Note: This series takes place prior to all the other Converso series by a few weeks.
Resurrection:Part 4 of 5.
1942
It had been Pearl Harbor that had really let Steve Rogers know what he wanted to do with his life. He wasn't a fan of bullies, and the shock of the sudden, senseless attack had created a drive in his heart that wouldn't stop until he'd found a way to serve his country. After months of seeing all his friends enlist into the military, he'd finally found a way to help that didn't require a perfect physique.
"Are you ready, Steven?" A voice asked, muffled by the metal coffin Steve found himself lying in. All around the tube Steve could hear people going about their business, they were all probably getting ready for the experiment, getting ready to play God.
"Ready as I'll ever be, sir." The young, frail man from the Bronx shivered from the cold steel brushing up against his skin.
There was no response, and Steve lay alone in the darkness for several long moments, completely calm about the possibly lethal experiment he was about to undertake. That was something he'd been taught from a young age, fear didn't serve a purpose. All it did was remind Steve about what he already knew, he was alive and still had a chance.
Without any warning, blue light began to fill the container, bombarding Steve's body with some kind of radiation until the metal tube began to shake with all the power. The muscles in the young Irish American's body began to ache, and a loud scream filled the air, which Steve quickly realized was coming from his own mouth. Eventually the screams stopped, and the door sealing the man inside the coffin burst off into the air. As the blue light disappeared, Steve stood up to his feet in full view of the stunned scientists who had made this experiment possible.
He'd been told what was going to happen, he hadn't quite believed it... but here was. Taller, stronger... and more handsome than he ever could have imagined.
"Sorry about the tube." He said, panting heavily as he tried to adjust to his new form. All his organs had grown in his size and it would probably take him a while to get used to the feel.
"The tube?!" Doctor Erskine, the project's chief scientist let out a laugh. "Damn the tube, boy!" He exclaimed in his German accent. "We've just won the war!"
Cheers filled the air, champagne was brought out and Steve was congratulated for being the perfect little lab rat.
"Steve Rogers." Erskine said hours later at the after party. "I want you to meet Doctor Heinrich Zemo. Without his research, Project REBIRTH could have gone very differently."
A man dressed in a grey tuxedo appeared behind the Doctor, a red rose sticking out of his collar. He was quite tall, slightly smaller than Steve in his new body, with a loose, purple mask pulled loosely over his face, completely obscuring it from view. Indeed the only visible part of his skull were the two blue eyes that peered out from the slits near the mask's center. In his hand, Doctor Zemo cradled a glass of cheap, red champagne, something that he only seemed to be carrying as a formality, as he didn't seem to have touched it.
"How ironic." He said, voice cold and as deep as the Atlantic Ocean. "America's new hope against the Nazis is Aryan." Zemo looked to his colleague before planting his glass down on a nearby table. "I wonder why that is?" He asked sarcastically, alluding to the checkered past of the project's chief scientist. Zemo outstretched a gloved hand, unimpressed with the result of a dozen months of work by the world's greatest scientists.
"Nice to meet you, Doctor." Steve said, shaking Heinrich's hand firmly. Even beneath the Doctor's leather gloves, Steve could sense the frost radiating from the man's body. "Great to finally meet you."
"Charmed."
Doctor Erskine forced out a smile at the two, probably drunk from the night's affairs. It made sense that he would be so happy with his work, it wasn't everyday someone created the perfect super soldier.
"Excellent!" He said, cheerful and clearly satisfied with the introduction. "I can already the two of you are going to be great friends!"
_________________________________________
Present Day
Refuge
It had taken several hours of hard work, but Baron Zemo had finally accomplished his goal. Dirt covered his scarred, shirtless body, and a filthy shovel hung over his shoulder as he looked down at the freshly laid grave of his beloved wife.
"In Sokovia we have a saying." The Baron sighed, exhausted yet still determined to finish the day with honor. He took a breath to remember the words before continuing his sentence. "'Bury your own dead.'"
Behind Heinrich, his son was watching from an electronic wheelchair, legs covered in casts from the injuries he'd sustained against Captain America the other day. Unfortunately not all his injuries were physical, and the trauma of watching his mother murdered would surely have negative effects on the young man's future.
"What does that mean?" Helmut asked, face also covered with bruises from the conflict. The father stared at his son with nothing but love in his heart, understanding there was a chance he'd never see him again.
"It means you deal with your own problems." He finally explained, casting the shovel aside and preparing the necessary requirements for his trip from the electronic device connected to his preferred mode of transport. "Soon I hope you will understand it fully."
Helmut looked concerned, unsure of what his father was getting at. He wheeled around in his chair as Heinrich stepped by, and for a couple of seconds he stared at the fresh mound of dirt where his mother's body lay.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
A jet zoomed over their heads before finally beginning to descend towards the ground, having been called in by the older Zemo.
"You'll guard Refuge in my stead." Heinrich explained as the jet shot a grappling line down towards him, its purpose being to pull him up. "I'm going to America."
Helmut watched his last living relative jump up into the craft's cockpit, and a feeling of sorrow filled his body as he thought about all the missing moments the two hadn't shared. He hadn't been a perfect son, indeed he'd been quite rebellious at times... and now he regretted it completely.
"Why?" He yelled.
The jet began to rise back up into the air, and the older Zemo's voice chimed in over the communication channel used by the two.
"To finish what I started." He answered, a micro second before the jet disappeared into the sky.
_______________________________________
New York City
It had been a long time since Captain America had visited New York. Judging from the crispness of the air, and the outfits of the people in the streets he'd arrived some time around Autumn, it was a rough guess, as he hadn't had chance to check the date. In all honesty he didn't even know what year it was... but it didn't matter. He was a quick learner. Steve stood on one of the many bronze rooftops populating the area, scanning his old territory dressed in his full uniform, with little more than a small jacket to keep him warm.
"Brave new world." He chuckled to himself before suddenly frowning. "How annoying."
After surveying the world for several hours, the Captain finally made his move, taking his time he dropped down through a window into the apartment of his target.
"Colonel Fury?" He yelled as he landed in the dimly lit room. "I called earlier." He stood to his feet, the only visible part of his body visible in the shadows was the white star hanging on his chest. "You know who I am."
One of the shadows in the room shifted, revealing a man that the Captain knew very well. A cigar stuck out of his clenched mouth, and the one eye visible in the dark turned bright red as it scanned the soldier with a red wave of alien energy.
"Hello, Steve." Nick Fury growled, taking the brown cigar from his mouth.
"Good god!" Captain America yelled. "Nick Fury? You've barely aged!"
While his appearance was still that of a young, hardened man, the Captain's former ally had changed quite a bit. Several scars covered the man's stone face, and his left arm seemed to have been replaced with a cybernetic variant.
"Yeah..." Fury growled, casting the cigar aside. "I'll have to tell you about that some time." Steve chose to leave the questions for later, and instead focused on the mission at hand. He moved towards his friend and smiled.
"Are you still loyal, Nick?" He asked, shield reflecting some of the light shining through the window. "Do you still want to make America great again?"
"Damn right I do."
The Captain grinned, his plan for world peace going exactly as he wanted.
"Great." He said. "I'm going to need some men..." Steve paused, mind working at a thousand miles an hour as it came up with all kinds of tactics. "And some bombs." He added.
________________________________________________
Chicago
No matter how quickly Zemo slashed his sword towards his foe, the creature he was facing somehow managed to regrow whatever strange, false, material limb he had managed to sever. It was quite irritating, and made winning this conflict seem almost impossible.
It had only taken the Baron a few hours to return to the mainland, it had taken even less time for him to locate one of his former partners. Usually he preferred to work alone, but if past experience showed anything, he was going to need some help if he wanted to even stand a chance against his invincible opponent. Unfortunately, the meeting wasn't going as he'd predicted.
"Doughboy kill." The glob of living matter grumbled as it shot creamy tendrils out towards its attacker, snaring Heinrich in his limbs and knocking him away.
"Enough!" Zemo yelled angrily as he was slammed against one of the many of the walls of the warehouse he'd dared to venture inside."Zola! End this, before I end you!"
A sharp, piercing whistle gained the dough creature's attention, and with a small whimper it released the battered Baron before turning into a puddle and retreating out of sight.
"Are YOU impreSSED wiTH DOUghboy, MY FRIend?"A strange, metallic voice crackled as a square, robotic body plodded into the room, green lights flickering around the large, round face in the robot's orange torso.
"I should be." Heinrich snapped bitterly while wiping muck from his outfit. "I'm the one who helped you design him."
Arnim Zola laughed, his voice sounding like a dubstep concert as he activated the lights to the building, bathing it in crackling yellow. As Zemo got a clearer look at his old ally he realized that the years hadn't been kind.
"What CAn I DO FOR yoU, Baron?"He asked. Zemo didn't respond, too busy polishing his blade.
"Guess."
The image of Zola's face shimmered, distorted with electrical feedback. Whatever was powering the man's body was seriously outdated in terms of hardware.
"You NEED my HElp to KILL the MOSt danGEROus man ALIVE?"
Heinrich nodded, completely stern and lacking in any sense of humor.
"I MaY have JUsT the Thing for you!"Arnim said before clicking his fingers. The sound of mechanics rose through the air as the floor began to shift. Slowly several large containers rose from the ground, accompanied by an old TV that would have been outdated in the early 1980s. Slowly Zola pulled several round devices from one of the containers and showed them to the Baron.
"Grenades?" Zemo asked before quickly biting his tongue. He hated appearing wrong before Zola, it always made him feel like an idiot. "No. Far too simple. Let me guess... Adhesive X?"
"NoT QUite!"The mechanized soldier chuckled while handing the grenades over. "WhIle you were GOne I created my OWN foRM of the Adhesive!"Zemo stared at one of the devices for a second, curious. "AdHEIsive Z! It's FAR less PERMANENT THan the former!"
After a brief time of examining the devices and learning all of their capabilities, Baron Zemo let them clip to his belt. He adjusted it slightly, ensuring none of them would explode when he didn't want them to, and finally he turned to his ally.
"Thank you, Arnim." He said, being completely genuine. "This means a lot to me." Zola chose not to reply, so rather than try and gain a response Zemo chose to simply leave and continue his search for the Captain. However, just before he left, something occurred to him. He turned back to Arnim Zola and asked one last question.
"By the way, Arnim. Have you had any luck with removing Adhesive X?" He pointed towards the mask on his face. "For obvious reasons I'm hoping you managed to find a way to dissolve the damn thing."
A look of sorrow filled the Doctor's face.
"I'M soRRy, Baron. I'VE had NO luCK."
Heinrich sighed slightly and turned to leave. It was a shame, he hadn't had much luck in this life... with this tragic news being the latest of many unfortunate incidents, and as he stepped out into the wide, open world which he inhabited, he began to realize that it was only going to get worse.
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