Chapter 4

At seven the next morning, Steve Rogers stood in his civilian clothing before Director Fury.

“Thanks for coming in, Cap. Please sit down. Sam will join us later. First, we need to talk.” Fury said.

“You were right. That wasn't a normal kidnapping attempt.” Cap replied.

“Coulson will deal with what happened yesterday,” Fury said before changing the subject. “Your help is needed elsewhere.” He pressed a button under his desk.

The windows went black as a flat-screen TV lowered itself from the ceiling. “Watch this, and then we'll talk,” Fury said as he pressed another button.

Steve watched the screen as the men in the video spoke in hushed tones. “Notice anything special about those men?” Fury asked. Steve studied the video more closely.

“There are six of them, but . . . but only two of them look . . . real,” Steve said, almost in disbelief.

“Good eye. The other four are advanced holograms. But keep watching,” Fury said.

“Everything is proceeding according to schedule. The techno-disruptor has been completed and the tomorrow army will soon be ready,” said one of the holograms.

“Excellent. The final meeting is set for midnight tomorrow at Gravesend bay,” said one of the non-holograms. “I WILL INFORM OUR LEADER.” And with that, the video abruptly ended and the light in the office returned. Steve turned toward Fury.

“What is the Tomorrow Army?” Steve asked. “And where did this video come from?”

Fury pressed another button; a few seconds later, the beautiful yet dangerous Natasha Romanoff, code name Black Widow, entered the room.

“I took the video, and it wasn't easy,” Natasha said, then explained how she'd had to hold herself up in the rafters. “After the video cut out and the holograms disappeared, the two men raised both their arms and said: Hail, HYDRA!”

Steve's fists clenched at the mere mention of HYDRA, an evil organization that wanted to take over the world. They were the very opposite of the super spies who made up S.H.I.E.L.D. and worked to keep the world safe.

“I followed them down a hidden elevator shaft and tailed them to a secret underground training room. There were dozens of guards—all training with different weapons or in different fighting styles ... and all wearing HYDRA badges,” Natasha said.

“It's not possible,” Steve said. “HYDRA was defeated almost a century ago—by me!” “That's what we thought,” Fury said. “Then we found this.”

He handed Cap an envelope marked TOP SECRET. “Twelve of my best agents ended up in the hospital getting us this info,” Fury said. Cap opened the envelope to find several glossy pictures. “I think you'll recognize the person in the center of the room.”

Steve's eyes widened, and his blood ran cold. “No . . .” Steve whispered. The figure in the picture was a hulking one. It had a large half-human, half-robotic body—but its face wasn't on its head. Instead, it was on a television-like flat screen in the center of its body. The body was unrecognizable, but the face was unmistakable. It was HYDRA scientist and second-in-command Arnim Zola. Like Steve, Zola had fought in World War II. But Steve had thought Zola long dead.

In the photos, Zola was standing in front of a high-tech machine straight out of a science-fiction movie. “Somehow, Arnim Zola survived all these years and is now the head of HYDRA,” Fury said. “We believe that the thing he's standing in front of is the Techno-Disruptor.” Then Fury turned to face Steve, who had already suited up and was ready for battle.

“Your mission is to capture Zola and stop HYDRA—once and for all.” Fury said.

When Cap went to grab his shield, he noticed a new black-and-gray uniform that hung next to it. “That's your new stealth suit,” a voice behind him said. It was Nick Fury again. “It will allow you to sneak into the HYDRA meeting place without being detected,” the director said. “It's a present from Tony Stark. He's making them for all the Avengers.”

“I know you prefer red, white, and blue—but this will keep you from being caught and becoming black and blue,” Fury said with a grin.

As Fury left, Cap suited up again and made his way into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s equipment room.

Agent Coulson approached Cap with Cap's bike. “You know, we can add a rocket launcher, a GPS, even a cup holder to this thing,” Coulson began, but Cap refused. This was a classic bike, after all, and didn't want to change it. “I once felt the same way about Lola, then I had a talk with Stark, and he made a few upgrades.”

Coulson said as he got into his classic red Corvette. He flipped a switch. And with that, Coulson and Lola rocketed toward New York City below.

Cap shook his head at the flying car as Falcon and Black Widow stepped up behind him.

“I just heard the news about HYDRA,” Sam said. “When do we go after them?”

“We don't. I do,” Cap replied.

“Let me help!” Sam responded. But Cap refused. He was going in solo to find out more about HYDRA's secret plans, and he didn't need help. HYDRA was a dangerous and evil organization from Steve's past, and he knew exactly how to handle it.

But Cap wanted to be extra careful, especially when it came to his friends.

Sam walked off, frustrated that he couldn't help, but Natasha stayed behind to have a word with Steve. It was an emergency signal. If Cap was over whelmed, he'd tap the screen and S.H.I.E.L.D. would be there.

“Spying on HYDRA alone, and on this rickety old bike, really isn't smart. I should do this mission.” Natasha worried.

“I've got the situation under control.” Steve comforted.

“I'm sure you do—but take this with you.” Natasha said.

“I'm just going on a routine mission,” Cap said, trying to make her stop worrying.

Then Cap thought about it. Maybe he did need help. He shrugged off the thought. “I'll be fine,” he said, and started to walk away.

“But what if fifty soldiers turn into five hundred? Not even the great Captain America can defeat all of them,” she said with a smile.

“Then I'm going to need a lot more than this beacon,” Cap replied. He strapped on a parachute, got on his bike, and prepared to ride off the ramp.

“Hey, Cap,” Black Widow said as he started the engine. “Be careful.” Cap nodded, then gunned his bike and rode straight off the ramp and into the open air high above New York City.

Once he landed, Cap revved the engine and sped out of sight, toward the Brooklyn docks.

The thought that this venomous group was back made Cap's blood boil. It was time to take the fight to HYDRA !