The Main Event Is About to Begin!

Washington, D.C., late at night.

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

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

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

Pierce chuckled and lightly touched 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 laboratory. "Begin the first phase of the experiment 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 sufficient protective measures yet—"

"I don't need your concerns." Pierce's voice suddenly 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. The mechanical arms in the laboratory slowly moved, adjusting the energy conduits in preparation to activate the cube.

Rumlow asked in a low voice, "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 go." 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 with certainty. "Fury won't trust Rogers, and Rogers won't trust Fury. As for us—" He lightly tapped the screen, and the display switched to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal archives. "We only need to take what we truly need while they're busy suspecting each other."

At the center of the laboratory, the Tesseract suddenly emitted a blinding blue light. The energy surge made every light in the room flicker wildly. Pierce's gaze returned to the cube, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism.

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 the secure room, you also went to the Pegasus Research Institute?" Fury's voice was low and dangerous. "Rogers, what game are you playing?"

"It's not a game, Fury." Steve met his eyes. "We're preventing an even greater disaster."

Natasha added, "Rumlow's special operations team already took the Tesseract. They must have begun studying its power by now."

Fury's single 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 silent for a moment.

Fury's eye shifted back and forth between Steve and Natasha. The only sound in the office was the faint hum of electronic equipment. 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 the window frame.

"Do you know what you're accusing us of?" Fury's voice suddenly sounded weary, as though he had aged ten years in an instant. "You're accusing S.H.I.E.L.D.—the organization I've 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, scattering the documents on his desk across the floor. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "Listen. I'll investigate this. But until the truth comes out..." His gaze sharpened. "You two will 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 several times on her tactical tablet. Four fully armed agents entered the office. Her expression was as professional as ever. "Please come with me."

Steve and Natasha exchanged a glance. Natasha gave a slight nod and headed for the door first. Steve hesitated briefly before following her.

After they 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 move immediately. Hydra took 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 saw it with their own eyes." Fury's eye flickered with complicated emotions. "But right now, I don't dare trust anyone—not even them."

"Understood." Tony quickly manipulated a virtual interface. "Banner and I will track 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 the sofa, the sandwiches before them untouched. Agent Hill and four fully armed agents guarded the door. The atmosphere was so tense that one could almost hear a pin drop.

"Fury still hasn't told me about the Winter Soldier." Steve suddenly slammed his hand against the table and rose to his feet, his voice carrying deliberately exaggerated fury. "I want to see him. Now!"

Hill remained professionally composed. "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 of the sofa: [Move]. Steve gave an almost imperceptible nod.

The instant Hill finished speaking, the two of them sprang up like arrows loosed from a bow. Steve lunged forward, disarming the two nearest agents with lightning speed before dropping the third with an elbow strike. Natasha slipped behind Hill like a phantom, her long legs tracing 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 watching everything that happens here!"

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

A faint minty scent spread through the room, and Hill and the agents soon fell unconscious. Steve arranged them on the sofa, even thoughtfully covering Hill with a jacket.

"The archives?" Natasha asked with a raised brow.

"The archives." Steve nodded.

The two casually walked out of the lounge as though they were merely heading to a routine meeting. The corridor cameras continued operating, but their feeds were 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 unlocked the biometric seal to the archives, 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 eyes hardened. "Then we have even more reason to get to the bottom of this."

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

Meanwhile, several blocks away, Fury watched the two people "quietly eating" on the surveillance feed, a flicker of suspicion crossing his eye.

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

Inside Hydra's secret laboratory, the blinding blue light abruptly vanished, plunging the entire space into eerie darkness. Pierce stood frozen in place, both hands tightly buried in his suit pockets.

His gaze swept over the unconscious special operations soldiers and scientists scattered across the floor before settling on Rumlow. Hydra's finest soldier was now kneeling on the ground, his eyes glowing an unnatural sky blue, with a scepter embedded with a golden gem pressed against his temple.

"Y-you... who are you?!" Pierce's voice involuntarily rose an octave. His attempt at composure could not conceal the obvious tremor in his tone.

At the center of the laboratory, the man wearing a golden horned helmet slowly turned around. His dark green robe swayed softly in the still air. A mocking sneer tugged at his lips. "I am Loki, Prince of Jotunheim and heir to Asgard."

"L-Loki?" Pierce instinctively stepped back half a pace, crushing a scattered glass test tube beneath his shoe. "The one from Norse mythology..."

"Mythology?" Loki suddenly burst into laughter, his voice carrying a chilling echo. "To ants like you, it can indeed only be called mythology."

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

Pierce swallowed, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He forced himself to stand straighter. "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. "You're nothing more than worms writhing in the shadows."

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

Pierce finally broke, his voice utterly losing its usual composure. "Give the cube back! It belongs to Hydra!"

A dangerous glint flashed through Loki's eyes. He snapped his fingers lightly, and every metal device in the laboratory suddenly twisted and warped, letting out teeth-grinding tearing noises. Surveillance screens burst one after another, sparks scattering everywhere.

"Now," Loki's voice became gentle, yet 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, and golden energy began spreading through his body. Pierce's pupils gradually dilated, the light in his eyes replaced by eerie golden radiance. His body trembled slightly before he finally stopped resisting.

"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 their eyes shining with the same golden light.

Washington, Trident Building. Inside S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top-secret archives, only the cold glow of terminal screens flickered in the darkness. Steve Rogers's fingers hovered above the keyboard, his breathing nearly stopping.

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

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

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

"I'm done here. How about you?" Natasha's voice came from behind him, carrying a trace 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 immediately sensed something was off, her brows drawing together slightly. "You look awful. What did you see?"

Steve took a deep breath and turned to face her. The blue glow of the screen cast shadows across his sharply defined features, 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 saw them too many times on the battlefield."

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

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

"Behind every fake report, someone died because of it." Steve suddenly raised his voice, suppressing an emotion Natasha could not understand. "It was like that seventy years ago, and it's still like that now."

The air in the archives seemed to freeze. Natasha had never seen the captain lose control like this—not even in the fiercest battles. She unconsciously stepped back half a pace, her right hand subtly moving toward the pistol at her waist.

"Steve," she said carefully, choosing her words, "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, his 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 softly. "But you have to tell me the real reason."

Steve's eyes flickered before hardening once more. He reached out and shut down the terminal. The blue glow faded, completely shrouding them both in darkness.

"Because Hydra's venomous serpent," his voice rang 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 moment."

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

Loki lounged on the laboratory table, his long legs casually crossed as his fingers idly tapped against the surface.

His scepter rested at an angle beside him, gleaming with dangerous golden light beneath the dim lamps.

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

Pierce immediately stepped forward. "My lord is wise. 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 accepted it and tapped it with his fingertip. A complex set of energy charts immediately unfolded in the air.

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

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly, like a snake spotting prey. He lightly jumped down from the laboratory table, his scepter striking the ground 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, the entirety of S.H.I.E.L.D. is like a ripe apple, ready at any moment to—"

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

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

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

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources, Hydra's sleeper agents..." Loki's slender fingers passed through the projection. "And the power of the Tesseract." He suddenly turned, dangerous light gleaming 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 curled his lips in satisfaction, gently tapping his scepter against the floor. "No, my dear Pierce. It is 'I' who can open the portal."

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

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

Loki turned to face the holographic projection and lightly tapped it with his scepter. The image changed to a view of the skies over 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."

"At your command, my lord." Every Hydra member in the base responded in unison, their voices unnervingly uniform.

Pierce approached Loki and asked, "Captain America is inside the building. Should we eliminate him?"

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

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

Loki's figure began to blur. "Remember, my dear servants... when the sun rises tomorrow, a new era will begin."

After Loki vanished completely, the Hydra members in the laboratory remained in their respectful postures. A moment later, Pierce mechanically turned and issued an emotionless order. "Activate 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.

Arbitrator Tower

The weariness vanished from Tony Stark's face, 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 stepped out of warped air, arms folded and expression arrogant, standing side by side with 2B.

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

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

Chen Tian nodded. "Yes."

"The Arbitrators should prepare to make their entrance."