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[Frog] Chapter 239: Where is Tesseract? (5/5)
🕑 Added 2024-12-26 18:21:20 +0000 UTCThe chaos at the S.H.I.E.L.D. building quickly spread. George, sitting in the precinct, began organizing a response team upon hearing that Pierce had been shot and that a spy was inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
Countless police cars lit up their sirens, racing toward the building.
Tony and Captain America arrived simultaneously, finding the area under lockdown. Agents armed to the teeth were combing the premises for Bucky.
Without hesitation, the two stormed in. Guns immediately pointed at Captain America, but upon recognizing his shield, the agents shouted:
“It’s the Captain! Hold your fire!”
“Stop shooting!”
Although the agents were following Pierce’s orders to guard the site, they were unaware of the real situation. Captain America refrained from revealing the presence of Hydra infiltrators within S.H.I.E.L.D., fearing that such a revelation might alert the enemy.
The agents held their positions as Captain America and Tony made their way inside.
“Jarvis, hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s network and copy all files on Bucky,” Tony instructed, a gleam of excitement in his eyes—he had been itching to do this for a while.
They reached the elevator and deduced from the bullet holes that Bucky had gone below.
“He’s down there. Since Hydra’s already found him, we should take him and hide him somewhere safe,” Captain America said before leaping through the gap in the stairwell.
Down below, the battle was nearing its conclusion. Bucky defeated the last enemy and forced information about Pierce’s whereabouts out of him.
His head throbbed with increasing pain as he slumped against the wall in agony. Captain America rushed over and helped him up.
“He’s gone,” Bucky muttered.
“Who? Who sent you? Who’s behind this?”
Captain America glanced around, finding no one else present. Bucky appeared to be on the verge of falling back under mind control, so Tony quickly administered a sedative.
“I’ve got the files on Bucky. Let’s discuss this back at the tower,” Tony said.
Captain America sighed, slung Bucky over his back, and retreated through the underground parking lot.
He was so close to discovering who was controlling Bucky and who the mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. was. But with Bucky incapacitated, the trail had gone cold again.
Back at Avengers Tower, the earlier explosions had only damaged the exterior of the building. The interior remained intact. Banner laid Bucky on a bed.
“We can’t keep injecting him with sedatives. The only way to prevent him from falling back under Hydra’s control is to keep him unconscious...”
Captain America nodded solemnly as Tony approached. Both understood that the mission had failed largely because of Pierce’s staged shooting. But who else was pulling the strings from the shadows?
Tony said, “Jarvis, display the files.”
The team gathered around. Hawkeye and Black Widow hadn’t yet returned. Before them appeared video footage detailing Bucky’s brainwashing process.
Captain America stared at the building in the footage—it looked eerily familiar.
He recognized it: it was the Hydra base he had destroyed years ago.
At the end of the footage, a burst of light from the Cosmic Cube suddenly appeared, accompanied by a voice:
“Tesseract can alter human minds. The Winter Soldier Project, Version 2.1, is now in motion.”
Captain America’s pupils widened in shock—the revelation hit him hard.
Banner stepped forward, enlarged the screen, and exclaimed, “I get it! Hydra was researching how to use the Cosmic Cube all along. If we can find the Cube, we can cure Bucky!”
“But after the Battle of New York, didn’t the Cosmic Cube end up in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s possession?” Captain America questioned.
