Dr. Jack Soo ran as fast as he possibly could, away from the two villains who had broken into S.T.A.R. Lab's New York base. He held paperwork in his hand, and he was breathing heavily.

He ran through the dark grey hallway of the building, hoping to find the exit as fast as possible. However, in his panic, he tripped onto the ground.

He tried to get up, but then the walls from the other room exploded. And while his fellow employees ran, two men emerged from the hole. One was a man in an all-black outfit with a purple cape, a skull & bones symbol on his chest, and part of a gigantic scythe where his right hand should've been. The other was a goateed man who also wore black, but with white gloves and boots, plus a white cape, a white star on his chest that connected to his belt, and a white fin on the top of his head.

The former had called himself 'Grim Reaper' and the latter 'Doctor Light' and they both smirked and ran towards Jack, who quickly got up and resumed running, only for Light to blast yellow energy from his hand and strike Jack in the leg, sending him down to the ground.

"Real shame Dr. Wells isn't here, isn't it?!" Light yelled, kicking Jack in the chest.

"Oh come now, Light. Dr. Wells can stay in Central City all he likes. He wouldn't change our plans in the slightest." Reaper responded.

Jack began to breathe heavily as he laid there on the ground, and the Asian man gasped when Reaper stabbed his scythe in the ground, inches away from his face.

"Dr. Jack Soo. You're in charge of this specific facility here, yes?" Reaper asked.

Jack gulped. "Y-yeah…"

"Then hand over all your tech and weaponry to us. Now."

Jack looked terrified for a moment, but then his fearful look morphed into one of determination. "…No."

Doctor Light let out a condescending sigh. "You know, I could've killed you earlier. Watch."

Light turned his back towards five S.T.A.R. Labs scientists, who were all running out of the nearby lab and away from Jack and the two menaces. Light generated yellow energy blasts and vaporized all of them.

Jack's eyes widened as they fell dead to the ground.

Light looked back at Jack, smirking. "Give us everything, and we might just spare your life, Dr. Soo."

Jack looked very nervous, and he took a deep breath. "Y-you two t-t-think you can just barge i-in here alone and take an entire facility's worth of equipment b-by yourself?"

Grim Reaper chuckled. "Of course not."

Just then, Jack listened to the sound of marching, and before he knew it, what appeared to be a platoon of soldiers marched their way towards the doctor, covered entirely in green armor and sporting golden goggles for eyes. Jack sighed, knowing how outnumbered he was.

"Now listen here, Dr. Soo." Light continued on, golden energy emitting from his hand. "We're just going to take everything you have stored here, alright? Just stand there, and don't get in our way, and we might let you live to tell the tale to Dr. Wells. Is that acceptable?"

Jack began sweating profusely. "Um…I…I…"

All three looked around when they heard a deafening roar. The soldiers readied their guns, but it was too late. Several of them were sent flying across the hallways, and it was quickly clear who was responsible: Hulk.

Hulk grabbed one of the soldiers and threw him against the wall, before bashing two more with his fist. He then looked at Light, and jumped up in the air, ready to smash Light. The doctor barely managed to create a yellow forcefield in time, while Jack used the opportunity to run.

Hulk slammed at Light's shield, and Reaper charged towards the green beast and slashed him in the chest with his scythe. Hulk looked at Reaper for a moment and roared, but before he could attack him, Cap's shield struck the scythe-wielding man right in the face.

Grim Reaper tried to slash at Cap several times, but the Captain dodged each attempt before bashing him with his shield.

Doctor Light was forced to do away with the shield, and he turned himself invisible. The Hulk looked around in confusion before he felt an energy blast around. Hulk turned around and tried to slam at Light again, but he turned invisible once more. Hulk looked around, and this time, he felt three energy blasts to the back. He roared in absolute frustration, and Light took a moment and laughed.

Only for the Martian Manhunter to phase through the wall and deck him in the face.

But Doctor Light only smirked, and yellow energy emitted around him before there were about 15 copies of him all across the hallway.

"Try and take me out now, green jeans!"

His smirk disappeared when he saw Superman zoom through all of the copies, causing them all to explode.

He gasped and looked completely shocked. "How-how did you know to do that?"

"I only heard one heartbeat among you." Superman replied, before he punched Light in the stomach, sending him flying two dozen feet away.

Hulk resumed pummeling the soldiers while Cap focused his energies on taking out Reaper. Reaper aimed his scythe towards Cap again, but Cap blocked it with his shield. Reaper tried to aim it towards Cap's leg, but he was still able to dodge it – before slapping it up towards his opponent's face. Grim Reaper cupped his chin for a moment, but as Cap charged towards him, he finally got an opportunity and slashed the super soldier in the chest.

"You are beyond your time, Captain. Allow me to put you down early." Reaper said, grinning as he did so.

Reaper darted towards Cap, but Manhunter grabbed him by the leg and threw him against the wall. As Reaper tried to get up, Cap bashed him with his shield one more time, knocking him out.

Moments later, the two saw Superman decking Doctor Light, and he, too, fell unconscious to the ground.

Hulk had plowed through all the soldiers, and began breathing heavily. Manhunter approached the Hulk and levitated up to touch his forehead. Cap had no idea what was going on, but a few seconds later, Hulk was groaning and reverting back to Bruce Banner.

His attention was taken when he saw Jack and a few other scientists walking up to the four. "Thank you, all of you. This place would've been leveled without you."

"Not a problem," Superman replied in a humble tone, "And we'll help with repairs."

Cap at Reaper and Light's unconscious bodies…and noticed an odd symbol on their shoulders. He took a closer look at Light, and his eyes widened when he saw what the symbols were. It was the logo of the red skull in a circle, with tentacles coming down underneath it.

"Hydra." He muttered, causing Superman, Hulk, and Banner to all turn their hands. "These two bare the markings of Hydra."

They all looked at each other in confusion.

Cap himself was completely baffled. "But they should've fallen with the Reich. So…how…"

"What happened now?!" Baron Helmut Zemo shouted towards three Hydra soldiers, who all stood there with assault rifles in their hands.

"Agents Eric Williams and Arthur Light failed to secure the equipment from the S.T.A.R Labs facility. The Vanguard, including the revived Captain America, intervened. Williams, Light, and the soldiers they took with them are now in the custody of the NYPD."

Baron Zemo felt the purple mask on his face and groaned. "You realize the boss won't be pleased in the slightest, yes?"

"…Of course, Mr. Zemo." The soldier replied.

"I'll be the one to break the news to him."

And with that, Zemo left the soldiers and walked through the forest green walls of their base. He had on a purple mask with pupiless white eyes, and he had a much more muted shade of purple for his uniform. He also wore yellow gloves and boots, and had a little yellow on the top of his mask. He let out a deep sigh, not looking forward to delivering the news to the boss.

After walking his way through the hallway, he entered a very spacious room, colored that same shade of green. It was a room with machinery all around it, and standing opposite Zemo, on the other side of the room, as a gigantic red throne, with a man on its seat looking at the many monitors in the room.

That man was Krieger, and he looked exactly the same as he did during World War II.

"Baron Helmut Zemo! What brings you here?!" Krieger said, with Zemo being surprised that the boss noticed him already.

"I'm afraid to be the bearer of bad news, Mister Krieger."

Krieger stood up from his throne and approached Zemo with a scowl on his face. "I already know about the failure of Light and Reaper. It's on most of the American news stations."

Zemo nodded. "Right. Of course. I believe we severely overestimated Doctor Light's capabilities in combat. He wasn't a match for Superman like he thought he could be."

"A foolish mistake, indeed!" Krieger shouted. He took a long look at one of the gigantic monitors in the room, and yelled in rage as he flew up to it and smashed it with his fist.

"Those monitors aren't cheap…" Zemo muttered under his breath as Krieger flew back down to the ground.

"The loss of Reaper and Light is but insignificant trivia compared the fact that the world is now aware that Hydra is alive and well! That damned Vanguard just broke the news! We have more than enough manpower to replace those two, but this….this brings unbearable complications to our plans"

Zemo just nodded on as Krieger ranted, having figured out all of this for himself. "It does mean we'll have to be more careful going forward. Well, even more careful than we already were, of course."

Krieger circled around Zemo with a frustrated look on his face. Zemo could only ponder what his boss was thinking, though it couldn't have been good.

"You don't think I already know we have to be more careful, Zemo?! Of course we do! No shit! …However, you can be useful and tell me something I don't know. How is Baron Strucker doing with the experiments?"

"He is doing just fine with them, Krieger. The two pairs of twins are getting closer and closer to compliance every day. Drew and Dibny aren't quite there yet, but they also haven't been captives as long. Give them time, and they'll eventually hail Hydra."

Krieger smiled sinisterly. "I want them all bowing before Hydra as soon as possible, but it's good to hear that they are on the right track. How about Dr. Zeul? How is her growth formula coming along?"

Zemo raised his finger up. "She just finalized it this morning, actually. She is now able to grow to 100 feet tall."

Krieger chuckled. "As if she wasn't already tall enough. But that is all I want to know for now. You may leave."

"Of course. Hail Hydra." Zemo replied with before leaving Krieger to exit the room, only to stop just short of the entrance. "But…may I ask how you feel about the return of Captain America."

Krieger took a moment and laughed. "I knew from the moment they formed that the Vanguard would be even more of a threat to us than S.H.I.E.L.D, but to see Captain America in their ranks makes it more…interesting. If we can ever capture him, I want him brought before me."

Zemo nodded. "Absolutely, Krieger. My grandfather must be avenged."

"Worry not, Baron Zemo. Captain America, and the other surviving members of the Liberty Brigade, will pay for their devastating attack that killed Heinrich. Now go."

Zemo finally departed off into the hallway, leaving Krieger alone to ponder in his thoughts.