Inside the Hydra Airbus Transport.
Baron Strucker was gazing obsessively at the Loki Scepter in his hand.
"Superhumans are the future of this world! And with this scepter..."
Strucker, a student of Hydra's history, knew well that the era of controlling the world through mere resources and connections was over.
Once, Captain America was the peak of human potential.
But ever since that playboy Stark announced "I am Iron Man," superpowered individuals had been popping up everywhere.
After the Battle of New York, even more extradimensional ability users had invaded this world.
Technology could buy him an army, but only superpowers could truly elevate him.
Even within Hydra, he was falling behind. The SHIELD faction was secretly developing the Centipede Soldiers. The True Believers (Malick's faction) had found a way to bring Hive back and were hunting Inhumans globally.
Meanwhile, Strucker's faction was still stuck on the old path of mechanical soldiers and energy weapons—tech that was decades old.
If I had brought this scepter with me earlier, how could that Aurantius brat have humiliated me?!
I will master this power. I will control minds!
Of course, Strucker wasn't reckless enough to experiment on himself first. With the Scepter in hand, he had plenty of time to test it on lab rats.
"Just wait until the experiments are stable..."
Strucker was lost in his beautiful vision of the future.
Suddenly.
THUMP.
A very subtle, muffled sound came from the roof of the aircraft.
It wasn't loud, but it startled everyone in the cabin.
Strucker snapped out of his fantasy, gripping the Scepter tightly. He barked at the pilot.
"Status report! What was that?"
"Baron, something impacted the fuselage roof. Sounds like... maybe a bird strike?"
"Imbecile! At this altitude? What kind of bird flies this high?! External cameras, now!"
The co-pilot was already pulling up the feed.
On the screens, every Hydra agent saw it.
A blonde man in a blue, skin-tight suit was standing perfectly still on the outside of the fuselage.
Behind him, a cape with a star-spangled pattern fluttered violently in the high-altitude winds like a war banner.
"Is that... Superman??"
"Where did this freak come from?!"
Yes, DC comics existed in the Marvel universe as fiction. Seeing the man on the screen, the Hydra agents immediately thought of the Man of Steel.
A bone-deep chill settled over them.
Before they could process the shock, the blonde man's eyes glowed red.
Zzzzt!
Two beams of crimson laser energy shot from his eyes.
The jet's stealth plating flickered and failed.
The heat vision pierced through the fuselage instantly, striking a Hydra soldier inside the cabin.
Screams erupted.
"Fire! Shoot him!! Shoot!!"
Everyone knew shooting inside a pressurized cabin was suicide, but logic flew out the window when laser beams started melting their friends.
TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Gunfire erupted, bullets raining toward the spot where the lasers had penetrated.
Some bullets punched through the hull, hitting the man outside. Others ricocheted wildly inside the cabin, hitting unlucky Hydra agents.
The man outside didn't seem to notice.
He stopped the heat vision. Then, he casually punched his hand downward, piercing the aircraft's skin like it was paper.
With a simple tearing motion...
RIIIIP.
He tore a semicircular hole in the roof, just big enough for a person.
Howling wind rushed into the cabin.
And with the wind came the blonde man in the star-spangled cape.
THUD.
He landed softly on the deck. The surviving Hydra soldiers backed away in terror.
"Who are you? What do you want?!"
Baron Strucker, keeping a surprisingly calm face, confronted the intruder.
Though the way his knuckles turned white gripping the Scepter betrayed his inner panic.
The blonde man ignored him.
Instead, he floated up slightly, grabbing the torn metal of the roof with one hand.
SCREEECH.
With an ear-splitting sound of bending metal, he pulled the torn flap back into place, sealing the hole.
Then, his eyes glowed red again. He used his heat vision to weld the seam shut.
He even took a moment to spot-weld the bullet holes in the fuselage.
Watching this intruder "gently" repair their plane so it wouldn't crash, the Hydra agents had a collective thought:
Is he... polite?
That thought didn't last long.
Once the repairs were done, the blonde man nodded in satisfaction.
Then.
No words. No negotiation.
He moved.
He became a blur.
WHAM. WHAM. WHAM.
Heavy punches echoed through the cabin.
One punch per person. No seconds. Everyone got a ticket to dreamland.
Anyone who tried to raise a gun found a fist imprinting itself on their face a split-second later, sending them flying into the cabin wall and leaving a human-shaped dent.
Bullets hit him, of course.
But he seemed to have true invulnerability. The bullets flattened against his skin and dropped to the floor. Even his clothes seemed undamaged.
In less than a minute, everyone was down.
Except for the two pilots in the cockpit, and Baron Strucker, who was standing there, trembling, clutching the Scepter.
Watching the blonde man walk toward him step by step, Strucker's trembling wasn't just fear. It was uncontrollable excitement.
"Who exactly are you..."
Before he finished speaking, as the man came into range, Strucker suddenly lashed out.
He thrust the tip of the Loki Scepter directly against the man's chest.
The smile he had been suppressing finally broke through.
"Hahaha! Heaven helps me!"