The Main Event Takes the Stage

Washington, D.C., late at night.

Beneath an abandoned military warehouse lay Hydra's secret base. Under dim lights, Alexander Pierce stood before the glass isolation chamber in the central laboratory, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared feverishly at the floating Tesseract inside.

"Finally..." A cold smile curled across his lips. "We finally have it."

Rumlow stood beside him, one arm wrapped in bandages from his injuries during the battle at the research institute, though his gaze remained sharp. "Sir, S.H.I.E.L.D. has begun a full lockdown. Fury will definitely pursue this to the end."

Pierce chuckled softly and reached out to touch the glass, as though he could feel the energy radiating from the cube. "Let him investigate. He'll only find more 'surprises.'" He turned toward the scientists in the lab. "Begin the first phase of testing immediately. I need to know the limits of its energy output."

A bespectacled researcher hesitated. "Sir, directly activating the Tesseract may trigger uncontrollable energy fluctuations. We don't have adequate protective measures yet—"

"I don't need your concerns." Pierce's voice turned icy. "Hydra has waited seventy years for this moment. We will not stop because of 'possible risks.'"

The researcher swallowed and quickly lowered his head to operate the console. Mechanical arms slowly moved through the laboratory, adjusting the energy-guiding devices in preparation to activate the cube.

Rumlow asked quietly, "Sir, Rogers and Romanoff already know about our operation. They'll definitely go to Fury."

Pierce narrowed his eyes, his smile deepening. "Then let them." He walked over to the surveillance screen and pulled up a live feed of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. "Fury will only suspect everyone now, including his own people. And Rogers... the angrier he gets, the easier it will be for him to make mistakes."

Rumlow frowned. "But if they join forces..."

"They won't." Pierce cut him off, his tone certain. "Fury won't trust Rogers, and Rogers won't trust Fury. And we—" He tapped the screen lightly, switching the image to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal archives. "Only need to take what we truly need while they are busy doubting each other."

In the center of the lab, the Tesseract suddenly emitted a blinding blue glow. The energy fluctuations made the lights throughout the room flicker erratically. Pierce's gaze returned to the cube, fanatic light gleaming in his eyes.

S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

Steve and Natasha stood in Fury's office, the atmosphere heavy.

"So not only did you break into a classified room, you also went to the Pegasus Research Institute?" Fury's voice was low and dangerous. "Rogers, what game are you playing?"

Steve met his gaze. "This isn't a game, Fury. We're stopping a greater disaster."

Natasha added, "Rumlow's special operations team has already taken the Tesseract. They must be researching its power by now."

Fury's lone eye narrowed slightly. "And you believe Hydra is inside S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"We don't believe it." Steve clenched his fists. "We know it."

The office fell briefly silent.

Fury's lone eye moved back and forth between Steve and Natasha. The faint hum of electronic equipment was the only sound in the office. He slowly walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at the brightly lit S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, his fingers unconsciously tapping against the window frame.

"Do you know what you're accusing them of?" Fury's voice suddenly became weary, as if he had aged ten years in an instant. "You're accusing S.H.I.E.L.D.—the organization I have controlled for more than a decade—of being infiltrated and controlled by Hydra?"

Steve stepped forward. "We saw it with our own eyes—"

"Enough!" Fury spun around sharply, sending the papers on his desk scattering across the floor. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "Listen, I will investigate this. But until the truth comes out..." His gaze sharpened. "You will both remain under supervision."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Supervision?"

"Hill." Fury addressed Agent Hill. "Take the captain and Romanoff to the lounge. Get them something to eat." He added meaningfully, "Stay with them the entire time."

Hill nodded and tapped her tactical tablet a few times. Four fully armed security agents entered the office. Her expression remained as professional as ever. "Please come with me."

Steve and Natasha exchanged a look. Natasha gave a slight nod and headed for the door first. Steve hesitated for a moment before ultimately following her.

Once they had left, Fury immediately opened an encrypted channel. A holographic projection lit up, and Tony Stark's slightly weary face appeared in the air.

"Fury?" Tony frowned. "Do you know it's three in the morning?"

"No time for small talk, Stark." Fury lowered his voice. "I need the Arbitrators to act immediately. Hydra has taken the Tesseract."

Tony's expression instantly turned serious. "The Tesseract? How did you have that thing? And how did Hydra take it?"

"Rogers and Romanoff witnessed it themselves." Fury's lone eye gleamed with complicated emotions. "But right now, I can't trust anyone—not even them."

"Understood." Tony quickly worked through a virtual interface. "Dr. Banner and I will trace the Tesseract's energy fluctuations." He paused. "What are you planning to do with the captain and the others?"

"Monitor them for now," Fury said coldly. "If they're innocent, they'll prove it soon enough."

Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. lounge, Steve and Natasha sat on a sofa, the sandwiches before them untouched. Agent Hill and four fully armed security agents stood guard at the door. The atmosphere was so tense, one could nearly hear a pin drop.

"Fury still hasn't told me about the Winter Soldier." Steve suddenly slammed his hand on the table and sprang to his feet, deliberate anger amplifying his voice. "I want to see him. Right now!"

Hill maintained her professional composure. "Captain Rogers, the director has already left the Trident Building. He needs to personally arrange some... special investigations."

Natasha lightly tapped Morse code against the armrest: [Move]. Steve gave an almost imperceptible nod.

The instant Hill finished speaking, the two of them burst into action like arrows loosed from a bow. Steve dashed forward, disarming the two nearest agents with lightning speed before knocking down a third with an elbow strike. Natasha flashed behind Hill like a phantom, her long legs cutting a graceful arc through the air as the remaining two agents fell in response.

"Sorry, Maria." Natasha efficiently removed everyone's communication devices, her movements as practiced as a carefully choreographed ballet.

Hill's eyes widened in shock. "Have you two lost your minds? Fury is monitoring every move here!"

A sly smile tugged at Natasha's lips. "Oh? Then he must think we're still happily enjoying our sandwiches." She pulled a small spray canister from her tactical belt. "Sweet dreams."

Along with a faint scent of mint, Hill and the security agents quickly fell unconscious. Steve settled them onto the sofas and even thoughtfully draped a jacket over Hill.

"The archives?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The archives." Steve nodded.

The two casually walked out of the lounge as though they were merely headed to a routine meeting. The corridor's surveillance cameras were still running, but their feeds had strangely frozen on the scene of them quietly eating—JARVIS had already taken control of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance system.

As they used their biometrics to unlock the archive room, Steve suddenly stopped. "Nat, if the evidence we find proves Fury is innocent..."

"Then we'll really become fugitives." Natasha smoothly finished for him, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "But compared to that, I'm more worried we'll find proof that he's Hydra."

Steve's gaze hardened. "Then we have even more reason to get to the bottom of this."

As the final firewall was breached, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most classified files slowly unfolded before them.

At that moment, several blocks away, Fury watched the two of them "quietly eating" on the surveillance feed, a trace of suspicion flashing through his lone eye.

He instinctively touched the old-fashioned pager in his pocket and muttered, "I hope you know what you're doing..."

In Hydra's secret laboratory, the blinding blue light suddenly went out, plunging the entire space into an eerie dimness. Pierce stood frozen in place, both hands jammed tightly into his suit pockets.

His gaze swept over the unconscious special operations agents and scientists sprawled across Man's floor before finally settling on Rumlow—his most elite soldier was now kneeling on the ground, his eyes glowing an unnatural sky blue, with a scepter embedded with a golden gem pressed to his temple.

"Y-you... who are you?!" Pierce's voice rose an octave without his control, obvious tremors slipping into his attempt at calmness.

In the center of the laboratory, the man wearing a golden horned helmet slowly turned around. His dark green robes swayed lightly in the windless room. A mocking sneer curved his lips. "I am Loki, Prince of Jotunheim and heir to Asgard."

"Lo... Loki?" Pierce unconsciously staggered back half a step, his dress shoe crushing a glass test tube on the floor. "The one from Norse mythology..."

"Mythology?" Loki suddenly burst into laughter, its echo enough to make one's skin crawl. "To insects like you, it can indeed only be called mythology."

He elegantly turned the scepter, golden energy flowing around its tip. Rumlow immediately rose stiffly to his feet like a puppet on strings, his eyes now completely blue.

Pierce swallowed, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He forced himself to stand straight. "This is Hydra territory. Whoever you are—"

"Hydra?" Loki suddenly teleported in front of Pierce, close enough for them to feel each other's breath. "Nothing more than a pack of worms wriggling in the shadows."

He reached out and gently brushed Pierce's cheek, but Pierce trembled violently as though touched by a venomous snake. "Look at your pathetic experiment. You can't even control one ten-thousandth of the Tesseract's energy."

Pierce finally snapped, his voice completely losing its former composure. "Give us back the cube! It belongs to Hydra!"

A dangerous light flashed in Loki's eyes. He snapped his fingers lightly, and every metal device in the laboratory suddenly twisted and warped, producing agonizing tearing sounds. Surveillance screens burst one after another, scattering sparks everywhere.

"Now," Loki's voice suddenly softened, yet it was more terrifying than any roar, "tell me, Mr. Pierce. Who is the master here?"

The tip of the scepter slowly pressed against Pierce's chest, golden energy beginning to spread through his body. Pierce's pupils gradually widened, the light in his eyes replaced by an eerie golden glow. His body trembled slightly before finally ceasing all resistance.

"I... am your loyal servant..." Pierce said mechanically, his voice hollow and obedient.

Loki smiled in satisfaction. "Very good. Now, let us begin the real plan." He turned and walked toward the center of the laboratory, followed by two fully controlled puppets—Rumlow and Pierce, both with the same golden light gleaming in their eyes.

Washington, Trident Building. Within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top-secret archive room, only the cold light of terminal screens flickered in the darkness. Steve Rogers's fingers hovered over the keyboard, his breathing nearly stopped.

On the screen, the final conclusion of "Investigation into the Car Accident Involving Howard Stark and His Wife" stabbed into his vision like a sharp knife:

"Based on scene evidence and ballistic analysis, this incident was suspected to have been carried out by Hydra agent 'Winter Soldier.'"

Steve's pupils suddenly contracted. The instant he heard footsteps behind him, he quickly minimized the report window.

"I'm done here. What about you?" Natasha's voice came from behind him, carrying a hint of fatigue.

Steve secretly clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. He forced himself to remain calm, but the throbbing veins at his temples betrayed him.

"These files..." His voice was terrifyingly low. "They've all been tampered with."

Natasha keenly sensed something wrong, her brows furrowing slightly. "You look terrible. What exactly did you see?"

Steve took a deep breath and turned to face her. The screen's blue glow cast shadows over his sharply defined face, making his expression even more unreadable.

"These reports..." He pointed at a series of altered files on the screen. "Every one of them bears Hydra's traces. I know their methods too well. I've seen them too many times on the battlefield."

Natasha suspiciously scanned the screen, but Steve had already deftly switched to other irrelevant files. She noticed his tense jawline and slightly trembling fingers.

"Just because of that?" she asked softly. "These files are certainly suspicious, but not enough to make you..."

"Behind every falsified report, someone died because of it." Steve suddenly raised his voice, suppressing an emotion Natasha could not understand. "That was true seventy years ago, and it is still true now."

The air in the archive room seemed to freeze. Natasha had never seen the captain this out of control—not even in the fiercest battles. She instinctively stepped back half a pace, her right hand inconspicuously moving toward the pistol at her waist.

"Steve," she chose her words cautiously, "we need to report what we found to Chen Tian and Fury."

"No." Steve cut her off decisively. "We can't trust anyone right now." He abruptly stood up, the metal chair scraping harshly across the floor. "I need you to help me access more files, but it has to remain absolutely secret."

Natasha's green eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the suddenly unfamiliar man before her like a feline assessing prey. In the end, she slowly nodded.

"Fine," she said quietly. "But you have to tell me the real reason."

Steve's gaze flickered before becoming resolute again. He reached out and shut down the terminal. The blue screen light vanished, completely enveloping them in darkness.

"Because Hydra's venomous snake," his voice was especially clear in the dark, "has begun devouring S.H.I.E.L.D.'s heart. And what we need to do is gather enough evidence and expose it completely at the right time."

He gave the separately encrypted report one final look, struggling inwardly. It was not time yet—not to face Tony, nor to face Bucky.

Loki lounged atop the laboratory bench, his long legs casually crossed as his fingers lightly tapped the tabletop.

His scepter rested at an angle beside him, giving off a dangerous golden gleam under the dim lights.

"Tell me," Loki suddenly said, "about that... interesting energy source at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Pierce immediately stepped forward. "My lord is perceptive. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Arc Reactor is indeed the ideal energy node for opening a portal."

Loki raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.

A researcher tremblingly handed over a holographic report. Pierce took it and tapped it with his fingertip, immediately unfolding a complex energy chart in the air.

"According to our calculations," Pierce said, restrained excitement in his voice, "this reactor's energy output is enough to sustain a large spatial passage for more than seventy-two hours." He paused, a meaningful curve rising at his lips. "And... more than seventy percent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personnel are now ours."

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly, like a snake that had spotted prey. He lightly jumped down from the laboratory bench, his scepter striking the floor with a crisp sound.

"Seventy percent?" he repeated softly, amusement in his voice. "What a... delightful number."

Pierce bowed slightly. "As you can see, my lord, all of S.H.I.E.L.D. is like a ripe apple, ready at any time to—"

The tip of Loki's scepter suddenly pressed against Pierce's chest. The icy touch of metal made the Hydra leader tense up involuntarily.

"Your proposal..." Loki's voice was smooth as silk, "is indeed... interesting."

He slowly withdrew the scepter and walked toward the holographic projection. A three-dimensional image of the Trident Building slowly rotated before him, every level of its structure plainly visible.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources, Hydra's hidden agents..." Loki's slender fingers passed through the projection. "Along with the power of the Tesseract." He suddenly turned around, dangerous light glinting in his eyes. "It truly is a perfect combination."

"My lord..." Pierce's voice was respectful and devout. "As long as we control the reactor in the Trident Building... we can open the portal for you..."

Loki's lips curled in satisfaction, his scepter lightly tapping the floor. "No, dear Pierce. It is I who can open the portal."

He elegantly paced before each Hydra member, ensuring the Mind Stone's glow illuminated every one of them. "You... are merely my loyal servants."

Rumlow dropped to one knee, the fanaticism unique to the controlled ringing in his voice. "It is our honor to serve you, great Lord Loki."

Loki turned toward the holographic projection and tapped it lightly with his scepter. The image changed to the skies above New York. "At dawn tomorrow, the Chitauri army will descend through the portal." Madness gleamed in his eyes. "And you... my loyal servants, will ensure everything proceeds smoothly."

"As you command, my lord." Every Hydra member in the base responded in unison, their voices so synchronized they were chilling.

Pierce moved closer to Loki and asked, "Captain America is inside the building. Should we deal with him?"

Loki chuckled and shook his head, waving the scepter before Pierce's eyes. "No, let them live." His voice was like a snake's hiss. "I want these ridiculous heroes to watch with their own eyes as their world... collapses in my hands."

"Your will is our mission," Rumlow said with his head lowered, yellow light flickering in his eyes.

Loki's figure began to blur. "Remember, my dear servants... tomorrow at sunrise will mark the beginning of a new era."

After Loki completely disappeared, the Hydra members in the laboratory remained in their respectful postures. A moment later, Pierce mechanically turned around and issued an emotionless command. "Initiate the 'Shieldbreaker' protocol. All units enter highest alert."

"For the glory of Lord Loki." Rumlow and the other agents answered in unison. Their former cunning and ambition were gone, leaving only absolute obedience under the Mind Stone's control.

Arbitrators Building

The exhaustion on Tony Stark's face vanished, replaced by a calm and sharp gaze.

He turned to look at Chen Tian, who stood in the center of the laboratory.

"What do we do next?" Tony crossed his arms.

Chen Tian lowered his head in thought, then looked up and snapped his fingers. Madara Uchiha emerged from the distorted air, arms crossed and face proud as he stood shoulder to shoulder with 2B.

"Next comes the main event, my brother." Chen Tian's lips curled slightly.

Tony's eyes lit up. "You mean?"

Chen Tian nodded. "Yes."

"The Arbitrators are ready to take the stage."