In the sky above the Afterlife, a tail flame blazed beneath a red, white, and blue suit of metal armor. Its speed surpassed the sound barrier—faster even than a Quinjet.
The armor looked strikingly similar to Tony Stark's Mark 7 Iron Man suit. Its streamlined structure and arc reactor in the chest gave it a sleek, technological appearance.
The only oddity was the red, white, and blue paint scheme. Beneath the arc reactor, a star-shaped emblem gleamed, making the suit resemble something of a retro, patriotic design.
Meanwhile, in frozen Siberia, Tony Stark—wearing his classic red-and-gold Mark 7 suit—was in a Stark Industries tech lab discussing strategy for tracking down Baron Strucker and his HYDRA base. Suddenly, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s alarm blared inside the armor.
"Sir, unidentified flying object detected over New Jersey."
The alert made Tony pause mid-thought. His helmet faceplate opened with a hiss, letting him take a breath of fresh air.
"Hey, J.A.R.V.I.S., I don't care about UFOs in Jersey right now. I just want to find that HYDRA base, along with Strucker and his damn experiments."
Tony dismissed the warning without a second thought. After S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, strange objects in the sky weren't unusual anymore.
"Correction, sir. Baron Strucker is one of HYDRA's leaders," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied calmly, correcting Tony's earlier slip of the tongue.
Tony rolled his eyes, walked over to a cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of red wine.
"Work's work, but a man's still gotta relax. Fine—put all processing power into tracking Strucker. The UFO can wait. Doubt it's worth the Avengers' time anyway."
"Yes, sir."
J.A.R.V.I.S. immediately canceled the alarm and focused entirely on calculating the HYDRA base's coordinates in Siberia.
While the Avengers prepared to strike Strucker's last stronghold, over New Jersey a red, white, and blue suit of armor roared through the sky. Inside was an elderly Steve Rogers, clad in his Captain America uniform, his face more serious than ever.
"Dr. Zola, report on the situation at the Afterlife," Rogers commanded.
Streams of data flowed across his visor, eventually forming the image of a short, rotund man glaring furiously at him.
"Damn it, Rogers! Why are there two Captain Americas in this timeline? And why are you messing with my core systems, you bastard from the future! You've ruined the order of time and space—"
Arnim Zola, now existing as an artificial intelligence, raged against him. But Rogers remained cold and unmoved.
When HYDRA's Insight Program had been exposed, Zola's digital consciousness had also been revealed. Though Captain America had destroyed his data banks in this era, the future Rogers had salvaged his programming, transferring it into the chip of this custom armor.
To ensure Zola never rebelled, Rogers had laced his programming with countless restrictive protocols.
"Careful, Zola," Rogers said with a faint, mocking smile. "Keep cursing, and those restrictions will fry your neural circuits. You'll know what it feels like when your consciousness gets electrocuted."
Zola froze, fear creeping in despite his bluster. Compared to his grand Insight Plan, this older Captain America—cold, calculating, omniscient—was far more terrifying.
"Hail Hydra," Rogers intoned solemnly.
The words left Zola momentarily stunned, his system glitching for a second.
"Damn you, Rogers! Fine. The Inhumans' base—the Afterlife—has been located."
His angry voice echoed through the armor, but Rogers ignored the tone. With a burst of energy, the suit broke through the sound barrier, leaving a cyclone in its wake.
Boom!
The armor crashed down in the center of the Afterlife, kicking up a storm of dust and debris. Within the haze, its visor glowed red as Zola's sensors scanned the surroundings.
"…Too late?" Rogers muttered.
On his display, data compiled into a grim image. At the heart of the Afterlife stood Allens. Around him lay the fallen bodies of Gordon, Jiaying, and Lincoln.
"Zola," Rogers ordered, raising his right arm and aiming his palm at Allens' back.
Obeying the command, Zola charged the repulsor.
Boom!
A red energy beam shot forth with a deafening sonic crack, slamming into Allens. His body exploded instantly, bursting into a rain of blood.
"…What?"
The faceplate lifted, and Rogers' weathered face twisted in disbelief. "That's it? According to intel from 2023, Allens is supposed to become a world-ending threat. How could he die so easily?"
"Warning! Target reappearing! Target reappearing!" Zola's triumphant voice cut in.
Rogers refocused. Before him now stood four identical figures of Allens.
Allens smirked at the red, white, and blue armor.
"Iron Man armor? Captain Rogers, you actually got your hands on Stark's tech… Interesting."
His grin widened.
"So… is this what they call Iron Man Rogers?"
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