The man in the bird-like armor was, of course, Adrian. He had long been plotting in secret, waiting for the chance to drain Steve's life force.
In fact, with his position, it would have been impossible for Adrian to uncover the schemes of Steve, Tony, and the others. The real reason he appeared now had everything to do with Steve's own changes.
Adrian had used his status to request Vought's intelligence division to keep track of the man's movements. But after his conversation with Carter, Steve made up his mind to completely sever ties with Vought. He wanted to take a stand as an independent force, as a protector of the world rather than a tool of the company.
And the first step to independence was cutting off all contact with them.
Steve blocked every channel Vought had to reach him. Naturally, that sort of shift did not go unnoticed. After all, to them, he was not just a soldier or another enhanced human. He was their star, a symbol of America. He might not have had powers like the Fantastic Four, but his popularity alone made him someone they valued greatly.
The news that he had gone silent didn't even need Adrian to use his authority. It reached his ears quickly. From there, just a few simple questions were enough for him to get all the information he needed and plan this ambush.
"Captain America, who would have thought, after half a century, you would once again walk among us."
While speaking, the mutant Adrian captured was already reduced to a husk, the armor draining his life away. The sight was so horrifying that even Steve dared not act rashly. Although he wanted to save that mutant, he had to weigh the chance of success.
He, Winter Soldier, and Adrian, now the Vulture, formed a tense triangle. At any moment, any of the three could strike at the others. In such a delicate situation, Steve could only watch helplessly as the mutant was reduced to a corpse.
Adrian, on the other hand, felt nothing but joy.
He had hidden his face carefully, unwilling to give up the comfortable life he had built. He wanted to live, but he also wanted to keep the respect, the career, and the achievements that had taken him half a lifetime. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he refused to become an infamous criminal.
What truly filled him with elation was the change in his own body.
He had never felt so light before. He hadn't gained the mutant's powers, but he could feel his youth returning to him. His armor's internal systems confirmed it, showing his rejuvenated face in a flickering hologram.
One weak adult mutant had rolled back his body at least five years. What would happen if he drained someone like Steve, brimming with vitality? His illness might be cured entirely, or at the very least, he would gain the lifespan of an ordinary man.
With this thought in mind, Adrian fixed Steve with a greedy stare. His desire was so obvious that not only the man himself noticed it, but so did the dazed Winter Soldier.
The latter realized that this strange enemy's true target was not him.
"You can call me Vulture, Captain," Adrian said. "I have one question, and only you can answer it. Why… why does your life stretch across half a century?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he attacked. His armored wings flared, firing a volley of metallic feathers propelled by miniature thrusters straight at Steve.
'He's after my lifespan?' Steve thought, shocked.
He tried to dodge, but the projectiles weren't just razor-sharp with cutting edges; they also carried a locking function. With nothing more than human speed, he could not escape their aim.
He had no choice but to raise his shield.
The clash of metal feathers against the shield erupted into a violent explosion before Steve. Fortunately, the shield absorbed nearly all of the energy from the blast, allowing him to remain firmly in place.
But in the instant he blocked the strike, Adrian had already taken to the air and came diving down toward him.
This time, the shield couldn't fully withstand the impact. Its strength lay in reflecting energy, but what remained always transferred to the one carrying it. If vibranium truly negated all force, then such a shield wouldn't have been possible to wield in the first place.
The power behind Adrian's dive exceeded the limits of what Steve's body could handle. Dragged along by the strike, he was slammed through the lobby of Pym Technologies, crashing through several walls before being pinned hard to the ground.
"Who are you?" Steve gritted out, pressing against the wings closing in on his face. "I don't remember crossing paths with someone like you."
The sharp edges hovered inches away, threatening to slice him apart.
Though his elastic body could resist such physical blows, he still put on the appearance of struggling to defend himself. His purpose was to make the enemy drop his guard while drawing out as much information as possible.
"You are Captain America," Adrian replied coldly. "A man who lived through half a century. Do I need hatred to seek the secret behind that?"
He had no intention of exposing his true identity, so he offered an explanation of his own. His reasoning was flawless. Even if this mission failed, Steve would have no way of guessing who he really was.
Steve narrowed his eyes. "I was frozen in ice. It's not like I actually lived through all those years. Do you think I wanted to wake up again?"
The first half of his words came from careful thought, but the second half carried genuine emotion.
Looking back, if he had stayed asleep in the ice, or simply died there, perhaps that would have been better. Awakening only meant shouldering the burden again and again. His duty as Captain America always forced him to pick up his shield and fight, even when he longed for rest.
He wanted to retire. To live in peace.
Adrian just sneered. "Naive. You're unbelievably naive!"
Steve's words didn't move him. He laughed cruelly instead.
"You really think surviving in that ice was just luck? A miracle?"
Reid had only offered a theory, but Adrian wouldn't have gone this far if it hadn't been possible.
He had already experimented on vicious criminals, freezing them under precise conditions. The results were conclusive; instant freezing or not, death was inevitable. There was no exception.
And Steve's freezing process had been far from instantaneous. By all logic, he should not have lived.
That meant one thing. Something else was at play.
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