographic to account for lack of space on the monitor. The exact size and shape were impossible to determine with the limited data they currently had available, but it was easily larger than the small truck they were living in. "Whatever it is, it's huge."
"We did pick up a large up unidentifiable object on the scanners during initial excavation. Maybe a still intact meteorite instead of the shards and fragments we've been collecting?" Marvel started to speculate.
Fitz continued. "Seems to be mostly metal. There appears to be an opening. Maybe it's an alien ship of some kind? Hold on, I'm going to reconfigure Sleepy to clear more of a path. Won't take long," On his screen, the camera reading Merryweather started filming as one of the digging robots crawled into position and started drilling through the ice, heating it with the cutting torch and making fine precise tunnels. "It'll take a while to get the ice inside cleared out, but I can get some clearer pictures now..." The impatience to get back to the movie vanished as the other three gathered around Fitz to see what came up.
Various cameras and scanners started to map the strange large object from inside the tunnel, and what at first appeared to be a giant rock now turned to be mostly hollow. There were various fixtures and objects too ill-defined to completely identify but just familiar enough for them to identify the object from the inside as some sort of ship, though badly wrecked.
What interested them even more though were two humanoid shapes, most likely bodies. Again the scanning equipment they had could identify so much and the majority of their features remained undefined.
There was one striking detail that the scanners could make out in more detail than the rest. One of the bodies was holding a large round disc-shaped object. As the red white and blue pattern on the shield started to be defined, no one spoke. The thought was in the back of everyone's mind, but it was too fantastic to comprehend.
This was far greater a find than meteorites or aliens. This was going to a garage sale and finding the Holy Grail. This was going out to the beach and finding the Ark of the Covenant.
This was Captain America.
To be continued...