S.H.I.E.L.D. Conference Room
As Adam led the Squadron out, the room quieted. James's gaze fell on Tony. "Any unusual events lately?"
Tony shrugged. "Nothing major, but we found someone—Captain America, in the Arctic." He paused. "He's dead."
"Dead?" James's expression shifted oddly.
Wanda looked surprised. "The Captain America from that other universe?"
Tony nodded, pulling up a report. "Frozen too long, no vital signs. I signed the death certificate myself." He sighed. "Coulson nearly turned S.H.I.E.L.D. into a pool with his tears."
Wanda sighed softly. "At least he's back where he belongs."
Suddenly, Kara frowned, her super hearing catching something. James's vision pierced the walls, locking onto S.H.I.E.L.D.'s third sublevel. They spoke in unison: "Something's wrong."
Tony tensed. "What?"
James's eyes glowed gold. "I see someone who should be dead."
S.H.I.E.L.D. Sublevel 3, Morgue
Under cold white lights, Captain America's body lay on a metal table, draped in a star-spangled flag. Coulson stood nearby, eyes red, clutching a vintage Captain America comic.
A finger twitched faintly. Coulson froze, thinking he'd imagined it. Then—Cough!—Steve Rogers's eyes snapped open, ice-blue pupils contracting, chest heaving.
"Cap… Captain?!" Coulson stumbled back, his communicator clattering to the floor.
Steve sat up slowly, frost falling from his blonde hair. His gaze wavered, then sharpened. "Is Hydra still out there?"
Conference Room
Tony's coffee cup shattered on the floor. "What?! Captain America's alive?!"
James stood, eyes wary. "Not alive." His super vision pierced Steve's body, spotting a black glow in his heart. "Someone's controlling him."
Morgue
The air froze. Coulson stood rigid, his communicator buzzing with frantic voices, but he couldn't respond. His gaze locked on Steve, whose eyes were unnaturally cold.
"Captain?" Coulson's voice trembled, hand inching toward his gun.
Steve didn't answer, staring at his pale palm before clenching it, bones creaking unnaturally. "Is Hydra still out there?" His voice was icy.
Coulson's pupils shrank. The real Steve would never sound like this. "Who are you?" He drew his gun. "You're not Rogers!"
Steve's lips curled into a stiff, puppet-like grin. "A new universe." His voice held excitement. "Does S.H.I.E.L.D. still have my file?"
The tone carried an inhuman echo, like wind howling through a graveyard. Before Coulson could respond, Tony's voice roared through the communicator: "Coulson! Get away from that body! It's not him!"
Whoosh! The star-spangled flag flew off as Steve lunged, grabbing Coulson's neck with one hand, lifting him. His other hand glowed with eerie red energy.
Conference Room
"Alert! High-energy reaction in sublevel three!" Jarvis's warning blared. The holographic screen showed Coulson dangling, Steve's hand crackling with energy.
"That's not Steve!" Tony stood, armor snapping into place.
Wanda's fingertips glowed scarlet. "Black magic. I sense dreamwalking and necromancy controlling him."
Kara's eyes flared blue. "Something weird's in his heart."
James vanished, taking everyone with him.
Sublevel Corridor
As Tony's armor crashed through the ceiling, the corridor was a nightmare. Ice crystals coated the walls, the temperature plunging below zero. At the end stood Steve, his face unrecognizable.
Green energy seeped from his orifices. His vibranium shield was encased in black frost, its edges sprouting jagged bone spikes.
"Stark," the Necro-Captain spoke. "Do I look like your old friend?"
Tony's scanners screamed: "No vitals. Magic-based energy, maximum intensity!"
"Back off, Tony." James appeared between them, the Time Gem on his gauntlet blazing green. The Necro-Captain tilted his head, neck bones grinding. "You sure you want to interfere, outsider?"
His voice wasn't Steve's, layered with ancient whispers, like countless souls speaking. "This world has someone who shouldn't exist."
James clapped, a golden magic circle forming beneath, pulling the corridor into the Mirror Dimension. Walls twisted, the hallway stretched infinitely, the ceiling inverted, reality rewritten.
The Necro-Captain glanced around, green eyes flickering with surprise, then sneered. "Mirror Dimension? The Sorcerer Supreme's parlor trick."
"You think this magic can hold me?" His shield's black frost spread, forming sharp bone spikes. He swung, Crack!—tearing a black rift in the dimension.
James raised a brow. "Not bad."
The Necro-Captain grinned. "I've devoured Dormammu's Dark Dimension fragments and mastered the Darkhold. Even the Ancient One wouldn't face me. You, a nobody?"
He vanished, reappearing behind James, bone-spiked shield slashing. Clang! James didn't turn, his fist glowing purple with the Power Gem, shattering the shield.
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