SOMEWHERE ABOVE THE ARTIC
Somewhere above the Arctic, high in the sky, a sleek black jet flew steadily - The Quinjet. Inside, Steve Rogers gazed out the glass at the vast icy expanse, arms crossed, his expression unreadable, haunted by his last flight above the Artic tundra.
Before he could dwell further, Natasha's voice cut in from the pilots seat
"We're approaching the coordinates. Everyone, buckle in", Natasha Romanoff.
The Black Widow. A notorious super spy, well and truly a femme fatale.
"Intel reported a reactivated HYDRA base deep within the Arctic circle" she added.
Steve's gaze didn't leave the window. "Any idea what they're after?"
Next to him Clint adjusted his bow, his fingers tapping against the grip. "If its anything like Sokovia, we better hurry".
This isn't just a base," Bruce chimed in from behind, eyes scanning the data on his tablet. "I'm detecting unknown energy signatures — not gamma, not Loki's Scepter. Something completely new."
Tony's laugh rang out from the back of the jet. "Strange energy? Arctic base? Leave it to HYDRA to play the cliche villain."
The Quinjet pierced through a thick bank of clouds, its engines humming steadily as the Arctic landscape came into view. An endless blanket of white stretched in all directions, broken only by jagged ridges of glacial rock and scattered icebergs.
Thor stood near the rear hatch, silent, his cape swaying gently with the vibration of the craft. His gaze fixed on the horizon, eyes narrowed, Mjolnir in hand. Something about this mission put him on edge.
"We're coming up on the site," Natasha called out from the cockpit.
Tony stepped forward from the rear, examining the barren landscape they were approaching. "We sure this intel's good? Because it seems like a wild goose chase."
"It came from a SHIELD sattelite last week, soldiers moving in and out" Steve replied, adjusting the straps on his shield. "Too specific to ignore."
The Quinjet slowed, its powerful vertical thrusters kicking up snow as it descended onto the frozen plateau. The rear hatch hissed open, letting in a blast of cold, dry air.
The team stepped out onto the ice one by one—Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Tony, and Thor. Snow crunched under their boots as they scanned the windswept expanse. Nothing but white and wind.
"This is the spot?" Clint asked, raising an eyebrow. "Looks empty."
"JARVIS, run a scan of the area," Tony muttered inside his helmet.
"Sir, I'm detecting weak thermal signatures. Approximately twenty meters down."
Glancing towards Steve, Tony raised a palm. "Want me to knock?"
Steve nodded. "Go ahead."
Repeated pulses of energy shot into the ice, melting a shallow crater. Steam hissed as a dull, black surface emerged—etched with faint markings that shimmered slightly in the light.
Natasha crouched beside it, brushing away frost. "Looks like a hatch."
"Definitely not HYDRA tech," Tony said, crouching. JARVIS already scanning the material.
"Sir," JARVIS responded, "the scanned element does not exist in any Earth database. Its structural integrity exceeds that of Captain Rogers' shield by several magnitudes."
Any chance you can read this?" Steve asked, nodding toward the hatch.
Thor crouched beside it, eyes narrowing as he studied the runes carved into the metal. They stirred faint memories—childhood lessons, watching his mother, Frigga, practice magic in the golden halls of Asgard.
"They resemble magical runes… but their structure is foreign. Not of Midgard. Not even Asgard."
He gripped both sides of the hatch and pulled. It didn't budge.
An awkward moment passed. Steve stepped forward. "Together."
With Thor, Steve, and finally Tony combining strength, the hatch groaned open with a long, hissing breath. It slid aside, revealing a narrow spiral staircase, vanishing into unknown darkness.
Steve led the way, Bruce followed behind, tablet in hand, its screen glowing dimly in the dark.
"These readings are off the charts," Bruce murmured, eyes wide behind his glasses. It's... nothing I've ever seen."
The staircase spiraled endlessly downward, before finally spilling into a corridor. Its walls seemingly forged from the same smooth, silvery-black metal as the hatch, runes carved here and there in sharp, jagged patterns—like warnings etched by something not quite human.
The team trailed in silence—Tony murmuring to JARVIS, Natasha and Clint scanning angles, weapons ready. Bruce walked near the rear, tablet in hand, tracking energy readings that only grew more erratic the deeper they went. Thor kept pace beside the Captain, his eyes lingering on the walls as the runes grew more jagged, more clustered.
"These markings…" Thor muttered, running his fingers across one. "They are old. Much older than Midgard. Some are protective… some are meant to warn."
"Seal what?" Steve asked.
Thor didn't answer.
Dim lights pulsed faintly from overhead strips, barely illuminating the jagged runes and the frost-laced metal.
They advanced carefully. Steve at point, Clint just behind, covering their six. Tony broke off toward a branching side room—a cracked door with faded HYDRA insignia.
"This might be the command center," Tony said. "JARVIS, see what you can pull."
The room inside was wrecked—panels ripped out, wires sparking faintly. Consoles were shattered, but one central interface still flickered with life.
Tony crouched, connecting his suit's interface.
"Looks like they tried to wipe this place. But we might be able recover fragments."
Thor stepped beside him, eyes narrowing at the floor. Runes—twisting and angular—sprawled across the walls like scars, converging toward something deeper. A warning. Or a boundary….
Meanwhile, Bruce had wandered further down the corridor, eyes glued to his readings.
"There's something here," he muttered. "Energy readings keep spiking… a huge one. Fifty meters ahead."
He turned the corner and froze.
At the end of the chamber, bathed in a dim sickly green light, stood a towering glass pod—its surface blackened with frost, tubes trailing from its base into glowing conduits of pulsing green crystal.
Bruce approached slowly, breath fogging as he stepped closer. Trembling, he wiped his hand across the chamber's surface.
Behind the fog was a face.
A boy—no, a teenager—maybe seventeen. Pale. shriveled, body suspended in still liquid. His face seemed carved out of marble, his skin flawless, his hair cut short and black. A white bodysuit clung to him. Around his neck, a metal collar embedded with glowing green crystals and runes.
He stumbled back, legs weak. "Guys. You need to see this."
Moments later, the team stood gathered before the chamber.
"What is this?" Steve asked, staring through the glass. "Another experiment?"
"I recognize some of these runes," Thor said slowly, brushing frost off the base. "Three of them repeat around the collar… Sol....God."
Silence.
"JARVIS," Tony's voice rang out, voice low and urgent. "Find me something—logs, files, anything."
"Video found Sir, Playing it now".
[the screen flickers into life, static bleeding across the edges, the video poor quality and grainy. A stern faced middle aged man leans into view, his grey HYDRA uniform streaked with blood, his face red and flushed"
"If your watching this, watching me…. Then you've found the ship, found him…."
Static
"My name is General Erich Wagner. Hydra Deep Research Division, formed after the last war. Me and my team were assigned to finding the tesseract, we followed its lingering energy trail out here, to this god forsaken icy hell, and thats when we found it."
Static spikes, his image freezes and buffers, the screen stutters and then resumes
"We found it buried deep in the Actic shelf, and inside we found tech beyond our imagination, materials unlike those found on earth. And we found…. The boy. A child, frozen in a sealing pod deep within the ship, surrounded by vague symbols and runes. Yet alive. Vitals stable, beyond anything we've ever catalogued.
[His breathing quickens and his eyes dart around]
We thought we could control him, use him. To reclaim our power, to fulfill our mission. That we could replicate him, build from him. We took readings, ran tests, we thought he was contained.
His voice lowers and he leans close to the camera
We were wrong
He woke once, for less than 20 seconds. 20 men died. 2 vaporised and 3 froze. Just from his eyes opening. He didnt even move.
We studied the crystal keeping him secure. Its some kind of radiation supressant, it drains him, keeps him asleep. Barely.
[metal creaks in the background, Wagner fliches his eyes darting around the room]
If your listening, you may think your stonger, smarter that you could do what we failed to do. You cant.
Dont be fooled by his appearance, hes no child, hes not alien, not a mutant, hes something older, something buried, something designed.
More static, the video biffers and his voice rings out more intense
"Mistake….….Sun.....DO NOT LET….. TOUCH HIM"
[video cuts and flickers back, Wagner is trembling, face pallid and ghost white]
This is my last log, whoever you are, whatever you do, DONT OPEN THE CHAMBER. NEVER break the loop, if you value our lives - your life, leave him buried
He salutes stiffly, jaw clenched
This is General Wagner signing off, HEIL HYDRA.